Like our pandemic response, the U.S. Capitol riot is the latest cataclysm to be blamed on a failure of imagination. Who could imagine a virus that crashes the entire global operating system, or an attack that narrowly fails to decapitate the U.S. government? | |
And the obvious answer? Anyone who was paying attention. | |
Just as epidemiologists long warned of a pandemic, the insurrectionists helpfully advertised their violent intentions all over social media. The phrase storm the Capitol, unleashing countless QAnon furies, appeared 100,000 times in the month before the attack, according to Zignal Labs. The President clashed his cymbals and stoked the lie; party leaders largely ignored or pampered him. The day before the attack, an FBI office shared the warnings from online: “Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in … Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war.” | |
Which means that it should have required no imagination to foresee an uprising that was planned, promised and promoted in plain sight. | |
… | |
But until we find our way back to a shared reality, lack of moral imagination will remain a national-security threat. Lack of moral leadership at a moment like this imperils democracy itself. In our schools and sanctuaries and clubs and communities, in our dealings with alienated friends and family, the vital work of replacing toxic fantasies with hard realities falls to each of us. | |
— Nancy Gibbs | |
From her op-ed: “TheView Essay: America’s Moral Vaccum“ | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine; 1 / 8 February 2021 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Are You Rotating Crops? |
Wrong Block, Dummy | |
2020 | I Choose Justice And Mercy |
2019 | Close, Sustained, Careful, Daily |
2018 | One Brick At A Time |
2017 | Order The Rope, #DumbDonald |
2016 | Chains Of Habit |
2015 | That You Shall Remain |
Did You See That? | |
2014 | True, Vibrant And Open |
2013 | Remembering, Yet Again |
2012 | Something Of Value |
2011 | Sleep All Day |
Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Planned, Promised And Promoted
Posted in Politics, Quotes, Philosophy, tagged Politics, Philosophy, Quotes, Time Magazine, Nancy Gibbs, FBI, U.S. Capitol Riot, Jan 6th Riot, QAnon, Zignal Labs, TheView Essay: America's Moral Vaccum on June 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Two Years Later (Now 1,004,000+ Deaths And Inflation)
Posted in Health, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged #IncompetentDonald, Afflictions, Attitude, Boosters, CDC, China, COVID-19, Economics, Health, Inflation, Jean Toomer, Philosophy, Quotes, The Federal Reserve Board, Vaccination Update on June 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I do not know which of our afflictions God intends that we overcome and which He means for us to bear. But this is certain: Some I have overcome, some I continue to bear. | |
— Jean Toomer | |
[Another (2022) COVID Update: | |
This update is being written on 5 June 2022 (for posting on 12 June). There have now been: 1,003,803 total deaths; 247 average deaths per day; 84,565,697 total cases (about 1% fatality rate); 97,611 new average for daily cases; and, 258,747,147 vaccinations (at least one dose and over 5yrs old) – for a rough 83% of the (eligible) population. Over 90% of hospitalizations and deaths are of those who have not been vaccinated. I have not been able to determine if the (remaining) less than 10% are fully vaccinated and current with their booster(s). | |
What do we know? | |
Surprisingly little (IMHO) at the end of 18 months… The early prediction was a fatality number of 2.2 million in the first 18 months IF WE DID NOTHING. We temporarily shut down a significant portion of society (NOT the economy). We halved the total deaths to date, but not the rate of deaths per cases. The economy (and society) are roughly back to “normal”. Most people can (do) now work from their offices (and / or homes). Stores and restaurants / bars are mostly opened, but business levels have not recovered. Most importantly: we still have little to no publicly available information about the rates or effects of “long-term” COVID, the number of folks with current boosters, or the duration of the vaccine (or booster) effectiveness. We DO know there is a general decrease in the vaccine(s) effectiveness – hence the recommendation for boosters. We don’t know the breakdowns by factors such as age, gender, over-all health, etc. I’m not saying the number(s) isn’t (/ aren’t) out there somewhere or that someone, somewhere isn’t tracking this data – only that I can’t find it readily available. And, here we are: “Only time will tell…“ | |
As a side note: much is being made about the pandemic’s effect on the economy – past and current. While we (in the U.S.) have accepted deaths and illnesses as a “cost” of returning to a “normal” economy, the world’s manufacturer (China) has not. They continue to impose local and wide area shutdowns to prevent the spread of COVID whenever there is another surge. Our (U.S.) demand continues to grow back to normal rates (pent up and current demand). Goods are not being made / delivered to meet demand – so prices increase. They will continue to do so until supply (roughly) matches demand. No matter what the Federal Reserve does to interest rates to “cool” inflation, it will have little effect until the manufacturing / delivery conditions change. How long will that be? How long is a piece of string?? You never know until have it’s been finally cut (until it’s over). — KMAB] | |
Original post (from 2020): | |
[This is an unusual post for me. This post is being written on 28 May, three days after the Memorial Day weekend. Yesterday, the U.S. passed 100K in deaths due to COVID-19. We are dying at just under 1,000 lives per day. We are engaged in a great social experiment testing whether we can open our economy without a plan to deal with the virus. This post is scheduled to go online roughly 15 days after the holiday weekend. If the President’s gamble was correct, the average death rate will be at or below 1,000 per day. If his gamble (with our lives) is incorrect, the death rate will be higher – and potentially much higher. Only time will tell. — KMAB] | |
(2021) Follow Up to Last Year’s (2020) Post (115,000+): | |
The “post” above is from one year ago. It is still too early to tell how good / bad a gamble President Trump took with the health of the nation. Partly because it is still too soon to have had academia take a look at the data and partly because a number of states – mostly (but not exclusively) with Republican governors (Florida) – are using their office / administrations to hide the true / accurate numbers of illnesses and deaths for political reasons. We do know that since the Inauguration, the vaccine count has gone from under 50 million to over 300 million. Over 50% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of vaccine. Part of this success is attributable to a competent President / Administration and part to the manufacture and distribution of the various vaccines ramping up. | |
As for our losses, the current “rolling” weekly death average is under 500 per day. A few weeks ago, the CDC also updated the information on their site to “confirm” that not only are the vaccinated unlikely to get seriously ill and die (still 5 – 10% chance of illness, and less than 1% chance of death), you are also unlikely to become infected and ill at all (15 – 20% illness rate once vaccine period is completed). Again, it’s too early to KNOW the exact numbers, but in this case it’s because (it is my understanding) “illness” is being self-reported. Still, this is “good” news and we should see the economy and society begin to return to normal. We’ve dodged a bullet this time folks. I am not making light of the individual losses to family members and friends, but the virus could have been a lot more lethal and we still have a considerable way to go on getting the rest of the way to herd immunity. Let’s hope we are better prepared for the next epidemic… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | One Year Later (Now 604,000+) |
Good Intentions | |
2020 | 115,000+ |
2019 | One Generation’s View |
2018 | The One Thing |
2017 | Never Give Up |
2016 | Which Generation Are We? |
Congratulations, Kyle! | |
2015 | Centered |
2014 | Economic Trinity |
2013 | At Both Ends |
2012 | Holding Allowance |
2011 | The Power Of Good |
Long Past Time For A “Thorough-going Reappraisal”
Posted in Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Economics, Fuel And Munitions, General Sir John Hackett (Ret.), Middle East, Modern Warfare, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, Russia, Second World War, Soviet Union, Speed, The Third World War: August 1985, Ukraine on May 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »
In absolute terms, moreover, the mass and volume (to say nothing of the cost) of all that was required, particularly in fuel and munitions, to maintain an army in field operations at an intensive rate against a similarly equipped opponent, was now very great. It had taken a quantitative jump since the Second World War. Warfare in the Middle East in the seventies had shown this very clearly, if on relatively small scale. It was just no longer possible, at the rate at which stocks could now be exhausted, to sustain intensive operations of war for months on end. Head – and equipment – counts were no longer the true measure of an army’s capability. Formation in large numbers could be a liability rather than an advantage unless they could be kept effectively in action. | |
The Soviet war-fighting philosophy, from whatever origins it may been evolved, was in the circumstances of the 1980s exactly right. It enjoined the initiation of total and violent offensive action, swiftly followed through to the early attainment of a valuable objective. The position of military advantage thus secured would then be exploited by political means. Speed was everything. The corollary was that failure to secure the objective in good time must result in a thorough-going reappraisal, in which to continue to press towards the same end might very well be the least sensible course. | |
— General Sir John Hackett (et al) | |
From the “future-history” novel: “The Third World War: August 1985“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Facing Life |
70’s Sunshine Sound | |
2020 | #IncompetentTrump And His Pandemic Briefings |
#IncompetentTrump | |
2019 | I Hope So |
2018 | Painted Into |
2017 | Prayers, Miracles And Lottery Tickets |
Roman View | |
2016 | Dignity And Grace |
2015 | Is It Warm Enough For You |
2014 | What The Right STILL Wants |
2013 | Embrace Serendipity |
2012 | Your Order, Please |
2011 | Well Enough Anyway |
Threat Calculus
Posted in Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Eben Shapiro, Economy, Inflation, Larry Summers, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, Secretary of the Treasury, Taxes, The Fed, The Federal Reserve, The Leadership Brief: Inflation worries are keeping Larry Summers up at night, Time Magazine on May 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The Fed has had almost no success gently bring down inflation once an economy has started to overheat. | |
… | |
The long-run threat (facing the economy) is that we will cease to be one effective country. Whether that’s a failure of public investment in everything ranging from collecting the taxes that are owed – where there will be $7 trillion in taxes that are owed but not paid over the next decade; that is a huge loss to the government … [and] a huge source of injustice because most of the nonpayment comes among the highest-income Americans. Whether it is the fact that at the early stage, we were dependent on other countries for masks, and we were not well prepared for a pandemic, despite the fact that there had been repeated warnings that a next pandemic would come. Whether it is the fact that it takes half an hour longer on the schedule to fly from Boston to Washington that it did when I first started taking the trip regularly 40 years ago. This falling-apart of society is our greatest long-term threat. | |
… | |
I think another important part of the calculus is that when governments lose control over money, people tend to lose confidence in them. Progressives need to ponder the fact that when they’re not able to keep inflation under control, they can pay a very large political price. | |
— Larry Summers | |
Former Secretary of the Treasury | |
In an interview with / by: Eben Shapiro | |
The interview was titled: “The Leadership Brief: Inflation worries are keeping Larry Summers up at night“ | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine; dtd: 21/28 June 2021 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Questioned By Life |
If There’ll Come A Time | |
2020 | Trying To Grow Pearls? |
2019 | Instantly Turned |
2018 | Sitting |
2017 | No Right Way |
2016 | Still Ticklish |
2015 | Maybe Sooner Than You Think |
2014 | The Path Of Mastery |
2013 | Love’s Ignorance |
2012 | Here’s To Enjoyment |
2011 | Not Just The Facts, Ma’am |
For An Extended Period
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged American Politics, Army, General William Westmoreland, Philosophy, Quotes on April 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Your Army can accomplish for an extended period only those missions that are accepted by our citizenry for whom the Army exists to support. | |
— General William Westmoreland | |
[And the same is true for our representative form of government, too. It (WE) cannot do anything over an extended period of time without continuous support by the public. — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Surrender With Hope |
A Little Grace | |
2020 | Two Midway |
Invisible Hands | |
2019 | Speaking Of #45 |
2018 | A Higher Loyalty |
RIP – Our Silver Lady | |
2017 | Slowly Cutting Their Own Throats |
2016 | Man’s Advantage Over God |
2015 | Deeply |
2014 | Hi-Yo Silver, Away! |
2013 | Warning: |
2012 | Thinking About Beauty |
2011 | A Founding Father’s Argument Against Public Funding Of Religious Education |
Weekend Update | |
So Far, So Good | |
Putin’s War On Ukraine: Choosing Lies
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Abraham Lincoln, Invasions, Lies, Philosophy, Quotes, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, War, World Politics on March 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose and you allow him to make war at pleasure. | |
— Abraham Lincoln | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | How Many Times |
I’m Breaking My Silence | |
2020 | When Looking Around |
2019 | Except Dying |
2018 | History Will Judge Him Favorably |
2017 | Are You Confused? |
2016 | The Golden Mean |
2015 | To Infinity And Beyond |
2014 | Taken Back |
2013 | Windows Or Doors |
2012 | All Rise |
2011 | Vote Weight |
Support For Ukraine Independence
Posted in Education, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Dog Fight, Dogs, Mark Twain, Philosophy, Quotes, Ukraine on March 4, 2022| 4 Comments »
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. | |
— Mark Twain | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Right Up Until Armed Insurrectionists Attack Congress |
No Time | |
2020 | Sometimes Human Nature Stays The Same |
2019 | Sometimes Too Subtle |
2018 | A Lot Like Teaching |
2017 | Wake Up |
2016 | I Like Dreaming |
2015 | Importance |
2014 | Unearned Humility |
2013 | Science Is Trial And Error |
2012 | Franklin’s Creed |
2011 | First Steps |
2010 | Home Ill… |
Full Of It
Posted in Humor, Other Blogs, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged A Pondering Mind, Humor, Mark Twain, Other Blogs, Philosophy, Quotes on February 24, 2022| 2 Comments »
Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason. | |
— Mark Twain | |
[Found at one of the blogs I follow: “A Pondering Mind“ | |
The site is located at: https://aponderingmind.org/ | |
The specific post is at: https://aponderingmind.org/2020/05/17/politicians-and-diapers-must-be-changed-often-and-for-the-same-reason-mark-twain/ | |
Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment. — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | I’m Still Learning To Play |
What Are You Looking For? | |
2020 | All You Can |
2019 | No Wall And Not One Dollar |
‘Cause It Makes Me Scratch | |
2018 | Mirror, Mirror |
2017 | Keep On Keeping On |
2016 | Reflections |
2015 | Is It Time Yet? |
2014 | Ask Any Follower |
2013 | Cornered Or Surrounded? |
2012 | Escape |
2011 | Achievement |
Not Unreasonable Enough | |
Modern Republicans Have Long Since Concluded…
Posted in Humor, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged American Politcs, Conclusions, Humor, Philosophy, Quotes, Republican Party, Steven Wright, Thinking on February 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »
A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking. | |
— Steven Wright | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Do Senate Republicans Believe In The Constitution And The Rule Of Law (Or Not)? |
With Your Red Dress On | |
2020 | Morally Treasonable |
2019 | Lost Again Or Still? |
2018 | Why #LazyDonald Starts Work At 11AM |
2017 | At Least Most Of The Time |
2016 | But Doctor, I Never Learned How To Read |
2015 | Punch The Keys, For God’s Sake! |
2014 | Ouch! |
2013 | Revelations |
2012 | Movies And Juicing |
Brady Gets #4 (Prediction) | |
Happy To Get Up | |
2011 | What About Good Blogs? |
2010 | Slowly, Slowly… |
Almost Never (These Days) In Politics
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged American Politics, Comparison, Judgment, Nature, On Political Change, Paradigm Change, Philosophy, Quotes, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas S. Kuhn PhD on February 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The decision to reject one paradigm is always simultaneously the decision to accept another, and the judgment leading to that decision involves the comparison of both paradigms with nature and with each other. | |
— Thomas S. Kuhn, PhD. | |
From his book: “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Senate: Defend The Constitution – Convict Trump |
Can The Senate Find Truth? | |
2020 | All Foam And All Dreams |
2019 | Why #IncompetentDonald May Be The Most Successful President Ever |
Latina Fish Story | |
2018 | Blocking The Light And Air |
2017 | It’s Even Dimmer When You Don’t Have It |
2016 | Inconvenienced By Degree |
2015 | Sincerity |
2014 | Prayers For Junior |
Senseless | |
2013 | Interesting Drink |
Super Bowl XLVII Declared A No Bird Zone | |
2012 | Smile |
2011 | Come Forward |
A Clear View Of #45
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged #45 - The Liar, Albert Camus, American Politics, Blinding, Falsehoods, Philosophy, Quotes, Truth, Twilight, Vision on February 2, 2022| 2 Comments »
Sometimes it is easier to see clearly into the liar than into the man who tells the truth. Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object. | |
— Albert Camus | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Not Here, Not Again |
Will The Senate Convict An Insurrectionist? | |
2020 | Senate Perfidy |
2019 | Contributing To Congress |
Yellow Signs Of Spring | |
2018 | But Take Heart |
Poetic Marker | |
2017 | The Few, The Many, The Most |
2016 | To My Brother |
2015 | For Junior |
A Roman Rome | |
2014 | Hmmm |
2013 | What’s A Motto With You? |
2012 | Worthy Companions |
2011 | Bourne Again |
Which Ten Are You In? | |