This story encapsulates for us all the ludicrous absurdity of the assertion that the authorities are “keeping us all safe”. Obviously, no one is safe in the world they are creating and here is the proof.
Some reading these words have never experienced 30 below Celcius so please allow me to “splain” what it’s like. I won’t exaggerate but rather just give my best description based on many many days working and playing in temperatures such as these.
The critical things about staying warm and avoiding hypothermia are having well-insulated clothes, keeping active and avoiding any dampness either from over-exertion or from a plunge through the ice.
Thirty below is very survivable for extended periods of time if you follow these measures. However, the temperature is quite sufficient to kill if one is underdressed or inactive for any amount of time. We here in the Yukon have just endured two deaths of apparently healthy, young people in temperatures warmer than 30 below, within the past week, so staying alive outdoors in the Yukon in the winter is not a game.
And much colder temperatures occur in the region. 40 below will create white frozen spots on your face and freeze exposed fingers in minutes or less. Wind, of course, increases the danger greatly.
I do not know if it was windy on the day that this eleven year old boy was dropped off for what was supposed to be a fun time at the swimming pool but even if it was not, the cruelty of making him “wait” outside for three quarters of an hour in winter temperatures with inadequate clothing because he did not have proof of injection status is absolutely not acceptable. Nor is it tolerable that others will be thrown into this situation all over the north and most likely will succumb to the cold as well, especially when temperatures inevitably hit 40, 50 or 60 below.
I once went for a walk with my dog at 50 below celcius to see what it was like. (around 60 below F) We did not get very far, with the husky trying to keep all four paws off the ground at the same time and my face registering the sting of imminent lock-up no matter what i did. We made a hundred yards perhaps and headed for the cabin. Boiling water tossed in the air at such temperatures is a sight to behold, and soap bubbles do not burst but instantly freeze solid and float slowly to the ground. A friend who trapped for years tells me that at sixty below Fahrenheit you need two forty below sleeping bags, one inside the other, and i bet you still do some shivering. Every ten degrees of drop hits you like a another slap. You think it can’t get colder, but yes it can!
So imagine what it will be like for anyone out on the road this winter when their vehicle breaks down, if they lack the correct papers or have forgotten them at home, and are not allowed in the only business building in the area. There are spots along the Alaska highway where the only warmth for miles around is in the little restaurant which has to bar you entry without the passport. So the near tragedy of this kid is only the beginning of what is sure to prove yet another governmental experiment of the absurd.
Unless, the goal really is “mass death by design” this lunacy needs to stop in about 2019.
Skulltripper 