Exploring “Devil’s Forearm” – Aung San Suu Kyi on trial – Belarus hijacks a plane to arrest a dissident – COVID in India – Mayor Warren of Rochester – Evening statistics
I went with RS today to explore a route that he somewhat facetiously nicknamed “Devil’s Forearm,” because it goes upon the ridgeline about 500 feet above Devil’s Elbow, the rock formation on the Potomac a few miles east of Harpers Ferry. We had to bushwhack a fair amount of the distance, of course, but we also came upon old roadbeds and clearings that could conceivably be used to form an established trail. The climb up from the south side of the ridge made use of these routes to a considerable extent and was surprisingly easy. The views from Buzzard Rock, looking down to the river flowing around a large tree-covered ait, were lovely, despite the morning fog. The descent to the river was the most challenging part, although we were able to establish a route that slabs down to the east, where the gradient is less steep. The total distance was only about 5 miles, but we spent between 2½ and 3 hours in exploration because our progress while descending the rocky slope was slow. The weather was cool and damp, but happily we were able to complete our hike before the rain began to fall. We were within the bounds of park property for the entire hike, so we may be able to give input on trail routes for that area. Both Buzzard Rock and Devil’s Elbow are worth seeing, but at present they are accessible only to those who, like RS and myself, are willing to struggle through dense woodland in order to reach them.
This placid little adventure provides a great contrast to the considerable amount of distressing news from various quarters abroad.
In Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, the ousted leader, has appeared in public for the first time since the coup that overthrew her government at the beginning of February. Alongside the ex-president Win Myint, she is standing trial for various charges that have been devised to discredit her and to legitimize the military’s seizure of power. If convicted of any of the offenses, she could be banned from running in the election that the junta has pledged to hold within one or two years of its takeover. Another charge levelled against her is being handled by a separate court, that of breaching the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. If convicted of this accusation, she could receive a sentence of up to 14 years’ imprisonment, which at her age (she is well into her 70s) would in all probability result in jail time for the remainder of her life. Her main “crime” is that she won a general election in a landslide victory last November which, without the intervention of the coup, would have given her administration a second term of five years, thereby threatening to weaken the stranglehold that the military has exercised on the country’s government for the past half-century. She appears sad and resigned in the photo of her that has been released to the public, but reports indicate that she has not knuckled under and that she continues to maintain the legitimacy of the party that elected her, saying that “Our party grew out of the people so it will exist as long as people support it.”
Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko must take the prize for sheer nerve. One of his most vocal critics is Roman Protasevich, founder of the social media news channel NEXTA, which played a crucial role in the protests in Minsk last summer. Protasevich was traveling on a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, which was diverted to Minsk for an emergency landing because it was notified of a bomb threat. A Belarusian MiG-29 fighter jet was sent to intercept the plane and escorted it to the airport. The bomb threat was fictitious; it was merely a device to enable Belarus security agents to arrest Protasevich after the plane landed. Some of the passengers reported that Protasevich went into a panic as the plane was being diverted and that they asked him what was happening. “He said what it was,” said one of the passengers, “and added, ‘The death penalty awaits me here.’” Sofia Sapega, his girlfriend, was also taken by the Belarus guards; the whereabouts of both of them are currently unknown. Various European countries have reacted furiously and the EU foreign ministers are meeting to determine what action to take in response. Whether they will have the resolution to chastise Lukashenko appropriately or, in the style of the U.N., to content themselves with verbal complaint remains to be seen.
India’s official death toll from the COVID virus is now well over 300,000. Of these, 100,000 were recorded within the last month. Mortality data in India is poor and deaths at home often go unregistered, especially in rural areas. The number of deaths in the country that are medically certified is about 22%, which means that the actual death toll could be well over 1 million. The vaccine rollout has not been handled effectively by the national government. Several Indian states have halted the COVID-19 vaccination drive for those in the 18-44 age group due to a shortage of vaccine supplies. These include Chhattisgarh, New Delhi, Karnakata, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, all of which are among the worst-affected by the current second wave of the pandemic. Nonetheless, New Delhi plans to ease its lockdown restrictions beginning on May 31st, citing the declining numbers of new COVID cases.
In the U.S. the virus continues to decline and vaccinations are progressing, despite the slowdown. At this point just under half of the adult population and nearly three-quarters of all seniors are fully vaccinated.
In other matters American politics continues to provide its characteristically eccentric style of functioning, as the following example will illustrate.
Mayor Lovely Warren (yes, that is really her name) of Rochester is a fierce anti-gun advocate and a vocal supporter of New York’s restrictive gun-control laws. Thanks to a recent raid from the city police, several illegally-owned guns have been seized and removed from the owners’ homes – including two from Warren’s own residence. One was an unregistered pistol in her possession and the second was a rifle belonging to her husband Timothy Granison – who had been convicted of armed robbery in the 1990s and who as a result is unable to legally own a firearm of any kind. An illicit cache of cocaine was found in Granison’s possession as well. Warren thus qualifies for membership of that decidedly unlovely group of American politicians who consider themselves above the law that they have sworn to uphold.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 167,970,849; # of deaths worldwide: 3,486,718; # of cases U.S.: 33,919,619; # of deaths; U.S.: 604,388.