With the world's leaders actually confronting climate change this Earth Day, it's worth remembering that only a year ago we had a President who couldn't have cared less about such things. That change is a blessing!
The vaccination situation also is dominating the news cycle as it becomes clear that in certain places it's a political act just to get one. That's why it is a good move by government agencies, employers, baseball teams, airlines and others to require proof of vaccination for people to circulate freely.
If the anti-vaxxers want to stay away from the rest of us, that's their right. Due to the public health implications, there's no reason to make it easy on them. The more data we get, it's clear that the vaccines work, so there's no excuse to hold out.
We're still at only the halfway point of the adult population being vaccinated; thus herd immunity remains elusive and Covid will certainly be back this fall.
***
Call it a 4 a.m. thing, which it was, but I've decided to concentrate today on a topic I virtually never mention -- the British royalty. First it's important to note I don't have a dog in this hunt, in fact I don't have a dog at all, though my kids have several.
But according to Ancestry.com's analysis of my DNA, my ancestors all were subjects of the British crown. I'm supposedly 100 percent Scottish, Irish and English, but all of my forbearers fled the kingdom's shores for this continent long ago, starting around 1830 and completing the deal right around 1920.
It may be notable that for roughly half of that time, roughly half of my DNA-bearers lived in Canada, which I gather is semi-royal, as only Canadians can be.
So despite their somewhat irritating habit of generating news on a semi-regular basis, the British royal family almost never comes to mind for me. But early one recent morning they did.
While I'm aware that some people have strong opinions pro- or anti- the monarchy, I have no such intensity regarding them. They appear to be affable enough folk, albeit rich, white, landed, entitled, and engaged in nothing whatsoever other than symbolic gestures, like knighting Paul McCartney or holding ostentatious funerals. But I remain laconic in my emotional stance toward them.
Honestly, if it were not for the film "The King's Speech," I probably wouldn't even know what kings do. And it's beyond my curiosity level to inquire why the husband of a queen isn't a king, but I suppose that may be in the category of the Holy Ghost -- the type of notion I cast aside around the age of 12. In this case, you apparently don't get to be king just because you sleep with the queen. I get it.
All of this occurred to me as I tossed and turned in the lower bunk of my room, where two tiny princesses sleep overhead. I'm sure they like the idea of royalty, at least when they are dressing up, but the topic really has never come up among us as roommates. Lately we've been more obsessed with Godzilla v. Kong.
As I was composing this essay in my head, which I tend to do in the predawn darkness, it struck me as an opportunity to explore the astonishing specificity of the English language, which I suppose may have some connection to royalty that I'm blissfully unaware of. In other words, I could manipulate the words and sequences of words to convey my utter lack of passion for the subject, which I trust I've hereby accomplished.
Not that I've never been royal myself, mind you. I once was crowned the King of Hearts by the girls in my fifth grade class. For me that was a royal flush.
***
Headlines:
* Half of American adults have received at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine. Now comes the hard part: persuading the other half to get it. (NYT)
* Biden Asks Employers to Give Paid Time Off for Vaccinations (AP)
* U.S. sees significant drop in vaccinations over the past week (WaPo)
* In COVID-plagued Michigan, warning signs that vaccinations are stalling (Reuters)
* An analysis found that willingness to receive a vaccine and actual vaccination rates to date were both lower, on average, in counties that voted red in the 2020 presidential election. (NYT)
* COVID-19 hospitalizations among older Americans have plunged 80% since the start of the year, dramatic proof the vaccination campaign is working. Now the trick is to get more of the nation’s younger people to roll up their sleeves. The drop-off in severe cases among people 65 and older is so dramatic that the hospitalization rate among this highly vaccinated group is now down to around the level of the next-youngest category, Americans 50 to 64. (AP)
* U.S. Issues More Than 115 'Do Not Travel' Advisories, Citing Risks From COVID-19 -- Just a week ago, only 33 countries were on the U.S. Do Not Travel list. New additions include Canada, Mexico, Germany, the U.K., and dozens of other countries. (NPR)
* Reinfection is possible but rare, data from 63 million medical records shows (WaPo)
* India reported a global record of more than 314,000 new infections Thursday. Hospitals report acute shortages of beds and medicine, and are running on dangerously low levels of oxygen. Lockdowns and strict curbs have brought pain, fear and agony to many lives in New Delhi and other cities. [AP]
* U.S. House passes bill to make Washington, D.C., the 51st state (Reuters)
* Russia Detains Nearly 1,500 People at Navalny Protests (NYT)
* Russia to Withdraw Troops From Ukraine Border (WSJ)
* Precious relics of Afghanistan’s ancient past are returning home as the nation confronts deepening uncertainty about its future. A collection of 33 artifacts seized from a New York-based art dealer who authorities say was one of the world's most prolific smugglers of antiquities was turned over by the U.S. to the government of Afghanistan this week. (AP)
* Force of Nature -- Rivers on fire, acid rain falling from the sky, species going extinct, oil spills, polluted air, and undrinkable water. For so long, we didn't think of our planet as a place to preserve. And then in the 1960's and 70's that changed. Democrats and Republicans, with overwhelming public support, came together to pass a sweeping legislative agenda around environmental protection. In today's episode, what led to Earth Day, and what Earth Day led to. (NPR)
* Biden promises big on climate change. Delivering will be much harder. (Editorial Board/WaPo)
* Biden pledged Thursday that the United States would slash its output of climate-changing carbon gases at least 50% below 2005 levels by the end of this decade. The new emissions target nearly doubles the reductions the Obama administration pledged as part of the United States’ contributions to the 2015 Paris climate accord. [HuffPost]
* Humanity’s greatest ally against climate change may be Earth itself (WaPo)
* The fuel pellet industry is thriving. Supporters see it as a climate-friendly source of rural jobs. For others, it’s a polluter and destroyer of nature. (NYT)
* Senate passes bill to combat hate crimes against Asian Americans (WaPo)
* Out Of Thin Air: NASA Rover Makes Oxygen From Martian Atmosphere (NPR)
* Los Angeles may become the latest California city to try a universal basic income — of $1,000 a month. (LAT)
* How big tech became so big: Hundreds of acquisitions (WaPo)
* U.S. Capitol Police officer allegedly told units to only monitor for 'anti-Trump' protesters on January 6 (CNN)
* Republicans don’t want a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol unless it also looks at unrelated events from the previous year. They think the commission should also examine violence that erupted in response to police brutality in 2020, protests that had nothing to do with the pro-Trump insurrection. (HuffPost)
* Police Ask Tesla To Drive In Straight Line, Recite Alphabet Backwards After Vehicle Crashes Into Tree (The Onion)
***
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!
O Lord our God arise,
Scatter our enemies,
And make them fall!
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all!
Not in this land alone,
But be God’s mercies known,
From shore to shore!
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world o’er.
From every latent foe,
From the assassins blow,
God save the Queen!
O’er her thine arm extend,
For Britain’s sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign!
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!
The composer of the UK and Commonwealth national anthem is unknown. It was adopted as an anthem in September 1745, during the reign of George II (1727 – 1760).
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