Steve Bannon in and out of court – COVID remains a pandemic – Heatwave in the Midwest and the West – Short-sightedness of the Democratic Party – Evening statistics
Yesterday Steve Bannon provided a media appearance in outside of a courtroom in Washington, in which he gave a long speech characterized by his usual intemperance of language, claiming that the MAGA movement will take over the US, gain “80 to a hundred” seats in the two chambers, and rule for a hundred years. He made this performance after a three-hour hearing in which he attempted, in vain, to get the criminal contempt of Congress charges against him dismissed. Bannon, it may be noted, has assets worth $11.8 million to $53.8 million, including some rental real estate which, however, comprises a relatively small amount of his holdings. In Jane Austen’s words, “What a difference a vowel makes! – if his rents were but equal to his rants!”
COVID deaths have been declining over the past five weeks, but they are beginning to rise again, chiefly in Latin American and the Western Pacific. The WHO said that coronavirus cases are still falling, with about 3.2 million new cases reported last week. This number represents a decline in infections since the peak in January . Still, there are significant spikes of infection in some regions, with the Middle East and Southeast Asia reporting increases of 58% and 33%, respectively. As always, the WHO has to cope with the issue of under-reporting, particularly now that many countries have reduced surveillance and testing. Most of the countries in Europe and North America have dropped COVID-related restrictions, but China maintains its rigorous “no COVID” policy. Residents in Beijing are still undergoing regular testing – in most cases every two days – and must wear masks and swipe a mobile phone app to enter public places and facilitate case tracing.
A heatwave in the Midwest has reached such extremes that about 107.5 million Americans, more than a third of the nation’s population, have been warned to stay inside. Record temperatures for this day of of the year have been set in many parts of the West: 109 degrees in Las Vegas, 100 degrees in Denver, 100 degrees in Chicago as well. In Phoenix the temperature has reached 110 degrees for four consecutive days, never dropping below 80 degrees at night. Already the seasonal wildfires are beginning. About 300 people were evacuated in close to Los Angeles as wildfires sparked over the weekend swept a mountainous area to its north-east. Blazes throughout the dry region covered more than 990 acres.
I have been critical of the Republican Party for its unwillingness to shake off the throes of Donald Trump, but I must not fail to remark that the Democratic Party’s aversion to change is not one whit less intense than that of its rival party. Numerous Democratic Senators have publicly declared that they will support Biden in his efforts to campaign for a second term – this, despite the fact that, were he to win the next national election, he would be 82 years old on Inauguration Day of 2025. Are they really so destitute of talent as to be unable to supply an abler and more vigorous candidate? He is not popular at this juncture. Rising gas prices have greatly impacted our population’s mobility, mortgage rates are now the highest they have been for 35 years, and more families are complaining that they are just barely able to live from paycheck to paycheck. In all likelihood the Democrats will pay a huge penalty for their association with him during the oncoming midterm elections; the projections at this point are for a substantial Republican increase in both the House and the Senate.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 543,002,179; # of deaths worldwide: 6,337,848; # of cases U.S.: 87,836,012; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,037,885. Our death toll is still relatively high. COVID has claimed about 0.3% of the U.S. population since March, 2020.