Today’s briefing bingo, which is really yesterday’s briefing and today’s possible bingo, is brought to you by the Paul Naschy movie The Mummy’s Revenge. Why ask why? It’s 2020 and nothing makes sense anymore.
More and more I believe when I’m dreaming is when I am most awake
Here’s our video of the briefing, which took place as we mentioned, yesterday. I was busy having a life, okay? It was quite a refreshing change, and I’m sure I was deeply missed by all briefing participants. Would a retweet KILL YA?
But I’m over that.
Here’s our CPAC video:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians from outside his home in Ottawa to provide an update on the federal government’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic. He announces that Major-General Dany Fortin will lead the federal government’s vaccine distribution team. The prime minister also comments on his conversations with premiers regarding the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. He says, if everything goes well, most Canadians will be vaccinated by September 2021. The previous day, public health officials said they were expecting to be able to vaccinate three million people by March 2021. Trudeau also announces $542 million funding to help First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and groups establish their own child and family services systems.
And here are our bingo cards. Yes, I need to Get On that seventh generation card, but at this point I figure we have until at least June, so there’s no particular rush.
And all the previous bingo episodes are on the Briefing Bingo Category page. Which might as well just be the main blog page, because I’m putting nothing much else here these days.
Me in high school: WHY AM I SPENDING AN HOUR A DAY LEARNING ABOUT A SUBJECT THAT WON’T HELP ME IN REAL LIFE?
Me now: Oh boy a new episode of my podcast about dolphin social hierarchies
This is the only year in recent history when the question “What’s new?” qualifies as trolling.
To begin, we have “Begins in English” and “Facial Hair” and “Back at Rideau Hall” and “Outerwear”. Methinks those suit colour squares are going to go unchecked until, say, March or April. I bet he’s cheating and not even wearing the jacket under that coat, as would we in his place.
“We are in some of the toughest days of this pandemic and we are going to have to hold on tight.”
Somebody took care of the scuff marks on the door, I notice. Doggy scuff marks or human scuff marks? Enquiring minds want to know, because it’s 2020 and we’re desperate for entertainment of any sort. Anyway, they’re gone.
According to extensive research during #COVIDCanada, Cdns want fairer, more just society. One that takes steps to unwind inequality. One that works towards greener economy & environment. The very essence of what PM & the many leaders spoke about#cdnpolihttps://t.co/b3virrKPOY
— Caroline (northernck on alternative sites) (@northernck) November 28, 2020
Now we’ve got “Rapid tests” and “PPE” as Trudeau rattles off some figures about how much of this stuff the government is sending out. And yes, new record high infection rates in several provinces, which is just like a daily thing now. Or rather, twice-weekly, as we only get the briefings on Tuesday and Friday. I might as well set my calendar reminders permanently at this point.
Oh, and one for Wednesday too!
We may not be able to host town halls like we used to, but I thought we could try something new – next Wednesday, @CAFreeland and I will host one virtually. We’ll need some questions from you, though, so click here to submit yours and sign up to attend: https://t.co/VVRmgoYXcTpic.twitter.com/D8xugJ4w7i
Trudeau is now “pushing responsibility to provinces” so mark that one off. He’s laying out just how the federal government is stepping up and, by implication, challenging the provinces to step up and use their budgets and their borrowing power to help their citizens.
I have a question to all the white supremacists out there : can you really claim that your race is superior when most anti mask protesters are.. White.., anti science and anti facts?? #COVID#COVID19#onpoli#cdnpolihttps://t.co/JYOa7ByChi
And mark your “Vaccine” square. And “Team Canada” and “App.” There are 5.5 million people using it and 31.38 smartphone owners in the country, so there is still a long way to go.
It's disingenuous to pretend that Canada and that provinces can't do this. We did it during H1N1 in a matter of weeks. Canada regularly get adults vaccinated against Flu and we do a great job between family practice clinics, pharmacies, schools, universities, workplaces #cdnpolihttps://t.co/YCIjkmVCr3
On the Seventh Generation square I should definitely have a square for “The Roommate breathes loudly through his nose to indicate disapproval of the fact that he has lost control of the remote control.” But that virtually guarantees I’ll have moved out by the time I post it.
Oooh, motivation!
He’s not finding a new way to give Canadians money, he’s just running down all the ways he’s already given Canadians money.
There is “We have your back.” And I totally have to put that on the Seventh Generation card before it goes stale. Remember “From Coast to Coast to Coast?” Once that got on a card it was never seen again. I’m more influential than I thought, clearly!
I don’t know my own strength!
That sounds like “Donc” to me, so mark that one. And he’s alternating between “flattening” and “bending” the dreaded Curve. Neither of those are squares yet, but we got “every step of the way” so mark that. Repeatedly. And I note that I’ve got the same square for “Briefing ends abruptly” twice on the Sixth Generation square.
And definitely “Thanks the Armed Forces” square is in action. And “Gesticulates” too. And now either the Prime Minister is warming up or Ottawa is cooling off, because you can mark your “Can see your breath” square. Well, that was gesticulation to a positively aerobic extent, let’s give it its due.
And there goes the moderator yelling at him to do it again, in French. Unilingual countries’ leaders have it way easier comparatively speaking. They don’t need to hire people to yell at them; their people will do it for free!
There’s your “Sign language interpreters swapped out” square, mark it. Not even 30 minutes into the actual briefing, inneresting.
And mark the “Drinks water” square and “Twinkleface.” If I were Justin Trudeau I would not be twinkling at the CBC, but it’s his call. And it does in fact look like he’s wearing a suit jacket underneath that coat, either pale blue or grey. We’ll see what colour the trousers are when he goes back inside.
Oho, plot twist! They are black! Surely Justin Trudeau would not wear a pale grey or blue suit jacket with black suit trousers (even if he would put brown shoes with a grey or blue suit, which is, again, JUST MORALLY WRONG). So, again, we are unable to tell you which if any suit colour square to mark off.
And that’s a wrap. No mask this time, I note. Not that it’s really necessary for a man to go from his front door to a podium and back.
See you Tuesday unless something happens. Or nothing happens. It’s 2020: anything or nothing could happen at any moment!
Welcome back, kittens. Seems like we’re here every Tuesday these days, “here” being both online and at Rideau Cottage, the substantial, foursquare, and quite un-cottage-like brick home in which the Prime Minister and his family live. He’s working from home during this, the Second of the Waves, which is why we’re here, and I can’t find myself annoyed by it. God knows, I love to see a man in good outerwear.
It certainly beats the sterile briefing room that we have had since the start of the summer. We may never see Seymour again, but we have seasonal porchscaping instead, and that’s what I call an upgrade!
Yes, I’m taking joy where ever I can find it these days. even in seasonal porchscaping. I ain’t proud.
And yes, we are still naming these posts after old Paul Naschy werewolf films, because it’s 2020 and the idea that things are supposed to make sense is just so 2018. Today’s film is La Noche de Walpurgis, which translates as Walpurgisnacht, but I’m betting you don’t speak German any better than you speak Spanish, so The Bloody Pit of Horror blog gives us a full run-down of all the other names by which this movie goes. You know it’s a totally crap movie when it has aliases. If I were to release this movie I’d do it under an assumed name too.
aka: Blood Moon
… aka: Night of the Vampire
… aka: Shadow of the Werewolf
… aka: Walpurgis Night
… aka: Walpurgis Night: Wolf vs. Vampire
… aka: Werewolf Shadow
… aka: Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman, The
… aka: Werewolf versus the Vampire Woman, The
We’re going with the last name, because, again, why the fuck not?
Linus’ story is not even the story you are reading right now
Interestingly:
Did You Know
that great pandemics almost always coincide with great advances in the field of #philosophy? It's a #fact. So what are you doing staring slack-jawed at Netflix when you could be philosophizing for all you're worth?!? You could be the next Rando of Ephesus! pic.twitter.com/Miju5CWwT5
Here is your trailer, which is fun to watch while we’re all waiting for the briefing to start. And here is the full movie on YouTube, in case it’s really, really fucking late.
“Things happen that have never been seen by human beings,” so, basically #Peak2020. Perfect. “See it with someone you hate” oh man, ALL of the taglines from this movie work to sum up this year.
Now, to the cards. We’re overdue for the Seventh Generation card, and it’ll come one day, but that day is not this day. Sorry, kittens, you’ll just have to keep returning to the well. The blog. The RSS reader. The email subscription. I dunno, is the internet many places, or is it all one, and divisions purely arbitrary distinctions born of limited perspectives?
I am speaking, you understand, I am speaking only of the internet.
And all the previous bingo episodes are on the Briefing Bingo Category page. Someday we’ll even create a Covid-19 Briefing Drinking Game but we’re in the middle of a sobriety pledge right now (day off to celebrate Freed Jeremy Hammond Day) so get back to us in January.
And here is our actual video for today, which 848 people are currently watching. And now, half an hour late, even us.
We’re jumping into the middle of the questions, but you can tick your “Donc” square at least.
Mark your “Starts more than ten minutes late” square. So it’s not just us.
Yes, mark your “New porchscaping” square. And I guess if we’re also doing squares that rarely/never change, might as well mark off the “Facial hair” square too. Will we see “cleanshaven” again? I wonder. “Back at Rideau Hall” is clearly in play (cottage/hall, whatever, it’s on the grounds of Rideau Hall). And “Holiday decorations” too, so seasonal porchscaping is a twofer!
Oh yes, mark your “Outdoors” square too. And “Outerwear” as is only right and proper. Rideau Cottage does NOT count as “on location.” Not after all these months. And finally at 23:25, Trudeau emerges from the house to begin the briefing. Mark your “Mask” square.
It was nice of him to wait for me, really it was. And I almost would have made it on time, if I had one of those coffee makers you could program. But I don’t, so I was in the kitchen brewing some Kickass blend. Priorities!
I take my coffee like my take on twitter; dark, strong, mysterious, mostly bitter but with a subtle fruitiness. 😆
And yes, “Begins in English”. He usually only begins in French if the briefing is in Quebec.
Oh yay /sarcasm, new record daily highs of Covid-19 in multiple provinces. People, have you MET other people? Do you really like them that much, enough to potentially kill them? Even *I* would not go out and socialize with a group of people, and I HATE my roommate (I don’t, I just hate the fact that he lives here, in the house that he owns).
2/2 Over the past week, an average of 75,666 people have been tested for #COVID19 daily across Canada, with 7.6% of these people testing positive as #publichealth continues to expand #TestandTrace capacity to meet increased demands. https://t.co/ZArmpJMAM3
Now we have “Audio issues” and “Touches mic” and I should totally make a square for “Deja vu because we did this in the First Wave” for sending the military in to old folks’ homes.
Update on personal protective equipment, vaccines, and therapeutics: Since last week, we’ve sent more than 2.9 million pairs of nitrile gloves to the provinces and territories. We’ve also sent out 4.6 million rapid tests over the past few months – and millions more are coming.
We’ve received more than 24 million syringes and needles, which we’ll use when we have a vaccine. On that front, we heard promising news yesterday about AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s vaccine candidate. We already have an agreement for up to 20 million doses of it.
We’ve also signed an agreement for up to 26,000 doses of Eli Lilly’s therapeutic drug, and we have options for thousands more doses. This treatment was developed in partnership with Vancouver’s AbCellera Biologics, and is part of our support for researchers here at home.
He’s doing his OWN summaries on Twitter? How did I not notice until now? Great, thanks, you do my work for me!
“Every step of the way” and “Finds a new way to give Canadians money” squares active for yet another new rent subsidy and wage subsidy. And “Second Wave”.
You can only mark “every step of the way” once per briefing, no matter if he says it a dozen times. Which we might see today.
“Rapid tests” square is active. Trudeau is specifically mentioning the amount of money the federal government is pouring into Alberta. Recent polls have his approval rate there at 55% while the CPC premier’s popularity is down around 30%, so this is perfect game theory in action.
Seriously, Trudeau needs an “every step of the way” intervention.
And there’s your “App” square, half an hour in. 5.4 million Canadians have downloaded it so far. Be like Sasha. Sasha was asymptomatic, but had the app, and got a notification he’d been exposed, so he went in and got tested, only to find it was positive. He’d never have known otherwise.
For once, they didn’t swap out the sign language interpreters. The mind! It fairly boggleth!
I think I need to add a square for microphone bobbling to the Seventh Generation Bingo Card. Which I’ll be making today and posting probably Friday, when there will almost certainly be another Covid-19 briefing.
Meanwhile, in New Brunswick, things are getting fraught.
The real question now is who had their phone unmuted while they were in the bathroom for the presser
Tick your “Donc” and “You can see your breath” squares. There are over 900 people watching the video of today’s covid-19 briefing. FINALLY it seems like people are catching on to these, and of course I miss half an hour of it.
And your “Vaccine” square too.
“No one place gets done with Covid-19 until all places are done with Covid-19.”
Interesting. 2800 watching the CTV live coverage of the briefing today, vs about 1000 watching CPAC. And 3200 watching the CBC version too. But then, we’ve always been outliers. still, this is the MOST popular briefing we’ve seen in terms of viewership. I wonder why.
Oh, who am I kidding? It’s clearly that they want to play Briefing Bingo. RIGHT? [hint: the correct answer is RIGHT!]
Shout-out to the moderator, who does not hesitate to yell at the Prime Minister “And again in the OTHER official language” or words to that effect. Can you imagine the job listing? “Must be willing to yell at Justin Trudeau repeatedly.” How did O’Toole not at least apply?
Tick your “Building back better” square, even if it did come from a mere reporter. Also your “Drinks water” square. That was the PM. No idea if the reporters are drinking, but if experience is any guide…well…have you MET one?
Tick your “Twinkleface” square. No idea why he’s twinkling at reporters, but he’s twinkling. Mark it.
Mark your “PPE” square. I wonder how long they’ll have a glass of water on the podium? Ottawa’s bloody cold. To keep it liquid through the winter, they’ll have to replace it with vodka or gin, and wouldn’t THAT be a fun briefing? I really do have to get working on that drinking game.
I need a square for “layered outerwear” because I can see a tie, shirt, fleece jacket, and wool coat. I need a “Five Eyes” square, clearly. Good to see some questions around that. And mark your “Two Michaels” square.
“Coercive Diplomacy” should be a square. So far it’s only been applied to China, but it could have applied to Twunt’s administration as well. And mark your “My aunt calls during the briefing” square. Four Fucking Times. That’s a new personal best.
And that’s a wrap.
Meanwhile, in the US:
It’s Tuesday before Thanksgiving so you should know that if the minimum wage had increased at the rate of productivity since 1960, it would be $22.50. Instead, it’s $7.25.
That's $15.25 per hour that's disappeared from the pockets of low income workers the past 60 years…
The thing about creating an army of losers, aka the Twunt/Q strategy, is that they continue to lose.
Over quarter million dead @POTUS@realDonaldTrump says nothing, dow hits 30k cause he's leaving so he tries to take credit. This man is a deranged narcissist
Hello, kittens. While we have your attention we’d like to draw your attention to a very helpful initiative posted over on OpCovid19: Lifeline Tablets.
In These Troubled Times™ when we cannot be together physically, it can be all too easy to forget about those who cannot connect with their friends, family, and loved ones online. We literally cannot see them. Lifeline tablets aims to bridge the digital divide for Covid-19 patients by supplying specially-configured tablets so that they can take their place on the Internet, the digital Agora of our time.
Lifeline Tablets exists to put mobile tablets in the hands of those who need them the most. And we’re starting with COVID-19 patients. For just under $100, we supply kits that include a pre-configured mobile tablet, hands free gooseneck stand, and headphones with mic. As a registered US nonprofit, donations to Lifeline Tablets are tax deductible.
We may not be able to give our loved ones a hug if they’re quarantined, but at least if they are able to get online, they do not ever have to be alone. Lifeline Tablets can help to make that happen. Head over to their website to check them out and donate, subscribe to their newsletter, share the link, and follow them on social media.
So, this is where we are, kittens. Back at Rideau Cottage, naming these posts after old Paul Naschy wolfman films. Will the pandemic endure so long that we’ll run out of Naschy movies and have to begin naming them after old episodes of Kolchak?
Here are your Covid Briefing Bingo cards so far, and YES, yes, I know. I have to get you the seventh generation sometime before the vaccine is released!
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians from outside his home in Ottawa on the federal government’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic.
And here’s the full text. Do they have a teleprompter at Rideau Cottage? Because I didn’t see him looking at any papers. And if they have one at his house, why don’t they have one in the briefing room they’ve been using all Fall?
As you can see, we are back at the old hangout, Rideau Cottage, and you can mark your square for “Seasonal porchscaping.” This is something people in Ottawa go in for bigly; being from BC I think at the very most I’d see a wreath and an inflatable Grinch, and that was in the whole neighborhood. We skipped over “Cottonwood fluff and insects” season altogether.
Pontificating for a moment I’d say that the return to Rideau Cottage means a) Trudeau is working from home for some reason. Self-isolating, perhaps? b) He’s not worried some Q-Twat will try to off him.
Let us begin, kittens.
Trudeau is in a hell of a mood. “I don’t want to be here. You don’t want me to be here. But here we are again. Cases are spiking.” This isn’t a speech on paper. He’s doing this off the cuff and memory. TBH these are always better. When it’s an emotional message, this way is better. He’s good at it.
1418 new cases in Ontario, largely in the Toronto, Peel, and York regions. Trudeau appeals to the citizens not to slack off on their precautions, not to have a dinner party (socially distanced or not), not to get together with friends.
The worst case scenario could see 60,000 new cases a day diagnosed in Canada. “The best way to protect the economy is to get the virus under control.”
https://t.co/S6SXbNFg73 "Tam said the worst case scenario, a spike to 60,000 daily cases, would occur if people became more sociable. Even if current restrictions on gatherings are maintained, new daily cases will jump to over 20,000 by Dec 31." #cdnpoli#StayHome or #MaskUp
Mark your “Outerwear” square, “Second wave” and “Starts in English” on a lighter note.
Trudeau explains that in the first wave we thought doing what kept us safe was bad for the economy, but now we know the opposite is true. Staying safe is the best way to support the economy. All the business supports have been enshrined in law now, thanks to a cross-party effort to pass it yesterday.
Yes, go ahead and mark your “stern teacher voice” square.
“Name-checks Dr. Theresa Tam” square active, mark that one off.
“They are heroes. They are going above and beyond ANYTHING they thought they were signing up for.” Trudeau asks people to think about the medical workers who face the unimaginable, every day.
I’ll be working from home as much as possible in the coming days, too. Because it’s up to all of us to do our part. We know what to do. We know it isn’t always easy. But we know it works. If you don’t have to leave your house, then don’t. #StayHome
Trudeau specifically challenges employers to let their workers work from home. And reminds everyone to download the app (the federal one, that works, not the Alberta one, which uh…).
Trudeau is calling out Alberta and BC about their non-adoption of the federal app. And good on him, because that is not merely stupid; it is actively preventing the federal government from saving lives.
Unfortunately, here in BC, we not only don't have the app, but our health experts' reason for stubbornly refusing to allow it's use is weak and makes little sense. They continue to simply state, "we're working on it." https://t.co/rGv3F64aPK
Sooper, my internet clogged up. Mark your “Technical difficulties” square. This thing is glitching hard; it’s like watching a briefing animated by Francis Bacon.
Surprise! It's not just "What the FUCK, man? What the actual FUCK?" which it surely could be. https://t.co/TFrJdeAAeU
Now Trudeau is offering condolences to the family of the Holocaust survivor who made it through WWII and came to Canada, raised a family, and recently passed away from Covid-19.
Trudeau says he’s working from home again, so he’s basically modeling the behaviour he wants to see from Canadians. Bully pulpit for the win. And mark your “Keeps the border closed” square, yay!
Sign language interpreter on the right has his groove on.
“We have a long winter ahead. Wear a mask. Keep your distance. Download and use the app. Avoid gatherings of all sizes. And know that together, being there for one another, we’ll get through it.”
And marks your “Drinks water” square. Now on to the questions.
Trudeau seemed to drop the posh French accent and get a little more vernacular, get a little more Quebec, when answering that question about “So what about Christmas?”
Mark your “Swaps out sign language interpreters” square. “We have your backs” really needs to be a square in this game.
Reporter asks if Trudeau if he’ll bring in some federal rules to prevent interprovincial travel, which he does not wish to do. “Not an idea I’m even contemplating right now.” Mark your “Pushes responsibility to provinces.”
The PM has been pretty clear with his messaging-stop trying to blame him for the premiers failure in messaging. Also can anyone point to one instance where an oppo leader actually got on tv to deliver the same message as the PM is doing now. I can't think of one. #cdnpoli
You know, this man is just damn good at this off the cuff stuff. Knitting climate change into the pandemic response with specific examples and big-picture inspiration.
I cannot tell you how much I've come to respect him since all this started.
“We’re seeing a lot of people falling prey to conspiracy theories” and calls out the Conservatives specifically for pushing disinformation. Dang! FIRST BLOOD!
Revenue Canada had to come out to dispel this false claim levelled by #PostMedia & #CPC.
This is also the #CPC plan to take power, with the aid of US hedge-fund controlled Postmedia & other propaganda outlets, sow division via disinformation & propaganda. #cdnmedia#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/b8hq8SoFpU
“This is not a fair situation” Trudeau acknowledging the truth about the patchwork of Covid regulations across Canada. #cdnpoli#covidcanada I prefer this to BS.
Trudeau says he’s not advocating a national lockdown; he’s advocating listening to your premiers and local politicians. Which is a politically inspired way to make sure the negatives associate with anything and anyone other than the federal government.
Since we’re in outerwear seasons I think I should have a square for “Buttons” and one for “Zipper”. The zipper is a Canadian invention, did you know?
“Shout-out to religious holiday” of course, for all the references to Christmas.
“I think a lot of people are done with this,” says Trudeau, sounding VERY VERY DONE WITH THIS.
“It was a blunt object of a tool, a national shutdown. We’re seeing provinces using targeted shutdowns in a much better way. It’s unfair and it’s frustrating. YUP. No question about it. Everyone is sick and tired of this. We need to know that the end is in sight. We need to do one last big effort.”
"But in order to get through this winter without overwhelming our health systems, without losing too many of our loved ones, we need to do one last big effort these coming months and it starts with the coming weeks of really tightening up." #COVID19#coronavirus#cdnpoli
Oh yeah, we had “the path forward” several times, so mark that square. “Our focus is not on politics. Our focus is on Canadians.” You know, he’s so good at this I would almost even believe him, were I inclined to anything but goth angst these days.
Justin Trudeau’s address to the nation this morning was the most powerful speech by a Canadian prime minister I have ever seen. How lucky we are to have a real leader at a dark time like this one. #COVID19#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/Axs9HOwa5n
Mark your “Touches face” square as he listens to reporter ask if he can mandate specific ways to force people to use the app. He responds that it should be up to individuals, that making the choice is itself a meaningful act.
Last square is “Outdoors” of course which could have been your first square if you’d been paying attention at the start the way I wasn’t because I was too busy trying to get the coffee into me.
Meanwhile, in the US:
Trump-appointed judges rule that torturing LGBTQ youth is covered by the First Amendment: https://t.co/xr4QhnJRsx
You think chuds don't like "shutdowns" and masks? Wait til you see their reactions to knowing that BIPOC elders in the hood are getting vaccinated before 28 yo white incels.
To soften the blow of defeat Fox's Geraldo proposes naming the vaccine after Trump. "It would be a nice gesture to him and years from now it would become kind of a generic name. Have you got your trump yet, I got my trump, I'm fine. I wished we could honor him in that way." pic.twitter.com/fM8qwFhxF6
Today’s briefing is brought to you by: the 1988 Paul Naschy wolfman movie Howl of the Devil. And by mercifully late starts as one waits for the coffee to brew. Today, as we “enjoy” intermittent flurries, it is a particularly low-energy day, and neither for the first nor the last time I wish I had my trusty espresso machine by my side.
The ‘puter is being super-laggy today, so that’s great. 2020 is 2020ing. I should take some of that juicy CERB and put it towards another machine. If only there were some “made in Canuckistan” ones with no Chinese parts. Oh well, I’m generally doing pretty well on that Boycott China thing. And hey, found my new Christmas cards already:
Charlie Brown has gone full “Fuck around and find out.”
But to the Briefing! Here are all our Briefing Bingo cards. Play one or play them all. Or play an idiosyncratic subset. The hell I care?
Mark your “starts more than ten minutes late” and “My aunt calls during the briefing” and “Reporter sits in the front row,” a reporter I’m not entirely sure is wearing pants. Choose the colour of your leggings carefully, people!
Here we go:
At a news conference on Parliament Hill, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provides an update on the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic. The prime minister is joined by Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, and Dr. Howard Njoo, the deputy chief public health officer.Actually, I DO recommend that mashup
The Related Video list for today’s CPAC #Covid19 Briefing from YouTube is a thing of beauty and consternation. Madonna’s “Dress You Up”, noir jazz which is the perfect 2020 soundtrack, and a mashup that begins with the immortal words “Okay, are you ready to go? Let’s start this motherfucker up.” Took the words right out of my mouth. By all means, let us do even so.
CBC is so passive-aggressive. They literally couldn’t be more Canadian if they tried. Just take a look at the thumbnail on their version of the live coverage. Compare and contrast to the CPAC one in the video up there.
Cheery opening to the briefing, and by “cheery” I mean bleak because it’s #2020, with new record high diagnosis rates in several provinces and Nunavut too. “Begins in English” square active. And a story about “Jonathon” in Ontario (hello Doug Ford, are you listening?) who values the economy, but values the lives of his friends and family more. Be like Jonathon. And Trudeau reminds people that doing the best things to protect friends and family is also doing the best thing to protect the economy, because dead people don’t buy shit. Well, he only implied that last part. I may be paraphrasing slightly.
I feel incredibly bad for PM Trudeau. Whatever you might think his failings are, he's a decent man who is compassionate and empathetic.
Watching the citizens he's charged with "leading" die off due to populism, ideology, bad management and ignorance must be soul killing. https://t.co/DQPqFha1sa
And we get another reminder that federal supports to the provinces “are not infinite”. That’s the politest threat you’ll ever hear. Make no mistake: it is a threat.
“Second wave” active now and “Vaccine” and also “CBC cadence” and “app”. Haven’t had the CBC cadence in a long time; seems like I’m not the only person whose batteries are running down.
Note to Canadians: if and when the Moderna vaccine is approved, the first 100 million doses are earmarked for U.S. government. We are lumped in with the company's European production. I learned this reading the newspaper #cdnpoli#COVID19
302192 cases and 11000 deaths so far says Dr. Tam. 6.6 positive rate, which is gruesome and three times the rate of the spring. And the disease is spreading more in the elderly too, in co-op living, long term care homes, and hospitals. Full info on the Health website.
2/2 Over the past week, an average of 58,408 people have been tested for #COVID19 daily across Canada, with 6.6% of these people testing positive as #publichealth continues to expand #TestandTrace capacity to meet increased demands. https://t.co/ZArmpJMAM3
Oh, now we are apparently “planking” the curve. We were just “bending” it last week. I like bending better; it sounds like a surf movie. Planking sounds like work.
Mark off your “Dr. Tam’s red and black jacket” square and “Begins in English” and “Blue Suit” for Trudeau, from back when the briefing cards only included him because we all thought this would be over before shirtsleeves weather, and what fools we were. Ah, how innocent!
In Other Yet Simultaneous Conversation news, nothing I like better than getting thrown into a Twittercanoe about TERFs that resulted from a misunderstanding that could have been cleared up in 30 seconds if they talked to the person who made the error. So productive. MUTE CONVERSATION.
Question time:
Mark your “Touches face” square. And there’s a “Sorry” in there too.
Beautiful question about Scheer hiring his inlaws and the inlaws hiring his family. Bunted by Trudeau back to the Conservatives. “Shades the Tories” square active. And “Shades Harper” as well.
I HATE that I’m about to defend Andrew Scheer hiring his wife’s sister on any level, but here goes. There’s what’s allowable within the rules and what isn’t, and then there’s what bothers us and smells bad and what doesn’t. These are, importantly, different things. #cdnpoli 1/6
Yasmin Ratansi hiring her own sister was outside the rules as written. That’s a bright line. Scheer hiring his wife’s sister – we may not like it, but he hasn’t literally violated the rule. Is the line arbitrary and stupid? Maybe. But the difference still matters. #cdnpoli 2/6
There’s always going to be outrage and finger-pointing in the gray areas. We’ll never agree when it’s debatable, and partisanship will always rule the day. So we need, at absolutely minimum, to agree that when someone steps over a bright line rule that’s different. #cdnpoli 3/6
Call out Scheer if you want, call out Poilievre and others for their hiring and their hypocrisy. Have at it. But don’t obliterate the difference between inside the rules and outside the rules as you do it. The damage you’ll cause goes far beyond partisanship. #cdnpoli 4/6
Rules matter because they’re objective. Only people utterly determined to deny reality (coughTRUMPcough) fail to acknowledge them. If the rules suck then we make better rules. We don’t argue that the rules are unimportant or meaningless. That’s a death spiral. #cdnpoli 5/6
Without agreement that rules matter, all we’ve got left is a competition to be most outraged. And be outraged if you want, perhaps with good cause! Just don’t forget or deny that violating the actual rule, and outrage over a perceived wrong, are not the same thing. #cdnpoli 6/6
I really do need a square for “Fails to translate the answer”. Cuz my French is still ass. And you can just SEE my English.
Also “Snowbirds” needs to be on the next card. Florida is, clearly, the hill on which many Ontario seniors choose to die. It’s not THAT nice. Should we accept that request from the Turks and Caicos to take them over, turn Canada into an imperial power, just so we can have a safe and Canadian-government-run warm place to send our dimmer elders for a few months each year? Because when they go to Florida they bring all those nasty Murikkan cooties back with them.
And people wonder why I want to go back to BC
But seriously, isn’t that just what Victoria is for?
In related news, when some of those snowbirds returned in the spring, they apparently returned to entire communities they were barred by law from entering (see below). Maybe, I dunno, buy a real house if you’re rich enough to have more than one? These people bought houses in wintery zones that are not winter-proofed; apparently they rely on being able to leave the country when the weather changes. And when the epidemiological weather changed, their gated communities shut their gates against them.
“Drinks water” square now active. And “From the beginning” too. Good question about the reluctance to mandate a lockdown. There’s your “Gesticulates” square, Very Low Energy Day continues.
Random thought: Are masks with amusing words on them today’s slogan tees? Will we see articles about how unprofessional they are soon in Working Woman magazine? (spoiler alert: we will not, because it folded years ago)
Read. The. Room.
20 people died of COVID over the last 24 hours. And this is what you're tweeting about? https://t.co/30IDYdhW8b
Site C camp status: November 17, 2020 Number of people in camp1,512 Number of people in self-isolation at camp13 13 in isolation, and they're still bringing workers in. WHY?
A bit late with this, but mark your “Strenuous nod” square on the sixth generation card. Trudeau, not Freeland this time. Too bad: she’s an outstanding nodder, as well as a sharp dresser and probably the finance minister who will bring in UBI for Canadians.
Am I stanning? I feel like I’m stanning. < /stanning >
Oh yes, there’s your “Swaps out sign language interpreters” square. Did I already say “Second Wave” square is active? Mark it if you haven’t already. This damn computer is so laggy after the last upgrades that I’ll have to come up with a different way to do this next time. There’s your “Pushes responsibility to provinces” and “PPE” squares.
Multiple references to Christmas, so mark your “religious holiday” square, like twenty times. You just know if the Tories had a handy Jewish person they’d make a stink about the lack of other holidays mentioned, but they don’t and we all know it. There are Reasons For Things.
And Trudeau’s out. There’s your “Maple Leaf Accessory” and “Wears Mask” from the first generation card. And “Brown shoes with blue suit WHICH IS JUST MORALLY WRONG”. Justin, my late mother wants to have a word with you. She’s not so much angry as disappointed. The camera followed him out, but nobody was speaking, so no square for you!
Dr. Tam is “pushing responsibility to provinces” like a pro. But after six months, she IS a pro at this. We do need more uniformity across provinces and territories in the medical realm and PARTICULARLY in the coverage aspect. And mark your “Touches microphone” square too.
And Dr. Njoo is giving you his trademark “button down Oxford shirt” so mark that square. “Gesticulates with a pen” needs to be on the next bingo card for sure.
Dr Njoo’s pin looks an awful lot like a Mont Order pin. Weird. I rather doubt he’s part of the Order. Of course we have “Someone wears glasses” because Dr. Njoo is there.
That’s good. Testing at a higher rate than usual for the flu, but we’ve got a vastly lower rate of infection this year, in part because of the uptake in vaccinations, which reminds me to get mine. And mark your “Flu vaccine” square.
YAY! Mark your “Hockey” square FINALLY! ‘Bout time this was CANADA, amirite?
And now a question about how while the initially projected deaths 9 months ago were estimated to be around 10,000, we now have 11,000, something referred to as “a massive difference.” Well, uh. I’m on the fence. Was that a “Stupid gotcha question” or not? After all, the difference between 10,000 and 11,000 is only one thousand, not “massive.” I need to add a square for “Dr Tam explains basic science and/or math and/or logic”. She does it really well, too.
Dr Njoo makes a good point about Covid fatigue changing all the other risk factors. People know about masks and distancing, but they’re emotionally exhausted and deliberately saying “Fuckit. Fuckit just a little bit, just this once. Again.” I may be paraphrasing slightly.
And mark your “Technical difficulties” square as my internet briefly went down. Like I need yet another issue.
And we’re done. I’ll review later tonight and add in all the squares I missed because of logistical issues. It really doesn’t work to tab back and forth between the video. For once in my life I want another monitor, like a gamer.
And now for a slightly different perspective on the questions:
Its stupid question time! Up first Globe n Mail and of course stupid Scheer question. Follow up so so but still hoping Trudeau plays to hedes which he doesnt. Nat Post, decent yet rambling Q on rcmp, with crap interjection in middle, but eventually finishes Q ( simply your position on rcmp info report would do) follow up on recommendations ( after review of course). cdn press, oh good grief, do your homework, believe those supply chains set up under harper shipbuilding and davie bankrupt at time, but hey good work ..lol follow up, sigh cpc huawei bs, good grief, tho brings up michaels, ps PM not gonna negotiate in media. Cdn press anglo, oh boy snowbird Q, can you comment on stupid morons please ( ignoring travel advisory posted, but please attack cdns for good headline). Ctv now, holy shit stupid framing, and the old lets ask 3 Qs rolled in one, please ignore jurisdiction and provs refusing to give ok to feds, are you afraid, cripes like the girl on school yard screaming Fight fight fight you chicken.. Radio canada cppa act, oh this seems like good q, but doesn’t seem well asked but anglo translation could be reason for that. Star – Qs about vaccines, good Q and first one on vaccines, not designed for clickbait hedes. @raincoaster card must be filled by now.
I haven’t actually gone through the cards to see what’s been filled out and what has not been (That’s YOUR job YES YOU) but it sounds like a good project I could do while knitting or doomscrolling, so why not? I am sure we have ONE line completed, but I’d put good money down that we’ve not completed any of the cards in its entirety. I mean, we got “Blue Steel” once, but we’re never gonna get “Ascot” are we? Or “Attack and Dethrone God?” Anarchists the world over are praying for that one; but to whom? I asks yez.
This world we live in has a queen, and her name is @DollyParton, and every day I am grateful to share the same timeline with her. Her existence is a gift that keeps on giving. Truly the #GOAT of goodness. #DollyPartonhttps://t.co/Skqej2IWSM
raincoaster 