Author: betula54

Hiking in the ACLT – The Wanderbirds begins its restoration – The hospital situation begins to moderate but is still stressed – A music radio station that provides its own interruptions – Evening statistics

I went with AD and others to hike in the American Chestnut Land Trust, whose nearly rock-free paths felt very good to the feet after going over the stony trail between Keys Gap and Loudoun Heights.  It was somewhat warmer today than yesterday, and although the park is well-shaded, our hike included one section that passed under electric cables and was completely exposed.  But we were in luck:  a steady breeze was blowing when we passed upon it, and at no time did we become uncomfortably hot.  The views of Parker Creek were beautiful, its gray-green waters reflecting the sunlight under a canopy of oak and hickory trees, one of the few old growth forests in the state.  Despite the pleasant weather, we saw surprisingly few hikers besides ourselves:  only a handful on the portion of the Parker Creek Loop that descends from the parking area to the creek in about ½ mile and hardly anyone on the Prince Frederick to Bay Trail. 

AD told us that the Wanderbirds will be starting to conduct official hikes soon, starting on the following weekend.  These will be trailhead hikes, each hike conducted by two leaders and with a maximum number of hikers capped at a figure from 10 to 25, depending on the leaders’ preference.  Hikers will be confined to club members.  It is now over a year and a half since the club has sponsored hikes, so it is gratifying to know that club activities will be re-activated even to this limited degree.  Hikes will take place both on Saturdays and Sundays, but hikers will be requested to select only one hike per weekend in order to provide an opportunity for as many club members as possible to participate in club hikes.  Perhaps, as the pandemic recedes, we will able to resume bus hikes again, but at present it is idle to speculate as to when that might occur. 

The number of hospitalizations is going down, but the virus is too prevalent to declare it merely endemic. Nearly 56% of the total US population, or about 65% of those ages 12 and up who are eligible, are fully vaccinated.  But fifteen states have not yet fully vaccinated more than half of their residents: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming.  Four states are currently using more than 40% of their hospital ICU beds for COVID patients:  Idaho, Wyoming, West Virginia, and Georgia. 

“Music like this raises the spirit.”  Such were the words I heard on the radio, spoken over the music actually being played at the time, and eventually extinguishing it.  WETA, the music station in question, appears to have hit upon a foolproof method of depressing the spirits after they have been raised, by breaking off the pieces being aired in order to give their announcers the opportunity to sprout bromides such as these.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 235,683,841; # of deaths worldwide: 4,815,130; # of cases U.S.: 44,515,364; # of deaths; U.S.: 719,925.

On the Loudoun Heights Trail – COVID claims a centigenarian – The effect of COVID on bird species – Grisham’s new book – Evening statistics

Today I repeated the hike on the Loudoun Heights Trail that I did with AD and others in late July.  There was a large group of us on today, 13 in all – not surprising, for the day was lovely:  clear skies, low humidity, comfortable temperatures.  At the junction between the Appalachian Trail and the Loudoun Heights Trail I encountered a group of boy scouts with two women who were providing a bit of training.  The boys were deciding which route they were expected to take and the two trainers maintained an impassive reserve, forcing them to choose the correct route on their own.  I was a little apprehensive that they would more or less take possession of Split Rock before our group could reach it, but I was mistaken.  In the first place, they paused again when the Loudoun Heights Trail reached the ridgeline, thereby enabling our group to arrive first; and when they did come to Split Rock they approached so quietly and kept their voices so low while they were lunching there that I was not aware of their presence for some time after they arrived.  The views from Split Rock of Harpers Ferry, the pedestrian bridge, the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah, Maryland Heights, and the C&O towpath were enlivened by sightings of pedestrians on the bridge, the overlook, and the towpath and by rafters sliding over the rapids of the river.

Primetta Giacopini, who was 2 years old during the 1918 influenza epidemic, has died at the age of 105 of COVID.  Her mother was one of the influenza epidemic victims, and her father, unwilling to bring up his children on his own, gave Primetta to the care of a foster family in Italy, which eventually moved to Italy in 1929.  Since she was still an American citizen, her situation became precarious as Mussolini gained power and allied himself with Hitler, and she was eventually able to flee to the U.S.  There she worked at a General Motors plant in Bristol grinding steel to cover ball bearings for the war effort.  She met her husband on the job, and they remained married until his death in 2002.  She appears to have received the infection from her caretaker, whose husband contracted COVID after attending a wedding in Idaho.  All three had been vaccinated, but of course the immune system is more susceptible when one is past 100 years of age.  It is sadly ironic that one who survived a global pandemic when just out of her infancy should has died as a result of another pandemic more than a century later.

Birds have been indirectly affected by the pandemic.  The decrease in vehicular traffic and airplane travel has resulted in a substantial increase in 80% of the 82 species studied by a joint effort between the University of Manitoba and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  The study examined records of around 4.3 million birds between the months of March and May in the years 2017 through 2020.  Bald eagle sightings increased in cities with the strongest lockdowns, and red-throated hummingbirds were three times as likely to be within two-thirds of a mile of an airport.  Red-tailed hawks, interestingly enough, declined in numbers; the decrease in vehicle traffic has led to significantly less roadkill, which is one of their main sources of food. 

A new book by Stephanie Grisham, one of Trump’s press secretaries, is to be published next week, and extracts have been confided to various reporters, who re-confided them to the public at large.  Predictably, readers are exclaiming over the “revelations” of the non-stop dishonesty that was characteristic of the previous administration; whereas in my view revealing that Trump is dishonest is like “revealing” that Virginia is one of the fifty states of the nation.  Some details, admittedly, are new:  for example, that his visit in 2019 to Walter Reed Hospital, which was shrouded in secrecy and gave rise to all sorts of wild conjectures of possible ailments, was simply to have a routine colonoscopy and that he insisted on this elaborate concealment because he was afraid of the jokes from comics on late-night TV that might ensue if this information were disclosed.   Grisham is showing some humor in her tell-all account:  famous as the press secretary who never held a press conference, she has entitled her book “Now I Will Take Your Questions.”

Yesterday’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 235,018,908; # of deaths worldwide: 4,804,849; # of cases U.S.: 44,427,437; # of deaths; U.S.: 718,870.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 235,392,978; # of deaths worldwide: 4,810,796; # of cases U.S.: 44,490,464; # of deaths; U.S.: 719,674.

Hikes along the Potomac – Venezuela’s dismal economics – Contradictory ebb and flow in the pandemic – Evening statistics

Yesterday I went with RS to explore another route leading from the bank of the Potomac to Buzzard Rock and back down again.  Buzzard Rock is over 1000 above the river bank and there are no defined trails leading to it, so that bushwhacking can run into very steep climbs over large quantities of underbrush and deadfall, as well numerous rock walls.  The route we went today, however, worked out much better than previous ventures.  Both ascent and descent were steep, to be sure, but they were better graded than the ones we selected earlier and several areas contained footpaths that, though not officially trails, had obviously been used by others.  I am glad that RS hit on such a route, for the views at Buzzard Rock and Eagle Point (another overlook on the ridge above the river) are well worth seeing, with a bird’s-eye view of Sandy Hook and the numerous little islands in that segment of the Potomac, as well as the cliffs of Weverton on the opposite side of the river.  It may be wondered why Loudoun County has not made more strenuous efforts to develop a trail system that connects to these points, but a substantial amount of the area between the ridge and the riverbank is not publicly owned, and it takes considerable effort while bushwhacking to avoid straying into private property.

And today I explored Crow’s Nest, a natural reserve in Stafford County, to scout out a hike for the Capital Hiking Club.  It is not at all spectacular, but it is pleasant riverine forest country, with several outlooks upon the Potomac and various creeks that drain into it.  It features several large beeches, with their distinctive smooth pewter-colored bark, and the air was continually ringing with bird calls, mockingbirds in particular.  It was an easy task to map out a hike that is 11½ miles for the group taking the longer hike and 9½ for the group taking the shorter one.  The latter is a bit long for a shorter hike by CHC standards, but the trails offer very easy walking (no rocky areas, not much elevation gain, no possibility of losing one’s way, since the trail intersections are at a minimum) so that a slight amount of additional mileage will make little difference to the participants.

Venezuela has now been declared the poorest country on the South American continent, possibly the poorest on the planet.  About 94.5% of the population lives in poverty and about 76.6% in “extreme” poverty.  Once a prosperous OPEC nation, years of hyperinflation and government mismanagement have driven the country to economic collapse.  Unemployment is rampant, and there is not much incentive to find employment:  the minimum wage is approximately $3 per month, the public sector pays poorly, and the private sector is small.  As might be expected, crime has skyrocketed and many countries have travel advisories against visiting it at all.  Caracas is considered by many to be the world’s most dangerous city, with 130-140 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants annually.  The Wikitravel article about Venezuela has issued the following curious caution to pedestrians in that country:  “Traffic lights are often ignored, especially at night, not for lack of patience, but because drivers do not like to stop their cars, as they can be robbed while stopped.”

We still continue in this strange state of being half in restoration and half still being besieged by the pandemic.  We endured nearly 100,000 new cases yesterday and 2,000 deaths; today the number of new cases exceeded 100,000.  Vaccine mandates are being fairly rigorously enforced by Government agencies and private industries alike – United Airlines, for instance, is threatening to fire 600 employees who have refused to take a vaccine.  But Broadway has reopened, after 18 months of closure, and live performances are occurring locally as well.  The National Symphony Orchestra will be providing a concert at the Kennedy Center on Saturday and the Maryland State Boychoir will be providing a Bach concert at the Center for the Arts in Baltimore.  In many stores masks are still optional.  Yet at the same time, when my cousins have told various relatives to reserve a date in October, 2022 for them to be available for their son’s Bar Mitzvah, they were unable to offer assurances that the ceremony could be attended in person and would not consist simply of a Zoom presentation.  There simply is no way of telling at this time whether a live ceremony even a year from now will be feasible.  Thanks to the dedicated effects of the anti-vaxxers, we are undergoing a disproportionate amount of new cases and deaths, just as we were a year ago:  today Americans accounted for nearly 23% of new COVID cases and 22.5% of COVID-related deaths.

Yesterday’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 233,991,413; # of deaths worldwide: 4,787,015; # of cases U.S.: 44,167,777; # of deaths; U.S.: 713,675.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 234,515,580; # of deaths worldwide: 4,796,138; # of cases U.S.: 44,309,626; # of deaths; U.S.: 716,636.

Hiking in from Nicholson Hollow to Skyland – Unvaccinated hospital workers – The contrast of Catholic countries and Texas on abortion – Trump promotes Omarosa Manigault Newman’s book against his will – Surge in housing prices – Evening statistics

Today I went with the Vigorous Hikers along the Nicholson Hollow Trail, then went along the Appalachian Trail and the Passamaquoddy Trail to the dining lodge at Skyland.  We returned via the horse trail, fire road, and Corbin Mountain Trail.  It was over 17 miles and probably about 3300 feet of elevation gain – less strenuous than it sounds, because much of the ascent took place along the Nicholson Hollow Trail, which is relatively gradual (about a 7% grade on the average).  When I went back descending along the Corbin Mountain Trail I remarked to MC that it appeared quite different on account of new growth in its vicinity.  Its contours were exactly as I remembered them – thus I could say “yes, here is that slight rise to get beyond the arête before descending again, and here is that sharp bend to the left, and here is the switchback down to Hannah’s Run,” but the vegetation had altered considerably as a result of the ash trees dying off, thereby allowing previously shaded areas plenty of direct sunlight.  He said he had noticed the same thing – for example, the section that descends sharply to the creek used to be much more open and one had a direct view down the mountain slope, whereas now it is quite obscured by ferns and shrubs and other undergrowth.  The trail had many blowdowns, the majority of them quite recent, since it is more exposed to winds from the west than the other portions of the hike.  The forecast called for rain in the afternoon, and as a result we were both anxious to get back before it started.  The return along the Nicholson Hollow Trail ends with crossing the Hughes River along a series of large boulders, which can get very slippery when wet.  At one point we encountered sprinkles while getting back to the Nicholson Hollow Trail, but happily the rain held off and we were able to get back to our cars dryshod.

About 16% of hospital workers in New York, or about 83,000 statewide, are not fully vaccinated and of these about 8% have not received a single dose, despite the mandate ordering vaccination for all health care professionals.  Apparently a substantial number are resisting it.  “I’m wearing the same exact PPE I’ve worn the whole pandemic and it’s always kept myself and patients safe. Why has that changed?” one nurse said.  The answer, obviously, is that even if PPE keeps medical professionals safe (which is debatable – several health care professionals have contracted the virus in the course of their work), it does not prevent the virus from spreading outside of hospitals and mutating into variants.  One would think that health care professionals would be among the first to reason this way, but the anti-vaxxers have made inroads even into the profession that receives the greatest amount of first-hand evidence of the vaccines’ efficacy.

San Marino is now the latest of the countries with a Catholic majority that has liberalized its abortion laws.  Other countries that have shifted towards pro-choice include, in order of dates in which abortion became legal,  Austria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, São Tomé and Príncipe, Uruguay, Ireland, Argentina, and Mexico.  The solution for the issue of abortion in Texas can thus be easily resolved.  Clearly, for women to have the right to arbitrate their own destinies, Texas must first become Catholic.

Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former aide of his in the White House, has foundered.  The lawsuit was initiated with the objective of suppressing a book Newman had written about her experiences while serving in the White House during Trump’s administration.  Previously Newman had appeared as a three-time contestant on the reality TV show Trump had run before he turned his attention to politics, and over time she became a close confidant of Trump before supporting him for president and following him to the White House. During his campaign, she was one of his most prominent black supporters.  But the relationship soured, as relationships with Donald Trump tend to do; she was summarily dismissed, like so many of Trump’s intimates, and the pair eventually found it convenient to establish a mutual bond of inveterate hatred.  This, of course, follows the trajectory of most of Trump’s former associates; what is unusual about Newman, however, is that, in contrast to the other tools he has broken and discarded, she was able to hit back.  Trump’s lawsuit backfired on him badly; not only has the judicial system decided against him and ordered him to pay all of Newman’s legal costs in the bargain, but it has given added publicity to a book that accuses Trump of racism and asserts that he is in a severe mental decline.

Never has it been so good a time to be in secure possession of a house or condo of one’s own.  The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index surged 19.9% in July compared with a year ago, the largest gain on records dating back to 2000.  I probably would be able to sell my house for many thousands more than the value at which Fairfax City assesses it to be, but any profit I might make on such a deal would be wiped out by whatever I would be expected to pay for any new place that I could move into.  The pandemic has played a fairly significant role in driving the price of housing up:  people are desirous of having more living space to provide safer havens from those spreading the contagion.

Yesterday’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 233,006,820; # of deaths worldwide: 4,767,678; # of cases U.S.: 43,886,822; # of deaths; U.S.: 707,740.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 233,502,143; # of deaths worldwide: 4,777,670; # of cases U.S.: 44,038,379; # of deaths; U.S.: 711,138.

Hiking in optimal weather – Caution about party-going – Youngkin and the gubernatorial election – A disastrous hazing – Deathbed denials of COVID – COVID’s effect on life expectancy – Evening statistics

I went on two hikes this weekend with AD and RH.  The first was on the Appalachian Trail from Washington Monument State Park to Annapolis Rocks and back, and the second was the hike to Big Devils Stair that we had done earlier during the first week of July.  We had beautiful weather on both days, similar to that which I had enjoyed on the Idaho trip:  sunny, clear, dry, moderate, all in all a welcome contrast to the sultry weeks we endured during July and August.  We snacked afterwards on both occasions, as is our usual custom; and the food and drink provided by various contributors after today’s hike to Big Devils Stairs were so elaborate as to constitute the main meal of the early evening.

There were numerous hikers on the AT, which is not surprising for a Saturday in the autumn with nearly optimum weather.  Somewhat more surprising was the number of hikers on the Mt. Marshall trail today, which ordinarily is little used.  It contained many blowdowns, which is frequently the case with this trail, since it overlooks the numerous aretes of a mountain that are placed close together and thereby act as wind tunnels.  Nonetheless, we encountered more than a dozen hikers on it this morning.

On Saturday evening I attended a “post-trip” party hosted by EF and MJ in their beautiful pent-house apartment in Rosslyn, with an extensive terrace that overlooks the east and thus provides panoramic views of Washington DC.  It was very enjoyable, although somewhat sparsely attended.  Perhaps about half of those who journeyed together on the trip in June to Sequoia were present.  At least one member of the group that I know of declined to attend because he had recently taken a couple of airline flights (during the recent Idaho trip) and had numerous other brief occasions in which he had contact indoors with persons who were unmasked and possibly unvaccinated.  Individually such episodes posed little risk of contracting the disease but he was concerned about their cumulative effect and decided to eliminate as many unnecessary risks as possible. 

MJ sounded rather disconsolate about the upcoming gubernatorial election.  In contrast to the previous one, Republicans are voting early in large numbers and Trumpkin – I should say, Youngkin – appears to be in the lead.  Youngkin at this point does not appear to be Trump’s puppet just yet, despite my possibly somewhat unjust nickname for him.  He has gone on record as criticizing the Texas abortion law and instead favors a “pain threshold bill,” which occurs around the 20th week of pregnancy.  That at any rate is an intelligible position, even if I personally disagree with it.  Moreover, Trump has openly criticized Youngkin for not being abject enough – that is to say, for declining to assure voters that he is Trump’s creature to the very fiber of his being.  But it is highly doubtful that he would have the backbone to resist Trump’s takeover of his party and in all likelihood he would, if he were to become governor, roll over with whatever the party line dictates.  Moreover, he is a man of immense wealth – his net worth is estimated to be over $300 million, and he has spent more than $5.5 million of his own money on his campaign – which means that he has little or no empathy for those who must live from paycheck to paycheck, a category that includes the great majority of Virginians.

In a hazing ritual by the Delta Chi fraternity of Virginia Commonwealth University, Adam Oakes, a freshman, was given an entire bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey and instructed to by peers to drain its contents to the dregs.  Afterwards he was blindfolded, which caused him to run into a tree and hit his head. Oakes was then helped into the house, where he fell asleep on his side on a couch. He was found lying face down during the following morning, dead.  The episode led to the fraternity being suspended and, as of yesterday, the arrests of those who orchestrated the affair.  Such was the first distinguished exploit of Benjamin Corado, Quinn Kuby, Riley McDaniel, Alessandro Medina-Villanueva, Jason Mulgrew, Christian Rohrbach, Colin Tran, and Enayat Sheikhzad, and considering that the oldest of them is a bare 22 years of age, we can entertain the most flattering prognostics of their future renown.

Matthew Trunsky, a pulmonologist in Michigan, recorded eight interactions he had with severely ill COVID patients in a Facebook post.  Some of the patients denied having the virus, some requested unproven and unapproved treatments such as ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, or some have said: “I’d rather die than take the vaccine.”  They have received their wish:  six of the eight have already died, and the other two are in critical condition.  “This is not to mention the anger the people have towards the physicians in the nurses who are really doing our best – and who are delivering exceptionally excellent care. Of course the answer was to have been vaccinated,” Trunsky wrote.  “But they were not and now they’re angry at the medical community for their failure.” 

The COVID pandemic is in fact responsible for reducing life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since World War II, according to a study published this week by Oxford University in the International Journal of Epidemiology.  The study surveyed 29 countries, including European countries, the U.S., and Chile.  Life expectancy fell in 22 of these by more than six months.  The life expectancy of the average American male decreased by 2.2 years in 2020, as opposed to life expectancy in 2019. 

Yesterday’s statistics as of 9:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 232,248,399; # of deaths worldwide: 4,756,524; # of cases U.S.: 43,725,604; # of deaths; U.S.: 706,058.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 232,576,675; # of deaths worldwide: 4,761,524; # of cases U.S.: 43,750,983; # of deaths; U.S.: 706,317.

The audit of the Arizona state election – How people are damaging their lungs to avoid the vaccine – Evening statistics

The audit of the Arizona election results is now at an end and it has concluded that Biden legitimately won the state majority of votes in 2020, a somewhat expensive way of confirming the obvious.  Various supporters, undeterred by the result, plan to call for similar audits in other states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.  Trump has even publicly called for an audit of the votes in Texas, a state that he won handily.  It is fairly obvious that the results of the audits are, to him, unimportant in themselves, and that they are merely one of the many tactics he is using to fulfill his ultimate objective of undermining confidence in the electoral process.

There is yet another so-called “cure” for the virus that has recently emerged for those diehards anti-vaxxers who do not wish to be polluted by a vaccine:  inhaling hydrogen peroxide.  Asthma patients frequently resort to nebulizers to convert liquid medications into mists that can be inhaled directly into the lungs.  They are easier to use than inhalers during an asthma attack, since they do not require the user to take deep breaths and can supply multiple medications simultaneously.  Recently nebulizer owners have been putting hydrogen peroxide into their machines to apply it to their lungs as a preventative against viral infections.  The main use of hydrogen peroxide is as a disinfectant, and it is sold over-the-counter in low concentrations, typically about 5%.  In higher concentrations it becomes corrosive, particular to human skin.  Formerly it was used to disinfect wounds, but eventually was discarded because it inhibited healing and in many cases caused scarring.  Currently it is applied only to minor cuts and scrapes.  One can imagine the effect that inhaling it directly into one’s lungs may have.  It can become quite toxic if the concentration is sufficiently heavy and even when diluted it will cause respiratory and pulmonary irritation – not a result particularly desirable for asthmatics.  

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 231,850,419; # of deaths worldwide: 4,750,261; # of cases U.S.: 43,657,012; # of deaths; U.S.: 705,105.  At this point over 13% of the population has been infected by the disease since the pandemic began, well over 1 in 8 Americans. 

An American living treasure – Investigation in January 6^th riot – Authorization of Pfizer booster – Hospitalization rates in various states – Evening statistics

Yesterday was the 100^th birthday of Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest ranger currently employed by the Park Service.  She is a park guide at the Rosie the Riveter historical park in Richmond, CA, and has been working there since 2000, the year that the park was created, which means that she began her career there at the relatively youthful age of 79.  Actually, that is not quite correct:  while she was instrumental in planning the park and bringing it to fruition, she did not officially become a ranger until 2004.  Her tours quickly became among the most popular among park visitors, since she was able to relate her own experiences during World War II and afterwards, which include working at a segregated union hall as a file clerk during the war and later becoming a political and community activist and songwriter during the civil rights movement.  One wishes that the U.S. could import the Japanese institution of “Living National Treasure”; if it did, she assuredly would be one of the first to receive such a certification.

There is some progress being made concerning the investigation into the January 6^th riot.  Four top advisors of the previous administration have been subpoenaed:  former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino, former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.  One mustn’t expect too much from this development, but at any rate it holds out a faint hope that a measure of accountability will be meted out to the inciters who put the match to the gunpowder. 

The FDA has authorized the Pfizer booster for people over 65 and those with compromised immune systems.  It is an EUA only, but at any rate it means that it will be possible to obtain it in the course of the next few months.  Moderna has submitted data about its booster dose to the FDA, and Johnson & Johnson is working on doing the same. 

At this point seven states have less than 10% ICU availability: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas.  In Iowa, the number of hospitalizations has reached the highest it has been all year, although it is not quite as high as it had been during November, 2020.  However, hospital admissions as a whole are down by about 12.5% in the last week, with improvements in Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 231,349,762; # of deaths worldwide: 4,741,566; # of cases U.S.: 43,527,676; # of deaths; U.S.:  702,948.  

The tameness of the predictions of early 2020 – People becoming careless again – Donald Trump’s latest lawsuit – The pandemic blamed for loss of sleep and loss of exercise – Decrease in antibiotic prescriptions – Improved conditions in Oklahoma – The anti-vaxxers claim another victim – Evening statistics

It is now slightly over eighteen months since I began this journal.  How curious it is to read earlier entries and to see how the most dire predictions during the first few months of the pandemic have fallen far short of the reality!  As the saying goes, may God protect us from what we can get used to.  Currently nearly 13% of all Americans have contracted the virus since the beginning of 2020 – more than one-eighth of the national population.  The death toll is now over 0.2%, more than one for every 500, or a total number greater than the population of the District of Columbia or of Portland, OR.    

And even as the summer temperatures are moderating and autumn is beginning, people are letting their guard down.  When I went to the Post Office today at least half of the customers were maskless.  The Post Office workers did not instruct these customers to put masks on in order to interact with them; perhaps they felt that such an attempt would have been useless.  It is rather strange:  in the grocery stores every customer was wearing a mask – why do they feel that the Post Office is safer?  If anything, one is less at risk in a grocery store, where one is continually moving from one aisle to the next, as opposed to standing in line for several minutes on end in the physical proximity of several other patrons.

Genial, avuncular Donald Trump has initiated a lawsuit against his niece for an undisclosed amount that he has promised will be “no less than one hundred million dollars.” The suit alleges that Mary Trump, in disclosing details of her uncle’s fraudulent income tax returns, committed an illegal breach of contract, the said contract being a 2001 settlement agreement among the Trump family.  The suit extends to the New York Times’ journalists who reported his defalcations.  Considering the number of lawsuits that Trump has either initiated or is currently receiving, it is a wonder that he has time to do any campaigning.  If I were still working I might consider occupying a position on his legal staff:  it must be the equivalent of guaranteed lifetime employment. 

A recently published study by the Journal of Sleep Research concluded that about half of adults worldwide experienced declines in quality of life due to COVID-related restrictions, either on account of worsening sleep habits as a result of anxiety from the enforced closure of businesses and schools or of reduced physical activity because many people were confined to their homes.  I can readily understand how the increase in anxiety would affect sleeping habits.  But the notion of COVID-related restrictions confining people indoors seems questionable to me, at any rate in this country.  I myself hiked over 2000 miles in 2020 and have already hiked nearly 1500 miles this year.  It’s always dangerous to extrapolate from one’s personal experience, of course; but it seems to me that for those who were willing to leave their homes and get outside for a portion of the day, the opportunities were available.

A rather interesting side effect of the pandemic is an unexpected drop in the number of antibiotic prescriptions.  Prescriptions for amoxicillin were 25% to 44% lower than estimates based on pre-pandemic trends, 30% to 40% lower for amoxicillin-clavulanate, 18% to 21% for doxycycline, and 32% to 35% for azithromycin.  It is unclear what has caused this reduction; but a possible explanation is that they are frequently used for respiratory ailments, and respiratory ailments that are not COVID-related have decreased as a result of mask mandates and social distancing.  Even after the pandemic recedes, mask-wearing may become the norm in many American cities, just as it already was the norm in many East Asian cities before COVID was ever heard of.

There is some encouraging news from Oklahoma, which is slightly below the national average in the amount of vaccinations administered to its population.  The 7-day average of new hospitalizations has decreased by 336 compared with those of a week ago and the 3-day average of new hospitalizations has decreased by 172 compared with those of a week ago.  It appears, then, that the effects of the COVID virus, and of the delta variant in particular, are beginning to moderate, at least in that particular part of the country.

Another depressing story:  Samantha Wendell and Austin Eskew became engaged in 2019 and had planned their wedding for Aug. 21^st.   They deferred getting their vaccinations because Wendell’s co-workers had informed her – quite mistakenly – that the vaccines caused infertility, and the young couple wished to start a family shortly after their marriage.  As the delta variant began to spread, the two changed their minds and made appointments to receive vaccines in July.  But before they could receive the vaccines, Wendell began to fall ill, developed a severe cough, and, along with her fiancé, tested positive for the virus.  Eskew recovered but Wendell’s condition worsened.  She was placed on a ventilator on August 16^th – just five days before the wedding was scheduled – and she never recovered the ability to breath on her own again, dying on September 10^th.  She requested a vaccine just before she was placed on the ventilator but by then, obviously, it was too late.  She was 29.  Her funeral service was held in the same church she had chosen for the marriage ceremony, about a month after the scheduled wedding date.  In the words of one of her cousins, “misinformation killed her.”

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide:  230,825,116;  # of deaths worldwide: 4,731,475;  # of cases U.S.:  43,394,384;  # of deaths; U.S.: 699,619.   If, as the experts claim, the pandemic is receding, it is doing so at a very leisurely pace.  Today we saw half a million new cases globally, of which the U.S. accounts for nearly a fourth, and over 9,000 deaths, more than 2,000 of whom were Americans.    The total number of deaths in this country is rapidly approaching 700,000 and that is only the official tally; the number of deaths that exceed the expected death toll for this time of year is substantially higher.

For those who wondered – or perhaps hoped – if the blog had come to an end, I hasten to assure them that I have not been attacked by the disease and succumbed to it in a matter of days, like so many from the news articles I have been summarizing.  My time during this hiatus has been much more agreeably occupied by hiking with various friends in Idaho, where I confess I felt rather relieved not to track the daily headlines nor examine the COVID statistics.  This does not mean, however, that we were entirely unaffected by the pandemic.  The Idahoans are not particularly zealous about wearing masks inside of public areas.  We ate at restaurants with outdoor dining, but whenever I went inside to use the restrooms I almost invariably was the only one wearing a face mask.  I am willing to wager that in some cases I was the only one in the room who had been vaccinated as well.

Then there was the issue of safety.  No one, of course, desires to become injured during a hike under any circumstances, but in this case it was imperative that none of us meet with any accident that necessitated professional medical treatment.  In such a case the injured person would have been as helpless as in a Third World country:  currently the state of Idaho has no hospital beds available.  Indeed, an injured hiker would probably have been better off in Kenya or Bhutan.  Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, and as a result its hospitals are so overwhelmed that they are bundling off new patients to other states for treatment.  Such are the Hercules Pillars of insanity that the Idahoans have constructed in the name of personal liberty. 

I should add, however, that a comparison between the people back home and the native Idahoans are not unilaterally in favor of the former.

“How thin the people are!” ML said, one day when we were sitting in the main town square of Ketchum.  It was not that they all had a lean and hungry look – they seemed well-fed and not a few were comfortably built; but only a handful were noticeably overweight and there were no examples of morbid obesity.  The scene formed quite a contrast to what I frequently observe here – today, for instance, when I noticed several over-generously endowed persons waddle to beauty salons and fitness gyms.  The main road connecting the Ketchum and Sun Valley communities is several miles long, and it was used continually by pedestrians and bikers.  Many continually walk their dogs daily, and in general they seem to be more active and to get out of doors more frequently than most of the people here.

The dog-owners in Idaho are much more considerate than the dog-owners in the East.  The wilderness areas we explored have leash laws, but these are in force only until Labor Day, after which dogs may roam at will.  Nonetheless, although I encountered several dogs on the trails, not one of them jostled against me and only one or two barked at me.  The dog-owners in Idaho assume as a matter of course that most people do not care to be accosted by strange animals when hiking in the wild and they have trained their pets accordingly.  I earnestly wish that such an attitude could be imported to Maryland and Virginia.

9/11 – Arrival

The flight to Boise was comfortable, although I was let down badly by the cab company.  Normally it sends a driver to me within 10 minutes after I request one, but in this case I waited nearly half-an-hour before it became evident that I would not be able to get one in time to board the plane.  In the end I was forced to drive to the airport in a hurry, and I was able to get to the airport gate just in time for boarding.

The area immediately surrounding Boise is very parched and sere, almost destitute of vegetation.  But as we went further east and north the mountain slopes displayed coniferous forests and groves of various deciduous trees, chiefly aspens, in the valleys; the area became continually more scenic almost in direct proportion to the distance we traveled from the state capital. 

We stayed at various condos in Sun Valley and Ketchum.  The condos were some miles apart from one another, which created a few difficulties in making arrangements for setting up rides to everyone for various hikes.  On the other hand, the condo to which I was allotted was shared by LH, ML, and MG, all of whom were excellent housemates.  I can honestly say that we maintained harmonious relations during the entirety of the trip and thoroughly enjoyed the company of one another. 

Even though we arrived in Boise quite early, it took us a while to drive to the condos and to stock them up with food for breakfasts and lunches.  Most of us ate an early dinner (our household met with some of the others at an unpretentious place that served burgers and salads, but of very good quality) and retired shortly afterwards, deferring the exploration of Ketchum for another day.

9/12 – Baker Lake/Norton Lake (9 miles, 2300’)

For the first day we went on two relatively brief and gentle hikes that led us to mountain lakes.  The path to Baker Lake in particular was very well-graded, but the elevation affected all of us, and several opted not to take the second ascent to Norton Lake.  Baker Lake reminded me of the seven lakes near Rila in Bulgaria; the waters are clear and pristine, with a backdrop of scree-covered mountain wall.  The ascent to Norton Lake is longer and steeper.  It is nearly emerald in hue, and much of it is bordered by forest.  Towards the far end the mountain wall rises steeply; I was to reach the ridgeline during the Prairie Creek hike two days later and thereby to view Norton Lake from above.

Afterwards our household drove to Hemingway’s grave in Ketchum.  He is not a favorite author of mine – to my taste his creed is puerile and his much-vaunted barebones style is dry and textureless – but there is no denying his influence.  Fittingly, many visitors left bottles of bourbon and whiskey by his headstone.

9/13 – Bench Lakes (8½ miles, 1600’)

Nearly everyone in the group went on this hike.  It went up an extremely gradual slope within the Sawtooth valley, which is, to be frank, somewhat more scenic than the Sun Valley/Ketchum area to the south.  The trail went through dense pine forest interspersed with aspen groves, and as the trail ascended we saw views of Redfish Creek Lake below.  Both of the lakes are deep green in color.  The second lake is bordered by a ridge containing various peaks, including  Mount Heyburn, which is noted for its castle-like shape.

Afterwards many of us ate a late lunch or early dinner at a pizzeria in Stanley, a very small town nearby, extremely dusty, not especially prepossessing.  It is somewhat surprising that an enterprising developer has not attempted to build it up in the manner that Sun Valley has been only sixty miles further south.  But the food at the pizzeria was excellent.  The menu was unpretentious, consisting mainly of various pizzas, burgers, cheesesteaks, and salads, but all of them were of high quality. 

Even though the hike was not long and had no challenging steep ascents I felt quite tired after dinner and did not go out afterwards.  I can only suppose that I was still affected by the altitude, possibly also by the time difference (Mountain Standard Time as opposed to Eastern Standard Time).

9/14 – Prairie Creek (13 miles, 3000’)

I was getting discouraged by the quality of the first two hikes.  They were pleasant, interesting, scenic, but neither of them appeared worth traveling several hundred miles to see.  But Prairie Creek was well worth going out of one’s way to view.  We were fortunate in our weather.  On the previous two days the air tended to get hazy during the afternoon.  On this day it remained clear and transparent throughout.  The hike traverses a valley to reach an imposing cirque to Miner Lake, whose waters, like most of the lakes in the area, are jewel-bright.  From there BM and I went up to the ridge, about a mile each way, and with an additional 1100 feet of elevation gain.  From the ridge we not only were able to obtain a bird’s-eye view of Miner Lake but also of Norton Lake on the other side and of numerous mountain ranges receding in the distance.  By this time I was getting acclimatized; even though the hike was much more strenuous than the Bench Lakes hike, I was not at all tired when we returned to the parking area.

9/15 – Bald Mountain (10 miles, 3400’)

Not everyone in the group went on this hike.  Some elected to go to Craters of the Moon instead.  Of those who chose this option, only three went to the summit.  For the most part the climb is gradual, skirting through a dense coniferous forest and around a ravine until it reaches an overlook that provides a bird’s-eye view of Ketchum.  It then continues until it reaches the Roundhouse gondola (which, however, is not operative in the interval after Labor Day and before the ski season).  From there the trail goes to the summit.  The original trail is relatively gradual, although somewhat steeper than the previous portion (it climbs 1400 feet within a mile).  However, the trail was closed for maintenance and those of us who went to the summit were diverted onto a detour that virtually followed the path of the ski lift and consequently was very steep indeed.  The views from the summit were imposing, although not quite equal to those I had seen on the previous day.  On the summit of Bald Mountain, one is continually accosting the machinery associated with various ski lifts, while the ridgeline between Norton Lake and Miner Lake is wild and untrammeled by man-made artifacts of any kind. 

After the hike our household and six others went to Frenchman’s Bend Hot Springs, a natural geothermic source of heated water.  It bubbles up into three pools defined by river rocks, entering the first one at a temperature of approximately 125 degrees.  Most of us shifted into one or the other of the lower pools, in which the temperature is moderated by the mingling of the main part of the river.  Any aches and pains we may have endured as a result of our previous exertions were completely nullified by the continual flow of warm water over our muscles.  We stayed for about an hour, lulled by the sauna-like conditions into a drowsy tranquility, and even after that amount of time we emerged from the stream with reluctance. 

Several of us had dinner in Ketchum at Warburg’s, a restaurant with a much more elaborate menu than those of the restaurants we had previously selected for dining.  The food was excellent, and the company of the dining companions was better still.

9/16 – Iron Creek to Sawtooth Lake (11½ miles, 2200’)

This hike was my favorite, as it was of many of our group.  It is, in addition, one of the most popular hikes in the area.  It goes up alongside the glaciated ridge that gives the Sawtooh area its name.  Eventually the trail ascended to Alpine Lake, peridot-green and sparkling in the sunlight, and from there it continued up a fairly rocky stretch to Sawtooth Lake, the largest lake in the area (nearly a mile in length and a half-mile in width), with the deep marine hue ordinarily ascribed to the Mediterranean.  BM, MP, and I went on a continuation of the trail for about ¾ mile further but with only about 350 feet additional elevation gain in order to reach the ridgeline on the edge of the lake. Sawtooth Lake is so large that it cannot be viewed in its entirety at the shore level, but from this vantage point we could see its full length and breadth. 

We also looked briefly at McGown Lake on the other side of the ridge, but this viewpoint was rather melancholy – the stroll into Mordor, as I called it.  A wildfire had attacked the area some years ago, and the trees were all scorched and withered.  And this part of the country is far more fragile than the forests of Appalachia.  In the Massanuttens, for example, a fire occurred in the area between Duncan Knob and Strickler Knob about 15 years ago, and while one can still see traces of the damage it caused, for the most part the area is green and flourishing:  trees have grown anew, the ground is covered with undergrowth, birds and insects and squirrels and chipmunks are continually flitting on the ground and in the air above.  The side of the ridge we had ascended was barren and silent, and its desolate aspect made the view of the brilliant sparkling water and the tall slender firs lining the lake all the more vivid in contrast.

Afterwards many of us returned to the pizzeria in Stanley, an early dinner that was our main meal for the day.

The evening was marred by a fear that LT had lost her way.  She had descended to Alpine Lake and was unable to reconnect with the main trail, which was no longer in view from the point on the lake shore that she had reached.  Eventually the Search and Rescue team were notified; they were able to make contact with her by cell phone and guide her back to the main trail.  It was a great relief to learn that she had returned to parking area before daylight had ended.

9/17 – Adam’s Gulch (7½ miles, 1500’)

We had some difficulty in selecting a hike for the day.  None of the designated drivers wished to go all the way back to the Sawtooth area and most of the people  in the group wanted a hike rather less strenuous than those of the preceding days, which limited our choices considerably.  In the end some of us decided that this hike seemed the least uninteresting, but I was not expecting much as I rode to the trailhead.  To my surprise this hike turned out to be delightful.  About half of the group took the Adam’s Gulch hike; of this remnant, about half went on a loop of about 5½ miles, while the remainder went on a longer circuit that took us to higher vantage points.  Even though this longer option was relatively brief, the sheer variety it encompassed was astonishing:  aspen groves in the gullies, dense pine forest, hills ascending above the valley to a high plateau. 

We were saddened that morning to hear of the wildfire that was threatening Sequoia National Park, which many of us had visited this past June.  ML said that the sequoias there seemed more alive than any other tree, and anyone who visits that area can see what she meant.  They are indeed reminiscent of Tolkien’s Ents:  having lifespans many times longer than those of our own species, continually growing regardless of age, but at a slow, deliberate pace.  One can easily imagine them having conversations among themselves in a slow, sonorous, leisurely tongue that uses multiple syllables for even the simplest of words.  

Afterwards we went to Ketchum, which, though not impressive, is sufficiently prepossessing, with a pleasant village square that opens onto the central blocks of the town and a variety of shops and restaurants. 

In the evening we attended a group “happy hour” at a small park in Ketchum we had reserved for the purpose.  We normally have this type of gathering three or four times during trips such as these, but on this particular trip we were somewhat hampered by the distances among the various accommodations.  On this day, however, everyone finished hiking fairly early, and thus we all had leisure to purchase contributions to our festivity:  cheeses, fruit, salsas, chips, and various other snack foods, accompanied by plenty of wine and beer.  

9/18 – Fox Creek (8½ miles, 1200’)

For our final hike in the area several of us went to Fox Creek, whose trailhead is very close to Ketchum.  It is similar to Adam’s Gulch in that it weaves in and out of several gullies, gradual rising to an overview of the valley.  BM and I extended the hike by selecting the Chocolate Gulch Trail, which added about 2½ miles and perhaps 500 feet of ascent.  It is somewhat less impressive than Adam’s Gulch, however, for during much of the hike one is passing within earshot of the traffic along Rte. 75.  But it certainly was pleasant enough and not a bad way to unwind from a week of hiking.  All in all, I hiked 70 miles in the course of 7 days, so I received good measure.

The afternoon was spent strolling about in Ketchum and making preparations for departure on the morrow.  We also received news about the rally for the defendants of the January 6^th riot that was to have been held that day and we were pleased to learn that it was more or less a gigantic fizzle.  MG, in speaking to his wife (who had stayed back in  the DC area), quoted her as saying “Far more police and journalists than there were protestors.”  The organizers had obtained a permit for 700 participants, but it appears that no more than 500 actually showed up.  The organizers claimed that more people would have participated, but that they felt intimidated.  And indeed, if the attitude of the populace of Washington DC has any resemblance to my own, the supporters of the January 6^th rioters would have good reason to feel intimidated:  I regard every one of them as seditious traitors and would have no compunction in sentencing them to life imprisonment. 

During the evening our household had the best dinner of the entire trip at a restaurant in Ketchum that featured a Mediterranean style of cuisine.  We had had many group dinners for the past week, and although we were initially disappointed that the limited outdoor seating prevented us from dining with more of our group, in some ways an intimate meal with only the four of us provided the most companionable dining experience of all.

9/19 – Boise Botanical Gardens

The drive from Sun Valley/Ketchum to Boise is well over 2 hours and it was necessary to get to the hotel (which was in the proximity of the airport itself) by about 3:00 to ensure that ML would be able to have plenty of time to board her flight to California, where she was continuing her trip to see her son and grandchildren.  So we decided to go the Botanical Gardens, which is within the city and entailed a brief drive from there to the airport. 

It is only 15 acres, but it contains a multiplicity of gardens, including a fascinating one about the various flora encountered along the Lewis and Clark expedition.  Some of the gardens are on a slightly higher elevation than much of the city, so that one can obtain a view of the city center in the distance.  The weather, which had been warm and dry all week, was much wetter when we left Sun Valley and the rain came down steadily during much of the drive, but as we reached Boise the rain tapered off and we were able to explore the gardens in comfortable conditions.  Afterwards we went to a Whole Foods store both to pick up lunch and to purchase items for an impromptu happy hour that was planned on the spur of the moment during the morning of our departure. 

At the hotel I enjoyed a swim of about ½ mile in laps, having the pool entirely to myself, and then I spent a few minutes in the Jacuzzi afterwards.  Later in the afternoon the happy hour was held in the outdoor area that was access via the pool and fitness room, and it was somewhat more substantial than the one held two days earlier, with various main dishes contributed by various members.  Some went out to dinner afterwards, but I had more than enough to eat by the time the happy hour ended, and I went to bed early.  Our flight was scheduled for 7:00 AM, which meant that we would have to get an early start.  The hotel was within walking distance of the airport but when I tested the walk that day I found the sidewalk to be somewhat pitted and rutted, and I did not wish to roll my suitcase over it for that distance.  I opted to take the hotel shuttle instead.

9/20 – Return

There is little to report on this day, which was mainly occupied by the return flights, the drive back home, and unpacking.  We were somewhat irritated by the decision of United to hold up the plane for an entire hour because, although the plane was otherwise ready for departure, their catering firm had a late delivery.  The delay was not of great importance to those who, like ourselves, were arriving at Dulles.  But about half of the passengers were making connections, and I am certain that most of these were lost.  Several, for instance, were flying to Bangor; the layover was originally scheduled to be less than one hour and the plane arrived at the gate more than 30 minutes late.  One would think that the importance of ensuring that several dozen passengers make their connections would take precedence over supplying a handful of first-class travelers with special meals; but United (and I suspect most other airlines as well) apparently does not reason that way.

Today’s statistics as of 10:00 PM – # of cases worldwide:  230,278,519;  # of deaths worldwide: 4,721,632;  # of cases U.S.:  43,242,302;  # of deaths; U.S.: 696,867.  As I noted earlier, I did not record the daily increases while I was on my travels.  It is instructive to see what has occurred during the interval.  In the course of eleven days we have had more than 6 million new cases worldwide and nearly 100,000 more deaths; in the U.S. we have had more than 1½ million new cases (i.e., about a quarter of the increase in cases globally) and nearly 20,000 more deaths.

Guidelines for obtaining booster vaccines – Biden’s vaccine mandate – The resistance to the mandate – A reminiscence of the polio vaccine – An unexpected advocate of the “right to choose” – Evening statistics

In anticipation of my upcoming trip I went to CVS today to purchase insect repellent and while I was there it occurred to me to ask at the pharmacy when one becomes eligible for a booster vaccine.  The answer was that at present it is being administered only to the immuno-compromised but that it will become available to the general public in a few months.  At that point it must be at least eight months past the second dose before one can receive a booster.  Since I got my second dose on March 24^th, that would make late November or early December a likely date.  The booster is beginning to seem advisable.  Hospitalizations from the virus continue to soar, and it is not likely that they will diminish as the seasonal temperatures become colder. 

Biden announced yesterday the implementation of vaccine mandates for federal workers, health care workers, and workers for all businesses that employ 100 people or more – mandates that have the potential to affect over 100 million people, or about two-thirds of the American workforce.  Now that one of the vaccines (Pfizer) has full FDA approval, he has the legal authority to take such a step.  The Post Office, which generally has some degree of autonomy in such matters, is included in this directive. 

Initially the U.S. had taken the lead in the administration of vaccines, until the resistance of a substantial portion of our population simply refused to take them, to the wonder of observers abroad.  By now several European countries have a considerably higher percentage of their populations fully vaccinated than we do.  I have no doubt that various factions will be protesting against this apparent infringement on individual liberty and that lawsuits to block it are already in preparation.  The current situation, however, is not the first time that a vaccine has been mandated.  I can remember when the Sabin-Salk vaccine for polio was routinely given to school-children; and while there had been some pushback at the time, the government overrode it with a firm hand.  The result is that polio was eliminated in this country by 1994.

One state governor has already issued an Executive Order in an effort to contravene Biden’s mandate and to protect its residents’ “right to choose”; and that governor is – try to take a guess.  None other than Governor Abbott of Texas, who has imposed the most rigorous abortion ban in defiance of Federal law and of a Supreme Court decision than has been in place for more than half a century.  When it comes to people’s “right to choose” upon being impregnated as a result of unwanted attentions from a close family member or a rapist, Governor Abbott’s vigilance on this matter clearly falls into abeyance.

Today’s statistics as of 7:30 PM – # of cases worldwide:  224,598,253; # of deaths worldwide: 4,629,532; # of cases U.S.:  41,736,420;  # of deaths; U.S.: 676,926.

The link to the complete journal is:  https://betulacordifolia.com/?order=asc

Denmark relaxes its restrictions – Mexico de-criminalizes abortion – Governor Abbott on rape – Example of violence towards women in Pakistan – Robert E. Lee statue comes down in Richmond – Evening statistics

Denmark has removed all of its protective measures against COVID, with the exception of those restricting unvaccinated visitors.  About 71% of the Danes are fully vaccinated.  Children under 12 have not received the vaccines and cases have increased among them, but relatively few results in hospitalizations or fatalities.  Overall, the country has had fewer than 1,000 new cases per day and only a handful of deaths for over a week. 

Mexico, the world’s second-largest Catholic country, has de-criminalized abortion.  The law in the state of Coahuila up to this point penalized women who undergo abortions with as much as three years of prison and a fine.  This law has been overturned, with the common-sense view laid down by Supreme Court Justice Ana Margarita Ríos Farjat, one of the three women among the court’s 11 justices:  “I’m against stigmatizing those who make this decision which I believe is difficult to begin with, due to moral and social burdens. It shouldn’t be burdened as well by the law. Nobody gets voluntarily pregnant thinking about getting an abortion later.”  At least, this should be the common-sense attitude; but common-sense, apparently, has deserted Mexico’s neighbor to the north.  What a source of pride it is to know that some of my compatriots who fall “in trouble,” as the saying goes, can find a solution to their difficulties by taking refuge in Mexico!

Governor Abbott, incidentally, was asked about the likelihood of the new abortion law in Texas forcing numerous rape victims to undergo the additional trauma of carrying any unwanted pregnancies to term and his response was:  “Let’s make something very clear: Rape is a crime. And Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them and getting them off the streets.”  How reassuring to know that the government of Texas has the power to “eliminate” rape!  Can it eliminate arson, assault, and murder as well?  At all events, it seems rather a pity that Texas hasn’t focused its attention on the issue before.  In 2019, for instance, Texas had over 14,000 reported rapes.  The number of reported rapes is generally estimated to be about 9-10% of the total, which means that about 140,000 – 150,000 rapes occurred in the state that year.  Of the rapes that were reported, only 23.7% resulted in charges against the perpetrators.  This does not suggest that Texas has been particularly successful to date in its stated objective of eradication of rape, but doubtless Governor Abbott now has some miracle cure or other for obtaining the goal – ivermectin, perhaps.

Women’s issues have been very much to the forefront this week.  In Pakistan the daughter of a prominent diplomat was killed as a result of what is euphemistically referred to as a “domestic incident.”  Pakistan, it should be noted, is not exactly a woman’s haven to begin with.  The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the constitutional body that advises the legislature on whether or not a certain law is repugnant to Islam, proposed a measure in 2016 that would allow a man to “lightly beat” his wife if she disobeys his commands, refuses to dress as his desires, turns down demand of intercourse without any religious excuse, or does not clean herself after intercourse or menstrual periods.  However, I do believe that even the CII must be somewhat taken aback by the chastisement that Zahir Jaffer administered to his girlfriend Noor Mukadam, i.e., torture followed by beheading.  Jaffer has been arrested, along with his parents, who aided and abetted him by trying to cover up the evidence.  The episode has accelerated public debate in the country about domestic violence, not least because both the perpetrator and the victim were from prominent and wealthy families.

A new measure, the Pakistan Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, has been proposed; it calls for offenders to be fined or imprisoned for abusing women, children, or vulnerable people.  This bill, however, is currently in limbo.  It passed in the National Assembly, the lower house of the country’s Parliament, on April 19^th and by the Senate on June 21^st.   The next step, presidential assent, for final approval has been delayed by Babar Awan, the adviser to the prime minister on parliamentary affairs, “requesting” in a manner that really is a demand that the bill first be referred to the CII for review.  It is unclear when the CII will respond, and it is extremely doubtful that they will allow it to pass. 

The statue of Robert E. Lee, which occupied Montgomery Avenue in Richmond since 1890, was taken down today and cut into at least two pieces.   These were then hauled to an undisclosed state-owned facility until a decision is made about the statue’s final disposition.  “It’s a good day, and it’s a sad day at the same time,” said Sharon Jennings, an African-American who has lived in Richmond all of her life.  “It doesn’t matter what color you are, if you really like history, and you understand what this street has been your whole life and you’ve grown up this way, you’re thinking, ‘Oh, my God.’ But when you get older you understand that it does need to come down.”

And so it does.  Admittedly it’s a bit unfair to look upon Lee as the iconic figure of the pro-slavery faction.  His attitudes towards slavery, like those of many of his contemporaries, were confused.  He generally described slavery as an evil; one of his daughters taught slaves on the Lee estate to read and write in defiance of the law.  When his father-in-law died and Lee had to take on the task of putting the badly-managed estates in order, he was very unhappy with his direct participation in slavery as an institution and he frequently complained about it.  But although he said that slavery had a degrading influence on slave-owners, he thought that the blacks benefitted in some ways from slavery.  Like many others, he looked upon blacks as an inferior race and firmly upheld racial stratification.  He never spoke out in public against slavery up to the Civil War, and in later life he never condemned the Ku Klux Klan, even when urged to do so.  It may not be altogether his fault that the statues erected to him have become rallying points for men and women of the most vicious and violent racial attitudes in the nation; but whether he intended it or not, that is the effect they have.  In his life he strove to behave honorably and to carry out his responsibilities to the greatest extent in his power, but he failed to rise above the popular prejudices of his day.  The chain of events that led him to head, against his will, the costliest and bloodiest insurrection in American history contains a lesson that all statesmen need to learn:  that good intentions are not enough.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 223,372,248; # of deaths worldwide: 4,608,641; # of cases U.S.:  41,393,005;  # of deaths; U.S.: 671,148.  The number of cases is now well over 40 million, and 4 million of these occurred within the past month.

The pleasures of a long hike in the mountains – Display of journalistic ignorance – Evening statistics

I met with the Vigorous Hikers today to complete a near-perfect hike, starting from the Jordan River Trail and then going on a loop via the Bluff, Appalachian, and Mt. Marshall Trails, about 17 miles and 2700 feet of elevation gain.  Much of the uphill portion of the hike occurred in the morning, when the temperatures were cool, and even though they went into the 80s by mid-afternoon, the relatively low humidity meant that we could hike in comfort.  We lunched at the overlook near the summit of North Marshall, where the views were somewhat hazy despite the dry weather and nearly cloudless sky.  Such a condition, however, is typical of late summer.  It was inspiriting nonetheless to perch on the rocky outcropping to look over the forest canopy just below us and at various higher peaks in the background.  As we ate we were diverted by a raven at the top of one of the trees, cawing noisily as it espied us, perhaps in surprise at seeing humans at this elevation, perhaps out of disapproval of our invasion of its territory, or perhaps it was merely laughing at us – crows and ravens generally having a strong sense of humor.  The trails were considerably less crowded today than they were during the Labor Day weekend and we went for several miles on end without encountering other hikers.  The last part of the hike presented a feature I’ve frequently noticed on hikes that go up and down the same trail:  namely, that the Jordan River Trail, whose ascent was moderately challenging but not unduly arduous, seemed much steeper as I was going down.  We were all chatting animatedly on the ride back despite the fatigue resulting from the day’s exertions.  There is nothing like fresh air and good earth to lift one’s spirits.

Journalists frequently rush in where angels fear to tread, especially when they work for Fox News.  Last month Bret Baier conducted an interview with Pete Buttigieg, the Transportation Secretary, concerning  a White House meeting on tailpipe emissions.  Baier noted that Elon Musk had not been invited to this meeting and then went on the offensive.  “Tesla wasn’t invited to the White House event.  Why was that? Was it because Tesla is not unionized?”  Buttigieg patiently explained that the meeting was concerned with tailpipe emissions, and that electric cars do not possess tailpipes.  Stay tuned for Baier’s next incisive interview, in which he will grill the Secretary of Energy by asking why oil company executives are not invited to a conference about renewable fuels.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 222,604,383; # of deaths worldwide: 4,597,348; # of cases U.S.:  41,107,125;  # of deaths; U.S.: 668,168.

In Little Bennett Regional Park – The virus continues apace – Coup in Guinea – Evening statistics

I was out on my own today, scouting a hike on behalf of the Capital Hiking Club in Little Bennett Regional Park.  It was a lovely day, warm and sunny with relatively low humidity, and Little Bennett itself is a very pleasant area to visit, not striking or unusual, but a shady, well-wooded area with gently rolling hills and various sites of historical interest, records of rural life in Montgomery County in earlier centuries.  There is one in particular that is quite moving:  a field that was purchased by Jim Wims, a successful businessman who bought a parcel of land for farming, but who set aside a portion of it for his sons and other African-American youths to play baseball.  Sports in earlier days were, of course, segregated and many communities were shut out of them altogether. Wims, however, was determined that people of his race were not going to be denied the opportunities to enjoy themselves and to reap the benefits of playing out of doors; and he was so successful in achieving this objective that eventually games were fielded by local stars who sought to play professional baseball in the National Negro League.

As usual, the quiet even pace of my daily life forms a vivid contrast to the turmoil described in the headlines:

The virus is raging more fiercely than ever.  Daily COVID-19 virus infections are up by 316% and hospitalizations have increased by 158% since last year.  Several hospitals are getting so crowded with COVID-19 patients that physicians may soon be compelled to make life-or-death decisions on who gets an ICU bed.  In Mississippi, anyone who tests positive and refuses to quarantine is subject to a fine of $500 and a prison sentence of six months.  Linda Marraccini, a physician in Florida, has announced that see non-vaccinated persons will no longer be permitted to make in-person appointments at her office.  In all probability many other doctors will be following her example.

The government of Guinea has succumbed to a coup yesterday.  Mutinous soldiers detained President Alpha Condé after hours of heavy gunshot fire in the vicinity of the presidential palace of Conakry, the capital.  Condé is not exactly an innocent victim; Guinea has a two-term limit, but Condé claimed that the limit did not apply to him and sought to obtain a third term this past year.  He did, in fact, win the election, with 59.5% of the popular vote, but various groups charged him with voter fraud and many violent protests occurred across the country in the election’s aftermath.  The new junta is led by one Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya.  It is unclear whether he has support throughout the military or whether factions loyal to Condé will try to wrest power back to the country’s former leader.  At all events, Condé and other politicians have been arrested, while all officials are prohibited from traveling.  Doumbouya has set up what he calls a transitional period, but he has declined to say of what exactly it will consist, nor has he given a firm date for a return to democratic elections.  His chief concern at this point seems to be to reassure various business sectors that their supplies of bauxite (Guinea’s chief export) will not be affected.  Sea borders remain open and the nightly curfew imposed on cities does not extend to the mining sector.  How this will play out is anyone’s guess.  Any provisional government in Guinea is unlikely to be amenable to pressure from the outside.  Unlike, for instance, Mali, where pressure from neighboring countries and international associations induced the leaders of a coup last year to make concessions, Guinea is not landlocked and it is not a member of the West African currency union.   It is a member of ECOWAS, a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa, but up to this point ECOWAS has been notably reluctant to get involved in any of its member’s internal affairs.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide:  221,949,190; # of deaths worldwide: 4,588,124; # of cases U.S.:  40,865,434;  # of deaths; U.S.: 666,559.

Hiking in cooler temperatures – The horrors of the new Texas abortion law – Melania Trump – Evening statistics

I went with AD and RH along a hike that was a mirror-image of the hike we completed on January 24^th:  we started from the Pinnacles picnic area along the Appalachian Trail, went down the Corbin Cutoff Trail, then up Nicholson Hollow to return to the AT, took the Passamaquoddy Trail and the Stony Man horse trail to the AT again, and used the AT to complete the circuit back to the Pinnacles.  The weather was somewhat cool and wet, so that even though there was nearly 3000 feet of elevation gain, I did not feel exhausted as I had done at the end of several hikes during previous weeks in the 90-degree heat.  There were 11 of us, but only 5 did the complete hike; the others went there-and-back on the AT. 

We also discussed various topicstogether, amongst which the new abortion law in Texas occupied a prominent place.  It is definitely a retrograde step, taking us back to the bad old laws when women without familial support (and even, quite frequently, with families who were hostile to them in their situation) would surreptitiously attempt to abort a child on their own, using a knitting needle or a similar implement – with disastrous results, often fatal ones.  Women who can afford to will simply fly out of Texas when necessary to obtain an abortion in a state where no such law exists, but poor women will have no such resource.  ML said that Planned Parenthood is planning to step in for such cases and provide them with necessary expenses, accommodations, and flight arrangements; but I could not help expressing my doubts as to how effective they will be – the women now left in the lurch must number in the thousands. 

There are murmurings of Donald Trump being poised to run again for President in 2024, and many of his family members are already trying to thrust themselves into the foreground.  But there is a notable exception to this rule:  Trump’s wife Melania.  Of all of our nation’s First Ladies, she enjoys the distinction of being the one least interested in her job.  Even when her husband inhabited the Oval Office she stayed away from Washington as much as possible, gave less than five on-camera interviews with the press in the course of four years, and gave no print interviews at all.  Her glacial indifference to the effect she could potentially achieve in her role is all the more vivid for the contrast she presents to her predecessors.  Laura Bush was a seasoned campaigner and was a critical factor in obtaining a greater share of the women’s vote for her husband’s party.  Michelle Obama was such a skilled public speaker on her husband’s behalf that she eventually won the nickname of “the closer.”  She gave an additional (and impressive) display of these skills in the Democratic convention of 2020.  Melania Trump, by way of contrast, has not accompanied her husband on a single one of his rallies after the election, has appeared in no public events for charities or any other purpose, has delivered no speeches extolling Donald Trump’s qualifications (admittedly not an easy task to do with a straight face), and, in general, shows a disdain for Trump’s re-election ambitions that very nearly matches my own.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide:  221,515,472; # of deaths worldwide: 4,581,259; # of cases U.S.:  40,803,569;  # of deaths; U.S.: 666,219.

Hiking along the Appalachian Trail – White Rocks – A blessed relief from the heat – Booster shots – Willard Scott – Evening statistics

I went with AD and RH on an out-and-back along the Appalachian Trail from Gathland.  There were nine of us in all.  PE, who had to leave early, went to White Rocks and back (about 7½ miles total); RH went with two others to the tower road before turning back (about 10 miles total), and AD and I with three others went to the Rocky Run shelter and back (about 11½ miles total, including the spur trail from the AT to the shelter).  The section of the AT that runs through Maryland tends to be slighted by through-hikers.  Quite a number of them elect to do a “four-state” hike that starts from Keys Gap in Virginia, goes 4 miles through West Virginia to the Potomac river bridge at Harpers Ferry, and continues 41 miles through the entirety of the trail in Maryland until reaching the Pennsylvania border.  It is certainly a feasible day hike, but in practice it means that one is focusing so much effort on getting through it as to preclude taking much notice of one’s surroundings – and the area in Maryland, though not dramatic or conventionally spectacular, is well worth seeing, with verdant forest and with many fine views on both sides of the ridge. 

White Rocks, which overlooks the eastern side of the ridge and surveys the Middletown Valley as well as Middletown itself, is one of these. It is of historical interest as well:  George Washington, when he was a surveyor during his youth and was exploring the area around South Mountain, said that the valley was one of the most beautiful areas he had ever seen.  I would not advance that claim for it, but it is certainly striking, with large square fields of corn or wheat interspersed with woodland and the little village of Middletown in the center of the area within view.  For the ascent to White Rocks we diverged from the AT slightly, taking the Bear Spring Cabin trail to a spur trail that approaches White Rocks from below, ascending over 300 feet in slightly under ¼ mile.  I have not used this route before, so it for me, at least, it had the pleasing effect of novelty.  On the return we used the AT all the way; as I have frequently have had occasion to observe, steep and rocky inclines are easier to go up than to go down. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, not least because at long last the hot weather had “broken” earlier this week and we were able to hike without being oppressed by the torrid, humid atmosphere of the past few weeks.  It seems counter-productive to yearn for more moderate temperatures, because the virus activity tends to increase as the temperature goes down.  But there it is:  this area has been baking for weeks on end, and one and all we rejoiced in the conditions that allowed us to venture out of doors without being drenched in perspiration within five minutes.  Since we were in somewhat higher elevation than DC and its suburbs, the temperature was always under 80 degrees, even during mid-afternoon.

CB, one of the hikers who has been on several of these hikes, related afterwards while we were socializing together about his experience in obtaining a third vaccination shot.  Initially the people administering the vaccine were reluctant to provide him with one.  However, he had undergone chemotherapy (for a condition that is now, thankfully, in remission) during the interval between the first and second shots, and because there was a possibility of his being immuno-compromised, he obtained the booster shot that he requested.

I’m in two minds at this point about the boosters.  I would not be able to get one until late November, eight months after my second shot, so there is plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons of the matter.  The reports, at this date, are conflicting.  Some indicate that the immunity conferred by the vaccine fades within a half-year or so; others say that the protection from a full vaccination is quite sufficient without a booster shot.  The CDC data suggests that more than 99.9% of people who have been vaccinated have not had a so-called “break-through” case of the virus.  My own guess – and it is only a guess – is that eventually the situation will subside into that resembling the current one with influenza:  a yearly vaccination, the composition of which will vary each time depending on which variant or variants are the most prevalent.

Willard Scott died this morning.  He is of course chiefly known for his role as weatherman on the Today show from 1980 to 2015, but he was a much-loved figure in the DC area long before that phase of his career.  He and his colleague Ed Walker ran a local radio show called “The Joy Boys” from 1955 to 1974, in which they did various skits and satirized various personalities of the day – but it was satire of a kind that was much more common some decades ago than it is today, being characterized by a scrupulous avoidance of coarseness or malice, as well as by a delight in absurdities.  In addition, he was the weatherman for WRC-TV, the NBC-owned television station that was licensed to Washington DC.  I well remember the evenings of various holidays (Christmas in particular) when I, along with my brother and my parents, watched the evening’s news program for the sole purpose of seeing what sort of antics he would do once he completed the (somewhat perfunctory) weather report.  Emerging from a manhole in groundhog costume on Groundhog Day and wearing only a barrel on April 15^th (when income taxes are due) are examples.  His humor was not to everyone’s taste; he was large, hearty, flamboyant, and loud; a few of his colleagues on the Today show felt that he was demeaning them by his continual clowning, although others were fanatically devoted to him.  I suppose that he will not go down in the annals of film and television as one of the great comedians; but he had the ability, which so many of them lack, of projecting an aura of golden good-nature, a complete absence of mean-mindedness or rancor.  We could use a few more media personalities like him during this troubled time.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide:  221,073,172; # of deaths worldwide: 4,574,383; # of cases U.S.:  40,765,303;  # of deaths; U.S.: 665,858.

The QAnon shaman out of costume – New abortion law in Texas – Evening statistics

Jacob Chansley, the self-proclaimed “QAnon shaman” among the rioters of January 6^th, pleaded guilty today to a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding.  Theoretically he can face a sentence of 20 years in prison and up to $260,000 in fines.  But prosecutors have been consistently lenient towards the insurrectionists, and there is no reason to suppose that he will end up serving more than two years in prison at the most.  Al Watkins, his defense attorney, took a somewhat unusual stance on behalf of his client, describing Chansley and the other rioters as “retarded.”  He claimed that they were unwitting pawns of Donald Trump and the right wing media sphere, whom he compared to Hitler and the Nazi propaganda machine respectively.  This last observation is so naïvely candid that it amounted to a very reasonable thing for a lawyer to say.

A new abortion law has been passed in Texas, prohibiting abortions of any embryo once a heartbeat is detected.  There are no exceptions, not even for cases of rape or incest. 

Fetal heartbeats are said to be detectible in as little as six weeks.  Technically speaking, what is detected at that point is the initial flutter of electric activity created by embryonic neurons beginning to move rather than a heartbeat; the heart is not fully formed until about 20 weeks after conception. But you don’t expect American legislators to make such distinctions; few of them know what a neuron is, and their ignorance of medical science is supreme.  Biden formally requested the Supreme Court to freeze this law, but the request was denied on Wednesday night. 

Various other states are expected to follow suit.  About two dozen states have introduced similar measures inside their legislatures.  The issue is likely to surface in the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial election – probably, however, to McAuliffe’s advantage:  Northern Virginia and independents, two of the most substantial voting blocs in Virginia, are overwhelmingly pro-choice. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 220,572,474; # of deaths worldwide: 4,565,907; # of cases U.S.:  40,697,060;  # of deaths; U.S.: 664,910. 

A high survival rate nullified by a high infection rate – Disabilities among COVID survivors – Resurgence in Spain – The saga of John Pierce, continued – Mysterious deaths of hikers in Mariposa County – Another march on the Capitol pending – Evening statistics

“The survival rate for COVID is over 99%.”  Such and such-like are the arguments of those who are still attempting to minimize the effects of the disease; and indeed, a mortality rate of 0.2% does not, at first glance, sound like much.  But when the percentage figure is translated into a simple ratio, it means that 1 in 500 Americans have died of COVID since the pandemic began.  After this current wave of infections comes to an end, the number of Americans who have lost their lives to the virus may be as much as 750,000.

And that figure does not include the disabilities inflicted by the disease on many who recover and are discharged from hospitals.  In the words of one physician, “for those who survive, the devastation is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Holes in lungs, muscle wasted, organs failing one by one – millions of people will suffer physical, psychological, and financial consequences that will last months or years, a toll difficult to quantify.”

Does anyone remember the severity of the situation in Spain some months ago?  It now has an immunization rate of nearly 70% among the entire population.  This figure is even more surprising when it is taken into account that children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for the vaccine.  The number of hospitalizations has been steadily declining; and out of every 100 ICU beds currently occupied, only 18 are COVID patients.

The mystery surrounding John Pierce deepens.  Pierce, it may be remembered, is the lawyer who had defended Kyle Rittenhouse and is currently defending 17 people charged with participating in the January 6^th riot.  I say “currently,” but in fact he has not responded to prosecutors since August 23^rd, either by phone or Email.  Initially it was said that he was afflicted with COVID and was on a ventilator.  This information came from his associate, Ryan Marshall, who has been responding in Pierce’s stead.  The Justice Department is not pleased with this arrangement, since Marshall is not merely has no license to be an attorney, but is currently facing felony criminal fraud charges in a state court in Pennsylvania.  Prosecutors have flatly told the judges that they will not accept communications from him.  In the meantime, efforts by both the courts and the press to contact Pierce himself have been in vain; the phone lines at his office have been disconnected and the message on the cell phone number provided on his website says that it is no longer in his name.   

Patrick Leduc, a Florida lawyer who represented another defendant from the Capitol riot, says that he doesn’t know how much Pierce charged for his work as defense attorney, but that he’s heard of some attorneys requiring retainers of at least $100,000.  “I just feel awful for these defendants. Several have probably invested their entire life savings,” he said.  He also noted that there is “zero” chance that Pierce’s behavior in missing hearings and sending a non-lawyer in his place could be part of any sort of defense strategy.  Pierce might really be seriously ill; he might also be involved in murky financial skullduggery.  It would not be the first time, if so; nearly all of the 70-odd attorneys once associated with his firm, Pierce Bainbridge, have initiated several lawsuits against it, alleging financial misconduct and debts exceeding $60 million.  While I do not believe that there is anyone less sympathetic to the January 6^th rioters than myself, I certainly think that these clients of his have been badly treated – to find their suits suddenly placed in abeyance on account of his non-appearance and probable desertion, and possibly with the money that they paid in lawyer’s fees being embezzled as well

There is a news item that to most readers would be of little importance, but which is of some interest to hikers.  The Savage Lundy Trail in Mariposa County has been closed after a family of three and their dog were found dead, with no signs of trauma, no obvious cause of death, and no suicide note.  Whatever affected them must have acted quickly, since they appear to have all died at approximately the same time.  At one point it seemed possible that the cause was leakage of gases from a nearby mine, but investigators have since eliminated that possibility. The State Water Resources Control Board is testing waterways in the area for toxic algae blooms.  Such a cause of death is less unlikely than it sounds:  the toxins produced by the algae can be acquired simply by swimming in lakes or rivers with such blooms, and since these toxins attack the livers of mammals, their effects do not become apparent until a few days after they are ingested.

There is to be another rally at the Capitol on the 18^th organized by extremist groups such as the Vain Boys and the Oath Breakers – er, I meant to say, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, of course; I am always making that mistake.  This time, it is to be hoped, the police will be deployed as soon as any signs of rioting occur, instead of hours after the event.   Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger made a statement in which he said, “We are closely monitoring September 18 and we are planning accordingly. After January 6, we made Department-wide changes to the way we gather and share intelligence internally and externally.”  Which is very well as far as it goes, but measures will have to be taken externally in addition to ensure that the police are not hamstrung as they were during January 6^th.

Although the population of Texas is less than a quarter of the entire population of Mexico, its number of COVID cases is greater.  Until the middle of July, the death rate had declined to 20 per day; it is now over 200.  And yet, as states go, it is very much middle of the road, ranking 28^th of the states in per capita COVID cases and 24^th in per capita deaths. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 219,901,282; # of deaths worldwide: 4,555,566; # of cases U.S.:  40,498,707;  # of deaths; U.S.: 662,769. 

Kevin McCarthy, American Commissar – Alabama’s dearth of storage for bodies – Increase in vaccinations – A traveler’s tale – Evening statistics

Kevin McCarthy has threatened telecommunication companies to discourage them from cooperating with the House select committee investigating the riot of January 6^th.  “If these companies comply with the Democrat order to turn over private information, they are in violation of federal law and subject to losing their ability to operate in the United States,” he posted on Twitter.  It is not clear that they would be violating any law by complying with behests from a duly empaneled Congressional committee, but that’s a detail.   According to ethics rules expert Norm Eisen, McCarthy’s threat to companies could be deemed a violation of a House rule prohibiting members from acting in ways that discredit the House and thereby form the basis for an ethics probe.  However, Eisen’s expertise in the matter has to be taken with a grain of salt:  he was one of the Democratic advisers for the first impeachment of Donald Trump, and we all know how that ended.  Some decades ago, people spoke of Ronald Reagan as the “Teflon president” for his uncanny ability to avoid incurring blame; but surely his gifts in this field are insignificant compared with the abilities of Trump and his thugs to avoid incurring any penalty for their blatant disregard of the national laws.

Yet another state has come to the end of its capability for handling the bodies of those who have succumbed to the virus.  Alabama has been seeing more than 3,000 per day hospitalized and an average of 32 COVID-related deaths daily.  As of August 18^th, the number of patients who require ICU beds was 29 more than the number of ICU beds available.  According to state health officer Dr. Scott Harris, the state government had to activate two of their four refrigerated trailers to hold bodies for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Vaccination rates are increasing, partly in response to the surge in hospitalizations since June and partly on account of mandates in various corporations and government agencies.  In mid-July, the daily average of vaccinations was about 500,000; towards the end of August, it went up to 900,000.  Polls indicate that only 20% of American adults are opposed to taking vaccines, the lowest number to date.  However, there is a way to go.  At this point 70% of adults in the EU are fully vaccinated, whereas in the U.S. only 61.5% of adults are. 

The lengths that some people are willing to go to avoid the vaccine are – extreme, shall we say.  Hawaii at this point has the strictest rules for entering the state of any in the country.  Anyone who travels to Hawaii must quarantine for 10 days, unless he or she can show proof of having been vaccinated in the U.S.  Upon traveling from Illinois to her dream vacation in Oahu, Chloe Mrozak confidently displayed her vaccination card – which, however, roused some suspicions when a sharp-eyed official noticed that the name of the vaccine on the card was “Maderna.”  After it was determined that the card was faked, she was promptly arrested.  She is currently being held on $2,000 bail and could face a year in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.  It is unknown whether her sentence may also include going back to school for spelling lessons.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide:  219,220,760; # of deaths worldwide: 4,543,563; # of cases U.S.:  40,326,507;  # of deaths; U.S.: 659,874. 

Hiking in Shenandoah – Wordsworth on mountain ascents – Two prominent anti-vaxxers – Hospital strain similar to what was seen earlier this year – Governor Reeves and Heaven – Evening statistics

I went on Sunday with AD and RH along a loop starting from Elkwallow and involving the Appalachian, Thornton River, Hull School, Fork Mountain, and Piney Ridge Trails.  There were 11 of us in all, but EF and MJ went on their own along the AT and back, since they did not wish to undertake a hike that has most of its ascending towards the end.  Still, they wound up completing 10½ miles.  The ascent on the hike that the rest of us undertook was not enormous – 2200 feet spread out over 11½ miles (most of it in the last 4 miles, it is true).  It was just under 70 degrees when we started the hike and the temperature never reached the sweltering intensity that we had seen earlier in the week.  Moreover, towards the end of the hike a light fog rolled in, cooling us considerably.  All in all, it was surprisingly comfortable for a hike in late August, a most welcome contrast to the conditions of the hike on this past Tuesday.

And of course we ate and drank afterwards, and conversed among ourselves – and among other topics we touched briefly on Wordsworth, who might be said to be the Poet Laureate of hikers.  I’ve always admired in particular the passage in The Prelude that describes a situation familiar to anyone who has hiked in the mountains:

The only track now visible was one

That from the torrent’s further brink held forth

Conspicuous invitation to ascend

A lofty mountain. After brief delay

Crossing the unbridged stream, that road we took,

And clomb with eagerness, till anxious fears

Intruded, for we failed to overtake

Our comrades gone before. By fortunate chance,

While every moment added doubt to doubt,

A peasant met us, from whose mouth we learned

That to the spot which had perplexed us first

We must descend, and there should find the road,

Which in the stony channel of the stream

Lay a few steps, and then along its banks;

And, that our future course, all plain to sight,

Was downwards, with the current of that stream.

Loth to believe what we so grieved to hear,

For still we had hopes that pointed to the clouds,

We questioned him again, and yet again;

But every word that from the peasant’s lips

Came in reply, translated by our feelings,

Ended in this, – that we had crossed the Alps.

It is quite true:  I have often approached a summit with excited anticipation, only to find that there is nothing to distinguish it from its surroundings and in some cases I have passed over it before realizing that I have already surmounted it.  It is perfectly possible to overlook a mountain apex or the top of a ridgeline, and then to discover belatedly that one is going downhill again.  The best views are not always at the top.

Caleb Wallace is dead at the age of 30.  He is the founder of the San Angelo Freedom Defenders, a group who sought to end what it labelled “COVID-19 tyranny” (i.e., the use of masks in public settings and the distribution of COVID vaccines).  His wife said at one point that he had been taking, in lieu of a vaccine, vitamin C, zinc aspirin, and – you guessed it! – ivermectin as preventatives against the disease. This past July 4^th he organized a “Freedom Rally” to protest against COVID-related restrictions.  He was hospitalized with COVID on July 30^th, lost consciousness on August 3^rd, placed on a ventilator August 8^th, moved to a hospice on August 27^th, and died on August 28^th.   There has been the usual emotional hemorrhage from various associates and family members, and not a single one of them mentions how he died – to read through them, one might suppose he succumbed to cancer or a heart ailment or anything but the disease whose baneful effects he spent most of the last year of his life denying.  But as a consolation to the relatives and friends he leaves behind, he has not failed to make his mark on his surroundings:  Tom Green County, in which San Angelo is located, has seen an increase of 50% in COVID cases and of 33% in hospitalizations during the past two weeks.

His achievements, however, pale in comparison with those of Robert David Steele, a former CIA officer who claimed to be the first person to call COVID-19 a hoax and who was among the earliest QAnon promoters.  He was hospitalized earlier this month with COVID and died on the 30^th.  But not even being placed on a ventilator could daunt that fiery spirit; in the very last post of his blog, dated August 17^th, he denounced vaccinations and spoke of testing positive for “whatever they’re calling ‘COVID’ today.”  His associates, fittingly, immediately constructed a conspiracy theory as to how he met his death, claiming that the hospital prevented him from using tablets of that miracle drug, hydroxychloroquine. 

The dismal legacy of Wallace, Steele, and others who think like them will take a long time to overcome.  It is true that more Americans are getting vaccines now that the FDA has given full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.  During the week before full approval, an average of about 404,000 Americans were initiating vaccination each day.  As of Monday, approximately 473,000 Americans were getting their first shot each day.  At this point about 74.2% of all American adults have received at least one dose.  Which is all very well – but that leaves over 66 million adults who are still unvaccinated, and hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise.  Idaho, for example, is now one of the numerous states running out of available ICU beds; there are only four left in the entire state.  In January our nation reached a peak of 125,000 hospitalizations before the cases subsided.  In June there were less than 12, 000 patients, but all of our gains in making headway against the pandemic have been wiped out.  We are now approaching the peak level again, with over 101,000 hospitalizations as of today.    

From Molière’s “Don Juan,” when the titular protagonist hypocritically proclaims to Don Carlos that he is submitting to a solemn voice from Heaven that has forbidden him to offer marriage to Carlos’s sister Elvire after he has seduced her and left her pregnant –

DON CARLOS:  Don Juan, do you think to dazzle us by these fine excuses?

DON JUAN:  I obey the voice of Heaven.

DON CARLOS:  What?   You expect me to be satisfied with such talk?

DON JUAN:  It is Heaven that so wills it.

DON CARLOS:  You have taken my sister out of a convent and then left her?

DON JUAN:  That is the way Heaven ordains.

DON CARLOS:  We are to stand for this stain on our family?

DON JUAN:  Blame Heaven for it.

And here is Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi, while speaking about the pandemic at a Republic fundraiser last week:

“I’m often asked by some of my friends on the other side of the aisle about COVID . . . and why does it seem like folks in Mississippi and maybe in the mid-South are a little less scared, shall we say. . . . When you believe in eternal life, when you believe that living on this Earth is but a blip on the screen, then you don’t have to be so scared of things.”

It’s reassuring to know that the Mississippians are not frightened, because their state has more per capita COVID-related deaths than anywhere else in the country – or, if the state was to be assessed as a separate nation, anywhere else on the planet. 

The chief difference between Don Juan and Governor Reeves is that when they talk about the afterlife to justify their refusal to undertake some sort of reparation for the results their callousness has inflicted on others, Molière’s protagonist is made to sound amusing.

Yesterday’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 217,174,718; # of deaths worldwide: 4,514,198; # of cases U.S.:  39,664,814; # of deaths; U.S.: 654,689.  Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 218,470,692; # of deaths worldwide: 4,532,374; # of cases U.S.:  40,078,275; # of deaths; U.S.: 657,861. 

Calvert Cliffs and Battle Creek Cypress Swamp – Another hiatus in club hikes – How children adjust to mask mandates – Another case of hubris and nemesis – The issue of body storage – Rand Paul’s blindness to the bad effects of ingesting medicine for cattle – Evening statistics

I led the hike in Calvert Cliffs that I scouted last month for the Capital Hiking Club.  It came off quite well.  It was very warm today, but not overpoweringly so.  The temperature of the water at the beach was extremely comfortable for swimming, and while some sea nettles were still present, they were less numerous than they had been a month earlier.  The hikers expressed appreciation in particular of the views of the cliffs at the beach and of the water lilies as we went along the boardwalk.  Afterwards we went to Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, which many of the hikers had not seen before, and they were all impressed by the majestic stature of the trees and the serenity of the forest.  Many cardinal flowers were in bloom when we passed upon the boardwalk through the swamp; they need soil that is moist at all times and are most frequently found in the vicinity of lakes, swamps, and rivers.   The facility has an indoor exhibit as well describing various flora and fauna of the area, and in particular it features a large albino snapping turtle that had been rescued thirty years earlier when it was still young.  Albinism is a relatively rare feature in turtles (about 1 in every 100,000 hatched eggs) and they ordinarily do not survive long in the wild.  Their coloring makes them fairly easy targets for predators to detect. 

The only drawback was the disappointment of the next CHC hike being canceled for lack of hike leaders and my being obliged to tell the participants of this hike, in response to their inquiries, that the club may be obligated to suspend hikes again unless the number of cases in the fourth wave reaches some sort of plateau. The CHC board will be holding an online discussion on this point this coming week. 

One of the hikers is a teacher in the DC school system and I asked her whether there was any difficulty about implementing mask mandates.  She said that there was none; there has been no opposition among the DC authorities to such mandates; and as for the children – they have come to look upon masks as completely normal and are rather inclined to take adults to task if they see any indoors without a mask on.  It may be just as well, perhaps, to put some of them in charge of such matters in states like Texas and Florida; I’m certain that these states would be better served by toddlers just beginning school than by the officials who are currently in power.

There are so many stories now about people fiercely opposed to vaccination contracting the virus and suffering fatal consequences that encountering them in various media is rather like picking up grains of sand from a beach.  Here is one, nonetheless.  Scott Apley, a Republican member of the Dickinson City council, was 45 years old when he died.  He was a determined opponent of vaccination, frequently venting his disapproval of them in public, and his last Facebook post on July 30^th was a mocking reference to COVID and the various vaccines.  Two days later he was admitted to a Galveston hospital with pneumonia-like symptoms. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed on a ventilator.  He died on August 25^th, some 3½ weeks after he was hospitalized.  Both the Texas Republican Party and the Galveston County Republican Party issued statements calling his loss a tragedy and extending condolences to his family.  It is scarcely necessary to add that neither of them made the slightest reference to the COVID virus that caused his death.

Two counties in Oregon, Tillamook and Josephine, have requested refrigerated trucks to hold the bodies resulting from the death toll from COVID.  In Tillamook only 30% of its residents are unvaccinated, but hospitalizations and deaths among them are sufficient to overwhelm the hospitals and the morgues.  Suicide rates have also risen in the counties as a result of the stresses imposed by the pandemic.  Morgues are restricted to contain a certain number of bodies at the same time, so the counties are forced to fall back on refrigerated trailers that must be obtained from the state.  Josephine County Emergency Manager Emily Ring asked the state on Tuesday for a refrigerated trailer that could hold “20-48 cadavers.”  Oregon is not the only state coping with this issue.  Alabama activated two of its four refrigerated trailers for the first time since the pandemic began in Mobile and Baldwin counties this week.

Rand Paul has issued a statement saying that he doesn’t understand why scientists are not devoting much-needed resources to testing ivermectin for its efficacy against COVID, even though FDA and the CDC have already warned people from ingesting it.  It may interest him to know that the Georgia Poison Center has fielded 23 calls so far this month related to ivermectin, as opposed to two or three in a typical year, in which the callers are complaining of vomiting, faintness, and double vision.  This last symptom gives plausibility to an interesting speculation:  Rand Paul is an ophthalmologist – can it be that he’s trying to drum up business for himself?

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 216,709,866; # of deaths worldwide: 4,506,796; # of cases U.S.:  39,617,417; # of deaths; U.S.: 654,381. 

Another lawsuit against Trump – The end of the eviction moratorium – Florida schools and mask mandates – Vaccines rejected in favor of medication for cattle – Why the mortality statistics from COVID should be multiplied by two or three – Hopeful developments in India – Evening statistics

Seven Capitol Police officers have sued Donald Trump, claiming that he incited the extremist groups who besieged the Capitol on January 6^th.  While I believe such a claim to be true, I am not hopeful that such a lawsuit will make much headway.  There have been numerous lawsuits of a similar nature levelled against Trump; but so far, none of them have come to fruition.  I had formerly had high hopes of the suit that was being prepared by Fani Willis to bring charges against Trump for his blatant attempt to overturn the results of the election in Georgia, but it has apparently come to nothing.  At times it appears that Themis, goddess of justice, has contracted the COVID virus and is displaying characteristic symptoms of the disease:  she is too short of breath to do more than creep along the ground with leaden pace, is chronically congested and perpetually fatigued, and not infrequently displays signs of mental confusion.

Still, she has given a few decisive utterances lately.  The Supreme Court has overturned the Biden administration’s moratorium on evictions.  Families have certainly been strained by the pandemic, but it has been going on for well over a year now and they have had time to adjust to the situation, particularly as the economy has been growing steadily this year.  The money is available for renters.  Of the $46 billion allocated for emergency rent relief money, only $5.1 billion has been distributed.  But many renters have refused to apply for rent payment relief and simply continue to live in their residences without paying at all.  Landlords have seen their properties become worthless and their sources of income dried up for months on end as a result of this policy and they, too, need some relief. 

And Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has been frustrated in his diligent attempts to leave the inhabitants of the state as helpless as possible against the ravages of the virus – er, I mean, in his attempts to resist “bludgeoning people with restrictions and mandates and lockdowns,” to use his own words.  Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper has ruled the DeSantis’s attempt to ban schools for imposing mask mandates upon their students exceeds his authority and that, consequently, Floridian schools are now permitted to implement rudimentary preventative measures in a state that has by far the highest rate of COVID-related hospitalizations in the country.   Florida now has 80 hospitalizations per 100,000 people.  Alabama, the state with the next-highest hospitalization rate, has 60 hospitalizations per 100,000. 

The manufacturers of ivermectin are somewhat bewildered by the skyrocketing demand for their product, as well they might be.  It is unclear how many are resorting to it, but numerous stores are running out of the drug; in Oklahoma there is hardly any left in stock within the entire state.  The people who are frantically swallowing a medication primarily intended for use on cattle are the same ones who are opposed to taking any of the COVID vaccines.  Dr. Nathan Boonstra, a pediatrician at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, IA, summed it all up:  “It’s hard to understand why people would turn down an FDA-approved COVID preventative in favor of a treatment that’s not only unapproved but has a large body of evidence showing it doesn’t work.” 

As a result of the strain on the hospitals, COVID has claimed many victims indirectly in addition that 653 thousand who had died from contracting it.  The story of Daniel Wilkinson, an Army veteran aged 46, is a case in point.  He was taken to a hospital in Bellville, TX, where he was diagnosed with gallstone pancreatitis, a condition that the Belville hospital wasn’t equipped to treat.  Hasan Kakli, the physician who made the diagnosis, hastily applied to one hospital after another, only to be told that facilities weren’t available.  Several of the hospitals had the specialists on their staff qualified to remove the gallstone, but because Wilkinson’s condition had deteriorated rapidly he needed an ICU room and none were available.  Dr. Kakli spent seven hours searching for a facility that could take the patient in and perform the operation.  Eventually an opening occurred at the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Houston and Wilkinson was accordingly transported there by helicopter, but by then it was too late; he died within 24 hours of checking in at the Bellville hospital.  Kakli said afterwards that if it weren’t for the COVID crisis, the procedure for Wilkinson would have taken 30 minutes, and he’d have been released shortly after the operation.  “I’ve never lost a patient from this diagnosis, ever,” Kakli said. “We know what needs to be done and we know how to treat it, and we get them to where they need to go. I’m scared that the next patient that I see is someone that I can’t get to where they need to get to go.”

The caseload in India has been decreasing over the past several weeks, and at this point the COVID virus may have entered into the endemic stage.  The number of daily cases has fallen from a peak of 400,000 in April to about 25,000 this week.  A third wave is still possible but Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, says that India is unlikely to see another overwhelming surge in infections comparable to the amount in its second wave, which led to acute shortages of hospital beds and medical oxygen. 

Yesterday’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 215,428,560; # of deaths worldwide: 4,487,286; # of cases U.S.:  39,337,794; # of deaths; U.S.: 651,914. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 216,161,806; # of deaths worldwide: 4,497,680; # of cases U.S.:  39,539,133; # of deaths; U.S.: 653,397.  We are now back to 14^th in the list of nations with the highest amount of COVID cases per capita although, oddly enough, we have actually sunk a little in the rankings of nations by mortality rate:   we are now 21^st instead of 20^th on the list.

Plans for FDA approval of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines – Sheriffs’ outcry against non-existent mandates – John Pierce hospitalized – Evening statistics

Moderna has submitted its data to the FDA to initiate the process that will confer formal approval of its vaccine instead of its current EUA status.  It will probably take about 3-4 months for the process to be completed.  Johnson and Johnson will submit its data some time later in the year; at this point no firm timeframe has been given.

In a video posted on August 23^rd to the official Twitter account of Pinal County, AZ, Sheriff Mark Lamb has delivered an impassioned plea against “tyranny” (AKA “vaccine mandates”) and has sworn that he will never enforce them. Neither Pinal County nor the state of Arizona has a vaccine mandate; on the contrary, Governor Doug Ducey recently signed a measure that prevents local jurisdictions from imposing any.   Similarly, Sheriff Brian Wolfe of Malheur County, OR, released a letter on August 24^th vowing to resist any local vaccine mandate.  No such mandate exists in Malheur County.  On the same day Sheriff Chad Cubbage of Page County, VA posted a video of his own saying he intended to resist vaccine mandates.  Virginia has no vaccine mandates.  Is anyone noticing a pattern here?

John Pierce, the attorney who has represented such distinguished clients as Kyle Rittenhouse (the Kenosha shooter), Rudy Giuliani, and more than a dozen of the rioters who participated in the attack on the Capitol, tweeted last week that “the entire 82^nd Airborne couldn’t make me get an experimental government vaccine stuck in my arm.”  Recently he has been unable to appear at the court hearings to give defendants the benefits of his eloquence, having contracted the COVID virus shortly after this declaration of fearless self-reliance  Happily, the judges in these cases have conceded that his being hospitalized and placed on a ventilator is a sufficient excuse for non-attendance. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 214,695,608; # of deaths worldwide: 4,475,348; # of cases U.S.:  39,155,315; # of deaths; U.S.: 649,668.  In Florida over 21,000 people contracted the virus, about 17% of the entire new infections for the day in the U. S. 

Duncan Knob and Strickler Knob – The Pfizer vaccine receives FDA approval – A rally turns against Trump – Vaccine mandates increasing – Margaret Cirko’s sentence – Evening statistics

I went with the Vigorous Hikers on a loop in the Massanuttens that included Strickler Knob and Duncan Knob, two rock piles that involve a good deal of agility to reach the top.  Duncan Knob in particular is rated as a Class 3 scramble, the only peak in the Massanuttens that is rated at this level of difficulty.  Its panoramic view of the eastern Massanutten ridge and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and of the main western Massanutten ridge, Short Mountain, and the Shenandoah Mountains to the west is one of which I am especially fond.  Unfortunately, however, the heat was so intense that it greatly interfered with a route that I usually enjoy.  The shade and the higher elevation, which have been mitigating factors for the other hikes I’ve done this summer, had no effect here.  The climb up to the junction with the Duncan Knob trailhead via the Gap Creek Trail, which on ordinary days is strenuous but not exorbitantly so, was very difficult for me today.  Even though I was drinking a good deal of water, I became somewhat dehydrated; when I returned to car I was obliged to take a salt tablet to restore my equilibrium.  We literally did not see a single other person on any portion of the route we took; which means, I suppose, the most people were displaying a higher degree of sanity than we did.

It’s official:  the Pfizer vaccine now has full FDA approval.  Perhaps that will persuade some of those reluctant to take the vaccine into while it still had EUA status to accept it now.  Polls indicated that about a third of those who refrained from taking any vaccine were waiting for the FDA decision.  There is no timetable for full approval of the Moderna vaccines, since it has not yet submitted its data.  Various physicians who have encountered patients resisting the vaccines are not overly optimistic that this step will have much effect.  The summation of Dr. William Luking, who practiced family medicine in Reidsville, North Carolina, for almost 30 years, is typical.  He said that it was once rare for his patients to push back against his medical advice by citing the government’s support or its lack thereof, but that that has changed in recent years.  “Suddenly everybody’s a medical expert in this, but it’s medicine via misinformation,” he said. “It’s really concerning the direction we’ve taken.”

So great is the resistance towards vaccines in certain areas that Donald Trump was roundly booed in at a rally in Cullman, AL, after urging the crowd to take the vaccines.  Previously he had encouraged his followers to refuse the vaccines in the hope of discrediting the Biden administration, so it is only just that his current attempt to obtain praise for introducing the vaccines during his administration has fallen to the ground. 

More cities and other entities, in the meantime, are establishing vaccine mandates for their workers.   Chicago did so yesterday for its health care workers.  New York City, which had already done so, has added one for workers in its school system as well.  The Pentagon is currently setting up a vaccination requirement for military personnel (it could not do so previously as long as the vaccines had only EUA status).  Governor Bel Edwards of Louisiana has announced vaccination requirements for state workers (with submitting to weekly testing as an option for the unvaccinated) – a significant step, since the state government is by far the biggest employer in Louisiana.  More than 680 colleges are either currently requiring the vaccine or in the process of setting such a requirement up.  George Mason University, which is about a mile from my house, is an example; it has required all students to receive a vaccine by August 1^st. 

Margaret Cirko is in prison.  She is the woman in Luzerne County, PA, who, in April, 2020,  intentionally coughed and spat on the produce of a Gerrity supermarket, while saying, “I have the virus, now you’re all going to get sick.”  The store was forced to discard $35000 worth of food as a result.  She pleaded guilty to a felony weapons of mass destruction charge in June and in consequence was sentenced to one to two years in jail plus eight years of probation; in addition, she has been directed to pay back the money that the store had lost as a result of discarding its produce.  It’s a reasonable outcome.  The sentence is perhaps on the light side, but even if she ends up spending a few months in prison she may be discouraged from embarking on future exploits of this nature.

Yesterday’s statistics as of 9:00 PM (not a misprint; I was late in getting statistics yesterday evening) – # of cases worldwide: 213,273,952; # of deaths worldwide: 4,453,032; # of cases U.S.:  38,813,549; # of deaths; U.S.: 646,663.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 213,936,012; # of deaths worldwide: 4,463,654; # of cases U.S.:  38,962,160; # of deaths; U.S.: 648,089.

Hiking in Shenandoah National Park – Americans imposing vaccine mandates on their own – “Compassion fatigue” among the medical professionals – A novel approach to encouraging vaccination – Evening statistics

Today I went with AD and RH to hike on the Appalachian Trail between Jenkins Gap and Gravel Spring Hut.  The forecast called for the mid-to-high 80s in my area, but at this higher elevation the temperature never went beyond 80 degrees, and the skies were partly cloudy, so that the sun was not beating down on us and it never became uncomfortably hot.  A large number of us went together on this hike and afterwards we sat together for nearly two hours drinking and eating and chatting sociably.  These episodes are still the main source of social activity for me, and probably for many others in our group as well.  It was like a regular outdoor party, except that we were relaxing in a parking area in Shenandoah National Park recessed from the main road, instead of someone’s back yard.  We had the place to ourselves; and, indeed, we did not meet many other people on the trail itself.  Several schools have already begun their fall semesters, and as a result fewer parents are taking their children out to hike together, even on weekends.

About a third of the millennials have severed ties with someone in their lives who has refused to get vaccinated, as compared to 30% of Generation Z-ers, 9% of Generation X-ers, and 7% of baby boomers.  Part of the reason, doubtless, is the fact older people have had priority in vaccination availability and have on the whole shown less reluctance in taking them.  At this point 91.4% of all seniors have received at least one dose and 81.2% are fully vaccinated.  Only 4.7 million seniors are unvaccinated out of approximately 50 million seniors total.  About 62.4% of all Americans 18 years or older are fully vaccinated, so the numbers are steadily increasing.  But hospitalizations continue to rise, and among the unvaccinated in particular.  There are now nearly 7½ million active cases of COVID in the country, more than 40% of the active cases worldwide.

Dr Anita Sircar of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, CA, has expressed a sense of “compassion fatigue” that I suspect is fairly common at this stage among health care professionals.  She cites the story of one patient in his 50s, in good health until he caught the infection 10 days before he was assigned to her for emergency procedures.  As his symptoms worsened, he had resorted to various treatments (including hydroxochloroquine!), all of them ineffective in his case. Eventually he ended up in the ER with dangerously low oxygen levels, exceedingly high inflammatory markers, and patchy areas of infection all over his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe. His wife and two young children were at home, all infected with COVID-19.  He had decided to wait until full FDA approval of the vaccine before taking it, saying that he did not want to be a human guinea-pig.  “Well,” Dr. Sircar told him, “I am going to treat you with remdesivir, which only recently received FDA approval.” She proceeded to explain that it had been under an EUA for most of last year and had not been studied or administered as widely as COVID-19 vaccines – which indeed would be rather difficult, since more than 353 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the U.S. along with more than 4.7 billion doses worldwide over a period of several months, without any overwhelming catastrophic side effects. “Not nearly as many doses of remdesivir have been given or studied in people and its long-term side effects are still unknown,” she went on. “Do you still want me to give it to you?”  He agreed to submit to this treatment, but it also proved ineffective; he died of a stroke nine days afterwards.  “Last year,” she wrote in her account of the matter, “a case like this would have flattened me. I would have wrestled with the sadness and how unfair life was. This year, I struggled to find sympathy. It was August 2021, not 2020. The vaccine had been widely available for months in the U.S., free to anyone who wanted it. Cutting-edge, lifesaving vaccines were available where people shopped for groceries, and they still didn’t want them.”

The Mae Chaem district of Chiang Mai province in Thailand has chosen an unusual incentive for its residents to get vaccinated.  Starting in September, a raffle will be held every week to determine which fortunate inoculated person will receive a cow as a reward.  It appears to be working:  according to district chief Boonlue Thamtharanura, “Our vaccine registration numbers have gone from hundreds to thousands in a couple of days.”  Regrettably, I doubt whether such an approach would work here.  I myself am an advocate of the COVID vaccines, as I think the past several entries have shown; but if I thought that taking one of them would result in a live cow being deposited on my front doorstep, I would strive my utmost to avoid them.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 212,554,270; # of deaths worldwide: 4,443,890; # of cases U.S.:  38,545,144; # of deaths; U.S.: 645,058.

An unusual warning – Rising vaccination rate – Two vaccine skeptics – Evening statistics

The FDA has been forced to issue a warning that to most people would seem absurdly unnecessary but which, sadly, is not.  The same people who turn up their noses at vaccines have no hesitation in resorting to other medical treatments that are thoroughly ineffective at best and positively harmful in most cases.  We have already seen an example of this earlier, when several rushed, at Trump’s urging, to use hydroxochloroquine as a preventative.  But they, at least, had the excuse that no vaccines were available at the time.  Recently there have been accounts of people medicating themselves with ivermectin.  Ivermectin is used to treat parasites in animals and is given primarily to horses, cows, and sheep.  In carefully controlled doses it can be used to treat intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis, two conditions caused by parasitic worms.  It is not, however, an anti-viral drug, so it does not have the slightest effect as far as the COVID virus is concerned.  But it does have certain other consequences.  Even approved doses have to be monitored carefully because they can interact with other medicines, such as blood thinners, and not at all favorably.  In doses intended for horses and cows – which, of course, weigh much more than humans – it can become toxic, inducing rash, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, neurologic disorders, and, on occasion, severe hepatitis. 

However, the vaccination rate is rising.  Over a million people received the vaccine for three consecutive days.  More than 60% of all people aged 12 and older are now fully vaccinated.  Unquestionably it is time:  at this point more than 11.5% of the population has tested positive for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.  Our mortality rate is relatively low – 1.7% cumulatively and considerably less than that in recent weeks.  But we have already lost nearly 645,000, more than the total population of cities such as Las Vegas and Detroit.

One prominent vaccine skeptic has succumbed to the virus.  The radio host Phil Valentine tweeted In December, 2020:  “I have a very low risk of A) Getting COVID and B) dying of it if I do. Why would I risk getting a heart attack or paralysis by getting the vaccine?”  As matters turned out, Valentine’s assessment was wrong on both counts:  he contracted the disease less than a month ago, was soon hospitalized in a critical care unit as a result of pneumonia brought on by the virus, and died today.   After he was taken to the hospital his family posted for his audiences a plea to get vaccinated on the radio station’s Facebook page.

But there is some encouraging news for the anti-vaxxers.  At least one of them has been consistent from first to last.  Pressley Stutts, a local Republican Party official in South Carolina, and his wife were rushed to a hospital on August 1^st after being diagnosed with the virus.  His wife had mild symptoms and was eventually released, but Stutts’ case was more serious, quickly causing him to be placed in an ICU.  From there he routinely posted protests against vaccine mandates and mask mandates on his Facebook page, as well as denunciations of the vaccines generally, with assurances that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump thrown in for good measure.  He might still be doing so if it were not for a trifling incident.  His death on August 19^th is the circumstance I allude to.  Several residents in his state appear to be heeding the advice he delivered in this moribund condition; only 42% of South Carolina’s population is fully vaccinated, with the state recording an average of more than 3,500 cases a day and more than 1,600 people currently hospitalized.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 212,103,181; # of deaths worldwide: 4,435,512; # of cases U.S.:  38,519,247; # of deaths; U.S.: 644,838.