the watcher

Previously in Canada when a member of your household got sick with one of the many epidemics that swept through, a card went up on your door or gatepost. . Each disease had a different colour so people knew what that household had. Only the Doctor was allowed in or out. This was within my parents time. Our local cemetery started where it is because two neighbors lost kids and decided to bury them together. If you walk through that cemetery there are monuments where you can see that a family would lose 5 or 6 children over a 2 year span. Imagine being alone in your house. Your child gets sick. You have seen it before with the other little ones that have died. The Doctor might come, you would hope, but down deep you would know they were dieing. Going through that , 5 or 6 times , in a couple of years. Typhoid, diphtheria, scarlet fever, influenza, polio..... This is why there was no discussion when I was a kid about getting a jab. My parents remembered the days before science and medicine won out over these diseases. And now we protest over wearing a mask and getting a jab . Edit : My mother was a nurse in the 1940s .She dealt with alot of polio victims during a bad outbreak including some that required a " iron lung " to breath. I can't imagine what that tough no nonsense lady would have to say. She would be pretty disgusted by all the silliness.

" Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

Agreed, his environmental record left alot to be desired.

I find it interesting / odd that the Conservatives have forgotten what should have been their biggest lesson from the Harper years. You need to be pragmatic if you are a Conservative and want to govern Canada. The guy governed for close to 10 years by suppressing the more radical, members of his party. He was ( I think ) a born again Christian who wouldn't allow his members to table an abortion discussion. He was elected in Alberta yet kept the PAL requirement for gun use and ownership. He recognized the importance of officially naming 1st Nations as a separate nation within the nation. He may have been despised by the left but he knew how to pull the central vote his way. He knew what he could get away with and what he couldn't and forced his party to comply. I had hoped O Toole would have this ability but he wasn't even close. What the PCs are embracing now will keep them out of power. At least I hope it does.

Im was watching the news and They were interviewing a protestor. A supposed trucker. He said he lost his job and now he might lose his home. Well idiot, go home and get to work. There is a desperate shortage of truckers right now. That has always been the case and now it's even more so. I remember getting my Class 1 back in the 80s and a friend said " you realize once you have your class 1 that's all you will get to do right ? " When I ran equipment I sometimes wouldn't tell employers I had my class 1 or I'd be trucking. My point being he made a choice, work or hang out with the idiots there. On top of that, I could have him a job today , vaccinated or not and I haven't been in a truck in 4 years. What a load of BS.

My brother in laws brother is apparently anti vax. He told my sister that Germany was building camps for the unvaxed. I mean really , how stupid are these people. My sister did remind him that her son lives in Germany and would probably have mentioned that to her.

They have latched on to the Pro Choice slogan. There is a couple of minor differences. This 64 year old man will neither get pregnant or have an abortion from close contact.

A couple of comments from someone who votes conservative occasionally : I view this as political suicide. They are ignoring one huge fact. This country is %85 vaxxxed. That %85 will generally be disgusted by the support many PCs are giving to the idiot convoy. They will be pleasing the part of the nation that votes for them no matter what they do. They will be angering the part ( %85 ) of the nation that they need to convince to vote them into power. I can hear the Liberals giggling from here. I often heard people complain that Harper was to controlling. That everything the party did in his time needed to cross his desk and get his stamp of approval. I bet O'Toole wishes he had that kind of control. Aside from the afore mentioned political astuteness or lack thereof, I find the reaction of the PC's disgusting. Not only the support of the vocal ones but the deathly silence of the rest. The PCs challenge is always to appeal to moderate voters. It's the only way they will ever attain power. What's going on now will set their party back to the days of the Reform Party.

I'd like to know how many of these people at the " truckers protest " are actually truckers. Even the ones who actually drove trucks. A good percentage ,maybe half of farms have semis now, or often multiple semis. That doesn't make them truckers. A trucker is someone who makes his living trucking. I have my class 1 and drove trucks both in construction and farming but I'm not a trucker.

I don't care what I was protesting , old man or not, if someone is carrying a Nazi flag by me the war is back on. These damn cowards down there protesting are to gutless, or have no problem with Nazis so they allow it in their protest.The same with what went on at the tomb of the unknown soldier. It's disgusting.

Canada - % 79 fully vaccinated plus %6 partially vaccinated for a total of % 85 vaccinated . The other %15 I'm sure include a % or 2 who can't get Vaccinated and I feel for them. The rest can sit down, shut up and F off. I have no time for them.

Space junk is an ever increasing issue. Several manned units have had to alter course to miss junk lately. This one mind you ,is just interesting. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/26/out-of-control-spacex-rocket-on-track-to-collide-with-the-moon

I don't know if I should put a crying face because he died or a laughing face because of your comment. Well said regardless.

Seriously, my neighbor is a antivaxer and is currently taking cancer treatments. His wife ,also unvaccinated, has a life-long auto-immune disease and will be on a host of different drugs extending her life. It leaves me speechless at times.

No song ever encapsulated raging teenage hormones, promises made in the heat of action and lingering regrets better than " Paradise by the dashboard lights ". More of a one act musical than just a song.

I came across this quote today in the Guardian. It was in reference to the Epstein/Maxwell/ Prince Andrew affair but I feel it holds true for Trump, many other Trump style politicians , many of today's elite rich , ....... ” Could it be that when you grow up in a tiny bubble of rich, protected, privileged, narcissist- and sociopath-heavy elitists, certain human traits such as empathy, conscience and morality are not as fully nurtured as they might be? Discuss over champagne and little people’s tears.

All I can picture is a bunch of idiots sitting around a table with a discussion like this : Idiot 1 - " We can make these punters do anything we want." Other idiots - "Well, almost anything." Idiot 1 - "Anything ! Watch this , I can make them drink their own piss " Everyone laughs Honestly we really are better off if Covid culls the herd a bit. Unfortunately many responsible intelligent others suffer as well.

It does what we all do. It takes a peek outside and goes back in to watch Netflix.

Don't forget PET's quote " living next to the USA is like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly the beast is , you feel every twitch and grunt " When the US falls it won't stay as a vacuum. Some new form will replace it. Both the fall and what replaces it could be rather ugly for Canada.

Alexa McDonough after a long battle with altzimers https://globalnews.ca/news/8513643/alexa-mcdonough-ns-ndp-death/

The whole anti-vax thing is puzzling . But I think the problem is we try to figure out their logic. We just need to accept there is none.

Good discussion . I've really been pondering on the anti-vax people lately. I actually know alot of them. One neighbor had fallen into the whole pro-Trump, anti everything, conspiracy crap before Covid so just naturally became anti vax. He seems perfectly okay taking cancer treatments though. His unvaccinated wife also has a debilitating auto-immune disease. I know a bright, ambitious business woman who I believe took a real punch in the gut with a business she had just opened prior to Covid. I suspect initially it was a reaction to having to shut her doors and having reduced clientele when she was allowed to reopen. She has a close friend who probably heavily influenced her as well.Just a slow slide down the rabbit hole. I know 2 who I just attribute their decision to a lack of intelligence. I know another family that is a really perplexing case. The father is one of the smartest guys I have ever dealt with. His son is a close second. They are incredible business men. Their net worth is hundreds of millions. Their company is on the New York stock exchange. The fathers wife is/ was in hospital with Covid and not doing well the last thing I heard. But they are still anti-vax. I put them down to arrogance. On a good note there can be change of hearts. The Hutterite colony beside us has decided to vaccinate. I was glad to hear it as they are really good people . Most of the rest that I mentioned will never change.

My wife worked as a healthcare aide for 20 years then retired and started doing homecare a few years ago. She now goes into homes where her clients are unmasked. Lots of times there are unmasked visitors there. Some of them aren't vaxed. She gets medical masks and was issued ONE fitted N95 just in case they answer yes to the usual quizz. Eye drops are a common need of her clients so there is lots of very close contact. She can have a dozen clients in a shift . How the hell this is being allowed is beyond me.

Stunning numbers . Eventually I think we all get it. I don't know if its avoidable. Hopefully we can string it out enough that if we need hospitalization there will be room.

I have no idea what " mandatory vaccines " means. I'd love it if every single person got vaccinated. I'm all for vaccine passports for things like sporting events and restaurants. But you can't force people to get vaccines.You can't hold them down and jab them and you can't deny them the fundamentals of Canadian life.