READERS WRITE

Debunking the Florida property myth

Time to debunk the myth about attending to real estate in Florida. Buying and selling can be done electronically. Most Canadians holding property in Florida have neighbours or someone they pay to check the condition of their properties on a regular basis for insurance purposes. Similarly, if there is an event requiring repair, the same neighbours can get quotes and supervise the work. I held property in Florida for 15 years and have done all of the above long distance. Dave Williams, Hamilton

Will CNN survive without Trump?

Over 70 million Americans have to realize that this is the end of the line for president when he is proscribed and impeached by almighty Twitter. What the priestess of black magic Pelosi couldn’t do, Twitter can. How come up they didn’t think of this?

Only one very important question remains: will CNN cease to exist? In the last four years Trump was their sole purpose and reason for their existence.

Ivan Skradski Hamilton

Spend money on testing, not advertising

I am curious, and critical, about the government strategy of spending millions on media ads to constantly tell us to wear masks and wash your hands. At this point, I am pretty sure people are doing these things, unless they don’t care. Nevertheless, they are doubtful to start now after seeing yet another reminder. It seems to me that this money could more effectively be spent on more frequent and effective testing procedures.

Cathy Hillgren, Hamilton

Dyer too smart by half

Gwynne Dyer’s assertion that universal democracy among humankind is inevitable even if it exists in only 50 per cent of nation states today is really only a bold assumption on his part. Whether humankind can survive on this planet for another 3,000 years in order to prove his theory correct is another assumption that is highly questionable. Dyer is a very smart guy, but sometimes I wonder if he is not too smart by half. For one thing he seems oblivious to the darkness that lurks in the human condition. Victorian poet, Francis Thompson observed that “All man’s Babylon’s strive but to impart/The grandeurs of his Babylonian heart.” Until we are able to fully acknowledge and manage the egotism and the drive toward empire building that exists in the human heart, the road ahead will continue to be bumpy.

David McInnis, Ancaster

Creative thinking lacking on vaccinations

Your headline of Jan. 8 reads “Ontario received148,350 doses of COVID-19 doses as of Dec. 31but administered only 50,030 doses by Jan. 4” That’s about 1/3 of the available doses. In the meantime our fathers and mothers continue to die, our schools continue to do online learning at great cost to students and parents, our economy continues to suffer and in one way or another every life has been disrupted.

As a retired administrator and organizer may I suggest the following:

Rent more and much larger facilities with adequate and free parking as injection sites, and allow for mobility. Hire retired nurses, doctors, dentists and veterinarians, and administrators to help out at these sites on a need-based schedule. Open these sites 24 hours a day in eight-hour shifts, seven days a week as the RNAO calls for.

If the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine presently available cannot be moved have patients come to the injection sites, and if that is not possible bus them in. If seniors in LTCs are not in need of the vaccine at the available location go to your next priority which are those seniors 80 years and older.

Sitting on the vaccine makes absolutely no sense. Organizers need much more flexibility and some creative thinking. Our world has been up-side-down for almost a year. We now have the means to bring an end to this thing.

Margaret Buma, Hamilton

Ford’s lack of understanding to blame

As I sit reading about the record numbers of coronavirus positive tests, I have to say that the responsibility for this lies at the hands of the premier who was in my opinion (A) too stupid or (B) too far up the backsides of the business people of Ontario to start the lockdown before Christmas. I also think he should have shut down all of southern Ontario at the same time as he did Toronto which would have stopped a lot of the migration of shoppers. With his refusal to do this he left it open for people to do what they wanted to get their Christmas shopping done at the risk of spreading the virus. I believe that we will now have to spend longer in lockdown to make up for his lack of understanding.

Ed March, Hamilton

Politicians ignoring their own advice

Funny thing about politicians. They keep saying that every decision they make is guided by public health.

They don’t take the advice themselves and travel anyway. I am supposed to be thankful my government is screening international travellers and offering free optional COVID tests while my parents in their 80s have no idea when where or how they will receive the vaccination.

Robin Magder Pierce, Hamilton

CEO acted like an entitled executive

HILO: An acronym of honesty, integrity, loyalty and obedience, which I was taught in officer candidate school in 1980. Emphasized was that loyalty must to our superiors, our peers, and to our subordinates. Actualizing this concept is crucial to good leadership. By taking a family trip to the Dominican Republic over the holidays, St. Joe’s CEO Dr. Tom Stewart failed as a leader because he did not follow any of the principles of HILO. In particular, he acted as an entitled executive, without loyalty to his peers and subordinates at the pointy end of his pandemic.

Major Steve Bem (retired), Dundas