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Pandemic logic

Is it okay to thrust logic into the covid pandemic equation? Let’s start with COVID-19 itself and its name. You see the folks in charge don’t seem to care that much about how they refer to it. First, it was Corona Virus but then someone said – no you can’t call it that because it’s only one type of Corona. Then it was assigned COVID-19 but then youtube was blocking this term because of its sterility and social media wasn’t generating the hits in lieu so folks went back to Corona Virus or “CV”. There seems to be much ambivalence now. Nobody really cares what you call it now because we all get the drift. However; the lack of succinctness in its name reference has eerily paralleled the lack on succinctness in executing policy around its existence.

Who is dying? It is the elderly and those who have “underlying conditions” mostly. Since there are few politically incorrect left who would dare opine online formally on a sensitive topic…i’ll just do it. I’ll say it. The elderly have been treated like second class citizens in the first world and this pandemic has elicited the fact. It’s a virus similar to others but more deadly and if you’re not in good health, it could take you out. Here is the thing – we are all going one day. However; had we treated the elderly better and provided them with the resources fitting of their esteemed contribution to society over their lives, they would have been better equipped to handle the pandemic. The allocation of health care dollars has been disproportionately been paid to doctors over aids to seniors. There is no escaping death but with so much treasure allocated toward health care, many deaths to seniors could have been prevented with better management of health care dollars.

You see. There are consequences to our conduct. If one votes in a lame brain for a President, you should expect poor decision making. If you vote in someone with poor character, expect decision making which reflects self interest instead of the common interest. If a leader doesn’t heed the wisdom of science and medical professionals then expect consequences of such irresponsibility in policy. You get what you ask for. Death could come earlier for you as a result of casting a vote carelessly. It seems like a stretch, right? But it’s not if the dots keep lining up one after another. Just last night Mr. Trump while standing at his podium pontificated injecting the body with “disinfectant” as cure against COVID-19. He did so with a straight face so Anderson Cooper brought in his medical panel for an interview on the subject.

If you hang carcasses of raw meat on the street for sale…are you not asking for a problem? If you don’t do something about the problem, do you really have reason to complain about coming down with a disease? If some government authority believes you are being racist for referencing the idiocy of hanging raw meat in the street, can you not take exception on the premise of simply the meat and the practice as opposed to the skin color of vendors of meat?

The frail needed acute protection at the outset but they were merely administered the same regulatory policy as all others. It wasn’t until long after numerous deaths did officials come to execute more precise protocols around the target market of this virus. Now, a major block of the populous is in lock down and financial quandary paying the price for officials’ complacency in permitting flights after the threat was discovered and interpreted by medical professionals in tandem with a failure to protect the frail with rigor at the outset.      

Calling Out The Bull

I’ve made a habit of calling out the bull way before COVID-19. Satire is one way of illuminating the ridiculous. Facebook friend OB has presented George Carlin as an eloquent broadcaster of satire from the comedy stage. Another way of bringing attention to incidences of bull is by doing a logic drill down to discover source motive. The trouble with this method is you need to be well researched because one flaw in your theory weakens your posture.

One thing for certain becomes evident. Your governments don’t believe you can conduct yourself with common sense. Or, they perpetrate policy with a surreptitious motive of executing one policy in concert with executing a larger purpose.  Here is where we start running into conspiracy theories.

Saving lives and health care finance are obviously worthy causes. However; I do question the imposition of regulation without the resources to enforce such regulation. Our governments have never endorsed using non deputized citizens as law enforcement agents. Issues around civil liberties become acute during a time when one entity starts behaving with misplaced authority.

The COVID-19 story line is one where we see dribs and drabs of regulation coloured with statistics and surprisingly muddled facts from folks who claim to be experts. Then we have the wannabe experts who follow on with their perceived social media empires believing that their message can fill in for the factual void.   

Of course despite the well publicized health recommendations from official health authorities, we have tenants and landlords who want to suddenly play hygiene and six foot police apparently ignorant of the patronizing tone it bestows in a landscape where commercial vacancies are at all time highs. Long term relationships are potentially jeopardized with naive overreach.    

Let’s not forget the establishments which remain open but then don’t want to serve anyway given the hysteria generated about germs. Want to get glasses fitted but then be denied service despite the place being empty with the doors open? We’ll remember who not to visit when things get back to normal.

We certainly don’t want to alienate long term relationships through paranoia over a situation where we should be able to apply common sense in the context of a broad message well heeded and well publicized from the official stage.

Modest Keith Corrigan

There was this accounting office where I spent a tax season in approximately 2004 here in Calgary. I showed up as a contractor and weaved my way into the inner fabric of a well established firm for this finite period. There was this guy on staff named Keith Corrigan. He struck me as kind of quirky but pleasant. I enjoyed his laid back approach to accounting and tax. He had an admirable confidence and he possessed supreme interpersonal skills. I didn’t have much to do with him since he was deployed on corporate work and I was tasked with personal returns. However; we had an unspoken agreement between us as we worked away in the office sharing the occasional witticisms. On April 30, while slaving away on the last couple of returns, in walks Keith looking for my invoice to get me settled up in anticipation of the wind up tax party. We took care of business, headed to the party, and subsequently lost contact with each other.

Fast forward to 2015, and I’m driving into the parking lot of the Smart Executive Centre and I see this slender fellow having a smoke and I’m thinking – “I know him”. We get reacquainted and I discover that he’s also taken up office residence here where I work. Our rapport is quickly reestablished and I begin to marvel at his experience and knack for story telling . We’ve had much in common with respect to tax and investing and together we would on occasion satirize unsavory positions taken by the CRA. Keith was a man fully blessed with common sense and deployed the trait eloquently with his subtle humor. 

He recently died suddenly at the age of 59. I attended his Celebration of Life today and the event was informal and modest akin to the way he carried himself every day.

His obituary:

https://calgaryherald.remembering.ca/obituary/keith-corrigan-1078330214

Technology’s Incursion on Your Power

It’s happening whether you like it or not. The digital age is impacting your personal power and your ability to return fire. Here’s an example. Typically after a Uber ride, I will look to my phone so that I can acknowledge the tip request and send one. This morning I had a glaring message pop up with an “I understand” button having me acknowledge Uber’s reference to matters relevant to “behavior” as if my communication on my most recent ride did not meet their standard. It makes me think that my conversation with the driver was actually recorded without notifying me of such. I came to realize during the latter part of the ride that my driver may have been having difficulty understanding me given that English was his second language (he was wearing a turban). In humor, I had referenced the authoritative tone of the satellite guide woman giving directions and then gave her credit when she acknowledged me by name.  Could this have been the offending reference? It’s all I can imagine given the completeness of my conversation with the driver. 

You see, I used a little sarcasm during our ride to add color to the trip which may have been perceived as something different. I suspect this phenomenon will become less and less of a problem for people over time because people will just stop engaging in small talk flavored with witticism since it will be deemed too much trouble with a risk of negative consequences should banter be misunderstood. In other words, an experience of interpersonal connectedness will be extinguished due to an over sensitive culture awarded favor from daft elites lacking in common sense. After all, it was the Uber app that gave the final word in absence of a North American phone number on their website.