MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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"A night with the untouchables"
By artappraiser on Fri, 02/04/2022 - 8:39pm |Report of a night checking out the demonstrations in downtown Ottawa where the writer lives
Summary paragraph
[...] As I finally made my way back home, after talking to dozens of truckers into the night, I realized I met someone from every province except PEI. They all have a deep love for this country. They believe in it. They believe in Canadians. These are the people that Canada relies on to build its infrastructure, deliver its goods, and fill the ranks of its military in times of war. The overwhelming concern they have is that the vaccine mandates are creating an untouchable class of Canadians. They didn’t make high-falutin arguments from Plato’s Republic, Locke’s treatises, or Bagehot’s interpretation of Westminster parliamentary systems. Instead, they see their government willing to push a class of people outside the boundaries of society, deny them a livelihood, and deny them full membership in the most welcoming country in the world; and they said enough. Last night I learned my new neighbours are not a monstrous faceless occupying mob. They are our moral conscience reminding us – with every blow of their horns – what we should have never forgotten: We are not a country that makes an untouchable class out of our citizens.
URL:
https://maybury.ca/the-reformed-physicist/2022/02/03/a-night-with-the-untouchables/
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Comments
Published writer Katherine Brodsky suggests he is naive:
by artappraiser on Fri, 02/04/2022 - 8:45pm
This expression does not mean naive, and you misrepresent Catherine Brodsky's intent. Read her Twitter: she is criticizing the media coverage. The phrase is derived from a Walt Whitman quote: "Be curious, not judgmental”.
by Jonah Lamar (not verified) on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 7:18am
But science, medicine, public health, epidemiology are about judgments. People who spent decades learning complex, difficult systems often with no easy answers, but they still have to decide, not roll around in the grass being fuzzy. Epidemics are often black swans or pseudo-unexpected. Handling them is a lot of guess and creative response and predictions based on expertise and good experience and common sense, generally consulting with other experts.
If I need to get massive goods across country, I'd consult logistics companies, expediters, warehousing experts, as well as meteorologists, government commerce reps, et al. Somewhere real people in complex jobs make decisions based on "curiosity" and resulting "information", hopefully most baked down hard enough to be considered "facts" rather than wild arse guesses or a bunch of gut feelings and fringe beliefs. Society may be diverse, but proper governance and public policy is not an internet town hall of 200 million screaming voices - it's much more structured.
By the time we chase down all that anti-establishment curiosity, we might all be dead. Real people with real jobs have to reach implementable conclusions quickly, not just eternal navel-gazing and exploring the corner cases. Over 500,000 French infected on multiple days, 1/10th their population is infected with COVID the past 2 weeks. And unlike earlier "herd immunity" hopes, there aren't the limits on getting infected twice or 3 times. The deaths are also rising because the # of infections are greatly rising, even if the % of critical cases is lower. Not too much time for non-urgent non-directed "curiosity" - fast, solid research leading to action.
by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 8:55am
Support for Katherine's view over David's (and police reports)
UPDATE: GoFundMe Statement on the Freedom Convoy 2022 Fundraiser
@ GoFundMe's news page, Feb. 4
by artappraiser on Fri, 02/04/2022 - 8:55pm
They have to wear seatbelts, they can only drive so many hours a day, they have to have eyes checked up and i presume periodic physicals, some are drug tested at random, and of course their rig has to meet safety standards, they have to carry particular equipment, they have different rules in inclement weather. What makes a vaccine for a specific huge public threat different than the other rules and regulations they have to follow? Why should they threaten other people with a more infectious state than the would with an 18-wheeler that didn't have proper brakes? 1 unvaccinated truck driver at a truck stop can easily put 20 people in the hospital or at home for 2 weeks. Without even knowing, hit-and-run. And of course the danger, the signature of the disease, has changed several times over the last 2 years. Like falling rocks, like black ice, like like cracked asphalt, like a curve that's been designed poorly - these are the dangers of real driving, of real life. It's not all predictable, so we implement reasonable measures to handle the threats. Sometimes it adds an hour or two to a drive, sometimes it takes a rig off the road - life sucks that way. But arbitrary refusal to comply with a reasonable protection? "I hate water, I'm not going to drink water". Good luck with that - put a "do not rehydrate" sign on him. He gets the clap from some roadside hooker, what's he gonna do, refuse penicillin cuz it's a violation of his rights, let his cock turn grey and fall off, infect his wife unknowingly? This is all rising to the absurd.
by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 02/05/2022 - 3:27am
They aren't putting others at risk. If being vaccinated did that we wouldn't be seeing record high cases with 90% of the population double vaxxed and the other 10% unable to attend gatherings or eat in restaurants...
by JL (not verified) on Sat, 02/05/2022 - 11:09pm
NIce try (just kidding, not really), but:
1) BA.2 - and Delta - are spread easier by non-vaccinated - https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/31/the-new-omicron-subvariant-is-more-conta...
2) Omicron (BA.1) hospitalizes unvaccinated at a much greater rate, taking up more vital resources needed for both Covid treatment and other critical illnesses. But wait, there's more:
which means (drum roll please).... YOU'RE WRONG..
How can that be? Well, your premise is wrong - things can be less than 100% effective but still be more effective than the alternatives. A record number of non-smokers getting lung cancer doesn't prove non-smoking is as dangerous as smoking.
Doctors/scientists/pharma specialists are trying to improve vaccine effectiveness against Omicron where they're less effective, but fact remains the vaccine's still much better than not vaccinating.
Here you can see graphs of leading causes of death as the pandemic has ebbed and flowed:
Find more statistics at Statista
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1254560/leading-causes-of-death-in-t...
Of course there's very little attention paid to non-fatal but life disrupting or debilitating Long Covid
3) those "10% unable to attend gatherings or eat in restaurants" - well, they seem to be finding lots of protest ways to not wear masks and congregate in other not-very-safe ways while asserting "freedumb". Of course Omicron infects young people much more than earlier variants (and young people are much less likely to be vacinated).
4) "Most states have dropped Covid-related restrictions, but some local communities are reinstating them" - you can skim the restrictions in all the states here (but how well they're followed in a town of 3000 people is a huge question): https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/info-2020/cor...
From 2 weeks ago - feel that anti-vaxxer distancing:
Stop by again!!!
by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 4:59am
PS - for over 2 weeks (16 days), 1/10th of France has an active Covid infection, after sustained bouts of 300K-500K per day. Besides unvaccinated however, "5% of hospitalised Covid patients have fake health pass"
by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 5:23am
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/05/2022 - 5:26am
Ottawa Police's tweet thanking GoFundMe and asking other services to follow suit:
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/05/2022 - 5:32am
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/05/2022 - 5:35am
Comparison with CHAZ in Seattle is a VERY good and valid one:
The problem is: they don't seem to see that that's saying both should be allowed!!!
(Or is Posobiec anti-law-and-order now?
)
I swear, the far right libertarians don't see how much they have in common with the far left and anarchists!
It seems the Boogaloo Bois are the only ones that really get it! They were very supportive of BLM protests and are more into abolishing police than BLM is.
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/05/2022 - 5:58am
How few Canucks involved - basically a failed antiVaxx campaign, a dodgy GoFundMe pumping anonymous $ from the US, and a few (50-60) trucks to make noise and act like it's bigger.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/02/04/opinion/startling-trump-inte...
by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 02/05/2022 - 8:23pm
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 1:27am
Libertarianism vs. Public Health, plain and simple. Those who didn't see that coming once we knew a pandemic was upon us is naive, It was gonna happen, a sure thing. Public Health by its very nature is totalitarian; heck there's a ton of epidemic novels and movies that play on that theme. The more rules that are instituted, the more rebellions are going to occur.
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 6:14pm
p.s. "Freedom" is not always what the worst libertarian yahoos mean. You do have to give up a lot to fight a pandemic, stuff like this:
Neither of these are anti-vax or anti-mask people.
I sense a lot of people with primary-school-age children are ready to crack. The nuclear family thing wears thin after a while.
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 6:47pm
Especially with mobile phones, so the nuclear family's not really even there half the time -
talking to ghosts within these 4 walls...
by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 6:49pm
The whole meme more subtly messaged is out there:
And DeSantis, for one, is going to continue to play it. The people who have relatives that died from Covid or are suffering from "long Covid" are the only lost votes for now. Even many in the burnt-out health care field are probably going "maybe it's time to treat it like the flu" and let some die.
I for one have nothing, zero, against "vaccine passports" but you can't ignore the reality that they really irritate a significant minority. I lived in NYC with all the little "freedoms" taken away after 9/11 and just accepted it without much ado, from not having garbage cans anywhere in public to long lines checking in for an appt. with anyone living in or having an office in a skyscraper, guards wanting to see the inside of your purse before letting you into anyplace large, and long lines for parking garages while they look at the underside of each car with a mirror.
I also dealt with all the airline/airport rules instituted after 9/11 for a long time, but do have to admit, it has started to grate on me, and I just don't want to fly if I don't absolutely have to, i loathe even going into an airport when it used to be fun and exciting.
And I admit I always hated wearing a seat belt in my car since my first time driving and can't imagine dealing with child car seat rules the way parents have to today, I just really can't imagine, it seems so arduous, they struggle and struggle with it until it seems too much to get out of the house. My mother held all her babies on her lap in the front seat, other people threw all the kids and the dog in the back of a pickup truck for a fun ride....all the trade offs for safety are very real and very palpable.
Wearing a mask indoors, on the other hand, I see that as little different than "no shoes, no shirt, no service". Those who don't like the requirement and want to go shoeless or nude can choose to not go inside...
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 7:38pm
good questions
Me, I like the CHAZ comparison and related questions better. There's no "rule of law" if your street protests don't have a permit to take over other people's neighborhoods or prevents them from going about their daily business. Be ready and willing to be arrested, that's one very smart essence of "in your face" non-violent protest theory. And police need to arrest, to follow rule of law.
All funding issues basically disappear if this is done. The issue is raised and discussion begins. But no arrests? That's just fodder for breakdown of rule of law and supports mob actions and gang-like behavior, not to mention vigilantism...
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 8:23pm
Just like the small leftie Defund BLM-supporting crowd, probably 7 to 10% of the U.S. population at most. Whose demonstrations, riots and tearing down statues, divisiveness and the like in 2020 really did a number on our country during the worst days of the pandemic. Not to mention considerable damage to the reputation of the Democratic party as many were too chicken to criticize them. Especially hurting centrist districts in the November elections.
Conversely, demonstrators chanting "fuck Joe Biden" helped him some, I suspect. As did his insistence that we needed more and better police, not less. Not exactly a Sister Souljah but it did the trick.
Despite attempts like that of David Maybury to understand, never underestimate "the silent majority" when demonstrations get out of control. Trudeau is smart to dig in his heels.
by artappraiser on Mon, 02/07/2022 - 1:23am
500K 18-wheelers registered in Canada.
Real figures point to a few hundred in several situations, likely <2000 overall.
"Don't believe the hype" indeed.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jan/28/viral-image/looking-ho...
by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 02/07/2022 - 2:42am
#FakeTruckNews on Facebook thread
by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 02/07/2022 - 5:33am
I swear, the lingo and videos I am seeing are soooo similar to what I was seeing from lefties in the U.S. during summer & fall 2020:
by artappraiser on Tue, 02/08/2022 - 12:20am
Yeah, awful how this truncheon-and-rifle-wielding fascist guard walks right by insult-chanting peaceful protesters without even looking at them Exactly like Lukashenko and Pinochet fascist behavior.
by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 02/08/2022 - 1:42am
Fakebook News - Trucker edition
by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 02/09/2022 - 9:59am
Good one from Trudeau, using their own argument against them:
I'd like to see more politicians say that in the U.S. about protesters of all types. Your first amendment rights end when they impede others' legal activities.
by artappraiser on Wed, 02/09/2022 - 11:04am
for those who think American right-wingers are at the root of this THINK AGAIN:
I find it funny actually that some on the left don't realize they're buying into American Exceptionalism, as if things are always about us and we're so special and our right wingers must be involved....
some comments from New Zealand on a thread retweeted by a lady I follow there
by artappraiser on Wed, 02/09/2022 - 7:45pm
p.s. addition
by artappraiser on Wed, 02/09/2022 - 7:45pm
the two Trudeaus on law and order:
by artappraiser on Thu, 02/10/2022 - 7:02pm
Different circumstance - a terrorist attack on Parliament & a real threat encouraging further attacks for the cause of illegal secession of Quebec.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Crisis
by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/11/2022 - 1:39pm
Certainly sounds tough to me:
by artappraiser on Thu, 02/10/2022 - 9:19pm
by artappraiser on Fri, 02/11/2022 - 9:01pm
Trying to obscure the fact that giving public health 100% control over what should happen is only going to get you anti-totalitarian activists emphasizing what that is:
Admit to it and enforce it or go incremental and accept the higher casualty risk.
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/12/2022 - 12:10am
Yeah, society doesn't have the right to lock up 1 million Uyghurs in forced-work camps either.
It's all the same thing, we can't digest *margins* of loss of freedom vs wholly unacceptable examples.
Yet I seem to recall my kids couldn't go to school without a vaccine certificate long before Covid, and there were no trucker protests or what-not. Were we all sheeple? (I didn't recall 1 of 10 kids having measles in my idyllic childhood, but on Feb1 the US had nearly 30 million of 330 million infected.)
Apparently concerns about HPV vaccine side-effects have consistently risen, despite no increase in adverse reactions (<2 per 100,000, or 758 serious cases over 4 years) - draw your own conclusions whether it indicates some larger trend in society. But of course "you might get these types of cancer" isn't quite as in-your-face as "you know 1/6 of France is infected with this right now?" I guess 1 door closes, another Overton Window opens.
https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2021/hpv-vaccine...
by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 02/12/2022 - 2:38am
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/12/2022 - 4:20am
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/12/2022 - 9:27am
Paris: police fire tear gas at 'freedom convoy':
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/13/2022 - 5:48am
Like it not THAT'S THE FACTS JACK. This should be factored in Public Health planning! They are delusional to plan as if you can turn into a totalitarian society over night. Actually, you have to do that fighting any kind of war if you're not starting out totalitarian, metaphorical or real. Has to include sales propaganda and you better be good at it! Even WWII and,as recalled here, the polio vaccine had objectors...
by artappraiser on Tue, 02/15/2022 - 7:05am