The Platinum Jubilee – The House committee hearings – COVID in North Korea – The CDC lifts COVID testing for travelers – Evening statistics
As a result of the trip and its aftermath, with preparations for a second trip hurriedly following, not to mention the task of working out the hiking schedules for two different hiking clubs, I have had little opportunity for delving very deeply into the headlines. But now I have a few moments to resurface and to experience the pleasure of being up-to-date again – rather a dubious pleasure, it seems to me.
However, not to shirk my responsibilities –
I was not entirely untouched by the news during my stay in the UK. I was there, of course, during the week of the Platinum Jubilee. Queen Elizabeth II is now officially the second-longest reigning monarch in history, being exceeded in this respect only by Louis XIV, who became King of France at the age of four. Her mobility is limited now and her direct participation in the festivities was somewhat curtailed in consequence; but this amazing woman still acts as a rallying point for the British and, at 96, held a reception for pensioners and gave a speech on Accession Day renewing her commitment to a lifetime of public service, just as she had done in 1947. At the party I attended in the UK, the other attendees were curious to hear what sort of reputation she had in the United States, and I had great satisfaction in assuring them that she was well-regarded there. We could have used a figure like her in our own national arena during the past two years, battered as we have been both the pandemic and the upheavals in the White House.
Speaking of the latter, today is the second day of the greatly-heralded hearings of the House committee investigating the attempted government overthrow January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, in which the following points were established:
It cannot be said that any of these disclosures came as a surprise. They have been fairly apparent since – oh, ever since January 6, 2021, I suppose. The question is whether the findings of the investigating committee will have any tangible consequences. Will Trump ever be indicted for his offenses? Will he ever be held accountable in any way for his manifold trespasses, and even crimes? At this point he has gone for such a long time without undergoing the slightest penalty for his flagrant violations of the law or of any wavering in his overwrought groupies, who currently seem to be in control of an entire political party, that I have lost any hope of seeing him brought to justice.
- Donald Trump knew his claims of a fraudulent election were not true and made them anyway, despite several staff members warning him that they had no basis in reality
- Trump’s staff was decided into two groups: a “Team Normal” that was well-aware that the election was over and that it was time to pack up, and a “Team Giuliani” that deliberately fostered Trump’s paranoia and advocated baseless claims of election fraud
- Millions of dollars were sent to a non-existent “Election Defense Fund”
COVID is raging throughout North Korea, although, as always, statistics are impossible to obtain. The government admitted that 4.5 million (about 17% of its population) have been infected, but claims that only 72 have died, or a fatality rate of 0.002% – which is, to put it mildly, improbable. The American mortality rate from COVID, for instance, is about 1.2% cumulatively. Most North Koreans who live in mountainous areas (and it is a very mountainous country) can’t even reach provincial hospitals because of poor roads and transport. They are most likely ailing, and possibly dying, in isolation. Almost all of the medicine in the country is imported from China and the last two years of border closures have choked off this supply.
I have mentioned that the CDC has at last lifted its requirement for travelers to the U.S. to receive a COVID test before entering the country. “The COVID-19 pandemic has now shifted to a new phase,” officials said in a news release on Friday, citing “highly effective” vaccines and “high rates of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity” among Americans. About 78% of Americans have been vaccinated and it seems that at least 58% of Americans have been infected at least once. Indeed, I can’t see any pressing reason for such a requirement at this stage. I am admittedly somewhat biased, having traveled recently to Ireland and the UK, and planning to travel again within a few days. But if the test requirement was enforced with the idea of keeping the virus out of the country, it has manifestly failed: the number of official COVID cases is well over a quarter of the population and it seems that the CDC has estimated the infection rate as considerably higher. Nor did it make much sense to impose this requirement on those entering the country by legitimate means, while ignoring the numerous hordes of people crossing our borders illegally.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 540,859,662; # of deaths worldwide: 6,332,125; # of cases U.S.: 87,362,317; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,035,903. It has been nearly a month since I tracked COVID statistics. In that time less than 11,000 deaths have occurred in the U.S. during that time, a far lower number than comparable intervals in the past year.