Isebrand

Newfoundland joins Canada: the 31st of March 1949

 

Congratulations, Newfoundland. The island entity of Newfoundland joined Canada on this day, March 31, in 1949.

 

Newfoundland had effectively relinquished self-rule in 1934, the only British dominion ever to have gained and then to have relinquished its self-governing status, thereby becoming a dependency of the U.K. This ended 79 years of self-government, though de jure Newfoundland remained an independent dominion until it joined Canada. In fact, from the enactment of 1931’s Statute of Westminster until joining Canada, Newfoundland’s flag was no longer its own distinctive version of the Red Ensign but simply the Union Flag (Union Jack) of the United Kingdom. 

 

On 6 December 2001, an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada to change the name of the province of Newfoundland to Newfoundland and Labrador, the flag of which in vexillological terms is not complicated per se but perhaps a bit...I don't know, to be honest. It's distinctive, anyway.

 

 

 

Virus Hunter

When I read Virus Hunter (1998) about 15 years ago, I found it fascinating and a bit scary. But mostly fascinating. Now...not so much. More scary. Its author, Dr. C. J. Peters, now 90 years old, worked for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Ever since reading that book, every time I hear the word "outbreak" in the news, my ears perk up. Since then, I've not been one to just ignore news about Ebola, SARS, swine flu (SIV), "bird flu" and other outbreaks—or about the occasional isolated case of plague, or about antibiotic-resistant bacterial diseases, and similar things. And each time, I'm grateful that what I'm hearing or reading about is not what I think of as "the big one"—some sort of new, highly contagious viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) or a virulent bacterial scourge like the Black Death.

(At one point in the past after reading this book, because of this book, I bought—not much—stock in Clorox. The word "bleach" seems to be on about every third page of the book.)

This novel coronavirus will kill many people. It might kill me or people I know. Most people will be left physically untouched by it. Most who get it will have mild symptoms. But, no matter how bad this novel coronavirus ends up being, the world needs to wake up to the fact that this novel coronavirus is light action, a trifle, compared to what is theoretically possible. I think of it exactly the way some people think of "The Big One" meaning a massive California earthquake. I truly believe it's only a matter of time, not if but when. I hope it isn't in my lifetime or the lifetime of anyone I know. I hope I'm wrong and it never happens at all. But you know what? Cutting funding to research and defense programs related to disease (and bio attacks) is just not, not, not a good idea.

Anyway, thank you Col. Peters for your work.

More on C. J. Peters here: https://www.statnews.com/2018/02/20/virus-hunter-cj-peters/