I Need a New Travel Agent...

Top of the evening to all....

I need a new travel agent.  I should have read the fine print.

My flight from Honolulu out to the luxury cruise liner was loud and the air conditioning did not work.  A small bag of pretzels would have been lovely.  Instead of an announcement stating that the captain has turned on the seatbelt light, the flight crew suddenly started waving hands wildly.  We all put our heads against the seat backs.  The plane touched down on the cruise liner and stopped in less time and space than necessary to slow a car down from highway speed.

Was there a welcome?  Noooo.  They rushed us off the plane quickly.  Everyone seemed to think that taking in the new scenery was of secondary concern.  Getting off of an operational runway was far more important.

Okay...my connection was supposed to travel to my next stop on Sunday.  Well, that did not happen.  It got put off until Monday (thank you Vladimir Putin).  Then it got put off until Wednesday.  Now I think it is Tuesday.  I would not have minded so much that it was put off, except that I had packed to travel before they passed the word.

Well, at least I have a room.  And the price was sweet.  And the travel agent made sure it was close to the airport in order to make my connection.  Now I know why it was such a great price.  It was very close to the airport.  My amazing lodging is three decks directly below an operational runway.  Planes landing on this runway come in at takeoff speed.*  The ship shakes as they come to an abrupt halt. 

-----Break-----

And now more seriously, all of those great movies cannot capture the drama and excitement of seeing an aircraft carrier flight deck in operation.  To watch a plane come in at takeoff speed and just stop was exciting every time.  On the other end, to watch the same planes go from being at rest to being launched off of the carrier deck in an instant will never get boring.

Transfer to my new duty station will be Tuesday morning.

Have a good evening everyone.

R/Chaplain

*By the way, planes always come in to the carrier at takeoff speed.  If the arresting cable snaps, or if the plane just misses one of the cables, the pilot needs to be at speed to take off again immediately.  One way or another, the plane is going off the ship.  Whether it goes back up or down into the water depends on a pilot's quick reflexes.

Open and Accountable Government

Top of the evening to all.

Tomorrow will be my last day of this COVID-19 quarantine.  This one is utterly ridiculous.  Why?

I came back from the US approximately 14 days ago.  A day or two after my return, there was an Expert Panel Report.  Canada's Minister of Health appointed this expert panel.  Amongst other things, the expert panel reported that:

1.  There is no reason to require quarantine after day 8 and three negative nasal swab tests.

2.  There is no reason to require quarantine for those who are fully vaccinated (I am in that category).

I have sent numerous e-mails to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Health.  In those e-mails, I have asked the following questions:

1.  Why is being completely immunized not sufficient to allow a person out of quarantine?

2.  Why is the completion of eight days and three nasal swab tests not sufficient to allow a person out of quarantine?

3.  Are there lingering concerns that the Expert Panel did not address?  What are they?

4.  Do you trust the findings and recommendations of the Expert Panel?  If so, why are you not implementing policy?  If not, why is there an Expert Panel?

5.  Will the government implement policy based on the Expert Panel's recommendations?  If so, when?  If not, why not?

6.  Why will the Minister of Health not offer any communication on the decision-making process?

Mr. Trudeau spelled out his policy on Open and Accountable Government.  In section G:6, he states that "communicating with the public is an important obligation of the government.  Communications must be factual, timely, and clear."  The lack of any response to the report of the Expert Panel is a betrayal of the promise of Open and Accountable Government.  

Mr. Trudeau, Ms. Hajdu, when will you give a clear response to the report of the Expert Panel?  If there is good reason for maintaining the quarantine, we are prepared to hear it.  We also deserve to hear it.  

We are waiting.

R/SCG

Quarantine

 Good evening to all.

I am in the middle of an entirely unnecessary quarantine right now.  It is with dismay that the powers that be seem unwilling or unable to give even a single reason for maintaining it.

I wrote the lyrics below a few weeks back.  The original song is Those Canaan Days.  It is from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

I humbly apologize to Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber.

Have a good evening.

R/SCG

"Those COVID Days," 

     sung to the tune of "Those Canaan Days"

 

Do you remember the good years in North York?

The summers were endlessly gold.

New condos were under construction.

The winters were always too cold.

 

We strolled down the Danforth together,

And everything 'round us was fine.

Now even though our arms are bare, we only get one shot in there,

Et maintenant, we cannot go outside.

 

Chorus:

     Those Trudeau days, we used to know, 

     Where have they gone?

     Where did they go?

     Eh bien, raise your berets, 

     To his sunny ways.

 

Do you remember those wonderful parties?

The splendour of Canada's cuisine.

Poutine, beaver tails, and IPAs, 

The most amazing we have ever seen.

 

It's funny, but since we've had COVID, 

We've gone to the other extreme.

No one comes to dinner now, 

We'd only mask-shame them anyhow,

I even find I'm missing Trudeau's dreams.

 

Chorus:

 

D.S. 

It's funny, but since we've had Justin,

We've fired an abusive GG.

It seems we all misjudged the lad.

He's clearly nothing like his dad.

And how we miss that charity called WE.  (To Coda)

 

Coda:

 

     Those Trudeau days, we used to know, 

     Where have they gone?

     Where did they go?

     Eh bien, raise your berets, 

     To his sunny ways.

 

     Eh bien, raise. your berets, 

     To his sunny ways.

It Bears Repeating...

Good morning to all.

In 2014, there was a significant conflagration between Israel and the murderers hiding behind the general population in Gaza.  At that time, President Obama's press secretary made strong statements regarding Israel's right to self-defence.  

If history is not repeating itself right now, it is at least rhyming.  President Biden, the Secretary of State, and the press secretary have all echoed the Obama administration most emphatically.

Back then, I wrote the following blog entry: Provide for the Common Defence.  

The only thing that would be different between that blog entry and this one is that Rav Jen was in Israel the last time.  This time, Jesse is in Israel (please note that he is in Jerusalem, which is presently quiet).

Other than that, every word stands as is.

וישבו איש תחת גפנו ותחת תאנתו ואין מחריד

May all be able to sit under vine and fig and never be afraid.

R/SCG

Is There Another Way to Write This Headline?

 Good afternoon to all.

My sympatico e-mail logs out to ctvnews.com.  There is an article there about large rocks blocking a road.  Here is the headline: 

"Boulders block Boulder Canyon road near Boulder, Colorado, Boulder County's Sheriff's Office says."

I would like to compliment the person who came up with that headline.  To use the same word four times is quite an impressive feat.

Have a good day.

R/SCG

To the Nice Folks at WaPo Redux...

 Top of the evening to all...

Back in January, numerous news organizations reported that then-President Trump had put substantial pressure on the Secretary of State in Georgia to find illegal votes.  Someone in the know leaked the contents of a phone call between the two people.

Yesterday, the Ides of March, the Washington Post published a long correction, stating therein that Mr. Trump had been misquoted.  On the one hand, there is a difference between a misquote and a fabrication.  On the other hand, at least they published a correction.

The late Senator from the State of New York and former US Ambassador to the United States Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said that we are all entitled to our own opinions.  We are not entitled to our own facts.  With great respect to Mr. Moynihan, I would add that inventing facts does not actually create facts.

When I wrote about this back in October, I wrote that "democracies require tenacious, nosy, and noisy reporters as a check on absolute power."  The Washington Post deserves partial credit here.  They got one out of three.  They were certainly noisy.  However, being overly noisy ultimately cannot hide the failure to be overly nosy.  Being overly noisy cannot turn pure laziness into tenacity.

One out of three is bad, and quite disappointing from the paper that gave Woodward and Bernstein free rein to pursue a two-year investigation into the Watergate break-in.  Katharine Graham would not be pleased.  

Have a good evening.

R/SCG

Leadership...

 Good evening to all...

Leadership...it is a tough term to define, but I know when I see it, and I know it when it is lacking.

It has been lacking of late, in both the US and in Canada.

Whatever else President Biden will get right or wrong, I accept that his politics will differ from mine, and that is okay.  Leadership fails, however, when the nightmare taking place in China is chalked up to "cultural differences."  Sorry...no.  When a population is systematically segregated, raped, and prohibited from speaking its preferred language, that is not a cultural difference.  That is genocide.  To chalk it up to cultural differences is a disgrace to the Uighur Muslims.  It cheapens the sacrifice of the Jews of Europe, of the Armenians, of the victims of Pol Pot, and of so many more.

Would that such a failure be limited to one country.  For the Prime Minister to skip out on a vote on this very issue goes beyond poor leadership to outright cowardice.  For the PM: I accept your premise that what happened in Canada with First Nations and residential schools was genocide.  What criteria did you use to reach that conclusion?  What is different in the case of the Uighurs that you have not reached a similar conclusion?

Four years ago, VADM Mark Norman was relieved of duty as Vice Chief of Defence Staff.  After more than two years of legal wrangling, during which PM Trudeau openly said that it would end up in court.  He said this prior to any charges being filed.  Ultimately, a very skilled lawyer ripped the Crown's case to shreds.  It never made it to the courtroom.

Meanwhile, the officer who relieved VADM Norman is being investigated for sexual misconduct while in uniform (and probably while out of uniform).  He recently retired from active service.  I remind everyone though that a commission is lifetime.  Any officer can be called back to duty right up until death.  When COVID began, numerous retired military physicians were called back into active duty.  General Vance can be called back if the investigation of his conduct goes beyond the point of investigation.

This brings us to his successor, ADM McDonald.  After just a couple of months in the position, he has now stepped aside, also under an investigative cloud.

On one side, we have an admiral who did his job.  On the other side, we have a president and a prime minister unwilling to call genocide for what it is, a general who had a reputation for sexual misconduct, and now an admiral also with a leadership problem.  One out of five people took the risks that the uniform demands and did not blink when people of lesser character tried to throw those risks back at him.  One out of five demonstrated leadership.  The other four....I am disappointed.

Have a good evening.

R/SCG