A Year That Changed Us Forever
By Hank Silverberg
I went back into the archive of this blog to see what I was writing about a year ago. I expected to find something profound about 2019 or some big prediction for 2020. It wasn't there.
I'd like to do a blog on the holidays, good times, family and all the usual stuff for late December, but it won't work this year.
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| (poetryclub.com) |
Last year at this time my blog was about the meaning of Chanukah, the impact of the Republican tax cut and the large field of candidates for the upcoming presidential election.
I had no way of knowing of course, that a virus was brewing in China that would spread around the world in just a few short months and change the way we all functioned, maybe forever.
If someone asked me to describe 2020 now, I would use one word: hell.
When the clock strikes 11:59 p.m. on December 31st in the United States, it's likely almost half a million people will have died from Covid-19 in this year from hell. Millions will be jobless, thousands will have gone hungry or lost their homes, and our faith in our leaders will be at it's lowest point since 1860.
I have actually felt lucky. I can do my work from home. All I have to do is stay home as much as possible and wear a mask when I have to go out. This is not that much.
Yes, there's a vaccine on the way which will save many lives. But the political division that grew louder in 2020 could lessen its effectiveness and hamper its distribution. Science has succeeded beyond expectations in 2020. Politics has failed.
I wrote in my very first blog 152 weeks ago about the erosion of the 4th estate--journalism--and the impact that it was having on the flow of accurate information to the public. I have seen little since that first blog in February of 2018 that makes me think it is any better.
The Washington Post, which by some miracle is expanding it's staff and news coverage, has had "Democracy Dies in Darkness" on it's masthead for the entire year, and there are no plans now to take it off.
Washington Post to add more than 150 jobs next year, bringing newsroom to record size | TheHill
Although America is not pitch black yet, I see no light at the end of the tunnel for our democracy, even though Joe Biden will take over as President in less than a month.
Yes, his election brought us some hope. But it could take Mr. Biden all of 2021 and maybe into 2022 to undo just the damage wrought by that con-man who has tweeted us into darkness from the White House over the last four years. And I am afraid his cult, Trumpism, is far from extinct. It's still there on propaganda networks like Newsmax, OANN and Fox News. And perhaps worse, it is still there on the Internet where it lurks ready to pounce at every opportunity. We have a candidate running for Governor in Virginia right now, Amanda Chase, who sounds more like Trump than anyone. The state GOP is so worried about her, and rightly so, they chose a back room convention rather than a primary to nominate their candidate for 2021 to keep her out. But she is a State Senator with an R next to her name, and she will be lurking as an Independent next fall.
A new year is supposed to bring a fresh start. But this time the new year really starts January 20th, not January 1st.
I won't breathe a sigh of real relief until 12:01 p.m. on 1/20/21 when Donald Trump no longer has his hands on the nuclear button and can't order troops into America's streets.
With that in mind, here are some immediate tasks for Mr. Biden and his cabinet, which I am pretty sure they are already tuned into:
1) Do everything you can to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine, including a massive multi-media marketing campaign to convince the holdouts and misinformed that it is safe and effective. And get it done FAST.
2) Continue to educate the public on why they need to wear masks and socially distance for several more months until much of the population is inoculated. (Scientists tell us that's the only way to eradicate the virus.) This becomes even more important, since there is now a new strain of the virus which spreads more quickly.
3) Begin reversing some of the most destructive decisions made during the last four years, like rejoining the Climate Change Accords and re-opening discussions with Iran on its nuclear program (see below).
4) Send a message to the leaders in Moscow, Beijing and Tehran that America is re-engaging on the world stage and won't tolerate their cyber-ops games any longer.
5) Re-engage the few Republicans on Capitol Hill who still have a conscience and good moral judgement to work toward a better country, disregarding politics. (And remind some Democrats of that as well.)
6) ALWAYS take the moral high ground on things like gender equity, health care and immigration.
There's more, but that's a start. I think Mr. Biden has that in him. Let's hope the troublemakers on the extreme right haven't lured in enough lemmings to mess things up. And let's hope the left is patient.
It could take some time for most Americans to trust their government again.
But in the end, those who have been hoping for returning to "normal" have to look at historical events like Pearl Harbor, Vietnam, Watergate or 9-11, to know America may have changed again-- forever.
THEN THERE IS THIS:
It was totally predictable, so of course it has happened. The scammers are using the vaccine distribution to separate you from your money. Several government organizations are warning the public that the crooks are out there promising you access to the vaccine in exchange for sensitive personal information. That's on top of the companies also offering bogus treatments or cures for Covid-19.
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| (Istock photo) |
5 Things to Know about COVID-19 Vaccine Scams (aarp.org)
At the same time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been working to stop the sale of bogus Covid-19 medication coming in from outside the country, and the Federal Trade Commission has issued warning letters to seven companies selling products with "scientifically unsupported claims" of a cure.
The Better Business Bureau is advising the public to be skeptical of such claims. They suggest checking with your doctor before buying such products and ignoring any phone call that requests "immediate action."
This, of course, is not that unique. The FTC says it has received more than 20,000 complaints of text messages and robocalls offering test kits, bogus treatment and other kinds of cures. It's best to remember the old adage, "If it sounds too good to be true, it is!" And be aware that when the vaccines do become readily available to the general public, probably in the next few months, the shots will be FREE to everyone.
Iran is up to more mischief, perhaps taking advantage of a power vacuum that is so obvious while the Trump administration ignores everything but fake election fraud nonsense.
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| (usip.org) |
Iran is building something new at an underground nuclear site - CBS News
This is not surprising. Tehran has been playing lots of games with this since the Trump administration canceled the nuclear deal that had been negotiated by President Obama in 2015.
About a year ago, Iran injected uranium gas into centrifuges at the Fordo site. The new construction detected on December 11 this year, shows newly dug foundations and dozens of pillars which might make the building less vulnerable to a bombing attack, though it also could indicate protection against earthquakes. The site is near the holy city of Qom, about 55 miles southwest of Tehran.
The centrifuges enrich uranium that could be used to construct nuclear weapons. That is what has U.S. observers worried. In the 2015 agreement which Trump scrapped, the Iranians had agreed to stop enriching uranium at Fordo.
(I wrote a novel several years ago, promoted below, on a fictional war over such sites. It looks less like fiction now.)
THE LAST DAYS OF TRUMP:
While most of the world is focused on the virus or the vaccine or Iran's nuclear ambition, Donald Trump is worried about shower heads.
Trump administration rolls back efficiency standards for showerheads, washers and dryers | TheHill
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| (My low flow shower head) |
At the same time, DOE also did away with limits on the energy and water used for new washers and dryers with short cycle times, even though manufacturers were easily meeting the existing rules.
The National Resources Council says the downgrade could lead to higher carbon emissions from the additional power used and higher utility bills for consumers. The manufacturers could go back to their old ways. Consumers may also look for cheaper brands that had been banned before, because they didn't meet the tougher standards.
Trump has left us a lot of these little irritable changes that could take years to correct.
FINALLY:
To all my readers: Happy Holidays. Let's hope 2021 is better than expected.
(Your suggestions and comments are welcome)
Here is are purchase links for that book I mentioned above.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
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