Chutzpah, Thy Name Is Abbott

Covid-19 is devastating Texas. The state is reporting an average of more than 12,000 new cases a day, and intensive care units are basically full.  Covid tents are once again being erected in hospital parking lots to deal with the surge.

. . . If only there were some kind of vaccine,

In fairness, Texas is certainly not the worst state in terms of vaccination rates, with something like 56% of its eligible residents vaccinated--not great, certainly, but not as bad as some other Deep Red states.  I imagine having liberal bastions like Austin helps.  But the sheer size of Texas's population means that huge numbers of Texans remain unvaccinated, despite the near ubiquitous availability of vaccines.

In the meantime, though, Texas governor Greg Abbott remains steadfast in his refusal to do anything constructive in combatting the virus.  Not only has he refused to implement a statewide mask mandate, he has gone a step further, and forbidden local governments from imposing mask mandates of their own.  At the same time, though, Abbott is begging health care workers from other states to come to Texas to help with the Covid surge.

All I can say is, I hope that--Hippocratic Oath, notwithstanding--these out-of-state health care workers tell Abbott to go fuck himself sideways.  If he's not willing to do anything to mitigate the spread of the virus, why should anyone risk their own health and well-being to bail him out?  If I were a health-care worker, I'd offer to come to Texas if and only if statewide mask mandates are put in place, along with any number of other mitigation measures.  I might also ask for a million dollars a week. Why not?

****

In other news, the CEO's of Southwest, American, and Delta Airlines have announced that they will not require their employees to get vaccinated, in contrast to United Airlines, which did impose such a mandate.

Really, Delta? Isn't it bad enough for your corporate image that the plague raging across the country is universally and unrelentingly referred to as the "Delta variant"? You really want to compound that by going on record as being less than fanatical in taking steps to protect your staff and customers?

Of Communion, Conservatorships, Conservatives, and Covid

Last weekend, a conference of Catholic bishops in the United States overwhelmingly approved a draft statement that could potentially prevent prominent Catholics—including, conspicuously, one prominent Catholic in particular, President Joe Biden—from receiving Communion due to their support for abortion rights. This despite admonitions from the Pope against the statement.

(Is the Pope Catholic? Some American bishops might have their doubts. And so much for rendering unto Caesar….)

The coverage of this vote, in an effort to explain to laypeople (and Jews) the significance of the Eucharist, frequently mentions the belief of devout Catholics that, when they eat the cracker and drink the wine, the Communion comestibles are literally transformed into the body and blood of Christ.

So, if I understand this correctly, Catholics believe that supporting a woman’s right to choose an abortion is a mortal sin, but they’re perfectly OK with cannibalism. And not for nothing, but these folks have also been eating Jesus for some 2000 years now. How much flesh and blood did the man have?

*****

On Wednesday, June 23, and Thursday, June 24, the front page of the New York Times featured stories about the New York City mayor's race, Supreme Court decisions, the ongoing deterioration of American democracy at the hands of revanchist Republicans. . . and Britney Spears' attempts to free herself from a conservatorship.

Now, I have nothing against Britney Spears.  I've never particularly cared for her music, but as far as I know, Britney's never hurt anybody or kicked puppies, and she's brought joy to millions through her catalogue of danceable bubblegum pop.  She’s a grown woman who, like all of us, has made some mistakes in judgment and haircare, but she certainly has a reasonable case that she should be free to manage her own affairs.

All that being said: IS THIS FRONT PAGE NEWS FOR THE PAPER OF RECORD? FOR TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS?!?

This is why they hate us.

*****

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a high-school cheerleader who was disciplined by her school after she posted a vulgar Snapchat rant about not being selected for the varsity squad. Now that’s what I call team spirit!

Anyway, a good decision by the Supremes, but, frankly, this whole case falls under the heading of, "How is this even a question?"  To recap: The cheerleader, Brandi Levy, posted a mini-rant in which she cursed out the school, softball, cheer, and "everything." She didn't threaten anyone.  She didn't use any racial or ethnic slurs.  She wasn't on school property when she posted the screed--from her cellphone--on a Saturday.  And she posted it to her followers (about 250 of them) on Snapchat, a social media tool designed to be ephemeral: Snapchat messages automatically disappear after a few hours.

I'm glad the Justices found in her favor, but, much like the Britney Spears' conservatorship question, I can't help but think there are more important things for us to be spending time on.

One interesting note: The decision was not unanimous.  It was 8-1.  The "1" was Clarence Thomas, which I found a little surprising considering that he's "Mr. Originalist."  One would think this open-and-shut challenge to the First Amendment would have garnered his support.  Yet, no.  I can only assume that this speaks to Thomas's commitment to always be on the wrong side of every question.

*****

I’m tired of Facebook posts sharing news articles with headlines like, “Young Mother, 24, Dies of Covid Despite Being Fully Vaccinated.” I don’t doubt the veracity of the headlines—I’m not engaging in Trumpian shrieks of “Fake News.” Nor do I mean to belittle the anguish faced by the families and loved ones of those who die after vaccination. But I do question the motives of those who publish such “news” stories and those who share them online. These stories are the epitome of fearmongering and serve no purpose other than to generate clicks and undermine efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible—which, to be clear, is the only way we will ultimately end the pandemic.

Let’s consider a scary number: According to the CDC, as of April 2021, nearly SIX-THOUSAND fully vaccinated Americans had contracted Covid! Terrifying, no?

Well, actually no. Because as of today, over 150 million Americans have been fully vaccinated. So, even if we assume that the number of “breakthrough cases” (positive Covid diagnoses after vaccination) is now at 10,000–or, hell, let’s say it’s skyrocketed to 100,000–that would still mean that the positivity rate among the vaccinated is less than one in a thousand people. And the death rate is less than one-tenth of THAT. So another way of looking at all these “scary” headlines is that Covid vaccines are more than 99.99% effective in preventing death from Covid.

That’s a death-prevention-efficacy rate that rivals seatbelts!

The frustrating part of all this is that the people I see sharing these posts are usually intelligent, liberal types. They’re sharing the posts mainly in an effort to encourage people to remain vigilant even after vaccination. But another unavoidable consequence of such stories is that the vaccine resistant—the ignorant MAGAts who have decided that science is a liberal plot—get more ammunition to double-down on their hostility to vaccines: “See, vaccines don’t prevent Covid! It’s all a scam.”

Maybe we should tell the MAGAts that once the vaccine is injected, it transforms into the body and blood of Trump. 

Opening Day

As I write this, I’m sitting in the house. Not MY house. THE house. As in the part of a theater where the audience sits. For the first time in nearly two years, I’m attending a members’ meeting of my local community theatre. The meeting is about as boring as I remembered these meetings to be, but I don’t even care. It’s one more step on the road back to something resembling a post-Covid normalcy.

I know we’re not at normal yet. Every day brings worrisome news of some new variant that’s more contagious, more lethal, or both. And at the same time, I’m sitting maskless amongst a group of community theatre actors. And if you know anything about “community theatre actors,” you know that that’s a synonym for “older than dirt.” Let me put it this way: I’m a veritable whippersnapper in this crowd. These are presumably the most at-risk folks, but we couldn’t stay away.

At the same time, as California has officially reopened, the paranoia and neurosis run deep. At my workplace—a college—we’ve been informed that, come August, we will be back to business as usual. In keeping with the state and county guidance, we will allow the public back on campus, we will forego mask requirements, and even social distancing will be a thing of the past. Which would all be a lot more impressive if we hadn’t had to create the fall schedule back on March. As it is, the college will be open, but most of the classes remain online. Fall, then, will be a nice, liminal sort of semester—a transitional zone between sheltering in place and resuming normal, public human interactions.

A lot of people don’t see it that way, though. They’re kind of panicking at the thought of interacting with the unmasked public. Have they been vaccinated? For the most part, yes. But when you point out that the CDC has declared that vaccinated people are essentially safe—no need for masking, no need for distancing—you’re met with greater of lesser degrees of hysteria. “It’s not 100% safe!” Well, no, it isn’t, but, then again, you realize nothing is, right? You weren’t “100% safe” at work before Covid-19, either. At some point, you just have to start living your life again, right?

Here’s the thing that gets me: All through the awful year of 2020, as the Moron-in-Chief railed against medical science and insisted that the coronavirus would just disappear like a “miracle” and peddled snake-oil cures and advised people to drink bleach—all through that time, the non-brainwashed among us pleaded with people to listen to the doctors, listen to the science. Well, now the science is telling us that we can venture forth without masks, we can stop social distancing, we can get back to our lives—and people don’t want to hear it!

I know that people are nervous. I’m sympathetic—I really am. But in the end, you have to take a plunge sometime. The time has come.

More about Masks

The common-sense crowd fears that the CDC was wrong in declaring that the fully vaccinated could go maskless, mainly because there’s no way to ensure that only the fully vaccinated will go maskless. That the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers—a greatly overlapping Venn diagram—will use this guidance as an excuse to continue in their stubborn ways.

The common-sense crowd is undoubtedly justified in this belief.

What these people wanted, I assume, was for the CDC to say, “Well, from a scientific perspective, there’s no real need for fully vaccinated people to continue wearing masks in most situations. But, since a number of unvaccinated people will choose to use this guidance as an excuse to stop wearing masks—even though they haven’t been vaccinated and may have no intention of doing so—and because there is no (politically) easy way to tell who’s been vaccinated—then we recommend that everyone continue wearing masks.” But this is a statement beyond the purview of the CDC. Mask mandates are now fully in the realm of politics, as opposed to that of science.

I choose to believe that CDC scientists, in making their pronouncement, take into account the fact that many unvaccinated people will go around maskless. That is, they’ve thought about the risk to vaccinated people posed by the non-compliant, and they still cleared us for take-off. We should take comfort in this.

But, people say, shouldn’t the CDC not have said anything? Keep mask recommendations, such as they are, in place? 

No.

The CDC would have been wrong NOT to rescind mask recommendations if, in fact, wearing a mask provides no special benefit to people who have been fully vaccinated. Because that strategy would simply give more ammunition to the anti-science conspiracy theorists. “See,” they’d say, “the deep-state just wants to keep controlling us! They know there’s no need to wear masks, but they don’t want us to be free!” Or similar nonsense.

The next phase of this will undoubtedly be. . . interesting. What will happen as businesses continue (as they can) to refuse entry to unmasked, unvaccinated people? How will they enforce this prohibition? Will they require people to show proof of vaccination and, if so, of what will that proof consist? 

I think people’s anger at the CDC stems mostly from fear of what comes next—of the battles that will continue to be fought at the level of the store entrance by people who have misplaced ideas of what “personal freedom” really means. Understandable fears. Yet we must move forward.

*****

Some will continue wearing masks anyway. I think most of these folks hold one of two non-mutually exclusive beliefs: Either they’re worried for their own safety—that they could still be susceptible to one of several Covid variants spreading around the world; or they’re concerned that, while they themselves are protected, they could still spread the disease to the unvaccinated. More power to them.

Already, though, we’re hearing of people screaming at these folks to lose the masks! The CDC has spoken. I can’t help but suspect that most of the screamers are the same people who denied that the CDC had any right to recommend masks in the first place—and that they, thus, are less likely to be vaccinated themselves. Considering, then, that the overcautious vaccinated are mainly protecting them by keeping the masks on, these people are berating others for being... courteous.

America!

Of Masks and Men

So, what? We’re just supposed to take everyone’s word for it?

Finally, after more than a year, the Centers for Disease Control has (have? Can we get a grammar ruling here?), now declared that we—the not so few, the smug, the vaccinated—may now venture forth without masks. Science has spoken!  

I don’t feel as celebratory as I thought I would, though.

For one thing, for me, it’s a minor victory. I never minded the mask much. As a somewhat chin-deprived individual, I took comfort in covering up. And now, I admit that the thought of going outside without a mask now feels. . . uncomfortable. It’s the same kind of feeling you get when you try a drastically new hairstyle: You feel like everyone’s going to be staring at you, judging you.

And, yeah, judgment: I live in a very blue part of a very blue state. If I walk around without my mask, I feel like I also need to wear a t-shirt declaring, in large font, my vaccinated status, lest I be mistaken for an anti-mask, anti-vaccine moron.

I also question the idea that this new mandate will inspire more people to get vaccinated. This presumes a large group of people who don’t particularly want to get vaccinated, but who also dislike wearing a mask, and who are avoiding vaccination in large part because they have been thinking, “Why bother? I’ll still have to wear my mask anyway.” People, in other words, for whom the primary benefit of vaccination is not being protected from a dangerous virus, nor of protecting others, but rather that they won’t have to strap a thin piece of fabric across their faces when they go down to Safeway.

How big is this population? 

And of course, these would also have to be people who are unwilling to lie about their vaccination status. It’s not like anyone is going to be checking medical records of the unmasked (or, indeed, issuing t-shirts like the one I propose above). 

All right, you’ve talked me into it! I’m going into the t-shirt business. Want to invest?

Immunity

Scientists speculate that the United States will never reach herd immunity for Covid-19.  This isn't quite as bad as it sounds.  As long as the most vulnerable populations (the elderly, the immuno-compromised, the hypochondriacal) are immunized--along with as many others as possible--then even if Covid never fully disappears (it won't), its damage should be mitigated  People will still get sick, but the virus shouldn't continue to rampage through the population, overwhelming the medical system and necessitating widespread lockdowns.  The "hope" (if that's the right word) is that Covid eventually becomes a seasonal threat: unpleasant, certainly, but manageable.

One key point in today's news, though, is that medical professionals and other scientists fear that the conclusion that the US won't reach herd immunity (defined as anywhere from 70 - 90% of the population being immunized) will further discourage the vaccine hesitant from getting their shots (which, to be clear, is still highly--highly--recommended as one of the most effective ways to combat Covid).  Why bother getting vaccinated, they'll "reason," if the country won't reach herd immunity no matter what?  And no one will be able to make them see that a major reason herd immunity is a futile goal is because of morons like them who refuse to be vaccinated!

Ignorance may be nothing to be ashamed of, but it’s nothing to take pride in either.  Too many Americans are way too proud of their own idiocy.

(L)Anguishing

Turns out there's an official clinical term for "Meh": Languishing.  The condition of being neither clinically depressed nor satisfactorily chipper, but somewhere in between.  It's what a lot of people have been suffering, constantly or intermittently, since around St. Patrick's Day 2020, when the world shut down. Nice to have a name. Personally, I think I've been languishing since around 1993, but I'll choose to blame things on the pandemic!

I think the most prominent symptom--or at least the most prominent NEW symptom--that I've noticed is, for want of a better term, utter and complete hatred of everything and everybody.  It's a subtle symptom, but it's there.  I can attest that, for the last six months or so, I experience days where I have these powerful, visceral reactions every time I get a notification of a new email.  Seriously!  Like, no matter who it's from or how innocuous the message may turn out to be, I find myself wishing death on whoever had the temerity to, you know, communicate with me.

I'm hoping that, as we start to drift back towards normalcy, I see a reduction in this particular symptom, at least.  As an educator, I can see that rank misanthropy will probably not serve me well in the workplace.

Life in the Fast Lane

One of the less-remarked upon effects of the Covid-19 pandemic must be the demise of the speed limit.  Driving California freeways feels like nothing so much as tearing down the Autobahn--or so I imagine: I've never actually driven on the Autobahn.  I don't even know what the Autobahn is! Sometimes I just put letters together and see what happens.

Anyway.

But seriously, folks, I routinely find myself hitting 80+ on the highway, and I don't even feel it--don't even notice it until I happen to glance at the speedometer--primarily because, no matter how fast I'm going, cars routinely blow by me on either side.  I might as well be driving an Amish buggy instead of my actual car (an Amish Prius--which is like a regular Prius, but with a large family and weird facial hair).

In the early days of the pandemic, this disregard for speed limits made a certain sense.  The roads were comparatively empty. I once made it to work from Solipsist Central--about a ten mile drive--in about 47 seconds.  Now, however, traffic is just SO February 2020.  But people--including me, apparently--failed to get the memo.

I suppose increased average traffic speed wouldn't be the WORST thing to come out of the pandemic.  Once we all have places to go again, might as well get there quickly.