Wideleft

I've been employed in health (not front line) since long before health transformation began, but I did not realize that there was no increase in ER beds at the three remaining hospitals after the other three were closed. There are actually fewer. Unbelievable. "HSC had 777 hospital beds in 2016-17, the year before consolidation. That fell to 762 during the first year of the hospital mergers. It increased slightly to 780 in 2021-22, according to Shared Health data. Capacity at HSC has remained largely unchanged, even though the facility is seeing more acutely ill patients. In 2015-16, HSC had an average bed occupancy rate of 88.5 per cent. That jumped to 94.8 per cent in 2021-22. It now has less capacity to absorb spikes in patient volume. St. Boniface had 493 staffed hospital beds in 2016-17. That number fell to 464 beds in 2021-22. Grace saw its bed count decline from 235 in 2016-17 to 227 in 2021-22. Patients are also piling up in those ERs. Meanwhile, government continues to peddle the falsehood that almost 40 per cent of people who show up at ERs and urgent-care centres could have received treatment elsewhere, suggesting it’s causing ER overcrowding. The 40 per cent figure is the portion of patients triaged as Level 4 or 5 patients, the least ill patients on the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale. That doesn’t mean everyone triaged as a Level 4 or 5 could be treated at a doctor’s office or a walk-in clinic. Some have complex medical issues that may require a hospital stay. Government is spreading erroneous information to divert attention away from the poor management of its hospital-consolidation rollout. Manitoba’s 2017 Wait Times Reduction Task Force, commissioned by the Tory government, confirmed that Level 4 and 5 patents are not the main cause of ER overcrowding. “CTAS 4 and 5 level patients have been identified by media, politicians, many ED staff, and fellow ED patients as the ‘black sheep’ of emergency care,” the report says. “There is an enduring, persistent belief that they are the fundamental problem in (emergency department overcrowding). If they can be dealt with elsewhere, all will be well. That is a myth.” The report, written by experts in the field, found the main cause of ER overcrowding is the growing length of time patients are spending in emergency departments — often on gurneys in hallways — waiting for a bed on a medical ward. That leads to poor outcomes. “There is clear evidence that prolonged ED stays contribute to increased illness (morbidity) and death (mortality), as well as prolonged hospital stays as an admitted in-patient,” the report found. That may not be something government officials are willing to acknowledge publicly. But it is in their own report." Excerpted from today's Tom Brodbeck column. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/2023/03/16/creative-explanations-aside-task-force-clear-on-cause-of-er-crisis-more-than-five-years-ago

Ogles is attracting more and more attention for Santos-like reasons: When Ogles was one of the holdouts to approving Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House speaker, he claimed he was “an economist” — a claim he has made several times — along with other embellishments. But NewsChannel 5 in Nashville found that he had taken only one course in economics, at a community college, and received a C. Ogles first entered college in 1990 and did not get a degree until 2007. ................ Our reporting shows that Ogles’s résumé enhancement is not a recent development. In a 2009 résumé submitted for a job, he claimed numerous roles with businesses and on boards of organizations that were exaggerated or could not be corroborated. A consulting firm he claimed to run from 2003 to 2010 cannot be found in Tennessee corporate records. Indeed, during his various bids for public office in this period, local newspapers described him as a restaurateur, not a business consultant. ........................ In a January C-SPAN interview, when asked what he did before he came to Congress, Ogles said: “I was an entrepreneur young in my career. Fast-forwarding to my midlife crisis, I was in law enforcement and international sex crimes.” As NewsChannel 5 documented, Ogles was sworn in as a volunteer reserve deputy with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office in July 2009 but lost that position two years later for not meeting minimum standards, making no progress in field training and failing to attend required meetings. The “international sex crimes” referred to a part-time position as chief operating officer of an anti-trafficking group, Abolition International, that paid a total of $4,000 in 2011, according to the tax filing of the organization. ........................... Ogles lists impressive achievements as an executive at E. Net Media & Consulting of Nashville from 2003 to 2010. (The résumé says he was an executive vice president, but his 2015 LinkedIn profile described him as president and owner.) The résumé states that at E. Net Media he represented “a variety of clients ranging from small start ups to Fortune 500 companies.” We could not corroborate his assertions. No corporate record exists for E. Net in Tennessee state records, although Ogles has set up other corporate entities, public records show. Tennessee corporate records show two companies with similar names were formed by other people before 2003, but neither was associated with Ogles. .............................. The résumé also claims Ogles “secured [a] $10 million tax incentive, for film industry positioned VR Limited, to negotiate $35 to $50 million development package in Tennessee.” But no such deal can be found in a search of Tennessee news clips, let alone a company called VR Limited in the film industry. Bob Raines, the executive director of the Tennessee Entertainment Commission, has been with TEC since 2002 and said he was unfamiliar with any such deal. ........... Ogles’s 2009 résumé says he was vice president of another Nashville company, called Franklin Investment & Holding, from June 1995 to January 2002. The résumé says that the company had “varied investments in retail, restaurant, real estate, hotel, and apartment properties” and that Ogles “increased portfolio share” by 25 percent and achieved continued growth of 18 to 25 percent a year. But Tennessee corporate records show the firm, formed with Ogles’s brother Justin and a third partner, was in existence only for a fraction of that time. It was created in August 2001 and then dissolved a year later. ................... https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/10/tennessee-congressman-andrew-ogless-rsum-is-too-good-be-true/

No. No it is not. This is about Ontario-born players moving closer to home. I just read the twitter thread. Also, Ferguson is using info from the last 6 drafts.

U.K. numbers. https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/06/24/480949383/britains-google-searches-for-what-is-the-eu-spike-after-brexit-vote

And that's the rub. Centre and left parties can't win unless they propose new ideas. The right can win solely on promising to cut taxes which is neither a new idea nor good policy.

Just going to leave this here for no particular reason, but it does seem to address the "It's right because it's popular" argument. "One of my favourite indicators of that is the fact that, after the announcement that U.K. voters had elected to leave the European Union, the second-most-searched-for question on Google regarding the E.U. was “What is the E.U.?” And, just ahead of the vote, one of the most common questions was “What is Brexit?” Yikes." - David Moscrop - Too Dumb For Democracy

"I'vE dOnE mY oWn ReSeArCh!" Behold the difference between "looking" and "seeing".

The Lloydminster Saskbertas beg to differ.

The Cult of Moe defies explanation. Must be his extraordinary charisma.

Repo Man just celebrated it's 37th anniversary... And John Bonk turns 73 this year. Chris Walby turns 67 in October.

The thing is - he is a smart guy that could have explained why the PST increase was required at the time, but didn't. He had a PHD from the London School of Economics and a Master of Public Administration from Queen's University. He was probably one of the most qualified for the role in the province's history, but he really was not a good politician. And here we are with a government of good politicians who are unqualified for their roles.

The question remains - is seemingly being out of ideas the same as a government in maintenance mode? They couldn't really introduce new ideas without a tax increase or the Feds releasing much needed flood funding and/or increasing transfers. If you compare the "messes", it really does beg the question I'm asking.

I wish I could remember which column I was reading earlier this week. It suggested that we sometimes confuse stability in government with a government that is out of ideas. It is true that the NDP were eating themselves after Selinger's terrible implementation of the PST increase. Truth is, we needed that increase because Harper was withholding flood aid. Pallister walked into a fantastic situation in which Trudeau not only released the flood money but also increased transfers which made "balancing" the budget ridiculously easy when he took a machete to every government department. I would suggest that Pallister created far more instability in one term than the fourth term NDP. The infighting within the party was their doom. And history repeats.

"I'm not saying my cars can actually drive themselves, but go ahead and try!"

An Ivermectin Influencer Died. Now His Followers Are Worried About Their Own ‘Severe’ Symptoms. Danny Lemoi took a daily dose of veterinary-grade ivermectin and told his thousands of followers to give the drug to children. He died of a common side effect of the medication. By David Gilbert March 13, 2023, 6:00am Just before 7 am on March 3, Danny Lemoi posted an update in his hugely popular pro-ivermectin Telegram group, Dirt Road Discussions: “HAPPY FRIDAY ALL YOU POISONOUS HORSE PASTE EATING SURVIVORS !!!” Hours later, Lemoi was dead. For the last decade, Lemoi had taken a daily dose of veterinary ivermectin, a dewormer designed to be used on large animals like horses and cows. In 2021, as ivermectin became a popular alternative COVID-19 treatment among anti-vaxxers, he launched what became one of the largest Telegram channels dedicated to promoting the use of it, including instructions on how to administer ivermectin to children. But despite Lemoi’s death, the administrators of his channel are pushing his misinformation—even as his followers share their own worrying possible side effects from taking ivermectin and some question the safety of the drug. Lemoi, a heavy equipment operator who lived in Foster, Rhode Island, “passed away unexpectedly” on March 3, according to an online obituary post by his family last week. He was survived by his parents and brother. The obituary gave no details about the cause of his death. In the Telegram channel, administrators broke the news of his death to his followers. “Though it was obvious that Danny had the biggest heart, it was unbeknownst to him that his heart was quite literally overworking and overgrowing beyond its capacity, nearly doubled in size from what it should have been,” the admins wrote, adding: “We understand that this is going to raise questions for those who were following him.” The admins added that Lemoi had undergone testing on his heart last year, but the results had shown no cause for concern. Lemoi began taking the version of ivermectin designed for animals on a daily basis in 2012, after he was diagnosed with Lyme disease, according to a detailed account of his medical history he gave on a podcast last November. He said then that five months after first taking the drug, he quit all other treatments and believed ivermectin had “regenerated” his heart muscle. During the pandemic, Ivermectin became hugely popular among anti-vaxxers, many of whom were taking and recommending the veterinary formulation of the drug, rather than the one designed for human use. While ivermectin for humans is used to treat serious illnesses like river blindness, it has repeatedly been shown to be an ineffective treatment for COVID-19. And according to the Missouri Poison Center, ingesting large doses of ivermectin formulated for animals has a long list of side effects, including seizures, coma, lung issues, and heart problems. Veterinary ivermectin is not a cure or effective treatment for COVID, the FDA has repeatedly warned, and is highly concentrated because it is designed for large animals like horses and cows. “Such high doses can be highly toxic in humans,” the FDA cautions. “Danny was fully convinced that his heart had regenerated after his incident with Lyme disease that almost ended in congestive heart failure,” the admins wrote, before claiming that “a family history of heart disease and chronic stress” were why his heart had ultimately become engorged. “All of his other organs were unremarkable,” the admins wrote. “And this was determined to be a death by unfortunate natural causes.” The admins of Lemoi’s channel did not respond to VICE News’ questions about where they got their information about his death. Lemoi’s surviving family did not respond to VICE News' request for comment on the cause of his death. But a review of Lemoi’s Telegram channels shows that many of his followers who are taking his dosage recommendations, or “protocols,” for veterinary ivermectin are experiencing numerous known side effects of taking the drug. “I’m 4 months now and all hell’s breaking loose, all pain has hit my waist down with sciatic, shin splints, restless leg syndrome, tight sore calves & it feels like some pain in the bones,” a member wrote on Friday. Lemoi explained away the negative side effects of taking veterinary ivermectin by describing them as “herxing,” a real term to describe an adverse response that occurs in people who take antibiotics as a treatment for Lyme disease. “My wife has been taking ivermectin for 3 months,” a member wrote Friday. “She is being treated for autoimmune hepatitis, thyroid, and vertebrae issues. She has had some serious HERXING. Today she has a migraine, vomiting and severe stomach pain. Does anyone have any ideas how to help, and are these HERXING symptoms?” Some members of the group are taking ivermectin not only as a treatment against COVID, but as a cure-all for almost every disease—from cancer and depression, to autism and ovarian cysts—believing that every disease is caused by a parasite that is removed from the body by ivermectin, just as animals are given the drug to treat parasitic worms like tapeworm. Lemoi also formulated an ivermectin regimen for children, and numerous members of the group reported that they were using it. This week alone one member wrote that she had established another group for “parents of children on the spectrum, cerebral palsy, pans/panda, downs etc.,” who are using the Lemoi’s recommended children’s dosage. When some members of the group blamed Lemoi’s death on ivermectin, they were criticized in the Telegram channel; their fellow group members claimed they were spreading misinformation. “No one can convince me that he died because of ivermectin,” one member wrote this week. “He ultimately died because of our failed western medicine which only cares about profits and not the cure.” Despite Lemoi’s death, administrators said this week the Telegram channel would live on, and the group is attracting new members who continue to take ivermectin despite suffering serious side effects. “I am very new to this... I’ve been on Bimectin paste for 20 days,” one new member wrote on Friday morning, explaining that he too was suffering from Lyme disease. “I have severe chest pain. Costochondritis symptoms. Air hunger, internal tremors, brain fog, headaches on the back of my head, anxiety, depression, doom and gloominess.” https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3mb89/ivermectin-danny-lemoi-death?utm_source=vice_facebook&utm_medium=social

Suuuuuuurrrrrrrre.

Yup. The Dems didn't even put anyone up against him.

Oh, I will! No sense in going if I can't.

My neighbour just came back from Vancouver 2 weeks ago. He tested positive 2 days after his return. Masked on the way, but didn't on the way back.

We're flying to Vancouver at the end of the month. I think the air travel will doom me.

Still never had it. 5 X vaxxed. If you see a white man in an indoor public space with a mask on, that'll probably be me.

There was some commentary that this whole Trudeau/China thing might backfire on the Conservatives: