Russia invades the Ukraine – Diminishing mask mandates – Incredible moderation of an American senator – Evening statistics
Russia has begun its invasion of the Ukraine. It has been building up for weeks, with Putin sable-rattling in increasingly belligerent terms over the past several days, but even though some attempt at pre-emptive action was taken by the U.S. and the European Union, it is difficult to prevent a country with Russia’s resources to wage war when it has a mind to do so. Already 137 Ukrainians have been killed and 316 wounded, including all border guards on the Zmiinyi Island in the Odessa region, which was taken over by Russians. Putin has denied plans to occupy the Ukraine, but he has made it clear that he sees no reason for it to exist as an independent country. The European nations have issued condemnations of the invasion, but it is unclear what they can do to retaliate. The EU is the world’s largest importer of natural gas, which accounts for about 25% of its energy. Its North Sea reserves have dried up and it cannot rely totally on solar and wind power, which are intermittent. This means that it is reliant on Russia, which provides 41% of its natural gas power. NATO has already declared that it will not lend support to the Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance.
Indoor mask mandates are steadily disappearing. Soon the only state that will have one is Hawaii. Puerto Rico is also taking a more cautious approach, with no immediate plans to lift theirs. But the mandates are either gone or scheduled to be rescinded soon in Alaska and all of the contiguous 48 states. The in-flight and airport mask requirements of the Transportation Security Administration are now slated to lapse on March 18th, although it is possible that it may be extended. The CDC has indicated that their guidelines for masks will be changing. Currently the CDC recommends wearing a mask in public indoor settings in any county that has “high” or “substantial” risk of COVID spread. The U.S. contains approximately 3200 counties, and only 13 of these are rated as having “low” or “moderate” risk. But the infection rates continue to fall, and the number of counties that are no longer rated as high-risk may increase substantially as early as next week.
In a truly amazing development, Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma is expected to announce his intention of stepping down from office, even though he was elected to a six-year term in 2020. But this sprightly youth (of eighty-seven) has recently missed more votes than usual and he has indicated to reporters in December his desire to terminate his political career, on the grounds that his wife is ill. Naturally the party leaders (Republican in this instance, but Democrats would behave in precisely the same way in such a case) will attempt to dissuade Inhofe from such a resolution, since he has not yet completed his first century and, melancholy to relate, is not even a nonagenarian. Clearly the American public must not be fobbed off by a replacement four or five decades his junior, nor should the Senate be polluted by the presence of a substitute toddler of sixty years or so – at any rate, not until members of both parties come to realize that it is possible to be a Senator without necessarily being senescent.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 431,654,620; # of deaths worldwide: 5,946,845; # of cases U.S.: 80,446,512; # of deaths; U.S.: 969,602.