cannuck

Bearing in mind that it was Tur...uh...TRUdeau #1 that first gutted the military and turned it into a social engineering project. The only hope for DND is that there is so much graft and porkbarelling of military contracts into Quebec that some will be kept around to continue grease into the squeakie LPC WEels.

Which is precisely what I just told you.

You can live or die in your fantasy world, I will remain in the real one. BTW: at no time did I call a surgical mask "a rag over your face" - but let's not let your challenges with understanding the language get in the way of a good spin attempt.

My expertise is in filtration. I advise people who manufacture and supply PPE. No, that doesn't make me a medical expert, didn't say I was. What it DOES make me is aware of how particulates move in, through and AROUND a rag over your face. I will point out that medical experts are not filtration experts - so take their blanket statements with a HUGE grain of well filtered salt. So I will state once again and VERY clearly: a rag over your face is NOT a mask. Medical professionals with high levels or risk and exposure don't count on a rag over their face. Only a FITTED and fit tested, fully sealed mask can deliver the performance required to meet the values of the specifications of the filtration medium. If you are speaking with anyone who is technically competent, they will confirm this. A blanket general statement is not in any way technically accurate. If you prefer to risk your life and those of others with generalized statements from people NOT technically qualified to comment on the efficacy of a filtration system, that is your option. I don't get to write the laws of science and physics, I just have to live by them. I don't get paid to deal in generalizations, just facts.

As I said: not enough data that I have seen to quantify what the contribution of voluntary masking vs. enforced wearing of something WITH NO PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS fits into the numbers we have now. I do spend some time as a technical advisor with people in the medical PPE business and can tell you that a rag over your face, you may call a "mask" but is just a rag over your face. Believing it is adequate for close indoor interaction is idiotic at the very least. Again: I STRONGLY suspect this false sense of security (and other Covid fatigue factors) contribute greatly to the second wave numbers.

Yes, common sense backed by decades of education and experience. One of the joys of parenthood is realizing your kids are more capable than you. The issue with evolution is that it is not planned science, it is a "trial and error" system that doesn't always work. Who knows how many mutations result in just the result (killing your host) to a greater extent that needed for a sustainable environment for the virus. Ultimately, were we not to intervene with OUR particular kinds of corruption of immunity, we would see only those with the most robust immune systems live with the constant threat from HIV, poliomyelitis, bubonic plague, Marburg, Ebola, rabies, etc. or possibly we would simply see the host (i.e. US!) wiped out. Fortunately - or unfortunately - evolution also gave us the brainpower to step in and deal with viral risks by immunization our way. Or, as I said, unfortunately - as our abilities to feed and protect more and more people have resulted in an unsustainable explosion in population that will eventually (not that far off) result in an environment no longer suitable for our purposes. We are smart enough to maneuver around nature's viruses, but not smart enough to overcome the greed and ignorance that will sink the whole damned ship.

You might be seeing it, but it is more the result of listening to my kids and friends who are medical professionals and scientists.

Sorry not to have replied yesterday. Rather than cherry pick a bunch of internet stuff, just think about what we have seen in the spring vs. what we are seeing now. The first wave was kicked off by a total lack of border control by the Feds. The resulting response saw nobody on the road, nobody in stores, huge level of curbside deliveries and very few masks (at least in this area). Numbers were brought quickly under control where this was the case. Fast forward to this fall, and everyone is wearing a mask, but everyone is going inside of stores, schools, malls, etc. to shop - because we have instilled such a false sense of security in them that the mask will somehow give them full protection. Note that even after 6 months to learn the lessons, adding the false mask security element to the equation, we have far, far higher levels of infection in the second wave. That applies to Yurp as well as Canada. I have as yet to see any material that attempts to quantify the contributions to today's numbers. If you/we want to fix them, the answer is STAY THE F**K AT HOME and isolated within your immediate family bubble.

Still, use of vaccines on less-than-extreme diseases can not only compromise individual immune systems (that would normally develop natural immunity) but herd health is similarly sliding due to the preservation within the gene pool of material that would normally not be reproduced as illness would have cleared it from the mix. The same could be said of many other acts of medical kindness and hygene (over use of anti-microbial soaps and liquids). I am not an anti-vaxxer, but when it comes to influenza, unless we become immunocompromised, I am not planning on vaccination for flu. Polio, shingles and Wuhan Virus - different deal.

Since when do you HAVE to use toilet paper or soap? You could go all of the way, or if you just use soap it sure sucks to be left handed.

Yes, masks might reduce spread from people in too close proximity. THAT is exactly the attitude that is killing a LOT of people. The solution is to stay the hell OUT of enclosed spaces and away from other people. Masks do exactly as they have obviously done to you - provide a false sense of security that results in a "slower" spread. Dead people's families don't give a rat's ass about how quickly the virus is being spread.

My concern with masks is that a rag over your face is no where near what is required to effectively block flow of virus. Even when carried in relatively large gobs, an infectious person coughing or breathing very heavily (main method of transmission) will vent large viral loads of smaller droplets through the horrid gaps in DIY masks or through the HUGE holes in the weave of cloth. If you want any kind of actual barrier, you need a fitted, sealed mask with correct filtration medium and then dispose of it at the end of any donned session. Why? Where the hell do you think the virus is? It is all over the mask and you stick it in your pocket or leave on your desk, and then touch it again to put it back on. No, not as dangerous but still handling it with same hands you picked your nose and rubbed your eyes with when it was off. Biggest concern: the very false sense of security that people get when wearing masks results in them entering closed areas full of other people, and often ignoring distance requirements. BTW: if you watch what PPE is being used by medical professionals, you will notice supplied air full head covering, not just face masks. If masks are adequate protection, that is all that doctors and nurses would be wearing. After all, THEY are the experts in disease and related technologies.

Would have been nice if we had a Prime membership instead of being led by the Prime Mistake.

This is not just a current Liberal problem, but it DID start with Tur...TRUdeau #1. Think is: so-called "conservatives" talked a lot about it, but did little to stop this debt growth. I would not go so far as to give the Little Tur...er...uh... TRUdeau or his rag-tag inclusionist cabinet much credit for anything they have done, but without anyone else's track record to compare, we have no idea how inept or even "ept" the whole Covid relief efforts are. Reality is: governments should have NO ability to borrow at all - except in genuine emergencies (which pandemics would fit). Politicians should be held accountable for the promises and spending by being required to collect the bill during their term. But, since Canadians are particularly lacking any collective intellect or balls, we instead get what we have. BTW: to put things into perspective: Canadian deaths in WW1 near 60,000 so about 15,000 a year (right about where we are with Covid mortality now). WWII cost us 23,000 over 5 years, or something under 5,000 per year. https://www65.statcan.gc.ca/acyb02/1947/acyb02_19471126002-eng.htm So, I think we legitimately claim this as some kind of exceptional event.

I am glad to see you phrase it that way. As someone with a vested interest in immigration overall and more immigration in particular, it is vital that you, your industry and the idiotic enablers within government understand that we who actually PAY the bills and suffer the consequences of the gaping holes in immigration systems are NOT happy with just immigration for the sake of the political and economic gain of "the system". I can agree that SOME immigration is beneficial (usually in the second generation) but a significant part of immigration today enables totally unqualified, ill fitting and UNWANTED (by anyone outside of the Sunny Ways camp) people to enter unchallenged. Not all cultures are a good fit here, but there is very little recognition and absolutely no attempt to respect that fact.

Business that wastes its time chasing government money isn't business, it is just another version of looking for and depending on handouts. You have also made the same mistake as does virtually every politician and ec-dev officer: that large business create jobs. They seldom do. The largest segment of the economy that creates new employment (vs. moving jobs from one big handout place to another - as this is what most big biz will do) is small business. IMHO, one of the reasons that the maritimes have such weak economies is that people have been trained like monkeys to turn to the most incompetent and ill intended source possible for opportunity - government. It is not the solution to any problem - it is the source.

Just a little more equal for those who will cut a big cheque to the LPC or a Trudeau family member.

Couple of comments: "lack of GOVERNMENT funding for business"?!?!?! Surely, you have to be kidding. Government has no business sticking its nose anywhere near business. And business has no business sucking up government frigging welfare. MARKETS choose winners and losers, not bureaucrats. First generation newly arrived might leave, but they might stay. In my experience, you can't really expect them to do much adapting, but similarly, many second generation immigrants seem to be motivated by their parents to become very successful. Of course, when success if measured by being a better gangster or drug dealer, Canada doesn't exactly win (courtesy of more than just Sunny Ways immigration free-for-all) but choosing the right immigrants can indeed be a good thing. Just not a half million a year of them!!!

I think you have that pretty much spot on. ANY religious fundamentalist/fanatic from ANY religion can and often IS picking and choosing the worst part of whatever storybook their cult/fantasies refers to that suits the agenda of their faction. Muslims are little different from Christians for the most part - tolerance is preached to and given credence in most major religions, and intolerance is similarly a common trait of fundamentalism.

The only conservative on Canadian political radar is Max. In our national rush to be a cold version of Venezuela the ignorant and idiotic citizenry can be and has been bought by indebting future generations to pursue an unsustainable agenda from the left. In other words: a failed (yes, past failing) state. Stooping low enough to elect Dimples and now an ambulance chaser to lead their party is indeed a return to the "PC" days.

there, fixed that for you.

One of my closest friends is a computer geek who works in ag. As the lead designer, he was isolated about 10 years ago for nearly 2 years to do a complete re-design of their automated feed blending systems (customized by ROP records - record of performance - so each area, pen, or even single animal could be fed a particular quantity and quality as needed). He headed out at the end to their first international high tech business exhibition, where they were going to introduce their new feed management software as a presenter on day 2. On day 1 he was approached more than once and propositioned to buy HIS OWN software - still supposedly a secret. Chinese (actually red army) hackers target not just government but EVERY private and commercial computer they can access to steal IP. And it has been going on for decades (also Russia does similar). It is not just the Sunny Ways morons who ignored this, the so-called "conservatives" were equally culpable. As usual, Canada (and with the one obvious Trump exception) the US share not only a border and culture, but a complete lack of balls in dealing with China.

This is exactly correct, but isolating China as you suggest in your later post is to create yet another cold war - except this time with an adversary that makes Russia look like schoolboys. You have to meet China head on, and to exclude them is not doing that. You give them continued access to our markets but with 100% requirement to meet labour, human rights, product safety and environmental standards for each and every product to gain access. Similarly, go right back to the source for such stuff as fentanyl smugglers and hold China responsible for them. What they really don't want is international embarassment.

I/we were in China from the mid-90s and one of our frequent discussions was how the West saw the light at the end of the "normalization" tunnel. Such discussions always ended with the comment that that light was a very large, very fast train that would flatten the West if we didn't get a grasp on reality early on.

Interesting choice of countries. Their Bolivarian Revolution is similar to the charge to the left in Canada. They have as much heavy oil as we do (just measured as more since it is easier to classify and quantify). Corruption is endemic in politics, as has become the way of the LPC. Their economy has been destroyed by ineptitude of government. They are in crisis level of debt. About the only big difference is that it is warmer there and they speak Spanish but they are further down the looney left fork in the road than we have come...yet.