It's at times like these we could really use Johnny Cash. YouTube served up a video of a memorial concert held after his death and maybe my favorite moment was Trent Reznor talking about what a thrill it was for him when Cash recorded his song "Hurt" near the end of his life.
When you think of the deep-voiced man in black, the first image that comes to mind probably isn't that of Reznor's industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails, although they *did* often wear black clothes.
The afternoon before seeing that tribute video I had a long talk with a close friend; we were commiserating about the huge number of our fellow citizens who refuse to get a Covid vaccination.
My friend is very social and she had just returned from a gathering of 7-8 people, all vaccinated and getting together for the first time since the pandemic condemned us all to a year of isolation. She knows I am a news junkie and she was worried about the vaccine hesitancy issue: "What do you think it means?"
These words tumbled out of me. "I'm afraid we won't reach herd immunity, so Covid will be back next fall and winter. I think it will mutate faster than we can vaccinate, given how reluctant so many people are to getting the shot. So this disease is going to be with us for a long time."
I felt bad saying that, raining on her coming out parade, and I actually surprised myself with my pessimism, since I normally run on fumes of hope.
Anyway by few hours later, I was deep into the Johnny Cash story; then it was midnight and time to go to bed.
An hour or so later I woke up suddenly and felt I had to boot up my computer; somehow this seems to happen to me when there's a news story waiting to be discovered. And indeed there it was -- the lede item in the Times that reaching herd immunity is now considered "unlikely."
Conflating conversations and inputs, I immediately wanted Johnny Cash to come back. Who better to speak to the anti-vaxxers than the man who was against the Vietnam War and yet determined to go to there and sing to the troops?
And the guy who when President Nixon invited him to sing at the White House, expecting some patriotic country songs, showed up instead singing "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," which tells the tale of a heroic Native American World War Two veteran who returned home to a population that treated him as a worthless drunk.
So the reason I feel Cash could help us all now is he was always on the side of the little guy doing the right thing. He had that rare credibility with all sides we need so desperately now to convince people to get vaccinated.
He could speak to Trump's supporters.
After all, look what's happening in New Delhi.
Covid knows no borders.
***
Exactly a year ago, I first published the following segment here on Facebook:
"The Wisdom of Herds" [5.3.20]
"One of today's news articles speculates about what will happen if there never is a vaccine for Covid-19. In that event, we'll keep getting sick and dying at the present rates until we achieve herd immunity.
"We are used to the notion that we live our lives as individuals or couples, or as groups, communities, political parties, sports fans, beer drinkers, sushi lovers and the people who love bacon.
"I believe that covers just about everyone.
"But the idea that we are part of a herd? That conjures wildebeests, swatting away insects with our tails or running in panic from predators. Herd is an unpleasant, smelly kind word and we work pretty hard at not being overly smelly.
"All right, I get it. So we can be classified as herd animals, but only in the most charming of ways. There are many herds of our species and we'd prefer to think we run with the better ones.
"As this year dawned, I found myself housed in a skilled nursing facility, rehabilitating my body after many months of various illnesses. There was a lot of PT (physical therapy) involved and it would have been easy tp fall in love with one of my PTs, as they were quite fetching.
"Blessedly, they worked hard with my broken down wreck of a frame and I gradually improved my basic skill levels, which had atrophied during months in hospital beds.
"'You know why they like you?'" one of my nurses observed one day, referring to the PTs. "'Because you try.'"
"It was pretty easy to see her point. At the gym where we did our PT routines, there were many kinds of patients, including some in far worse shape than I was, and who seemed to be just going through the motions.
"By contrast, despite my growing affection, I wanted to get the hell out of that place. So I practiced the exercises they taught me all through the day and often at night too, since I could scarcely sleep amidst the nightly screams of the dementia patients.
"One day the head nurse came to explain to me that I had accomplished my goals and I would have to leave that place as soon as I could find somewhere to go. What I remember best about leaving the following day is that the sun blinded my eyes when I tried to look up at it."
***
[Check out the Politico feature below on the recollections of decision-makers involved with President Obama's decision to conduct the dramatic raid that killed Osama bin Laden. This is a must read for those interested in how the drama unfolded.]
The news:
* Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe -- Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy. (NYT)
* Not reaching herd immunity by the fall could have dire consequences, medical expert says (CNN)
* Hospital staffs in India stretched thin to breaking point (CNN)
* Fresno County Is Diverting COVID Vaccine Due to Low Demand. Why Don’t People Want It? (KQED)
* Police officers’ hesitancy to get coronavirus vaccine poses safety risks -- Low immunization levels among police officers threatens not just their own health, but also the safety of people they’re responsible for guarding, monitoring and patrolling, experts say. (WP)
* On the morning of May 1, 2011, most Americans had never heard of Abbottabad. By that night, the dusty midsize city near the mountains of northwest Pakistan was the center of the biggest story in the world. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs had just descended by helicopter on a high-walled mansion there in the dark of night, located the globe’s most hunted man, Osama bin Laden, and killed him. (Politico)
* Sen. Ted Cruz, who declared he'll stop taking money from companies he deems too "woke," may have made the most openly corrupt confession in Senate history, former government ethics chief Walter Shaub said. Cruz warned CEOs that "when the time comes that you need help with a tax break or a regulatory change, I hope the Democrats take your calls, because we may not." Shaub said the statement proves "crooks sell access." [HuffPost]
* Verizon to offload Yahoo, AOL for $5 billion (Reuters)
* A majority of Americans agree that government should help people fulfill a widely held aspiration to age in their own homes, not institutional settings, a new poll finds. There’s a surprising level of bipartisan agreement on some proposals that could help make that happen, according to the late March survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Still, Republicans lag Democrats in support of some policies, including the most far-reaching idea: Only 42% of Republicans favor a government long-term care insurance program for all Americans, compared with 78% of Democrats. Overall, 60% of the public supports that approach. (AP)
* In L.A. and San Francisco, Schools Are Open but Classrooms Are Near-Empty (WSJ)
* Fla. Republicans rushed to curb mail voting. Now some fear it may hurt GOP. (WP)
* ‘We’re Suffering’: How Remote Work Is Killing Manhattan’s Storefronts -- Landlords cut small retailers a break on rent during the pandemic, but stores are still struggling because too few office workers and tourists have returned. (NYT)
* Michael Lewis' 'The Premonition' Is A Sweeping Indictment Of The CDC -- In a new book, author Michael Lewis writes about public health officers who tried to get others to look at the data on COVID-19 and act to make sure the virus didn't spread.
* The U.S. is on its way to using less than at any point since the 19th century. (Bloomberg)
* New militant checkpoints on key roadways choke off parts of Afghanistan (WP)
* GOP fury is growing against Biden's expansive and expensive agenda, but so far Republicans haven't been able to mobilize a mass opposition movement. That's a lot different from Barack Obama's presidency, which was already reeling during its first 100 days from rising tea party protests against spending Great Recession recovery programs. HuffPost's Igor Bobic explains what's different. [HuffPost]
* Jet suit innovation tested on Royal Marines in UK (Reuters)
* Every minute Jeff Bezos makes more than 3 times what the typical US worker makes in a year. We need a living wage and a tax on huge wealth. (Robert Reich/Twitter)
* Area Man's Opinion Hasn't Been Taken Seriously By Anyone In Over A Decade (The Onion)
***
"Hurt"
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I'm still right here
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
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