November 30 – December 12, 2022

What we can get used to:  rising COVID rates, overseas oppression, Russo-Ukrainian war, Trumpian sedition – Our senescent Senate – The stoned monks – Elon Musk’s reception on stage – Evening statistics

Nearly two weeks since the last journal entry, and the cause of such a gap is not so much on account of lack of news but as to what we (or at any rate I) have gotten hardened to over recent months.  For example, the number of COVID cases is steadily rising, along with those of other respiratory diseases such as influenza and RSV, and hospitals are already reporting shortages, both of staff and supplies.  But we are used to rises in respiratory diseases and strains on our hospital system during the winter months.  At this point a rise in COVID cases is no longer news, any more than that of a rise of the level of other respiratory diseases that have been on the scene many years longer.

Then again, the populaces of countries taken over a radical fringe movement, such as Afghanistan and Myanmar, continue to languish under their tyrannous administrations, while the Iranian government cold-bloodedly shoots down demonstrators and executes dissidents with cheerful abandon; and that, too, has become a familiar factor on the international scene that no one thinks of questioning.  Considerable indignation was expressed initially during the takeovers of both Myanmar and Afghanistan, but they excite no more comment now than does the passing of autumn into winter; indeed, on the day of the solstice I anticipate that it will provoke considerably less.

And the peace that once prevailed in Europe for several decades has been broken for nearly a year now by the Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.  The other European nations are somewhat less apathetic on this point than on the others already mentioned, realizing that Ukraine’s fate today could be theirs tomorrow.  But the basic situation remains unchanged:  Putin continues to besiege Ukraine with bombings and armed forces, and he is too firmly entrenched in power to be dislodged.  He appears likely to wage war for years to come.

Again, Donald Trump at one point called for termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power.  In effect, he has declared his determination to be this country’s dictator.  And that, too, we have gotten accustomed to.  Even the Democrats barely remarked on it.  As to any hope that our judicial system will impose genuinely substantive penalties for his continual sedition, I give it up as lost.  The Trump Organization has lately been found guilty of tax fraud, but the potential fine is at most $1.6 million, a pittance for someone of Trump’s assets; and in any case he was not directly indicted.  If the Trump Organization were to flounder altogether it would not damage his political standing in the least.  Here, for example, is an excerpt from an analysis by CNN reporter Stephen Collinson:

 “The Justice Department’s success in removing Trump’s legal obstacles to its investigations may also be moving the country toward the resolution of one of the most fateful questions haunting any modern political campaign: Will an ex-president who is running for the White House again, and has a history of inciting violence to further his anti-democratic ends, face criminal charges?”

The question should not be “will an ex-president face criminal charges?” but “when will he face charges?”  The answer, it appears, is never.  The so-called investigative committee has spent months assembling evidence – at any rate, it has claimed to do so – and pundit after pundit has spoken of the grave reckoning that is in store for him.  But it simply does not materialize. 

There are other factors in our political system that appear to be fixtures as well:

“They were the most mortifying sight I ever beheld; and the women more horrible than the men. Besides the usual deformities in extreme old age, they acquired an additional ghastliness, in proportion to their number of years, which is not to be described; and among half a dozen, I soon distinguished which was the eldest, although there was not above a century or two between them.”

Jonathan Swift, in Gulliver’s Travels, is here depicting the struldbrugs, who can never die but who age continually.  But, with an uncanny prescience, he could have been describing the American Senate – for instance, Chuck Grassley of Indiana, who is running for re-election even though he is 88 years old.   Come to think of it, the prospective candidates for the upcoming Presidential election are not exactly spring chickens.  It appears that an alternative has been provided for Democrats who might balk at nominating Biden for the 2024 Presidential campaign.  If Biden decides that he will not, after all, run for office 2024, then Bernie Sanders has declared his intention to run in Biden’s stead; and in contrast to Biden’s 80 years Sanders is  . . . 81.

If this is the best that the Democratic Party can do, it is no wonder that some people still see Trump as a viable candidate.  At a mere 76 years of age, he is a callow youth in comparison with the alternatives being offered. 

Religion may be the opium of the people, but some are inclined to have both of them simultaneously.  Four monks, as well as the abbot, at a temple in Phetchabun province’s Bung Sam Phan district, tested positive for methamphetamine last week.  The monks were immediately defrocked and taken to a local dedication and health center to receive rehabilitation therapy.  The temple now remains without monks, although new ones will be sent to the temple eventually.  Thailand’s infamous Golden Triangle – a tri-junction at the Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand borders – is a hub for drug trafficking and inter-border smuggling.  Methamphetamine pills are common street and party drugs in the nation, readily obtainable and quite inexpensive, even by Thai standards.  This is not the first time that Thai monks have displayed signs of drug addiction. On November 16th, Phra Annipalo, a monk who got high on amphetamine, was arrested in northern Thailand after carjacking two vehicles and leading policemen on a frantic chase.  He expressed profound contrition afterwards.  Rumor has it that he was indeed very distraught for failing to obtain a bargain because he did not verify what the going rate was first and paid without question the exorbitant price the drug dealer asked for.  His abbot, a holy man, assured him that under the circumstances Heaven would pardon the neglect.

“Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for the richest man in the world,” Dave Chappelle cried out on stage at the Chase Center in San Francisco as he invited Elon Musk out to join him on Sunday night.  

And they did.  A chorus of boos emerged from the audience, becoming louder and louder, and lasting well over five minutes, taking both Musk and Chappelle completely by surprise.  What perhaps is truly surprising is that Musk, from the attitude he presented during his stage entrance, was visibly preening, evidently ready to receive paeans of praise.  Why he imagined he could be popular in a city that perhaps is the one most affected in the entire country by the numerous layoffs after his takeover of Twitter is something of a mystery.  Musk attempted afterwards to assure his followers on Twitter that the noise had been “90% cheers and 10% boos” but the footage tells a different story.  James Wu, a witness of the event, summed it all up: “A good 80% of the stadium boos. 18k people, and he withers. Like absolutely turns into a corncob.”  Incidentally, this account of the matter was posted on the Web via a tweet on Twitter.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 654,057,226; # of deaths worldwide: 6,659,954; # of cases U.S.:  101,368,712; # of deaths; U.S.: 1,109,981.