U.S. President Donald Trump is flip-flopping on his tariffs against Canada and Mexico so often that one wonders if he or some of his oligarch buddies are benefitting from speculating on the stock market.
Trump put the tariffs in place for two days last week, then abruptly pulled most of them back, after the stock markets plunged.
He claims tariffs are going to make America great again, a tired Trump slogan that he conveniently uses for most every decision he makes.
Meantime, real people suffer. Jobs are lost, economic panic sets in; and then he pulls back.
Kudos on Chatham-Kent officials for lobbying people to buy local, shop local. We all should have been doing that for years.
Notice fewer delivery trucks going through your neighbourhood these days? We have. Jeff Bezos of Amazon has enough money in his pockets.
Focus local whenever possible. It benefits us all.
And take the time to understand “local.” Who owns that business? Do they even have an office in Chatham-Kent, let alone a head office?
Look no further than local media. We are one of several independent newspapers in C-K that are headquartered here. One chain, Post Media, does not have an office in Chatham-Kent and is more than 76% owned by one U.S. hedge fund and a private U.S. investor.
Buy local, shop local.
And a final reminder to local businesses and the municipality: Meta and Google are not local, so utilizing these platforms for advertising while advocating for others to buy local and shop local is hypocritical.
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It’s so preventable.
That’s the word from health officials on the measles.
Get a vaccination. Protect yourself, and others, from exposure.
Simple.
Yet how is it we have measles outbreaks in modern society? The vaccine was invented and introduced more than six decades ago.
According to the World Health Organization, measles is one of the most contagious diseases humans have ever faced. It poses significant health risks.
We came so far. In 2016, North and South America were declared free of endemic measles.
That declaration lasted all of two years.
But the resurgence is not just in lesser-developed countries far south of us. We’re seeing an annoying spike in Canada; in Ontario; in our area.
First, Chatham-Kent Public Health reported potential exposure in the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Emergency Department in late January. Next, this past week, we find that a student had been attending a local school for about a month while afflicted with the measles.
We’re not alone, however.
Public Health Ontario reports that between 2013 and 2023 there were 101 confirmed cases of measles reported in Ontario. In the first two months of 2025, there have been 119 confirmed cases and 23 probable cases of measles in Ontario.
The vast majority of those afflicted were unvaccinated against the illness.
Get jabbed. Get your children jabbed.
