I was delayed by some COVID19 booster shot side effects, and couldn't prepare the show. So here's a brief discussion on New Year's Resolutions!

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This week Ontario has entered a COVID 19 lockdown for the third time. Schools are closed and only offering online learning, staff must work from home if possible, Restaurants are closed and only offering take-out, and social gatherings have been outlawed once again. Doug Ford has taken this extreme action as over 40,000 Ontarians have tested positive on Tuesday, January 4.

Are these restrictions to much? And with an election coming on June 2 in Ontario what impact will this have on Doug Ford's chances for re-election?

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao

Once again we are wrapping up the year with a review of where we've been and where we are going. 

We will be back Wednesday January 5, 2022 at 1pm EST!

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao

This week the new Omicron variant of COVID 19 has taken over the world. Closing borders once again, causing chaos and havoc for travelers and raising new levels of fear to people around the world. Canada has banned travel to 10 African countries, and many western nations are also adding their own strict border closures and travel bans to some of the poorest nations in the world, and I have to ask the question "would we close the borders if this was found in any other country?" and further to that why are Canadians still travelling when we have 7 cases identified here?

As world leaders scramble to decide what to do, the South African scientists have said that the variant doesn't appear to be very dangerous at all! But what are we supposed to do with this information and how are we supposed to move forward with other potential viral variants in the future?

As well this week Quebec syrup farmers have released a massive amount of maple syrup from reserves to meet global demand. 

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao

As parliament reopens this week there are some significant events to look into. For starters the Governor General is, for the first time ever, a member of the indigenous community. Her opening speech was well delivered and direct, and I have high hopes for the impact she may have on this government.

As well we are faced with the issue of vaccines in the house of commons. As I predicted 2 months ago, the safety committee agreed to require all members of the house to be vaccinated in order to attend or have verified medical exemptions. The problem is of course that an undisclosed number of Conservative MPs have yet to be fully vaccinated (and may not have any intention of doing so), and under Canadian law not only do our MPs need to sit in Ottawa a certain number of dates each year, but they have no ability to function within our system and vote remotely.

How is Erin O'Toole going to handle this, and what is the fallout going to be? I can tell you one thing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is quite pleased that the conversation is no longer about him!

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao

As the jury is sequestered and debating the future for the Black Lives matter Kenosha Wi shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, we need to discuss the impact this case is having on the politics of not only the United States, but the entire western world. To me this is a generic double homicide case and really has no interesting story behind it, but the media is actively following it and trying to make him into either a martyr on the right or a super villain on the left.

I believe this is a result of the 24 hour news channels, which constantly need content and stories to discuss, even if they don't have any relevance or impact on the viewers. I am deeply saddened to see that the world is completely wrapped up in this case, and it seems that people are more interested in being mad at the other side than they are in hearing about interesting news. With the upcoming supreme court decision on abortion in the U.S. it blows my mind that we've spent over a year learning about the life of a dumb teenager at a BLM rally.

How can we overcome this difference, and how can we work our way back to a state of decency between political adversaries?

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao

With a slow news week I've taken a dive into the climate discussions at the G20 summit and the lack of participation from Chinese dictator Xi Jinping. The world is beginning to target Chinese regulation of climate action, but I believe there is a deeper story here and a more important conversation have. I believe that China now sees itself as not a world power to be involved in the G20, but THE world power who doesn't need to attend a conference where others will attack their leader anymore. This is a big shift politically and may have deep and long lasting ramifications. 

As well this week I close with a discussion on the separations in society caused by individuals not wanting to have difficult conversations with each other anymore. Many topics such as racism, global warming and vaccinations all have one "proper" opinion and any others are shut down. I see this as a path to a less educated society, where we are meant to believe a truth without question and we aren't teaching youth how to look at evidence and realize that we live in a racist society. Instead we push a conclusion and worry about the evidence later. What is my opinion on this? You'll have to listen to find out.

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao

This week we investigate the rising price of gas, with a forward projection in Canada of an average over $1.75/liter! Why is it going up? From political factors, to ever changing economics, there are a number of factors to consider. It is also important to discuss the taxes currently imposed on fuel here in Canada and Ontario, including changes made by Prime minister Justin Trudeau and Premiere Doug Ford, in their apparent battle to increase and decrease the costs respectively.

Lastly, I decided to look into the reasons behind the tax increases levied by the federal government. Why would they make a change that so directly impact the middle class? Their apparent political base. And how could microchip processing possibly be involved in making the federal governments long-term plan a useless one?

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao

This week there is some big news starting with daylight savings time, as another push to stop the clocks from changing here in Ontario has begun. Time will tell (pun intended) if this will be successful, but for now we prepare to move the clocks again on November 7.

As well, as of the posting date, BC healthcare workers who aren't yet vaccinated are suspended without pay as of this morning. There are over 4,000 workers now without a job, making up around 3% of all healthcare workers in British Columbia. The province is doing what they can to find a way to replace these workers, but there will be fallout from this in the near future for sure!

Lastly this week we need to discuss the idea that Facebook is not being a good corporate citizen, and is prioritizing revenues over user satisfaction. I am quite confused at this, because every business student EVER will know that corporate management's fiduciary duty is to maximize shareholder revenues. We need to discuss what exactly the issue here is, and if we should be hoping or expecting any change to come from the social media conglomerate.

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao

On Monday this week Premiere Doug Ford told immigrants:

"If you think you're coming to collect the dole and sit around, it’s not going to happen. Go somewhere else.”

This comes while Ontario is in a job shortage of 290,000 jobs, and shortly after making a plea for more foreign workers to come and fill the much needed job openings around the province. This out of the blue attack was apparently un-provoked and it raises many questions about the real feelings of the leader, while there appears to be no obvious reason for telling immigrants to both come and work here and to also not come and expect any help from us.

As well this week it was confirmed that the federal parliament buildings in Ottawa will require any individuals entering to be fully vaccinated. This shouldn't be an issue as most federal parties have required all individuals who ran for office this year to be fully vaccinated, except for the Conservatives Party of Canada. The CPC has not disclosed hoe many sitting MPs are not vaccinated and it will soon be reveled. This will of course be a problem because this means that some elected members of parliament will be completely unable to exercise any power in Ottawa because of their vaccination status. What will the result of this be and how will constituents react?

Thank you all for your continued support. you can find the new merchandise at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com/store Let us know what you think over on social media and subscribe to find for more episodes each and every Wednesday at 1pm EST. Reach me on the contact page at www.laughtolearnpodcast.com on Instagram and Facebook @laughtolearn or twitter @jacobpavao