My last post may have confused certain readers, which is very sad. I was fully vaccinated but, during a visit to an emergency room, I was diagnosed with Pericarditis. Pericarditis and Myocarditis may be caused by a vaccine, including the vaccine protecting us from Covid-19. I would like to make it very clear that I was vaccinated against Covid-19 too early for the vaccine to be associated with the onset of Pericarditis or Myocarditis. Moreover, my diagnosis was not clear. Therefore, my illness was not associated with the vaccine against the Covid-19 virus.
During two visits to an emergency room in Sherbrooke and Magog, I was diagnosed with inflamed muscles in the rib cage and with a degree of deterioration of my left shoulder. The pain goes from the shoulder to the wrist. Doctors now suspect a musculoskeletal condition. I caught the H1N1 virus 46 years ago and never recovered. It caused Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). Although my heart still feels as though it was squeezed by a powerful hand, I suspect a mere continuation of ME/CFS.
In short, the vaccine did not cause Pericarditis.
Please listen to Dr Fauci, the CDC, the WHO, and top doctors in various countries. Since the beginning of this crisis, the words of politicians have been deemed truer than the words of experts.
—ooo—
Above, we see Clarence Gagnon’s depiction of Midnight Mass. Traditionally, Quebecers used mass as the weekly get-together. Christmas was no exception. They then walked home for the réveillon.
Winter has come. There is very little snow, but it is cold. Storms devastated many American states. I grieve for those who have lost a loved one and their home.
Medical Tests
I went for tests on the 14th and 16th of December. On the 14th, I was in considerable pain when I arrived for the tests. So, afterward, I returned to the Emergency Room. The doctor who looked after me told me, somewhat aggressively, to dismiss all previous diagnoses. She also stated that we did not have a firm diagnosis concerning my illness and that she would not prescribe medication. If my memory serves me well, my doctor also said that she was a young emergency-room doctor and that she did not have the authority to prescribe medication. Other emergency-room doctors had prescribed medication.
But we did have a diagnosis. I had been diagnosed with pericarditis, inflamed muscles in the rib cage, a deteriorating left shoulder, and arm, etc. In rare cases, the vaccine can cause pericarditis and/or myocarditis. However, Covid-19 is the greater evil. Therefore, one gets vaccinated.
However, after my heart was examined and tests performed, this doctor wanted to send me home unmedicated. Pain may sound the alarm, but it can grow into a medical issue. I told her that I could not tolerate this level of pain and needed medical help. I could not understand what had happened to me.
Another doctor walked by and asked, jokingly, if I was the lady with the sick shoulder. How did he know? I said that I was indeed the lady with the sick shoulder and told him that the pain had become so intense that it was crippling. Something had to be done. He said he would look at the papers. In the end, the doctors, or my doctor, phoned the pharmacy to prescribe barely effective painkillers, but painkillers.
However, I still wonder why I was not prescribed effective medication. I am small, but I am not a child. The doctor also said that the pain I felt was not always constant. It could stop for a few minutes and then recur. Therefore, it did not warrant medication. My friend Paulina arrived, caught a few words, and said that for the last few weeks, I had not been the same. I was not at my computer.
One is asked to provide a number from one to ten to describe the intensity of one’s pain, but that is very difficult. I was not being burned alive, yet I was experiencing considerable pain.
Reality has changed, but has it changed to the point where taking a few tablets of codeine is considered harmful? Moreover, although Covid-19 has exerted an influence on everyone, the medical use of morphine for a few days is still acceptable. In rare cases, Covid-19 vaccines can trigger pericarditis and myocarditis which in no way lessens the benefits of the vaccine. This may have led my doctor to a degree of analysis paralysis.
This little post is not under “Medicine in Quebec.” But I am worried. Will I be left to age and die in pain as though I were the epitome of nothingness? It comforts me to think that if there is a God, and there is a God, God knows me.
—ooo—
This is the month of Christmas and the day of the longest night. The Winter solstice, is very near in this hemisphere.
We are going back to Félix Loriaux. Would that I could find more pictures of his Buffon pour les enfants, One site does show illustrations of the Buffon pour les enfants, but are short of images. So, I may have to order the relevant books, if they are affordable. As you know. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was a naturalist. The animals he discussed were animals, not animals in disguise.
Below the video, you will find a page from an illuminated manuscript belonging to madame Marie Hainaut (1285). I love this naive depiction of an angel telling the shepherds that Christ is born.
A picture on our video features anthropomorphic humans, humans disguised as animals.
As for the related articles, they are the story of a Czech gentleman, John Amos Comenius, who may well have been the first educator to state that illustrations helped students to remember. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Livre d’images de madame Marie Hainaut, vers 1285-1290 Paris, BnF, Naf 16251, fol. 22v. La naissance du Christ est annoncée aux bergers, aux humbles. “Et voici qu’un ange du seigneur leur apparut [.]. Ils furent saisis d’une grande frayeur. Mais l’ange leur dit : “Ne craignez point, car je vous annonce une bonne nouvelle [.]” (The Birth of Christ announced to the Shepherds) (Photo credit: the National Library of France [BnF])
FRANCISCO GOYA, EL SUEÑO DE LA RAZÓN PRODUCE MONSTRUOS (THE SLEEP OF REASON PRODUCES MONSTERS), 1799, PRINT N°43 OF THE CAPRICHOS SERIES (MUSEO NACIONAL DEL PRADO, MADRID). (PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIPEDIA)
I have used the above image several times. It is Goya’s 43rd print in his series of 80 prints entitled Los Caprichos. It is a fine illustration of cultism and extremism.
—ooo—
The Debt Ceiling
I will be writing about Covid-19. Cases are numerous and given the number of individuals who are contracting Covid-19, we are looking at the harm anti-vaxxers are causing, including self-harm. Reason has fallen asleep. Let us first look at the need to raise the US debt ceiling.
Some of my readers may not have understood a reference to the debt ceiling. It applies to the economy of the United States. This subject is both difficult and easy to understand. Superficially, it goes as follows. If the United States does not raise its debt ceiling, it is proving that it hasn’t enough money to pay its debts. If it does not raise the debt ceiling, it can no longer borrow money and it loses the confidence of investors, the stock market. If investors do not invest, and the United States cannot borrow money, a recession, if not a “crash,” is unavoidable. The pandemic has been very costly, which means that the debt is high, and that the debt ceiling must be raised. A nation cannot put aside its economy. The following article contains a little drawing that may be helpful.
At this point, the Republicans (Mr Trump’s party) are suggesting that they may not allow the Biden administration to raise the debt ceiling. It’s a nasty game. If the Republican party prevents the United States from raising its debt ceiling, everyone would be hurt, including the Republicans and our global economy. Therefore, in a comment, I used the expression “to cut your nose off to spite your face,” which means that Republicans would hurt themselves in an attempt to hurt the Democrats. Therefore, sanity and plain common sense dictate a rise in the debt ceiling. One must cultivate a conciliatory spirit.
Similarly, sanity dictates vaccination. People who are not vaccinated are at risk and these unvaccinated individuals are probably cultists. Tens of thousands will die and the dead will soon be anti-vaccination militants. We are no longer looking at unvaccinated individuals who were neglectful. If they have lost a dear-one in the Pandemic, these persons may be convinced to be vaccinated. Cultists will not. They do not believe in Covid-19 and think the vaccine will poison them. If one tries to persuade them that Covid kills and that the vaccine is “adequate” protection, cultists will dig in their heels. Cultists do not think. They do not use “reason.”
There is plentiful evidence that millions have died globally. Moreover, there is plentiful evidence that following sanitary rules and vaccination provide “adequate” protection. President Biden and Dr Fauci have not died. Nor have the people living in this building. They have followed the rules and most, if not all, have been vaccinated.
So, yesterday, Quebec passed a law prohibiting demonstrations by anti-vaxxers and by Covid related activists near schools or near institutions where persons have not been vaccinated. They must keep 50 meters away. Initially, children did not contract the coronavirus. They are, therefore, the last to be vaccinated, hence Bill 105. If one cannot reason with someone else, a law is passed. Governments protect their endangered population. A person who sues the government for violating his or her freedom will lose. Yet, anti-vaxxers may sue. Under Bill 105, protestors will pay a fine, but they are not facing imprisonment. Not yet.
Covid-19 and its Variants: an alarming number of cases
After hearing that we were required to obtain a vaccine passport and that healthcare workers who were not vaccinated before 15 October 2021 would be replaced, I could see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, but I now see darkness. Governments know how many have died of Covid-19, and they know that the vaccine is “adequate” protection. So, cultists are like Republicans contemplating not raising the debt ceiling. They may and will die to avoid death. Extremism is very dangerous.
Would that their defiance and plain arrogance did not boil down to anti-social behaviour. Cultists are not mere Doubting Thomases. As inferred above, doubting Thomases will be vaccinated if they lose a wife or a husband. I agree, some medications, including the vaccine, are potentially harmful. But the vaccine is all we have.
Once again, humans are proving that they are their own worst enemy. Not only are the unvaccinated cutting off their nose to spite their face, but they are causing others to contract the coronavirus, thereby making themselves agents of the virus, and worse… They themselves will suffer the death they wished to avoid: their own death.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with his wife, Sophie Grégoire, and their children in Montreal the day after the election Credit… Christinne Muschi/Reuters
—ooo—
Justin Trudeau remains Canada’s Prime Minister, but the Liberals failed to attain the majority he wished for. According to many Canadians, this was an election we could have done without. It was a brief campaign, but all campaigns are expensive. Moreover, the campaign took place during a pandemic. When I went to cast my ballot, I had to disinfect my hands three times and I was given a new mask. Masks, clean hands, and keeping at a distance from others remain mandatory in Quebec and, I should think, everywhere else in Canada.
The Liberal Party
I have voted for the Liberal Party for a long time. Canada owes Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson its social programs, official bilingualism, the decriminalization of abortion and homosexuality, etc. I do not think this legislation would be repealed under a more conservative government, but I remember… He was charitable.
More attention could have been paid to the fate of our indigenous population, but Marie May Simon is Canada’s Governor General and it was a “snap” election. Other needs must be addressed.
For instance, this citizen has her little dreams. Under Quebec’s “parochial” system, each parish was a small neighborhood, a community. Sherbrooke had a downtown, but going downtown was not essential. My mother took a bus to go downtown. The four surviving children also took a bus to their various lessons: speech, drama, piano, organ… I would appreciate a rebirth of neighborhoods.
Needs …
Times have changed. Cars are a source of noise and pollution, but they have become a necessity. We therefore require inexpensive and efficient public transportation. I still have a driver’s license, so I am officially allowed to drive, but Myalgic Encephalomyelitis damaged my brain. It attacked my memory, which is a more serious problem as one ages. I also have nosebleeds that can turn into a hemorrhage, and my balance is poor. So, my doctor does not want me to drive. I miss my car. I’m always indoors.
Fortunately, the building where I live is located near a neighborhood shopping center, which made buying an apartment at this address a good choice. The apartment does not have many rooms, but it is very spacious and air-conditioned. The loss of one’s car and Covid-19 are more easily managed in a relatively spacious apartment with its own laundry-room. Still, I could not escape depression and will therefore be returning to my friend’s apartment. I will have two homes.
Climate changes: Comfort and Safety
However, given climate changes, fewer cars should be on the road. As well, heatwaves kill and may lead to domestic violence. We therefore require air conditioning. We also require solid walls. If apartments are inside concrete walls and floors and have fireproof doors, they can contain noise and fires. The door to this apartment is not sound- and fire-proof. So, the door will be replaced by a safer door.
As an amateur “urbanist,” “architect” and “designer.” I also feel the time has come to put various wires underground. We have ice storms that can be paralyzing. Our cities would also look better if wires were buried. The poles could be replaced by trees.
Finally, housing is too expensive and living in a tiny place creates a series of problems. I see lovely little houses on wheels, but they are on wheels and one can look in every direction.
Covid-19: the Delta variant
Children and the vaccinated are contracting Covid’s Delta variant. Vaccinated people are less likely to die, but the Delta variant is deadly. Consequently, as of tomorrow, anti-vaccine demonstrations will be illegal in Quebec, near schools. Demonstrators will pay a fine and some may be jailed. On 20 September 2021, the day we voted, I congratulated leaders in both English and French, but too late to have an influence. Politicians need our support. They must oppose people who do not believe that Covid-19 is real and look upon vaccination as an infringement of their freedom. Children and the vaccinated are contracting Covid’s Delta variant. Vaccinated people are less likely to die, but the Delta variant is deadly. Consequently, as of tomorrow, anti-vaccine demonstrations will be illegal in Quebec, near schools. Demonstrators will pay a fine and some may be jailed. On 20 September 2021, the day we voted, I congratulated leaders in both English and French, but too late to have an influence. Politicians need our support. They must oppose people who do not believe that Covid-19 is real and look upon vaccination as an infringement of their freedom. The province of Alberta has just asked the Federal government for help.
The Debt Ceiling: will Republicans cause a Recession
Anti-vaxxers: a Cult
Impeach President Biden
and now a recession
I read various newspapers, so I know that in some areas of the United States and, I suspect, Canada, opposing vaccination has become a cult. Covid-19 is not a religion, nor is the vaccine. Moreover, there are Covid-19 victims who oppose the vaccine all the way to their grave. Well, they are dying, and it has been their choice. Yet, this is individualism carried to an extreme. No one is free to kill. Killing is a crime.
Covid-19 and other matters, such as the evacuation of Afghanistan, have also been politicized. If Republicans wish to impeach President Joe Biden, they should look at former President Donald Trump’s record. Donald Trump failed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. He thought that Spring would chase it away. The former President also incited Americans to riot. They assaulted the Capitol and people died.
We are nearing a recession and it appears that Republicans would be at fault. If the debt ceiling is not raised, a recession may follow. A political party is not a cult in search of martyrs. Republicans themselves would suffer. Such is also the fate of anti-vaxxers.
—ooo—
Love to everyone 💕
My post got lost. So I had to rewrite it. I had a copy, but it fell short of the published post.
Today, Canadians vote. So, this is an appropriate time to congratulate Canada’s Premiers and our Prime Minister. They were not afraid when the very worst occurred: a pandemic! They followed the advice of medical experts and quickly initiated public health policies aimed at protecting Canadians.
I am grateful to members of parliament who would not desist. Naysayers and timid Canadians slowed down efforts on the part of elected leaders. However, they and foremost authorities in epidemiology stood together from the very first outbreak.
Many Canadians have their vaccine passport. This tool is like magic.
The battle is not over, but we’re on the go …
Le masculin inclut le féminin.
Aujourd’hui, les Canadiens votent. Le moment est donc propice de féliciter les Premiers Ministres de toutes les provinces canadiennes et le Premier Ministre du Canada. Ils n’ont pas eu froid aux yeux quand le pire est survenu: une pandémie ! Ils ont suivi les conseils de médecins-chefs et ils ont vite mis en place des mesures visant à protéger les Canadiens.
Je voudrais donc exprimer ma reconnaissance aux élus qui ont tenu bon. Des récalcitrants et des timides ont parfois ralenti l’effort fourni par nos hommes politiques. Toutefois, ceux-ci ont fait front commun avec les grandes autorités en matière d’épidémiologie dès la première éclosion.
Plusieurs Canadiens détiennent un passeport vaccinal. Cet outil est une petite merveille.
La lutte n’est pas finie, mais c’est parti …
—ooo—
Love to everyone 💕
Rossini‘s William Tell Overture: Finale The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra 100th Anniversary Special Concert Myung-Whun Chung
The Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, provides unforgettable depictions of human behaviour. In this respect, the Bible is extremely rich. Wikipedia provides a description of a doubting Thomas, now an archetype:
Since 1st September 2021, the citizens of Quebec must carry proof that they have been vaccinated. However, given variants such as the Delta variant, vaccinated individuals must continue to wear a mask, disinfect their hands, and keep at a distance from others. Unvaccinated persons are shunned and have no way of defending themselves. Employers need not keep employees who are not vaccinated. The government of Quebec had excellent reasons to impose vaccination. On 7 July, 95% of new Covid-19 infections were persons who had not been vaccinated.
I doubt that persons who do not think Covid-19 is real would accept to go near an infected person. In my opinion, they would be afraid. So many people have contracted the virus and died that an anti-vaxxer may fear infection. Besides, if one fears “big government” and “big pharma,” one is likely to fear compulsory self-isolation. What one says and what one does may be two different things.
In Quebec, Covid-19 was devastating. It has to end. Hence the pass sanitaire. I have read that other provinces will make vaccination mandatory. As things stand, an employer can refuse to keep an unvaccinated employee. The vaccine is proving “adequately” protective.
A large number of Quebec health workers remain unvaccinated. They must be vaccinated by 15th October. Health workers who are not vaccinated will lose their position.
The American Revolutionary War: Smallpox and George Washington
Anti-vaxxers are everywhere, but a large number live in the United States, southern states in particular. Protesting the vaccine has become a trend. People everywhere, including Canadians, are “shaking hands with the devil” (Roméo Dallaire). They defy experts, thereby spreading the Covid-19 virus, (SARS-CoV-2). The variants of Covid-19 are deadlier that the initial coronavirus. The recovery rate from infections from variants of Covid-19 is very low. In other words, there is abundant proof that Covid-19, the Delta variant especially, is highly transmissible. So, anti-vaxxers should provide proof positive and undeniable that Covid-19 and its variants are harmless.
George Washington
You will remember that Jeffery Amherst, the governor of New York, wished to infect indigenous people which led to Pontiac’s War. Pontiac’s War was so violent that George III of England issued his Royal Proclamation of 1763. During the French régime, Amerindians had lived mostly undisturbed West of the Thirteen Colonies. Jeffery Amherst attempted a genocide. Amerindians were given smallpox-contaminated blankets. They had no immunity to smallpox, so exposure was genocidal.
“Washington understood the destructive nature of smallpox and other diseases such as malaria, diphtheria, and scarlet fever. He was one of the first to introduce the idea of compulsory health initiatives such as widespread inoculation. Washington also had experience with disease outside the realm of combat and war. Having himself suffered from many illnesses and observing those of his family, George Washington was an integral part of the establishment of American public health programs.
Along with quarantine, another one of Washington’s methods for keeping his men healthy was with the use of inoculation.”
At first, obnoxious, but increasingly anti-social groups, would not wear a mask (See Anti-social behaviour, Wikipedia). Many of these individuals are now resisting inoculation. They do so in the name of a freedom one does not have. We stop at the red light and do not grow tomatoes in our neighbour’s backyard. Freedom ends at the picket fence.
Ma petite idée…
To anti-vaxxers everywhere. If you wish to die promptly and painfully, in the name of some conspiracy, expose yourself to the virus, in a monitored manner. You mustn’t infect others. So, after exposure, you will be isolated. If you do not contract Covid-19, or one of its variants, governments will have proof that Covid-19, the Delta variant especially, are harmless, which I doubt will happen at this point…
Experts have ample proof that the virus is deadly. More than six hundred thousand Americans have died of Covid-19 (see World Health Organization). Please, do not protest unless you can substantiate your claim that Covid-19 does not kill.
Tombeau du chanoine Guilain Lucas, cathédrale d’Amiens(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
—ooo—
Dear Readers,
As you know, I am on a short holiday. However, I am aware that the Taliban has taken over Afghanistan. I am watching desperate Afghans attempting to leave their country, and it saddens me enormously. If allies of countries that fought the Taliban are not evacuated, they may be tortured and executed.
United States President Joe Biden and many Americans believe that there is no good time to leave Aghanistan. They are quite right. It has been a twenty-year war and many have died or been disabled. Hostilities could continue for several more decades.
It also saddens me that human life is currently threatened by persons who look upon Covid-19 as a conspiracy. How can the pandemic end if people refuse to wear a mask and also oppose vaccination? These individuals are fuelling the pandemic, but do not know they are.
Once again, I am writing mostly unprepared, but happy to have been vaccinated the day after I dialled the correct telephone number. The better approach is to make an appointment online. Telephone lines are busy. In other words, I was lucky.
I have not fully recovered. On Saturday, I ran a low grade fever, and I felt a little dizzy and exhausted. On Sunday, I was tired. I remain tired and my lungs hurt. However, being infected with Covid-19 is a greater evil than the side effects of the vaccine.
AstraZeneca was used. I was told that the source was safe. A poor source may have slowed down the Vaccination Campaign in some European countries, but it is not too late.
If one reads The Hare and Tortoise, Le Lièvre et la Tortue (VI, 10), one may think that the “cautious” countries wasted precious time. But there is a little godliness in human beings. La Fontaine wanted to illustrate that animals had a soul, not a human soul, but a soul. His two rats find a way of carrying their egg to safety. Animals have all the wit they need to stay alive. And, by and large, so do human beings.
The human condition is at times merciless. So, it could be that in the humbling days of Covid-19, one chooses the appropriate, i. e. reassuring, fable. Ingenuity could correct a delayed start.
It all started when my telephone rang in the middle of the night. Someone was at the main door to the building asking me to unlock the door. He said he was delivering groceries. I let him in. It then occurred to me that he could be an intruder and that he could harm one of my neighbours. If so, it would be my fault. I dialed 9-1-1. Two police officers, a man, and a woman came to my door. I told them that I had foolishly let someone into the building and asked them to check the corridors. They didn’t check the corridors. I also told them that persons did ring the door to my apartment occasionally and then disappeared. But matters were different. This time, I had let a person enter the building.
They asked several questions, reassured me, and left. The building was quiet. The next morning, I realized that one of my neighbours had played a joke on me. Who else would know that my groceries are delivered and by whom? Later in the day, I phoned the police and spoke with a person who knew about this incident. I said that, in my opinion, a neighbour had played a joke on me. The gentleman wanted to know how I felt. I was fine. My neighbours were not the target, I was the target.
I have since wondered whether this incident is related to Covid-19. I have been inside my apartment, alone, for a year. However, someone delivers groceries once a week.
The Covid-19 Vaccine
I did leave the apartment two days ago. On Tuesday I received a letter from the government informing me personally that the vaccination programme had begun and that all I had to do was telephone the number I was given or go online to make an appointment. I dialed the telephone number and was vaccinated the following day. Covid-19 is so aggressive that all Canadians will be vaccinated before June 24, the first injection, if AstraZeneca is used. That goal is realistic for Quebec. The team is working so efficiently that several hundred persons are vaccinated in a matter of hours. The government hired a small army.
After the injection, one sits for 15 minutes and, if all goes well, one disinfects one’s hands and goes home. A gentleman called a cab for me. He made me sit comfortably while I waited and he helped me get into the cab safely.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was used. My mouth was very dry after the injection, but there were bottles of water. I was given water. I was not otherwise affected.
Long Covid
The Washington Post reports that many victims of Covid-19 who have been cured are not able to return to a normal life. I suspected this would happen. I caught the H1N1 virus in early February 1976. It triggered Myalgic Encephalomyelitis which did not relent, except for very brief periods, for forty-four years. ME ended when Covid-19 began. Long-Covid patients are vaccinated and it is reported that many patients start feeling better. Do not look upon them as malingerers.
Would that awareness of complications had been present in 1976! I could handle a normal workload by going to bed early and living cautiously. But my workload grew to include too many areas of literature, and the creation of language lab components. I fell to exhaustion and was not replaced, which shouldn’t have happened. I was then maneuvered into selling my house and leaving Nova Scotia. Two years later, I was fooled into accepting an arrangement that ended my tenure without my realizing it. I still ache.
Conclusion
Let’s just say that Covid-19 has been a curse, but that the government vaccination programme is very rapid. I have not experienced adverse effects. As for my neighbours, I sent management a letter they will never forget.
Micheline's Blog 
