Hospitals getting close to critical
Hospitals here are getting close to a critical moment when decisions will have to be made who to prioritize to live. TVA is leaning on the story of one woman whose heart operation has been postponed because of Covid, contrasting it with the sexual reassignment surgery being offered to convicted murderer Jamie (once John) Boulachanis.
Since Christmas, more homeless folks are testing positive for Covid and shelters are having trouble finding room to get people off the streets for curfew. Monday evening, representatives of groups championing the homeless held a protest to make the point that curfew is particularly hard on itinerants but – they claim – does little to stem the pandemic. People running shelters say police have been tolerant so far of those who appear to have nowhere to go after 8 p.m.
Update: Some say the homeless should get vaccination priority.
david244 23:42 on 2021-01-12 Permalink
I don’t think you have to be a Klu Klux Klan member to wonder at a health system that prioritized the sex change of a murderous tranny over life-saving heart surgeries. And the argument I heard about different surgeons with different specialties ignores the huge number of support staff involved. It’s just very very strange and totally indefensible. Instead of defending it, the change should be made so that it doesn’t happen.
Also, on the curfew, a key curfew goal is basically to give people nothing to do at night. Basically, if everything’s closed, they can’t engage in the sort of risky behavior that people get up to when the sun goes down. Do we need to arrest curfew violators? No. Does a lack of enforcement and/or impunity for violators lead to an increase in precisely the sorts of disease-spreading behaviors the curfew is imposed to avoid? Obviously, yes.
MarcG 00:05 on 2021-01-13 Permalink
‘Tranny’ is a hateful word, ya klansman.
Kate 11:10 on 2021-01-13 Permalink
david∞ – I was metacommenting more on the implicit QMI-style contrast in those two stories. Obviously the fact that Boulachanis’s surgery won’t be taking place in a heart institute is the thing you need to keep your eye on.
The argument for giving prisoners sex changes is that if you don’t, they can become suicidal. I don’t really understand the full logic, since I didn’t think a non-convict could get sex reassignment on the RAMQ for the asking, but maybe they can. I hear of people saving up for them, but maybe that’s more for the additional cosmetic procedures.
Michael Black 11:28 on 2021-01-13 Permalink
Being in prison is punishment, but I guess there’s a level of responsibility towards the prisoners. So perhaps there’s obligation that doesn’t exist in the outside world.
When I spent a weekend in jail in 1979, they issued either free cigarettes, or tobacco, I can’t remember which. I wasn’t offered an alternative. There had to be a reason, thiugh I gather the policy later changed.