tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72298852024-03-17T20:04:01.431-07:00The GazetteerI'm on my second cup of coffee and I still can't taste the day (G. Lightfoot, mondegreenish)RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.comBlogger7577125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-46097290411676128242024-03-11T12:52:00.003-07:002024-03-11T12:52:37.905-07:00Numbers You Have Not Seen Before.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">NotWithABang<br />ButAMediaManipulatedWimperVille</span></b><br /><br /><br />A European academic group has done a massive worldwide survey of public opinion on the subject of what to do about the climate crisis.<br /><br />The work was published last month in 'Nature Climate Change'.<br /><br />The following is from <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-01925-3" target="_blank">the abstract:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...(W)e conducted a representative survey across 125 countries, interviewing nearly 130,000 individuals. Our findings reveal widespread support for climate action. Notably, 69% of the global population expresses a willingness to contribute 1% of their personal income, 86% endorse pro-climate social norms and 89% demand intensified political action...</i></span></blockquote><br /><br />And yet, despite numbers that would move the needle significantly on just about anything politically, we continue to do next to nothing, collectively, when it comes to mounting measures that actually matter.<br /><br />The PR industrial complex, <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2023/01/co-optation-double-downun-climate.html" target="_blank">see COP 28, for example,</a> is winning.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />.RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-72478392113750852822024-03-04T04:00:00.007-08:002024-03-04T08:57:37.689-08:00Base-Based Public Health Bashing.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzfHVixVX_a_zkwqWhrqLgfpHUP-ImwZLNk2IOPS6x9XmuGP91PiUINXCQ4Ni3hqQN0UFsvWpP0g1t41SjDX2SFEHP8a3oc0_nwqSdnwR__WKB9z2kIWf5C0EVnmV2HhEDfmgcRClc50WL5auMw4HMJUoZ6nq7jZqH0ADVYSFYJ58xFwQ0ikLYAA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2041" data-original-width="3000" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzfHVixVX_a_zkwqWhrqLgfpHUP-ImwZLNk2IOPS6x9XmuGP91PiUINXCQ4Ni3hqQN0UFsvWpP0g1t41SjDX2SFEHP8a3oc0_nwqSdnwR__WKB9z2kIWf5C0EVnmV2HhEDfmgcRClc50WL5auMw4HMJUoZ6nq7jZqH0ADVYSFYJ58xFwQ0ikLYAA=w535-h365" width="535" /></a><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">NegativePressure<br />VentilationVille</span></b><br /><br /><br />The presumptive Republican nominee for US'ian president went to Richmond Virginia this past Saturday and bashed public health over the head with a bushel of, as reader GarFish has noted, faith-based anti-vaccination codswallop.<br /><br />The following is from a piece by Elizabeth Beyer in the Gannett-owned <a href="https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/03/trump-supporters-identify-economic-woes-as-driving-factor-for-support-2024-election-virginia-biden/72825567007/">Staunton News Leader:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>""Macho Man" played between show-tunes from Phantom of the Opera as Trump rally attendees made their way through security just inside the doors of the Greater Richmond Convention Center on Saturday...</i></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;">{snip}</i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;">...(Mr. Trump) sprinkled in rhetoric steeped in election denialism between jabs at President Joe Biden’s border and economic policy. He promised, if elected, to implement "MAGAnomics" complete with tax cuts. He sowed doubt in this country's democratic process. He vowed to "not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or mask mandate."</i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;">"2024 is our final battle," he said. "We will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all."...</i></p></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br />It's important to understand that Mr. Trump is not just talking about COVID here.<br /><br />He's also talking about long-standing school mandates for vaccination against childhood diseases like mumps, measles and whooping cough. Such mandates are critical to keep jab rates high to ensure <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1555415518310420">population-wide immunity.</a><br /><br />And then, as reader EE reminds us, there is polio.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>****</b></div><br />So.<br /><br />How long before a certain candidate for high office north of the 49th parallel starts to spout such dangerous rhetoric?<br /><br />Oh, wait...<br /><br />The following is from Bob Hepburn, writing in <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/pierre-poilievre-fires-up-the-anti-vaccine-mob-yet-again/article_5a3f441d-e43a-5966-9bcb-26cc68c0befc.html">the Star last fall:</a><br /><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...You may have missed it, but Poilievre was at it again last week, stirring up the hardcore anti-vaxxers who play a major role in the Conservative leaders’ strategy to win the next election.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>In a 10-minute speech in the House of Commons, Poilievre championed a private member’s bill that would have prevented the federal government from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates on federal employees or restricting unvaccinated travellers from boarding planes and trains.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>Poilievre said he supports “bodily autonomy,” adding that everyone should have the right to decide what they put in their own bodies and have the right to refuse vaccines.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>I guess Poilievre’s “bodily autonomy” belief also means he opposes Ontario’s law requiring children attending school to be vaccinated against polio, measles, mumps, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and other diseases...</i></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br />Given how incredibly effective vaccination mandates have been in<a href="https://twitter.com/GordHoff17/status/1764335419293114431" target="_blank"> essentially eliminating many childhood diseases</a>, none of this is a good thing.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">OK?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-50619765765542004872024-03-03T05:00:00.002-08:002024-03-03T10:01:55.727-08:00Peace In Our Electoral Time!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGW95fENjeOD1uYv9JXXkZ8ZMG_pC3rM_RPW7KSYCXUY86B0mhTLqj_ZG19MfFz0Cf9JXveAsmtNGxeCx_k4Byr9Qt8p_Ilk4YeFd5GxUvNmbPoJuu2jjzrsPh1ZpYo59oHjwz9okq7-RLqRorz8k-73aahCKoAh_KT47m5N4XOSFMi9HsYvcgPA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="2012" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGW95fENjeOD1uYv9JXXkZ8ZMG_pC3rM_RPW7KSYCXUY86B0mhTLqj_ZG19MfFz0Cf9JXveAsmtNGxeCx_k4Byr9Qt8p_Ilk4YeFd5GxUvNmbPoJuu2jjzrsPh1ZpYo59oHjwz9okq7-RLqRorz8k-73aahCKoAh_KT47m5N4XOSFMi9HsYvcgPA=w672-h214" width="672" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">_____________________________________________</span></b></div>IfNevilleNeverExistedGenerativeAIWouldHaveInventedHim<br />ChamberlainVille</span></b><br /><br /><br /><div>From a somewhat suspect newsey clickbaitish site called<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/opinion/editorial/munich-ai-accord-124022500632_1.html" target="_blank"> 'The Economic Times':</a><br /><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>"On Friday (February 23rd), the world’s 20 largest tech companies and social-media platforms signed an accord, “The Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections”, at the Munich Security Conference. This is a commitment to prevent deceptive artificial-intelligence (AI) content from interfering in elections."</i></span></div></blockquote><div><div><br /><br />If he hasn't already, I'm pretty sure that <a href="https://pluralistic.net" target="_blank">Cory Doctorow</a> will soon weigh in on how this thing is nothing more than a very shoddy shallow fake designed to convince us that the digital overlords are actually doing something serious to prevent the ongoing onslaught of obstreperous attacks on liberal democracies, worldwide (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/20/facebook-disinformation-ottawa-social-media" target="_blank">including in Canuckistanmikitaville</a>), that make them piles and piles and piles of<a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/11/20/1039076/facebook-google-disinformation-clickbait/" target="_blank"> monopoly money.</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-71085017721839629252024-03-02T14:46:00.003-08:002024-03-02T14:46:54.886-08:00Before You Make Those Last Minute Spring Break Travel Plans...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhs9gThA6GK7nzjMWWDueMTMikcTfwU0v3CIWdNoD0EPYLnIkWaoniNeQHHVvHqzbZRDJCZAUCMNyZW5r2kaxjVKArfaN7DCeUE9tetjbV5SOxOJDFprsk3F5Xsv3xu0nuIKWC3ARFGvr4ajnV-PNShlgCYanBiGFquj0XzyLKzIMb1mcS0nr7HlA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="930" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhs9gThA6GK7nzjMWWDueMTMikcTfwU0v3CIWdNoD0EPYLnIkWaoniNeQHHVvHqzbZRDJCZAUCMNyZW5r2kaxjVKArfaN7DCeUE9tetjbV5SOxOJDFprsk3F5Xsv3xu0nuIKWC3ARFGvr4ajnV-PNShlgCYanBiGFquj0XzyLKzIMb1mcS0nr7HlA=w563-h341" width="563" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">WhatSpreadsInFloridaMayNotStayInFlorida</span></b><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">AirTravelVille</span></b><br /> <br /><br />Before you make your last minute spring break travel plans, you may want to check the latest news from the Sunshine State.<br /><br />The following is from a piece by Eduardo Cuevas, originally published in <a href="https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/education/2024/02/26/florida-surgeon-general-joseph-ladapo-questioned-as-measles-cases-spread/72748916007/">USA Today:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><i style="font-family: courier;">Six children at Manatee Bay Elementary School, in Weston near Fort Lauderdale, caught the disease (measles) over a week ago. New state health data show two more cases in Broward County, of a child younger than 5 and another between ages 5 and 9.</i></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;">The newly reported infections bring the total to eight, just days after Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo contradicted federal and medical professional guidance to contain the spread of the highly contagious and preventable disease...</i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;">{snip}</i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;">...In a letter Tuesday, Feb. 19 (state Surgeon General) Ladapo said Manatee Bay parents and guardians could decide whether to send their children back to school, a statement that conflicted with federal and medical professional recommendations that children from the school should remain at home to prevent the spread of measles...</i></p></blockquote><br />Just in time for spring break trips to the waterpark and/or Disneyworld.<br /><br />Meanwhile...<br /><br />Haven't we discussed the spurious edicts of the good Dr. Ladapo before?<br /><br />Why yes, we most certainly<a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2023/01/why-giving-anti-vaxxers-no-quarter.html"> have...</a><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...Joseph A. Ladapo, a professor of medicine at the University of Florida and the state’s surgeon general (appointed by governor Ron De Santis), relied upon a flawed analysis and may have violated university research integrity rules when he issued guidance last fall discouraging young men from receiving common coronavirus vaccines, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/c4032b72-fdee-40e4-9148-612db8dbbc4a.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_2">a report</a> from a medical school faculty task force...</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>{snip}</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...In its new report, a task force of the University of Florida College of Medicine’s Faculty Council cites numerous deficiencies in the analysis Ladapo used to justify his vaccine recommendation. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/5a66d4ae-963e-4b70-aaf3-272f6c64d09f.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_5">A summary</a> said the work was “seriously flawed.” The report’s authors say Ladapo engaged in “careless, irregular, or contentious research practices.”...</i></span></div></blockquote><div><br /><br />Ladapo, who is not an infectious disease expert, also pushed<a href="https://archive.is/nvhcK"> hydroxycholoquine and ivermectin.</a><br /><br />It would appear that ideology-driven public health has a long, mangy and dangerous tail, indeed.<br /><br /><br /><br />.<br /></div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-69094699420364263682024-02-29T10:27:00.002-08:002024-02-29T12:04:04.273-08:00These Are Not Diana Ross' Supremes.<br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyXOSGrKeWHM97r0akP0_4kQCbZWR-uYOo_7BzTmaz85OOdAjSXklPw84D9e-7jWL-jKMQ-9ho6q-umJvEmELBQPtVjQUA9H2vASZRt76tiE2rzepuYIaa74vmFyLxLwru0Uh7QQ_vpOcLAZRwzuXq1hoqf9tpXyPO-c8bWcj0Sb1cUV28DQPnnQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="800" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyXOSGrKeWHM97r0akP0_4kQCbZWR-uYOo_7BzTmaz85OOdAjSXklPw84D9e-7jWL-jKMQ-9ho6q-umJvEmELBQPtVjQUA9H2vASZRt76tiE2rzepuYIaa74vmFyLxLwru0Uh7QQ_vpOcLAZRwzuXq1hoqf9tpXyPO-c8bWcj0Sb1cUV28DQPnnQ=w517-h323" width="517" /></a></div></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">WhatMakesDonnieRun</span></b><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">NotSchulbergVille</span></b><div><div><br /><br />That was<a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/anniversary-of-united-states-v-nixon" target="_blank"> then:</a><br /><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>“We conclude that when the ground for asserting privilege as to subpoenaed materials sought for use in a criminal trial is based only on the generalized interest in confidentiality, it cannot prevail over the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of criminal justice. The generalized assertion of privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial.” </i></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That was the Supreme Court of Warren Burger issuing the order, based on an immediate 8-0 decision, that Richard Nixon must hand over the Watergate Tapes because he did not have blanket immunity from prosecution due to executive privilege as a sitting president on July 29, 1974.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">****</div><br />This is<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/022824zr3_febh.pdf" target="_blank"> now:</a><br /><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>"Without expressing a view on the merits, this Court directs the Court of Appeals to continue withholding issuance of the mandate until the sending down of the judgment of this Court. The application for a stay is dismissed as moot.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>The case will be set for oral argument during the week of April 22, 2024."</i></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br />That was the current Supreme Court of John Roberts issuing the order that there will be no immediate order on February 28, 2024. Instead, there will be further delay in making any decision as to whether or not Donald Trump has blanket immunity from prosecution for committing acts of insurrection as an outgoing, but still technically sitting, president.<br /><br />The latter two month delay until 'oral argument' commences means that it is very unlikely that the current Supreme Court will make a decision on Trump's ridiculous blanket immunity claim before the summer.<br /><br />This very likely means that Mr. Trump will not go to trial before the US'ian presidential election in November.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's important to realize that, if he were to win, it is even more likely that Mr. Trump would end the federal prosecution of his own acts of insurrection if his super slow walking Supremes were to rule against him in the summer.<br /><br />That's some incentive to win at all costs, 'eh?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">______</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Why are there nine members of Burger's court </b>in the image at the top of the post when the vote against Mr. Nixon was 8-0?....Because the guy in the glasses second from the right, William Rehnquist, actually recused himself because of his previous political association with the Trickster-In-Chief...Just one more thing that is very, very different now than it was then.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">.</div></div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-62879744864675175662024-02-21T16:47:00.004-08:002024-02-21T18:10:17.453-08:00The Cookie Dough Mike Chronicles (ctd.)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHWtPJbb6wXAxV9-hWWbXFsROzhY8vHK2hqh2nin18cdmUhA3IjDNnt22kJ0LpLM8NDPUnO26LmzDm0qI0Xd_ObeQWL6e7gBLTpC3l7Bgz6jjkYuTL3eOk6icY1FI8wR9mrtVJjyKEFPKs_jw7GjjfHTsRfcTx7sD4LwH-9dhtZrm5Yk3TNhoBxw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="691" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHWtPJbb6wXAxV9-hWWbXFsROzhY8vHK2hqh2nin18cdmUhA3IjDNnt22kJ0LpLM8NDPUnO26LmzDm0qI0Xd_ObeQWL6e7gBLTpC3l7Bgz6jjkYuTL3eOk6icY1FI8wR9mrtVJjyKEFPKs_jw7GjjfHTsRfcTx7sD4LwH-9dhtZrm5Yk3TNhoBxw=w424-h224" width="424" /></a><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">We'veGotArchivesAndWe'reGonnaKeep<br />UsingThemVille</span></b><br /><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>"...De Jong was finance minister in the last B.C. Liberal government. He has taken some heat within his own party for leaving behind a sizable budget surplus for the New Democrats to spend.</i></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;">He makes no apologies: “The biggest criticism I seem to get is that I was too stingy or too careful with public dollars. I’ll take that criticism because when COVID did hit, B.C. was in better shape with its finances than any other province in the country.”...</i></p></blockquote><br /><a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-falcon-and-cookie-man.html" target="_blank">Yesterday,</a> we commented on the above passage, which is from a recent Vaughn Palmer column. Specifically, we noted that Mr. de Jong largely built his surplus by imposing a hidden, regressive tax in the form of significant monthly MSP payments.<div><br /></div><div>But that doesn't mean that the good Mr. de Jong wasn't also stingy when doling out those regressively obtained public dollars.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's just that sometimes <a href="https://www.thewhig.com/news/candidate-mike-de-jong-goes-online-with-shortbread-video" target="_blank">Cookie Dough Mike</a> was downright mean and disingenuous when doing so, especially when the affected were those who need our help most.</div><div><br /></div>Case in point, the following is what de Jong said after he <a href="https://disabilityalliancebc.org/open-letter-to-premier-pwd-raise-and-bus-pass-clawback/" target="_blank">took away</a> bus passes <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2016/09/this-weekend-in-clarklandthe.html">for the disabled:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...“They’re exercising a new-found freedom and choice that heretofore didn’t exist,” de Jong said. “So that was the whole purpose of the exercise: to give people choice.”...</i></span></blockquote><br /><br />Heretofore 'choice', indeed.<br /><br /><br /><br />.RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-41248136008816788202024-02-20T13:25:00.009-08:002024-02-21T16:33:58.089-08:00The Falcon And The Cookie Man.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgn2eEFYDCJAdaLz3iYtumP66dK2lL6sTpRMosW6I0ubtvJKv1HHrXDQ2Spa6upI7s7ji3DCoP5Qy0Bxh4ljTJvcnah303Cp8NP527_pnZ1wo2hKB5r9K7mffRP6H2lrkP_Or0HYzqi4ltaTYX0mfygdLmbehJlGXt3cVlNBPT9z0GtLcqpIOBf7Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="1625" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgn2eEFYDCJAdaLz3iYtumP66dK2lL6sTpRMosW6I0ubtvJKv1HHrXDQ2Spa6upI7s7ji3DCoP5Qy0Bxh4ljTJvcnah303Cp8NP527_pnZ1wo2hKB5r9K7mffRP6H2lrkP_Or0HYzqi4ltaTYX0mfygdLmbehJlGXt3cVlNBPT9z0GtLcqpIOBf7Q=w411-h241" width="411" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">RevisionistDeanish<br />HistoryVille</span></b><br /><br /><br />Vaughn Palmer's latest tells the tale of how one very, very fine former BC Liberal Party Finance Minister, Mike de Jong, is not going to run for Kevin Falcon's Soccer Party in the upcoming provincial election.<br /><br />Mostly the column slowly circles the likely possibility that Mr de Jong, <a href="https://www.thewhig.com/news/candidate-mike-de-jong-goes-online-with-shortbread-video" target="_blank">who once tried to soften his image by baking cookies on the Tubez long before Doug Ford's minions got the idea,</a> will instead run federally for Mr. Poilievre.<br /><br />In the process, the Dean of the legislative press gallery takes a wobbly walk down <a href="https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/vaughn-palmer-de-jong-ottawa-bound-bet-on-it">fiscal memory lane:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...De Jong was finance minister in the last B.C. Liberal government. He has taken some heat within his own party for leaving behind a sizable budget surplus for the New Democrats to spend.</i></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;">He makes no apologies: “The biggest criticism I seem to get is that I was too stingy or too careful with public dollars. I’ll take that criticism because when COVID did hit, B.C. was in better shape with its finances than any other province in the country.”...</i></p></blockquote><br />Hmmmm....<br /><br />With the help of the late, great Dermod Travis, I remember things a wee bit differently when it comes to the strategy that the good Mr. de Jong used to generate his 'surplus'.<br /><br />The following is from a post <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2016/09/this-fiscal-year-in-clarkland-youve-got.html" target="_blank">written in 2016:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;">Never mind that </span><a href="http://pacificgazette.blogspot.ca/2016/09/this-day-in-clarklandthirty-six-dollars.html" style="color: #de7008; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;" target="_blank">4 percent MSP increase removal for 2017 thingy</a><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;"> that the Clarklandians have bamboozled the Lotuslandian proMedia into focussing on over the past few news cycles (Ooooooh! Look! Shiny!!!)...</span></i></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;"><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;">Because Dermod Travis of Integrity BC has instead noted the fee-for service gouging that has been going on during </span><a href="https://twitter.com/INTEGRITYBC/status/776587201920368640" style="color: #de7008; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;" target="_blank">the entirety of the years of Clarklandia:</a></i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmWLSp9njbH4vxo4NViGlM19TibN7QY06YtJMauXx8yr2sl2G24ThyphenhyphenCvn7-QEpahsl6NF6D2kCAaMJEZqUZC7gpkkj7y61Noh4JCdHnnvyQURmnbqUsZrN7ewAG6gpjbj7HBgbQ/s1600/MSPIncreases_2010_16.png" style="color: #de7008; font-size: 15.59999942779541px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmWLSp9njbH4vxo4NViGlM19TibN7QY06YtJMauXx8yr2sl2G24ThyphenhyphenCvn7-QEpahsl6NF6D2kCAaMJEZqUZC7gpkkj7y61Noh4JCdHnnvyQURmnbqUsZrN7ewAG6gpjbj7HBgbQ/s640/MSPIncreases_2010_16.png" style="border-width: 0px;" width="640" /></i></span></a></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><br style="font-size: 15.59999942779541px;" /></i></span><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;">Moving out from individuals to the entirety of the British Columbian citizenry, the prediction by Cookie Dough Mike and his minions is that MSP will bring in a collectively regressive </span><a href="http://bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2016/bfp/2016_Budget_and_Fiscal_Plan.pdf" style="color: #de7008; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;" target="_blank">$2,549,000,000 this fiscal year (see pg 127).</a></i></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <i style="font-family: courier;"><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;">Now.... </span></i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;"><b style="font-size: 15.59999942779541px;">First:</b><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;"> No other government in Canada hauls in money in this completely non-progressive way.</span></i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: courier;"><b style="font-size: 15.59999942779541px;">Second:</b><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;"> Take away that $2.5B gouge/regressive pretend-it's-not-a-tax and Cookie Dough's </span><a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016FIN0038-001701" style="color: #de7008; font-size: 15.59999942779541px;" target="_blank">new prediction of a $1.9B surplus is completely gone.</a></i></p></blockquote><br />Yes...<div><br /></div><div>I do have archives and I'm going to use 'em.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">______</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>And, still herding after all these years, </b>the Keef weighs in on<a href="https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/opinion/baldrey-what-this-longtime-mlas-departure-could-mean-bcs-political-future-8329830" target="_blank"> the same story.</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.<br /></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-51757315774735898282024-02-19T15:58:00.003-08:002024-03-02T15:48:14.175-08:00My Weekend Ride.<div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioH0mTZBvvBy125K7ycWldXpbNVh0-GHs1IBZp6Q1_s8oe-2n3859WK6Xd8Ng7Nz52f8Cve5I7WVyrfvgO0y1aas2LN4QRjW3T0wyqF0fMDQ577OMx5ySuZa_E6g8Gv9YNm8u3rXu0K_hF1sXpHkKQ4Aeic-Kht3VK8caCJNHLpcF2-dVyPT4zrg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="1882" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioH0mTZBvvBy125K7ycWldXpbNVh0-GHs1IBZp6Q1_s8oe-2n3859WK6Xd8Ng7Nz52f8Cve5I7WVyrfvgO0y1aas2LN4QRjW3T0wyqF0fMDQ577OMx5ySuZa_E6g8Gv9YNm8u3rXu0K_hF1sXpHkKQ4Aeic-Kht3VK8caCJNHLpcF2-dVyPT4zrg=w494-h219" width="494" /></a></div></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Where'sHorgan</span></b></div></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">WestshoreVille</span></b><br /><br /><br />Had a work thing late Friday so C and the Whackadoodle II headed over to SouthVan Isle without me.<div><br /></div><div>I followed Saturday.</div><div><br /></div><div>On my bike.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjd7J03LQCShjZgpwpA_aiWgzLnzA42PM0LOeZhCXYfL_0nd4UEHHr6uU_ePf6gtoFTTYFuuryxAE9n2oPbf2HvVCenoaDoFWyIki_T3qzXukTt2jmX1H9Mbl5Nscdd6cGmOPZ2HBRE8kASMuyrlOLrR7lqhcmniurI84fQvsI8GOBC7UnOXPYnw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2241" data-original-width="4032" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjd7J03LQCShjZgpwpA_aiWgzLnzA42PM0LOeZhCXYfL_0nd4UEHHr6uU_ePf6gtoFTTYFuuryxAE9n2oPbf2HvVCenoaDoFWyIki_T3qzXukTt2jmX1H9Mbl5Nscdd6cGmOPZ2HBRE8kASMuyrlOLrR7lqhcmniurI84fQvsI8GOBC7UnOXPYnw=w492-h274" width="492" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoy the Lochside Route into Victoria from the ferry - especially the flats from Mitchell's to Mattick's Farm. Then it was out to Colwood along the Galloping Goose. A good 50 km with the ride to Bridgeport to get the Tsawwassen bus on the Lotusland side added in.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCqxVR0UdOjUCthN_bqTNfco_t0XIDK1GwTW2mnj6C2f_TFs1dNzNSNYE9ZIKb4v_2CHibsVBwySfXapl7ltcDFTieVINShnkIxSwPVDeZgoWVbQ_6x53Kp0_VM72KYkCsprEMeVd8Sah2ylhWd7wYf0w3rc6WK2qndgZ97zuLyz83v5CtjFC6OA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2406" data-original-width="4032" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCqxVR0UdOjUCthN_bqTNfco_t0XIDK1GwTW2mnj6C2f_TFs1dNzNSNYE9ZIKb4v_2CHibsVBwySfXapl7ltcDFTieVINShnkIxSwPVDeZgoWVbQ_6x53Kp0_VM72KYkCsprEMeVd8Sah2ylhWd7wYf0w3rc6WK2qndgZ97zuLyz83v5CtjFC6OA=w492-h292" width="492" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>Sunday, I rode out a little farther through Langford and out to Happy Valley on the GG.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2bEMCleW_YXvz-YzOUoRcD-nLNSvDNlrj04FHIlZrwuXDfJIlHGf8mTIYxRTk6pgxeXfAu9otiUoKztxEFTiio_Mk91NyK4fkOYi4ifht2mOJ9uoMMzKfSaRSZCcVrRPFdTYVZx8J8-J0PgRthf7kAgTnFoIrCfkiahL_eyGCDoi8Cp1oSH9IPA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1987" data-original-width="4032" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2bEMCleW_YXvz-YzOUoRcD-nLNSvDNlrj04FHIlZrwuXDfJIlHGf8mTIYxRTk6pgxeXfAu9otiUoKztxEFTiio_Mk91NyK4fkOYi4ifht2mOJ9uoMMzKfSaRSZCcVrRPFdTYVZx8J8-J0PgRthf7kAgTnFoIrCfkiahL_eyGCDoi8Cp1oSH9IPA=w492-h243" width="492" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>No sign of the former premier anywhere. </div><div><br /><br />.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-75615433178631000302024-02-16T11:50:00.001-08:002024-02-16T11:50:08.638-08:00What Would Alexei Have Done?<br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">IfTheyDecideTo</span></b><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span>KillMeVille</span></b><br /></span><br /><br />The anti-Putin Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, <a href="https://www.bbcselect.com/ca/watch/the-man-putin-couldnt-kill/">who already survived a poisoning</a>, is dead.<br /><br />Below is his wife Yulia speaking at the Munich Security Conference just hours after she learned the news:</div><div><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Kc4ZuyRAbc?si=U1pGBmaBP3rQr7_A" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">_____<br /></span><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Back end of the sub header?.</b>...<a href="https://twitter.com/jason_corcoran/status/1758481357309694024/video/1" target="_blank">"It means we are incredibly strong."</a></span><br /><br /><br />.</div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-46767915557721456762024-02-14T15:37:00.007-08:002024-02-20T17:44:51.090-08:00That Handedness Thing Again.<br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTuArUSLqeIPYjgHms2ncPMBGo9v1SLdoowoCWgqasBTdnONcm3C0g4PR1Sms_agKWEZV2zhJ4WKzOjLiUR55_4qK1oGJ8vbvOmDBAbTYnI1psst5oBvt7t_O-nrU7AN-7GxbUD1IAsG4p1bk4_WqizFkLmWMNZtFZ8VCk_aZ2vCN90TePhxkmZA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1332" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTuArUSLqeIPYjgHms2ncPMBGo9v1SLdoowoCWgqasBTdnONcm3C0g4PR1Sms_agKWEZV2zhJ4WKzOjLiUR55_4qK1oGJ8vbvOmDBAbTYnI1psst5oBvt7t_O-nrU7AN-7GxbUD1IAsG4p1bk4_WqizFkLmWMNZtFZ8VCk_aZ2vCN90TePhxkmZA=w473-h299" width="473" /></a></div></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">ThePowerOfThe</span></b><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">AmbiJabVille</span></b><div><div> <br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2024/02/dealing-with-deadlines.html" target="_blank">In the last post</a> we got into a bit of a discussion about the contortions a left-handed person needs to perform when they are forced to complete an exam while sitting in one of those right-handed mini-desks that are often attached to chairs in big lecture halls and/or converted gymnasiums.<br /><br />Which, of course, is crummy.<br /><br />But nothing like the old days when folks like my maternal grandmother were forced to switch to using their right hands for everything they did in school because being left-handed was, by definition, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/sinister-left-dexter-right-history" target="_blank">'sinister'.</a><br /><br />However...<br /><br />Is there ever a situation where switching hands, or, more appropriately in this case, arms, is a good thing?<br /><br />Turns out that, when it comes to multiple vaccination regimens, that just might be case.<br /><br />The following if from the abstract of recent paper by a group from Portland published in the very respectable <a href="https://www.jci.org/articles/view/176411" target="_blank">Journal of Clinical Investigation:</a><br /><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...In previously unexposed adults receiving an initial vaccine series with the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, contralateral boosting substantially increases antibody magnitude and breadth at times beyond 3 weeks after vaccination. This effect should be considered during arm selection in the context of multi-dose vaccine regimens...</i></span></div></blockquote><div><br /><br /></div><div>Translation:<br /><br />If you got your first COVID jab in one arm and then switched to the other arm for the second jab you likely made more antibody against the virus for a significant amount of time.<br /><br />Imagine that!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">________</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Why?...</b>Not clear yet...One suggestion in the paper is that you generate more 'memory' B lymphocytes that can generate antibody over the long haul when you get jabbed in both arms, maybe because you get twice as many draining lymph nodes involved.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Tip'OTheToque</b> to Mike The Mad Biologist for<a href="https://mikethemadbiologist.com/2024/02/14/links-2-14-24/" target="_blank"> the heads-up on the paper...</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div></div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-89094953005711769892024-02-11T12:26:00.003-08:002024-02-11T22:07:57.627-08:00Deadline Day.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWSYfc3V7a6YMub4cDyUibDeQJAkEITJd87ESGxdEz7s8Nb18kV0gWGRreM5LnB8o6WvVOyyKdwh_aWymbIncuvmSg8iYo0XShPEaxhjZ0Bg-QBN2fR_e67GpovGNMMBWusYuQumDsvm79zT1SnN3vQTs9JwMoJE0FJQ0WtcEvhCr-sw53azFpMg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="960" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWSYfc3V7a6YMub4cDyUibDeQJAkEITJd87ESGxdEz7s8Nb18kV0gWGRreM5LnB8o6WvVOyyKdwh_aWymbIncuvmSg8iYo0XShPEaxhjZ0Bg-QBN2fR_e67GpovGNMMBWusYuQumDsvm79zT1SnN3vQTs9JwMoJE0FJQ0WtcEvhCr-sw53azFpMg=w501-h393" width="501" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">WhereIsThatConfoundedLeftHanded<br />DeskVille</span></b><br /><br /><br />Back in the days before the thought of becoming an academic lifer was even remotely visible far, far over the horizon, I became very good at the cramming for exams.<br /><br />And then one time, I think it was in the run up to Christmas break during my third year as an undergradual, I hit a wall a couple of days before it was time to trudge off to the cavernous McKinnon gym with hundreds of other young folks so that we could furiously empty our brains onto the page.<br /><br />The issue was that, suddenly and somewhat inexplicably, I temporarily lost the one thing I ever had in common with Richard M. Nixon.<br /><br />Which was my <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/evan-thomas-did-nixon-start-politics-hate-89829" target="_blank">'iron butt'</a>, the ability to sit in a chair and focus, really hard, for hours on end.<br /><br />When I mentioned the problem to my Dad at the time, he took a moment before saying that I should remember all the work I'd already done and just relax a bit because everything would be fine, regardless.<br /><br />I'm not sure if I heeded his wise words at the time.<br /><br />But now, 40-plus years on, I am doing my best to channel them as I struggle to strap the iron into the chair once again so that I can finish yet another project on deadline over the next 48 hours.<br /><br />Argh...<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">______</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Image at the top of the post</b> is by JJ Philion is from the UVIC archives, resurrected by a young fellow named Malcom, a member of the school's official blogger army <a href="https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/myuviclife/2015/03/13/exams-term-papers-and-kokanee/" target="_blank">a few years ago.</a></span><br /><br /><br />.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-2192063968249425402024-02-08T11:45:00.003-08:002024-02-08T15:17:24.577-08:00Some Days Are Longer Than Others.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqgD7weznljd_JTStf-EjL43zRNjbJPXOEMf4ucETdlscVh-PtSv8dsGEl3XUkOR7Mb1nDLrzUQ5KHCjhP-X3UN4GhXB1x2E-gAvspt8Hz9u44Fh2pLSthRcfzWEkgOK5Gu-Ohinl3m14auXH8m2rfzK2UOImNw2vX0FnibgL1OGCwPtqK5KR75g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="540" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqgD7weznljd_JTStf-EjL43zRNjbJPXOEMf4ucETdlscVh-PtSv8dsGEl3XUkOR7Mb1nDLrzUQ5KHCjhP-X3UN4GhXB1x2E-gAvspt8Hz9u44Fh2pLSthRcfzWEkgOK5Gu-Ohinl3m14auXH8m2rfzK2UOImNw2vX0FnibgL1OGCwPtqK5KR75g=w467-h497" width="467" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">TriumphOfTheWitless<br />NotChaplinVille</span></b><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div>What began as a spur of the moment stream of consciousness throwaway from he who would be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dictator#/media/File:Dictator_charlie2.jpg">Adenoid Hynkel</a> for a day is now viewed as 'definitely or probably good' by a significant proportion of all kinds and categories of US'ians.<br /><br />Is this due to the great influence of a certain Mr. Hannity, who was the receiver of the throwaway, and the propaganda strength of the cable news network that Mr. Hannity works for?<br /><br />Well.</div><div><br /></div><div>I guess you could make that case for the majority of the members of a certain political party.<br /><br />But what about the rest of the population?<br /><br />Is it possible that they are being influenced by milk toasty obsequious think pieces from very serious commentators working at even more serious mainstream media outlets?<div><br /></div><div>To wit, check out the following lede by a piece from the Washington Post's national columnist<a href="https://archive.is/ij8On#selection-593.0-593.201" target="_blank"> Philip Bump:</a><br /><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>The irony of Donald Trump’s assertion that he would seek to have dictatorial powers for the first day of his presidency is that he was supposed to be saying he had no authoritarian inclinations at all...</i></span></div></blockquote><div><br /><br />Gosh.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wonder if the good Mr. Bump has ever considered the possibility that being a little bit dictator might be the same as being a little bit pregnant?</div><div><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">______</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Subheader?...</b> Apparently, Charlie Chaplin decided to make 'The Great Dictator', in which he played the fellow named Adenoid referenced above, after he watched L. Riefenstahl's nazi propaganda film<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Will#/media/File:Triumph_des_Willens_poster.jpg" target="_blank"> 'Triumph of the Will'.</a><br /></span><br /><br />.</div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-88637550405025991112024-01-26T10:38:00.005-08:002024-01-27T11:33:14.665-08:00Vancouver's 'Temporary' Parks In Potential Privatization Peril...The City Manager Weighs In.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgt6ujbP6AuZQwWWr-yy_8kHaRr9H98713aza39qXTAi1zFw4CNIZbDBJxo62fNG9wEY1O3iLTTcjY6eVISA0SMXEau1KdVO8VC5s64Ra7K7npuE4pmzIsxK8P_M5C1rpFsX4TLiIWceDMHHAKEkfCZlSTyu5Unv5ZmZ5sUhUsTLXkZensW7eip2g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="1024" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgt6ujbP6AuZQwWWr-yy_8kHaRr9H98713aza39qXTAi1zFw4CNIZbDBJxo62fNG9wEY1O3iLTTcjY6eVISA0SMXEau1KdVO8VC5s64Ra7K7npuE4pmzIsxK8P_M5C1rpFsX4TLiIWceDMHHAKEkfCZlSTyu5Unv5ZmZ5sUhUsTLXkZensW7eip2g=w564-h268" width="564" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">JustBecauseThisIsNotHoustonDoesNotMeanWeDon't</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">HaveAProblemVille<br /></span></b><br /> <br /></div><div>In recent posts, we discussed how the <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2024/01/thats-some-recommendation-that.html" target="_blank">recommendations from the mayor's budgetary task force</a> potentially puts <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-unprotected-one-hundred.html" target="_blank">100 'temporary' parks in privatization peril</a>, particularly if the parks board is abolished.<div><br /></div><div>So.</div><div><br /></div><div>Does the City of Vancouver itself also recognize that there might be a problem here?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, according to Francis Bula's tweet storm coverage of a press conference held yesterday to calm the waters given the massive wake caused by the Mayor's drive to abolish the parks board, the city manager, Paul Mochrie, <a href="https://twitter.com/fabulavancouver/status/1750568693103472792" target="_blank">apparently does:</a><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtxVE3UKuv6YGRbp6PB_jwUhzxzhrsDxC0FpwOesjI1K0w-vdMIjHZDmwh3UUaVbVlAn3ov1exWa_zaUnSP1drmhJBN2SaQXrCGTd0CF3EaBqBf4rT93MpN5CbX45jEx9iZzhi-emdz3VjemApRC5ti7b-HcyaUjPkF_IQJRmDFkdcRV-mA-tEgg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="1031" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtxVE3UKuv6YGRbp6PB_jwUhzxzhrsDxC0FpwOesjI1K0w-vdMIjHZDmwh3UUaVbVlAn3ov1exWa_zaUnSP1drmhJBN2SaQXrCGTd0CF3EaBqBf4rT93MpN5CbX45jEx9iZzhi-emdz3VjemApRC5ti7b-HcyaUjPkF_IQJRmDFkdcRV-mA-tEgg=w647-h202" width="647" /></a></div><br /><br />So there you have it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The city is 'looking at opportunities' to protect public lands (i.e. all those temporary 'park spaces') that are being put in potential peril of privatization due to the concerted actions of the very same city's mayor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don't know about you, but I'm not sure that allays any of my fears.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">______</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Image at the top of the post.... </b><a href="https://csg001-harmony.sliq.net/00317/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20231214/-1/20465?mediaStartTime=20231213150000&mediaEndTime=20231213150255&viewMode=3" target="_blank">Sunset Beach TempPark</a>...Taken from <a href="https://vancouverparkguide.ca/2022/01/24/10-sunset-beach/" target="_blank">Justin McElroy's fantastic and comprehensive ranking of all 240 (permanent and temporary) parks in Vancouver.</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.<br /><br /></div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-70262694995199530672024-01-25T14:45:00.005-08:002024-01-25T20:27:11.172-08:00Sometimes Zero Is A Very Good Number, Indeed.<div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNAIqRWOFWbr8QstI8qtefCURfQzFd0VGT27ms1kwNPpGgrZyweSKOFCcHfinOgdcle0qiCZ8rRBuSvetHM5ntdzGWlLqwuVhDaE71uHenRst6PvgmG3E2UORPL4rEVnIubRXIOyG-u40H0P7OLZKR0BZY8x2BwrahYw4kQJ1ZRsv6GK4Ir8_k9A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1040" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNAIqRWOFWbr8QstI8qtefCURfQzFd0VGT27ms1kwNPpGgrZyweSKOFCcHfinOgdcle0qiCZ8rRBuSvetHM5ntdzGWlLqwuVhDaE71uHenRst6PvgmG3E2UORPL4rEVnIubRXIOyG-u40H0P7OLZKR0BZY8x2BwrahYw4kQJ1ZRsv6GK4Ir8_k9A=w430-h320" width="430" /></a></div></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">TheBestHealthIs</span></b></div></span></b><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">PublicHealthVille</span></b><br /><br /><br /></div><div>I've written about this before, but as a tail end boomer I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones.<br /><br />And I'm not just talking about all of the socioeconomic benefits bestowed upon me just because I was born at the tail end of the 1950's.<br /><br />Instead, I'm talking about polio.<br /><br />Because, unlike a good friend of mine who was born just a few years earlier, it is not something I ever had to worry about.<br /><br />Or live with.<br /><br />Fast forward to the 2000's when our two girls were coming of age and a different vaccine was being rolled out in public schools all over the world.<br /><br />This one against human papilloma virus.<br /><br />At the time, Bigger E. asked me if I thought this was a good idea.<br /><br />I told her that it was clear that a couple of the virus strains were a major contributing cause of cervical cancer so preventing HPV infection was definitely a good idea. However, being the science geek that I am I couldn't stop there. So I also told her that the development of the disease itself takes a long time which, at the time that she was going to get her jabs, the actual effect on cervical cancer rates wasn't yet known with certainty. Probably broke a number of Dad codes with that last bit - Sorry E.<br /><br />Anyway...<br /><br />The cervical cancer rate reduction data are now rolling in.<br /><br />And the upshot is very good, indeed.<br /><br />From<a href="https://publichealthscotland.scot/news/2024/january/no-cervical-cancer-cases-detected-in-vaccinated-women-following-hpv-immunisation/"> Scottish Public Health:</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>An exciting new study from Public Health Scotland (PHS), in collaboration with the Universities of Strathclyde and Edinburgh, shows that no cervical cancer cases have been detected in fully vaccinated women following the human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation at age 12-13 since the programme started in Scotland in 2008. <br /><br />The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute today, concludes that the HPV vaccine is highly effective in preventing the development of cervical cancer...<br /></i></span><br />The actual paper is<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jnci/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jnci/djad263/7577291?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank"> here (see Abstract at bottom of post).</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>****</b></div><br />This is the way things are supposed to work. <br /><br />Initial fundamental/basic research, followed by clinical validation and pharma doing things right, from drug development through trials, all ending in a sweeping public health measure that improves everyone's lives (the vaccine is not just for young women and cervical cancer prevention anymore - it is efficacious against multiple types of HPV- driven cancers).<div><br /></div><div>OK?</div><div><br /></div>______<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://academic.oup.com/jnci/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jnci/djad263/7577291?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank">Abstract</a><br />Background</b><br />High-risk human papillomavirus causes cervical cancer. Vaccines have been developed that significantly reduce the incidence of preinvasive and invasive disease. This population-based observational study used linked screening, immunization, and cancer registry data from Scotland to assess the influence of age, number of doses, and deprivation on the incidence of invasive disease following administration of the bivalent vaccine.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Methods</b><br />Data for women born between January 1, 1988, and June 5, 1996, were extracted from the Scottish cervical cancer screening system in July 2020 and linked to cancer registry, immunization, and deprivation data. Incidence of invasive cervical cancer per 100 000 person-years and vaccine effectiveness were correlated with vaccination status, age at vaccination, and deprivation; Kaplan Meier curves were calculated.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Results</b><br />No cases of invasive cancer were recorded in women immunized at 12 or 13 years of age irrespective of the number of doses. Women vaccinated at 14 to 22 years of age and given 3 doses of the bivalent vaccine showed a significant reduction in incidence compared with all unvaccinated women (3.2/100 000 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.1 to 4.6] vs 8.4 [95% CI = 7.2 to 9.6]). Unadjusted incidence was significantly higher in women from most deprived (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 1) than least deprived (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 5) areas (10.1/100 000 [95% CI = 7.8 to 12.8] vs 3.9 [95% CI = 2.6 to 5.7]). Women from the most deprived areas showed a significant reduction in incidence following 3 doses of vaccine (13.1/100 000 [95% CI = 9.95 to 16.9] vs 2.29 [95% CI = 0.62 to 5.86]).<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Conclusion</b><br />Our findings confirm that the bivalent vaccine prevents the development of invasive cervical cancer and that even 1 or 2 doses 1 month apart confer benefit if given at 12-13 years of age. At older ages, 3 doses are required for statistically significant vaccine effectiveness. Women from more deprived areas benefit more from vaccination than those from less deprived areas.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">______</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Another time I broke the Dad codes with E?..</b>.It was when I let my science geek tendencies run amok while helping her with her Grade 7 science project...Long story short - her teacher rightly informed me that rigorous statistical significance analyses of the data generated were a pretty good indication that the project just may have become as much mine as E's...Apologies for that one also kid.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-72851923345471044132024-01-24T14:54:00.005-08:002024-01-24T14:54:50.878-08:00Developers? In Lotusland?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuTrU8ZW4vEoZic4mYqTNs8Pt2-s4laSO0mEtkOp1L76Xxk0FfTQhmEHa9R6xyzPn1Qhp_zL5a4E7L838yt0u5hngsyWLOAvf7yKQiUErSQxGAGT7Ht3g7-x4slGnaYdqm-vCHFVw-hBFCXc1pRj8_NPFzL-tEPaTfdzrAw64ysJtgL6Ysoe5Kww" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1200" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuTrU8ZW4vEoZic4mYqTNs8Pt2-s4laSO0mEtkOp1L76Xxk0FfTQhmEHa9R6xyzPn1Qhp_zL5a4E7L838yt0u5hngsyWLOAvf7yKQiUErSQxGAGT7Ht3g7-x4slGnaYdqm-vCHFVw-hBFCXc1pRj8_NPFzL-tEPaTfdzrAw64ysJtgL6Ysoe5Kww=w594-h256" width="594" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">AllTheirBagmen<br />'RUsVille</span></b><br /><br /><br />Raymond Tomlin, who is really on top of this parks board on the killing floor thing, explains why the City of Vancouver has been so developer friendly for the <a href="https://vanramblings.com/saveourparkboard-the-genesis-of-the-movement-to-abolish-park-board/" target="_blank">last fifty plus years:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...Whether it’s developer Mayor Tom Campbell in the late 60s, or Joel Solomon and Gregor Robertson for a 10-year period when Vision Vancouver was at the seat of power at Vancouver City Hall, or in these latter days, with an avuncular — but dare we say, avaricious — Peter Armstrong and Chip Wilson (backing ABC Vancouver), we who call Vancouver home are reminded yet again, and much to our consternation, this is not our city, for Vancouver is owned lock, stock and barrel by the developer class...</i></span></blockquote><br /><br />Go and read Mr. Tomlin's entire post - it's good.<br /><br /><br /><br />.RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-40144236633933566852024-01-23T14:23:00.007-08:002024-01-26T09:30:59.489-08:00The Unprotected One Hundred.<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiy64jiBlOIt8kI_H5lrDvprrnqdwCgXgVopAMHpPSqlRIHeISGDEu9OWQzIb2jnUVpqUIYpMXyl5FltNLSCRK81laCJ_SkTEdVG5c7vfPeXyhcfcNZupiEIa3FEfY5qtAj1RwKJVc3Owhi_mTYlpLa_zUvR7tRYzZM6WEfAgwq-IUPeNZTRVorsA" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="440" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiy64jiBlOIt8kI_H5lrDvprrnqdwCgXgVopAMHpPSqlRIHeISGDEu9OWQzIb2jnUVpqUIYpMXyl5FltNLSCRK81laCJ_SkTEdVG5c7vfPeXyhcfcNZupiEIa3FEfY5qtAj1RwKJVc3Owhi_mTYlpLa_zUvR7tRYzZM6WEfAgwq-IUPeNZTRVorsA=w671-h301" width="671" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div></b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><div><br /><br />Laura Christensen was elected to the Vancouver Parks Board on Mr. Sim's ABC ticket in <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/oath-of-office-christensen.pdf" target="_blank">November of 2022.</a></div><div><br />Ms. Christensen is <a href="https://twitter.com/l_christe/status/1732447059926806932?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1732447059926806932%7Ctwgr%5E29ded73acaaeb9448120e5849345e04c2ebedcf4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthetyee.ca%2FNews%2F2023%2F12%2F13%2FVancouver-Park-Board-Not-Dead-Yet%2F" target="_blank">no longer an ABC Parks Board Commissioner</a>, and is instead now sitting as an independent.<br /><br />When the good Mr. Sim, the ABC leader and current Mayor, announced his intention to abolish the Parks Board late last year, Ms. Christensen was passionate in her defense of the elected Board, making it clear that when he she first agreed to run, Mr. Sim assured her that the Board would be reformed but would remain if his party won the election.<br /><br />So.<br /><br />Is there something untoward going on here?<br /><br />For example, will the abolishment of the Parks Board clear the way for the selling off of park land under the now public, and some might say infamous, <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2024/01/thats-some-recommendation-that.html" target="_blank">Recommendation #14 from the Mayor's Budgetary Task Force that we discussed yesterday?<br /></a><br />Well, according to the actual wording of the said Recommendation #14, you could assume that all parks are safe given that they have been assigned to the 'critical asset' category.<br /><br />Additionally, as <a href="https://vanramblings.com/saveourparkboard-ken-sim-abc-vancouver-lies/" target="_blank">Raymond Tomlin noted earlier today</a>, Mr. Sim had the following to say on December 15th of 2023:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: courier;">“I want to be very clear: as long as I’m mayor, parks will always be parks in the City of Vancouver,” Mayor Sim <a href="https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/12/15/vancouver-park-board-ken-sim-plan/">told CityNews</a> in an interview on Friday, December 15, 2023.</span></i></div><br /><br />But here's the thing...<div><br /></div><div>As Ms. Christensen pointed out in her passionate petition to City Council (<a href="https://csg001-harmony.sliq.net/00317/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20231214/-1/20465?mediaStartTime=20231213150000&mediaEndTime=20231213150255&viewMode=3" target="_blank">which you can watch here - it only takes three minutes and it will do your heart good when it comes to restoring your faith in what a true public servant can and should do</a>), one hundred of the City of Vancouver's parks are not designated as 'permanent'. One of those not 'permanent' parks is Spanish Banks, pictured above.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why does this matter?</div><div><br /></div><div>Because, according to independent, and straight speaking, Parks Board Commissioner Christensen this means that the not 'permanent' parks are not protected by the need for a public referendum and a unanimous vote from City Council to 'de-parkify' them.</div><div><br /></div><div>This conclusion of Ms. Christensen is actually supported by the wording in <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/mayor-seeks-amendment-vancouver-charter-to-remove-the-elected-park-board.pdf" target="_blank">Mr. Sim's December 6, 2023 resolution to remove the Parks Board:</a><br /><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: courier;">...FURTHER THAT, in accordance with the above (resolution to remove the Parks Board), (Vancouver City) Council formally request that the Province of British Columbia amend the process for revoking and/or cancelling the designation of areas designated as </span><b style="font-family: courier;">permanent public parks</b><span style="font-family: courier;"> of the City under the VC, notably under section 488 of the VC (“Parks in care of Board”), to a unanimous vote of all Council members, along with provisions for a public referendum... </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(material in brackets and <b>bolding</b> mine)</span></i></div></blockquote><div><br /><br />And if a big chunk of developer desirable not permanent parkland were to be de-parkified with no elected Parks Board to protect it?</div><div><br /></div><div>Hmmmmmm.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps we should ask ourselves what might happen to said de-parkified public land under the good Mayor's Task Force 'Recommendation #14 for asset privatization?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">_____</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Now, does an entire park have be swallowed</b>, whole, by a developer to make a few of the chosen ones a whole lotta money?....Of course not?...How do I know this?...Because I saw the entire deal go down, up-close-and-personal, when another bait-and-switch happy politician <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2008/03/heart-of-pacific-spirit-park-is-on-life.html" target="_blank">cut the heart out of Pacific Spirit Park</a> under the guise (i.e. initial bogus bait) of protecting the edges of a golf course<a href="http://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2007/08/save-golf-course.html" target="_blank">...Seriously.</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Again, Raymond Tomlin </b>is <a href="https://vanramblings.com/saveourparkboard-ken-sim-abc-vancouver-lies/" target="_blank">all over this story over at his place.</a></span></div><div><br /><br /><br />.</div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-5449262098480271252024-01-22T15:03:00.003-08:002024-01-22T15:25:18.081-08:00That's Some Recommendation, That Recommendation 14.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKRHbiurXSGKkFZkUHckCyVXLSR2NUepFxJaRJcmyN-U_Q9gphaah-rsnyiDmtWzWq2eNtJw9G4swAm-DbMfaVIF7YEVz-msXBotTBVyxUR2p1Ss9FfTt5vLla51rYGYVzEGFTavsaQhM1znUR5HEeF0ReB5RnEUfhF9lhiLWlblP7VtHDYJs44Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2860" data-original-width="7763" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKRHbiurXSGKkFZkUHckCyVXLSR2NUepFxJaRJcmyN-U_Q9gphaah-rsnyiDmtWzWq2eNtJw9G4swAm-DbMfaVIF7YEVz-msXBotTBVyxUR2p1Ss9FfTt5vLla51rYGYVzEGFTavsaQhM1znUR5HEeF0ReB5RnEUfhF9lhiLWlblP7VtHDYJs44Q=w652-h240" width="652" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">JustAddEight<br />AndCallMrHellerInTheMorningVille</span></b><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>From that City of Vancouver <a href="https://council.vancouver.ca/20240123/documents/r1.pdf" target="_blank">'Mayor's Budget Task Force Report' </a>that I've been blathering on about recently:</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho6X7C6Su7-6vZdB1BVnHk_bvPz3zlj07YXnJgWGapHoJzTFpT1DOmxunhuSw92dmdnmpvC_de-mY0YipafIudw1ZtDm_QaULzRi2PqsFFtcIvMxRcOdp00Iu_Rv7Qp5Iqg-1OWrXAaIHrJ5TXVfJb8gOkASBKofk5Wr-k1uUnp-KnhDbZBS8GAw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1232" data-original-width="765" height="613" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho6X7C6Su7-6vZdB1BVnHk_bvPz3zlj07YXnJgWGapHoJzTFpT1DOmxunhuSw92dmdnmpvC_de-mY0YipafIudw1ZtDm_QaULzRi2PqsFFtcIvMxRcOdp00Iu_Rv7Qp5Iqg-1OWrXAaIHrJ5TXVfJb8gOkASBKofk5Wr-k1uUnp-KnhDbZBS8GAw=w380-h613" width="380" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Hmmmmm...</div><div><br /></div><div>I see that 'parks' are on the no-go/do-not sell 'Core Assets' list.</div><div><br /></div><div>But what if a park like, say, Spanish Banks, is not actually a park?</div><div><br /></div><div>At least not a 'permanent' one.</div><div><br /></div><div>More on that in the next post...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">_____</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Raymond Tomlin</b> is a little ahead of me on this one if you want to head over to his place and cut pretty much <a href="https://vanramblings.com/saveourparkboard-80s-redux-greed-is-good/" target="_blank">directly to the chase...</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Subheader?</b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGzR3h67pg8" target="_blank">....This!</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-62479248575010233492024-01-20T15:10:00.005-08:002024-01-21T10:19:48.898-08:00Drop Turd, The Herd Will Follow.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">ForThoseWhoCanBe</span></b><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">SteeredVille</span></b><br /><div><br /><br /></div><div>The media herd that is.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>****</b></div><br />Yesterday, Norm Farrell wrote about the many municipalities in British Columbia, including the City of Vancouver, that are sitting on <a href="https://in-sights.ca/2024/01/19/local-governments-sitting-on-piles-of-cash/" target="_blank">mountains of 'surplus' cash:</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRf1_am6VpRFr4JpBul2eeS6gFhxLa4EYq_LiYmvMVqo2IgtXniYV9HG-6cNi1YDB3T2uSLsXfGoO_B_Nz_xI5I60DJ_5gVmqfiiZsYXQ6OlLA0lp5lY06qW60pH7EfQ1qDHpXT6toYz4UA_snA-aw8JrTWt0VFRbEvxUhPLV6bk36w_v1hQW2tg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1199" height="479" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRf1_am6VpRFr4JpBul2eeS6gFhxLa4EYq_LiYmvMVqo2IgtXniYV9HG-6cNi1YDB3T2uSLsXfGoO_B_Nz_xI5I60DJ_5gVmqfiiZsYXQ6OlLA0lp5lY06qW60pH7EfQ1qDHpXT6toYz4UA_snA-aw8JrTWt0VFRbEvxUhPLV6bk36w_v1hQW2tg=w522-h479" width="522" /></a></div><br /><br />At the time, I couldn't help but note that despite this, <a href="https://council.vancouver.ca/20240123/documents/r1.pdf" target="_blank">based on a pretty much data-free report from the Mayor's budgetary task force,</a> we would soon be hearing about how we could get out of the phantom fiscal woods by selling off public assets.<br /><br />And today, whadd'ya <a href="http://know...https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/dan-fumano-vancouver-could-sell-assets-to-improve-finances-report-says" target="_blank">know...</a></div><div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifUEl0ydPE8_CFUt21jTbwPFgk5PJjivHnr7GqcbklXzM9KU-e9FdppcCcy0B_e4qMvqyq6FtxfKpD_UasvC0y63nj4rr3rHWsv64D77EAE5C7TrECbUcbiWgu1r9tpTJBwamkoi2Hr0x6c0mPaaV3PqSLzJeeDOQd4LaxUOQ32dqoyzKGuPUslg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1305" data-original-width="996" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifUEl0ydPE8_CFUt21jTbwPFgk5PJjivHnr7GqcbklXzM9KU-e9FdppcCcy0B_e4qMvqyq6FtxfKpD_UasvC0y63nj4rr3rHWsv64D77EAE5C7TrECbUcbiWgu1r9tpTJBwamkoi2Hr0x6c0mPaaV3PqSLzJeeDOQd4LaxUOQ32dqoyzKGuPUslg=w408-h538" width="408" /></a></div><br /><br />Digital front page.<br /><br />Vancouver Sun.<br /><br />Can the thundering hooves of the Keef be far behind?<br /><br /><br />.</div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-76830551858264064082024-01-19T14:45:00.002-08:002024-01-19T14:49:27.872-08:00First They Came For The Sociologists...<p><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">IntellectualsMustNotBeSilent<br />NiemollerVille<br /></span></b><br /><br />Post-secondary rank-and-file academics like myself live a very good life.</p><p>Oh, sure, there's lots of complaining and moaning about all manner of petty things, including some of the stuff that I was kinda/sorta jokingly moaning about last fall.</p><p>But here's the thing - regardless the teaching load and/or administrative duties, in a job like this you still have a good chunk of time to do what you want when it comes to your 'scholarly' activity. Personally, I'm lucky enough that I get to spend most of that time working with a fantastic group of people, many of them young and energized, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38188285/" target="_blank">trying to make a small dent in the universe.</a></p><p>There is an off-shoot to this scholarly stuff that boomerangs back into the administrative realm, however. This is acting as an independent/outside 'referee' for folks going forward for such things as tenure and promotion. Given that I have been around for a long time and have a pretty good handle on what's significant (and what is not) in my field, I get a reasonable number of requests to be such a referee.</p><p>Essentially, the requests come from the institution involved. Normally, if I deem myself appropriate to give an informed review, I'm happy to oblige because that's the way our world works, no questions asked.</p><p>The exception to this rule of thumb occurred last fall when I declined such a request on principle because of concerns that had been raised on a number of front's about a certain US'ian state government's highjacking of their public post-secondary system, <a href="https://archive.is/vhvln" target="_blank">this being just one particularly egregious example.</a></p><p>Well...</p><p style="text-align: left;">It turns out that things keep getting worse for post-secondary education in <a href="https://archive.is/Y5LAz#selection-1085.0-1093.317" target="_blank">the Sunshine State:</a><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>Last fall, with little explanation, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. proposed removing sociology from the menu of courses university students can take to meet graduation requirements. On Wednesday, he spoke more clearly, suggesting that sociology studies could veer into “identity politics or theories,” in violation of a new state law.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>“Students should be focused on learning the truth about our country instead of being radicalized by woke ideology in our college classrooms,” Diaz said in comments to the State Board of Education.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>A short time later, the board unanimously approved two rules that will apply to Florida’s 28 state colleges. One prohibits spending on diversity efforts. The other removes sociology as an option to fulfill state requirements for what are known as the “general education” or “core” courses that all students must take...</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>{snip}</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>...“I think the statute is clear that, within the general education core code, courses may not distort significant historical events or include curriculum that teaches identity politics or theories,” Diaz said. “And I think <b>when you go into the sociology course, you’re talking about theories</b>, and that’s an option that students have to explore those theories in a nongeneral education course.”...</i></span></p></blockquote><p><br />Now, if you've been stopping by here occasionally for awhile (and/or have clicked through on the first link, above) you will know that I do not ply my scholarly trade in the humanities.</p><p>But.</p><p>Leaving aside all those 'theories' that are taught all over the place for the moment, including in biology courses where evolution often comes up, there is the following to consider,<a href="https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/01/18/then-they-came-for-the-sociology-departments-but-i-was-not-a-sociologist/" target="_blank"> as noted by fellow academic PZ Myers:</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><b>'...First they came for the sociology departments, but I was not a sociologist...'</b></i></span></p>Enough said? <br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">______</span></b><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Subheader?</b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_..." target="_blank">....This.</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-54010754643561519232024-01-18T03:00:00.004-08:002024-01-18T03:00:00.133-08:00A True (But Definitely Not Blue) Super Spreader.<br /><br />A super spreader of disinformation that<a href="https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1747698107326878020"> is...</a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKBCbs9iP5Xk1Rg_W4QsWhgyjLYLsPCL-0rd1C3NTJJf9osw-5dcsdRjw2g6v1dBHfV0VSUKEvBw6sT1XTJOBZ5-bvz3uQc4b_wCd8Tx3trmbGwgr6lVIWCWuJl5vVM4aIFYxJKrNZOAb8Dlj1Xlutr2rFyds_VwcALt2bt-cxGqUbSEdi3PYzZQ"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKBCbs9iP5Xk1Rg_W4QsWhgyjLYLsPCL-0rd1C3NTJJf9osw-5dcsdRjw2g6v1dBHfV0VSUKEvBw6sT1XTJOBZ5-bvz3uQc4b_wCd8Tx3trmbGwgr6lVIWCWuJl5vVM4aIFYxJKrNZOAb8Dlj1Xlutr2rFyds_VwcALt2bt-cxGqUbSEdi3PYzZQ=w660-h186" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>****</b></div><br />Meanwhile, in old Blighty, a country that is still being ruled by the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2024/01/13/major-measles-outbreak-erupts-in-england-as-vaccine-hesitancy-increases/?utm_source=CanadaHealthwatch&sh=33af66a81614" target="_blank">party of the whackaloons:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>In England, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital is currently grappling with a major outbreak of measles. More than 50 children have been hospitalized in the past month. Vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and polio remain a public health threat. And with childhood vaccine hesitancy—or simply outright refusal—on the rise in the U.K., U.S. and Europe, the problem is likely to worsen...</i></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <i style="font-family: courier;">{snip}</i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> <i style="font-family: courier;">...The spike in cases is fueled by vaccine hesitancy towards the measles, mumps and rubella shot. According to National Health Service England, in December 2022 the MMR vaccination rate in the Birmingham region was around 83%. To optimally protect the population, a rate of at least 95% is critical...</i></p></blockquote><br />Enough said?<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-72866502620135371902024-01-17T12:33:00.002-08:002024-01-17T12:54:44.459-08:00The Fifty-One Percent Incumbent.<div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">AvoidingTheThunderingHerd</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">ProPunditVille</span></b><br /><br /><br />From the inimitable <a href="https://digbysblog.net/2024/01/17/cracks-in-the-coalition/" target="_blank">Digby:</a><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: courier;">"If there’s one state in the nation you can call MAGA country, it’s Iowa. It’s something like 95% white, older than most states, extremely rural and the Republican Party there is as conservative as it gets."</span></i></blockquote><br />Which is interesting because 49% of Republicans voted AGAINST Donald Trump (<a href="https://archive.is/JTWH6" target="_blank">i.e. the man that the overwhelming majority of the fine folks of MAGA country believe won the las US'ian presidential election</a>) in the Iowa caucuses on Monday.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/new-hampshire/" target="_blank">New Hampshire:</a></div><div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8k1gulVwbUpxwli_ePp348MX4v90wI3w19YEflTT8j4vKLgl4liLVJ9icci4YAC55JTxcgHc8spgw9u9tvf2fWkUHb4D6dBUaB8LyfNjmj6tQzfy9xCkGBgl8WBMBPNbm9qh3TbOikVBZQpA-_vYwHDsiyH_xuSVlN99c2R289GnW5rD6Yletlw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1791" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8k1gulVwbUpxwli_ePp348MX4v90wI3w19YEflTT8j4vKLgl4liLVJ9icci4YAC55JTxcgHc8spgw9u9tvf2fWkUHb4D6dBUaB8LyfNjmj6tQzfy9xCkGBgl8WBMBPNbm9qh3TbOikVBZQpA-_vYwHDsiyH_xuSVlN99c2R289GnW5rD6Yletlw=w621-h391" width="621" /></a></div><div><br /></div>.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-73652919602800930072024-01-15T18:11:00.003-08:002024-01-15T18:15:23.610-08:00Politicrap.<div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">TheManFromOshawaIsGone</span></b><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">ButNotForgottenVille</span></b><br /><div> <br /><br />Once again, I got catnipped into clicking through on a link to a <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/ottawa-playbook/2024/01/12/canada-loses-a-giant-remembering-ed-broadbent-00135268" target="_blank">Politico story...</a><br /><br />This time, it was while searching for a little extra biographical nitty-gritty on the late, great Ed Broadbent.<br /><br />But.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I slid down the page looking for something, ummm, original, I suddenly came upon the following:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUEIsJTT03KLHv2rGaKR39ikHj6hOmGvqj2AtwakdvSS1eJm2AzrZ_O-hAhIuIH3j-6-BA-Kb42ZrIY1p33wHugabMAVr3VDgip2CGSpeggA80F4QSpGyE3OP8SF-v3gTpe2qzBQdiSHwWXfLdnYGtgZit1GKLrHqzhHOqU59AWA8lybLkxGKHhA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="1783" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUEIsJTT03KLHv2rGaKR39ikHj6hOmGvqj2AtwakdvSS1eJm2AzrZ_O-hAhIuIH3j-6-BA-Kb42ZrIY1p33wHugabMAVr3VDgip2CGSpeggA80F4QSpGyE3OP8SF-v3gTpe2qzBQdiSHwWXfLdnYGtgZit1GKLrHqzhHOqU59AWA8lybLkxGKHhA=w784-h186" width="784" /></a></div><br /><br />Look.<br /><br />I realize the polls are awful for the Liberals. However, what the blurb above compares is the useless comings and goings of a faux happy-faced political stalking horse who doesn't have to do anything of use and/or substance to do and a guy who is actually, you know, governing.<br /><br />And the former is 'up' while the latter is 'down'?<br /><br />Sheesh.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>****</b></div><br />Meanwhile, down in the deepest bowels of the Tubes...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V9WCNbRJIrk?si=clG0pqR7z1A5OKcB" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>______<br />And speaking of actual Pols</b> doing stuff that actually matters...Why aren't Mr. Singh and Mr. Davies getting more kudos for<a href="https://vanramblings.com/cdnpoli-canadas-new-dental-care-programme/" target="_blank">...This!</a></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-23743187113011480102024-01-14T19:47:00.009-08:002024-01-15T10:46:07.803-08:00Gabriola On My Mind.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtO4ai41JhnYnfkQtncos7-lx_DUEZlCSwaXz9cGTtW45K-2bSkjuCrM64qftNBUwrYj-YzF79bJOVcPFGCJkAqklVXnloeqJoQ_hqjltdARNnFWnej_B-UKFyXW6zXI_eBtFqTjMcGOIHnt6lg-vK7qMmya3hQB1aEhchyfLVusm41IdcQWVvSg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1955" data-original-width="4032" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtO4ai41JhnYnfkQtncos7-lx_DUEZlCSwaXz9cGTtW45K-2bSkjuCrM64qftNBUwrYj-YzF79bJOVcPFGCJkAqklVXnloeqJoQ_hqjltdARNnFWnej_B-UKFyXW6zXI_eBtFqTjMcGOIHnt6lg-vK7qMmya3hQB1aEhchyfLVusm41IdcQWVvSg=w454-h219" width="454" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">NeitherFixed<br />NorLinkedVille<br /></span></b><br /><br />As promised in the last post, we now return you to our regular programming.<div><br /></div><div>Which is...<br /><br />Old guys talking about the weather.<br /><br />Sort of.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>****</b></div><br />A couple of days ago, <a href="https://in-sights.ca/2024/01/12/megaproject-madness/#comment-130493" target="_blank">'atoma4u', a reader over at Norm Farrell's place</a>, mentioned that the original route for the Fast Cat ferries was a straight shot across the Salish Sea from Iona Island to Gabriola.<br /><br />The entire trip would be 40 min followed by a pleasant drive to VanIsle over the connecting mudflats by bridge.<div><br />Somewhat bizarrely, from a political irony POV at least, this route, which removes the need to travel through the tunnel or over Burrard Inlet on the Lotuslandian side, was resurrected by a then headless and rust(ad)-free BC Conservative party in 2017.<br /><br /><a href="https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/b-c-conservatives-pitch-bridge-to-gabriola-island-ferry-to-vancouver-airport-1.3336338" target="_blank">Go figure!</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>****</b></div><br />Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand.<div><br /></div><div>As is our want, the Wackadoodle II and I were wandering the beach at Iona yesterday.</div><div><br /></div><div>Given the temperature, we had the entire thing pretty much to ourselves.<br /><br />And as I gazed across the water and tried to imagine how far out a ferry terminal would have to go to clear the shallows it was impossible ignore (unless you were the Whackadoodle chewing on a stick) the ice in the river-mixed salt chuck.<br /><br />Winter (outflow) winds, indeed...</div><div><br /><div id="buzzsprout-large-player"></div><script charset="utf-8" src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/4263.js?container_id=buzzsprout-large-player&player=large" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">______</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Meanwhile,</b> no burst pipes so far for us...Hope you all have weathered the worst of it as well...Looks like rain by Thursday...</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-20854229039004827462024-01-12T18:54:00.002-08:002024-01-18T17:43:46.306-08:00But What About A Steak-Based Poultice?<br /><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-CJ-poRl0muDAWAXkNr5YydAasO8nb5oXFHa41p0DRjj_n22ht8byb2x2jqjYbuSE6YtUwYOK5saqTb6Z6RqMHNWjTRI1AtxXp0-KXNYZYEXuvIgowlO5qPr7JUgQPUkJJU_LCXJEdO0S8uLQmvETM9gy1KtkLERuUt3yQZdnZtV1yVCq3jLHVQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="369" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-CJ-poRl0muDAWAXkNr5YydAasO8nb5oXFHa41p0DRjj_n22ht8byb2x2jqjYbuSE6YtUwYOK5saqTb6Z6RqMHNWjTRI1AtxXp0-KXNYZYEXuvIgowlO5qPr7JUgQPUkJJU_LCXJEdO0S8uLQmvETM9gy1KtkLERuUt3yQZdnZtV1yVCq3jLHVQ=w380-h223" width="380" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>HypeAnd</b></span><div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>IdeologyVille</b></span><div><br /><br />Remember the following, when it came to hydroxychloroquine, from back in the earliest days of the <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2021/01/but-what-about-bleach.html" target="_blank">COVID pandemic:</a><br /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>"Trump said at a briefing in March (of 2020), “<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?470583-1/white-house-coronavirus-task-force-briefing">What do we have to lose</a>? I feel very good about it.”..."</i></span></blockquote><br /><br />Of course, over the next six months, it was demonstrated <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2020/05/will-data-finally-kill-treatment-zombie.html" target="_blank">over </a>and <a href="https://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-drug-that-mr-trump-did-not-receive.html" target="_blank">over</a> again that the compound was neither useful nor efficacious.<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>****</b></div><br />Now.<br /><br />Back in the very earliest days (i.e. when treatment options for advanced/serious/life-threatening disease were not good), one could argue that the faith-based use of hydroxychloroquine did not do anyone serious harm.<br /><br />But here's the thing...<br /><br />As time passed and legitimate treatments rapidly improved, all the hype-backed, ideologically-driven 'faith' in the miraculous powers of hydroxychloroquine kept on keeping on.<br /><br />And, as you might expect, what those with advanced/serious/life-threatening disease who kept the 'faith' ultimately <i><span style="font-family: inherit;">'had to lose' </span></i>became significant in the extreme.</div><div><br /></div><div>The following are the 'highlights' of a paper published last week by a French group in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222301853X" target="_blank">Biomedicine and Pharmacology:</a></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><ul class="list" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(31, 31, 31); color: #1f1f1f; font-size: 16px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px;"><li class="react-xocs-list-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="list-label" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex-shrink: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 24px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>•</i></span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p id="p0005" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>Hydroxychloroquine was prescribed in hospitalised patients with Covid-19 despite of the low-level evidence.</i></span></p></span></li><li class="react-xocs-list-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="list-label" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex-shrink: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 24px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>•</i></span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p id="p0010" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>Subsequently, HCQ use was associated with an 11% increase in the mortality rate in a meta-analysis of randomized trials.</i></span></p></span></li><li class="react-xocs-list-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="list-label" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex-shrink: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 24px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>•</i></span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p id="p0015" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>The number of hydroxychloroquine related deaths in hospitalised patients is estimated at 16,990 in six countries.</i></span></p></span></li><li class="react-xocs-list-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="list-label" style="box-sizing: border-box; flex-shrink: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 24px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>•</i></span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p id="p0020" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>These findings illustrate the hazard of drug repurposing with low-level evidence for the management of future pandemics.</i></span></p></span></li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, in the very fine state of Florida, the Surgeon General is currently telling the citizenry to avoid mRNA vaccines based on, it would appear,<a href="https://archive.is/0mQeN" target="_blank"> debunked claims.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Imagine that!</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">_______</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Once again...</b>Ya, I've got archives and I'm going to use them...</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>We now return this little F-Troop blog </b>to the matter at hand...Old guys talking about the weather!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229885.post-19216890587545827582024-01-11T12:23:00.000-08:002024-01-11T12:23:00.121-08:00The Bitter Winds Are Coming In...<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_HtwAC6X4L-TVQiZQVVlgojGa8dCo_SNgW5NR5vDBlNOAwD-QfA6sHu4TZL36N1pU-PDe-7IfNh_m0qbT-4wK-MnZnGBvDoOvvEATJf969IjHLFb1Z7misdng608dH54FneLJ-6zbfpz7Ejc9MfOwovJoD433nXd1kKMHQZr0E7sHfWfY4rZXMA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="935" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_HtwAC6X4L-TVQiZQVVlgojGa8dCo_SNgW5NR5vDBlNOAwD-QfA6sHu4TZL36N1pU-PDe-7IfNh_m0qbT-4wK-MnZnGBvDoOvvEATJf969IjHLFb1Z7misdng608dH54FneLJ-6zbfpz7Ejc9MfOwovJoD433nXd1kKMHQZr0E7sHfWfY4rZXMA=w399-h218" width="399" /></a></div><br /><br /><div>Between the time I got on and got off the bus this morning an actual winter wind swooped into Lotusland.<br /><br />As we stepped off the #33 at the end of the line, the person next to me said that it felt like Montreal without the snow.<br /><br />Given how bright out it was I thought of, maybe, Edmonton - but in early April given that -10°C is pretty much springtime in that town.<br /><br />Anyway...<div><br /></div><div>How do you keep the pipes going to the outside taps on the side of the house from freezing again?<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>_____<br />Earworm in the header?<a href="http://...">...</a></b><a href="https://youtu.be/Hi5A9OCAyIk?si=F6SJAvIMK0VZot3I&t=71" target="_blank">This.</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div></div>RossKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com14