Hiking in Old Rag – Dealing with the unvaccinated in the Philippines and in Pakistan – Crisis in Malaysia – RIP Hong Kong democracy – Democrats in difficulties – Evening statistics
I returned to Old Rag, the celebrated rock scramble of our area, with the Vigorous Hikers today, despite the rain threatened by the weather forecast. We started a little past 8:30 and I hastened over the rocky portion that begins after ascending the first 1500 feet, wishing to reach the summit before the rain began. It began, in fact, just as I was in the last stages of the ascent, and those who came only a few minutes after I did told me that the rocks had become very slick in that short interval. Seven of us went up to the summit and then waited at the Byrd’s Nest shelter for the others; but eventually we decided to move on. After going to the Old Rag Shelter towards the base of the Saddle Trail, we had lunch and proceeded to the intersection with the Weakley Hollow fire road. Here we came to a decision point: should we proceed along the original route that went up to the Corbin Mountain Trail and then descended to the Nicholson Hollow Trail for a longer circuit, or should we cut the hike short by turning along the Weakley Hollow fire road? With the rashness and inexperience of youth, I was about to voice a preference for the second alternative, as it was still raining; but counsel from soberer and cooler heads prevailed and we accordingly trudged upward along the backside of Robertson Mountain to pursue the original route. It proved to be the correct choice: the rain tapered off eventually, the air remained fresh and cool, the vegetation along the Corbin Mountain Trail was in full leaf, as was appropriate for the beginning of summer. The route involved three stream crossings, but the rain that occurred earlier was only about 0.2 inches in all, so that the boulders used to bridge all three of the crossing were well above the stream level. The length of the hike was just over 14½ miles, which is slightly under the distances covered by hikes in this group, but it contained about 3870 feet of elevation gain to make up for whatever it may have lacked in mileage.
Some political leaders have shown little inclination to promote anti-COVID vaccination, but President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines cannot be included in their number. On the contrary, he has threatened to arrest Filipinos who refuse to be vaccinated and then to administer a vaccine to them by force, even though Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra later acknowledged that there is no Philippine law criminalizing refusal to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The Philippines has not been unusually hard-hit by the virus in comparison with many other nations. Only about 1.2% of its population have contracted the disease and its death toll is 215 per million, meaning that about 1.7% of virus cases have been fatal – quite a good record for a country with a population distributed over 7,500 islands and that is the 12th-largest of all nations in the world, a record well below the global average. Not all of those refusing to take the vaccines are anti-vaxxers; some are waiting for Western vaccines to become available. Part of the reason for the relatively muted impact of the virus is the strictness with which preventative measures have been enforced. The Philippines still has a strict mask mandate and, in addition, those who visit or work in hospitals must wear plastic face shields over their masks. It has imposed a ban on arrivals from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman and the United Arab Emirates until June 30th. Unfortunately, the vaccines are not readily available. At this point less than 2% of the population are fully vaccinated and barely 6% have received their first dose.
Duterte is not the only one who is threatening drastic action against the unvaccinated: the Sindh province in Pakistan said that civil servants who refuse to be vaccinated will not be paid from July onwards and in the Punjab province citizens who refuse vaccinations will have their mobile phones blocked.
Malaysia, once one of the countries with the best records with regard to coronavirus cases and virus-related deaths, has undergone a five-fold increase of cases since the beginning of the year. The government in response has shut all schools, prohibited dining in restaurants, and banned social activities and inter-state travel, but has resisted calls for a full lockdown because of fears it would cause an economic catastrophe. Its government has set a goal of vaccinating 80% of its population by next year and has ramped up its inoculation program, with nearly 2.5 million of its 33 million people having received at least one dose of vaccine.
The autonomism that once characterized Hong Kong is now obliterated. Its liberal Apple Daily newspaper, the only independent news outlet in the territory, streamed its last news program yesterday. Apple Daily has been unable to pay its staff, as the Chinese government has frozen its financial assets. Last week, about 500 police officers raided the headquarters, arresting the editor-in-chief and four top executives. Jimmy Lai, the founder of the newspaper, is in prison, perhaps for the remainder of his life (he is 72). He has made numerous calls for full democracy in Hong Kong, and in consequence has been charged with violating national security and foreign collusion, which is the Chinese government’s standard response towards anyone whose point of view differs from its own.
I have spoken of the difficulties Republicans have been undergoing in reaching out to voters, but the Democrats are facing challenges of their own. Crime has risen dramatically over the past year, and the Democrats are widely perceived as being indifferent to this issue. The increase in homicides is 25% nationwide, with many urban centers showing much larger spikes: 30% in Miami and 50% in Atlanta. Progressive activists among the Democrats continue to call for police reform – and it certainly is needed – but their “defund the police” slogan seems calculated to alienate voters who live in the areas most vulnerable to street violence. Eric Adams, a former New York Police Department captain, is the front-runner for Democratic nomination for New York mayoral candidate. He stigmatized this slogan as “left-wing dilettantism” and added that affluent young leftists ignore how working-class communities suffer the most when crime rates spike.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 179,905,280; # of deaths worldwide: 3,897,117; # of cases U.S.: 34,433,485; # of deaths; U.S.: 617, 845.