THE CURE IS WORSE THAN THE DISEASE ....MUCH WORSE.

In a recent blog I wrote that the best response to the Corona Virus is to do Nothing.

Well in retrospect perhaps I was a little bit over the top.  But not as much as you might think.

In the blog, I employed an analogy of a patient going to hospital for an ear ache and coming out with casts on both hands and both feet.  Well I should have said ...came out in a full body cast.

I say that since there are 3 serious affects that can be attributed to the Corona:   Health; Economic; and Social.

To date the focus has been mostly on the threat to health but the Virus has other equally deleterious affects:

• The World Economy has been shut down.  Millions are out of work and the dirty 30s are beginning to look like a cake walk in comparison to what is happening today.
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• Social Isolation recommended by health experts and politicians alike is working but at the cost of isolating the frail, the elderly, and the vulnerable.  in fact it is not mentally or physically healthy for any of us.

So how come?

The answer my dear friends is relatively easy to determine - our Politicians are making decisions that affect us all on the basis of what the nearest Health Expert recommends.

For instance, how many times have you seen Politician X make a declaration of some sort and a reporter naturally asks - 'Why So'?   The answer is inevitably that this is what the 'health care experts are advising us to do'.  End of Story. 

In effect our politicians are hiding behind these Experts - following rather than leading as they should.  In one sense who can blame them - they are on the side of the angels.  This despite the fact that the damage these self-same declarations can do is often worse than the virus itself.

So here is what I would suggest:

We all know the reaction of health care will be 'shut her down'.  So that position needs to be counter-balanced with the other two major players in the game represented by economists / business and social scientists / sociologists.  A panel representing the nation's experts in these 3 fields could then look for a compromise approach which the Politicians in their infinite wisdom can then consider and then act on the ones they find best suited to today's complex situation.

You read it here first - don't be shy to pass it along.

In closing, I will make a prediction - fear is what currently drives today's policy decisions but the day is quickly coming - even without the above panel - when fear of illness will be replaced by greed and economic self-preservation.  Society will be out for the welfare of Number 1 - themselves and to hell with a virus that may or not make them sick and will unlikely kill them.

For the sick and vulnerable continue to stay in doors throughout all of this and self-isolate. 

As I See It...

K.D. Bell

We Have A Virus Alright ...But It's Not The 'Cornie' One That Is Causing Us All The Trouble...

Rather, It Is The Panic The Cornie Causes !!

Whole Cities, States and Continents have been cut-off from civilization. 

National and International Sport Leagues and Events have packed up and gone home or stayed home.

Police are enforcing the distance you can legally stand near another human... 1 yard apart.  Who knew such draconian measures even existed.  It would make even the most notorious Dictators of history blush in envy.

There are differing lists of Freedoms but as a Libertarian - the basic ones  that I subscribe to are:  Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Assembly.

And three of these have come under attack as a result of the Corona Virus - Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Assembly.  The first example indeed consists of the two of them - Churches in some jurisdiction have been told not to hold services because of fears that this could lead to the spread of the virus.  The Freedom of Assembly has been generally sacrificed with the dictate that crowds larger than 250 - 500 will not be permitted - hence sports events, political meetings and meetings of any kind will not be tolerated.  Even our Parliament closed today allowing our politicians to slink out of town. 

And the olde saw - never let an ill wind go to waste is alive and well in today's whirlwind.  Progressive Lefties ...aka Greenies are simply beside themselves.   Their goal to save the planet has been to see industry shuttered and by Joe - this is being accomplished before their very eyes.  I have to wonder though they will manage when their day to comforts are suddenly not available.

China - the biggest supplier of things to the world - like the shirt on your back and parts for industry has seen a reduction in their external shipments reduced by 85%.  Their smiles will soon fade as it sinks in that they - like the rest of us are also consumers. 

And speaking of consuming - the hottest item in the market place today of course is toilet paper.  My wife and I went to two major grocery stores yesterday and neither one had but a roll of tissue left.  Just long empty shelves for as far as the eye could see.  We do have an ample supply of old newspapers here and would gladly provide some to the greenies when their need arises.

Today the news was full of reports that the local Costco's parking lot was jammed full and that cars were backed up for long distances on the roads leading to that store.  All had come for the Toilet Paper and reporters found these toilet paper hunters to be universally ugly in nature.  I thought to myself thank heavens we have much stricter gun controls than our American neighbours to the south.

Yesterday, we overheard one woman standing in the check out lines ....did I mention that I had never experienced lines so long?  - She wondered out loud if the only thing left for her to do was to go to her basement with a can of tuna and a supply of toilet tissue and cover her head with a blanket until the panic ceased.  Her comments were followed by a nervous laugh from those around her.

I would like to continue on with this blog further but find that I must sign-off - need to check to see if any stores around me have restocked their tissue.

As I See It...

K.D. Bell

A DEARTH OF CANDIDATES - TRUMP, BIDEN, BERNIE AND MORE...

I am currently following three Leadership races here in North America - - four actually, though one is a none race - 2 in the US of A and 2 here in Canada.  Lets begin with the former.

We are now down to 2 candidates for the Democrats - the above-noted Biden and Bernie - both are past their 'best before dates' and even when they were in their prime - they were nothing to speak of.  Sorry guys.

Smart money is now on the former V.P.  but it really matters not, since neither one will take out The Donald.

And Donald Trump is the second race I will also deal with quickly here.  There isn't one - a race that is and there should be.  Trump has been a disaster in his term of office and someone(s) in the Republican Party should have come forward to challenge him.  I can think of several but won't name them - if they did not have the patriotism to come forward - I cannot be bothered with naming them either.  And, I well remember the 1968 Election Campaign when Bobby Kennedy challenged then President Lyndon Johnson.  It cost Kennedy his life but it also forced Johnson's resignation. 

So Donald Trump runs unopposed when he should not be there at all - and this coming November he will find himself running against a candidate - likely Biden - who is even worse than himself.

Where is Winston Churchill when you need him.  Even in advanced age - he would beat the socks off these guys.  And to think, the Presidency of the United States is the highest gig going. Pity.

So now we come to my own country Canada.  Nationally we have a Leadership Race for the Conservative Party - and also have but two eligible candidates - both second-line stringers.  For some reason, the Conservative Party apparatjik went out of its way to discourage participation and in that they have been most successful. 

Given this, we too in Canada may well end up with our current Prime Minister come next election which would be similar to the United States since, like Trump, our current guy is probably the worst Prime Minister we have had in modern time. Indeed, the only thing our guy can still look up to is his own Ego.

Now to our largest Province - Ontario where 40%  of Canadians reside.  The Liberals in fact just wrapped up their Leadership Convention on Saturday and some guy whose name begins with Del ? was elected on the first ballot.  Don't feel bad if you do not recognize the name- none of us here do either. 

His claim for fame is that he is a professional politician having entered the fray at the tender age of 15.  What he does not realize of course is that this attribute is not an asset for him but rather a detriment.

And, the only thing Del ? has in his favour is that if and when the mantle of power is placed on his shoulders he does not need to worry about growing gray.

With the world feeling like it is falling in upon itself we need great Leadership more than ever and yet seem to go out of our way to see that we do not get it.  Pity too.

As I See It, 

K.D. Bell

CORONAVIRUS.....WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO ?

UPDATE:  Just to keep the coronavirus in some perspective, 10% of the US population (25 million) gets the flu each year and 36,000 die from it on average    


NOTHING          NADA          ZIP          ZILCH          RIEN     

It has been less than two months since this new virus has become a house-hold word and yet during this relatively short time 'The Experts' & 'The Politicians' have gone all the way from saying "nothing to see here...move along"  to Henny Penny's famous running about proclaiming "the sky is falling".

And all the while entire cities have hunkered down indoors leaving streets abandoned while the world's commercial network has virtually come to a stand-still.

So what began and still is a health matter has morphed into a social and economic catastrophe.

So how did we get where we currently are?

In the beginning the danger of this virus was sorely downplayed while today is it grossly overblown.

The Experts are calling for hospitals to "stock-up with medications" while the Politicians are telling us to "stock up basic supplies" such as food and water.

Exactly what 'medications' hospital would stock-up on is a mystery to me since no medications exist yet for this new virus.

It is all over-kill and only serves to spread panic throughout the world which they have been very successful in doing.

Which leads me back to today's solution - We Should Do Nothing.

The virus is less serious than the flu which we have contended with since the early 1700s and every year sees outbreaks of this old virus all over the world.  And yet we do not shut down whole cities and discontinue international commerce in its wake.  Granted, vaccinations exist for the flu but the same will apply soon in the case of the coronavirus virus.

Fatalities are less than they are with the flu - something around 2% and then mostly affects the elderly - which though bad enough - if the numbers were reversed...if the survival rate was 2% and the death rate 98%  then I could understand the need for panic.  But it is not.

So here we have a medical issue but you and I are needlessly turning it into social isolation and economic decline.  We are shooting ourselves in the proverbial foot.   It is like going into a hospital with and earache and asking for castes to be placed on your hands and legs.  How to make it a bad situation much, much worse.  Have we become so soft in the 21st Century that we are willing to stop living just because we might come down with flu like symptoms?

During World War Two - Londoners went underground as their City was bombarded - buildings obliterated, citizens killed and wounded.  And yet come the morning sun, they dusted themselves, stayed calm and carried on.

We, indeed the World, have been given the rare chance to emulate their courage...are we up-to-it?

As I See It...

K.D. Bell

ARE WE IN FOR ANOTHER BIG ONE ?

As in Recession ....or even  Great Recession?  Or how about a Depression or even another Great Depression?

Can't happen you might say.  But maybe, just maybe...

Yesterday, the DOW was down over a thousand points and today it again came too close to that significant number - so nearly 2,000 points down in but 2 days.  What will tomorrow or the day after bring?

It has been but 10 years since the world experienced the Great Recession - 2007/08 and some 90 years since the Great Depression and folks I can tell you things on the ground today - as we head into a new decade - look similarly bleak.

The immediate cause for this week's down-draft is the spreading of the Coronavirus.  Whole countries are shutting down and with them - economic activity is coming to a halt.  It just shows how vulnerable commerce is to outside influences in this modern, mobile age.

But there are other perhaps less serious causes for the economic retraction but all still substantial - take Donald Trump's irresponsible policies of trade war and devastating tariffs.  They hurt the USA as much as they hurt other countries.  Even the 'White House' came out recently to say that its President had been mistaken in these regards.

And then you have the Climate disasters that abound through-out the world - forest fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and twisters.  They do not just damage infrastructure - they destroy it for years on end.  Revelations makes good suggested reading.

Add to this - war and strife that too inundates world affairs.  The economy takes second-fiddle to trying to protect life and limb.

Finally, to insult to injury is the progressives' move to everything Green.  It is expensive, inefficient and takes away from serious economic activity.  Our Prime Minister - Justin Trudeau is a prophet when it comes to this nonsense and if you do not have the misfortune of living under his delusional leadership - you are indeed most fortunate.   But many other countries have also drunk the kool-aid.

And thanks to our flakey Prime Minister, we in Canada have the unique problem of our natives deliberately trying to bring our commerce to a halt - via rail, road and bridge stoppages.  All that our natives want is for the 'white man' to turn over the lands they stole... back to the Indian.  Simple as that and - dear reader - the natives have an ally in Justin.

So the question becomes not Why Are The World Economies Faltering - but, Why Did It Take So Long? ... When the World is going to Hell in a Hand-basket.

As I See It...

K.D. Bell

THE WEEK THAT WASN'T...

This week was supposed to be the week when our Federal Government ruled on whether or not Teck Resources' Frontier Project would be allowed to proceed in the Province of Alberta.

Earlier today though, the CEO of Teck came out to say his company was cancelling the project - a project that would have created 7,000 good paying jobs and would have injected over $40 Billion into Alberta's stalled economy.

Now if I was the cynical type - I would say from the above that we the taxpayer had been had.  After 10 years of fighting tooth and nail for this project - its owners come out at the 12th hour to announce that it has lost interest in it.  Pshaw !!

And I later learned that my suspicions were validated.

Some intrepid reporter found out that or Progressive overly Green Government had recently approached Teck to say that although it would approve the project later this week - it would do so with a number of conditions that would keep the project on ice for a further 10 years or more.

To understand what happened here - is to understand that had the Government imposed more restrictive conditions at this late stage - Albertans would have gone ballistic.  Fuel would have been added to the ever-growing separatist feelings.

By having Teck do its dirty work - it at least dulled the impact and at the same time - keeps its stranglehold on their progressive, tree-hugging followers.

But now we know the rest of the story - my apologizes to the late Paul Harvey.  Teck was tipped off and knew full well their project - after 10 years was dead on arrival.

Or do we know the rest of the story...Perhaps only part.

Again call me a cynic - but what would you do if you were the head of Teck and Young Trudeau's thugs came to you to tell you a decision would be forthcoming but with a number of conditions that could not be possibly met?

If you are anything like me - you would not issue a last minute statement to say your company was pulling up stakes.   Why - you's let the Federal Government render its divisive statement and then you would announce your pull-out.

Teck says that it has lost over a billion dollars on this futile project ....I wonder how much of that the Feds will cover-off?  Nothing else makes sense.

Our Government makes Trump and an company look like amateurs.

As I See It...

K.D. Bell

IMPEACHMENT, MAYBE THE TIME HAS COME FOR DONALD TRUMP. !!

As you know, I was not a fan of the endless Impeachment Debate that, until recently, had plagued Trump's Presidency virtually from the get-go.  Like many of you, I saw it for what it  was - the Democrats seeking revenge against The Donald for having the temerity to win the 2016 Election over their fair-haired - Hillary Clinton. 

I will not rehash this embarrassing period- embarrassing for all participants, other than to say its most recent alliteration - of  saying Trump tried to bribe the Ukrainian President regarding matters relating to V.P. Joe Biden and his son.  When the President of the United States - the strongest politician in the world, cannot say what he wishes to his counterparts throughout the world without it landing on page 1 of the New York Times ... we're all in trouble.  Folks that is simply how politics works - or if you like...doesn't work in the big leagues.

However, that does not entitle a President or any other leader of one of our few democracies to personally interfere in the workings of the administration of justice.  And that is just what he did - when he directly involved himself in the sentencing of his good friend -  Roger Stone earlier this week.

This has been verified by none other than the Justice herself and by his own Attorney General - William Barr.

It is called interfering with the Rule of Law and not even the President of the United Statesd has the right to do this.

If I was Barr, I would resign immediately - it would be nice to see someone of principle leave on their free will than be dropped kicked out as has happened to so many of his contemporaries. 

Strangely, and you will know from my recent blogs, we have the similar problem here in Canada but from the reverse angle.  Our Prime Minister - Justin Trudeau, will not invoke the Rule of Law to prevent some Natives from tying up our Commerce via rail and road blockages. 

So in our case, Trudeau ensures special legal treatment for some - just like he has shown in the past for special legal treatment for some of his influential friends in our Province of Quebec.

So while Trudeau ignores the Rule of Law like the plague - Trump stomps all over it for a friend.

In both cases it is gravely damaged.   Can one Impeach our Prime Minister too?

As I See It ...

K.D. Bell