World Health Organization Says for the Time Being AZ Vaccine Benefits Outweigh the Risks

WHO statement on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine safety signals

17 March 2021 Statement Reading time: Less than a minute (220 words)العربية 中文 Français Русский Español Português

Some countries in the European Union have temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as a precautionary measure based on reports of rare blood coagulation disorders in persons who had received the vaccine. Other countries in the EU – having considered the same information – have decided to continue using the vaccine in their immunization programmes.

Vaccination against COVID-19 will not reduce illness or deaths from other causes. Thromboembolic events are known to occur frequently. Venous thromboembolism is the third most common cardiovascular disease globally.

In extensive vaccination campaigns, it is routine for countries to signal potential adverse events following immunization. This does not necessarily mean that the events are linked to vaccination itself, but it is good practice to investigate them. It also shows that the surveillance system works and that effective controls are in place.

WHO is in regular contact with the European Medicines Agency and regulators around the world for the latest information on COVID-19 vaccine safety. The WHO COVID-19 Subcommittee of the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety is carefully assessing the latest available safety data for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Once that review is completed, WHO will immediately communicate the findings to the public.

At this time, WHO considers that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue.

“Mutantism on the March”: Chapter 25 “The Columbian Manifesto”

“What Should Be Done ? ”

We, the inhabitants of the Columbian Coast, are facing an international menace which threatens our very mode of life and indeed our physical survival. 4 N, a huge Yankee corporation, has announced plans of construction for several large cocaine factories. The output of these factories will be shipped to the USA in the form of finished products. This will leave us without cocaine supplies. Our incomes will plummet and, in some instances, will cease as the gringos experiment with cannabis supplies for the manufacture of racoon resistant garbage bags.

4 N has already begun construction of its monstrous fabrication facilities with the willing assistance of our corrupt central government who have expropriated numerous small peasant landholdings. Yet the large landholders so tied to Bogota’s junta remain undisturbed. You local small landowners have been tilling your property for generations. If your land is expropriated you may then be “lucky” to toil for gringo bosses. Your government has sold you out and will create an enclave of destitution. Stand up and combat this deadly threat. Oppose the construction of these gringo factories. Your Bogotian government will not defend your rights as they have been bribed by the gringos . It will be and must be a fight for our survival.

Already the gringos and their bribed Columbian forces have killed hundreds.

If you have guns oil them well. Have courage.

Common interest will vanquish vested interests.

Harass and kill the Yankee pigs and their lackies.

End foreign domination. Oust Liquita.

JOIN THE STRUGGLE.

“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 25 “The Columbian Manifesto”

“What Should Be Done ? ”

Already the gringos and their bribed Columbian forces have killed hundreds.

If you have guns oil them well. Have courage.

Common interest will vanquish vested interests.

Harass and kill the Yankee pigs and their lackies.

End foreign domination. Oust Liquita.

JOIN THE STRUGGLE.

10 Steps We Can Take to Never Have a Year Like 2020: #4 Get Quebec Businesses Online

Again the Quebec magazine L’actualitê has an interesting feature article in its April edition dealing with COVID-19 and translated it means what are the steps we can take to ensure we don’t have a year like 2020?

The fourth step is to get more businesses online.

Many businesses in Quebec have now understood getting online to sell products is a strong potential market to increase revenues.

One of the founders of LOOP a company that focuses on juices made from locally grown sources, David Côté, says in three weeks they launched their commerce platform on Shopify. Online sales totally surpassed their expectations.

In March 2020 55% of Quebecois made purchases on the Web and a year earlier it was 43%. For the remainder of 2020 Canadians spent around $4 billion online which was an increase of 11% for the same period in 2019.

Amazon was a huge beneficiary of these online purchases with average increases of 37% globally in each quarter of 2020. In Quebec Amazon added four new centres in which included a sorting centre and three distribution centres creating a thousand new jobs in Quebec.

Drastic action is required as the Federation of Independent Businesses in Canada says that one in three small businesses in Canada will not survive the pandemic.

In April of 2020 the Quebec government launched the “Blue Basket” to promote local online purchases but did not include an ability to make actual purchases an anomaly that should be corrected in the fall of 2021.

If you are going to promote your presence online Jean-François Renaud co-founder of Adviso that advises companies going online notes that delivery is an important element not necessarily about its promptness but its accuracy as consumers appreciate knowing a delivery date.

Renaud says the key is to offer a pleasant purchasing experience online.

A Dirty Little Secret: Greece’s Prison Camps for Women During the Greek Civil War (1946-1949)

I am somewhat tuned in to the American “Pappas Post” which attempts to keep readers apprised of Greek culture to readers in North America so that it is not forgotten.

I have read countless articles about the heroic Greek resistance to Nazi occupation in 1941. The resistance was ferocious and the Greeks paid a very heavy price for resistance. Mass executions and retributions so the last thing I expected was a dirty little secret still not exposed and open for healing in Greece.

The documentary “Beneath the Olive Tree” (2020) directed by Stavroula Toska opens some nasty Greek cultural history largely swept under the carpet by the Greek educational bureaucracy about the Greek Civil War which was fought between 1946-49.

I did not have much of a background in this other than seeing the grenade wounds to his legs suffered by my father-in-law during his participation in the Greek Civil War.

However this description is misleading. I thought the Civil War was waged against Greek Communists but that is not the case.

The Greeks developed a mass resistance movement against the German occupiers that totalled over two million people by the time Greece was liberated from the German occupation in October of 1944. The resistance front was known as the EAM with its military component known as ELAS. The Greek communists were popular and the new Greek government under Premier Papandreou included EAM in his coalition government which was unpalatable to Churchill who demanded ELAS disarm which they did despite a bloody demonstration in Athens where 250,000 protested Churchill’s demands.

Papandreou had to resign and ELAS surrendered its weapons and yet those brave fighters in the resistance were perceived as subversives yet collaborators with the Germans were left untouched and allowed to hold governmental positions. It seemed as those who resisted against the Germans were suddenly communists or subversives not to be trusted.

The Greek government then required all citizens to sign a declaration of repentance pledging loyalty to the government and denouncing communism and leftist movements. This was very convenient and responsive to British and American interests of crushing communism in the emerging Cold War. But it totally denigrated the resistance movement fighting German occupation.

Greeks who refused to sign the declaration of repentance were imprisoned, exiled, or executed. A very dirty and unpatriotic response to Churchill’s anger. So prison camps were established for those who refused to sign the declaration. The purge that followed extended beyond actual resistance members to family members associated with resistance members.

This documentary tells the story from the perspective of Greek-American director Stavroula Toska whose grandmother was one of the many women who were sent to these prison camps for refusing to sign the denunciation. Her grandmother refused to talk about the ordeal so Stavroula flew to Greece to discover the women imprisoned in the island of Trikeri who wrote journals secretly and then one day buried them beneath an olive tree. One of the survivors stated we were deprived of our families, our studies, hopes and dreams. A disassembled camera was smuggled into the camp so there are photos as well. The journals were discovered and published unedited in Greece.

I will let you hear their stories which are not pleasant. However knowing the fierce resistance against the German occupation and the heavy burden of German revenge I must admit I find myself angry that those who helped liberate Greece were treated as enemies. Not only that in the Greek history curriculum in Greek schools there is no mention of the Greek Civil War perhaps because it is so embarrassing politically.

As we hear the former PM of Greece Alexis Tsipras (2015-19) say the history of the Greek Civil War was written by those that won it. The people who fought for the liberation of Greece were punished for it. The people who won the Civil War were those who collaborated with the Nazis. Our children must learn this part of Greek history. We must learn our lessons so we can avoid the mistakes that lead to tragedy says Tsipras.

The 76 minute film is virtually available at the Hellenic Film Society USA’s websitehttps://hellenicfilmusa.org/ and runs from March 19-28^th. It was made in 2020 and is narrated by Olympia Dukakis and director Toska. A saddening film of betrayal and the bestiality of politics.

Surfing The Third Wave in Ontario with a An Excellent Cabernet Franc

It seems with every gain there is a fallback with COVID. I suspect as everyone is so hyped with the various COVID vaccines perhaps a new vaccine resistant strain will emerge and we’ll be tossed on our asses again. So I suppose we sit tight and wait. Hopefully the news will be good and persistently so.

So why not surf the wave the best we can.

We try a Red Tractor 2017 Cabernet Franc from Creekside Estate Winery in Niagara.

Cabernet Franc is perhaps Ontario’s consistently high-quality red grape.

It has a black cherry colour that at times, especially when pouring, almost has a purple tinge to it. It looks like a high-test Cabernet Franc.

On the nose that traditional Ontario Cabernet Franc black cherry, chocolate covered cherry but some rather unexpected high-toned blueberry and fresh picked Ontario raspberries. Rather delightful!

Now on the palate. I am again surprised by its moderate tannins as most Cabernet Franc’s I have tried from Ontario have less tannic composition. But for me this makes the wine more food worthy with its “traction” and perhaps that is why it is called Red Tractor? It has a solid foundation of black cherry with underpinnings of blueberry, cranberry and rhubarb pie.

This wine has character and is full bodied and more expressive of its identity than most Ontario Cabernet Francs. A medium finish. A top-notch Cabernet Franc that will surf right into 2025.

As for food matching a great beef barbeque wine. For vegheads it might do well with a vegetarian chile with organic sweet potatoes from California.

Assuming you are surfing now this wine takes you under the curl of a huge wave. Ah time for that 1959 Gidget movie!

(Red Tractor 2017 Cabernet Franc, VQA Four Mile Creek, Creekside Estate Winery Jordan, Ontario, $25, LCBO # 14429, 750 mL,14%, Robert K. Stephen a little birdie told me so Rating 93/100).

Jon Kabat-Zinn’s “Full Catastrophe Living”: Trust

“It is impossible to become like somebody else. Your only hope is to become more fully yourself. This is the reason for practicing meditation in the first place. Teachers, books, CD’s and apps can only be guides and offer signposts and suggestions. It is important to be open and receptive to what you can learn from other sources, but ultimately you still have to live your own life, every moment of it. In practicing mindfulness, you are practicing responsibility for being yourself and learning to listen to and trust in your own being. The more you cultivate trust in yourself, the easier you will find it will be to trust other people more and see their basic goodness as well.”

“Mutantism on the March”: Chapter 24 “Squid, Columbia and Cocaine”

Indeed, odd activities were rife on the Columbian Coast. The sky was teeming with helicopters and small planes. Survey crews were busy at work in the jungle scribbling out computations and hunched over their laptops. Rumour had it that a large American company was laying grandiose plans for the construction of a huge industrial plant. There were several dozen Yankee executives camping out in the jungle escorted by a squad of soldiers the junta had sent after having received bribes from the Yankees.

The local subsistence cannabis farmers were seeing their precious crop trampled by all the soldiers and Yankee executives. Several farmers had been evicted from their lands “in the national interest” said the local governor. Compensation payments they were receiving were ludicrously low as after all the local governor needed a cut! Squid had seen this process in play several times and knew it could only deteriorate. It was time to fight which was preferable to begging in Bogotá.

The locals were becoming increasingly angry voicing their opposition to this secret gringo project. Small demonstrations escalated into riots. One evening 6 American executives were gunned down in a bordello. The oh so far away central government in Bogotá were furious and declared martial law for the province. No doubt this was because the American government had threatened to send in the Marines “to protect the Yankee executives and the American way of life”. Serious steps were taken to stabilize the area.

Santa had yet to arrive but Squid managed the situation the best he could bolstered by ardent student Marxists. If only their mothers and father in Bogota knew what they were doing.

With the help of the students he unearthed some startling facts about why there were so many gringo businessmen around. The 4N Company had discovered that cocaine fortified scotch tape a hundred-fold and could also be used in their Mr. Mean cleaning solutions. Furthermore they were experimenting with marijuana in the hope that it would make racoon proof garbage bags. If these projects continued the profitable narcotic market could be destroyed putting thousands of subsistence farmers out of business.

The Yankee executive plans were therefore cruel but when had economic development ever benefitted the masses? Large scale industry would disrupt a way of life and cause havoc and misery for so many already living on the edge. The central government claimed that hundreds of jobs would be created but that was a lie. The plant was to be high tech and robotic and few jobs would be created. It was not that Squid was anti-industrial, he just wanted it controlled by the locals and not by some profit maniacs in Minnesota. A fight was brewing. The fight was against the corrupt military and the Yankee businessmen. Some of the Columbian generals believed that since they sipped bourbon the nation should have Schlitz rammed down their throats.

One could not deny there was a great demand for Columbia narcotics in the developed world. The trade had enriched a great many Columbians to the point that not even the central government had the power to control them and in any cases their bribes made many a general wealthy! On the Colombian coast smuggler’s co-operatives with receiving co-ops in the United States were displacing the great power of the Colombian drug lords and their American based gangs. The profits earned by the co-ops were used to improve the health of the poor in both the United States and in Colombia.

There was no sense in arguing with Pepe Liquita the President of Columbia as he was a large shareholder in 4N and a beneficiary of their bribes. Squid thought about the death and destruction caused to the poor and peasants in the English Industrial Revolution. Would it happen in Colombia?

How many knew the true social and economic impact of the 4N master plan. Julio, one of Squid’s students, advised perhaps pamphlets were in order to inform the peasants of the true state of affairs. Additionally local storytellers were enlisted to spread the word. The first pamphlet was short and to the point but it lacked the polish of government publications prepared by Madison Avenue public relations firms. The first pamphlet was entitled “What idiocy and what should be done”.

WHO backs AZ Vaccine!

WHO statement on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine safety signals

17 March 2021 Statement Reading time: Less than a minute (220 words)العربية 中文 Français Русский Español Português

At this time, WHO considers that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue.

“The Mole Agent”: Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 93rd Academy Awards

I see so many great films every year that are superb films but none ever make it to the Academy Awards. It is a bit like wine where you see on the label all sorts of awards and medals. Rarely does it translate into what I would call a gold medal wine. In these wine competitions you pay your fees to have judges with overloaded and burnt-out palates testing and scoring your wines. I have tried many Spanish, Portuguese, Greek and Italian wines you will never see on the shelves in Ontario but whup ass over the hyped “gold medalled darlings”!

But I will give you the skinny on “The Mole Agent”. It is one of those documentaries that seamlessly slides into the film category. After watching it I am still asking, “Are you sure this is a documentary?”

In a sense it is a feel good and light movie as far as the plot goes but given the ravages of COVID in long term care facilities perhaps it is a bittersweet movie.

Sergio is a “mole” or spy if you prefer. Sergio works as a senior for a Chilean private detective agency and is planted in a senior’s residence to report as to whether the client’s mother, Sonia Perez, is beaten, abused and robbed. Sergio has a three-month assignment.

But the seniors are well taken care of by the staff but most feel abandoned by their families. Some are bitter and some simply accept it but the abandonment by the family is a sort of elder abuse. One elderly lady laments that she did everything for her son and wife and her grandchildren but when she became sick she was no longer of use to them.

Actually Sergio finds that Sonia is chronically anti-social but otherwise dong quite well. Sergio does discover a thief but we are not left with any facts she has stolen Sonia’s property.

Sergio notes that Sonia’s daughter expresses great concern about her well being but when the rubber hits the road she has never taken the time to visit her mother.

Sergio is a kind soul and becomes loved by all the residents and is thrown a big 84^th birthday party.

The residents are portraying themselves and do the best they can to live out their last days with a sense of camaraderie. Sergio’s final report is that the residents are lonely and feel abandoned and that loneliness is the worst thing about this place. Sonia is receiving good care. Sergio does not understand the purpose of his investigation and suggests the daughter should face her own fault for not even caring enough to visit her mother.

As a part time job during my university days I worked in a long term care facility in Montreal and the memory of so many elderly and sick people pops up in my mind. I gave them the best care I could and thy were grateful. They were well taken care off by the staff and management was on its toes. Being so busy I never really had the chance that Sergio did to probe deeply. But so many sick and twisted people. Beware my dear readers this could be you. Would your loved one’s leave you behind?

Chilean director Maite Alberdi has the last word, “It’s a honour to have been among such an extraordinary range of remarkable films on the shortlist and we are truly grateful to the Academy and to the Documentary Branch. For a Latin American female led team, this type of dream seems impossible, but this year has taught us to see life from a different angle. This nomination signifies to every elder that the world still sees them and values them and helps us remember that it’s not just important to increase life expectancy, but the desire to live. This year, after so many losses, we took a look at our seniors again and understand that they were living in a pandemic prior to COVID- the “pandemic of loneliness”- and we are proud to see how “The Mole Agent” has helped families reconnect with their elders.”

According to the official website for the film themoleagentfilm.com the documentary is streaming in the USA, Great Britain and Chile. Now as we move closer to the Academy Awards streaming may be available in Canada but the documentary is available at DVD sellers in Canada such as Amazon. In Spanish with English subtitles.