You Will Be Surprised at Who is the Best Country to Handle the Coronavirus

The video below on the link is dated back to May 30th but even today they have had only 370 cases and still no deaths. Yes that is right zero deaths.

In so doing they pretty much took a big hit economically but only after a couple of months the kids were back to school and everything reopened. All but their hotels because they are just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

Everyone is wearing a mask but there is not too much physical distancing as you will notice by the traffic. This country borders with China where it all began but they were so fast getting on top of this they were already putting measures in place before the World Health Organization even declared it a pandemic.

The two big things is they were ready with the government quickly putting into effect lockdowns and the citizens all got on board. None of this civil rights stuff but as you will see it is not a democratic country like we have over here where people think for themselves only and screw the other one.

We could have done better here in Canada. We had advanced warning. There was no plan. Basically we are still shut down because we are still not ready to open. Not enough PPEs or maybe we want to get it to zero new cases before we reopen fully.

This country medically wise has a lot less than we do but they kicked it's butt!

Anyway have a look at this video and get your answer.


Click to Find Out 

Either a Universal Basic Income or Raise the Minimum Wage, Which One?

An Exhaustive Pros and Cons Look at a Universal Basic Income

Okay I have talked about this before on this blog about UBI. This has been an idea that has been tossed about for a longer time than I thought before looking into and reading this informative editorial look from the Globe and Mail newspaper, Canada's leading newspaper in my opinion.

As I was talking about and using the example of part time work and low income paying jobs in yesterday's post having a small business owner restaurant having trouble getting anyone to work for them over collecting the CERB, it brings home how bad things are out there. They are getting worse and it is just the pandemic that has finally highlighted it.

According to Statscan in 2018 if you worked 30 hours a week that is full time hours. In many businesses they do not want to work you for 30 hours or else they may have to add benefits or any perk you may be entitled to for working full time with them.

Now like I said yesterday it is not the small business owner's fault he cannot employ you for 30 hours a week. There may not be enough work and so the operator has to spread the hours among his hired staff or else they would leave. The small business owner usually is working under tight margins all the time or business is seasonal or variable depending on such things as weather for outdoor events etc.. It is mind bending how difficult it is to predict business next week let alone forecast a year in advance for a lot of operators.

With that in mind we could not possibly think of raising the minimum wage although that would be the easiest thing to do. Throw in a pandemic and for most it would be impossible to survive suffering another expense on their crippled revenue especially when looking ahead getting back to normal may take years not weeks or months.

Now in 2018 part time workers numbered 20% which is  working less than 30 hours a week. That number will no doubt rise as predicted when unemployment will remain in the double digits well into next year. Employers are looking even at their full time staff and streamlining operations asking people to be furloughed or take an early retirement. Some will not be able to survive if this is the case. Meaning that many people were living paycheck  to paycheck before the pandemic. Now the companies don't care about your monthly payments do they? The federal deficit has gone over a trillion dollars so which way do you think your taxes will go. Inflation is skewed so it doesn't look too bad each month. It is 2% target but every month there is always a caveat like the price of shoes dropped 5% but gas went up 8% so if you left out the gas our inflation is right on. I don't know about you but I never go shopping for shoes on a weekly basis but I fill up the car of gas weekly and I do eat! The new normal is now the employer knows the employee can now work from home during this pandemic. So they say stay at home but oh by the way you do not need gas for your car now so you have to take a pay cut. I have heard of that happening. With the workload getting heavier who has time for anything like looking for a balance in life. Isn't your mental health and physical well being important too.

Back in the 70's they said the advent of the computer will free up people's time. Did it?

These are different times right now. There has to be huge changes that need to take place or we are heading for an Armageddon. The direction we go now will make our country more livable and sustainable if we make the right courageous moves.

The only thing that scares me about change are the politicians need to come together on this one. They have a habit of not doing it. Until they do something many people will call for action in increasing numbers.

Read the article and see what you think about UBI.

Covid 19 and Sports Leagues - Shut Them Down!

On March 13th when Covid_19 made it's appearance in the NBA and Rudy Gobert tested positive a  torrent of players in every professional sports league followed suit and immediately all the leagues shut down. Well if I remember correctly it took a few days before major league baseball camps packed it in but they had to shut it down as well.

I must say the Toronto Maple Leafs were in a battle and had a game that night against Nashville and a couple of days later in Boston against those pesky Bruins. Without a doubt I was looking forward to it.

So I thought we got this and will contain the spread of this virus quickly then  we should all be back shortly watching hockey or any other sport we choose. After all we had other countries to learn from that already had the spread contained. Some simple rules to follow. Stay two meters distance away from everyone and self isolate as much as you can at home. Schools emptied so everyone was home.

This should end in a couple of weeks, right?

Now we are nearly into July and the same thing is happening again. The leagues are all saying now they are coming back because the fans demand it. They want to see sports again. I have not heard anyone I know mention sports since five days after all the leagues shut down. You'd think by the sport talk shows and reporters that everyone is dying to see a game on television.

Now if this shutdown lasted 2 weeks to a month maximum I think no problem we could have lived through this without facing too much hardship and we would be salivating to pick up where we left off. The truth is this has gone too long. They all should have just cancelled the season and playoffs right there and then and I know I am not the only one who feels this.

Proof in point is everyday since around April all the commissioners have talked about resuming play. They think as do the players, although I am not so sure about that because all they care about is their safety, is the public is waiting on their bended knees for them to resume play.

Let me make this perfectly care, NO ONE CARES!! That is right no one cares. In case these leagues do not know their main fan base is crippled by this pandemic. Jobs lost, income gone, mortgage in arrears, credit card debt piling up, school next year in doubt as to how it will all work out. Relatives and people getting sick or dying. Let me repeat what I said, NO ONE CARES!

What really sickened me was watching Gary Bettman the NHL commissioner come on television to make this grand announcement about phase 1,2 and 3 on how they plan on finishing the playoffs in two hub cities. Not saying it was for money, television rights, or just plain greed but because the fans demanded it. What a crock of you know what! Since this shutdown I have not met or talked to anyone who misses sports. Nobody!

Why you ask is because we are all wondering what next week is going to look like never mind watching some millionaires play in front of empty arenas and stadiums. Hockey in July forget about it.

Now all the hub cities for hockey can stay in the States for all I care. Choose Las Vegas and whoever else probably a Republican senator state where the cases are out of control. The NBA choosing Disney World in Florida. Well good luck with that although they have an idiot for a governor. Disneyland today delayed their opening in California. There will be cases with the NBA players for sure in Florida. The baseball and their plan for restarting is a disaster and they have so many cases already they should just say it and shut down. The NFL just cancelled their Hall of Fame game scheduled August 6th.

Today all I have heard from American doctors is, We are the greatest country in the world and I cannot believe we have screwed this up. Here is a heads up, if you were the greatest country in the world you would not have screwed up!

I have had enough. Keep the border closed and do not let  any of these leagues play one game here.

Better yet shut it down and plan to start training camps maybe in September. Give it a rest and do not think you are resuming play for the fans. It is totally non-sensical.

My prediction is if any of these leagues start up there will be infections and teams will probably win unfairly. If any one of these athletes get sick or worse dies it will not be Covid that killed them it will just be the greed and ego of the owners and leadership.

Free us from your babble and stay safe and shut it down. It is ridiculous!