Reflections of an Old Man

How do we overcome centuries of mistrust and abuse? How is it possible to become reconciled when we were never 'conciled' in the first place? And 'the truth' has been diligently buried all along the colonial path, as we are discovering now, with thousands of unrecorded deaths in residential schools. My personal observation is that Indigenous people don't even appear on the radar of most mainstream people. They don't really like or dislike them. They just don't care one way or another. That in spite of the mainstream media trumpet blasting away, as is happening today, September 30, 2021. The only time mainstream people react is when Indigenous people get in their face, by obstructing traffic, for example. And when things settle down, they are promptly forgotten again. That's the real truth, folks.

Much concern has been expressed about the projected imminent collapse of Alberta's sick care system. And for a good reason. Numbers in intensive care beds are steadily increasing. Will that trend level off? I think so, as more people are dying, making room for new up-and-coming stiffs: 34 logged in the last 24 hours. That seems to be the way our UCP government has chosen to deal with this crisis. They should be fired.

As a long time observer and participant in the generation of opinions and distribution of news, I have (along with everybody else) experienced the ever more polarized political climate. Looking back over the last 100 years or so, it would appear that polarization is a wave phenomenon, based to a considerable degree on economic conditions. During the "dirty thirties" a peak was experienced with extremist political ideologies taking hold, ultimately leading into World War II. War exhaustion and post war reconstruction settled things down, leading to the consumerism which peak we are now experiencing. As it turns out, mainstream media tends to attract people from the 'progressive' side of society, as do academic institutions. As a result, the 'big trumpet' has been blasting out messages that reflect the values and preconceived notions of these people as gospel truth, while demonizing opinions on the other side of the ledger. This has been going on for years, and

As I am writing this, two Canadian hostages from China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig are likely at the Calgary Airport. Having arrived from China, accompanied by Canada's ambassador to that country, Dominic Barton, they are set to be greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. And hopefully their families. Canada just came through a federal election, costing some $600 million, for no reason at all. Other than an attempt by Justin Trudeau to get a majority government to appease his ego. He failed and we returned to the status quo with very few changes in representation. Meanwhile things are happening in the background. A man is being groomed to become Canada's prime minister. His name is Mark Carney, born in Fort Smith in our Northwest Territory and raised in Edmonton. So, he is (was) a local boy. He is also a child of the financial system doing his apprenticeship with Goldman Sachs and acting as the Governor of the Bank of Canada and more recently, the Bank of England. The

An intriguing theory that has just 'bubbled' to the surface in cosmology is the notion that our expanding universe, as observed by astronomical instruments, may be a bubble within some kind of 'dark matter liquid'. That opens the door to the possibility that there are other universes, co-exiting with ours, in the surrounding dark matter soup and that these bubbles could meet, and conceivably merge, like bubbles like to do. This theory supports the observation that our universe appears to be expanding. The suggested explanation is that gravitational pull from some unseen kind of 'dark matter' is the cause. Some good food for our imagination.

In terms of COVID response, the populations of Norway and Alberta, not very different in size, are polar opposites. Alberta deaths as at today: 2,594. Norway 850. How come? I think I know part of the answer: It is about the collective experiences of the two populations over the last century. In contrast to Norwegians, Albertans have never really had to face a serious external threat and the need to stand shoulder to shoulder to face that threat - until now. On April 9, 1940, Norway became a political football between the German and English war machines, with the Germans beating the English in invading Norway by approximately one week. At that time Norway was divided by the prevailing ideologies of the day, not unlike what we are experiencing at this time. So, the Germans walked in, took control, and the rest is history, as they say. Norwegians learned their lesson the hard way: Together we stand, divided we fall. Amen.

The most contentious COVID issue at this time is likely the idea of mandatory vaccine 'passports' needed to attend public facilities, like restaurants, etc. The idea has now been dropped in Britain, for being too contentious and divisive. There are signs in Britain that infection rates are levelling off, likely due to an 80+ vaccination rate and Brits being more careful about personal interactions. Here in Alberta, the sickness care system is already saturated, mandatory indoor masking is in effect and vaccine 'passports' are required to engage in 'non-essential' indoor activities. In short, it is a mess here, with a lot of non-compliance and record infections in central and northern rural areas. In my mind, the long term solution to living with this bug is to vastly improve the efficiency of indoor ventilation systems and the maintenance of high levels of hygiene.

Britain has just dropped the idea of issuing vaccine passports which was perceived to be too divisive to be worth the trouble. I fully agree with that position. Vaccines are a tool in bringing the pandemic to an end, but that is all they are. They are not a be-all and end-all magic way to beat COVID. So, why should we treat those that decline vaccines as second class people, putting them at the 'back of the bus' the way black and other people of color have traditionally been treated in North America? One weapon against COVID that has not been activated on a large scale yet is vastly upgraded ventilation systems in indoor spaces. So, let's get on it instead of arguing about vaccines! Starting with schools.

Watching today's news conference hosted by Alberta's Minister of Health, Tyler Shandro and Chief Officer of Health, Dr. Deana Hinshaw was not a very gratifying experience. Shandro did his best to deflect direct questions about lack of initiative on his part with his bla-bla political palaver, showing clearly that he has no authority within this government. Hinshaw, on the other hand, took it on the chin when accused of incompetence by a reporter. She was clearly flustered throughout the rest of the news conference. Premier Kenney, as usual, stayed away, anticipating that shit would be flying. I am fairly sure that Hinshaw is being pushed around by people behind the scenes who have political motivations.

The science we call "Physics" evolved over time to describe patterns observed in the behaviour of physical objects as they interact under the influence of forces acting upon them in the observed environment. We applied measurements of quantity and quality to what was observed by developing instruments that give numerical or categories of "kind" as answers to "how much" and "what". These same instruments have also greatly extended the range of our observations, such as telescopes, microscopes and stethoscopes, for example. In doing so, we are now discovering that the ground rules that we have established for our physics do not apply in the extreme micro and macro worlds of spinning electrons and swirling binary stars. The very idea of such a thing as an "object" does not really apply in highly energetic environments, for example. So, to move on, we have to be prepared to put our sensory derived common cozy conceptions on the shelf and

This is for those of us who would like to see Justin return to the classroom where he truly belongs (learning about life's realities). Throwing gravel at the Trudeau entourage is a sure way of giving them lots of publicity and sympathy from potential supporters. In other words, a win-win for the liberals ensuring that wobbly voters will turn out on election day with their support. One could even speculate that gravel throwers may have been planted to achieve exactly that. (It's an old trick). Donald didn't have to plant anybody to achieve that goal. He used his mouth to great advantage, polarizing the American electorate. The best way to neutralize folks like Trudeau and his clique is to ignore them.

It is easy to get confused about who's who in Health in Alberta, so an explanation is in order. Alberta Health is a government department under the direction of the Minister of Health, the Alberta cabinet and Premier Jason Kenney. The folks that actually look after sick people in Alberta work for Alberta Health Services in hospitals, ambulances, etc. Chief Medical Officer of Health. Deana Hinshaw, works for Alberta Health and so is under the heel of the minister. That explains why so little has been heard from her during the last month as the Kenney government pretended that they had beaten COVID, and the premier went away on a holiday without leaving anybody behind to speak for himself. The incompetence of the political crew that calls itself the Government of Alberta today gives pause for reflection. I guess that is what happens when a bunch of ideologues walk in off the street and manage to get themselves elected into positions of public responsibil ity.