What the F***, 2021?!

To Whom it May Concern:

 I've tried the seven day trial and I would like to cancel my subscription to 2021, thankyouverymuch. 

Me.

2020 was a memorable year, wasn't it? We almost had WWIII, Australia caught fire, California and most of the West Coast of the United States also caught fire, Murder Hornets, poisonous caterpillars that looked not unlike Trump's hair run amok, coronavirus... And that pretty much summed up January to October. 

Then it was November. The US held an election for President. Did you hear about that? I'll bet you didn't. I mean, it's not like it's been the focus of any news cycle for the past two and a half months. 

First of all, I do not understand this American system of elections.  You hold an election on the first Tuesday in November every 4 years.  But really, even though you're voting for who you want to be President, you're not actually voting for who you want to be President.  You're actually voting for which party you want to support and represent you in the Electoral College which then holds an election of some sort six weeks later, and THEN, because apparently allllll the votes counted in November and all the votes counted in December aren't enough, you have a big, boring ceremony where the Vice President counts allllllll the Electoral College votes in January.  Seriously, why do your elections take literally two months?  I mean here (Canada), we have an election whenever we have an election (they seem to pop up with unreliable frequency) where we choose which party we want representing the area in which we live (we call them ridings).  If your chosen party wins enough votes in your riding, that person is elected as your Member of Parliament or Member of Provincial Parliament - depending on whether or not it's a provincial or federal election.  The party with the most seats in all the ridings becomes the party that leads the nation or the province.  It's rare that we don't know who our Premier or Prime Minister are going to be before we go to bed on Election Night.  And if we aren't sure, we know for sure in the morning, because the West Coast will have counted their votes before they go to bed.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. I don't think we've ever had an election contested in Canada before. I'm sure we've had narrow margins and I'm pretty confident we've also had recounts in certain ridings, but I know with nearly perfect hindsight, never in my life have we had a contentious election with one party denying the other party's victory. And if we did, I'm sure we sent in the Canadian Geese to sort it all out. (Seriously - don't fuck with the Canadian Geese!)

But here we are, January 11, and not only has the losing candidate for president currently sulking and refusing to concede that he lost the election, he actually started sowing doubt in the integrity of the process months before the election.  He literally said things like "If I win, then we know it wasn't fixed". Now he's whining about having been voted out of office and incited a LITERAL INSURRECTION!! NEVER in my life have I seen anything like this in a Democratic Republic. Sure, you see this in countries that pretend to be democratic, but are really dictatorships (I mean, Abbas in Palestine is on his 11th or 12th year of a 5 year term).  

On January 6, unless you've been living under a rock, while Congress was in a joint session to certify the results of the election on November 3, 2020 (see - it took TWO MONTHS to certify this!) Trump held a rally on the Ellipse in front of the White House. He told his supporters/followers/cult members that they had to fight for the election that was stolen from them. Those are the words he used - albeit paraphrased. His voice bugs the shit out of me, so I'm not looking for video to get a direct quote.  What did his followers do? They marched down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Ellipse to the Capitol Building and instead of marching, holding flags and signs and making their voices heard through peaceful protest they - are you ready for this? - STORMED THE FUCKING CAPITOL BUILDING AND BROKE IN! They broke windows and doors. They defecated in the halls of democracy. And that's not hyperbole.  Someone literally took a shit in the hallway. They broke into Nancy Pelosi's office, stole her laptop, a piece of mail, left a somewhat threatening note, took pictures of themselves sitting at her desk with their feet up on her desk. Someone stole her lectern.  They got onto the floor of the Senate while the Senators and Representatives were evacuated and held in place!  

A lot of comparisons were made between this literal treasonous insurrection and the Black Lives Matter protests this past summer. The National Guard was on hand in case the protests turned violent (which they only did when Trump needed a photo op at the church he doesn't attend across from the White House - so he had the National Guard tear gas the peaceful protestors so he could walk a block and take a picture holding an upside-down bible (how he didn't immediately burst into flame is anyone's guess). 

On January 6, the police literally (I'm using that word a lot) opened the gates for the insurrectionists. In some cases, they were taking selfies with them. Or they were just waving them in. What's the comparison between this and the BLM protests?  Had the BLM protestors, especially the ones of colour, rather than the allies, tried to storm the Capitol the way Trump's cult members did, there would have been a lot more than 6 dead. 

As of at least January 9, there were 17 cases filed before federal courts and 40 in Superior Court, with many more arrests happening. Insurrectionists have been placed on the no-fly list by the FBI. You should look up video of that. They are shocked that they've been labeled as domestic terrorists and pulled off flights. 

The guy who stole Nancy Pelosi's lectern? Arrested. 

The guy who took a picture of himself at her desk? Arrested. 

Oh and the best yet? A Republican lawmaker from West Virginia - Derrick Evans - who hasn't served a single day in federal office yet, livestreamed himself as he broke into the Capitol with the insurrection.  Yeah. He's been arrested. And fired. Well, he resigned.  But really. 

And it's a good thing that Trump was so against wearing face coverings to protect from Covid-19. Because a lot of his followers are, too. So no one really wore any face coverings of any sort during the insurrection. So the FBI, through crowdsourcing and other means, are identifying people who participated in the riot, and arresting and charging them. 

One guy was smart enough to wear his work ID to the protest.  So he's been fired. A CEO participated - yup. Fired. 

And I don't feel badly for them at all. 

Of the six dead, one guy tased himself in the balls while trying to steal a piece of art. He had a heart attack, because his taser went off repeatedly.  Two others had other medical emergencies and died at the Capitol.  One insurrectionist was shot in the neck trying to breach the Congressional chamber. She died. I'm sad for the loss of life, but more for her family having to mourn her than for her actual death. I mean, death is death and death is sad. Hers was completely unnecessary.  

A United States Capitol Police officer was beaten with a fire extinguisher.  He died later of his injuries. A stroke, I believe I heard, from the beating.  And a second USCP officer committed suicide over the weekend.  

What's even more troubling is the number of Republican Senators who STILL back Trump after he put their lives at risk. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and a number of others need to be removed from their positions. They need to resign. They need to leave. They cannot be trusted to represent the people when they back a dictator. 

So, what are the punishments for those who incited this riot  (*ahem* Trump *ahem*). So far, nothing.  The Democrats are pressuring VP Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which is to be invoked when the President is unable to fulfill the duties of the office.  Honestly, the 25th should have been invoked in 2017, but that's neither here nor there.  The 25th Amendment has never been invoked on a sitting president, except briefly and for medical reasons (Bush had a colonoscopy, so his VP took over for about 3 hours, for example).  Mike Pence did his job and validated the election, as he's supposed to do. Therefore he is no longer besties with Trump because he didn't overturn the election for him - which he can't do anyway.  And not once during the siege or since, as far as reporting goes, has Trump called to see if Pence and his family are okay.  They are not - they are facing death threats from Trump's supporters. 

If Trump doesn't resign (which he won't. He's already shouted that at people in the White House), and Pence doesn't invoke the 25th Amendment (which looks unlikely), then Pelosi and the Democrats will move forward with impeachment.  Which will make Trump a winner. Seriously.  He'll be the first President to get impeached TWICE. No other president has ever been impeached twice! He can wear that as his badge of honour when he struts around Mar-A-Lago. Oh. Wait. His Florida neighbours don't want him living there. Okay, his Scottish golf course. Oh. They don't want him either. Well, he can always puff out his chest at the US PGA Open at his golf course in Bedminister, New Jersey.  Oh... wait... no. They've stripped him of that. Hmm. Well, I guess he can just tweet about how he's the first president to be impeached twice... Oh... snap. Nope.

So, what to do?

Well, if I had any say, I'd invoke the 25th. Unfortunately, that would allow Pence the opportunity to pardon Trump for all of his crimes against the American people. And we know Trump would pressure him to do just that.  If the House moves to impeach him, Mitch McConnell (Moscow Mitch, to his 'friends') said the Senate won't sit for a trial before the Inauguration of President Elect Joe Biden.  But that's okay. Even without a Senate trial, Trump would be impeached in the House, and the Democrats will enjoy a slim majority in the Senate come post-inauguration, and might be able to get that two-thirds majority to strip Trump of a lot of benefits and the ability to run in 2024, which he's hinted at. 

So, that said, who's looking forward to 2022?

What the F***, Rod Phillips!?

If you have teenagers, they may have at one point been interested in the Disney movie 'High School Musical'. One of the songs 'We're All in This Together' states:

We're all in this together 

And it shows 

When we stand 

Hand in hand

The thing is, it turns out that in terms of Covid-19 spread mitigation and winter holidays, in Ontario, we're apparently NOT in this together.

The Ontario government has been saying for the weeks leading up to the holiday break, while announcing that Ontario was going into a full lock-down similar to the one we had back in March and April, that people should not be travelling over the winter break, that people should not be having gatherings or parties over the break. So, many Ontarians hunkered down at home, cancelling travel, or simply not booking travel to warmer climates over the break.  And let's face it - after the year we've had, I don't know anyone who doesn't need a really good vacation. 

Apparently, MPP Rod Phillips agrees. That's why he decided that despite the government telling the citizenry of Ontario not to travel and not to gather in large groups, it was totally fine for him to go to St. Bart's with his wife. 

"At a time when every Ontarian has been asked to make sacrifices, I am extremely disappointed in Minister Phillips and his decision to travel abroad," Ford said.

That sounds so nice, doesn't it? That the Premier, Doug Ford, admonished his minister. Except for just a few things...

Ford knew of Phillips' travel plans. Apparently, so did our mayor - John Tory. 

To add insult to injury, Phillips' staff conducted a ruse that he was still in, not only the province, but the country, by posting pre-recorded videos of Phillips touring small businesses hit hard by the closures during the pandemic. 

So, out-of-work Ontarians, small business owners, forced to shut down their businesses while big box stores remain open (a topic for another post), are making huge sacrifices this holiday season. If they could afford to travel, they didn't. People spent the holidays by waving through windows at their parents in care homes, they had Zoom dinners and Zoom cocktail parties.  

Rod Phillips went to St. Bart's. 

So much for "We're all in this together."

What the F***, Minister Phillips?

(For the record, Phillips resigned as Minister of Finance for the Province of Ontario. But he hasn't resigned as MPP)

 

What the F***, Did I hear that right?!

 In the latter half of the semi-less-disastrous Presidential Debate on October 22nd, Former VP Joe Biden made a statement about 545 migrant children left at the border and no one having any idea where their parents are. Are they in the US? Have they been deported? Where are the parents of these 545 children?

I am not sure I heard 'president' Trump correctly. But I heard his reply as: "Good".

GOOD?! He thinks it's GOOD that 545 children are now lingering in detention centres because the government separated them from their parents and NOW NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THE PARENTS ARE?!  How is that GOOD?!

I know what Trump's supporters are going to say:

He didn't say that. And if he did, he didn't mean that. And if he did, you didn't understand it. And if you did, it's not a big deal. And if it is, others have said worse!

I mean for a President (or rather 'president') who is so against immigration, he seems totally fine that 545 children who HAVE parents (that no one can find) now linger in government-run detention centres, and will likely wind up in American foster homes where the State pays the foster carers a measly amount of money to attend to the needs of children. 

These children, who technically are now here illegally, will wind up in a system having arrived here illegally, therefore having no standing in the US, and will wind up with families who aren't their own, because THE GODDAMNED GOVERNMENT DOESN'T KNOW WHERE THE FUCK THEIR PARENTS ARE!

And Trump's response was... 

"Good"

I've listened to the audio again and again. People have said he said "go ahead" to the moderator, Kristen Welker, who had indicated she was ready to move on to another topic. And maybe he said "good" to that as opposed to "go ahead".

Or maybe it's a type of auditory pareidolia and I'm hearing "good" instead of "go ahead". I mean, it wouldn't be the first time. After all, there's a line in the chorus of "The Way I Are" by Timbaland that I swear said, "I don't need the cheese on the car keys" (It's Gs or the car keys). And I could have sworn "Heathens" by TwentyOne Pilots said "All my friends are here so take it slow" (It's all my friends are heathens, take it slow - which should have been a clue considering the name of the damned song is HEATHENS) 

Or, maybe he did say "good" to 545 kids being parentless at the border.  Nothing about this president surprises me anymore.   

Because 2020 isn't bad enough, WTF, Virginia!?

 So far in 2020 we've had:

- WW3 threatened

- Australia caught on fire and burned for - a long time

- A global pandemic that has literally brought the world to a screeching halt - except the US who is pretending the virus doesn't exist, despite the president having caught the illness. From which he learned absolutely nothing. 

- Firenadoes

- A 2500-year-old sarcophagus was opened in Egypt. Because ancient curses sound about right for 2020. 

and now?

Poisonous Hairy Freaking Caterpillars

Because of course, we do. 

These caterpillars are apparently found mostly in Virginia, where forestry officials are telling people to stay away from these caterpillars. The caterpillars have venom sacs at the base of their hairs, and that makes the hairs poisonous.  They eat oak and elm leaves and can often be found in parks and near structures.  They also look a little bit like a toupee.  

If you do get stung, you might feel a burning sensation at the site of the sting. And then you'll feel localized symptoms (like red marks near the sting) and fever, headache, vomiting, nausea and low blood pressure. From a freaking caterpillar! 

They're only about 1.2 to 1.4 inches long, hairy (obviously), and can be found in Florida, Virginia, Arkansas, and Texas.  Because of course. I mean, why not? The south hasn't had enough problems with Covid-19 why not throw in a poisonous caterpillar and, I think a tropical storm also heading towards the Gulf Coast? 

Yeah. 2020 has just been great.

What the Actual F***, Trump et al?!

 Look, I really don't want to make my blog so Trump-centric, and I really hope after November 3, that'll be the last of it. I'm still searching for WTF news from anywhere else. I'll find it.

But for now, it looks like Trump is set to dominate all the news, especially in the "WTF" zone. 

So, Karma finally came for the president and he contracted Covid-19. Then, although he claimed he was perfectly fine, he wound up in Walter Reed Hospital - where he was taken by Marine One, the Presidential Helicopter.  

Then, he was treated (on the taxpayer's dime, I'd like to point out. For someone so opposed to Universal Healthcare, he seems to enjoy being the recipient of socialized, taxpayer-funded medicine) with medications that are typically given to those with severe symptoms and severe infection.

But he's totally healthy!

Even the words coming out of his own mouth contradicts every word coming out of his mouth. First he says he's fine, then he says doctors were concerned, then mentions no breathing problems, then says he has had some problems breathing. 

And then, after three whole days in the hospital, he decides he's well enough to go back to the White House, which, I mean, he has a whole damn hospital there anyway, so he's going back to another hospital essentially. And let's just forget about his stupid publicity stunt drive-by outside Walter Reed. 

But Trump couldn't just go back to the White House, isolate and recuperate, now could he? First, he had to put as many people at risk as possible by filming his triumphant return at least twice.  Then stand up on the Roosevelt Balcony clearly gasping for air. 

Don't worry, though. The president, who has access to the best medicine and best doctors possible, all on your dime, says Covid-19 isn't anything to worry about. He's fiiiine.  He feels great. Like he's 20 years younger.  That can't possibly be the dexamethasone he's on talking. I mean, I know people who have been on steroids for illnesses.  They feel awesome. Until they don't. 

Shit, when I was asthmatic, my rescue inhaler made me feel fantastic.  And when I get an inhaler for chest colds (because that's when my asthma sort of makes a comeback) those inhalers make me feel, maybe not immortal, but pretty damned great. 

Then yesterday he agreed to submit to a "live, televised medical assessment". Which was neither live, nor an actual medical assessment. He was "interviewed" by a doctor from Fox News, who already has downplayed the pandemic.  It was also pre-recorded, so any coughing could be easily edited out (I haven't watched the whole thing yet, so I'm not sure if the editing was as butchered as his message from Walter Reed).  The "assessment" was not live with Tucker Carlson - who even Fox News says is not a reliable source of information - imagine your own network saying you're not a reliable source of THE NEWS.

During the interview (NOT a true medical evaluation), he was asked how he felt and admitted to feeling weak. But then says he thinks he might be immune even though he has not stated when his last negative Covid test was. 

The information - or lack thereof - coming out of the White House is on par for this administration, but with three weeks to go until the election, wouldn't the health of the president be something that should be paramount to be truthful about? 

And since Trump's positive test, there have been more than 30 staffers in the White House who have tested positive for the Coronavirus.  Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, is still hospitalized with the virus. Stephen Miller, also recently tested positive. 

Yet the Trump Administration and the Trump Campaign are continuing to hold superspreader events throughout the US. Trump himself is planning to travel to Florida to hold an in-person large event. And we know how his supporters feel about wearing masks and social distancing.  Florida has already been a hot spot for the virus. Looks like they'd better hunker down for a second (or would this be a third or fourth) wave of infection, especially since the governor doesn't think it needs to be mitigated in any way. 

The sad thing is, the more he denies the science and the more he downplays the virulence and deadliness of this virus, the more citizens will die from it. The US has just under 5% of the world's population.  But they currently make up over 20% of the deaths from Covid-19. 

But the president doesn't think it's an issue unless TWO MILLION die.  Because that's what the projection was if the US did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Rather than the almost nothing that they actually did. 

Please, for the love of all that is good, vote this guy out!

What the F*** Did I Watch?

 Tuesday night was the first presidential debate between former VP Joe Biden and incumbent angry Orange Donald Trump. 

It was, in a word or two, a shit show. 

There was no clear winner of the debate. Trump lost the debate, to be sure, but not because Biden out-debated him but simply because from the get-go, Trump threw a tantrum. He bullied his opponent, he spoke over Biden and over the moderator - Chris Wallace from Fox News. He broke every rule agreed upon for this debate. He basically played a game of “I can yell louder than you”. 

That’s not to say Joe Biden won the debate. He fell for Trump’s tactics a few times, tried to speak over him and avoided a question about whether he would pack the Supreme Court.  Although in my opinion, that’s hardly relevant at this point.  Trump HAS packed the Court.  If Biden wins, he’d only be attempting to balance the court, and yes, probably more in favour of the Democrats, but let’s be real, the Republicans did the same thing. 

Trump was asked specifically to condemn white supremacy and failed to do so.  Whether he’s on record having done so in the past, this was the time to do it again  instead, he told the Proud Boys, recognized as a white nationalist group, to “Stand Down and Stand By”.  They have already taken this as a rallying cry.  

Politics are messy. But to quote CNN’s Jake Tapper, the debate was “a shit show inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck.”  There was no clear winner.  Just two men in their 70s, slinging mud.  

The only saving grace for me was that I watched a live stream that kept buffering because my internet connection was slow. It gave my brain a few minutes to relax. 

He knew and he lied to you! WTF, Trump!?

You know, I really didn’t want to make this blog so Trump-centric, but it seems like a day can’t go by where he hasn’t stepped in it somehow.  And this time, it’s as big and smelly as it can get.

 

Trump admitted back in February, to journalist Bob Woodward (who was writing a book about the Trump Administration, titled Rage) that he knew how virulent and deadly the coronavirus is. He knew and he still downplayed it to the American people.  He admitted that he wanted to continue to downplay it so as to not cause a panic. How do you feel about that? How does it feel knowing that the so-called president knew that the pandemic was deadly – that it would be a pandemic (because it hadn’t quite reached pandemic status on February 7), but didn’t bother to do anything to protect the nation because he’s more interested in the economy (that he inherited, and destroyed) and his re-election than having anyone left alive to actually vote in the election?

 

Well, here we are, September 11, 2020, the 19^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Washington and New York where over 3,000 people lost their lives in the Twin Towers and on the four-passenger jets that crashed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania.

 

Nearly 200,000 (186,000 I believe is roughly the current number) Americans have died from the coronavirus. And they’re not all elderly people.  There have been children as young as six who have died.  Relatively healthy young adults, teenagers who thought themselves invincible, and adults who just didn’t believe that the coronavirus is real. In fact, 250,000 cases have been linked to a biker rally in South Dakota that the state refused to cancel because, hey, the coronavirus isn’t such a big deal.  Trump says so.

 

I suppose it’s not fair to blame Trump for the 200,000 Americans who have died of the coronavirus. I mean, the entire Republican party put profits and their job security over the lives of their fellow Americans.

 

It is, however, my view that there are two Americas in Washington.  The America where everyone else lives (and dies), and Washington, where the Republicans will do whatever it takes to hold on to the power they have right now. This is the real America.

 

Anyone who thinks the government, and specifically the Republican Party is a government OF the people and FOR the people has been living under a rock for at least the last four years.  Your current administration is working for no one but the President.  And your President is working for no one but himself. If you haven’t realized that yet, I don’t know if there’s any hope for you.

 

My god has Trump done a lot this week. So much to unpack here.

 

I honestly don’t know how anyone can look at the news from the past week, see what Trump has done, said, and admitted to, and still think he’s the guy to vote for.  He has the blood of 200,000 Americans on his hands.  Americans who died on AMERICAN SOIL.  These aren’t soldiers who died in the heat of battle.  They aren’t valiant warriors protecting the Republic for which they stand.  They’re moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, friends. Who did nothing more than listen to a President who said there was nothing to worry about and no need to physically distance, wear masks, close down the economy for a couple of weeks to months, take any precautions whatsoever, all the while knowing that the coronavirus was deadly but telling YOU that it is no worse than the seasonal flu?

 

He’s still insisting that reporters remove their masks at press briefings because he ‘can’t understand’ them when they talk (he says they’re ‘muffled’) and praises those reporters who don’t don a mask.

 

The reporter in question, Jeff Mason of Reuters, who was the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, an organization that mandates that reporters wear masks to all press conferences in light of the coronavirus pandemic (www.usatoday.com, September 8, 2020), refused to remove his mask and said he’d just speak louder. Which he did. To which Trump sighed and said it was ‘better’. He then went on to praise a different reporter, who was not wearing a mask and commented on how much ‘clearer’ she was unlike the rest of the reporters who ‘refuse’ (and that’s saying something, because he doesn’t usually praise female reporters).

 

According to recent projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington (www.cnbc.com, September 4, 2020), by December 2020, America could lose 410,000 Americans in total to the coronavirus.  That’s TWICE what Trump said was ‘acceptable’ when the projections were 200,000.  Well, you’re AT 200,000 with double that in just the next three months. That’s about SIXTY-SIX  9/11s!! How can anyone be okay with that? If America does indeed reach 410,000 deaths by December, that’s ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX 9/11s!

 

And that’s just if you carry on the way you’ve been carrying on since the pandemic was called a pandemic. If states continue to ease the restrictions, and people continue to disregard the guidance and advice from public health experts, that number could go as high as 620,000.  Should I make that bigger for you?

 

SIX HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND AMERICANS COULD DIE OF COVID-19 IF YOU KEEP ON GOING THE WAY YOU ARE GOING, AMERICA!!

 

 

I can’t imagine six hundred and twenty thousand Canadians dying of Covid-19.  In fact, as of writing this, Canada has reported a total of 9,163 deaths from the coronavirus.  Up 8 since September 10. (www.canada.ca). Nationally. Sure, Ontario and Quebec are our ‘hot spots’, and the West Coast is starting to see a resurgence, but, um, nationally, we have 135,000 cases confirmed.

 

And Americans wonder why our government insists on keeping the border between our countries closed.