Month: May 2021

Poor intelligence gathering on COVID-19, faulty risk assessments on the spread of the virus, and a Public Health Agency that lacked enough scientific expertise all helped make the pandemic worse in Canada than it should have been, a parliamentary committee heard Friday. Globe & Mail May 8/21

Meeting No. 35 HESA – Standing Committee on Health ,Friday, May 7, 2021

Emergency Situation Facing Canadians in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Watch 

Michael Garner Witness comments begin 14.14.29

From 2006 to 2019 Michael Garner worked as an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada, beginning as a Field Epidemiologist, and working primarily in research and control of emerging infectious diseases – which COVID-19 is one.

Excerpted from Globe & Mail article of May 8/21

Harper Government installs bureaucrat as president of Public Health,Trudeau Government keeps in place.

Gustav Dore Illustration from Milton’s Paradise Lost:The battle of the angels

Court Painter has freely distilled from an article by Matthew Dowd political pundit & analyst in Medium: Truth and Democracy: The Dividing line in America today

Today, the gravest threat to the globe is the attacks on fragile and frayed democracies combined with a major segment of citizens and leaders who no longer consider telling the truth a fundamental value.

This battle for democracy and for truth is the most pivotal and crucial crisis facing America and the world today. It is absolutely imperative that leaders understand this, and focus their time and resources in a way that shows they know the issue of democracy and truth is the most important task to be done in this moment.

The great dividing line today is: on one side the belief in a common set of facts, the common good, and a vibrant active expansive democracy, on the opposing side of this is the exact opposite.

It is time to realize party labels and platforms are ludicrous if we lose democracy and the ability to tell the truth and trust that facts matter.

A Court Painter Series of Twists on Dore based on Gustav Dore’s illustrations for Milton’s Paradise Lost

There’s something happening here
What it is is exactly clear

CLICK LINK FOR ARTICLE

• Forget Tech Bro Fantasies of Self-Driving Cars and Just Invest in Buses Already
• https://newrepublic.com/article/162280/autonomous-vehicles-public-transportation-uber-lyft Follow @newrepublic

What we need are not more energy-efficient cars or self-driving cars or, as president of Lyft, John Zimmer fantasized, privately owned fleets that are available for hire, but fewer cars entirely. We need people biking, walking, taking buses and trains and subways, or otherwise riding in something besides a free-ranging, 3,000-pound metal exoskeleton with an error-prone operator, digital or human. If safety is often cited as a prime reason for developing autonomous vehicles—about 36,000 Americans die in car accidents every year—then perhaps a better way of saving lives is to have fewer cars on the road, replaced by mass transit and other public options.

In contrast to all the hype and expense of autonomous vehicles—along with the regulatory and technical and economic uncertainty—bicycles, sidewalks, and public transport work exceedingly well. They are known quantities that can be strengthened and made more accessible with a fraction of the resources that have been poured into A.V. research. They are safe and enhance the urban experience. They contribute few, if any, emissions and don’t enrich a handful of oligarchs at the expense of the common interest.

Excerpted : Jacob Silverman/May 3, 2021 The New Republic

Court Painter, in a fit of lockdown inspiration, undertook a series of wildflower paintings. He remarked that wild flowers are much like him….wildly temperamental and pleasing to the eye!

Isn’t that wild!?