A Princely Dilemma

To begin my rant: I have never been a “fan” of Prince Andrew. But this recent media frenzy for sleaze, and the mob mentality stirred by it is sickening. If I am not fond of the Prince, then I am far less fond of the media induced "guilty until proven innocent" craze.

Over the years, I have been friends with people whom I learned later had been involved in some seedy, or even illegal activity. Should I apologize for my friendship? I won’t.

Indeed, do we cast people aside, simply because they have fallen? Not in the world I want to be part of. Our friendship may be tempered; it may even come to an end, but why the need to apologize. Why the need to turn our backs on them.

And even accepting the possibility that the Prince is lying about his lack of involvement with certain young women, I have difficulty with the accusations.

First of all, it is difficult to accept that the Prince would have known that these very mature looking women were underage at the time. They certainly do not appear to me from photographs I have seen of them at the time, to have been teenagers, innocent or otherwise.

And what if they were. Our age restrictions are purely arbitrary. They vary from place to place, from culture to culture, even from circumstance to circumstance, and from time to time. Yes, it would have been illegal. But would it have been, if it were true, immoral or repugnant? I don’t think so. These young women, more than likely, knew exactly what they were doing. They were not naïve virgins. They were gold diggers, not victims.

And I cannot believe that any young woman was forced to have sex with the Prince. If they did so, I suggest that they did so willingly, and for whatever motive. Come on! A good looking, relatively young British Naval Officer, and a Prince to boot! Many young woman, and probably many young men, would have jumped at the opportunity. 

So I have problems with the allegations. I have problems with the sleazy media reporting. I have problems with the reaction of the vocal and indignant public.

Further, if it is true that the Prince has, or had at the time, a medical condition that made it impossible for him to sweat, then there are credibility issues with the accusers. 

We love to idolize the rich and famous. We love it even more when we can see them fall. Then, I say, pity our society.

The Western Cry for Separation

Regarding the call by westerners for separation from Canada, a western whiner has written that in addition to an early winter that has hit the farmers, they have also been affected by a“…[H]uge carbon  tax bills on the drying which is one more hit on the farmer, on top of China not taking product, India putting huge tariffs on pulse crops and railways shipping oil instead of grain because of the pipeline issue. Overall result out here is anger like I have never seen it …  The separatist movement out here is very real and I personally have written to our Premier and the Premier of Alberta asking for a referendum.”

And who is responsible in part for the weather crisis? Not the Federal government. I suggest it is people like those who oppose the carbon tax and support big oil that turn their back and bury their heads in the (oil) sand. And who worked very hard and in favour of the pipeline despite widespread opposition. It wasn’t the Federal government that nixed it. It was the people and the courts. The Federal government is not in control of what China or India or the USA does. It is not in control of world oil prices.

And who is responsible for the squandering of the huge Alberta oil reserve fund that was socked away during the boom days of irresponsible oil production? Not the federal government. Who is responsible for lulling its people into believing one can have a responsible society without paying taxes. Not the federal government. Who is it that simply shipped its raw oil out of the country at low prices, denying thousands work in what could have been a rich oil refinery industry, if it had had the wisdom to create one. Not the federal government. Who failed to diversify their economies, something that is in the provincial domain of power? 

Take responsibility for yourselves western Canada. Stop thinking you exist in a vacuum. The only vacuum is in your heads!

Brown Face

I think political correctness has gone a little too far with this roasting of Justin Trudeau for appearing 19 or 20 years ago at a private costume party in “brown face” and Arab attire. Nineteen years ago! He was 27 or 28 years old! He was not a politician at the time. And it was a very different time.

Anyway, what is offensive about brown face at a costume party? If one is living in the dessert, one does tend to brown up, regardless of one’s cold weather complexion. When I was a child I was dressed as King Farouk of Egypt for a party. And oh no, my older brother was dressed as an Indian! Should I apologize? It was 1954 in England.

Sometimes a white actor has to play Othello. Sometimes a black actor may have to play Hamlet. A woman has played King Lear!

What I am offended by is that he felt a need to apologize. What I am shocked at is the outrage! Get real. Shouldn’t one’s intention be what is relevant. He had no intention to offend, and likely, at the time offended no one. 

One can’t fairly judge distant past deeds by present day standards. And sometimes those present-day standards are simply ridiculous. You’ll get no apology from me for frivolous acts of my youth. And there were many. All intended in good fun. None intended to offend.

Is There a Doctor in the House

Our health care system works fine if one is lucky enough to have a family doctor. And it works extremely well in a reactive way to emergencies  or urgent cases. It is not so good in a proactive role and it is dreadful in that role if one does not have a family doctor.

Yes there are medical clinics. Our community clinic, formerly our hospital, acts as an emergency department, a community medical practice with a roster of doctors  available to those who actually are connected to one of those doctor’s practices, and a go-to place if one does not have a doctor. The trouble is, only those with a doctor can get an appointment to see one of the doctors on the roster. If one has no doctor and one is not in an urgent situation, then one must go and take a number and wait. Fair enough. One might need a prescription refilled or to follow up with a doctor regarding test results. One might need a requisition for blood work, an X-Ray or other tests. But it matters not. One is not in a separate stream. One is there at the mercy of fate. Will there be one or more urgent cases arrive at the door before your turn comes up? If so, one gets bumped. After waiting for three hours recently in the usual stream of people wanting to see a doctor, a sign was posted: “Only Urgent cases for the next three hours”. I walked out.

Other clinics in other provinces are separate from Emergency departments. I know our province of Nova Scotia has a crisis relating to lack of doctors; so the few must take on many roles. However, that being the case, one should be creative. Do what it takes to train and hire more practical nurses, more foreign doctors – or change the system so that other’s than medical staff can give requisitions for tests or prescribe medication. A little thinking outside the proverbial box would go a long way in solving this significant problem.

Political Folly

It is no wonder that citizens grow cynical about politics and politicians. Donald Trump pardons wealthy Conrad Black’s crimes, while thousands of less well off people languish in dreadful American prisons for much lesser ones. Doug Ford cancels funding of forest fire fighting and tree planting while the world literally heats up. One might disagree on issues of social justice; but on issues of the environment it is pure folly to ignore them.

National Security

Donald Trump is not stupid. It seems to me he is merely a psychopath who freely fashions lies and half truths to suit himself and his supporters. He behaves like a spoiled child in a tantrum. It is true many of his supporters are less than well informed or intelligent; but there are certainly very smart people behind his idiosyncratic ways. He is the biggest threat to Canada's national security that currently exists. Indeed, he is a massive threat to the security of the world. I suspect the world leaders, at least in the western democracies, are aware of this. What I don't know is whether collectively they have the courage to stand up to this behemoth. One can only hope and encourage our leaders to act together in this regard. This is a very dangerous situation akin to standing beneath the flailing of a dying dinosaur.

Cuba Mystery Illness

The recent mysterious illnesses in Cuba have affected both American and Canadian diplomats. The Americans claim they have affected tourists in hotels as well, but there is no concrete evidence of this. The U.S. has initially blamed Cuba for intentionally targeting these people with James Bond style sonic devices. However, Cuba is on very good terms with Canada and has been for decades. Why would it jeopardize that relationship.
While the Americans had been blaming the Cubans, the Cubans have soundly denied it. They even offered to let the FBI investigate. Apparently they did without result.
The Canadian Press have been claiming it is possibly the Russians, who are on the outs with both the U.S.A. and Canada, and that such practices by Russia are not without precedence. The Russians deny any part in this mystery, which makes sense since Russia is a staunch ally of the Cubans. I cannot reasonably see that Russia would want to negatively impact Cuba vis a vis a diminished critical income of its tourism industry.
At the risk of being called a conspiracy  theorist, I believe it is even more possible that the CIA itself (i.e., the USA) is to blame. This conclusion results from the historical reputation of the CIA in undermining Latin American affairs. The current U.S. administration has demonstrated a perverse will to harm Cuba, and has undone many of the minor redresses of the former administration. They would love to bring Cuba to its knees and, from recent aggressive trade measures, much of the world too.