Time to Think

Conflicted                                      #173 By Hank Silverberg  I wanted to avoid this topic, but I can't. There has been a distinct rise in anti-Semitism across the United States in the last few weeks as war broke out once again between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip.  As a Jew, my connection to Israel is spiritual.  It is not MY country. I am an American. But Israel is the only place in the world where Jews can practice their religion without the threat of discrimination just because they are Jews, and that makes it important to every Jewish person.   There are about 6.7 million Jews in the United States, only about 2.6% of the total population. Ironically, that's just about a hundred thousand less than the Jewish population of Israel. (About 2.4 million non-Jews do live in Israel.)  Israel is the only real democracy in the middle east and has ...

Confusion                                              #172 By Hank Silverberg  Are you confused? Once again we are getting conflicting guidance from our leaders about Covid-19. The CDC decided this week that we no longer have to wear masks if we are fully vaccinated and in small groups, both outside and inside. But if you are not vaccinated, you still should wear the mask. While I'd like to think most people understand this, I know better. And even if you do understand it, the rules are going to really make us all a bit annoyed.  (Six of my seven masks). Here's a good example. The day the new rules were announced I attended an event with my wife. It was her annual Lion's Club picnic. There were about 30 people there, it was outside and most of us had ditched the masks. I like those people and everyone there that day was over 50 and had been vaccinated. It was gre...

Fiction From The Right                                   #171 By Hank Silve rberg   (Note to readers: This blog has been updated to add in GOP Convention results)  Normally I ignore Tucker Carlson. He is one of the most uninformed people on television, and I find his commentary both arrogant and ignorant. But this time I need to write something about him, because what he has been saying is actually life threatening for millions of people.  He said many untrue things before and has spouted propaganda from conspiracy theorists and white supremacists. But this is the comment that took him beyond sanity and into the world of fear mongering and irresponsibility.  He said, "How many Americans have died after taking the COVID vaccines?" The question implied that some people have died because they took the vaccine. For the record there is NO evidence that ANYONE has died directly from t...

Killing Covid                                                  #170 By Hank Silverberg  We are at a key point in the battle against Covid-19. More than 100 million Americans have been vaccinated against the virus and the distribution of the vaccine, once it got going, has been quite efficient in most areas.  At this point in much of the country, Covid-19 cases and deaths are down again. But this pandemic is not over and will never go away unless an overwhelming majority of the public gets with the program. Here in he United States that has run into a road block. A good portion of the pandemic-weary public just won't follow the rules. You are still being asked to wear a mask when inside someplace other than your own home or when you are with with large groups of people anywhere, even if you are fully vaccinated. Really large crowds are still discoura...