Friday, June 19, 2020

Keeping Cool While Covering,

More Coronavirus Headlines

June 18, 2020

Staying inside to keep cool, during this heatwave, I made some yogurt and a strawberry sauce to go on the upcoming birthday cheesecake I intend to make and  read and as a result collected a lot more Coronavirus headlines which will be posted here. Instead of Coronavirus they should rename it to Cornucopiavirus, as it just keeps right on giving just like a cornucopia would if it dished out never-ending viruses instead of food.

As there's a lot to cover, I might as well get started, so I can maybe, hopefully, catch up on it all someday soon.

Plexiglass sales soar as companies seek ways to protect employees And that stuff isn't cheap, though you'd think it would be given it's flimsiness. 



China warns "very high" risk of new Beijing coronavirus cluster spreading  It just doesn't seem to want to quit, that's for sure. But if there's any truth to it coming from the Wuhan Labs, then maybe this is karmic justice playing out here.

Cash-strapped renters face eviction despite coronavirus moratoriums I'm pretty sure this is true wherever there's been renters who were given a break because of the virus but the break has expired or will expire eventually.

40% of black-owned businesses not expected to survive coronavirus Okay why is that? I'm sure people don't always know who the owners of all the businesses they patronize are. I know I don't. For all I know many of the businesses I frequent could be owned by little green men from Mars. I patronize businesses for their products they offer and the prices they're offered at and not because of who does or doesn't own them. I'm sure a lot of other people are the same as me. So if that's the case, isn't this a rather racist conclusion to make? I mean why would more of their businesses fail than anyone else's during this pandemic, otherwise? 


Walmart looks to remove all cashiers from stores  This is one of the lamest excuses I've ever heard about a company wanting to automate their business, to cut down on salaries and costs in order to save money. They're using the pandemic as an excuse to cut down on workers and use automated self-check out counters. Like I said about other stores who tried that in our area. If you want me to do the work of your employees, I expect to be paid like one for doing it. I'm not doing work you'd other wise have to pay someone else to do, for free. You want me to do it, then I want to be paid for it and not just 12 cents off a jug of bleach and 5 cents off a box of Kraft Dinner. I mean real money. If it takes me 1/2 hour to check my groceries through and then package them myself, I want what was otherwise 1/2 hour's worth of your cashier's wages either paid to me directly or deducted from my tally. That's the way I feel about being forced to do all this free work for companies. 

Fed moves to ensure companies can tap bond market for funds  If this isn't a sneaky way of the gov't moving in and taking over companies to nationalize them I don't know what is. Sure they're making it look like a pandemic rescue, but is it? I mean was the purpose of the lockdowns really something like this all along? Where they'd propose a rescue plan where they'd buy company bonds as a means of providing financial support to the company when it wanted to reopen? And then using the bond ownership as leverage into buying/owning more of the company until they feel they can just outright seize it and declare it belonging to the nation rather than the owners/shareholders? I wouldn't dismiss this idea outright as being outlandish and crazy, because this pandemic has seen a lot of that happen so far and just because 3 months ago it would've been deemed impossible and that someone would need some heavy duty brass balls, to be so emboldened to try to pull much of what has been pulled off, has been pulled off.  Just read back in this blog to see the audacity of some of the stuff pulled and the excuses for it.


Norway ends virus tracing app over privacy concerns  Yup and Trudeau wants to implement one here in Canada. Trying to ensure us that there's nothing to be worried about in regards to using it. Except that his track record at being honest is less than stellar, so I think I'll just take a pass on it, because I trust him as far as I can throw him and that's not far, believe me.

Tech Firms Are Spying on You. In a Pandemic, Governments Say That’s OK.  I'm sure the Canadian government thinks it's okay too. They're probably asking the tech firms for the data they have on the Canadians they're spying on.

China halts European salmon imports over suspected link to virus outbreak After all the assurances we've been given about the safety of our food in relation to the pandemic, and then China is claiming this? Wow! Who do we trust? Our officials that say not to worry about food that it's not transmissible via food or the Chinese who are claiming this?  I'm glad I have a garden, though it doesn't look like much is growing except lettuce and herbs. Hopefully, more will start growing soon.


Cineplex plans to reopen cinemas, while shares suffer over failed Cineworld deal  Personally, I'm not a big fan of movie theatres. I find the seats uncomfortable, the positions you have to sit in order to see the screen uncomfortable (like either looking up with your head tilted back, or between 2 tall people in the room in front of you, etc...). Without any intermissions anymore, so if you want something at the concession stands or have to use the washroom you miss half the movie, and so on. I'd much rather watch things at home. We have more than enough choice now with Netflix, cable, Crave, HBO etc that there's always something to see whenever we want and we can pause for all the bathroom breaks or the make popcorn breaks or whatever and not miss a thing, without getting a sore neck from head position to watch it or headaches from the excessively loud volume. And we can sit way more comfortably too. That's the way I always felt about them. Back in the days of the VCR we used to wait for the movies we  wanted to see to come out on videotape and then go rent them and have friends over for a dinner and a movie together. They reciprocated in kind the next week and so on. It was fun. Much more fun than  going to theatres even then too.



Coronavirus death rate is higher for those with chronic ills  I would've thought this would've been understood by now. 



Two entrepreneurs share what it's like to start a business in the midst of a global pandemic  Well who can resist and ice cream cone anyhow? I know one of the first things my husband and I wanted when things started to reopen around here, was an ice cream cone from our local ice cream parlour. We were sad to see the man that used to own it, was no longer there and someone else owned it now. But she was nice too, though more expensive than the man's prices were. 

Urban planners and bike shops say pandemic could shift the culture of cycling  If Valerie Plante in Montreal has her way, I'm sure she'd be vying for everyone using bikes and dragging groceries for a family of four home on them or taking their infants to their doctors appointments on one and just do away with cars altogether. She thinks because she and her family are all able-bodied and able to ride bicycles that everyone else is too, including the 92 year olds that need walkers to get around and the 6 month olds that can't walk yet and those who just bought a TV (not everyone wants to pay $50 delivery fees for something they could carry and fit in their car and take themselves)  or other large item like that, should all theoretically be able to use their bikes for all those things. But let's be realistic eh? If you want to do away with gas burning vehicles but still be able to take your family with you, or pick up large items or many items (like several bags of groceries that a family of 4 would need for a week) then we either need electric cars, solar powered cars, hydrogen cars, or the good old horse & buggy (but she outlawed those in Montreal too). Bikes won't cut it.

Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales posted record plunge in April  Geez, that's weird, I wonder why.... Oh yeah, now I remember. Everyone was told to stay home and not go to work. Is that possibly why?

Thousands of Quebecers begin training to become CHSLD orderlies  And this is the newest news on that subject: Potential Orderlies Unsure of Career Path  So typical of governments to either outright lie, or leave out the important part of the information when they're busy trying to get people to sign up to certain things because they need them or their cooperation as soon as possible. They always conveniently forget to mention certain things that would make a lot of difference in whether people signed up to help in their efforts to get enough people going along with them. This is just another typical example of that. I knew what he was offering was a carrot that either wouldn't last long or was just simply too good to be true for those who'd apply, because LPN nurses don't make that much, that he was willing to give and a nursing course takes longer than the 3 months that course given to train those orderlies takes.



How the pandemic is impacting conservation efforts Another angle on the effects this virus is having. 

Golf Canada cancels national amateur championships for 2020 season  True I don't play golf nor even know that much about it, but geez I can't see why that would be cancelled, considering most people are miles away from the others on the golf course at any given time and no one is crowding anyone or anything there.

Long-term care workers were already overloaded. Then the pandemic came  Not just long term care workers. Nurses in hospitals in Quebec were overloaded before pandemic came, years before and still are.



Tourists can travel to the Bahamas by air and sea, if proven negative for coronavirus How can they trust that though? The person could be negative, but if they are harbouring the virus during the 14 day incubation period, they may be negative today but positive in a day or few days from now. 

Pandemic has spurred Montrealers' interest in country homes, agents say  Well if they can now work from home and don't have to worry about long commutes and traffic jams anymore, then hey, why not? Then you should live wherever it suits you the most. The serenity and beauty of the countryside compared to the noise, pollution and cement of the city is itself lends a big boost in mood and cuts down on stress and aggravation caused by the constant noise and pollution. 

Montreal barbershops and hair salons reopen under strict pandemic rules I still think I'd rather do my own hair or have my husband do it for me. 





Canada- U.S. border to remain closed to non-essential travel until July 21  Good, though I think it'll need to remain closed longer than that.



The Latest: New Zealand is no longer coronavirus-free I love how the PM was just bragging about this last week and while she was busy smirking about it, I was busy thinking to myself, "how frigging hard could that be anyhow? Given you have less than 1/2 the population of Quebec alone and are an island nation in middle of the ocean with no way to breach your borders without you knowing about it!"  Like it's no miracle feat there at all. And now this has come back to bite the smirking proudy pants in her butt. That'll teach her to get on the international scene and start gloating about it to everyone in the world.


COVID-19 cases surging in Alabama, South Carolina and Oklahoma  If anyone thinks this virus is going away, they might want to read this first.

Factbox: Can frozen or chilled food spread coronavirus?  What I don't understand is why media cite reports that are inconclusive. People read these articles to find out definitively whether they are or not and not to remain perplexed.

Coronavirus: Spuds off the menu in Germany after 'catastrophic' fall in sales Speaking of spuds. The other day when I was out I picked up a huge bag with 3x the amount of the bags I normally buy for the same price. I bought it because we do eat a lot of potatoes here, anyhow. But in the summertime we eat a lot of salads, and one of those are potato salads. But besides that my husband and I are like big kids when it comes to things like BBQ hamburgers and sides. We love french fries or poutine and they both use a lot of potatoes as well. Then there's also the chowders and soup oh and stews. So I couildn't resist that huge bag. Like a friend of ours pointed out years ago, even if you only eat the usual amount that you get for the price you paid before it goes bad, you're not wasting money because you got your money's worth. If you manage to eat more or all of it, before it goes bad, then you saved money. 

Canadian consumer debt inches lower for the first time in a decade Well maybe that's what was needed in order to make people stop buying stuff they really don't need and probably don't really want all that much either, but are just buying it out of habit of buying stuff.




'Significant increase' in number of new COVID-19 cases among under-20s in Ontario, study finds  Well I guess they shouldn't have been crawling all over each other in the parks when the lockdown started to be lifted back in May.

Coronavirus: Oxford University vaccine to provide protection 'for about a year', says drugmaker Okay, how would they know? This virus hasn't been around for a year yet, in order to test anything for a year on it. But besides that, my dog's rabies vaccine shots last longer than that, so why would anyone want that? I don't even want one vaccine let alone annual ones.

Coronavirus: 'Major breakthrough' as UK scientists find £5 steroid cuts COVID-19 deaths  But apparently Canada doesn't have or hardly any of this drug in it's drug supply. Figures. 

The Latest: New Zealand PM assigns military leader to border Does she mean the coastline? Because otherwise I don't see where their borders are.


Cafe society returns to Paris as bars and bistros fill pavements I guess with the social distancing rules etc in place here in Canada it'll be awhile before we have scenes like this in Montreal again.

Cuomo Warns He May Reverse Reopenings After New York Gets 25,000 Complaints  That's what's likely to happen everywhere, if we keep seeing resurgences of it, everywhere.

Lockdown has destroyed our sex drive  Really? I hadn't noticed.

Fauci: why the public wasn't told to wear masks when the coronavirus pandemic began  This is precisely what I've been saying from the beginning too. That masks were needed but we couldn't get any because they were being hoarded by the gov't and medical establishments. If we could've though there'd probably have been a lot less cases of COVID19 in the community than there was.

As U.S. Nursing-Home Deaths Reach 50,000, States Ease Lockdowns   And we thought we had it bad at our nursing homes! Wow!



Close the Lid! Flushing Toilets Spreads Coronavirus: Study, So um yeah, contaminate the underside of the lid, where the next person's going to rest their back when they use the toilet. Great idea!



Stanford Study: Coronavirus Tests Can Be Self-Administered Safely, Reliably  I'm sure we'll never be allowed to self-administer here in Canada, because the government deems us to be too dumb to do it on our own. 

Quebec coroner announces vast public inquiry into COVID-19 long-term care deaths  It's about frigging time! They should've started looking into this a few months ago and maybe that would've saved a few thousand lives if they did.


Public Health England is not fit for purpose  For that matter, nor is Public Health Canada, nor any of the provincial public health officers either.



People of color account for majority of coronavirus infections, new CDC study says I'm wondering if it's more to do with genetics or socio-economic circumstances of their lives? Like living conditions and jobs.


The ultimate COVID-19 mystery: Why does it spare some and kill others? You could ask the same about any deadly disease, like measles and other deadly diseases in the past.

PACK IT UP Keep your DOG socially distanced 6ft from other pets and owners to avoid it catching coronavirus, US agency warns  I wish they'd make up their minds about whether or not our pets can get it too or not. According to the experts they said they can, then they can't, and now it's they can again. So what it is? They can or they can't?


As Coronavirus Returns to Beijing, Schools Shut and Flights Are Halted I hope it's not only their incoming flights that are halted but also their outgoing ones as well and I hope that the Cdn authorities aren't so brain dead as to let them in this time around, and stop them from coming here, period.

Cambodia is requiring all visitors to pay a $3,000 deposit to cover possible coronavirus costs I guess that's one way of doing it. Stopping people from going there or once there, making sure they can cover the cost of their own health care.

Germany Sees Largest Local Covid-19 Outbreak Since Lifting Lockdown Sounds like they along with everyone else, are lifting the lockdowns too soon.

COVID-19 makes air pollution a top concern worldwide: report And that's probably partially the reason why China had such a high caseload in Wuhan.

Should we be worried about the Beijing coronavirus outbreak?  Well if we're too stupid to learn from past mistakes and let them into our countries, then yeah we should be worried, but if the people running our countries learn from past mistakes and shut the borders down to them, then we can probably avoid it.

Trump on coronavirus: 'If we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any.' Why he's dangerously wrong. The fact that the media are so pathetically stupid or just want to be thick headed and mean when it comes to Trump just blows my mind. No I don't like the man, but I can't stand organized bullying of someone either. It's just constant nitpicking about anything he says or does and they act so f'n stupid and can't seem to figure what he's saying out without it being spelled out to them letter by freaking letter. This is a classic example of that. Of course he knows that just because no tests are taken that that doesn't mean there's no cases. What he's saying is if no tests are taken then no cases are reported and so as far as everyone is concerned then is that there's no cases.  But apparently the media moguls are too thick skulled to figure this stuff out on their own and it has to be explained in minute detail. And we all know the saying of "out of sight out of mind", so that if no tests are done and as a result no cases are reported, eventually this whole pandemic will just fade in everyone's minds until or unless it affects them directly.





Why The World Is More Worried Than Ever About A 2nd Wave With the exception of NZ and China (if you can believe them) the rest of the world never totally beat it, only NZ & China claimed to have beat it and have 0 cases of it until it came back in from elsewhere. But that's not a second wave, that's a continuation of the first wave. A second wave would be when it's totally defeated, or so the world thinks and then whoops out of seemingly nowhere it starts again, maybe after having lain dormant somewhere for a period of time. That is what a second wave is. You can't get a 2nd one going on if the 1st one is still around and you're getting resurgences of it here and there. Those resurgences are from 1st wave people mingling with those who aren't immune to it yet and causing them to get it too. 


When Workers Can Live Anywhere, Many Ask: Why Do I Live Here?  That's a good question to ask one's self, especially if you really can live anywhere and keep the job you already have, without having to endure long rush hour commutes and all the extra expense of going to work (wardrobe, makeup, lunches, transportation, etc...) and can stay home and live in a place of your choosing rather than living close to work for convenience sake.

As leaders warned of US meat shortages, overseas exports of pork and beef continued  This was all a political ploy to get the meat industry a certain status and to allow them to remain open even if they were affected by COVID19.


Star investor: Markets may crash so badly the Fed has to start buying stocks Are they going to engineer that collapse so that they can use that as an excuse to buy those stocks so that they can start nationalizing the companies in the US? Because they mentionned buying bonds in companies and now they are talking about possibly buying company stocks too? To me this sounds like a way for them to get their foot in the door of various companies in order to take them over and nationalize them.

WHO to update COVID-19 clinical guidance, stresses that steroids should not be used as prevention   In other words, like the masks they don't want the public running out to buy this stuff on their own and causing a shortage of it for those who really need it.

A COVID-19 vaccine will work only if trials include Black participants, experts say Especially, if the virus attacks and causes them more harm than others, then yeah of course they need to be included. The ones who are the most vulnerable to this virus like the elderly, the immune impaired, the blacks, and other groups that this virus causes the most problems and death to, are the ones that need to be included for sure.


After reopening, restaurants again shutting their doors as coronavirus flares   I'm starting to think that everything opened up too quickly and all at once. The reopening should've gone much much slower than it did.


Trudeau slams Bloc leader for suggesting he’s ruling country like a ‘king’ Actually, I'd say more like a dictator, because yeah, he just does whatever he wants, whenever he wants and however he wants without any opposition holding him accountable to anyone or anything. He's spent this country into oblivion already with all his doling out money on his front steps everyday.  We'll never be able to recover from that I don't think. Our great-great-great-great-great grandkids will still be paying for the debts he ran up in the last 3 months, during this pandemic.


Coronavirus shutdown shouldn’t stop people from being vaccinated, USask research says I don't even  get what one thing has to do with the other. But then that's just me.


How a Canadian Depression-era recipe went viral during the 2020 pandemic Yet another facet of the many faces and sides of this viral pandemic.


Fairview Pointe-Claire mall will reopen on June 19th The only thing is no public washrooms will be available. So make sure you go before leaving home and if you have the moxie maybe wear a Depends, if you wish to spend a bit of time there.


Strategic Allocation of Coin Inventories Yet another facet of this whole pandemic thing.





Coronavirus cases in Canada: More than 100,200 infections and 8,300 deaths  With numbers like that,  how can anyone in their right minds think this is over?

'I wasn't too smart': Woman who ignored heart attack for eight weeks avoided hospitals due to COVID-19  Eight weeks? Holy cow! She's lucky she survived! Of course if you're having a heart attack you need to go to the hospital and not wait! 

COVID-19 fees expected as small businesses reopen  More ways to gouge us. There's no need for them to charge customers for that stuff, because they can write it off on their income taxes as the cost of doing business, like paying for electricity, or advertising or website services etc...


And with that bit of good news, I'm going to end this post here. There'll be lots more COVID19 coverage, coming up real soon. So stay tuned.

 







 

 

 


 

 

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