Jim Poling Sr.'s Blog, page 6

I’ve always been in love with the RCAF – the Royal Canad...

 I’ve always been in love with the RCAF – the Royal Canadian Air Force.

My love affair began young when I set out to become an RCAF fighter pilot. Fate intervened and I ended up flying typewriters instead of fighter jets.

My love swelled this week when I read the RCAF is cutting back expensive snacks and other amenities it serves its privileged passengers.

The RCAF flies big wigs like the governor general, prime minister, various politicians and bureaucrats on official business in Canada and abroad. Those privileged passengers get in-flight drinks, meals on glass dishes, newspaper and magazines and other amenities, such as flower arrangements, to ensure their comfort.

Defence department overlords have decided to reduce amenities and have their privileged passengers travel more like the rest of us. 

If they follow through, the saving of taxpayer funds should be substantial. For instance, the governor general’s trip to Dubai last March cost taxpayers $1.3 million, which included $100,000 in-flight catering for 30 people – roughly $3,300 a person.

Those folks had a choice of beef Wellington, chicken scaloppini or beef carpaccio for each leg of the trip. Government records show costs of $552 for ice, $526 for limes and lemons, $110 for four litres of apple juice and $1,000 for water.

The aircraft was restocked during the Dubai trip. Replenishing the supply of potato chips, cashews, yogurt and granola cost several thousand dollars, according to government figures.

The RCAF has ordered that in-flight snacks no longer will be bought at foreign stops. All snack items will be purchased in Trenton where the transport aircraft are based.

Also, all non-alcoholic drinks, such as mineral water, will be sourced in Canada and  

Newspapers, magazines and flowers no longer will be available on flights.

Meal choices will be more closely scrutinized and all passengers will be served the same standard choices. No more wide-ranging menus.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) seems happy with the changes. Franco Terrazzano, the federation’s national director says, however, more needs to be done to reduce extravagance and improve transparency.

“Taxpayers expect bureaucrats to be capable of exercising restraint and using common sense,” he was quoted in the media. “That means not enjoying beef Wellington on an airplane when Canadians can’t afford hamburgers.”

He added that taxpayers should be given more detailed information on travel spending, For instance, receipts could be posted online. even posting receipts online. Getting basic information now is like pulling teeth, he said.

Cutting in-flight extravagances should help the RCAF to escape being nominated for one of the CTF’s annual Teddy Waste Awards. The awards, pig-shaped trophies, are given each year to the worst garment waste offenders. They are named for Ted Weatherill, the federal bureaucrat fired from his job as Canada Labour Relations Board head for reckless spending, including a $700 lunch for two in Paris.

Travel and food are big ticket items in federal spending. Global Affairs Canada has won a Teddy for spending $11.2 million to fly chefs around the world (first-class) to cook at various embassies. This was part of some government program called the Mission Cultural Fund.

The federal Liberal government also has picked up a Teddy lifetime achievement award for sending 276 delegates to the 2021 climate change conference in the UK. The huge cost of that jaunt included $3,000 for a luxury limo service to take Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland from Edinburg to Glasgow, where the conference was being held.

It’s unclear why Freeland stayed in Edinburg, roughly 90 kilometres from Glasgow. Her room in Edinburg’s Hotel Indigo cost roughly $750 Canadian a night.

Ottawa’s food bills should become a bit smaller when Prime Minister Trudeau spends time at his Harrington Lake cottage this summer. He won’t have to order in. He will be able to cook for himself in the new $700,000 to $1 million kitchen his government has installed at the cottage.

The federal government spent another $2.5 million to replace a “backup” cottage at Harrington Lake. The backup was considered necessary temporary accommodation while the main cottage was being renovated. It is to be used by security details and other officials when the main cottage renovations have been completed.

The world���s problems are becoming so complex that it a...

 The world���s problems are becoming so complex that it appears politicians are turning to elves for help.

It���s happening in Mexico. Mexican president Andr��s Manuel L��pez Obrador recently posted on Twitter a photo of what he said was an alux, an elf-like creature that lives in the woods.

Some Maya peoples believe these are knee-high sprites, usually invisible but who sometimes assume a physical form to communicate with humans.

Obrador posted the photo of a little figure with glowing eyes crouched in a tree at night.

���Everything is mystical,��� he wrote.

He made the Twitter post the same weekend as tens of thousands of Mexicans protested his electoral law changes they say threaten the country���s democracy. Some saw the alux post as a way of diverting attention from the electoral reform protests.

Lopez Obrador is not the first politician to have a relationship with elves.

Some years back Arni Johnsen, a member of the Icelandic parliament, said he was saved by a family of ���hidden people��� when his car left the road, flipped and rolled down a cliff. A family of elves, who lived inside a large boulder near the crash site, saved his life, Johnsen said.

An expert on elves told Johnsen he could thank the family by moving their home to a better location. So Johnsen had their 30-ton boulder home moved to his property where it was placed on a spot with a fine ocean view, and plenty of grass on which they could raise their invisible sheep.

Elves are very popular in Iceland. Road construction projects there have been delayed to allow elves living in the area to find other homes.

Meanwhile, elves have become active in combatting Russian disinformation campaigns against Ukraine and western democracies.

These ���elves��� are real people ��� anonymous volunteers who are part of a growing movement fighting Russian lies through cyber activism. They call themselves ���The Elves��� because, like elves, they want their identities to be invisible.

Cyber activism, also called digital activism, uses the Internet and digital media as platforms for mass mobilization and political action.

This elf movement began in 2014 when Russia invaded Ukraine to annex the Crimea peninsula. Some volunteers in the former Soviet state of Lithuania decided to counteract Moscow���s disinformation machine and formed ���The Elves���, named for the little people who work unseen and anonymously behind the scenes.

The movement has expanded to an estimated 4,000 volunteers in 13 European countries. They have a co-operation agreement, which includes an annual Elves Academy at which 100 volunteers learn from leading elves new skills to help make them more effective at their work.

A main target of ���The Elves��� are Russian efforts to manipulate public opinion and build support for the invasion of Ukraine. Troll farms, sponsored by the Russian government, regularly fill social media with disinformation about the war in Ukraine.

For instance, the trolls have spread Russian defense ministry claims that bodies of civilians lying dead in Ukraine streets are fake. Eyewitness accounts, satellite images and other photos all support Ukrainian claims that Russian soldiers brutally murder civilians in the streets and commit rape and other atrocities.

Mass graves of civilians, plus torture chambers, have been uncovered in Russian invaded areas since liberated by Ukrainian fighters. Also, television networks every day show video clips of civilian apartment buildings blown apart by Russian missiles.

When ���The Elves��� see Russian disinformation on a social media site they report it en masse, generating hundreds, even thousands, of complaints and requests to have it removed. In addition to getting fake accounts shut down and fake news blocked, ���The Elves��� try to counter disinformation by publishing facts.

���The Elves��� have been considering expanding their work to include countering disinformation from China. They are working with people in Taiwan to establish the first Asian chapter of ���The Elves���.

So maybe critics shouldn���t be so quick to call President Obrador a nutbar for seeing an alux and considering it mystical.

If not mystical, the work of ���The Elves��� in Europe certainly is worthwhile and appreciated.

Disinformation is becoming a global pandemic, and the more elves fighting it the better.

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The world’s problems are becoming so complex that it app...

 The world’s problems are becoming so complex that it appears politicians are turning to elves for help.

It’s happening in Mexico. Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador recently posted on Twitter a photo of what he said was an alux, an elf-like creature that lives in the woods.

Some Maya peoples believe these are knee-high sprites, usually invisible but who sometimes assume a physical form to communicate with humans.

Obrador posted the photo of a little figure with glowing eyes crouched in a tree at night.

“Everything is mystical,” he wrote.

He made the Twitter post the same weekend as tens of thousands of Mexicans protested his electoral law changes they say threaten the country’s democracy. Some saw the alux post as a way of diverting attention from the electoral reform protests.

Lopez Obrador is not the first politician to have a relationship with elves.

Some years back Arni Johnsen, a member of the Icelandic parliament, said he was saved by a family of “hidden people” when his car left the road, flipped and rolled down a cliff. A family of elves, who lived inside a large boulder near the crash site, saved his life, Johnsen said.

An expert on elves told Johnsen he could thank the family by moving their home to a better location. So Johnsen had their 30-ton boulder home moved to his property where it was placed on a spot with a fine ocean view, and plenty of grass on which they could raise their invisible sheep.

Elves are very popular in Iceland. Road construction projects there have been delayed to allow elves living in the area to find other homes.

Meanwhile, elves have become active in combatting Russian disinformation campaigns against Ukraine and western democracies.

These “elves” are real people – anonymous volunteers who are part of a growing movement fighting Russian lies through cyber activism. They call themselves “The Elves” because, like elves, they want their identities to be invisible.

Cyber activism, also called digital activism, uses the Internet and digital media as platforms for mass mobilization and political action.

This elf movement began in 2014 when Russia invaded Ukraine to annex the Crimea peninsula. Some volunteers in the former Soviet state of Lithuania decided to counteract Moscow’s disinformation machine and formed “The Elves”, named for the little people who work unseen and anonymously behind the scenes.

The movement has expanded to an estimated 4,000 volunteers in 13 European countries. They have a co-operation agreement, which includes an annual Elves Academy at which 100 volunteers learn from leading elves new skills to help make them more effective at their work.

A main target of “The Elves” are Russian efforts to manipulate public opinion and build support for the invasion of Ukraine. Troll farms, sponsored by the Russian government, regularly fill social media with disinformation about the war in Ukraine.

For instance, the trolls have spread Russian defense ministry claims that bodies of civilians lying dead in Ukraine streets are fake. Eyewitness accounts, satellite images and other photos all support Ukrainian claims that Russian soldiers brutally murder civilians in the streets and commit rape and other atrocities.

Mass graves of civilians, plus torture chambers, have been uncovered in Russian invaded areas since liberated by Ukrainian fighters. Also, television networks every day show video clips of civilian apartment buildings blown apart by Russian missiles.

When “The Elves” see Russian disinformation on a social media site they report it en masse, generating hundreds, even thousands, of complaints and requests to have it removed. In addition to getting fake accounts shut down and fake news blocked, “The Elves” try to counter disinformation by publishing facts.

“The Elves” have been considering expanding their work to include countering disinformation from China. They are working with people in Taiwan to establish the first Asian chapter of “The Elves”.

So maybe critics shouldn’t be so quick to call President Obrador a nutbar for seeing an alux and considering it mystical.

If not mystical, the work of “The Elves” in Europe certainly is worthwhile and appreciated.

Disinformation is becoming a global pandemic, and the more elves fighting it the better.

                                                                #

Canadian politicians have been working diligently to com...

 Canadian politicians have been working diligently to complete a new long-term agreement on how health care will operate in this country.

Sounds nice, but they are neglecting something that will help us all better understand the health threats of the future and how to survive them. They have yet to appoint a strong, fully independent inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic.

An independent federal inquiry into COVID-19 is not needed to assess wrongdoing and assign blame. It is needed to detail how our governments, and society in general, handled the pandemic. What was done right, what mistakes were made and how to avoid them in future.

Officially there have been 757 million COVID-19 cases worldwide since the outbreak was reported in China three years ago. The World Health Organization (WHO) says those cases have resulted in 6.8 million deaths.

Canada has reported 4.6 million cases and 51,300 deaths. The number of cases is hugely underestimated because we all know people who have had Covid but have isolated and treated themselves without reporting it.

Without question the Covid pandemic is the most serious health threat of modern times and it is not over. WHO says that roughly 80,000 new cases still are being reported every 24 hours.

Many health experts say Covid will be a longstanding health threat and that other viral threats will continue to develop.

The federal government needs to appoint a top-level judge with strong legal and research teams to probe deeply how the COVID-19 outbreak was managed. 

The inquiry also is needed to investigate the pandemic’s shocking side effects that have changed our world. Covid has helped to push us into a fully-blown mental health crisis that has seen increased crime, violence and other social problems. 

Research commissioned by WHO indicates that during the pandemic, depression and anxiety increased by more than 25 per cent.

Covid has been devastating for some parts of the economy and has created serious setbacks in the education system. It is important that we develop ways to avoid, or better manage, serious side effects in future.

Most important for an inquiry is to ensure that lessons learned from Covid-19 are never forgotten and recommendations are followed. We don’t need yet another commission of inquiry report that sits in the dark collecting dust.

Twenty years ago, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) arrived from China, infecting 400 Canadians, killing 44. The Ontario government established the SARS Commission, headed by Mr. Justice Archie Campbell, to investigate where the virus came from, how it spread and how the outbreak was managed.

Justice Campbell’s key recommendation was that the precautionary principle be a main guide post in any infectious disease outbreak. 

The precautionary principle states that when there is reasonable evidence of a public health threat we should not wait for scientific certainty before taking action to avert the threat. In another words, err on the side of caution to protect the public and health care workers.

That principle was not followed during the COVID-19 pandemic. If it had been, the outbreak would have been less devastating.

A Covid inquiry also needs to look into the serious consequences of mixing politics with science. We allowed politics to distort the clear thinking so vital in any health crisis.

Politics entered Covid debates early and heavily. The amount of misinformation, and outright disinformation, during Covid has been shocking and damaging to medical efforts to manage the crisis.

Most of us now have Covid information overload, with much information not supported by provable facts. 

Now is the time for an independent commission to begin gathering all the provable facts about COVID-19, and all the lessons to learn from it. Mr. Justice Campbell wrote in his SARS report that lessons learned can help redeem our failures. 

He added:  

“If we do not learn the lessons to be taken from SARS, however, and if we do not make present governments fix the problems that remain, we will pay a terrible price in the face of future outbreaks of virulent disease.”

We have paid a terrible price from Covid. We should be doing everything possible now to avoid paying a terrible price from the next one.

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I’m eating my cereal and staring out the kitchen window ...

 I’m eating my cereal and staring out the kitchen window when M arrives at the bird bath, now filled with seed for feathered friends not gone south.

M is Marnie, a cute and friendly pine martin who regularly stops by to check the bird feeders and to sniff out any snacks spilled at the compose bin.

Usually, I am pleased to see her. She is an endearing critter with silky fur – mostly brownish black, but grey-tan on a face featuring soft dark eyes that give her a loveable look.

 I’m not so pleased to see her today. She has arrived as I am reading some alarming news.

The morning newspapers are reporting that the H5N1 virus – commonly called a bird flu – is galloping out of control. It is killing millions of chickens worldwide, and now is infecting more and more wild birds, especially waterfowl and shorebirds.

The virus led to the deaths of 52 million birds in the United States last year. 

More alarming is the news that a mutant H5N1 strain is infecting mink, which continue to be raised by the millions on fur farms. 

Mink are excellent virus mixing vessels. They harbour both human and avian viruses and can produce mutant strains transmissible to humans. They carried the COVID-19 virus and are believed to have generated two new Covid variants that spread to humans.

Mink belong to the weasel family and so does my pine marten friend Marnie. So, there is concern that if H5N1 goes unchecked in mink farms it could spread to similar animals like pine marten and other mammals such as we humans.

H5N1 has been around for two or three decades but rarely is found in humans. That’s a good thing because the virus is deadly. There have been fewer that 900 human cases worldwide in the past 20 years, but 53 percent of those have been fatal.

Medical researchers are worried that H5N1 strains produced by mink will spread like wildfire through wild birds, small mammals and into human populations. They warn of an H5N1 pandemic that could take tens of millions of human lives.

One way to help curtail H5N1 spread is to stop fur farming. Animal rights groups say more than 100 million animals a year are raised and killed for their fur. Most are mink and fox. They cite abuse as one reason for ending fur farming.

Mink are crowded into small cages until they are ready to be killed through gassing or electrocution. Some are fed food containing poultry, which can contain avian flu viruses.

Their skins are used to make coats. winter boots and mittens that keep people warm. Mink fur is dense with thousands of hairs per square centimeter, making it one of the densest and softest furs available.

The fur also is used to decorate purses, hats and even keychains.

However, pressure from animal rights groups, plus more evidence of zoonotic diseases have been hitting fur farming hard. Production of fur in the European Union fell from 38 million animal skins in 2018 to about 11 million in 2021. 

Technology has given us alternatives to animal fur, and more people are accepting them. Revenue from the global faux fur market was estimated at 24.7 billion dollars U.S. last year. It is forecast to grow at 4.8 per cent annually, reaching $28.4 million by 2025.

Roughly two dozen countries now have banned fur farming. Fears over new virus strains coming from fur farms are expected to lead to more bans.

Canada still has fur farming but it is a business in steep decline. In 2011 there were 347 Canadian fur farming operations. Last year the number had dwindled to 97.

Meanwhile, the chances of avian influenza appearing in backyard bird baths or feeders is considered low. The federal government, however, recommends precautions such as removing feeders that are open to poultry or waterfowl.

Also, feeders should be cleaned every two weeks and disinfected with a solution of one part household bleach to nine parts water. They should be rinsed well and thoroughly dried before being reused.

Regular cleaning and disinfecting hopefully will keep all our feathered visitors, and  Marnie the pine marten, H5N1 free. 

It’s been an unsettling week. My two oldest children wer...

 It’s been an unsettling week. 

My two oldest children were born on Valentine’s Day, two years apart. So, I had to consider whether to cancel their birthday celebrations.

Cancelling Valentine’s Day has become a major issue. Some Ontario schools have banned Valentine’s Day celebrations, saying they are not inclusive.

A handful of schools in other parts of Canada and the U.S. also have banned or restricted Valentine’s Day activities. So have some countries, including Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Valentine’s Day has been considered a Christian celebratory day not accepted by many people of non-Christian faiths. Buddhism doesn’t directly discourage Valentine’s Day but emphasizes other ways other cultivating love and happiness.

Some school principals say we live in a diverse society with schoolrooms composed of students of different races, religions and cultures. If they come from families that do not accept Valentine’s Day, they feel excluded at school when other students are exchanging cards and sweets.

Their answer to avoid exclusion is quick and simplistic: Cancel Valentine’s Day so no one feels excluded.

That’s the wrong answer. Cancelling things not socially acceptable to all is wrong-headed, and harmful.

If we cancel Valentine’s Day because some don’t accept it or believe in it, perhaps we should also cancel Hallowe’en, Christmas, Easter and other events that might make someone feel excluded. Some people don’t accept Pride parades, so should Pride events be banned?

Banning and cancelling have become a favoured approach by people professing to help create a more inclusive and equitable society. In most cases their intentions are good but their actions are negative and create conflicts.

For instance, families for whom Valentine’s Day celebrations have been a tradition might feel angry at being deprived by a minority that does not share their views. 

Backlash from such situations has created toxic anger – even hatred – against some minorities and immigration. It has fed extreme right-wing theories that foreigners are taking over the country.

Right-wing anti-immigration attitudes have been moving into general populations, especially in the United States. A Gallup Poll last summer found that almost one-quarter of Americans surveyed believe that immigration is a bad thing. 

We don’t need that kind of negative nonsense here in Canada. Thankfully, we don’t have a whole lot of it. Yet.

An Environics survey last fall found that seven of 10 Canadians support current immigration levels, which now stand at roughly 400,000 newcomers a year. That is the largest majority recorded on Environics surveys in 45 years.

That support will be eroded, however, if we continue to restrict or ban things that some groups do not support. We all need to promote ways to help us to learn about and understand each other’s culture and beliefs. Especially people working with our children in our schools.

The most misguided thinking on Valentine’s Day bans comes from the belief that it is a western religious celebration.  There have been several Saint Valentines throughout ancient history but their stories are confusing and clouded by unproven embellishments.

The Catholic church has removed Saint Valentine’s Day from its general Roman calendar, a liturgical calendar that indicates dates to celebrate saints. The church said the day was removed because aside from his name, nothing much is known about Saint Valentine.

The day became associated with romantic love back in the 14th or 15th century. In the 18th century the English began the tradition of expressing love with flowers, candies and cards.

And that’s where we are today. Valentine’s Day is a major commercial celebration that generates tens of millions of dollars in spending each year. Any religious connections have faded into the mists of ancient history.

There are few provable facts about Valentine’s Day but here are a couple of interesting Fun Facts for Kids from the We Are Teachers website:

More than one billion cards are exchanged for Valentine’s Day every year.  Teachers are the No. 1 recipients. 

And, 20 percent of pet owners give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.

So let’s get positive and see the day as it really is today: A day about love and kindness. 

We live in a world that could use all the love and kindness that it can get.

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It’s February, and as the singer-songwriter Don McLean wr...

It’s February, and as the singer-songwriter Don McLean wrote in his 1971 smash hit American Pie: February makes you shiver.

It isn’t February cold that makes McLean shiver. For him, February is the month in which “the music died.”

McLean wrote American Pie as a tribute to rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper (J. P. Richardson Jr.) who died in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959. 

American Pie (‘American as apple pie’) has been described as one of the most successful and debated songs of the 20th century. Its nostalgic, ambiguous lyrics tell not just of the plane crash as the death of early rock and roll, but American society nosediving toward its own crash.

It is a masterpiece lamenting the loss of innocence and idyllic life to a darkening mood changing America.  

 lyrics are prophetic. Although written more than 50 years ago, they can be applied to today’s United States, a country staggering under the weight of gun violence, international tensions and destructive climate change.Listen to the song’s chorusSo bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry

When he wrote those words McLean is said to have been referring to The Levy, a hometown bar where he went to get a drink but missed last call. Therefore, The Levy was dry.

It’s easy to relate those lyrics to a dry levee today when we see global warming turning the Colorado River system, which provides water to 40 million people, into a trickle.

The song’s lyrics can be applied to other dangers facing today’s world.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick refers to U.S. President John Kennedy facing the threat of nuclear war during the 1960 Cuban missile crisis. Substitute Joe Biden for Jack Kennedy and Cuba’s Fidel Castro with Russia’s Vlad Putin and his threats or nuclear war over U.S. interference in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Or, how about the lyrics in one of the song’s last stanzas – And in the streets, the children screamed . . . . 

They have reason to scream in the streets today. Already this year American gun violence has killed 169 children ages zero to 17 and wounded 400.

Total gun deaths since New Year’s Day are approaching 4,500. Mass shootings since Jan. 1 now total 60 – nearly two a day.

And, of course, the lyrics “A generation lost in space” are easily related to today’s American drug crisis. More than 1,500 people a week die from opioid-related overdoses while millions more are suffering with opioid addiction.

American overdose deaths have been rising since the 1990s with tracking agencies reporting more than one million drug deaths since 2000.

Versions of American Pie have been sung tens of thousands of times by performers in the past 64 years. Madonna released a version of it in 2000.

A new version, recorded recently in Ukraine promises to touch the hearts of millions of people disgusted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its deliberate killing of civilians.

It is called Ukrainian Pie and is a tribute to the courage and fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people, plus a tribute to what the recording company calls the magical music and lyrics of “the greatest American popular song of all time.”

The new version was composed by American lawyer–lyricist Hal Pollock and is sung by Ukrainian Alex Kozar. It was recorded in Kyiv, presumably when Russian bombs were not exploding.

Here’s a taste of the lyrics:  

If the Ruskies think they stand a chance

They better wear their big boy pants

No squatting for a Hopak dance

When we make ‘em eat Ukrainian pie

Hey Zelensky

Fly high Ukrainian guy

Let them eat their borscht

With our Ukrainian pie

While Putin drinks his vodka

And his generals die

Tell the Ruskie soldiers bye-bye

Make ‘em eat Ukrainian pie

A video of Ukrainian Pie is making the rounds on social media, notably You Tube. It also is being sold, with the profits to be distributed by the Ukrainian government for humanitarian causes in Ukraine.

There are times when we might want to despair over living...

There are times when we might want to despair over living in a world of selfishness. 

This week isn’t one of them. 

That’s because the first week of February every year brings a reminder that confirms the basic goodness and selflessness of humans. It comes in a powerful piece of history not known by many, forgotten by some.

Eighty years ago this week the SS Dorchester, an aging luxury liner converted to a U.S. Army transport ship, was sailing through Torpedo Alley between Newfoundland and Greenland. It carried 904 soldiers and others headed for the war zones of Europe.

At 12:55 a.m. Feb. 3, 1943 German submarine U-223 locked the Dorchester in its sights and unleashed four torpedoes. One found its mark, exploding in the ship’s boiler room. 

Many troops in the lower areas of the ship died instantly. Others clambered through the dark and confusion to reach the upper decks. 

The ship listed, taking on water quickly. Some of the Dorchester’s 14 lifeboats were damaged by the blast and the crew managed to launch only two others, plus some life rafts.

Survivors later described scenes of desperation amid mass panic. Some told of four first lieutenants treating the wounded and comforting the terror-stricken while helping to get them off the ship. 

Those four lieutenants were military chaplains assigned to provide spiritual care to the troops fighting Hitler in Europe. 

During the chaos. the chaplains opened a storage locker and handed out lifejackets. They urged soldiers to jump off the sinking ship and into the icy waters where they would have a chance of being picked up accompanying ships. 

“They were passing out life preservers from boxes on deck,” survivor Oswald Evans said later in a sworn affidavit. “When these were gone, I saw them take the life preservers from their own persons and hand them out, too.”

Another survivor, Grady Clark, described what he saw after jumping into the ocean:

“As I swam away from the ship, I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and she slid under. The last thing I saw, the four chaplains were up there praying for the safety of the men . . . They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets.”

Others told of the chaplains standing on deck, arms linked and singing and praying as the Dorchester slipped beneath the surface. The singing and praying heard by the men in the water was in Hebrew and Latin, as well as English, because the chaplains represented different faiths.

Chaplain Alexander D, Goode was a reform rabbi and son of Rabbi Hyman Goodekowitz. 

Father John P. Washington was a Catholic priest recently assigned to the 76th infantry division in Maryland.

Rev. George L. Fox was a Methodist minister highly decorated as a medical assistant in the First World war. 

The fourth chaplain was Dutch Reformed minister Clark V. Poling, son of Rev. Daniel A, Poling, Baptist minister and an advisor to U.S. President Harry S. Truman. 

The four chaplains were among the 672 who perished in the ocean that night. Only 232 survived, some possibly in the life jackets given to them by the chaplains.

After the Dorchester sinking Rev. Daniel Poling established the Chapel of Four Chaplains in the basement of his Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia. It was dedicated to selfless service and interfaith cooperation.

The chapel moved to different locations over the years and now is found at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard. 

In testimony before Congress, one survivor, Benjamin Epstein, reflected on what he had seen that night:

“To take off your life preserver, it meant you gave up your life. You would have no chance of surviving. They (the chaplains) knew they were finished. But they gave it away. Consider that. Over the years I’ve asked myself this question a thousand times. Could I do it?  No, I don’t think I could do it. Just consider what an act of heroism they performed.”

In a world that today seems to have gone crazy, I like to believe that the spirit of the four chaplains remains, giving us the courage and selflessness to help each other. 

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There’s been little to do during this winter’s days of c...

 There’s been little to do during this winter’s days of chilly grey overcast. So I’ve taken to thumbing through stacks of photo prints that have been gathering dust over many years, even decades.

I’m staring at a very interesting one: A snap of a curly-haired me in short pants standing in front of my parents, grandparents and great grandparents.

Four generations gathered together was unusual back then. Folks often didn’t live long enough to be pictured with great grandchildren, or even grandchildren. 

Sixty years ago the average Canadian could expect to live into their sixties, often not old enough to see their children’s children, and almost certainly not their grandchildren’s children.

Seeing three and four generations together is more likely nowadays as Canadian life expectancies have climbed into the low eighties. Rising life expectancy combined with falling birth rates have created a steady rise in the ratio of grandparents to grandchildren. 

A Finnish study shows that children born in 1860 shared on average four years of life with a grandmother and one year of life with a grandfather. A child born in 1950 shared an average 24 years of life with a grandmother and 13 years with a grandfather.

The Economist magazine reports that there now are 1.5 billion grandparents in the world compared with only half a billion in 1960. That means grandparents now make up 20 per cent of the world population compared with 17 per cent 60 years ago. It estimates there will be two billion grandparents by 2050, or 22 per cent of the population.

Canada, at the last estimate in 2017, had 7.5 million grandparents – 4.2 million grandmothers and 3.3 million grandfathers. Their average age in 2017 was 68, up from 65 in 1995.

So, we have entered the age of the grandparent. And, the rising ratio of grandparents to grandchildren is changing the way we live. 

More working mothers – more single parents in general – have created gaps in the time parents can spend raising their children. More people living longer, healthier lives has meant more grandparents available to help fill the gaps.  

Studies in the United Kingdom show that grandparents spend an average eight hours a week looking after grandchildren. Also, two-thirds of grandparents make financial contributions to their grandchildren’s upbringing.

Other studies show that the increasing involvement of grandparents in child care is not restricted to the U.K. It is being seen across Europe, Asia and North America.

Babysitting is small part of the contributions that growing numbers of grandparents are bringing to society.

Grandparents are important teachers in today’s complicated societies. They have many stories and experiences to share; stories that provide links to a child’s family and cultural heritage. 

Grandparents’ stories help children understand who they are and where they come from. And, grandparents’ experiences teach the upholding of traditions while passing along moral guidance.

Research at the University of Oxford has shown that children with a high level of grandparental involvement had fewer emotional and behavioural problems. Other studies have concluded that as many as nine out of 10 adult grandchildren feel their grandparents influenced their values and beliefs.

Grandchildren are more likely to listen to their grandparents more than their parents or other adults. That’s probably because parents and other adults such as teachers have to set and enforce rules that children might not like.  

Grandparents, who have little role as enforcers in children’s lives, get to listen, sympathize and comfort. They also try help children understand the adults making and enforcing the rules. 

Traditional grandparent thinking and roles are changing along with social and technological changes. 

The American Association of Retired People (AARP) says its surveys show that one in 20 grandparents now prefer their grandchildren to call them by their first name. Also, today’s grandparents are more accepting of grandchildren of a different race, ethnicity or sexualities.

A majority of grandparents surveyed by AARP said they would support a gay grandchild.

One thing that has not changed about grandparents over the centuries is an old Italian proverb that goes something like this: 

“If nothing is going well, call your grandmother.” 

Canada is winter country and we Canadians are winter peop...

Canada is winter country and we Canadians are winter people. So, I’m concerned about what is happening to our winters. 

Is the current one of above average temperatures, stretches of grey rain-snow drizzle and freaky storms just a fluke? Or is this a trend that will change our winter lives?

If just a fluke, it’s certainly an extended one. 

December saw only 16 days below freezing in Haliburton County, most only marginally below. The coldest daytime temperature last month was minus seven Celsius and there were 10 days of rain.

This has continued into January. The first half of the month saw mainly above normal temperatures and five days with at least a trace of rain. Forecasts indicate above average temperatures for the rest of the month.

Scientific data show temperatures are rising around the world. More importantly, winter temperatures are warming faster than temperatures in summer, spring or autumn.

The last eight Januarys (2017-2022) rank among the world’s 10 warmest Januarys on record. January 2022 was the 46th consecutive January and the 445th consecutive month with world temperatures above average.

If global warming is in fact making our winters less wintery, why are we still seeing record-breaking heavy snowfalls, plus bone-chilling temperatures in places that never have had them before?

In fact, say researchers, global warming is causing unusual cold in some places and extreme precipitation events, such as last month’s two- to three-foot snowfall, in others 

They say Arctic warming is creating a less stable jet stream, the strong west-to-east upper atmosphere winds that have been shifting north to south and changing usual weather patterns. Also, water temperatures are warmer and putting more moisture into the air.

Complicating things even more is the fact that snowpacks are getting smaller and melting earlier. Snow is an excellent reflector of sunlight and with fewer days of snow cover more sunlight is absorbed into and heating the ground. 

Some scientists believe that the winter we are experiencing now will be the norm in coming decades. Robert McLeman, professor of Environmental Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, wrote in the Globe and Mail recently that unless climate change is seriously addressed there will be no outdoor skating 50 years from now.

Warmer winters with more rain and less snow will have serious impact on winter sports other than outdoor ice skating. Ski resorts here and in Europe have been operating at reduced capacity because of the warmth. Winter is half over and some lakes still are not safely iced over to permit snowmobiling and ice fishing.

Warmer winters also affect our food supplies. Droughts, floods and soil loss make food production more difficult for farmers and ranchers.

Climate changes such as warmer waters can alter the ranges of many fish and shellfish species. Changing climate already has resulted in some marine disease outbreaks and Arctic warming is believed to be reducing salmon stocks in the Bering Sea.

Warmer winters also are affecting fruit and vegetable production, notably in California which has been suffering wild weather extremes. 

Many crops require a certain amount of cold weather, which producers call chill hours. Without that, pollination can be delayed or incomplete and reduce crop yields.

Even honey production is affected by warmer winter temperatures. If it is too warm in January, honeybees will leave their hives and the queens might start laying eggs. When they start burning energy in winter, bees eat too much of the honey stored for winter and face starvation..

Then, of course, there is the big threat to those who spend time in the woods – the bugs. 

Bugs don’t like the cold and longer, colder winters mean fewer of them hatching in spring. Warmer winters allow frozen bug eggs to hatch sooner, producing clouds of new bugs to emerge and begin irritating us earlier in spring.

But bugs can be more than irritating. Some mosquito species carry dangerous diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, Zika and West Nile.

There is concern that a warmer, wetter climate will bring more mosquitoes and the diseases they carry further north.

The federal Public Health Agency has said that mosquito-borne diseases have increased 10 per cent Canada in last 20 years, largely due to climate change.

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