Steve Ramsey Oral History, 2022/07/16

Self Description - "Well, I go by Steve Ramsey. I'm a medical cinematographer. I have a PhD in Public Health and Health Science from Wisconsin University and my master's degree in medical ultrasound from Charles Sturt University and in Australia and [inaudible] University Australia. My BSc in diagnostic imaging, also from Charles Stewart university in Australia, and I've got multiple diplomas. I got diploma in radiography from Canada, diploma and cinematography in Canada. I got diploma in natural health and multiple certification, mostly ultrasound, vascular, cardiovascular and general sonography. And my main work now is MSK, musculoskeletal stonography, joints and nerve and I work here in Grand Prairie with a pain management and a radiologist. I do 90% of MSK muscle, tendons, joints and nerves, and of course the general sonography I write a lot I have my own blog. It's mixed between Parapsychology and psychology and the paranormal zone. And I do a lot of psychology writing in my blog, and I publish a lot in medical ultrasound in USA, UK, Italy and with mostly medical journal journals and deal with ultrasound diagnostic imaging. And I presented many lectures in Japan Korea, Italy, my original language I'm a mixed race mix between Macedonia and Greek, mother's side and Lebanese father side. So I speak Arabic I speak Greek. So English as you know, it's not my first language. It's kind of hard but you know, it took me a long time to conquer the English language is one of the most difficult one."

Some of the issues we discussed include:
Losing work in healthcare at the beginning of the pandemic; bars staying open when clinics were closed.
CERB not compensating for those with higher incomes pre-pandemic.
Breaking a mortgage, moving from Calgary to Grande Prairie during the pandemic.
Medical professionals respecting patients’ COVID-masking boundaries.
COVID-19 as a possible chemical/biological warfare retaliation against Trump tariffs on China.
Historical examples of chemical warfare and colonial diseases provoking distress and vaccine resistance.
Distrust of capitalist and communist governments; medical policies emerging before there is sufficient scientific data.
Trump protecting the American economy and dismissing science; Trudeau trusting science and abandoning the Canadian economy.
Reactionary anti-Asian racism, coming to terms with prejudice, and slowly mending friendships and earning back trust.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Health Officer in Canada.
Being manipulated by the media and fake news.
Comparisons between fear of COVID-19 transmission to healthcare workers and the fear of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s.
Having experienced severe respiratory illness in 2019; retrospective chest x-rays examinations.
Fear of COVID and adverse vaccination effects when living with cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes; deciding to get vaccinated.
Natural remedies for the immune system: turmeric and ginger.
Growing up in Iraq and the impact of the Iran-Iraq war; having family members killed by Iranians and enduring anger against Iranians; the American war in Iraq.
Worrying about family overseas, sending money and support back to people who have comparatively access to nothing.
Mixing science and religion; God protecting humanity.
Fire and disease occurring for a reason: the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; fear of God’s wrath; plagues and diseases as the soldiers of God.
God and population control; capitalist benefiting from more laboring poor.
Studying histories’ losers.
Colonialism and a creation of fanatics: murders of Indigenous peoples in the Americas; Holland and Belgium and the maiming of Africans; France mining in Mali; England in India; Israel and Hamas; American made terrorists in the Middle East.
Biden’s July 2022 travels to Saudi Arabia.
Anxiety’s impact on the immune system.
Hate living in DNA.

Cultural references: UNICEF, Iran-Iraq War, King Faisal, BBC, CBC, Fox News, Quebec’s Bill 21 (banning wearing of the hijab in government employees)

Steve Ramsey requested that I include the following additions to the annotations: " We can add the losing of trust between most people with Who. UN. USA disease control.
Bidding agenda of population control and the idea of government trying to reduce population by using drugs. Viruses cigarettes alcohol sugar etc to kill more people No remedies gor those who lost business. File for bankruptcy. And lost money during China virus. And the issue of China paying billions to health science research as they are the one who brought the disease. Hover
Don’t should be liable. To pay all the money that we lost in a massive group law suit as they did not close the border on time The issue of increased. Stress. Anxiety depression and anger issue. That cause hard ship divorce and criminal activities that was due to the China virus. And the government incompetence to deal with the issue at the start and the issue of the new variants and it’s effect on our life with solid data."

July 16, 2022 04

Kit Heintzman

Steve Ramsey

Kit Heintzman

https://web.archive.org/web/20231018210102/https://www.moleopedia.com/

English Biography

English Government Federal

English Healthcare

English Home & Family Life

English News coverage

English Politics

English Race & Ethnicity

English Science

fake news

second amendment

gun control

racism

prejudice

anti Chinese

vaccine

plagues

2Amendment

Alberta

AntiAsianracism

Canada

capitalism

CERB

China

clinics

colonialism

communism

diabetes

fear

God

HIV

immigration

inflation

Iran

Iraq

Iraqi Canadian

marriage

media

mixedrace

Moderna

race

racism

religion

Trump

vaccination

work

Zika

Canada

Religion

Over 60

07/25/2022

09/14/2023

10/18/2023

07/16/2022

Kit Heintzman

Steve Ramsey

Grande Prairie

Alberta

Canada

Audio

English

01:44:47

Losing work in healthcare at the beginning of the pandemic; bars staying open when clinics were closed.
CERB not compensating for those with higher incomes pre-pandemic. Breaking a mortgage, moving from Calgary to Grande Prairie during the pandemic. Medical professionals respecting patients’ COVID-masking boundaries. COVID-19 as a possible chemical/biological warfare retaliation against Trump tariffs on China. Historical examples of chemical warfare and colonial diseases provoking distress and vaccine resistance. Distrust of capitalist and communist governments; medical policies emerging before there is sufficient scientific data. Trump protecting the American economy and dismissing science; Trudeau trusting science and abandoning the Canadian economy. Reactionary anti-Asian racism, coming to terms with prejudice, and slowly mending friendships and earning back trust. Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Health Officer in Canada. Being manipulated by the media and fake news. Comparisons between fear of COVID-19 transmission to healthcare workers and the fear of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s. Having experienced severe respiratory illness in 2019; retrospective chest x-rays examinations. Fear of COVID and adverse vaccination effects when living with cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes; deciding to get vaccinated. Natural remedies for the immune system: turmeric and ginger. Growing up in Iraq and the impact of the Iran-Iraq war; having family members killed by Iranians and enduring anger against Iranians; the American war in Iraq. Worrying about family overseas, sending money and support back to people who have comparatively access to nothing. Mixing science and religion; God protecting humanity. Fire and disease occurring for a reason: the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; fear of God’s wrath; plagues and diseases as the soldiers of God. God and population control; capitalist benefiting from more laboring poor. Studying histories’ losers. Colonialism and a creation of fanatics: murders of Indigenous peoples in the Americas; Holland and Belgium and the maiming of Africans; France mining in Mali; England in India; Israel and Hamas; American made terrorists in the Middle East. Biden’s July 2022 travels to Saudi Arabia. Anxiety’s impact on the immune system. Hate living in DNA.

Kit Heintzman 00:03
Hello, would you please start by stating your full name, the date, the time and your location?

Steve Ramsey 00:10
Hi, My full name is Saad Al-Hashimi. I go away Steve Ramsey and I live in Alberta, Canada and Grand Prairie City of Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada. Today is Saturday, July 16 2022. And it's about almost four o'clock PM.

Kit Heintzman 00:30
And do you consent to having this interview recorded, digitally uploaded and publicly released under a Creative Commons license attribution noncommercial sharealike

Steve Ramsey 00:39
Yes, I do. Please.

Kit Heintzman 00:41
Would you please start by introducing yourself to anyone who might find themselves listening, what would you want them to know about you?

Steve Ramsey 00:48
Well, I go by Steve Ramsey. I'm a medical cinematographer. I have a PhD in Public Health and Health Science from Wisconsin University and my master's degree in medical ultrasound from Charles Sturt University and in Australia and [inaudible] University Australia. My BSc in diagnostic imaging, also from Charles Stewart university in Australia, and I've got multiple diplomas. I got diploma in radiography from Canada, diploma and cinematography in Canada. I got diploma in natural health and multiple certification, mostly ultrasound, vascular, cardiovascular and general sonography. And my main work now is MSK, musculoskeletal stonography, joints and nerve and I work here in Grand Prairie with a pain management and a radiologist. I do 90% of MSK muscle, tendons, joints and nerves, and of course the general sonography I write a lot I have my own blog. It's mixed between Parapsychology and psychology and the paranormal zone. And I do a lot of psychology writing in my blog, and I publish a lot in medical ultrasound in USA, UK, Italy and with mostly medical journal journals and deal with ultrasound diagnostic imaging. And I presented many lectures in Japan Korea, Italy, my original language I'm a mixed race mix between Macedonia and Greek, mother's side and Lebanese father side. So I speak Arabic I speak Greek. So English as you know, it's not my first language. It's kind of hard but you know, it took me a long time to conquer the English language is one of the most difficult one.

Kit Heintzman 02:48
Would you tell me a story about your life during the pandemic?

Steve Ramsey 02:52
Well, there is so many different stories to so many different people's it's kind of worse than mine some people as I know they lost their loved one you know and that's the the worst tragedy that they ever have. They lost jobs. Some of them bankruptcy I know I know friends even they end up divorce you know and it was so difficult for them. Economy economy is you know from economical perspective. They end up divorce because of that and the husband ended up leaving to USA the wife is still here with the kids and it's gonna destroyed lives in my in my experience for me, I never thought is gonna hit us. There is a few things in here as soon as COVID Hit actually in Canada. I believe it was two years ago. They started in March, but I have I kind of IDB at this. I think the virus was in Canada, way back in December, two, three months before because I got such a I've got a disease mix between severe flu and bronchitis. At that time, radiologists when he sees the chest X ray thought it's a bronchitis. But now when I see that film, I know it's COVID Because at that time, you see a lot of radiologists, they didn't know how COVID Lung looked like. And I work with the group with a lot of Chinese on their own data clinic. And I remember we have a lot of Chinese travelers and so and so many people coughing in the room with ultrasound. I remember I got it from somebody, but I thought there's gonna be just cough and flu maybe cold. I've got severe cold and temperature rise, I lost my voice. Then they thought maybe it's laryngitis and things like that. And I went well a good two weeks, two weeks and a half I cannot even move. And because I don't know nothing about it. I talked to the guy there. I said you know he didn't Don't get to stay home because we thought it just, you know, called the thing. So we put a mask, but that later on when we got the virus, we put a mask, but I continue working. So imagine how many people I, myself infected after that. And that was like two, two months before the COVID kind of was publicly released and things and I remember, we talked to the governments here, and please shut the border. And they were against it, you know, the government had, they continue bringing those people, especially from China and others, I know they are Canadian citizen. But this is life threatening, we don't know nothing about it, they kept them moving. And coming from excuse me, from China and other places, they usually go to Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and those area was were like, specifically targeted, you know, and we got pandemic we got a lot of trouble with, without virus in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, and of course, the rest of Canada later on. After a while, then the Canada should shut the border a little bit, but it was too late, you know, I was recovering after that I recovered. And I continued on month after that, you know, with severe kind of tiredness, muscle fatigue, like it was very bad kind of flu. And I didn't know until later on, when I checked my actually before after that, and then I checked my system. And I knew I got affected with it. And then I thought, well, this is it could be just like any other variation of flu disease, flu virus and things and, and we could recover from it. But then, of course, it started to hit our economy. And then I lost my job, you know, five months, they because the government asked each companies to cut down on personnel cut down on, you know, I think they give them 50%, they have to kind of operate in 50%, the owner, he owns four clinics. So one of the clinic in South I used to work with, he shut it down. So I got laid off. And of course, when you get laid off and a few 1000 $5,000 a year, a month, and then suddenly you end up taking 2000 from the government, you barely paying the mortgage. So you end up using your credit because you still have to pay gasoline and food and things like that, so and then they give you other $2,000 for help or 1500. Of course the last month, they ended up taking it away from us, but nobody talks about this $20,000 We lost you know, depend on your salary level. And after when we finished then they brought me back six months, so part time again. So we ended up losing that. And then one year after that, which is the last year, I lost two hours a day. So I ended up wake up in the morning, I left Calgary so I moved to Grand Prairie last year, I thought I got a good job over here. And as soon as I got the job, I asked him to get a contract. I said if if you sign this contract, does he really want me I said I could move here on one condition, you have to sign a contract that if COVID or any other virus comes, I still be senior, he cannot just kick me out. Well, I guess that's the reason I'm moving. And he signed that contract. As soon as he signed it, I checked it on my lawyer to make sure there is no other things in it, I could get all full benefits if they if they you know work against it. And I moved I moved last year. And I'm very happy here in Grand Prairie working with this group, fabulous group. And I just left Calgary which is I lived in Okotoks city south of Calgary and of course, other things you don't mind mentally or physically not just economically and health wise, but you end up losing friends we used to you know, contact with family members and relatives and friends face to face. So the relation and communication fabrics of our society changes we start losing trust, you know with each other. Of course, people start to get angry because the first thing they get shock when they get laid off and and they get in shock and that's like a relationship and then after that you deny it and then in the end you end up angry then they point and fingers and then community start to fight community people people start fighting with other people and pointing fingers I'm one of them I'm sorry to say that I should be more open minded and not be prejudiced or but when you start to lose income and you start to lose think you start to blame somebody always blaming game and what's wrong So I was used to point finger on the Chinese and things. But then I kind of said, I say, well, it doesn't work that way. Because you know, German measles is not the people have nothing to do with that disease, you know, Middle East Sadhas. African Ebola, the problem is I was kind of fixed on it. Because German, they don't care. When you say January musical, nobody say well don't say that Middle East, the same Africans, you only Chinese, particularly as soon as you say China wireless, everybody gets upset. That's what triggered me because it is China virus, it is coming from you. And the communist machine, they start to fight, you know, their teeth to make sure it doesn't belong to them. And they blame USA and all that. And you know that so many theories comes in, and fake news and all that messing it up. They try to mess you up. So you don't know the truth? Is it USA scientists? Is it the Chinese virus. But later on, of course, when we relax, we we and I thought well, I cannot just blame those people, they they got the same disease, they die too. And all this virus is a virus they don't know culture, or religion and things. But that's what we went through. Like we went through a lot like it was a test to ourselves, test our dignity and test all. I never thought they're going to be in that level of prejudiced. I was so ashamed later on, like I said, What happened to me, it really affects me, it affects me a lot, you know, and affects me in a level. Even some people I know, I avoid seeing them. I banned them from my emails, my don't talk to them just because they're Chinese. Later on, of course, I changed that idea. You know, but it takes time to earn the trust again, you know. And of course, the media, especially the right wing media play great deal with it, because they poison you with this idea and fake news. And of course, I'm like anybody else that I didn't want to get the vaccine for first month, three months. And then I see what's going on around me and all seniors, they start dying and things I thought, well, in my age, I'm going to study the science behind it. So I did my own studies study the data as a study, because I thought, well, I don't want to trust those people. I don't know who's lying. And you cannot trust the science because we have no data yet. What is happening if you're gonna get the disease, you know, because you don't know what's happening. Just like you remember, in the 80s, when AIDS comes.

Steve Ramsey 12:38
We were scared. I remember the manager told us, which is a stupid, he said it's up to you guys to not get over if you feel want to do the ultrasound, that's fine. If you don't, that's your that's your business, which is because we didn't know about AIDS in the 80s. So a lot of people refuse take impatient with it. And we didn't know in like, you don't get to get AIDS like that, you know, just by ultrasound. So I remember we used to gloves and mask and put everything in and we made sure not in touching the patient. And of course that was after the data comes and we know the size, you know, it's only come with sexual transmission or the fluid but if fluid, then then it was okay. But at that time, Canada didn't even you know, it's not illegal to say to the Sinagua sorry, I cannot do this patient. You got AIDS. That's you, right. But of course, you cannot do that now. So I remember the same thing happened with this COVID. I know a lot of people refuse it. Of course, if they are in the union in the hospital, they can't. They have to wear protective gear and things. But I know a lot of people in a clinical setting in a private setting. They refused. They do not want to go to the job. They took long vacation, they try to avoid it somehow. And every time they have a case with COVID. They put them in special room and only those who want to do it they can do it. Then the boss or the manager gives them incentive little bit and oldest. Yeah, so that's what I remember. Like I got on my mind, you know, and we still go on and through the sixth way was seven live. It's coming soon. I could see our airport here just started to get the tough measure again. So it's not finishing yet.

Kit Heintzman 14:34
Do you remember when you first heard about COVID-19?

Steve Ramsey 14:38
Yeah, two, three months? No, of course. I didn't know that. I got that. But I heard it. Just the first week, which is December I remember Mercedes. I think it's March 2019. That's what the waves start to hit. BC British Columbia. but we didn't have too much in Alberta yet. But I knew there was people that in Alberta have it before that, because that's what I got infected with them. And some other people, of course, wrote many data sets. We got the virus there before, because the traveler keep coming way before they know. But then when things got bad, then it's okay, we got this COVID. So it's about March 2019.

Kit Heintzman 15:26
What were some of your early reactions?

Steve Ramsey 15:29
Reaction to the virus or?

Kit Heintzman 15:32
Yes, yes to hearing about the virus when you first started hearing about it.

Steve Ramsey 15:36
Well furnished like anything else. I thought, in the beginning, I thought, well, this is tough kind of flu. You know, that's goodness, I have some background in public health and health sciences. And we did a lot of study on virology, bacteriology, and epidemiology and all this. So I, it pushed me to go and hit the books, again, I got all my books and start to read again, because when I finished my PhD, I wanted to be in a research facility, because I don't like to work in public health. And I wanted to go into research, when I could not get into research and they want to push me to epidemiology, I quit, I went back to my ultrasound, use my master degree for the ultrasound. So I studied a lot of stuff. And I was kind of scared, you know, because there were a lot of fake news in the in town and the news and this, the genetic mutation, and we thought it's some sort of things that to do with USA, the CIA, and the Chinese intelligent, you know, the lab, you remember, before those scientists come and explain, this virus cannot be made by man and explain it. Why. And of course, for people like me, I studied, I know they correct. But for the other people like 80%, they, they lost the trust, they know that the government up to something, they want to do this so they could give you the injections and all this. And I was kinda afraid, afraid, because I don't know what to believe in the beginning because it was so much negative. And so much fake news, very powerful before the government start to you know, control the situation with the media, especially in Facebook and other than a TV and they start to put measure on fake news and, and then we start to see the real numbers, real data, real scientists, they come over and then I started to feel at ease a bit, not a scare, you know, it's a little kind of different virus, maybe stronger than the flu. And then, and make it easy for me to take my first vaccine, but I was really afraid. You know, I come home. Every time I go, I look myself in the mirror, everything. Okay, next day, is the vaccine, going to turn into a monkey let you know, because you have a lot of stories, and I look at my skin I look at it, then, like be very sensitive. I look at my habits. Did I eat okay? Did it affect my drinks, my water supply my thing? Then it was normal, everything's okay. And then they come back and the fake news comes out? Well, you don't get to feel it now. 10 years or 15 years from now. So they try to poison you more to worry you to get worry, Oh, you don't feel down to 15 years. So 1520 years, I probably pass away. I'm gonna take my vaccine. They're gonna pass away now. So I took the second vaccine. Now I'm going for the third. I think maybe next couple more weeks. I took Maderna so hopefully in two weeks, I take the third shot.

Kit Heintzman 18:53
What's your experience with health and healthcare infrastructure been like before the pandemic?

Steve Ramsey 19:00
Well, before the pandemic, I know we don't know what the the COVID situation but a lot of added viruses, a lot of other stuff. We used to write through the media and through the blogs and things and discussion. We weren't ready. I know our ICU situation is not ready because the devil especially here in Canada, I don't know why he will say we have a good system just to make you buy. I was just system is not designed for this kind of pressure and a stress on it. That's why you see it a little bit cheaper, a little bit freer, our medication cheaper because it's easy for the medication for the procedures. But as soon as you get 1000s of 1000s of people coming to the emergency and things. You see what happened. ICU shut down. We don't have respiratory and we talked about it way before actually not because of cold Because of ever had a situation and because of the war, because when we thought we're gonna come many countries, they were gonna use chemicals. And are we ready to get these, you know, these under under control and of course the government and the politician, they always say we're ready for anything because they just want to win the election and they don't have the real numbers, they say we have the army hospitals and things. And that wasn't true the COVID situation, even their involvement with the Army hospitals and things and we were too short. And you remember, we bagging the Americans to get respiratory machines and thing for all patient in here. But hopefully this is gonna awakening for us, you know, because sooner or later wars disease will come. And this is a this is like from the beginning of the history, you know, that when the Spanish come over here and kill 150,000 Native Indian, of course, they didn't know they bring them the Spanish virus and kill them. And with the other people like from England, deliberately, of course, they brought blankets are infested with insects, and, and kill a lot of Indian tool. So they can use these germs these bacteria viruses, to really, you know, manipulate the population. So that's why a lot of people here they distrust the government when it comes to COVID and things they thought, well, that's something sinister, they tried to attack the pupils. You know? I don't know like how that gonna work. Because you remember there's a situation now in England where they they put a microchip in your body, and they could attract you motion your movement, you travel and things, it just like that Antichrist success kind of things. So a lot of talk between between religion, pseudoscience, and fake news to make the people kind of scare from the situation, especially the right wing media, you know, and diverse care a lot of us especially, like even man of science, like me, I kind of sit and say, Well, I have to study more like they, I should be scientist, I say no, this is all bowl, they those guys also don't have the numbers, let me go the size. But they brainwash you in such a way to use the scare tactics and affect my sleep. My dream, like a nightmare. You wake up, and then you think of yourself and then you think of my family overseas, is my family going to be okay? My sister got COVID, my brother got COVID. And I got worried my ankle die of it back overseas. So I started to get really worried because of my age. That's what I really study the data. And I thought, well, the vaccine is really good at my age. And I better take it because I have a blood pressure and I have I taken Metformin for very mild diabetes that needs to. So I'm kinda in high risk group a little bit. So I thought I better protect myself with the vaccine, the vaccine, it's a true science. And that's what I did a lot of people I know, they are kind of friend, but they're not in the right wing side. They internally told me make a big mistake, Steve, we didn't should not do it. You know, you should wear it. Because they say, Well, after 30 years, you're gonna affect you, as well as and I'm 68 After 30 years, I haven't gone anyway.

Kit Heintzman 23:41
What were some of the sources of right wing media that were scaring you? And what were you scared out?

Steve Ramsey 23:48
Well, it's good to have the mutation of the disease in your body, you know, because especially my situation I got cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes. Now, do I take it of course, yes. But when those people comes and they say this and this and that, and it's going to be worse for you. Here I'm in a dilemma. And if I take it, it's going to affect me more, because I don't have data to prove that this vaccine interact and affect the diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and the thyroid gene. And there is no interaction between these medicines. So I pulled all this medicine and biochemistry of each component of my pills and things and I went back to the basic science like try to do my own data of interaction and eye contact a lot of firms just because those guys much better than doctors and others when it comes to interaction and reverse, you know, and the effect of certain medicine on other medicine and with that, so I went way back to basic science with virology and and the side effect of certain pills. And I didn't find any really said Then certain chemical, I noticed that I, when I do it, I should stop for three, four hours into my when you take it and so on it just the timing, which is like with any other pills, and you increase the water intake, and, and so on. And we found that a lot of other medical other natural stuff you take like tumeric, and ginger and all this it will help with which is normally and help your immune system to make you and cinnamon and all this to make sure your blood pressure and balance you diabetes balance, cholesterol balance and your immune system boss non immune system also going to affect on you if you stress and you don't sleep, and you get nightmares because this fake news is going to affect your immune system. And it's going to affect the COVID intake. So the right wing media actually affected us tremendously, because it's affect your thinking, and your sleeping pattern in your sleeping patterns can affect your stress, level anxiety, and that have an effect on your immune system. And that's why the left media should actually point the finger on them say listen, this is illegal, we can really sue you. For those a lot of people who stop and refuse to take medication. That's the moment and for people who you scare them and affect their health and reducing immune and then that disease affected the more. And I usually see them a lot like on TV remember and Trump time. You know, economically he was a good, but there's a lot of mistake done. And I don't blame him because because the COVID situation, like it just come from nowhere and, and effect everything. And I think part of him losing his election. And all if he's lied is anger and all the other things, but part of it because of COVID situation too. And I used to listen to a variety of news like Fox News and other which is those media, they affect me a lot. And of course, when I go to the other side, they talk but they don't have data. And you can see you're stuck in the middle between two people pointing the fingers at each other. And I ended up doing my own data, which is I don't have time, like I have to work eight hours a day, I have to pay my bills and things like that, and I have my own personal issues. And so effects affect us mentally a lot, you know, and make me Don't trust what I what I hear very easy. You know, before I used to trust the government, I trust that because you know, this is I thought, well, we have to trust them. Because without us they are nobody because we work we pay tax, we build the country. You know, like I pay a lot of tax and so many other people and I thought why the government want to lie to us and kill us. You know, I mean, because some people they always think that way, right? Like David iKey I skill that I used to read a lot about his books and other things. But then later on when I shut down this media, I stopped listening to them. Then I started to sleep, okay, and think okay, and be in a balance kind of. And that's include even people I work with, some people really write when they don't wear a mask, they don't do this and that and it's their right, but then some patient complaint and you see is lot of conflict. At the end, some of them lost their jobs because they don't respect the patient, the patient comes scared. And actually even if you don't believe as a scientist, you have to play like a placebo effect. This is a patient who don't know better, even if you don't believe in it, put them as so he will he be okay. When you leave. That's your business you believe or not believe it's a placebo effect for him. You know. So it's a lot of mix of emotion, that disease really brought a brighter all the society expose us expose a weakness, expose our prejudice, expose our bigotry. expose our fears. And one little single disease you know, and that's what I think when, when Trump before this disease come Trump threatened China, the tariffs and all this. I felt it that China began to we thought they're going to do a tremendous amount of damage and through hacking and things when the virus come exactly three months or maybe six weeks after. When you declare that tarrif destroyed America But of course it destroyed like the other places. It was like Italy remember Europe, England and only one. So I don't know if this is a theory we making it. But it was like a highly suspicious only in that time boom, it comes because I know those major countries like China, Russia, India, America, for instance, I know they have a lab chemical lab because sometimes when they don't want to worry cannot use nuclear, your own everything. The best second things with mass destruction is the chemical and the chemical which is biological, you can kill you in any and destroy the economy in no time. And that's what I didn't trust China at the beginning. Something went wrong in that lab. They tried to cover it up. And until now, I still believe that it's a some sort of human error in deliberately, maybe we can say and deliberately. But instead they come up clean and tell us and the other things I started questioning the United Nation and the UNICEF, they stuck with China for six, eight weeks after 1000s of people dying because China pain four to six times more than Americans all about the money. In the end, they took a break. And that's why a lot of people start to point fingers on WHO and UNICEF and other people because they were rubbing shoulders with China and they're forgetting what's happening to our society and old people.

Kit Heintzman 31:38
Would you share more about what it was like to lose friendships early in the pandemic?

Steve Ramsey 31:45
Yeah, well, of course. Before that, I lost my uncle, which is I love so much. You know, that ankle is like my father to me. When my dad moved to Iraq, my dad used to work with the King King Faisal. He used to be his artist poetry. And of course, he, after they killed the king, my dad was put in jail for five years because of political things. That ankle leader took care of me. So when he died, it's tremendously affected me, you know, and to now I cry for him. He's like, father figure for me. But then when I left Middle East when I moved to Canada 1980 Of course, I never went back losing friends sick times than losing this relative because I interact with the friend always. Some of the friend I lost them because of me, I kept relationship with them. I felt angry. But instead of being rational, like a good person a logical and think, Well, this guy in Canada, it's got nothing to do China or the country. I didn't I just I stopped the scene. I lost economy, I lost my job, I lost my my money. You know, the people you love, they start to get sick and disease. Some of them Dinah's my own other friends start to get divorced before of it. So I need somebody to blame. And that's like the it's like a human nature. That's most of the wars is started like this. You need somebody to blame. If you're hangry if you are you don't have so that's why you always go invade and do something. In my situation, I cut the relationship just to cocoon myself. It is ideally needed time to see I try to be away from to me, I call them negative impact on me. And I left them that it affected me a lot. It gives me like a different feeling. How long am I going to stay away from them? Do I and then the more along there you leave them it's very hard to go come back and you go apologize, because then you're gonna feel stupid. Some of them understand, you know, but some of them want to now I never spoke to them. I love to but I really is I don't I feel like I don't know how to say lucky. I don't know how to reach out back to them. You know some of them like that little bit of friend I should say an email, send an email, say hello, whatever but I didn't. Someone who I couldn't because some of them really felt that I left them because of that. Yeah, it's really affect our mentality when it comes to it.

Kit Heintzman 34:39
For the people you did reach out to to apologize. What did that look like?

Steve Ramsey 34:44
Yeah, of course, they know. They know. They say we've been through it and you're not the first one Steve. They told me examples way before that. And, of course, I didn't leave him because of other things not because of the Chinese Is your face look different or religion, it's not that it's just because of that virus. I blame him because those guys they really go to China and they have the money to Chinese hardworking and they love traveling. And they brought us oldish mesh and that's what I thought and some of them in the beginning of course, I bought into this idea that among the Chinese 1000s who have been sent to Europe and Latin America and UK and all this some of them deliberately sent by the Chinese all you need a small vial of wireless, it just dump it in there but nobody feel like you don't need the big bottle so they could trap you only need like the little little things little small bottle you hide it somewhere in nobody can discover it. As soon as you are in the washroom you break it there you break it in this side and of course they might have a way to not contaminate yourself wherever they could do that like all you need 20 or 30 agents though Chinese they go they could affect Italy, UK, America and all the rest because as soon as you infected one area the other one and one in a couple of cities soon it'll be like a spiderweb all over until now I feel that China did this but this is on government level I should know and plan the people she knows that the thing I started to to kind of come to conclusion with and you know email some of my friends and you know and back I told them you know forgive my arrogancy and you know and my my my fear and you know I salute you guys you're you are even worse because we kind of by doing this we add in kind of fuel to the to the fire because I know some Chinese got hurt they got beaten the fire the houses got in fire the business gonna fire and when I see that on TV I got so upset I said Why should and not I'm not better than them like those guys why they do this to those people then I when I see that thing on camera and TV and I started to get so upset and I reach out to the people I can and those people I cannot reach one of these days I have to find some excuse and email them back and I think supplied to them some of them actually want to base a friend who live in China they are UK citizen but they have a very good business in Shanghai and things you know and that had been same thing when Iraq Iran attacked Iraq and my family used to live there and they killed my brother I banded all my friends who are from Iran or linked to it and to nowadays I don't talk to them because I just blame them on killing on my brother my brother was 20 ATS and it killed y by Iranians and I thought they are everybody Iran is to blame and I know this lot of the Iranian they run away from this regime they live in here and the Iranian remember already attack and kill 250 People in the plane you remember and we have a lot of people here and but I got kind of very upset when when the war started destroyed Iraq destroyed Yemen destroyed Syria Lebanon soul because the Iranian terrorist regime and now they come and try to make a nuclear bombs and things it makes me more scared than them the COVID COVID is nothing compare if Iran get hold on nuclear so I always kind of put a bubble around me and isolate those guys because part of my brain thing well if I got a friend those guys they're gonna brainwash me it's like a protective mechanism inside me to make sure I saw it myself to protect myself. I don't know if I was wrong in some situation I am and some maybe I feel like I was okay because it gave me some sort of revenge and the feeling because you have to have a resolution and then you have to have a you know, something that you overcome that how are we going to do it? Nobody gives you that and nobody gives me nothing everybody point finger and then I thought, well, I protect myself by isolating myself. And then this is like my revenge leaving those guys and cut them off. And if I thought if everybody do this, then China will sit in tears and think again so well. It's going to affect our livelihood and when economy we better not do that.

Kit Heintzman 39:51
How would you compare Trudeau handling the pandemic in Canada with what you were witnessing about Trump handling?

Steve Ramsey 40:00
Well, Canada, of course, it's a liberal since that time to now. And liberal, they usually go the science, I like that, you know, the following the science is very good. But they have to come clean to you know, don't be harsh on the people who don't believe in it because there is no data in the beginning. And that's a mistake. We turn like a dictatorship and communism, some people just don't want the vaccine. They scared, we all we all did, like I was one of them in the beginning. So they didn't use their tactics. And I, you know, like, you have to be very kind, very nice to it, you know, not force it. I know, you have no time because a lot of people get infected. But again, like any other disease, you're gonna get herd immunity, you know, just like the measles and any other things. So they didn't handle it. Because they were forcing it, especially on travel. I know a lot of people lost their tickets, they cannot move, go there and they force you to go to hotel pay. It's all about the money to me, it's coming all about the money, the exam tech 270 bucks, then you go there to see the good at the 270 bucks, you'll be forced to go to hotel. So to me, it's all about the money. They force it a lot. But they are a basic of science in a trunk situation. They dismiss the science and that hurt them. They did very good in economy. And over there, they put the economy over the health, which is also not good. So you got two people have lefties and righties. Each use a different strategy. Both of them didn't work. You know, and a Trump situation the problem is not just Trump, if some somebody else was rather like some other Republican, it'd be a different situation because Trump was blunt. The problem we use personal issues and fake news and he put it in injected. And of course, sooner or later the people they know that reality that is fake news. Never last long. Just a Hitler used it many times and at the end, it always exposed. And that's what the problem we I mean, Trump, I love his economy. But the problem he didn't side with the science and he started attacking mochi and other doctors and things that they shouldn't. And remember the situation you know, inject yourself with detergent. What is this? Amazing, I was joking, he wasn't joking. So he should shut his mouth and let the science speak. And do your politics and what you are good at it. He will be the great president, but didn't want you know that we need something between them something based on science, yet. You have to be kind you have to give the chance to the people who believe in God, people who refuse to do this. Those people pay tax everybody have idea. It's very tough to make, make everybody satisfied. But you cannot force it. You cannot force it by right wing idea or left wing ideas. But just like I said, it's a brand new disease. We didn't know that was a lot of people use the scare tactics. Some other people use it to make more money in Mumbai. A lot of people got to be millionaires because of it while we are in the grassroot taxpayers losing our job or houses and so on.

Kit Heintzman 43:45
What was the process like of getting benefits in Canada was were you on served?

Steve Ramsey 43:51
Yeah, like Yeah. Because we pay for ei employment insurance and all this. Even if you don't, the good here and in Canada, even if you don't have the employment insurance and the people they don't have they still got the money. But the only mistake Canada make, like let's say you make $15 An hour and I make 58 bucks an hour. You get 2000 I get 2000 This is communism. This doesn't work for the $15 an hour of this lady and I know my clink work she only they live only in one room. She got 2000 here husband get 2000 4000 I get only 2000 I have a mortgage to pay. So it didn't look like if I want to eat I could even make better I make 4000 or 3006 but not they make it as a communist cut 2000 for each and that's it. And that's a mistake. You know they should get the people as they have to get the real ei amount the top money i And then the government should put extra five or 600 to it. Because that's before the situation went up 20 30% Gasoline now in the food supply before thank goodness, everything was okay. But people cannot pay the billing. Yeah. And and of course now the government comes with revenge indirectly, you don't feel it. All this increase in food and gasoline all made up, all made up. And we already know that since I moved to Canada 40 years ago, they all wish Oh, because we don't have refinery. And we used to build a refinery by having sake. 40 years ago, we went in the street. I was one of the demonstration to actually build the refinery, you can make four or five refinery in Canada. Yeah, we move in, we moving forward? Where are you going to move it forward? You will be reaching the moon by now. They keep telling me moving forward since 1980. I hear that empty now. And they always blame the refinery. It's all they want to make money more than and of course now the increase in our interest rate and our house taxes and all this in the bank went up because they try to cover the inflation. Yeah, so they kind of a little bit better than America in the beginning because they act fastly. But in the American side in the Trump side. Of course, he's a good idea he opened businesses because for you know, as a Republican or conservative, they always is capitalist. So they they want the country to keep going, which is a smart idea. Because if you can't redistribute economically, China and Russia will win. We'll be way down poverty, you know, not just the disease. So to me, you have to have a balance. That's why they have to create the third power or third party. It only comes in situation like this situation when the lefties and righties they cannot handle it anymore. Those kind of group bunch of scientists, social worker technocrat and things borrows from all kinda like to take hold of the country and balance it economically and so on. Without any fight with those left and right ideas and put the middle the people in the middle while 1000s of people dying

Kit Heintzman 47:33
What prompted you to move from Calgary to Grand Prairie?

Steve Ramsey 47:36
Mostly because of my job you see. As soon as I lost my job you know my boss I don't blame him he's a Chinese guy. Of course that's in the beginning I didn't blame him because I thought hey, we go Chinese you bring me the disease. Yes, he Chinese manager making money and I get laid off. That one of the reason makes me really cut all my friend not talking to Chinese. I don't even buy Chinese food or God now I do. But before I could go on Chinese store or Chinatown or or spend $1 to Chinese I know it's wrong but I don't know how I explained it that was only revenge I could take it I know it's wrong deep in my heart I when I sleep I feel embarrassed but I don't know how to explain it it's like it's just like two person in you telling you something and addresses you know what? You are good revenge and so sleep good. So when he lay on me off, the bars are open in Canada they kept the bar opens and when he got to the wider gonna get more disease why they bought opens because when he's doing work here and building things a lot of money go to the federal government more tax, but when they opened the clinic, no for them, it's a money hole they have to pay for the procedures. And that's what I didn't understand here. I'm in the medical field held signs sitting at home while the bib and alcohol seven and about poison and the people buddy with alcohol while the virus killing us on the side and Luciana guy, he kicked me out. And then I tried to find a job. Of course I did found but the problem they want to use me like a working horse. I was living way south Calgary. Somebody hired me actually three or four places I'm but they want me to go to four different places. I have to go north and east and south and everyday jumping like and I couldn't. I said listen, I'm not 16 years old. This keep me monoclinic please. Oh no, because you do this and do this and we don't have somebody do muscles. I want to send you there. So I wake up one day, and I apply to other provinces and I got a few job. But I selected the one here because it's same province. It's only eight hours drive north of Calgary and so brand new clinic. Very good people and they actually give me 25% Extra more than I make in Calgary, they give me 100% benefit. And he paid me events, every single all my movement 13 $14,000 just to move my house, a premier accommodation here until my house get built him. You know, and he even paid the penalty for me, you know, when I have a mortgage, if you leave it, you have to pay penalty. So the penalty was $4,700, my, my boss had paid that for me. So I thought, This guy really wants me really invested in me. And, and I work really hard for them. I can for every time I have a bad idea or something, I remember what he did. I work extra hard for him. And, again, he signed that contract, I told him if there's any virus come, it's not just this virus, but any other virus, you have to sign that you keep me full time. He signed that. And on one condition. Also, if the hours can change, I said I don't care. As long as I get eight hours a day. Doesn't matter what time and we signed in, we're happy. never looked back again. And as soon as I left, and to now my places don't take him. I remember the first six months they kept email me why he left us Why'd I show? Well think about it. You left me who dumped me. i After eight years, I was loyal to you. And you went was you know, because he hire some people, he paid them 50% Anyway, some of them not even registered in Canada, some of them don't even have license. Because certain job you need a specific license. And I could go on and on with this. But I only tried to save in a buck but but the patient deserve the best, you know, patient deserve you because you registered and qualified. You got the knowledge to know how. Even if you have experience, it's fine. But if you don't have the registration and the license and the qualification, you endangering the patient. Yeah, so I left him and, you know, I still friend with him. Because I just want him to get a you know, get him from my back because he's still email me, you know, he wants me back.

Kit Heintzman 52:27
When you decided to get vaccinated, what was access to vaccines, like in Canada?

Steve Ramsey 52:33
We got all of a marshal without the Maderna. And what I did, because I did also a lot of studies. So I got I sometimes in a weekend, I stay up to two o'clock at night, studying everything from Middle East, all the news, BBC, CBC, CNN and all this and I check everything the left and the right, and I see the data and I see how many people die with this vaccine. How many people die, this vaccine and the ages. And, you know, until I zoom on Maderna, the turn to be for me, it's more safe and more. And I guess not too much negative things about it compared to other ones you remember. But of course, later the data told us it wasn't the vaccine, but it was decide if it was because of you know, the higher risk people than the more higher risk, the more you get in trouble. And I took the Madrona I didn't. After three, four months, like after the study, I was sure you know, this virus leader, this vaccine will protect me against the virus. So I took it without any fear. That's the first one. You know, and of course, the second we took it because I waited again for the data. Remember, the data took time to find out that you will get 70% to 75% with Maderna. If you get a second booster, you know?

Kit Heintzman 54:05
Other than the pandemic, what have been some of the other social and political issues on your mind over the last couple of years?

Steve Ramsey 54:13
Well, I was worried about war. In the beginning. I said here we go in the middle of viruses. And when Trump was there, because Trump would be more there's a Trump was kind of very aggressive. And I thought he can attack Iran. You know, that was kind of in my mind. I wish he did before he leave. I know some people don't like to hear that. But that's my my belief. You know, and I think they are the worst virus in this earth. It's not the COVID of China, but the Iran influence. They destroy Lebanon, they destroy Yemen, Syria, Iraq, millions die, because they were the one who brought the Americans because of the oil and things American light, just to invade Iraq. And look what happened. Some of my family members still live in Iraq. They destroy it, you know, I mean, there is way you can get rid of leadership without destroying the country. But for them, it doesn't work that they have to destroy the country. So they could rebuild it. So they could get billions of dollars up, and they could get discount on oil. That's what Biden went to God. You know, Biden went to Saudi just to force them. Because he's not really good diplomatic. You know, in the beginning, he started attacking them. You shouldn't even you have to let the FM guys administer attacking the Mueller president. And when he goes to jail, I don't know that the Minister of whatever say that I will see to it. I didn't say that. But you don't go and attack. And of course, now they don't give they know about shoulder with you. And you go to Israel, and of course, all placebo effect again, nobody's going to resolve Palestinian issue. Nobody. And he tried to show to the Middle East, you know, we are working on the Israeli then he went to Saudi, he didn't even shake his hand, he shake the hand of Prime Minister. But you and Arabic people are very, very sensitive when it comes to this issue. And I read stuff you guys don't read because I did in Arabic. And now and they focus on on this issue, this respectful they call him and all that. And then he just declare, Wyden said I didn't come in Saudi to meet the Prime Minister, but I come to him for the region about oil. So try not to give a weak spot to the Republicans. Because the Republicans are they say, look, he went there bagging them for oil and things. And so he should leave all this to an energy ministers with the group, very diplomatic, very smart dealing and willing, and leave and focus on reducing the tax and build an America and focus on making sure the Unity even if even if I met with him. Now if I'm Biden, the first thing I stopped was going on. I said, Listen, Trump made a mistake. Let's stop the damn thing the Colton thinks and the witch hunt. I know what's wrong. I know you've done this wrong. If we go to Christians, let's do it. Forget it, please is okay with you. You okay with you? Let's focus on issue about gun control a little bit. We're going to forgive this. But you have to give me something here. And so on. When you be kind Trust me, the other person tried to be kind of a little bit kind. Without kindness. This country will kill each other. And that's exactly what Russia and China won. They won because not because they superpower the economy, but because they turn us against each other. And that's when I finally wake up. And I thought here we go, if I going to hit the Chinese my friend here or be prejudiced, I make the Chinese Communist when, because make they make me sick, they make me not a human, they make me hate monger. And they did a good job of it. And imagine I can judge myself nicely. Imagine people who don't have that level, and they have the head up to him and they full of hate and anger and things. They cannot change those people, most people. And to me, it's usually inherited when more hating you buddy, believe it or not. Chemically, you affect the DNA, you pass it you generation. People think well, there is no doctor, but I started out about that. And it it happened. More negative, you are more anger and depression, you pass it your DNA, you pass it to the kids, you create generation of hateful people, anger and depressed and thanks. And we already have 20% of our society, mentally ill one of each five in North America, they have some sort of personal problem. Imagine if he inherited all this again, plus what he see in the media. That's what he see all those mass murderer and a killer and, you know, so it's everything work together. Like they have to be started with the diplomacy, the kindness, and then bridging bridging between these. Now we don't we destroy the bridge and we destroy the bridging between us between the right and left between our people, we lose the trust. And then when you lose the trust, you lose your country. That's exactly what they done to Iraq. They use the code and Arab, the Shia and the Sunni, they destroy the country. They did this in Yemen, they did this in Syria and so on. So it just it's just one of these things. You've got to get everything together the politics, the religion, the economy, the social, the mental, all together, but it has to be handled by people specialize in each of not Trump comes there and say okay and detergent in your body and all this. It's really not funny and it makes America and Canada very stupid like I can because I study a lot of stuff and I can hear chatters and other language it makes me really upset to hear something because I'm Canadian I've been in Canada for years somebody comes in tell us all Canadian stupid and hooligans anything really upset me it just because our leaders don't act like you know in the leadership level

Kit Heintzman 1:00:38
I'm curious what does the word health mean to you?

Steve Ramsey 1:00:42
Well, to me health it it's a package it's not just your physical health and this is the question that really important question because for a religious guy, you're going to tell you the health and have to start with faith with you know Buddhists they say our religion is kindness when it be can you be more healthy so if you're mentally not healthy, you will physically be destroyed so health is a complete package mentally physically and emotionally before we come to economy with so held to me it's a balance of happiness, bombers of happiness, if you have health and you pull them you cannot go be more healthy because you cannot buy more healthy cannot make new teeth you can get a new glasses so your health will deteriorate. So you have to be have a good job to get money to get a good health so people will say well the money is first I said no because the mentality is first how we think how we act how we can get a balanced individual because the Muslims say we are right because yes or no we are right the Jews say we're right. So we have to figure out a way to integrate all of us we say we're human we all right if we things like if we balance we leave the religion to God and you discover the way through life but how will be healthy by eating healthy drinking healthy think healthy so positive like if you Canada have lot of water and some people in Canada did they don't even have a clean water to drink and of course you're gonna have a lot of unhealthy people but you know the stock the top the top the mentality is it just like the Indian they use the five level of Chow chocolate and they use the mental suede in the top and then of course the emotion and physical so it has to be balanced with all these package.

Kit Heintzman 1:02:47
What does the word safety mean to you?

Steve Ramsey 1:02:50
What safety explain itself? I mean it's not safety from danger actually is safety to me. It's how I protect the society from myself. Like like this explain to you safety. As soon as something come up. I'm gonna do a turn to a prodigious turn to hateful man started to hit certain a group because I thought and that's a create safety and safety element because imagine I kind of control myself somehow imagine somebody have no level of control modality might use gun he might go and kill people. And that's exactly what happened. And I saw people start killing each other that certain groups and burn everything. And that's what the safety the safety to me at the start with the person itself. If you allow negative emotion and negative elements, poison your mind, you will be unsafe to yourself to your neighbor and to the society. So safety start to start with yourself itself, by the way you think which is a negative idea, negative thinking faking news.

Kit Heintzman 1:04:10
Thinking about that really narrow ideas of safety under COVID When they're treating safety as just a sort of physical.

Steve Ramsey 1:04:16
Oh.

Kit Heintzman 1:04:17
What were you doing before you decided to get vaccinated, what were you doing to keep yourself safer?

Steve Ramsey 1:04:25
Yeah, we have that actually. I applaud my boss because he was good. He's as soon as we started. We prepare way before not because of that virus. We have all the gears protective gear some people they don't even have in hospital they didn't have but thank goodness we have shield we have the mask where we have enough supply. He knows that before because the supply take time. You know we have fires we have a flooding that effect the trucks. So what he did, he went here. He got five to six times the supplies So we ended up really good, even some other clinic ask us to borrow something from us, because they knew. So we managed to give to some other. So we were really protective. We didn't know how. And he also come working with our exhaust fan. And we did a lot of good measure, we follow that the change, we have the patient don't change in our room, we have a special room, they change. And then when that patient comes, second patient goes different room, this room, nobody uses it, we have a lady, she get paid, infection, can she spray everything, and clean everything. Before we allowed and then we allowed about 10 minutes before anybody use it. So the virus, we didn't know how much time in that time, but he was good. And then we were lucky. So we have changing rooms, some people don't have changing rooms. We have a lot of gowns and the golden be sealed. And we don't send it to we have our own washer and dryer with the chemicals and things like that. So we're lucky that guy and then the gloves and things, we keep it in a certain containers and things and go to the burners and all that. And of course, we cut down a lot on certain procedure we didn't do. And I remember the other things, when you do a V scan in the verge for pelvic ultrasound and things we do like, two three times, you know, sometimes like cleanse it good with that special machine for it and all this. And I think he did a good job with that I gave him applaud for that. And I was safe, like I come back to work, here we go, no shelf and everything. And we don't shake hands and all that. So we kind of got and we were far away from each other, we have cameras and things to see. And will the speaker we communicate with patient patients stay in the car before he comes. So they make us feel better. But the problem we don't know that the virus goes, you know, goes in the air and you only need one sneeze and we don't know how much that virus is going to stay. Some people say you know, five minutes, 10 minutes and we'll say for hours you don't know then we tend to be the virus react differently to each to each fibers that can the fiber if the virus goes in the zinc or brass it die faster if we sell down iron or aluminum things like that. So we didn't get a chance we always mask but the problem is the privacy from pure oxygen you know like sometimes you get headache and tiredness like we rushed to the washroom we will remove the mask just to breathe, you know, those wearing the the mask for eight hours, it's it's not good idea, you know?

Kit Heintzman 1:07:54
How are you feeling about the immediate future?

Steve Ramsey 1:07:59
Was that?

Kit Heintzman 1:08:00
How are you feeling about the immediate future?

Steve Ramsey 1:08:03
The media?

Kit Heintzman 1:08:00
The immediate. [both speaking]

Steve Ramsey 1:08:09
Yeah, well, like any of the virus, they I know this from the second wave, they usually reach to five waves and they weaken up the only problem with them. The mutation wise and the mutation changes from different countries. That's why we wrote not just me, many other people to the government. Certain country will have to stop it to come in here. And I remember before the Brazilian wave comes and they listen, they learn from so they stopped the Latin American they start doing. Some people from Egypt arrived, they brought the African variant and they infected some Canadian, but they learn. So the immediate for me I feel is okay, because I think this virus will go down. But the problem is, as I know it from the 60s, every 10 years, there's something coming up. So this virus is not the end. And I usually because I studied a lot of religion too. And science. I'm not appeal scientists. I'm not pure fanatical religion. I mixed the two. And I believe like this is I mean, some people they might say, well, here we go. This guy has no real scientist, you talk about God. But I do believe that I believe God here to feel also God will not allow allow the humanity destroyed itself. He did in the past to clear it and bring a different breed of the human to listen to him. But we avoided him now a lot. And of course you know that but we start to poison our environment. My immediate future ideas is not about the virus the virus is going to end and the virus is going to come but it's all in the environment itself and through the heat is going to come famine. And then you can see already the prices of gas and the prices of food is up, prices of gas will come down after the order stop and all this. But trust me the food and the meat and things, as soon as they went up, they never come back. Because they are going to create a lot of the people who sell it, they don't get to bring it back maybe a little bit. So I'm not really confident about government handling the environmental issue, which is in turn bringing a lot of other disease to humanity. You know, especially when it comes to water supply, clean water supply, air pollution and all this. So this is why the alarm I mean, the I don't want to trust the government with with this environmental issue. And if their environmental go down again, it affects you immunity system when immunity goes down, then exposed to very easy to simple viruses. And it could be our demise.

Kit Heintzman 1:11:04
You've mentioned writing to the Canadian government, what did you write to them about?

Steve Ramsey 1:11:09
Mostly writing, like, of course, when we approach, we approach them with numbers and data. The main thing about shutting the border is in the beginning, I remember I hammered a lot of shutting the border, they were against it there I cannot say, as I say, I know, I made a choice to go when something happened, I cannot bring death back to my family. And that's what we call it load, they have to stay there. If you want to help them, maybe you pay them to stay in a hotel or something like that, or pay them for food. But their country is very rich, when it comes to this, the Saudi cannot come back. I mean, it just like very logic, but they didn't. So that's my first writing. Not just me. But a lot of people send this letter, we signed it, we signed 1,000s, two, 3,000, we collect this letter, we send it to the notice to the Prime Minister, but to the other ministers and things where they call these letters, you know, you read them, you sign them, you ask the government to do this, and this as a taxpayer as we feel for our children, our houses. And then the next I start to write about the second, third and fourth waves and the mutation. The other third, we asked them not to buy anything from China. And they did. And then the things they bought at the turn to be no good. So we lost millions of dollar worth of supplies, useless. Even the nurses didn't use it. So they didn't listen to us. So I blame the government of appointed people who is really not in a situation to make a sound judgment. I know they have a degree. The first thing I do I mean again, and I'm gonna go be prejudice the first thing I should I do if I was the Prime Minister, I will get rid of the chief public health officer, shes Chinese. Now I'm not going to China. But her people are scared. The China virus coming and nobody knows. And you put achieve public health, the China lady talking gibberish is scaring the hell out of me and scaring the hell of a lot of people. I will probably tell her to leave leave of absence, put somebody there trustworthy. And a lot of people lost trust in the system. I know when I say that everybody said they probably the way we go prejudice. You know, I know this. But that's how I feel. It doesn't have to be prejudice level and didn't have to be a smart strategic. You have to play strategy and be tactician getter to go take vacation, bring somebody else and so on. So they still have ideas of left wings and things. This should be this, this should be that. But they don't understand the fabric of our society here. You know, and then they go close churches and things. And I know that when people goes there and then a lot of people get infected, but they didn't know. They approach it differently. When they come very close. They hurt themselves because the churches and the mosque and the synagogue immediately look at that liberal are communist, which is not true. liberal ideas, some of them really good, good for labor good for work and for poor people. I'm a pro choice. Even I love God but it's not my business to go and tell the lady Hey, you should not do this. It's not my business. I put you in her and God. So this is a situation you know, we end up with everybody have ideas and no control. Everybody's saying something and the media says something else. That people left in the dark and decided don't know what to do honestly. We sit down, in the clinic and between us and things and we talk, the main thing is who control what, what is the real and not real. That's most of our discussion. So we start to scientifically smart, guess wise guesses and wise guesses without that doesn't work, you know, you know?

Kit Heintzman 1:15:24
What are some of your hopes for a longer term future?

Steve Ramsey 1:15:27
My hope, hopefully, that both parties come really clean and united with, with the environment without affecting our economy. I know the Republican conservative, have a point I know, which is economy, very good, we aren't hurting, you cannot spend billions, if that goes slowly with it. My hope is everybody gives something those people should balance their environment without affecting our economy, the other guys should balance their ideology, get rid of put gun control and get rid of the guns from the street. You know, even though that says in your, in your right, and your constitution, they actually wrong. The Constitution itself, when written back in the 1800, 18150, and things like that. The gun, they use a gun with one bullet pushed with powder, that's the only gun you can have. They didn't know that time, they're gonna have a machine gun and grenade. So using that machine gun is not constitution, because it's not the gun they spoke in the 1800s, the 1800, they have one pistol with one gun, one shot gun with one bullet, and one pistol with one bullet, some of them with powder. That's the gun they wanted. And that's it. But you cannot just go to oh, this is also gun. No, it's not a gun first. It's not the same gun before second you add machine, machine gun machine gun different than the term gun and then constitution. So if you bring a good lawyer and fight them on the Constitution, say allowed gun and like that, so I hope both party comes and give to each other one for the environment, one for the guns. And then both of them work with the economy. But they they work instead of competing positively. They do compete but negatively. And this is the worst also, I know they have great ideas and the Republicans will come to the economy and great ideas when it comes to innovations and, and and freedom in this side. But they all comes on the price of humanity. So again, we go back to the same issue balance, my hope is balance. It's not just America and Canada and UK, our whole balance will be the Middle East Latin America and all this because without balance, we're gonna ruin ourselves.

Kit Heintzman 1:17:59
Who's been supportive of you during the pandemic, who have you turned to when you felt stressed?

Steve Ramsey 1:18:05
My main support of course, my wife you know, she put you know, She sacrificed her job but just before COVID She quit her job when she when the bank one of the bank here she has an account and things you all many years with standard charter with CIBC overseas and Canada and just two years before the COVID actually and Annie quit because then we used to work and we when you make more you pay more to tax come back home we you know we have to cook and clean and things so we don't have time later on she find like she really likes she come home, everything cleaned everything cooked. I made good money in the end. We don't pay much for the tax you know you pay your tax but at the end because in Canada they have a bracket so when you go different brackets, you pay more so kind of lead in a nice balanced life. And she supported me a lot with it because just like I say some people they end up divorced because of the situation the wife did not understand the husband did not the husband was in the stress economy stressed some of the wives they don't like that. I'm sorry to say not too many of them. Most of the wives actually was very supportive, but some of the view they couldn't handle it. They left the husband they cannot handle poverty. I'm telling you I know that some people not a lot but some people I know they did, but in other ways the husband left because they felt very weak very they cannot provide it's it's kind of attack their manhood and the dignity and thing by by not coming up with something to help the family. And I know one person went to San Francisco and and then when they finally left they still divorce you know Yeah, so no of course because As you see my family was overseas if I was overseas, you know, your parents, your kid, your sister and brothers I got six sisters of five brothers. Two brothers die and so those they one got killed by Iranian those are my main support through the media you know we talked through the media and things but the immediate one of course it's my my wife and she was backing me up when I told her listen I cannot stay in Calgary anymore it's the I ended up like a working horse and with the COVID situation by going to fight for clinics or for the clinic is very dangerous so that's why I moved.

Kit Heintzman 1:20:43
What was it like keeping in touch with your family abroad?

Steve Ramsey 1:20:47
Oh God this was like every time I talk to them it's like Christmas to me. You know when I left them they all five years seven eight like that. And of course my older sisters you have your own family she couldn't help my older brother in America he has his own families Romania wife and things and they cannot help he passed away at heart attack. So I ended up like the older one my parents start to help my parents then they told me please don't forget your sister so I dedicated myself 20,27 years of sending half of my salary to them they all graduate one got master's degree another one PhD she left to Turkey the BSC degrees engineers and so they all graduated got husband houses kids until like the last seven eight years I stopped when I talked to them I the first thing in my mind comes of course I imagined them they still six years old. And even when I talked to them on the kid and then they remind me because sometimes I don't talk to them through FaceTime. I talk to them because we don't see them as now and hey Steve I'm 40 years old now I talk to them like they’re 10 But they understand because when you leave like the time freeze when you emigrate the time freeze the memory freeze, you know, but then you get used to it you know, and of course I get worried about them because here in Canada we got more science better technology ICUs and things and better health system pharmaceutical. They poor like I get to skip but I advise them which has done luminous with the media, you know he can write English they translated Arabic through Google, I write Arabic and so on. And of course I send them a lot of packages. I sent a lot of medication over the counter prescribe when they when they send it isn't that from the doctor I buy them and ship them I supply the medication a lot of stuff hygiene issue sometimes when they don't have electricity not just like a sale at least we got electricity over there they have like have been no electricity, the water supply be different. So I send them cleansing material cleaning materials for water, water pills and things you know, which is things we take for granted here. We only use it when you go camping and things. So I sent all the supplied help them, I tell them what to do. Even the radio I send them, I send them crank radio, you don't need battery, you crank it as so you'll get a free flashlight, radio and so on. So I send them all these emergency kit, hundreds of hundreds of dollars. Like I said a lot of them too. And they'll make me happy at least I helped my own family and I thought if everybody helped their own the society get better, you know?

Kit Heintzman 1:23:47
What were some of the things that they were worried about over the last two years with regard to the pandemic?

Steve Ramsey 1:23:52
The same issue, death, you know, I know all of us, I always remind them always we're going to die. But I know this is a classic. We want to live healthy, just like, no fear. So you need to be healthy. No fear and safety, the safety which is the trust the government is going to give you safety water, safety food, the people sometimes you get food they die then they found that the government imported food laced with with mercury and all this heavy metals. They didn't know they didn't clean it, or they didn't mark it because that food meant to be for grown only to kill the insect. It went in the wrong hand. It's sold in the market, people cook it and eat it. They die. So this is the things about safety like how much you trust the government. Is the government intelligent enough to hire intelligent people to look into these little things even here in Canada and America and happen. We have many dogs and cats die because somebody gets some supply from China, it was laced with some disease. I don't want to say 1,000, but maybe a couple 100 It's died and when is the government control it and then the last minute because we are very good lab and thing. Some other people have got infected with E. Coli and things like it happened even here in Canada and America, imagine a third world country. So most of the things they worry about this, how the virus is going to affect them, they see their uncle die from it. And then of course, we teach them make sure you have no diabetes, you will control your sleep, don't be scared. So your immunity system goes down, and so on. And of course, United Nation through all the Minister of Health, they have the same procedure, the distant the gloves, the things so it kind of did the same thing. Everybody lives in the bubbles. They sit in the at home, and what they do they watch TV, and which kind of TV all fake news. So you sitting home you get brainwashed by a group of also because back there and home and Middle East, most of the media control by the government, it feed you and they want at least here we have like two kind of fake news, you know, liberal and conservative.

Kit Heintzman 1:26:21
What are some of the things you've done to help take care of yourself during the pandemic?

Steve Ramsey 1:26:26
Well faith you know, I, it's actually brought me to God more because I thought it again, I always go reflect back on the Bible, the Torah, the Quran, the things and I believe in all these holy books, they are here for a reason. It doesn't matter when people say, Well, this has been changed. This is what it doesn't the core idea is God have a plan to us. But he don't intervene just like that. He gives us Mind and Brain and ability to decide for ourselves he intervene when humanity get the best of he intervene, trust me, but it'd be with your how he allow 1,000 dies. And of course, because we ran straight from just like Sodom and Gomorrah, I'm sorry to say that might affect some group, but this is what I feel. And Sodom and Gomorrah, just like a few 1,000 years ago, God intervened with this, he don't want this because he knows you're going to destroy humanity. Now what do we doing in that in the freezer level and government level? I know that those people that and people they taxpayers, they can do their things. That's their business, but you don't go force them to open a church for them. That he can't it is a contradiction. He cannot bring those people to the church. Because I know since well, God has forgiven it. This is doesn't it's contradiction. You can bring this to opposite right like of magnetically repel the this idea we try to enforce things on the church, we strive to forcing our community because some community citizen, Sodom and Gomorrah been destroyed because of those people. If we allow those people in our community, God have a plan. If those people don't come stray, we be destroyed. And somehow earthquakes, volcanoes, most of these fire and famine, and fire and disease come. It comes for a reason. I know it doesn't sound scientific. It's got a lot of environment trees in economies, and we discuss it. But also it's got religious leaders in it, which is God tried to show us we are out of balance. We are about us ideas. And God gave us just like He give Pharaoh nine signs and never listen and he destroyed them. He didn't destroy [inaudible] follow them. So the same thing happen when he give us aids. Then you give us a break. Then you give us Zika virus and give us this and you give it STDs and and trust me, humans gonna go worse and worse disease more. We don't listen more we don't balance. God's gonna send us things. Our human being cannot control because that's only the way he can control us. And of course, population control. Now, 8 billion people this is too much because we're not really ready to feed a billion people. I know. The capitalists need people to buy things to buy their junk to buy cigarettes and alcohol and things. So people can be billionaires sitting in Hawaii, while other people suffer from cancer of the lungs and things. My brother's son died from lung cancer from coronary heart attack of smoking after the emphysema because he cannot quit he got his cigarette when he was 12. He got American cigarettes. So American give good advertising to American people to not smoke but they keep their poison to the Middle East to kill more kids and to destroy other nations. That's my belief. Now again, I'm going throw [inaudible] will say my fake news or, or other other theories, but that's how I look at it. I try to integrate God itself with the politics with the economy and things and ourselves if we are allowed to go extreme if you go extreme right its dangerous. Your extreme left its dangerous. Everything extreme destroying us. So that's how I feel like it just I don't know, like if everybody I mean, I know everybody have right to live, where they go, but at the same time, it's just killing me sometimes I don't know how to really think about it, analyze it. Sometimes when I pray, ask God about its. And listen, I'm against that. So if your wrath comes, please not I don't like that. You know, I cannot change it because I'd be in a prison because this is against freedom against democracy. It's not me you want to punish that's the government, those the rule maker go after them. Personally, I say this in my prayers. So at least I believe that will happen somehow. God will bless somebody or something by earthquakes, volcanoes, natural disaster, in the hands of humanity, all the science, yes, because why science, we suck it the oil from the earth, the oil is lubricant and heat reduction to Earth. When he suck it friction is going to increase Arecibo gonna increase pumping the carbon in the environment, heat is going to be covered, more more plants gonna die. More algae is going to go 1,000 The fish gonna die and so on. Sooner or later, all these animals will die and we got nothing to eat or hunt.

Kit Heintzman 1:32:00
Do you think of COVID-19 as a historic moment is a historic event?

Steve Ramsey 1:32:06
Yes, I think COVID-19 is like the 9/11 of the viruses and 9/11 awakening of a human that they have to stop and think it turns against each other. And we have to prepare for worse than COVID Some viruses they're worse than COVID it's they're just waiting for the time to be transferred. And, and God actually know about them. He made them because when He created everything, he put them there for some reason because he don't use soldiers and rockets like us. He used mosquitoes, flies, just like what they use in the old testament, remember, and he uses blood and diseases and plucks he used this as a soldiers. He did this with so many nation before if you read the history of the Bible, and it's so many nation destroyed by these plagues, and of course a human they sit down and get scared and they go back to the same damn routine when my brother died in America from the car from the coronaries and emphysema I call my other brothers they smoke and I showed them pictures you know in the morgues and things and when he died they got scared for two weeks and back smoking again so human need to be reminded always hammered until they balance I know life it's it's very different you know you wake up you have to do this you have to make money work but but we always sacrifice something you will go more material you sacrifice your faith and kindness and things you will be more than a capitalistic you're ignoring the unfortunate people the poor people and so on. You go more liberals and you start to help the people and the welfare system and all this and you've taken money from the rich then they get upset because we work hard you smart and I know God gives you child and give you a good family. You get good school and you graduate you make good money and you want it you know it's up to you if you want to give you don't go force you know let's increase your tax because you make an over 80 blimey crazy. I've done like I don't even have a chance to save any money like I am 68 I pay $1.4 million taxes since I moved to Canada. I can't even pay my mortgage.

Kit Heintzman 1:34:40
Would you tell me a little bit about your relationship with spirituality?

Steve Ramsey 1:34:46
Very positive. It started. It started with my parents of course my mum is the one who really set me she started with the stories and things and my mom being in the Middle so she know everything about the Torah the New Testament the Quran, and she set me up very healthy without judgment and people who have Jewish friends who have Christian friend. We sometimes prejudiced when it comes to food, we like kosher food. So it's up to them like they could eat pork we don't just like Hindus, they don't eat beef, we don't cook beef on the you know. So my mom is like my dad was actually not easiest but agnostic because his army career and engineering thing and become an artist after that later in the prison, then you start to align with God and think but not fanatic. So they taught us very good not to be fanatic. My sister, all normal people, they don't make wear hijab and things, you know. I mean, it's up to them. If somebody wear hijabs is just like the nun of the none wanted to be a nun, that's a business. That's why I don't like Quebec, Quebec people, they forced the Muslim to take the hijab, what is your business, she pay tax, take a job, how about the nun, and then she died to cover all because we are Catholic. You see, they become fanatic. They judge other people. So with faith, I started to grow a little bit more and more and actually want to migrated to Canada, it helped me a lot, to be way, way, way, way balanced. Because here, it's very different. We have a society of more kindness than overseas overseas, actually, not the religion or the faith, the faith and the religion are pure, but the people poison it. The culture, they start into their culture, their idea, which is God got nothing to do with it, like mercy killing, wherever killing you know, in Jordan and Pakistan and others, they create ideas have nothing to do with the Quran and Bible or Torah, as a fanatic start to arise. And then, of course, the injustice done by the superpower, stealing the people gold and steal from the country's oil supply. Friends attacking certain country because of the gold issue. You see France don't have any gold mine at all. But France, they are fourth country in the world with a gold reserve from where they bring it, they stole all the gold from Mali, they killed the Malians and so on. And a lot of other countries did the same thing, the Spanish, the English and all this. And of course, after they left Pakistan and India and other things, and they went back to England and France and thing, now they bring the law, Oh, don't be barbarians, you guys barbarian killing each other while you're a barbarian killing India for 500 years, stealing all the jewels and the things you don't talk about that Holland and Belgium, they went to Africa, certain country, they cut the hand of the people, because that person cannot bring more rubbers from the trees you have to do that much. If he cannot bring that much a day, his hand will go. And you go to that country, so many people lost their hands. Like if you cut their hands how they can work. So you are the barbarians, the Western society. Now of course, they turn a leaf after they become billionaires, they have their own crowns and countries and and and stole all these countries and neglected and what happened they are going to be breed for terrorism for fanatics. And of course you see what happening and other things they create the mess. I don't know if you're if you know that the top evil in the world created by the West like hamas. If you go to history of hummus, hummus you created by Israel in the beginning. But then what happened? The people notice they kill all the traders, they took hummus, then they get money from Iran, weapon from Russia, ISIS, ISIS created by America specifically by Obama, but ISIS leader some of them run away back because they get very nice when we slide and Turkey and Iran they killed at the fanatic to go over and so on and so forth. So we created the evil to help American, British and because they don't have a lot of soldier die so they create mess for the other guys and missionaries to attack and kill on their behalf. But people like me and you here. We don't know. They listen of ISIS all ISIS. Are those Muslim terrorists. No they are American made terrorist. But somehow they've been taken destroyed another fanatic come over for justice because they want to see justice you go to Iraq, accused them of weapon of mass destruction. There is no such a thing. The weapon of mass destruction exists in Israel and Iran. They are the ones so suited you got this throw Iraq, because that's what they want to feel mistake. Iraq done invaded Kuwait big mistake. But there is another way you can do it. Let them deal with yourself and you send a balancer instead of send bombs.

Kit Heintzman 1:40:17
if you could tell a historian in the future, what they should, what kinds of questions they should ask about this moment, what kinds of stories they should tell, what would you tell them?

Steve Ramsey 1:40:28
Well, the first thing is that the question, the leadership, the stability of the leadership, the level of the leadership, and the people in the government, who chose the ministers, maybe 5% of the minister are qualified, but most of them because they have money, they bring more numbers. They brought them because they align with them. And degree in America and a wasteland actually a good little bit because you bow by law. 50/50 kind of you give the people what they want, well, but but at a 50 Mostly politics, but in the Middle East, Latin American and corrupt world, mostly fanatic, have no degree non qualification run the country like in Iraq, very few minister have PhD, the rest of them they control by Iran, it just because they theologian, some of them have doctorate degree, just earn by like, not from school, anything just given by somebody in Iran and so on. And they run it. And they say, Oh, well, if you question it, say, Yeah, because we the minister, but I hire a bunch of PhD with me. And I said, Well, I never see those PhD tell you anything, you hire smart people to teach you not to work, you tell them what to do. And that's what happened in Middle East, the corruption, the theft in Africa and the Middle East, because the leadership in the question, so the historian should handle the leadership of that country, when you get a good leadership, kind leadership, just scientific, and not putting detergent in your blood kind of leadership. Those the people should be questioned, how, and then you will know the people when you understand the leadership, you understand the people of that era. I know because, as you say, like in the books in the West, the victory, write the history, the victor. So and this is the dilemma. So when I study, a Western perspective, a victory of a war, I don't look at them. I look at the losers. And I studied the loser and I from the loser. I know what is the real justice there and what they really fight for? And what how will look like that country. I never believe in what UK tell me or USA tell me or Saudi tell me of Iran, because they manipulate just like you do here and fake news with Fox News and other you know, the same thing with the society is doing. So I probably asked him about this go look into the leadership and study them well.

Kit Heintzman 1:43:17
I want to thank you so much for your time. Those are all of the questions I know how to ask right now.

Steve Ramsey 1:43:24
Yes.

Kit Heintzman 1:43:24
But if there's anything you want to share,

Steve Ramsey 1:43:27
Yes please.

Kit Heintzman 1:43:27
Is there anything else you'd like to share before I let you go?

Steve Ramsey 1:43:31
No, so far so far, so good, I I think the best thing I’m going to do using time to slowly get back to my friend send them email and I think you know, the best thing most courageous thing is to apologize I think I you know I have to apologize for them. And I it's a learning curve for me. I never been in this situation before. And because of fear, you know, so I politely will tell them exactly what I'm talking to you like this but in the kind way show without alienate them. And I know it's very tough because even when I bring them as a friend, they're gonna still be broken because when you break the glass, you can cleanse you blew it, you can bring you the glass, but it's still broken. And that's what I got to kind of feel guilty about it just I broke that trust and those friendship because my fear, you know, and I kind of isolate them. So I think I just gonna write an apology for them. And, and hopefully to be a better man, you know, somehow this virus can teach us a lot teach us fear but yet teach us about ourselves.

Kit Heintzman 1:44:41
Thank you so much.

Steve Ramsey 1:44:43
You're welcome. Thanks