War in Ukraine 2.0

 War is coming back to Ukraine, and potentially surrounding countries as well. Back in 2014, when it was quite obvious the Western powers initiated a civil war in Ukraine, during the Olympics, to topple a President who backed off joining the EU, Russia responded by seizing Crimea and aiding separatist forces in the Lugansk and Donetsk republics in Ukraine. It was a tit - for - tat power grab by the Russians, but key to this was that it was a response to the initiation by the Americans of an "in your face" alteration to the balance of power in the region. 

The Russians claim that, in 1991, when they dismantled the Soviet Union, the United States had given their word that NATO would not expand eastward. Whether that is true or not, and the Russians never got in writing for whatever reason, the truth is that over the next thirty years NATO has expanded eastward to the point that NATO forces are right on the border of Russia itself. Historically Russia has never allowed an enemy to be on its borders without going to war over it. Now Russia finds itself having three small Baltic States as NATO members, and possible jumping off points for an invasion of Russia, or at the very least bases for offensive weapons systems. The distance from the southern border of Latvia to Moscow is just under 600 kilometers, and from Estonia a mere 140 kilometers to Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg. It's an intolerable strategic situation for any world power - the Americans would be no different (Cuba crisis).

Apart from its northwestern flank, Russia has a buffer state, which is in talks to become a part of Russia, which somewhat insulates its central flank. Even there, Ukraine-like movements had been attempting to overthrow the Belorussian President with similar motivations and alliances. In fact, it would likely have been successful if Russia had not learned from the Ukrainian lesson, and this time immediately intervened overtly and covertly to stop it. The southern flank, which has been the most pressing, is the most potentially explosive of all. 

The Ukrainian government has taken what can best be described as a "bull in the china shop" strategy in dealing with Russia. Despite being warned by Russia that any Ukrainian attempt to retake Donetsk and Lugansk Republics by force would see the end of Ukraine as a national entity, and despite knowing that Russian missiles and electronic warfare would destroy Ukraine's military infrastructure in less than an hour, the Ukrainian government continues to pursue a policy of bluff and hysteria. The goal of the Ukrainian government is to trap the Western powers in a war with Russia, much like the approach taken by Winston Churchill to involve the Americans in World War Two. To this point in time the Americans are using Ukraine as a stick to beat the Russians with, but that is all. As US President Biden said: "no American troops to Ukraine" in case of war. 

From Russia's perspective, all things centre around Crimea - the unsinkable aircraft carrier that protects their southern flank with Europe. While the Russians have built a massive bridge from the mainland to Crimea, an exposed position if there ever was one, they have struggled to supply it with the most important commodity of all - water. Shortly after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Ukrainian government built a dam over the only water supply route to Crimea, which could be considered a crime against humanity as it primarily targeted the civilian population there. As a result, the massive drainage conduit to Crimea has gone dry, and become overgrown with all types of vegetation. The picture below shows the dam and the clogging of the drainage conduit.

 

Sooner or later, and it now appears sooner than later, Russia will have to act militarily to secure this water supply to Crimea. It cannot have a core strategic interest so exposed. From its perspective there can be no choice. 

Ukraine meanwhile, having had years to rebuild its military, has amassed half of its military, compromising all its battle ready units on the battle lines around Donetsk and Lugansk Republics. The obvious message Ukrainian message is a final battle for the Republics is coming. Many media outlets have been floating dates for such an outbreak in hostilities to happen as late January or February of 2022. Western media  outlets have suggested that is the time frame Russia will invade Ukraine, but it could just as easily be the dates Ukraine intends to send its military in, which would cause a Russian reaction. The irony of the dates put forward shut not be lost on anyone. The winter Olympics in China begin in February of 2022. The revolution in Ukraine began during the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The timing is likely not a coincidence. The West has refused to send any diplomatic members to the games in China, and an invasion by Ukraine, and the response by Russia allows the West to ruin China's games and place the blame on a Russia to a distracted public.

Against this backdrop we have serious moves happening in Eurasia. Russian President Putin was just in India, arm in arm with its President who declared that India had no closer friend than Russia. Just days later the Chief of Staff of the Indian military died when his helicopter crashed in India. Russia and China also just concluded a major defence alliance.  Now Russia has sent a "proposal" to NATO which would roll back strategic advantages for NATO in former Warsaw Pact members countries, including the stationing of missiles and troops therein, and ban others from joining NATO. Apparently the proposal is signed by the Russian side with blank spots for NATO to sign. In other words, it's not a proposal, but rather an ultimatum. The question remains: what are the consequences of not agreeing to the Russian ultimatum. 

They could be something as simple as a demonstration of Russia's military power, like knocking Ukraine out of existence in short order. It could also be something much bigger. It could be that Russia's hypersonic missile systems are sufficient to attack western interests and at this point the West is unable to respond to that. Most estimates put American development of hypersonic missiles well behind both the Russians and the Chinese. As the word hypersonic implies, there is no time to defend. For Russia to be making the ultimatum to NATO that it has, it must have the ability to strike with impunity. That could include all of NATO's GPS satellites, without which NATO would be finished. It could include many things. It must also have the backing of China, who literally covers Russia's rear. It must also have at least the neutrality of India. Given Russia has made the move, it's a safe bet that all those factors have been satisfied.

The only thing left to do is wait. Will Ukraine be the willing sacrifice to start a new cold or hot war? Will Russia, China and others, having been sanctioned by the West, start their new gold based system of commerce - abandoning or being thrown out of the SWIFT system for international payments? Will China have the excuse it needs to take back Taiwan? The game of chicken is about to come to its logical end, and we can but watch.  

  

How to Fix the Edmonton Oilers

 Okay, so the topic of hockey is not the norm for this blog - I get it. There will be a number of blogs coming very shortly on the usual political issues, but after watching my favorite team foe the last, few, painful months, something needs to said.

It's not that the Edmonton Oilers are a team without talent. The Oilers have talent. They even have an excellent backup defence corps that are doing the job wonderfully. That is especially comforting given the Oiler's regular defence corps has been worse than the backups. Take Barrie for example. He should be the reincarnation of Paul Coffey with his speed and offensive capabilities, but since signing his big contract he has looked like a deer in the headlights on the ice. His play in his own end has been, well, bordering on embarrassing. I had great hopes for Duncan Keith as well, but he has played panicky, "please don't hit me " hockey", and it's obvious. Sad really. There is a real short term and long term problem here for the Oilers, but defence was not exactly the strong suit of the Oilers of old, when they won all those cups. 

The Oilers were, at the beginning of the season, worried about their goaltending. Smith was good in 2020, but was it a fluke?  Koskinen was atrocious in 2020, and it could only get worse. Skinner was an up and coming prospect with no NHL experience - how would he fair? Turns out that Smith was injured a few games into the season, and Koskinen took over - much to the horror of Oiler fans. Yet, Koskinen played most of the games since, and has played well in relief. Then there is the rookie Skinner. He has played well at home, where he is confident before the home town fans, and average at best on the road. Yet, goaltending isn't the Oilers' problem either. 

The Oilers problem is their offence. There are two main problems with the Oilers' offence:

1.    The offensive players are not being utilized intelligently; and

2.    The players are not producing intelligent energy.

Perhaps the two are related. Or perhaps the proper use of the players is exasperating ego issues below the surface. The bottom line is that the Oilers' coach is not putting his lines together properly. He is trying desperately, juggling them like balls in several games, desperately seeking energy, momentum, and cohesion. Yet there is none. The answer is not as much what Edmonton's lines have, but what they don't. For example, the use of McDavid, without Nugent-Hopkins on the same line means all any team has to do is shut down McDavid and there are no other playmakers to take his place. This is what has been happening. McDavid ends up trying to do it all himself, fails, and then loses it. In other words, there is no playmaker with McDavid to free him up as either a shooter or a play maker. That means Edmonton's offence becomes painfully predictable. McDavid needs to be teamed with a playmaker, and that person is Nugent Hopkins. 

Similarly, Nugent-Hopkins is being wasted as a playmaker on a line of power forwards or grunts. He is an artist with the puck, but his line mates aren't that fancy or finishing. As a result, over 50% of his points have come on the powerplay, but his contribution at full strength has been emasculated. The same goes for Draisaitl. He is a finisher more than he is a playmaker. He can pass, but not as well as either Nugent-Hopkins or McDavid. The three of them on one line means teams cannot predictably isolate one man to take down the whole team. It means flexibility and the option for surprise. It makes sense.

The second line needs to be centred Hyman. Hyman is captain material in his own right. His spirit, talent and commitment is evident throughout the game. He is a leader. If he can't be the leader of the team, well, then he needs to the leader of his own line. A power forward, gut crashing, net smashing, line to throw a whole new look at the opponents every other shift. On either side of him put Scevior and Puljujary (the Happy Warrior). This is line full of absolute drive, and loving it. This is a line that can score and destroy, and do so shift after shift if they wish. This is a line of spirit which they can share amongst themselves. They can show the other lines what commitment is.

The third line needs to centred around young McLeod. He is a star rising, of that there should be no question, but he needs time to find all that he is. His own line, further down the rotation, gives him that confidence of place, and ability to improve without the main spot light that can shatter confidence. He can move and he can score. On either side of him place Yamamoto and Foegele. This is a line built on skill and speed competing against other's third lines not so endowed. Foegele might be a power forward, but he has excellent speed, determination and can score. Yamamoto has speed, and can score, but he should be trade bait as his size makes him an easy smear on the boards. He fights through, but it is clear that he is too small to be a difference. When he goes Turris could take his place - even before he goes. Turris has played inspired hockey this year, yet he finds himself scratched quite often. This isn't fair. He has tremendous speed and can score. He has good drive and desire. He should be playing every night on this line. 

The fourth line should be centered on Ryan. He is a wily veteran, and good on the face off. He is also a relentless fore checker, and determined fighter in the corners. Benson and Kassian should be his wingers. If the fourth line is a checking line, then these three can get it done. Both Kassian and Benson can score, but they can also check harshly, especially Kassian - if he wants to. 

That's the four lines. They need to each be given a name, aka "the French connection" or whatever like it, and they must stay together to develop their esprit de corps. Swapping players around like proverbial widgets kills all these things that are essential to developing a "TEAM", which they currently are not. Their record is only impressive if you have not witnessed each and every game. Their special teams, ie line one above, have won them almost every game. They have started each game as if they just left their stock brokers office, and the last thing on their mind is hockey. This team needs serious discipline, but before that can happen intelligent effort is required by the coach. Change the lines, then enforce the discipline of the team vision. Don't play down to your competition, but make them rise to you level - every night. This team has the talent, if it can get out of the way of its egos and entitlements.    

Puljujarvi

DraisaitlSceviour

Don't Fire Erin O'Toole

 

Dear Conservative Party, please don't fire Erin O'Toole as your leader. 

Truth is, the election did not go as well as possible for the Conservatives, but it didn't go well for the Liberals, NDP or Greens. About the only party it went well for was People's Party of Canada - albeit with no seats to show given our outdated first past the post system of electing governments. That's the hard core truth. It was more of a statement to the old guard, the back room boys, the establishment. The message went something like this: "we no longer trust any of you.

If the Conservative Party wants to fire some folks, the very first person that should be fired is the one who told O'Toole to constantly hold his hands in a prayer position during the English language debate. Each time O'Toole brought his hands in this position it was as if he was pleading, or even praying, or simply being patronizing. In my humble opinion, the body language O'Toole used (which no doubt he was trained to use or failed to listen to advice not to use) throughout the debate made him look, well, weak. Wishy-washy. Somewhat disingenuous. This is where the house cleaning needs to start. 

Secondly, the campaign strategists ought to be fired. The failure to secure well-known and popular candidates in the Toronto area was disastrous. No disrespect intended, but people in Toronto and area seem to want candidates of national, or at least provincial prominence. A strong Toronto caucus they are sure would not be swept away for the regional interests of Quebec, the West or even the Atlantic provinces. The Liberals are famous for this recruiting. People like Ken Dryden or even most recently Adam van Koeverden. It's no secret to the rest of the country that Ontario, and especially Toronto, see themselves as the centre of the universe within Canada - they want representative that fulfil their egos accordingly. 

Thirdly, fire the strategists who believe campaigning as Liberals is better than campaigning as Conservatives. When Conservatives campaign as Liberals the electorate vote in the real Liberals every time - even if they are getting wiser and not giving them majorities. Conservative strategists were given the mother load of ammunition to use against Trudeau while still being able to represent their base faithfully. For example, Trudeau's father (the recent Trudeau junior was selected as Liberal leader and PM) helped craft and institutionalize the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which championed the rights of the individual over those of the the majority. It has become a part of who we are. The covid panic has helped throw those rights on the ash heap of history until the Supreme Court of Canada rules on them. What an opportunity the Conservatives had to take the mantle of "Defenders of the Charter". The Liberals, especially the "Trudeau Liberals", would be without their moral high ground. That would then be the Conservatives high ground - for a long time. 

Speaking of the Supreme Court, why did strategists not go after Trudeau in the debate with the following question: " Given the federal government has immediate access to the Supreme Court for constitutional references, why didn't the Liberals request a reference by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of coerced vaccinations and "vaccine passports" before they endorsed and attacked people for not using them?" In order to gain the high ground you have to trap your enemy in the high questions. It paints them. It stains them. The perception lasts. In politics perception is reality. 

The sad truth for the Conservative Party is it is not thinking and acting like a machine with a purpose. It is not capturing the high ground, or setting the ground for battle, because it seems frozen in fear that it might somehow alienate this group or that. You should not be arrogant about your beliefs, but you can be firm in them - and people respect that more than wishy-washy pandering. People become sickened by this type of "tell them anything" approach, which is why Trudeau has had two consecutive minorities. He lied the first time around about changing the first past-the-post system, amongst other things, and now people view him as wishy-washy too. However, he is cutting big cheques to a lot of groups, as we saw just before the election, and those groups want to see the cash continuing to flow. They aren't with Trudeau on any high ground, and the Conservatives failed to grab any high ground, so there was no need to change the status quo - and they didn't. 

Looking ahead. Firstly, the Conservative Party needs to wrap its arms around Erin O'Toole and his family and give them the love. Rarely, if ever, have I witnessed a leader so genuinely disappointed in an election result as O'Toole displayed in his concession speech. Secondly, the party needs to realize that the Liberals have a lame duck leader now, and that in order to get rid of him the Liberals will have to firstly convince him to resign and hold a leadership race. That can be very destabilizing in a short period like the life of a minority government. It also opens up all kinds of potential negativity - internal or externally injected... Secondly, the Green Party will also be having a divisive leadership race, and to say their leader will go quietly into the night would be politically foolish. The NDP may also have some leadership challenges of their own. The Peoples Party, well, that appears to be completely reliant on Mr. Bernier's leadership. If the Conservative Party can restrain itself from an undisciplined assault on its leader, rally around the flag, and strategically prepare, it will be the party of order in the midst of instability.

Finally, Mr. O'Toole must change some things as well. He must drop the vision of the Conservative party. To say the Conservative Party was no longer the "party of your father" was foolish in the extreme. It was a direct insult to the majority of its base. Whoever gave him that line should be fired immediately, and sent directly to the Liberals. If it was him, well, change it or apply the same to himself. To gauge the damage of this tact simply refer back to the comments made by former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall on election night, wherein he not so subtly let the federal Conservative Party know that leaving traditional conservative values would more likely than not result in the base bolting to a new "Reform Party - like" scenario, and the subsequent death of the federal party - aka 2 seats after Mr. Mulroney's departure. I believe this analysis is spot on, and needs to be deeply understood by those that think they are smarter than every one else within the Party.

Trudeau is Inciting Hatred

Perhaps you were looking forward to the debate last week. Likely you were looking to measure the leaders up against each other during the debate. If you were like me, the one thing you were not expecting is for the Prime Minister of Canada to follow up the debate with vicious public attacks against identifiable groups in Canada. Canadian citizens. Your fellow Canadians. 

Trudeau, in a voice coated in contempt, publicly incited hatred, and potentially violence, against Canadians who oppose his agenda on vaccines, gun control, and abortion. He flippantly referred to the large crowds that haunted him through the campaign as "anti-vaxxer hoards". He has no basis for this characterization. First of all they aren't hoards. They're protesters and they are protesting him. A hoard will have torches and burn him at the stake. Obviously that was not their intent, so his use of the term "hoard" was clearly an attempt to smear these protesters and marginalize their criticisms of him and his government. As though they were somehow beneath him - not an unusual attitude with him. 

Secondly, what is an "anti-vaxxer"? Is that a person who won't get a covid shot, or is that a person who does not believe in any vaccinations? Or does that really matter. You see, in Canada we as citizens have the right to criticize and protest, yeas even in front of hospitals, as long as they are peaceful. That is guaranteed in the Charter his father helped create. Oh, and on that front, his father also helped to create Canada's hate speech laws.

In 1965, then Liberal Prime Minister Pearson, struck a special committee of seven individuals known as the Special Committee on Hate and Propaganda in Canada, commonly called the "Cohen Committee" after its chairman. Pierre Trudeau, then a professor at the University of Montreal, was a member of the committee. In 1966, the Committee filed its report to Parliament, which recommended legislation to combat hate speech. As a result, three new offences were added to the Canadian Criminal Code: advocating genocide; publicly inciting hatred in a way likely to lead to a breach of the peace; and willfully promoting hatred.

Fast forward to 2021, and Pierre Trudeau's son is directing hatred, ridicule and contempt toward Canadians who oppose his policies. He has poisoned the water much deeper than it was prior to his words. He is fanning the flames of hatred in a way that would make his father spin in his grave. Trudeau has resorted to the gutter of American divisionism. He is targeting Canadians for their beliefs and willfully inciting citizens against other citizens. Does the criminal code cover this kind of incitement to hatred? I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know. However, what we can be sure of is Trudeau's vicious marginalization of a section of our Canadian population will result in a deep, dark, and permanent stain - not just on him, but the true value of Canada in general.

After all, we cannot smugly sit on the sidelines anymore and thank God we are not in a country like the one below us, while our Prime Minister does the exact same practices that Donald Trump and Joe Biden (and their minions) did. Trudeau has thrown nitro on the fire for the sake of his pitiful self, and his agenda. In my 56 years of life as a Canadian, and observer of politics here for some 24 years, I can honestly say, with the exception of some local yocal halfwits in Newfoundland, that I have never witnessed such acts of hatred and deceit by a Canadian Prime Minister - or any Canadian politician for that matter. 

No matter the result of this election, this incitement of hatred must cease immediately, and Mr. Trudeau must atone for his actions with the loss of his job. I am a Conservative, and as such I'm obviously pulling for Erin O'Toole, and therefore could be considered bias on the topic. However, I am not. There is a blog here that calls out Mr. O'Toole for sounding too much like Donald Trump during his battle for the Conservative Party leadership. Thankfully he moderated that tone after his victory. The bottom-line is that yesterday Erin O'Toole attacked Justin Trudeau personally, which he intended to reflect on Trudeau's governance. He did not attack Canadians. He attacked Trudeau. Trudeau didn't attack O'Toole. Trudeau attacked Canadians who disagree with him. 

Whether you believe Trudeau committed hate crimes by attacking protesters with statements that were meant to attract hatred and contempt toward them or not, is academic in a sense. Trudeau has shown his true face for all to see. It should shock Canadians, but the Liberals have been busy marginalizing those who disagree with them for some time, so perhaps people have become numb to civility and rights. They do so at their own peril. 

Good bye to Justin Trudeau

 So, as the "fourth wave" of Covid crashes on the shores of Canada, as our state-floated economy teeters precariously on the edge of a monstrous inflationary bubble, as our sacrifice in Afghanistan is discarded on the winds of expediency, we enter an unwanted federal election. Make no mistake, the Trudeau Liberals are desperately trying to snatch a majority government and the question is why now?

Well, in one way, why not now? After all, a minority government never lasts a full term and this one has been going for awhile now. Trudeau is also rightly saying he wants a majority to steer the country through the upcoming days. Yet, most Canadians seem to be stumbling around in a Covid brain fog, afraid of being too close to their fellow peeps, and absolutely terrified of what has become known in CBC land as "the unvaccinated" (It's time to get rid of the CBC - its well outlived its glory years of Barbara Frum and Knolton Nash). The truth is that Canadians right now, like many other peoples in the world, are running around scared of their own shadow and uncertain where the world is heading.

The printing of money over the last two years in Canada and other nations has resulted in governments replacing the free market to inject roughly equal levels of lost GDP into the world economies. Inflation, which has ballooned the stock market beyond any rationality, is crushing people when buying anything from gas to groceries. Supply chains have been literally destroyed and the "just in time" economy has been brought to its knees. Tankers waiting for goods to haul have been stranded, with their crews, in many case for well over a year at sea. Things are not hunky dory. 

So with that background Trudeau decides the polls are ripe for a majority government. Interestingly, the Nova Scotia Liberal government thought the same, and was just unceremoniously swept from power. It wasn't that per se that likely numbed the Libs, but the fact that such a result federally in the Maritimes spells the denial of a majority government and potentially an outright defeat. 

The truth is Justin Trudeau is not Pierre Trudeau - other than their common love of massive spending and debt. Justin Trudeau has always been a snobby virtue signaler who famously corrected a woman for referring to "mankind" when he said she should say "people kind". After being roundly humiliated throughout the world he quickly said it was all a joke, but we know it wasn't. We also know Trudeau likes to refer to Canada as the first "post-national state". In other words, we have outlived our worth as a nation in less than 154 years - surely a record for any country in history... Not coincidentally, Trudeau has wrapped himself around all movements that undermine or intend to undermine our sovereignty - both as a people and a nation. 

For example, Trudeau, like his dyed in the wool cousin Biden, has declared all federal civil servants must be vaccinated. He has previously said he intends to extend that to all federally regulated businesses. By doing so he fundamentally breeches the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that his father so desperately fought for. He throws individual rights into the trash can in the name of collective rights. Its the kind of thinking that resulted in Japanese-Canadians being thrown into concentration camps in Canada during World War II. It also resulted in former PM Brian Mulroney doing away with the War Measures Act so individual Canadians would no longer be subjected to the panic of the majority. Sound familiar? They thought they had good reasons back then to protect Canadians too... Should this issue land on the steps of the Supreme Court of Canada it likely won't survive long, but how many will have had their rights violated before that happens?

Then their is Trudeaus love for guys like Bill Gates, and the fellows down at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. These guys advocate world government by 2030. They infamously stated that by 2030 you will "own nothing and be happy". They also advocate for a merging of peoples physical entity with technology - yep cyborgs. If it weren't true and happening we would shake our heads at the "conspiratorial nature" of it. From their website, it only takes a few seconds to watch:   World Economic Forum Video

The truth is that this election is truly about the future of Canada as a free country that respects the individual rights over that of the masses, that remains a sovereign nation (as sovereign as they get these days), and something that we can be proud of. It is a clash of visions. On the one hand is the crew that Trudeau represents - the elitist socialist class that is completely immersed in technology and view themselves quite arrogantly as the answer to mankind's next evolution as a species. On the other hand there are those that seek to preserve the sovereignty of the individual and, as much as possible, the state. Are there any political parties that represent the latter? Good question. We know that the Liberals, NDP and Greens fall fully behind the Trudeau World government types. The big question is where the Conservative Party stands.

The Conservative Party traditionally represents the so called "right wing" of Canada - namely the West (minus parts of BC) and Ontario. These parts of the country generally respect rugged individualism and frown upon their rights being usurped. These parts of the country are also the economic engine of Canada. The areas not supporting Conservatives are traditionally most of the Maritimes, Quebec, and a small portion of coastal BC. Is it a coincidence these same areas are on the forefront of vaccine passports, Covid shut downs, and the like? No it's not. 

The federal election in September will provide us a clear answer on whether Canada is till a nation of freedom loving people who respect the rights of the individual over those of the masses, and still hold hope of their country remaining strong and free. It is early, and they say a week in politics is a life time, but I'm feeling that Canadians are going to show Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals the door. There will be areas that strongly support his "woke" virtue signaling and globalist views, but their will be more that are tired of being told who they are, what they are, and how they will do it. Mr. O'Toole made a wise announcement yesterday that the Conservative Party will not force people to be vaccinated. It goes against the hysterical tide, but it is morally right. If O'Toole remains on a course of respecting our individual rights, our national sovereignty, the rules of law and economics, then the Tories will win this election - perhaps with majority. If he slips into the panic and mania group then, as the saying goes: "If you act like a Liberal people will vote in the real Liberals".

Life, Liberty, and Covid

Covid19, the great pandemic of our generations - but is it really? For the last year and a half we have witnessed the closing of the world economy, the printing of money like no other time in our history prior to 1929, and most significantly the alienating of people from one another on a mass scale. Truly, we live in the times that Orwell warned us against in his monumental work 1984. People turning against each other, families torn apart by distance, and most significantly their differing perspectives on the "virus". However, is it really the lethality of Covid that is driving the hardened opinions on both sides, or is it something more?

When the virus first broke out in BC it was relatively innocuous. The first quarter of 2020 witnessed 780 cases which broke down as follows: 299 hospitalizations; 106 of those went into the ICU wards; and a total of 108 died (presumably a number who died did so before getting to the ICU). The numbers showed the virus almost non-existent in populations under sixty years old, and of those older than eighty years old men faired significantly worse for than women. To put that in perspective during 2020, 1716 people died from drug overdoses in British Columbia (BC), 11,100 died of cancer and double that number for heart and stroke deaths. In 2020 a total of 41,148 people died in BC. Another perspective: in the most recent heat wave in BC 719 people died in 5 days read here .

Those were the early days of the virus however, and the numbers now are more significant. From BC's population of 5.1 million people a total of 2.9 million tests have been administered, 147, 705 cases have been diagnosed, 145, 200 have recovered, and 1756 deaths have been reported. You can keep up to speed on the numbers here. So in reality, the total numbers of  Covid deaths in BC, for the last year and a half, numbered 50 more than the amount of people who overdosed on drugs in one year.

As all of us watched the evening news reports back in early 2020, and witnessed Chinese people falling dead in the streets, having the doors on their homes and apartment buildings wielded shut, and their streets sprayed with chemicals, we collectively broke a sigh of relief that it wasn't here in Canada. Then it came, and we panicked. Not everyone of course. In fact many people did not take it too seriously at all, and in the summer it vanished like the seasonal flu, in the fall it came back like the seasonal flu, and now again in the summer it is vanishing - like the seasonal flu. Yet, "waves" of pandemics have been common in our species history. 

Take the Spanish Flu for example. A total of 2 million Canadians, from a population of 8 million (20%) were struck with that virus. Of the 2 million that were infected 50 thousand died or 2.5%. Of the total Canadian population that percentage was .06 or less than 1%. No vaccination was ever created for the virus and it ran its course. Fast forward to today and the numbers are: Canada's population 37.74 million people; 1,417,330 Covid cases (.04% of the population); and 26362 Covid related deaths (.0007% of the population). 

The numbers are startling yet indisputable - the Spanish flu was much, much worse than Covid19. Yet, and this is the crux of this post, we have reacted to it as though it was one hundred times worse. Our governments have closed our economies, suspended our constitutional rights of freedom of assembly, freedom of mobility and also freedom of speech - to put it bluntly, they have suspended our freedoms. Here is another set of numbers for you. Sacred numbers. Numbers you are meant to remember and immortalize each year: 56,638 - the number of Canadian troops killed in World War I; 141,418 - the number of Canadian troops wounded in World War I; 189,224 - total Canadian casualties of World War I; 22,910 - the number of Canadian troops killed in World War II; 57,847 - the number of Canadian troops wounded in World War II; and 80,757 - the number of Canadian casualties of World War II. These numbers do not include the Korean War and other engagements like UN missions or Afghanistan. 

The Canadians that died in battle did so for our freedom. Never forget that. They fought against regimes like the Nazis, and their equally despotic ancestors in the first war. They died freeing people from the suffocating grip of the Taliban. They died protecting people from the Communist Chinese, and on it goes. Their sacrifice was the price for our freedom. However, as the old veterans die off so does their spirit. 

Today we have people that are willingly throwing those very freedoms on the funeral pyre with the promise that it will lead to better things for all. Today in Canada you cannot travel freely without hitting a military checkpoint-like border installation in New Brunswick, or requesting advanced permission to enter into one province from another. Today the government of Canada is openly advocating "vaccine passports" which will imprison people without them within Canada or even within their own province. We are at the place where you need internal travel documents just like Communist USSR and Nazi Germany. In a sense, the government of Canada, and its eager minions in the provincial governments, are sticking a star of David on each of us that won't take the vaccine. What's next? Vaccine ghettos where you must live if you won't take the vaccine. This may sound alarmist to you, but think about where we were as a society 2 years ago and where we are now.

Another eyry complication of  Covid 19 is the division of opinion on how it should be dealt, or whether it even constitutes a real threat in a pandemic sense. After all, it has never happened in history before that people had to be bribed to take the vaccine with entries into lotteries as a reward for rolling the old sleeve up. These are things that should give most rational people pause to think. Yet it doesn't. People, families, friends are divided, but what is the division? The real essence of the division appears to be the belief that the rights of the majority trample those of the minority. It's an ancient problem, and one that was meant to be dealt with by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Yet, the Charter has simply been ignored throughout, and those that think they know best for others are cramming their opinions and policies down the throats of those that feel differently.

Let's follow their logic to its end: Eating fast food is causing an epidemic of  obesity, heart disease and death so we must ban all fast food and restaurants; driving your car could result in an accident that could injure or kill another; walking outside in the sun without sunscreen could cause skin cancer that requires hospital time, therefore denying another of hospital time, and so walking in the sun without sunscreen must be banned; and on it could go. We live in an era of unrivalled hatred, bigotry, judgement, self-righteousness, and complete disrespect for the opinion and freedom of others. These are the conditions that most totalitarian regimes came to power in throughout history. The well is being poisoned and that well represents the depth of the human kindness. 

Whether you believe Covid 19 is more dangerous than a run of the mill virus or not, whether you believe it's all part of an inter-governmental conspiracy or not, whatever your thoughts and feelings on the matter are, just remember the only thing that differentiates us from the animals is our ability to be spiritual beings. Once the values of freedom, compassion and understanding have been thrown in the trashcan of convenience there is but one direction to go, and that is down. Once freedom that was paid for by the blood of generations is lost it will take the blood of future generations to restore - if at all. At this moment in history I encourage you to be the person you are and not the scared shell of yourself that is being impressed upon you. 

                                                            BE THIS PERSON

   

Modern Israel, and Old Promises

 Israel has the right to exist as a nation. Let's just get that one off the table right away. Israel, or more accurately the descendants of Jacob, whom according to the Bible the Lord named "Israel", finally became a reality for the Jewish people in 1949 after a guerilla war for independence with the British Empire. Initially restricted to a tiny strip of land sandwiched between Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and its old friend/nemesis Egypt, Israel has slowly gained in territory after consecutive successful wars with their neighbors.

According to the Bible, the Lord promised Abraham (Abram at the time):

    " On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: To your descendants I have given this     land, from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates." (Book of Genesis)

In other words, this:

Now many people refer to this Israel as an evil "Zionist" conspiracy to consume much of the Easter Mediterranean. However, that's not the truth. It's not a conspiracy at all when it has been laid out in the Bible for Christians to follow. There are a few problems with the concept though. 

The very first problem that immediately comes to one's attention is the sheer vastness of the Biblical Israel. It would include areas of the Middle East that are currently populated by between 40-50 million people, and those people have been there for thousands of years in most cases. Prior to 1939 Jewish communities were thriving in Europe, although often persecuted to one degree or another. After World War Two, and the horror of the Holocaust, there were six million less Jewish people in the world which could have helped populate a "Biblical Israel". Today, modern Israel has a population of  8.7 million people, of which 21% are Arab and another 5% are "other". On the face of things, Hitler's massacre of the Jews of Europe tended to undermine the fulfilling of  the Lord's promise to Abraham. Perhaps that was part of the purpose, but who can truly understand a hatred that deep. 

Another problem, and one that haunts Israel through out the world is the Israeli government's treatment of the Palestinians, and to a lesser extent its neighbors. Again, returning to the Bible, the Lord tells Moses that before taking the Jewish people out of Egypt he must gather up all the gold and silver from amongst the Jewish people and turn it over to the Pharos in order to ease the sting of his loss - in a sense compensation. It didn't work as the Pharos chased them down shortly afterward, but Moses had done his part. So even though Moses had vanquished the Pharos, and the Exodus was happening as a matter of fact, an ethical attempt to remove the "sting" was still necessary.

Unfortunately, modern Israel has simply lost this lesson in humbleness. In fact, it can be easily argued that the government of Israel has attacked with arrogance and impunity whomever it deems as a "threat to its security". Of course it is not alone in crying wolf. "National security", "terrorism", etc are phrases that are bounced around now by many governments seeking to restrict freedoms and impose their will upon other nations. The problem for the Israeli government is that it has always claimed the high ground. It also claims to have the "most moral" army in the world. Despite the boasts, the Israeli army has been absolutely brutal in dealing with dissent from the Palestinians and others. While on the one hand it has become far more wise in its dealings with Iran insofar as it strikes critical components of their nuclear regime while avoiding an Iraq-like  conventional bombing of Iranian facilities,  it blows its own feet off by "knee capping" hundreds of Palestinians who are simply protesting, albeit angrily.

In its dealing with the protesting Palestinians and even Israeli Arabs, the Israeli government has lost all sight of  proportion, moderation and wisdom. It has committed multiple crimes against humanity during the Palestinian uprisings. It has in effect broken its covenant with the Lord:

            Thou shalt not kill;

            Thou shalt love thy neighbor;

            Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors house, 

            or anything that is your neighbors.

Now, inside Israel itself, the Orthodox Jewish people are in near full revolt of the non-Orthodox Jews. Issues such as compulsory military service or observance of the Sabbath, for example have sparked deep anger. Even the idea that Israel is a nation-state has provoked joint protests with Palestinians and Orthodox Jews walking side by side against conventional Israel. In other words, the Orthodox Jewish community appears to believe that modern Israel is breaking its covenant with the Lord as well.

I suppose in the end we are just simple people,  and it isn't our place to judge a covenant made thousands of years before us between the Lord and Abraham. We can only guess and observe at whether it has been broken and what ramifications may come from that - if any. That being said, whether you agree or disagree with the approach Israel takes, we must not bring ourselves to the point of heaping hatred against them. Israel, or the "descendants of  Jacob", have a place of prominence with the Lord. Whether you agree with that is irrelevant. If you don't believe me ask Nimrod...