Health Update-- My Swine Flu experience

I am over the worst!

My fever has broken and I am on the path to recovery. I am not yet back to normal and am still suffering from a variety of ailments including stiffness, lethargy and headaches.

It is as the health officials promised - a couple of bad days and then recovery.

What they never mentioned is how terrible those couple of days are.

Do yourself a favour, run don't walk. Get the shot.

Incidentally, minutes after posting yesterday's piece of my Swine flu predicament, my blog was flooded by automated bots posting to the comments section, hawking all sorts of phony H1N1 remedies.
I removed them all, but sheesh, is there no decency out there?

AHHHHHHH!!!!! I have Swine Flu!!!

After a weekend of celebrating that included attending a large family function at a downtown supper club, it was back to work Monday.

Everything was normal until I stopped to pump some gas at a Decarie Boulevard Shell station. I hadn't felt great that morning, but chalked it up to a hangover.

Having just completed the transaction, I returned to my car when I was slammed by a wave of nausea that literally knocked me down.

I started heaving and ran over to a patch of grass off to the side where I promptly puked my guts out. I sat in the drivers seat with the door open trying to regain my bearings, but the world was spinning badly. I threw up again, and again.

After a few minutes, I regained enough composure to turn my car around and go home, where a fever started to build until it hit 104° later that evening.

There was no doubt- I had contracted the dreaded H1N1 disease. WTF!!!!!

Like every other idiot, I assumed that Swine flu is what happens to someone else.

A couple of days in bed is what authorities told us to expect, but what they didn't warn us is how incredibly painful it is.

As I write this, my temperature is down to 101°, and stable but showing no sign of abating. While the worst is over, I'm shocked by how bad the ordeal of Swine flu is.

Monday night was pure Hell as I lay in bed suffering from fever induced hallucinations that made a bad LSD trip feel like a cakewalk.
Three day after getting sick, things are getting better but my condition remains ten times worse than any regular flu. The unremitting fever is the hardest part to deal with.

For most people, H1N1 it may not be life threatening, but it is terribly painful and debilitating.

If you're considering skipping the vaccine based on the fact that H1N1 is not that dangerous, think again.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

I've taken these few minutes of lucidity to cast a warning, but alas, as my head starts to spin again, I'm off to bed. I hope this nightmare is over soon!...

I shall post the rest of the week with stuff I previously prepared...

When are Reasonable Accommodations Unreasonable?

This week Montreal's daily La Presse published the results of a poll that sampled Quebeckers opinion on the 'Reasonable Accommodations" debate, as it is known in Quebec. The results were not unexpected, with a large majority against the idea of making any concessions to non-white or non-Christian minorities.

Ever since Quebec became home to a large amount of non-Catholic immigrants, friction has been building. The majority of Quebeckers believe that it is not only incumbent upon newcomers to use French as their primary language, but also to adopt the values of Quebec society as well.
What that means in practice is that immigrants are expected to give up the 'old ways' of their homelands and embrace 'Quebec' values and mores.

Last year, in response to a backlash against immigrants, the Quebec government set up a comission (BOUCHARD-TAYLOR) to look into the reasonable accomodation debate. The commission turned into a bit of a fiasco and became a forum for yahoos and racists to vent their rage at minorities and immigrants.

By the way, what is a reasonable accomodation?
Simply put, it is special treatment for an individual or group that is not afforded to the majority.

Here are some examples of what I'm sure you'll agree with me are reasonable accommodations;

• Wheel-chaired bound people are provided exclusive use of specially designed bathrooms.
• Children and seniors who generally have less money than every one else are given discounts that others cannot share.
• Blind people may take their seeing-eye dogs into public buildings and on public transportation that ban animals.

Let's review the La Presse poll.

ACCORDING TO YOU, DOES QUEBEC AFFORD TOO MANY, TOO LITTLE OR JUST ABOUT THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS?
Too much 68%
Enough 16%
Not Enough 7%
Don't know 8%

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE BOUCHARD TAYLOR COMMISSION CLARIFIED THE SITUATION IN REGARDS TO REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS?
Yes 7%
No 72%
Uncertain 21%

DO YOU PERSONALLY MAKE ACCOMMODATIONS BASED ON RELIGION?
Almost every day 5%
A couple of times a month 9%
A couple of times a year 17%
Rarely 40%
Never 30%

SHOULD A PERSON BE ALLOWED TO WEAR A RELLIGIOUS MEDALLION...

IN SCHOOL? IN PUBLIC PLACES

Yes 19% Yes 35%
No 76% No 59%
Uncertain 5% Uncertain 7%

At WORK? IN HOSPITAL

Yes 19% Yes 25%
No 74% No 70%
Uncertain 7% Uncertain 5%

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT A DIFFERENT MENU CAN BE OFFERED IN A DAYCARE?
Yes 37%
No 57%
Uncertain 5%

....THAT A FEMALE DOCTOR BE PROVIDED UPON REQUEST?
Yes 37%
No 59%
Uncertain 4%

....THAT A MALE DRIVING INSTRUCTOR BE PROVIDED UPON REQUEST?
Yes 14%
No 81%
Uncertain 5%

....THAT BOYS AND GIRLS BE SEPARATED IN SWIMMING POOLS?
Yes 7%
No 90%
Uncertain 3%

....THAT A HOLIDAY FOR A NON-CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY BE PROVIDED?
Yes 34%
No 57%
Uncertain 9%

....THAT A PRAYER ROOM BE PROVIDED IN A PUBLIC BUILDING (CEGEP, UNIVERSITY, AT WORK ?)
Yes 20%
No 76%
Uncertain 4%

....THAT THE HIJAB BE ALLOWED TO BE WORN WHILE WORKING IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE?
Yes 64%
No 28%
Uncertain 8%

So how do you compare?

Let me finish today's post with a case of reasonable accommodation which I'll let you be the judge of;

A local mosque makes a request of city council to install loudspeakers into the minaret so that they can call people to prayers. You've all seen the scene on television where a loud droning voice is played over a loudspeaker ad nauseum. For a non-Muslim it's quite grating.
The Imam promises that out of respect for the community and as a compromise, they will only use the system once a week, on Friday's and sometimes on special occasions and holidays.

The council considers the request. One or two liberal councillors seem to be okay with the idea, but the majority are outraged.

"Let them keep their religion to themselves. Why bother the whole neighbourhood?"
"We're not the Middle East here!"
"It's an unacceptable intrusion."
"It's noise pollution"
..and so on and so on....

How would you vote?

If you are like most, you'd probably vote against the request. If you are of that mind I'd like you to consider this;
.
.
.
.
.

Should Church bells be banned?

What's reasonable to you, may not be reasonable at all. It's a matter of perspective and so the debate rages on.

101,000 Called Upon to Protest Supreme Court Decision - 60 Show Up.

In a piece entitled 101,000 Quebeckers in the Street retired FLQ terrorist Pierre Schneider called for a massive demonstration in front of the offices of Montreal lawyer Brent Tyler, the man who argued and won the Supreme Court decision overturning Quebec's Bill 104.

French language zealots remain furious that the law that plugged a loophole in Bill 101, allowing families to circumvent the law that previously disqualified their children from receiving an English education, had been overturned.

While they rage at the Supreme Court, militants conveniently forget that the case had already been adjudicated by Quebec courts, (twice) with the families winning each time.
After the Quebec court of Appeals, the province's highest court, ruled against the government, there were no demonstrations at all.
Perhaps it makes sense. Who would protesters protest against?

But ever since the big bad Supreme Court of Canada confirmed the decision, it's off to the races for the fanatics.
It's time to blame the English!!!

If you are thinking that my headline calling Mr. Schneider a terrorist is a case of hyperbole or journalistic exaggeration, you are wrong.

Mr. Schneider is truly a retired FLQ terrorist who served time for the placement of a bomb which exploded in the hands of police officer Walter Leja, who was trying to dismantle it, in Westmount on May 18, 1963.

Today Mr. Schneider is rehabilitated, yet unrepentant.
He is an editor at the Montreal daily newspaper "Le Journal de Montreal" and has shifted his support to the Réseau de Résistance du Québécois (RRQ,) one of Quebec's most militant sovereignist/French language groups.

His call for 101,000 demonstrators is symbolic, the reality is that these demonstrations usually bring out less than a couple of hundred people.

This time estimates of the crowd pegged the demonstrators at about 60, of which a fair number were undercover police officers.

By the way, does it annoy you as much as it does me, that this unrepentant ex-terrorist is free?

Had he committed his terrorist act in the U.S. he'd still be making license plates.

Fearless Prediction --Bergeron Will Win Montreal Mayoralty Race

It's always easy to comment about why this one or that won an election after the fact. We all know the old chestnut about hindsight.

This week many people have asked me who will win the race and truthfully I wasn't sure until I saw the poll released this week that called the race to close to call.

Richard Bergeron had a stunning rise in support that turned the two horse race into a decidedly three-way affair.

Most Montrealers are sick over the choice between a separatist and an incompetent.
There is absolutely no justification for re-electing Mr. Tremblay, in consideration of the recent appalling revelations of corruption. But voting for a sovereignist is a cup of poison few federalists just can stomach.
A guest (I can't recall who) on Friday's Tommy Schnurmacher Show on Montreal's CJAD radio pointed out;"Between a mobster and a separatist, I'll go with the Mob!"

Richard Bergeron is a lefty new age candidate who is more known for his kooky conspiracy theories (he's a 9-1-1 Truther) than his political platform.

But recently, people are starting to make allowances. After all, our illustrious Prime Minister McKenzie King was nuttier than a fruitcake, holding séances and such not while ruling the country.

Mr. Bergeron has Judge Gomery on his side and nobody has a more honourable reputation for honesty than he, especially in Montreal. He also has a pretty good command of English. So what if he's kookoo.

People who were looking to reject Harel and Tremblay, needed a viable alternative. The latest poll will catapult those sitting on the fence over to Bergeron's side.

I therefore boldly predict that he will win the election with close to 40% of the vote and become Montreal's next mayor.

I can live with it.
The alternatives are worse.

By the way, if I'm wrong, I will make no apologies.

Have a good weekend!