We Got Trouble #210
By Hank Silverberg (See update below)
Inflation, Canadian truckers, Olympic nonsense, mask mandates, Critical Race Theory, and January 6th. All of those stories were in the news this past week, each with their little twist and turn and self- serving comments by politicians and pundits. Some Americans are tuned in to those items, some are not. But we all may be missing the most important event of our time.
Russia has amassed more than 100 thousand troops on the border with Ukraine, and may be preparing for an invasion that could turn the world upside down and leave millions of people dead.
But here's the thing. A survey by Morning Consult, a company that gathers intelligence for global leaders and big companies, found that ONLY 34% of the American public can find Ukraine on a map. At the same time, Americans seem very split on how the United States should react to what Vladimir Putin is doing with his troops. Twenty-nine percent say the U.S. should send more troops to Europe IF Russia invades Ukraine, while 1 in 4 say that should not happen at all.
Many Americans are probably leery of any deployment of U.S. troops after our misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. But there is a scenario that is not getting much attention. Look around your house. How many of the things you use have computer chips in them? How much of our infrastructure, the power grid, water systems, the internet and phone systems use computer chips?
An interruption in the supply chain of chips from Asia during the pandemic has already affected car manufacturing and some other industries.
Some American companies still make computer chips and are rushing to meet increased demand after the interruption. But few people are talking about this angle. Over 90% of U.S semiconductor-grade neon supplies used for the chips comes from Ukraine. And 35% of the palladium they need comes from Russia. Palladium is used in sensors and memory and to store energy in broadcasting equipment, mobile phones, computers and other items.
Now imagine what happens if Ukraine and Russia go to war?
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict could affect the chip industry (msn.com)
Whether we get involved or not it could cripple our economy and our military, and could change your very way of life. The stakes are higher than you think. I suggest if you don't know where Ukraine is, that you take a good look at the map of Europe.
Precaution vs Mandate
So, are you still wearing a mask even though you are vaccinated? Do your kids still wear them at school?
The rules have been very confusing on both of these issues since the beginning of the pandemic, and part of the problem may have been the phrases used by politicians.
The word "mandate" for example, gets lots of folks upset because frankly, most people, especially Americans, don't like to be told what to do by their government.
"Necessary precautions" might have been a better way to phrase it.
And both precautions, no matter what the politicians say today are STILL NECESSARY for now in many places--particularly schools where there are a lot of children who are not vaccinated.
The latest study done this past week from the well respected Pew Research Center shows an interesting divide on what Americans think about vaccines and masks.
The country is pretty split on how well they think public health officials have handled the pandemic.
Example: 50% think agencies like the CDC are doing an excellent or good job, while 49% say they are doing only a fair or poor job. Joe Biden gets a 40% excellent/good rating on handling the pandemic, not much better than the 36% the defeated former president got over the course of his four-year term.
The Pew survey finds 78% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 73% of that group who say they are fully vaccinated. And 66% of them say they have received the "booster shot."
But here's the kicker. It differs radically by political affiliation. Seventy-three percent of Democrats say they are fully vaccinated, including the "booster" while only 55% of Republicans say the same.
Increasing Public Criticism, Confusion Over COVID-19 Response in U.S. | Pew Research Center
Much of this confusion comes from poor communication on the part of the government at the start of the pandemic during the Trump administration, and a failure to change perceptions once the new administration took over.
The Pew survey found 60% of the public confused over the rules, the vaccines and masks. That's up 7% from the last survey in August.
Olympic Nonsense!
Did you watch any of the Olympics this past week? Frankly, I could not get excited about it. There was too much "controversy and politics " and not enough sport.
First there were all the Covid-19 restrictions and bubbles for the athletes who had no live audience to perform for. Not what we wanted, but the world has learned to deal with such things in sports over the last two years.
Then came the U.S. diplomatic boycott because of Chinese human rights violations, to which the Chinese had a sham response.
China Sends Controversial Message With Olympic Flame Lighting – NBC Bay Area
The Russian athletes are competing under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee, not Russia itself because of past doping scandals dating back over two Olympiads. But that didn't keep Vladimir Putin from going to the opening ceremony, even as he sent hundreds of thousands of troops to the Russian border with Ukraine, perhaps planning a possible invasion. And when the Russian figure skating team did win a gold medal, we found out that one of the skaters, a teenager on the winning team, may have taken an illegal medication.
There were other things--alleged favoritism by the Olympic judges, for example.
And an American-born ice skater who is representing China at the games got viciously attacked on social media. Americans criticized her because she skated for China, and the Chinese public attacked her because of her poor performance on the ice.
Somehow, neither the excitement of the Bobsled nor the calmness of Curling can make this Olympics seem like anything but a complete failure. The American public may agree with me. T-V ratings in the United States are at an all time low. The 2022 Winter Olympics have drawn an average of 9.4 million viewers as of this writing. That's way down from 21 million in 2018.
Changing Symbols
Things are getting a bit worrisome in classrooms across America. Take this incident in the Mountain Brook School system near Birmingham, Alabama.
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| (American children using the Bellamy salute in 1942 when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance Courtesy Library of Congress) |
But what the teacher did next is outrageous. The teacher made the whole class stand up and give the salute. The one Jewish student in the class was a bit shocked and took video of the whole thing on his phone. He then shared it on social media.
Here's the part that really makes me angry. The school district then told that student, Ephraim Tytell, that he must apologize to the teacher for what he did. Can you believe that?
The school district is in a mostly white, well-to-do community. Their statement to the media once the whole thing got out? Here's what the Miami Herald quoted:
"There are more effective ways to teach this subject without recreating painful, emotional responses to history’s atrocities.”
Alabama school system faulted for response to Nazi salute | Miami Herald
No comment though, on whether the teacher faces any repercussions. Last year this same school district dropped curriculum produced by the Anti-Defamation League after a few parents complained it focused too much on race and gender and was too political. Guess what? History is often "political". Please, if you have a child in school, ask lots of questions about what they are learning.
Dumbest Quotes of The Week!
We have a tie for the Dumbest Quote this week. One got a lot of media attention, the other one didn't.
Nitwit Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has appeared in this feature in my blog several times before, received a lot of mocking media references this week, leads the pack again with this comment:
"...we have Nancy Pelosi’s gazpacho police spying on members of Congress, spying on the legislative work that we do..."
The context is really irrelevant. Mixing up the Nazi secret police, the Gestapo, with a cold soup just shows how inept the Republican representative is. Though I have heard rumors that the Vichyssoise government did use the Gazpacho police during Soup War Two.
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| (Ice fishing shanty) |
His comment came during a City Council discussion on permits for ice fishing in a local park.
https://news.yahoo.com/shame-hudson-mayors-ice-fishing-222343303.html
"Does someone come back next year and say, 'I want an ice shanty on Hudson Springs Park for x amount of time? And if you then allow ice fishing with shanties, then that leads to another problem. Prostitution."
I'm not sure if there are any prostitutes out there who would practice their trade in an ice fishing shanty. It's kind of cold in those things, even with a nice wood stove. The Hudson City Council put off the vote for more discussion. But we should put the Gazpacho police on this issue right away.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Word came on Tuesday that Mayor Schubert already under fire for some other stupid comments has now resigned.
(Your suggestions and comments are welcome)
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