Miscellany ...

Some items from the news …

Our very best and belated wishes go out to Yvonne Jones as she takes more time for herself and her recovery from breast cancer. I think most of us who have had experience with chemo-therapy (either personal or indirect) know how much it can take out of a person. For Yvonne to try to soldier on says a great deal about her personal integrity. She needs to take the time now to work on her personal recovery, knowing that the good wishes of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are with her. God speed!

The campaign to replace her is beginning to take on a bit of race quality. Latest candidate to enter is that man of all parties, Brad Cabana. First he wanted to be PC leader and now Liberal leader. Stay tuned for an announcement from him when Lorraine Michael announces her retirement a few years after she forms the next government.

Eastern Health has re-hired a suspended psychiatrist who had his Newfoundland medical license suspended. The College of Physicians & Surgeons found that Dr. Mohamed Mekawy erred by prescribing pills to patients in the US via the internet whom he had never met and by responding falsely in a 2008 application to have his Newfoundland and Labrador medical licence renewed. (No comment from the Medical School as to whether the doctor will be able to continue teaching medical students who should be learning about ethics in medical practice at this stage.)

Stephen Harper’s senior staff members are denying reports that the Prime Minister locked himself in a bathroom in Brazil and refused to come out until he got his way in a protocol issue. It was first reported by a Brazilian newspaper and Canadian reporters travelling with the Prime Minister on his latest photo-op tour say they don’t know if it’s true. The fact that his office is denying may suggest there’s something to it. There are suggestions this is not the first time the Prime Minister has done the bathroom door locking thing.