Calling the Shots!
Hurray for the Pfizer vaccine — humanity’s best hope to beat Covid — and achieving it in 11 months was quite remarkable! It is a ray of hope in a devastating year, but that may be the only good news in an annus horribilis!
Since I’m a glass-half-empty kind of gal, I can’t help but dwell on America’s abysmal response thus far to the pandemic: so many avoidable deaths, so much pain and suffering, such an absence of leadership. Nine months in and they still can’t get anything right: what with testing, tracing, ventilator and PPE shortages, dithering over mask mandates, lockdowns, and stay at home orders — so why would they get vaccine distribution right?
But, hey, let’s hope for the best even while pointing out the total lack of a comprehensive and evidence-based national strategy to track key metrics.
Based on his own experience when he fell ill, Trump took it for granted that the world-class and life-saving experimental treatment he received from a government run program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the exact same care other Americans could easily get. He was so wrong!
Undue Access
There’s also the issue of Trump associates gaining undue access to drugs that are in such short supply that hospitals have a lottery system! Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani bragged of special care because of his "celebrity” status and getting the same drugs as Trump! Guiliani is not a D.C. resident, so should not have had access to them at a D.C. hospital.
Similarly, HUD Secretary Ben Carson said Trump "cleared" him for a “monoclonal antibody therapy” that most Americans would never get — the same with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, also from Trump’s inner circle.
This is a type of corruption that only exists in societies controlled by oligarchs and autocrats where friends and family of the dictator get first dibs! It shouldn’t happen in America!
Also, what is it with these science-deniers who now believe in science when it suits them?
Jumping the Queue!
Will that also happen with the vaccine? Will the powerful, the connected, and the rich jump to the top of the queue ahead of front line health workers and the elderly?
Meanwhile, videos have circulated showing mask-less guests crowding together at Trump-hosted Hanukkah parties at the White House! Is it any wonder then that his staff and guests keep testing positive for Covid? But they’re the privileged few who can get access to experimental treatment and recover unlike ordinary citizens (like you and I!) who can get sick — and die!
Grim Numbers
Meanwhile, more than 300,000 Americans have already died from Covid — that’s more than U.S. battlefield fatalities in World War II! That number is the population of Pittsburgh, says the New York Times! More than 3,000 deaths per day on several days this month translates to single-day tolls worse than 9/11 (2,900 deaths) or the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (2,400 deaths)! Digest those grim stats for a moment.
It is difficult to assess the number of years lost and lives disrupted by the sheer complacency of this Administration and its errors of commission and omission. Clearly, many lives might have been saved if more blatant mistakes had been prevented, common sense safeguards put in place, and top shelf treatment made more universally available.
Beware of Pandemic Fatigue!
We are in a state of pandemic fatigue, fed up of endless precautions and restrictions and lack of activities to engage in, resulting in depression, mood swings, and sheer ennui! This has led some to abandon safety protocols and risk catching the disease. Beware!
The main reason we are currently experiencing huge coronoavirus spikes throughout the country with resultant severe shortages in ER beds is because millions of Americans ignored medical advice and traveled during Thanksgiving. With Christmas coming up, expect more of the same, much more!
Season of Giving!
Changing the subject: how about a little philanthropy and what better time than the present? I can recommend these charities, see Weblinks below — KIND (Kids in Need of Desks) that donates desks to children in Malawi, CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education), an African movement promoting education for girls, and the Himalayan Cataract Project (also known as Cure Blindness) which fights blindness in Asia and Africa and can restore a person’s sight for as little as $25.
There are many other World Bank and UNICEF-supported charities where the WB matches donations dollar for dollar at this time of year through its Community Connections Campaign.
Another worthwhile place to donate is to soup kitchens and other organizations that deliver food packages for families in need. People are stealing food because they’re hungry — that shouldn’t be happening in America either!
All the very best for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice! Let’s hope 2021 is better (could hardly be worse) — I’m kidding, of course! I’m sure it will be a “grand year” as my former boss used to say!
Christmas Star or the Great Conjunction of 2020!
For all you stargazers, get ready to train those amateur telescopes to the sky on December 21st! Look out for the “rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter” on the northern hemisphere’s longest and darkest night of the year, the Winter Solstice! (Check out article and pics below and tips on how to see it!)
This is a major cosmic event: a double planet view of two giants, Jupiter and Saturn, drawing closer together than they have in centuries! Known as the Great Conjunction of 2020 (the last time they were this close to each other was 800 years ago), they will light up the night sky as if “locked in an embrace and creating a double planet effect!” (Who knew astronomers could be lyrical?)
Also known as the “Christmas Star,” note that the Biblical story of the Star of Bethlehem could well have been a planetary conjunction — but not Jupiter and Saturn. More than two thousand years ago, that bright star in the heavens was actually Venus and Jupiter, the same star that the Three Wise Men and humble shepherds followed to the manger in Bethlehem!
See how science explains everything even if you prefer it to fudge a bit and preserve childhood fantasies! I just caught myself humming the Christmas Star carol! Bummer!
Ludi Joseph
Washington, D.C.
December 14, 2020
https://www.msnbc.com/kindfund
https://www.cureblindness.org/
How to see the Conjunction!
Face southwest on Dec. 21st, 6:15-6:45 p.m. Jupiter will be one of the brightest stars you see with a fainter Saturn to Jupiter’s right. They will be low in the sky, so find a clear unobstructed view to the southwestern horizon. Jupiter and Saturn will appear nearest on Dec. 21st but they will also be close Dec. 18-24.
My favorite blog writer, nay my favorite author among relatives, friends and acquaintances, has excelled herself this time. The SHEER DOVERSITY of her blog/literary interests is amazing. I know the author, but I get a more profound peek at the "inner" her through her work - I feel honored and delighted to get to know someone whose interests range from the all-ravaging pandemic to the most amazing humanitarian actions to the heavenly bodies!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mati!
DeleteGlad you enjoyed the blog! I don’t deserve such praise but appreciate those comments very much!
Krishna Kannan, Bangalore, December 15, 2020:
ReplyDeleteThe title is well-chosen and cannot be more apt! Ludi has raised some disturbing doubts about the way the U.S. has gone about reacting to the Coronavirus problem allowing the pandemic to go from from bad to terrible under mismanagement by Donald Trump & Co. Though decidedly late in the day, the wisdom that was lingering around is fortunately about to arrive! Making us all wiser, she ends on a cheerful note about the unique Great Conjunction, come December twenty-first.
PS: Would you like to make it December twenty-first in place of December 21 so that non-American readers don't get confused?
Kannan,
DeleteThanks very much for those comments. It is true: I use too many Americanisms like December 21 so will change that, for sure! I used to say WWII but no one understood that, hence World War 2! I also use a lot of slang like “exact same” and “whole entire” — I probably shouldn’t but it sounds good (at times)! Thanks very much for the suggestions! I included all or most!
Jenny D’Mello, New Delhi, December 15, 2020:
ReplyDeleteLudi,
I just loved reading your blog! I wish Trump could see it too! Thanks for mentioning the stargazing dates. I will keep a look out on those evenings.
Jenny,
DeleteGlad you enjoyed reading the blog! I was trying not to be too pessimistic! Yes, also looking forward to seeing Saturn and Jupiter conjoining!