BC drops vaccine requirements for public servants

The Canadian Press is reporting that "British Columbia is rescinding its policy requiring provincial public servants to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as it announces a spring booster program that will focus on the elderly and vulnerable." Finally!!! I told you that was a realistic expectation after bringing Deena Hinshaw on board.

I had to go into the hospital recently for a scheduled medical procedure. The admitting nurse asked me the million admission questions. Do you have this? Have you ever had that? After answering all the questions she finally asked what is your vaccination status and I just froze. She could sense my hesitation. I said I have all my vaccinations except for Covid. She said that's OK. That's your choice and I breathed a sigh of relief. Up until now it wasn't her coworkers choice.

The vaccine requirement at the US border finally ends May 11th. Do the math here. Florida and Texas got rid of masks and mandates and the sky didn't fall. That forced everyone else to follow suit. November 17th the Republicans took control of the House, then they voted to lift the vaccine requirement at the border. We all know who to thank. "The vote was 227 to 201 with seven Democrats joining Republicans. No Republicans voted against the bill."

Meanwhile back on the ranch, BC Health Officials are not advising the spring booster for the general population because it does more harm than good. Spring booster. Who the hell gets a flu shot in the spring? Omicron was less severe than the seasonal flu. When viruses mutate they get weaker not stronger. There is no such thing as asystematic transmission. If you don't have symptoms, you don't have the virus even if the bogus PCR test said you did. You need symptoms AND a positive test for it to be considered a case. During the pandemic overall death rates did not rise. They didn't start to rise until after the vaccine roll out. Lest we forget.

Women Jailed for their beliefs in Communist China

The Falun Dafa Information Center sent out a heart wrenching letter from former prisoner Crystal Chen. It states that "China is home to the largest population of political and religious prisoners in the world. From ethnic Uyghurs and Tibetans, to protesters and Falun Gong practitioners, China’s police stations, jails, and other detention facilities are filled with hundreds of thousands—or more—people who have been deprived of their freedom simply because of what they said, what they believe, or who they are. One underappreciated fact is that many of these prisoners are women."

"Some are elderly grandmothers or parents of teenagers. Others are young women at the prime of their life—in their 20s or 30s—whose careers have been brutally interrupted by the Chinese Communist Party’s repression. Many have small children at home. In custody, they suffer humiliation, physical torture, and sexual abuse at the hands of police, guards, and even other prisoners. I should know, I was one of them. I was 27 years old and working as an assistant to a corporate executive in southern China when I became an enemy of the state."

"When I was held at a detention center in Hebei Province, guards handcuffed me to a radiator pipe with my toes barely touching the ground and left me there for three days. A police chief groped my body while I was hung from the pipe. At another detention center, a guard threatened to send me to a different location, where I would be raped."

"I was thankfully spared that horror, but other women were not, subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of police. I saw many women tortured in horrible ways, only because they practiced Falun Gong. My mother was shocked with electric batons in her armpits and inner thighs until she fainted. Guards poured water on her body to make the shocks more intense. She could smell her own skin burning and was left with permanent scars."

"The worst torture I experienced was at a detention center in Guangzhou. When I refused to stop practicing Falun Gong, the director brought four male guards into my cell. They pinned me to the concrete floor and began force-feeding me an all-salt mixture, which could kill me. I was later sentenced to two years in a labor camp without even a trial."

"In 2004, I decided to escape to Thailand through Burma. It was a harrowing journey. But each step of the way, sympathetic strangers helped me survive. One young man hid me in his boat to avoid Burmese soldiers, and then led me through the jungle. Without his and others’ help, I never would have made it to Thailand, and eventually America."

"I am so overwhelmingly grateful for the kindness shown to me by these strangers and by all the people who helped me to settle in America. It has made me feel that despite the rights abuses I suffered in China, there is hope in our shared humanity."

"On International Women’s Day, we mustn’t forget the women across China who are still sitting in jails and detention centers simply because they tried to peacefully exercise basic rights. Their lives are at risk. Since 2019, the mothers of several Chinese Americans, jailed for practicing Falun Gong like I was, have died in custody. The CCP tried to take everything from me—my life and my most deeply held beliefs—but it didn’t succeed. Now the Party is trying to do the same to countless other women. We must stop them."

Newfoundland RCMP officer charged with cocaine

CTV is reporting that "Newfoundland and Labrador's police watchdog has charged an RCMP officer with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The province's Serious Incident Response Team says it began investigating Const. Michael Hann late last June. January 2021 the Manitoba RCMP seized 8 kilos of cocaine from an Alberta man bound for Newfoundland.

Police escorted Q Nut through the halls on January 6th

OK here's the deal. Tucker Carlson from Fox News posted surveillance videos from inside the Capital building on January 6th showing the police escort the Q Plant with the face paint and horns throughout the building. This confirms what we already knew, that guy was a plant and the whole January 6th fiasco was a complete set up. Don't squeeze the charmin.

The Hodge Twins commented on the surveillance videos and so did Candace Owens. The Hodge Twins commented on is and so did Candace Owens. Only they took the bait. This guy was a CIA pant. If the FBI are corrupt it's because the CIA infiltrated them. Q is CIA. That's why QAnon are trying to blame the FBI not the CIA. The point is police waved protesters past the barricades and let them into the Capital building. One video showed a protester skeptical about being let into the building say they're going to lock us in now. It was a set up.

Capitol police open doors for the protestors. They stand aside and invite them inside. pic.twitter.com/OnSd3KGzz5

— Christina Bobb (@christina_bobb) January 8, 2021

Capitol. BLM. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/XeQMaGy8AK

— Caldron Pool (@CaldronPool) January 7, 2021

The CIA wouldn't hesitate to incarcerate one of their plants so he can infiltrate the other prisoners and lead them astray. The guy is paid to sit in prison. It's a pretty good gig. The police escorting the CIA plant and waving protesters past barricades into the Capital building were not Trump supporters. They were CIA supporters setting up the Trump supporters. The should let all the January 6th prisoners free. What they did to Brandon Straka and Dr Simone Gold was obscene.

Gratitude: A Break in the Horizon

This morning was quite a metaphorical ride in to work. It's been cloudy and rainy all week which resulted in a meter of fresh snow on the local mountains. For that we are grateful. It's also been quite dark. During winter when I ride in to work it's dark out. Summer time its light out but not yet. This morning there was a dark roof of clouds over head with a break in the clouds all along the horizon and for the first time this season you could see the clouds light up from the rising sun.

It reminded me of that saying behind the dark clouds the sun is still shining. It was also a beacon announcing that summer is on it's way. You can't stop the world from turning. The seasons will change. Summer will return. I was at a crossroads in my life recently and it was kind of stressing me out. It was more of an intersection as there were more than two ways I could go. The road I wanted to go down was closed and it looked like I was forced to make a turn.

As I thought about where that other road led, vivid images of everything I would find along that road came to mind and it caused me a great deal of anxiety. I really didn't want to go down that road. As I reflected on the fact that I had no other choice but to go down that road it started to cause me more and more anxiety. I really didn't want to go there. So I said don't. I pointed to an alternate route and said I think I'll take that road instead.

Gradually all the anxiety started to dispute and I felt a deep sense of inner peace return. The more I reflected on that alternate route, the stronger I felt. We all have struggles and setbacks in life. I remember on my mission my parents sent me a vivid poster of an old work horse pulling a very heavy load during a blizzard. The caption read when the going gets tough, the tough get going. In other words, they go to work.

On my mission I remember saying I look forward to one day going home and living the gospel instead of just preaching it. It's one thing to talk the talk, it's another thing to walk the walk. A lot of people think living the gospel means doing some dramatic act of selfless service but that's not always the case. Living the gospel means getting up and going to work in the morning when you really don't feell like it so you can put food on the table. That's living the gospel. By the sweat of thy brow thou shalt labor all the days of thy life and in this life ye shall have joy. There is no joy without hard work. Work is the means of all our accomplishment.

When we face set backs and discouragement in life it's always important to stop and make a list of all the things you have to be grateful for. It lifts us out of the self imposed pity party and helps us put things in perspective.

I have a lot to be grateful for. First on the list is my health because health is wealth. A few years ago I blew out my hip and was in a lot of pain. I needed two canes to walk and I could barely stand. Every step I took was very painful. I was f*cked. Finally I had a hip replacement and I'm fine now. I can walk hands free with no pain. I am very grateful for that.

I also grateful for my kids. I have two children not one. They're all grown up now doing their own thing and I'm very proud of them. They're both following their dreams. Parents give their kids two things: roots and wings. It brings joy seeing your kids fly. Over the years I had the chance to help out a few other kids and although we've all gone our separate ways, I'm very grateful for the time I was able to spend with them. There's a lot of good memories there. Happy memories.

I remember going through some dark times many years ago and I came across a scripture that said thou shalt forget thy misery and remember it as the waters that pass away. It was a very vivid image. I could see all my pain and heartache written in the sand then have the receding tide wash it all away. At the time I thought that was impossible but it was a vivid promise that was later fulfilled. All the bad memories washed away and all the good memories remained. Well the bad memories didn't completely wash away but they were painless and became comical lessons well learned. I'd look back and say yeah I don't want to do that again but there was no pain left.

When my older brother left home I kind of inherited a few old albums. One was Rare Earth. Two songs struck me - God's Light and I just want to celebrate. One line said "I had my hand on a dollar bill and the dollar bill blew away, but the sun is shining down on me and it's hear to stay."

Another line said "I put my faith in the people and the people let me down, so I turned the other way and I carried on anyhow. I just want to celebrate another day of living. I just want to celebrate another day of life." Now I'm not ready to dance and celebrate because loss needs time to grieve and process but I am ready to get to work because that's the only way forward.

Joseph once said How long can rolling waters remain impure? The metaphor means stagnate water becomes polluted but running water is cleaner. That's why you never drink out of ponds or puddles when you go hiking. You look for running water instead. The metaphor that Joseph was referring to was if we keep moving and keep working, answers will come. That's why I like to ride. I like to keep moving. Thanks to this recent epiphany the song Riders on the Storm by the Doors kept playing in my head. Riding through the storm to greener pastures and a brighter future.

Florida drug bust

CBS is reporting that "Two high-ranking members of the Latin Kings gang in Florida are among the 21 people arrested in a drug trafficking crackdown in central Florida. Their arrests are part of Operation Checkmate, a joint operation involving the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the State Attorney's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration in Tampa."

"The two gang leaders are identified as 30-year-old Omar Bravo and 32-year-old Fidencio Robles. The sheriff's office says Bravo is the head narcotics supplier for the state of Florida. They're facing charges of armed trafficking in large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, as well as weapons-related charges. Authorities seized five kilograms of fentanyl, two kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of methamphetamine, one kilogram of heroin, and two pounds of marijuana. 'We know that this amount of fentanyl is enough to kill everyone here in Hillsborough County twice,' said Sheriff Chronister."

Saskatoon pharmacist faces drug trafficking charges

CTV is reporting that "A Saskatoon pharmacist faces drug trafficking charges following an investigation by the Saskatoon Police Service. The investigation stemmed from a January seizure of 700 Oxycodone pills that were allegedly connected to the pharmacist, 41-year-old Jenna Ternan. In the Jan. 12 bust, police also seized over 20 kilograms of methamphetamine, over $12,000 cash, a fully-automatic Glock 9mm handgun, and arrested three men in connection with the trafficking operation."

Clay Farnswort from Police on Guard

Seymour First Peak

I went snowshoeing on Seymour today. There wasn't much visibility but they had a meter of fresh snow this week so I couldn't resist. 4 meters of snow at the summit. That's a lot. They diverted the trail to the base of First Peak. I missed the switchback and didn't sink up to my knee I sank up to my hip. Then I noticed the switchback and climbed back on the packed trail. Some people with snowshoes went on to Second Peak but I didn't bother because there wasn't much visibility.

Police seize 2.4 tons of cocaine bound for Australia

DW is reporting that "A joint Australian and Unites States law enforcement operation busted an international drug ring and stopped 2.4 metric tons of cocaine, worth roughly A$1 billion (roughly $675 million, or €635 million), from reaching Western Australia. Operation Beech has led to the arrest of 12 people with alleged links to a Mexican drug cartel."

"The operation started in November when US Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized 2.4 tons of cocaine aboard a vessel off the South American Coast destined for Australia. The alleged drug traffickers were unaware of the seizure and Western Australian police then substituted the cargo for fake cocaine and dropped it in the ocean off Perth in late December. Three suspected members of the Australian arm of a drug syndicate used two boats, called Catalina and Cool Runnings, to make several attempts to find and retrieve the cargo before they were arrested."