Disclaimer, for the first time since early Covid restrictions were imposed, I read the entire editorial section in my local newspaper. My synopsis of that Alberni Valley News, May 18th, 2022 edition follows.

Four things; the main editorial, critical of ‘some’ protests, Mr Smith’s letter to the editor, critical of billionaires that don’t give away their fortunes, The Black Press lament of being charged recycling fees, and finally, the boilerplate “To Comment” regular insert.

As I have little to say that is not critical of the government’s Covid responses, Mr Trudea’s inept and dictatorial leadership and an opinion that supports the trucker’s Freedom Convoy, subjects that have become tabu in local and most legacy media.

I’m posting this as an exercise in writing here instead.

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As Mr Smith’s letter was the trigger, I begin with it. Firstly, he places a halo on Mr Neil Degrasse Tyson, an evaluation I don’t share for which an explanation is in my conclusion. Mr Tyson trivializes Jeff Bazos’ creation, Blue Origin and its first flight with human cargo as ‘a six billion dollar, millionaires non-event, reaching only 60 miles in altitude.’

Again, disclaimer, I’m no fan of some of Mr Bezos’s dealings outside of Amazon or Blue Origin but put my critical red quill to paper over Mr Tyson’s ‘trivializing’ comment on that epic first flight.

The vehicle, New Shepherd 4, flawlessly, charges straight up to 60 miles from earth in a matter of a couple of minutes reaching Mach3 and, flawlessly releases the capsule with its human cargo. On board are; supremely confident Mr Bezos, his brother, 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk and first paying customer Oliver Daemen.

The vehicle landed gently some 7 minutes after takeoff a safe quarter mile from where it left the earth, flawlessly, under full control, ready, needing but a safety checkout and fuel, for reuse, fulfilling Mr Bezos’s mission statement, Launch. Land. Repeat.

The capsule, in turn, carried onward by momentum, gave the occupants a brief 3 minutes of weightlessness, a taste of living in space if you will before the drag induced by reentering the atmosphere lets gravity regain its hold. After about 7 minutes, 3 parachutes deployed, flawlessly, and the slowed capsule gave an additional puff of air, reducing the speed to 3 miles per hour and gently touched down.

I challenge those who say Mr Bezos’s accomplishment is trivial; fill your boots, put your money where your mouth is, and duplicate that event yourself. You can then condemn with knowledge rather than ignorance.

That Mr Smith writes from the wasteland of the ill-informed can be expected given that he used the brain of Mr Tyson for his information. That Mr Tyson is ill-informed is inexcusable as he claims expertise in physics.

And the grabber headline, pulled from Mr Smith’s rant, speaks volumes for the destructive social attitude, oh so many people have been fed by resentful educators, that making money is evil and giving it away is salvation. Ya right, as if a fortune is not earned by providing goods and services at the best available cost. Everyone that uses Amazon does so because they couldn’t find a more attractive place to spend their money.

And what about those who work for Amazon, are they not exploited? The Karl Marx fan club would surely claim these folks are wage slaves to the evil Mr Bezos. I shudder when I think of how many sightless people inhabit our world, that they will poke out their own eyes before admitting that every worker has a pair of feet and can walk away from any work situation they don’t like.

But it is truly discouraging to see that very few people ever learn that fallacy of transferring wealth, to think that by taking money for those who have some and giving it to those who have less, societal ills can be solved. A failed history, never learned, because it doesn’t match a virtue-signalling world.

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On to the rest of the paper, and firstly, the main editorial. ‘When protests turn into stunts’ utterly fails the logical consistency test. The expectation that only certain protests are valid echoes the bias of our most disingenuous prime minister. We are not all the same. Get over the idea that only your opinion counts.

A properly placed protest is one that is organized at the most effective location, the central location that draws the most sympathy to the cause and applies the most pressure on those who have the ability to enact the changes desired. Yes, it fails when aggravating the people one seeks support from.

That said, there is always a mixed bag of supporters and opponents. Each of us has a bias that will dictate where we place our personal support. My support was with the truckers while yours is not. Such is life on the protest line.

Only time will tell whether actions are effective or counter-productive.

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Gee, ‘Wounds from government insanity cause pain’ would make a better headline than “Newspapers are not packaging.” Reason has never prevailed in government recycling rules and newspapers, as containers of ideas, have ignored the irrational and offered tons of copies in support of the bureaucratic mandates encompassed in the name of recycling.

Possibly if you had been critical of past stupidity you’d have my sympathy. As it is, I say poetic justice, having to wear the same shoe that you previously polished.

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Finally, the boilerplate, ‘To comment.’ “We welcome your original comments on … any subjects important to you.” Violation of that code has caused me to ignore and end my endorsement of your newspaper. The fact that you support the most egregious act of censorship in the history of this country spells the demise of not only your newspaper but all legacy media that has taken government money and stopped criticizing a dysfunctional group of manipulators.

You did not welcome any comments critical of our loss of freedom over the irrational Covid mandates.

A late afterthought:

When Covid 19 suspended reasoning and unleashed a flood of mini dictatorship on western society, the many voices predicting economic disaster from the kneejerk lockdowns were ignored. Watching the various governments in action, now at the close of summer ’22, it seems the lesson has yet to be learned.