To The Anti-Vaccination Crowd

I've been exposed to a lot of anti-vaccination arguments and proponents over the years, and it has only kicked into high gear since this pandemic started. Then you have the vaccines themselves becoming more & more widely available to the public, and it appears that the contrarian, "rebellious" nay-sayers pour out of the woodwork to match the pace. When you consider how wrong their arguments tend to be, you get the feeling that they're being quite desperate to convince others that they're right.

Back up your anti-vaccination position with actual facts and not with the disingenuous drivel pushed by some opportunistic conspiracy-theorist hack (especially if they were, or even currently, a doctor with a career behind them). Oh and did you solidify your stance by reading materials available at the library and not on some unverified website that links to some far-right advocacy or anti-science organization? Please provide your sources in your arguments.

Contrary to my dismissal above, there are proper citations on the internet so they can be web-based, like say, Harvard Medical School showing a study of theirs that they publish on one of their websites (such as this one: Harvard Health Publishing - https://www.health.harvard.edu/) . That sort of example is fine because HMS is a routinely scrutinized and accredited institution, and they publish their own studies & reports that are usually peer-reviewed and carried out by groups of researchers & their assistants. Fact-checkers, such as Snopes, tend to work as well because they use ACTUAL CITATIONS to back up their fact-checking endeavors, citing articles based on research throughout their own works.

However, if it's some dime-a-dozen blog or editorial (mind you, what you're reading now is pretty much an editorial) where a person goes on this agenda-driven screed against getting vaccinated, and the best they can do is show videos from some anti-science dimwit(s) or other unverifiable sources then I'm afraid that just won't work. Hell, I have actually seen polemics that didn't even contain a single citation. I know such works still, somehow, manage to convince people out there who certainly don't think the way I do, but if you're going to defend a position that can lead to people getting unnecessarily infected with this virus, and even killed or debilitated as a result, then you have a lot of explaining to do. I don't think that what I demand of you when you try to defend your position to me is asking for a whole lot. If there's actual research out there that backs up your anti-vaccination argument, specifically those that we're getting right now, then share that research by all means.

In short...

If you can satisfy my expectations then you may, to some extent at least, begin to convince me. After all, I used to be in that camp years ago and stopped thinking that way when I was exposed to, you know, FACTS!

But otherwise if you really don't want a vaccine then don't get it as that is your choice to make. However, if you can't meet or exceed my expectations of you when you try to justify your stance to me, then you're absolutely wasting your time and that would be better spent elsewhere. And you'll show that I don't need to take you at all seriously. Back up your potentially dangerous (moreso than getting vaccinated, that's for sure) position with solid facts and then we'll talk, okay anti-vaxxers?

The Federal Liberals and Their (Spineless, Milquetoast) 2021 Budget

An overwhelming majority of MPs and other political cretins happened to vote for Universal Basic Income. 491-85 in favour. They even talked about it in their recent conferences. People are clamoring for a chance at a higher standard of living. A safety net that can keep people from going into abject poverty. A chance to do what they REALLY want to do rather than work dead-end fucking shit jobs, or keep afloat while various job markets fluctuate as they always do under (mostly) unfettered capitalism.

So frustrated, but here goes... 

 

The budget is being doled out today  and UBI is nowhere to be found. Yeah, a no-strings-attached basic income would cost somewhere around $85 billion annually. That's a lot. But think of all the people spending money in this country. Think of all the people lifted out of homelessness. Think of people being able to leverage their employment situations to their benefit by holding out for a better opportunity instead of going for whatever happens to be available because of desperation. Based on a 2013 study (it has definitely gone up since then but I can't find more recent information), poverty costs the country up to 89$ billion a year. With the pandemic and several provinces hurting economically (particularly Alberta, regardless of the pandemic), that figure would have to be considerably higher). Just going by the 2013 number (found here: https://evidencenetwork.ca/poverty-costs-canada-billions-of-dollars-every-year/), implementing an annual UBI would cost less than not doing it at all. 

 

Look at the findings found here (https://cwp-csp.ca/poverty/the-cost-of-poverty/): - "For example, a recent report from Ontario states that poverty costs the government (in collaboration with the federal government) between $10.4 billion and $13.1 billion a year." - "Nova Scotia recently declared that poverty costs the province (including governmental, societal, and individual costs) $2.4 billion per year." - "Saskatchewan pays up to $3.8 billion per year on poverty as a whole, including $2.6 billion in absent taxes and contributions to the GDP." - "In British Columbia, the government spends between $8.1 and $9.2 billion on poverty." UBI can dramatically decrease ALL OF THIS! WHY IS THIS SUCH A FUCKING ISSUE!? 

 

 Oh and no increase to the GST is on the horizon. Oh no, Garrett is advocating for a tax increase! Well, those are for Goods & Services; you know, sales taxes and the like. You buy something, and a tax is added. Buy a cup of coffee at (god forbid) Timmy's, and GST goes back to our public offices. Even a 1-3% increase would produce much more money that would go toward the programs that money is meant to fund. Or at the very least, they should, right? Oh and a slightly increased GST cheque for low-income Canadians would occur, too. It would offset a bit more of the losses from funding UBI. But it would also pay for itself over time (not the same fiscal year as implementation, mind). 

 

To quote:

 

"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously signalled his lack of enthusiasm for UBI, stating that the costly program is not at the top of his list amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

“Obviously COVID has exposed weaknesses in our country where vulnerable people are continuing to slip through the cracks,” he told reporters when pressed about the program in recent weeks. 

 

“We will have conversations about next steps as well but our focus is very much on what we need to do to control COVID-19.” 

 

Trudeau’s sentiment transferred into the budget document, which makes no mention of the program."

For more of that, read the following: https://globalnews.ca/news/7770067/canada-budget-2021-whats-missing-liberal-federal/

 

Yeah, yeah, I know it's Global, but they're the only ones RIGHT NOW that have an article about this half-rate budget that's being released TODAY. 

 

Nothing on pharmacare, either. Yes, the NDP tried to push a federal solution rather than a provincial one, and that one crashed and burned. They still harp on that loss, but they're just being obtuse as to why it failed to pass. No wealth tax. Yeah, the fucking rich have gotten OBSCENELY RICHER through this damned pandemic, and the Liberals won't take advantage of that goldmine? Holy shit man, and people probably wonder why I don't really like the Liberals, either. They're just a less ruthless flavour of Neoliberal as far as I am concerned. 

 

Back to the subject, the only thing the Liberals are willing to do is implement a tax on the sales of superfluous goodies like yachts, personal jets, and other crazy shit the rich sometimes buy (and then sell or default on when they lose their precious bounty). Oh boy, that's not going to be exploitable at all...

 

I'll give it to them this, and only this: even though there's no mention of any of these things in the budget, particularly UBI, doesn't mean it won't see further discussion or even consideration. It has such overwhelming support that the Liberals would be committing political suicide to not even consider implementing it at all. Another instance of the Liberals reneging on a promise. The Conservatives are even worse than that, but that's a given because that's always the case. With the Liberals, it's far more frustrating.

 

I won't vote for a fucking party that seems to have their heads up their asses. They think they're invincible. THIS IS WHY I DON'T LIKE MAJORITY GOVERNMENTS! 

 

Feckless...milquetoast...inconsistent...smug... Now does anyone understand why I don't like BOTH the Liberals AND the treacherous CON(job)servatives? Such a missed opportunity. Such a bold-faced example of "playing it safe." Shitty priorities! To think that neither of the alternatives are viable (or in the case of the pathetic "People's Party of Canada", not even worth a vote). So frustrating and disappointing. Fucking DOLTS!!!

You Can't Parody This...

Oh hey, I have an overnight sleep study tonight at one of the hospitals. I'll have cathodes and all that attached to my head and whatnot. And I'll sleep on a really crappy hospital bed while I'm at it!

On to the actual subject at hand: The following example, which played out yesterday at a press conference held by the current premiere and his closest confidantes (who play a role in managing the pandemic and the economy), is not the first one to blur the line between real life & parody. Far from it, even. Same goes for it being the last, unfortunately enough. But what can we expect from a government which was only voted in due to rampant cynicism and shitty politics in general. What can we expect from the Conservative party of Canada, which has been doing its level best in at least three provinces to out-stupid the other ones. Kenney, Moe, and Ford have all been vying for some kind of recognition and/or infamy, competing like its a bloodsport. Without the blood, of course, at least not yet.

What happened yesterday in that press conference (all twenty-seven and a half of it) was the stuff of comedy, only it was unintentional I think. Without further ado: Doug Ford, the PM who outlives his drug dealing brother Rob Ford (previous mayor of Toronto), at the end of the conference, plugged not only Tim Horton's (a Brazilian-owned company), but shilled for their "real egg" sandwiches as well. You can't make this shit up if you tried. He actually segued from talking about a Peterborough, ON woman who apparently would hand out $10 gift cards for the (shitty) restaurant brand, even placing them on public benches.

Sure, this isn't a travesty or anything. It's not even despicable or evil or anything like that. It's just complete idiocy is all. And a possible ethics violation if you were to ask me. But I'm not an expert of how laws apply to this instance of shameless corporate shilling, but I'm still sure that there's something that could be done about it. One of the primary subjects brought forward in that presser was that of the province's plan to re-open the economy. Another bit of comedy to come from the presser was that as he was contradicted the safety orders put in place by HIS cabinet, in order to stem the tide of the virus for a bit. Oh and he also took no responsibility for his part in the growing pandemic and just blamed (almost) everyone under the sun.

People are laughing at us right now. They're laugh at Ontarians. They're laughing at Ford. Canada's politics sinks further into a hole and it has left wanting some kind of return to sanity again.  

BlogTO has lots of details on this if you want to read on it: Doug Ford gives weird shoutout to Tim Horton's egg sandwich in press conference

You can see it for yourself, in action, at the following (starts at 26:49):
https://youtu.be/RhqZ1DFC0-I?t=1609