CoronaVirus – It’s Origin

2003 and SARS was scary, then the turn of 2019 gave us COVID-2019 as it is now officially named. It is a small mercy that it is a relic of 2019, else poor 2020 would have gotten a bad rap.

As the saga of the coronavirus unfolds, there has been so much talk about how China did not react quickly enough, then there China was lauded for strict measures taken to halt the transmission. Unprecedented moves such as quarantining entire cities.

What I have read nor heard is talk about the origins of the disease. What is with the Chinese people and their love for eating wild and exotic animals, or anything that moves for that matter.

Knowing what we know about species such as bats, snakes and other exotic wildlife, why is it ok to have markets where humans and such animals are allowed to interact? Why is it OK for people to go out and trap and bring such animals into civilization.

Can’t China’s mighty authoritarian apparatus stop this from ever happening again?

Beware – Casting Vote for Doug Ford

We only have to look south of the border to get a sense of the havoc that can be caused by electing the wrong person for the job. The world, not just Americans are feeling the seismic assault of Trump’s non-policies. 

Environment

This is a biggie for Canadians who have been bequeathed a significant portion of the planet’s resources. Voting for a man who has promised to take a bulldozer to the green belt will be detrimental to the quality of life of all Ontarians.

The GTA is a great urban sprawl, green spaces are well deserved respite for hard working citizens of this great provincial economy. We will never get back what Ford will squander away.

Healthcare

Let’s face it, it isn’t perfect, but it is the one system we have. Ford has not outlined a costed plan for the province. His promise to find “efficiencies” ring hollow. There is only one way to interpret this, cuts to the healthcare system. We already see long wait times, doctors practicing one condition per visit, where are further cuts going to lead us?

Education

Doesn’t matter which political ideology you subscribe to, our kids go to the same schools. I don’t know about you, but my child’s school is already bursting at the seams. Financial cuts to the education system are only going exacerbate the situation. 

Taxes

Let’s face it, Canadians aren’t exposed to a light tax regime by any standards, but reducing taxes is only going to lead to cuts in well established programs as outlined above and other services we enjoy.

Are there efficiencies to be found? Is it possible to run the province in a better way? Yes, but Doug Ford isn’t the guy to do it. I think Wynne’s Toronto Hydro sell off was a deal breaker for me, I would never vote for her, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I contributed to bringing a Trumpian. 

We need to learn from mistakes that we make and from those made by others around us, and no mistake is as glaring this century as the American voters bringing in Donald Trump.

Say no to a Trump clone, say no to Doug Ford. 

Total and Complete Shutdown of Muslims Entering The USA.

best-sayings-quotes-life-world-peaceThis comment was made by an influential political figure in America. We all know who he is, but I refuse to name him as he gains notoriety and publicity when named. Reminds me of serial killers, mass shooters and other criminals who commit outrageous acts of violence to gain attention, this gentleman does the same with his words.

The sad news is, there are people who actually applaud his sentiment. Lets look at this comment and see where it fits in a world view.

Here are some Wikipedia facts about Muslims. They make up a quarter of the world’s population, number close to 1.6 billion, part of the second largest religion in the world and also the fastest growing.

About 3.3m muslims call America home. In the wake of this call to keep Muslims out, what is to be done with these people? Just the psychological impact of this statement on the millions of Muslims in America must be catastrophic. How insecure must he feel today. He goes to work each day, how does he face his co-workers? How will his co-workers who are probably decent people feel. How much awkwardness is generated?

Then imagine the plight of that Muslim’s child, who goes to school, plays with kids from all walks of life, from all religions and suddenly this one incendiary statement unsettles his world. He is bullied and harassed in school, because kids don’t know any better, and specially if an influential political figure can say such things then it must be right, isn’t it?

Obviously these Muslim US nationals will have family around the world who probably visit once in a while, so with this proposal, these citizens will be unable to invite their kith and kin to visit them in their own home.

The Unites States imports most of the goods it consumes from overseas, including Muslim countries like Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey etc. So now will that trade stop? What about business people who visit America to conduct billions of dollars worth of business each year, will they be banned as well? This will send prices of goods soaring at the stores across America. Is the American public ready to pay 2 or 3 times of the cost of goods?

Now lets look at this sentence in the light of the recent Paris attacks, or the Boston bombings or even the 9/11 attacks. How many individuals were really responsible for these attacks? Paris attacks they are looking at about 20 people. The Boston marathon attacks was a more home grown attack and involved 2 people, the 9/11 attacks had about 19 people directly involved. In all 41 people. Lets extrapolate here, lets say these people were helped by at least 3 times the number of people that actually committed the attacks. 123 people in all.

What percentage of the Muslim population of the world caused these attacks?  It is 0.0000076875% of the total Muslim population of the world. Yet we are ready to buy the idea that we should ban all Muslims. Really?

Pause for a second, and think, what are you achieving by being fearful, by reacting like scared puppies? You have a higher chance of being hit by a car than actually dying in a terrorist attack, so calm down. Think how you can contribute to solving this crisis? And don’t think that you can’t help, you can. We all can.

We need to start in our neighbourhoods, in our streets, where we work, where we play. Reach out to Muslim people, get to know them, make them feel welcome, they are just as scared as you are if not more. Islamic terrorists kill fellow Muslims more than any other religious groups in the world. Surprised? Its true.

We need to come together, not build walls to keep each other apart. The walls were there and we have seen wars and misery, in today’s age we have the ability to connect one on one with anyone around the world. Use that ability to bring people closer, learn about their cultures and traditions and tell them about yours. Celebrate their festivals with them and invite them to celebrate your festivals with you. The world that you will build around you will be peaceful, loving and satisfying.

Banish people who choose to create divisions between the common man and his fellow citizens of the world to the trash can of history where their legacies will be writ alongside the likes of Hitler.

Yes, we still have borders and countries, but they are no longer a hindrance in connecting us with another human being on the other side of the planet. We are all a part of one big family.

 

 

 

A Unified World View.

cropped-cropped-sky-earth-galaxy-universe1.jpgWe are now in the year 2016. Change started in the late 1990’s when the world woke up to the wonder of the internet. From exchanging emails at workplaces, the internet seeped into the fabric of our lives, we as human beings haven’t been as connected to one another in the past as we are today.

I always though that this connection would melt away the differences we saw in each other, it would allow us to embrace people from different cities, countries, backgrounds as just people like ourselves. People interested in providing a home for their families, putting food on the table and a decent lifestyle.

I thought it would encourage us to visit each others living rooms without leaving our own houses and this type of advance would one day bring about world peace, which is my world view.

There are so many instances in the past couple of decades that gave us hope that things were going in the right direction. The Berlin wall fell, Europe united, relative peace in Ireland. This accelerated pace of peace was a beacon of hope that we as human beings were realizing that conflicts weren’t the solution, that lasting peace could bring us prosperity.

Then 9/11 happened. Like millions around the world I couldn’t fathom what anyone would have against America to attack it so, I was naive and didn’t have much understanding of world politics back then. As the internet matured and brought people closer things got uglier. As more information came out it became clearer that we were being played.

At every given opportunity, we are being divided by career politicians, religious heads and corrupt business leaders in it for short term profit and gain. Being lead like sheep to a sacrificial altar. It doesn’t have to be like this though. However to stop our world from descending into chaos, we need to work together. We cannot be fearful of each other.

We need to start with the smallest of steps, getting to know those around us. Our neighbours, coworkers, parents at school, find people of various different backgrounds and interact with them. You will be surprised what you will find, you realize that you are looking into a mirror as you will see but a person like yourself.

Lets work together to change our world views to be bigger than ever before so that we can share this beautiful planet, live long and healthy lives and leave a beautiful place for our children and grand children to grow up in.