Alberta
My endless date with self-isolation has led to some sobering realizations
My endless date with self-isolation has led to some sobering realizations.
For my friends and family who haven’t seen me all week, you can watch me on CTV Two’s Alberta Primetime. Here is a link to a segment we taped Friday, March 13th. My interview appears at about the 8 minute mark. I’d like to thank the station for having me on to talk about my experience.
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It’s now day 10 of my self-isolation. What have I learned? Well, a few things, some about myself.
I didn’t wash my hands often enough or with enough rigor. I do now. And I will continue to be more diligent. It’s an essential habit for the overall good of the community at large. And I’ve learned that good old soap and warm water are your best bet. There are small bits of fat that hold this virus together and soap breaks down fat.
Oh, and clean your phone. Just think about how disgusting that device really is. You leave it on the counter at your local bar. You hand it to your drunken friend at the club to co-obsess over your newsest Tinder crush. And guys, admit it, you’ve left it on the top of the urinal while doing your business. Don’t tell me you haven’t. A cursory search on google tells me that disinfectant wipes are safe to use. So wash your device. And your phone… (that’s humour – I’m killin’ myself – you have to entertain yourself in isolation).
I’ve learned that monkeys in Thailand depend on food from tourists for survival and am reminded of Hurricane Katrina and thinking at the time that we’re all savages after a few days without food, water, and bananas. Like that old Joke “… Katrina was a shitshow … don’t be a Katrina…” Hmmm … best not to think about that.
Then I got this text from a friend who was picking up Advil and Alcohol at Costco.
Being early in the curve of self-isolators in our region, I’ve been able to sit back and watch things develop. In my original artice (below), I mentioned I had destroyed 2 rims on my car when I crashed in to a massive pothole on Hwy 43 west of Edmonton on March 2nd (self-isolation day minus 1). One March 3rd, I took my car to a shop for repairs and rented a car for a few days. Later that day I was asked to self-isolate. Yesterday, having not driven the car since Monday, I decided to return it. I called the rental agency, told them my story, and knew that this would create a problem. The polite man on the other end told me about the new directions they had just received from head office and that he would call back.
His superior called within the hour. Went through my scenario with her. I was informed that their new policy dictates that I would need to be tested and if negative, then I could return the car. Otherwise, I would have to keep it and pay the commensurate costs until March 19th, the day after my self-isolation is finished. When I told her that I would NOT be going for a test and taxing the health care system having been told explicity by AHS that I did not need a test unless displaying symptoms such as fever and cough. I’ve displayed no symptoms. I said that would leave me no choice but to return the car to them and simply bring the keys into the office.
This led supervisor #1 to place a call to supervisor #2. A better plan emerged. I keep the car. They don’t charge me any further. I send a photo of the odometer taken with my freshly disinfected phone, and then I can prove that I didn’t drive the car in the ensuing days.
Being early in the curve, it’s easy to see the challenges for all business trying to cope with what is rapidly becoming a socio-economic crisis of a proportion we have never experienced.
He should take some lessons from PGA Commissioner Tim Monahan about how to communicate.
I’ve had an opportunity to watch alot of TV. Like alot! Like Wednesday evening when I watched President Trump sniffle his way through the worst presidential address ever made, and that’s saying alot considering some of his earlier attempts. It was complete with inaccurate information (read from a teleprompter, meaning someone actually wrote that script with misinformation in it). The misinformation was so bad that it had to be corrected immediately because it completely mis-stated important elements about the European travel ban – I mean seriously, WTF. Who’s wrote the script for the President? I understand how mistakes happen, but NOT on the most important piece of presidential script of our life time.
Our world is changing in front of our eyes. We have not seen a wholesale shutdown like this before.
Now this morning (Friday), the President has declared a national emergency. It was just last week that he said the US was testing bigly and that there were only 15 cases and that they were strongly working with some really bright people and should have it pretty much eliminated really soon. So what’s up there … lying? Or misleading people? Maybe same thing? Or worse yet, he didn’t know what’s to come? Surely that can’t be possible. It’s the United States we are talking about. The resources at his disposal are immense, notwithstanding the budget slashing at the CDC and the elimination of science in the daily American diet.
But what if he didn’t know? Well, then we’re all gonna die sooner than we’d like.
Keep in mind it was March 4th that he said he had a “hunch” that the WHO’s death rate of 3.4% was a “a false number”. He just said today that “no nation in the world is more prepared…”. So which is it? If they’re well prepared, then why would Bigly be talking about a “hunch” just a week ago. As someone living the the attic of the USA, I’m not comforted by his ability to capture the trust of his country. And now he’s blaming people for the laws that are in place that delayed the testing process that just last week he didn’t seem to have any idea would be needed. This has me riled up more than the other 11,000 recorded lies attributed to this man.
He should take some lessons from PGA Commissioner Tim Monahan about how to communicate. I learned when he held a news conference yesterday that perhaps the best and smartest work for the PGA. #timmonahanforpresident.
Get used to working from home. I sent this earlier to my brother, an Air Canada pilot who just flew to New Delhi. With each flight I’m sure he wonders if it’s a one way or if he’ll get back in the country. Hopefully it’s more organized than that, but in a situation as fluid as this, it’s hard to say with certainty.
Our world is changing in front of our eyes. We have not seen a wholesale shutdown like this before. Manitoba has announced they will close all of their schools effective March 23rd. I bet that gets moved up given that schools in Ohio are closing this coming Monday. And Washington State is closing schools until April 24th.
With all of this going on, you’d be forgiven to have missed the fact that the United States on Thursday evening launched a series of airstrikes in Iraq against an Iranian-backed militia group suspected of firing an earlier rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops.
And the Canadian Military is preparing for potential aggression from one of the world’s bad actors. Speaking of viruses, what has the Rocket Man been up to lately? Probably wondering how to take advantage of a weakened world order.
A friend just called me. I picked up my clean phone and put it to my ear. “One of my bosses is not feeling well. They have a fever and are coughing”. Out my window, a school bus just went by. I wonder if it’s the last one I’ll see for a few months? I said in my first article that I’m lucky to be able to easily self-isolate given my work. Now I can honestly say that I’m happy to be self-isolating. Thanks to my friends and family who have kept me in good food and great humour over the past week.
Be nice to one another. We’re all in this together. And it sounds like it’s going to go on for a long time. Estimates are suggesting that it could be months or even a year or more that we live with this virus.
Below is my first article on this subject, written Monday, March 9th.
LISTEN: My date with self-isolation amid the Covid 19 scare – J’Lyn Nye Interview
Alberta
Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest
From LifeSiteNews
Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.
An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.
On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.
“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.
Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.
“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”
After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.
Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.
He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.
In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”
However, defence lawyer Sarah Miller pointed out that that Pawlowski’s sermon was protected under freedom of speech, an argument that Krinke quickly dismissed.
“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.
Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.
Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.
The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.
Alberta
Heavy-duty truckers welcome new ‘natural gas highway’ in Alberta
Clean Energy Fuels CEO Andrew Littlefair, Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose, and Mullen Group chairman Murray Mullen attend the opening of a new Clean Energy/Tourmaline compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelling station in Calgary on Oct. 22, 2024. Photo courtesy Tourmaline
From the Canadian Energy Centre
New compressed natural gas fueling stations in Grande Prairie and Calgary join new stop in Edmonton
Heavy-duty truckers hauling everything from restaurant supplies to specialized oilfield services along one of Western Canada’s busiest corridors now have more access to a fuel that can help reduce emissions and save costs.
Two new fuelling stations serving compressed natural gas (CNG) rather than diesel in Grande Prairie and Calgary, along with a stop that opened in Edmonton last year, create the first phase of what proponents call a “natural gas highway”.
“Compressed natural gas is viable, it’s competitive and it’s good for the environment,” said Murray Mullen, chair of Mullen Group, which operates more than 4,300 trucks and thousands of pieces of equipment supporting Western Canada’s energy industry.
Right now, the company is running 19 CNG units and plans to deploy another 15 as they become available.
“They’re running the highways right now and they’re performing exceptionally well,” Mullen said on Oct. 22 during the ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the new station on the northern edge of Calgary along Highway 2.
“Our people love them, our customers love them and I think it’s going to be the way for the future to be honest,” he said.
Heavy-duty trucks at Tourmaline and Clean Energy’s new Calgary compressed natural gas fuelling station. Photo courtesy Tourmaline
According to Natural Resources Canada, natural gas burns more cleanly than gasoline or diesel fuel, producing fewer toxic pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
The two new CNG stops are part of a $70 million partnership announced last year between major Canadian natural gas producer Tourmaline and California-based Clean Energy Fuels.
Their deal would see up to 20 new CNG stations built in Western Canada over the next five years, daily filling up to 3,000 natural gas-fueled trucks.
One of North America’s biggest trucking suppliers to businesses including McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Subway and Popeye’s says the new stations will help as it expands its fleet of CNG-powered vehicles across Canada.
Amy Senter, global vice-president of sustainability with Illinois-based Martin Brower, said in a statement that using more CNG is critical to the company achieving its emissions reduction targets.
For Tourmaline, delivering CNG to heavy-duty truckers builds on its multi-year program to displace diesel in its operations, primarily by switching drilling equipment to run on natural gas.
Between 2018 and 2022, the company displaced the equivalent of 36 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of diesel that didn’t get used, or the equivalent emissions of about 58,000 passenger vehicles.
Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose speaks to reporters during the opening of a new Tourmaline/Clean Energy compressed natural gas fuelling station in Calgary on Oct. 22, 2024. Photo courtesy Tourmaline
Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose noted that the trucking sector switching fuel from diesel to natural gas is gaining momentum, notably in Asia.
A “small but growing” share of China’s trucking fleet moving to natural gas helped drive an 11 percent reduction in overall diesel consumption this June compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“China’s talking about 30 percent of the trucks sold going forward are to be CNG trucks, and it’s all about reducing emissions,” Rose said.
“It’s one global atmosphere. We’re going to reduce them here; they’re going to reduce them there and everybody’s a net winner.”
Switching from diesel to CNG is “extremely cost competitive” for trucking fleets, said Clean Energy CEO Andrew Littlefair.
“It will really move the big rigs that we need in Western Canada for the long distance and heavy loads,” he said.
Tourmaline and Clean Energy aim to have seven CNG fuelling stations operating by the end of 2025. Construction is set to begin in Kamloops, B.C., followed by Fort McMurray and Fort St. John.
“You’ll have that Western Canadian corridor, and then we’ll grow it from there,” Littlefair said.
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