Takes ones breath away!

Posted by on

Can someone please run over to hell and check if it has frozen over? You see, I’ve just found myself nodding along to Fox News. The other day, Fox News personality Neil Cavuto implored viewers to “toss the political speaking points” and get vaccinated. “Life is too short to be an ass,” he said, adding that he expected to be attacked for his views.

Telling people to get vaccinated during a pandemic shouldn’t be controversial. Cavuto’s employer has worked overtime to ensure that it is. A recent analysis by a media watchdog found 60% of Fox News’ summer programming included claims undermining vaccinations. While Fox has been amplifying anti-vaxxer propaganda, however, it has also been quietly enforcing its own strict vaccination and testing policies. Nearly 90% of full-time employees at the Fox Corporation have been vaccinated, it was reported last month. The company has also said it will soon implement daily Covid testing for employees who haven’t had the jab.

It has become depressingly clear that we’re not going to end this pandemic by relying on everyone to do what is best for the greater good. If we want to have any hope of getting back to normal then we need strict vaccine and testing requirements – as Fox, for all its posturing about freedom, clearly realises. There are heated debates across the world about how to implement this. Indonesia has made vaccines mandatory, with big fines for refuseniks. While it seems unlikely that most countries will go that far, vaccine mandates for people such as government employees and care workers have been implemented in countries including the US, Australia, France and – from 11 November – in England. As well they should be. There is nothing controversial about requiring people to get inoculated; vaccination requirements for school and travel have been in place for decades. If you’re marching in the street to protest against the “tyranny” of being forced to consider other people, please get a grip. Even Fox News hosts think you are being an ass. (Arwa Mahdawi, The Guardian, 27 Oct 2021)

My comment: Refreshing and grown up. Well said.

Unsolved murders

Posted by on

There is a backlog of more than 250,000 unsolved murders in the US, a backlog that grows by 6000 every year. Police departments are resolving a lower percentage of cases than ever before. In prior decades the rate of homicide resolution was 70%; it is now down to about 60%, and continuing to fall. In 2016 only 7% of the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies had cold-case squads, despite the fact that, for every old homicide case there is a murderer at large who can keep killing.

One problem is that for every successful conviction for a single murder, there is little time devoted to finding out how many other people the accused killed. This leaves families grieving and an atmosphere of dread among many.

Every society has some level of murderous crime, but the US is unique, firstly in the sheer number of guns out there, and secondly the apparent feeling of disillusionment of young men, who are turned off education, dread trying to find a rewarding job, and resent the success of their young female counterparts (at least, this is the assumption of many).

The lack of education (or the desire for it) among the young men is all too clear, if you have experience of other countries. Maybe this argument seems too sweeping, but when there is the monthly (?) school shooting (or similar) a young man always seems to be involved – seldom if ever a woman.

My take: My university college started admitting girls some 25 years ago (previously they went to girls-only colleges). Now, I gather, it is the girls who shine academically and achieve final exam results better than their male counterparts. Speaking personally, I think this is fantastic! For too long have high expectations of young men created formidable pressure on them. Sit back, lads, enjoy life, embrace ataraxia. and let the women do some of the heavy thinking! Epicurus would be intrigued and amused. (The Guardian 7 Oct 2021)

Get a perspective!

Posted by on

And now the Audubon Society is changing its name because Audubon owned slaves and took skulls from Indian graves. If we have to work through every prominent, deceased American and his or her sins then it is high time George Washington and all the bigwigs of the American Revolution should be erased from our memories and our history books as well.

Epicurus, were he asked about this cancelling of everything disagreeable, might well have pointed out that we are all sinners who conform to the mores of our places and times. He clearly was uncomfortable about slavery because we welcomed slaves, current and ex, to his home and treated them as equals. But he never cancelled their owners.

One thing is sure: that denouncing now-dead racists and sinners is a boon to the university student of history – fewer people to write essays about, dates to remember and accounts of the doings of highly disagreeable slave traders and the effects they had on local African peoples (many of whom were trading slaves as well, by the way). Let us focus on todays ongoing sins, demonizations and greed.

Modern Art

Posted by on

A Danish artist who was given $83,000 worth of Danish kroner by a museum to use in a artwork, pocketed the cash and submitted two blank canvasses entitled “Take the money and run”.

For an exhibition on money and labor the Kroger Museum of Modern Art commissioned artist Jens Haaning to recreate a previous artwork featuring real banknotes. After submitting the cashless canvasses, Haaning explained, “The artwork is that I have taken the money. It is not theft, it is a breach of contract, and the breach of contract is part of the work”.

My comment: I’m greatly in favor of jokes, but this one is not very funny. It begs the question “what future does Haaning have in the art world?” There is huge demand for truck drivers to help sort out the overloaded import system. You could be doing something useful, Mr, Haaning!

Immigration

Posted by on

Border Patrol arrests along the Mexico border reached their highest levels since 1986. Historical data shows fiscal year 2021’s figure was the highest total ever recorded. U.S. authorities detained more than 1.7 million migrants along the Mexico border during the 2021 fiscal year that ended in September, and arrests by the Border Patrol soared to the highest levels ever recorded, according to unpublished U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by The Washington Post.

Illegal crossings began rising last year but skyrocketed in the months after President Biden took office. As CBP arrests increased this past spring, Biden described the rise as consistent with historical seasonal norms. But the busiest months came during the sweltering heat of July and August, when more than 200,000 migrants were taken into custody. (Nick Miroff, New York Times, October 20).

My comment: I have the greatest sympathy with all the people who trek north under the most trying circumstances. But even I accept that there has to be some limit to the number of migrants any country can cope with. What is missing is reporting on the policies, inactions and conditions in the countries whence the hordes of migrants are coming. If the main problem is local gangsterism and extortion let’s talk about what the US can do about law, order and corruption in countries like Guatemala (if anything), but at least lean on the individual governments to confront the gangs, or, as climate warming gets worse the numbers of migrants will only grow. Am I being naive? Epicurus might well point out that the migrants yearn for peace of mind, but one persons peace of mind is another’s feeling of helplessness and loss of control.