the watcher

I found this interesting because I found out the other day that someone I respect and admire has become a anti masker. She has fallen down the rabbit hole so to speak and I struggle to understand why a reasonable, intelligent, business woman could do that. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/08/among-covid-sceptics-we-are-being-manipulated-anti-lockdown It helps a bit,.....maybe

Adler had a good interview with a Dr from Ontario talking about the Brazil variant. Friggen scary as hell. It's on a completely different level as far as transmisability. He suggests N95 or doubled masks. It will transmit through the air rather than by droplet.

Saying its a waste just means it's a sad situation for anyone to be charged or committed a murder. Not just the murderer and the victim but the families of both. Their lives will never be the same or reach their full potential. It's a waste of multiple lives, and yes often with root causes that reflect both current and historical situations.

Under the O ( for old man ) 63 .........Bingo !!! Booked in for Sunday !

On Manitoba' s rollout : I've been keeping a close watch. We are any where from 5 to 10,000 a day. Which I don't believe ( using advanced mathamatics) is close to promised 20,000. They need to fix it and fix it fast.

I think the Feds did a good job of getting money out there and in a timely fashion. They did a terrible job on procurement. A huge mistake by getting in bed with the Chinese to jointly make one. Why deal with a country that was already upset with us ? The whole deal was bungled and it appears that China was just mining for technology. Then they switched to straight purchasing vaccines . But they were slow to do that. As far as blaming previous Govs for a lack of facility's the UK had no production facilities when Covid hit. They developed a vaccine and built a production facility. The UK is at about %55 vaccination rate. Theres no reason we with a far more stable political situation shouldn't be.

It was a report done by Global. BUT it was done March 20. It appears things are changing and Manitoba as slipped since but here is their report. https://globalnews.ca/news/7706844/covid-provinces-vaccine-rollout-plan/

I'll have a look later. I'm heading out on the road now On Bart we will have to agree to disagree. Questions are questions. Accusations, and firing unanswerable opinions are not my cup of tea. Or leaving a press conference with dead air multiple times to the point that they have to move on and come back later.

Interesting that it was reported recently that a independent study found that Manitoba had one of the best vaccine rollouts in Canada. It was reported in several news outlets. Bartley Kives questioning at the press conferences borders on ignorant and belligerent. And repeatedly when called on for his turn there is dead air which has happened enough that I suspect he walks away from his computer and isn't there when called upon. One of the worst reporter's in Winnipeg in my opinion.

So 3 weeks ago I had a set to with a maskless father and daughter in Winkler Superstore. Last week my wife was in the checkout lineup and the store manager is standing there. So she asked him why don't you do something about the maskless people ? He said I can't. ( BS ) The local cops won't ticket them and those orders are from city council. Now I don't know if he is telling the truth on that or if he is using them as a scapegoat. That damn place is going to be center for a breakout.

There's " I'm sorry " and there's " I'm sorry I got caught " I put all of these into the latter.

Is there a slimier looking guy than Gaetz ? He would get my vote in a " looks untrustworthy " competition. He's even got the 1960s televangelist haircut.

Ya, thats a scary threat. Straight up wrench in the gears of fighting this pandemic.

One of the issues with having the farmers decide was that there is a huge amount of older farmers who aren't actively engaged in farming but are still technically farmers and permit holders. Most of them were pro wheat board. And dont forget , the Conservatives didn't abolish the Wheat Board. They just allowed farmers the option of marketing wheat and barley on their own like the rest of their crops. This issue is one that alot of people had opinions on because of the propaganda put out by BOTH sides. Alot of disinformation. Alot of misunderstanding by people who really had no understanding of the issues or had any hand in the game.. As far as farmers it was a real split down the middle. I had my own farm at the time and worked for my neighbor. He was %100 anti Wheat Board.. Hated it. He figured he lost 30,000 one year because of the wheat board. I also had a neighbor on the other side that was % 100 Pro board. If you want to pick something Harper screwed up on the Wheat Board probably isn't the one. Despite what non farmers in the city were led to believe. As I said previously I had cattle and sold hay so I had no dog in the race. I suspect if actual farmers had got to vote and not just permit holders it probably would have went open market. It certainly would today if it happened

I hate being a cranky old man but when I read that I just want to go on a old man rant about people having no common sense. I KNOW people that have spent their life using crutches because of polio. It's not that long ago. Vaccines saved everyone from that. F##k people are stupid !

The US has lost all semblance of a functioning state,

Not really. I know lots of smallish farmers that wanted it gone. Lots wanted it kept. Often the split was aged based. Young farmers are pretty savy about marketing their crops. It really didn't make sense that a couple of their crops couldn't be marketed like the rest. Canola, corn , soybeans, and special crops have shrunk the wheat acreage anyways. The wheat board was a good way to battle the big grain companies but it had also morphed into a gigantic bureaucracy. I was producing non wheat board products at the time so had no dog in the race. I could see both sides of it. But I did find it odd that you could grow wheat in Ontario and market it however you wanted. But not here. You could market your canola however and where ever you wanted. But not your wheat.

The UK started building facilities last April after the pandemic arrived. They developed and produced their own vacine since then. They have now vaccinated about %46 of their population. And this was done in a toxic political environment. Our Federal government should be ashamed of itself. They attempted a poorly arranged joint deal with a Chinese government that has few ethics and was already angry at us. What a surprise it fell through. They then sat on their thumbs for months. Kudos to our provincial government for putting money into a Alberta/ Manitoba made vacine even though it won't be available till maybe October. Those guys were beating on the Feds door for a long time and couldn't get action.

Agreed nobody to blame but ourselves. But we had the time, knowledge and money to be doing our own vacine. It's a major screw up that is costing lives.

My theory on UBI is it is an absolute must. Robotics ( or whatever term you choose ) is ending jobs worldwide. The answer to that has always been " but it opens high tech jobs ". Those jobs will dwindle as well as our technology begins to both repair and develop itself. And thats here. It is one of the main reasons that the very, very rich are increasing their wealth. At a unprecedented rate. It no longer trickles down and the tap is getting shut off. Alot of our current social unrest both left and right can be attributed to this. Fair and equitable taxation for Corps, rich and Joe shmoe and UBI can solve or perhaps halt some of the ugliness we are seeing. Or we continue on as we are and tailspin to oblivion.

Here's an interesting story. I know a former high ranking cabinet member in Filmons government. About as co servative as you get. We were sitting around having coffee after dinner and I asked " what's your opinion UBI ? " His answer was " It all depends on what it replaces "

I always thought Gary Doer was a good example of fiscally responsible and socially left. There was a good reason Harper sent him off to be the US ambassador . I think he scared the hell out of him. If the Federal Libs had got a hold of him he would have been tough to defeat.

Think Jean Chretien and Paul Martin . They worked hard and succeeded reducing a debt built by Pierre T. Caring for people doesn't necessarily equate with throwing money at whatever makes you popular. That's it ! Interestingly there is a conversation on CJOB about being a " political orphan." Which is a good way to describe it.

I tend to be fiscally Conservative and socially left. I have voted for all the major parties at different times for different reasons. I had great hopes that O Toole could move the party to a more sensible and electable platform. Silly me. This isn't good for Canada's future. A sitting government with a unethical PM that says all the right things but acts in the complete opposite. And spends like a drunken sailor just into port. A PC opposition party that won't look at science and facts ,determined to remain in the 1970s . And a NDP party led by a someone I doubt we are open minded enough to elect and who has got way to cosy with the current Gov. It's going to be a tough choice

I feel like I'm standing at a roulette table. " Come on 63 ! Aw, 65 again. Damn it ! "