The 36% Club

May 17, 2021May 17, 2021Michael 5 Comments

Did everybody in the U. S. of A. hear the latest mask guidance? It’s what, 4 or 5 days old now and hasn’t changed so I guess it’s in place. Around here, and I imagine around most everywhere else, it’s gotten a lot of airtime and newsprint, or whatever the 21st century equivalents are. And of course, a bazillion or so pixels of social media coverage. To summarize, “Update that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services, May 13, 2021)

That was the big story last Thursday (bigger than even my blog post, can you imagine that?) but of course, that’s not the whole story. Very few people bothered with the whole story because, well, because I don’t know. The rest of the story is just as important but isn’t easily compressed in a 2- or 3-word headline or meme. It’s been modified a little to clarify the language and expand on travel and post-travel guidelines. (The most recent complete guideline summary is on line at the CDC site here. Everybody should read it. The entire summary is only about 800 words. That’s not much longer than one of my typical blog posts. Even to stop and look at the pictures it’s less than a 15 minute read. Much less. Again, I suggest everybody should read it. Go on. I’ll wait.

Welcome back! The CDC site has other great information, all in easy to read, short articles including the new youth vaccine guidance. By the way, that mask wearing guidance was updated Sunday morning. There could be clarified, revised, or new guidance even by now. That’s been some of the criticism aimed at the CDC. They change the rules too much. No. They don’t. The rules are the same. Protect yourself and others. How you do that changes, how you do almost anything in life changes as circumstances change. And even these circumstances haven’t changed for the majority of Americans.

You see, that new guidance was for those Americans who are fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated means those who have received all the required shots in the series depending on the formula (i.e., brand for this discussion), AND have accounted for a sufficient time for the body to have mounted an appropriate and adequate immune response, typically 2 to 3 weeks but for some immunocompromised individuals up to 6 six weeks after the final dose in the series. Going into the weekend, that would apply to 36% of the population (CDC, May 15, 2021). To the other 2/3 of you all, well there just ain’t no change to what you should be doing!

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to be out among the public and it scared me a bit. I probably didn’t count more than 15% of the people I saw wearing masks. If they were all older that number might be appropriate. About 70% of the over 65 population may be fully vaccinated but what I was seeing was a cross section of ages. Science would tell us that the unmasked, unvaccinated people are mostly placing themselves at risk, that the point of vaccination is to minimize the risk so one can carry on normal daily activities without fear of developing the disease or significant serious effects of the disease. In normal circumstances that is how it works. Consider the typical flu season. Not everybody gets a flu shot yet even though those who do get the flu shot may get sick, they often present with less severe symptoms that those who get the flu who did not get the flu shot. But the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has shown a remarkable aptitude for accommodation and mutation, hence the myriad of variants. Again, science would suggest those variants are not growing in vaccinated individuals but in the hosts (people) where colonies (viruses) can grow unchecked. Upon release into the air, the vaccinated individuals whose immune systems that have been primed for a previously identified or conjectured set of viral variants may or may not have as robust an effect, or theoretically no effect, against this new variant. Do you really want to be taking that chance with my life?

I absolutely think it’s wonderful that we have reached a point in this country where we feel good enough about the testing and followup testing of the vaccines, and the adequacy of social distancing measures to ease the virulence of COVID-19, among those who are fully vaccinated. I look forward to the day where there will be many, many, many more than just 1 out of every 3 of us who fit that category. But for now, even though I am one of that category, I will continue to wear my mask and maintain my distance in public because, and I say this most regrettably, I don’t believe that all of you running around without masks also fit that category and I really don’t want to be taking that chance with my life.

mask

Continuing with my experiment on the WordPress/Anchor partnership, Don’t Believe Everything You Think is available on these platforms.

Please let me know what you think. So far I’m still mostly just recording the blog posts but eventually there will be more than that. We might even get into a discussion about how we all got into blogging.

Smoking or Non? 2021 Style

May 3, 2021May 2, 2021Michael Leave a comment

There is a new movement afoot in Western Pennsylvania and, because we are not known for groundbreaking thought, probably across the rest of the US, and likely Canada too. But then this is pretty self-serving so maybe not in Canada. This is the pandemic version of the smoking section. You certainly recall the days of being greeted at the hostess stand with the initial query, “Will that be smoking or non-smoking?” (They always put smoking first. I wonder why.) I often asked for the first available because in most restaurants, particularly the smaller diner types that I was apt to visit, you could section off the smokers, but not the smoke.

Several establishments, notably the concert and sports venues, have asked city, county, and state authorities for permission to ease pandemic related seating limits by permitting non-distance seating areas for people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Personally, as a fully vaccinated individual I like the idea of mingling with others who take their health and the health of those sharing space on the planet seriously. Personally, as a card-carrying cynic I am certain three-quarters of the individuals claiming to be fully vaccinated are more full of lies than vaccine. Especially now that news broke on internet sites with templates and instructions for forging COVID-19 Vaccination Record Cards.

I already can hear the hue and cry. You’re making us second class citizens! You’re taking away our rights! This is no COVID! Regardless of the incorrectness of those statements, they will be the justification for opposing Vaccinate and Non-Vaccinated seating sections just as they are the uninformed persons justification for not getting the vaccine and not be asked the question at all.

For my other life I have been working on an article about vaccine hesitancy and its less famous cousin vaccine confidence. While doing research I discovered an alarming fact. When asked if they have plans to be vaccinated, 13% of the people in the US eligible for vaccination responded they had no intention of receiving the vaccine. An additional 7% would consent to the vaccine only if required. That is alarming. It is expected that there would be some hesitancy but basically 20%, one-fifth of the people who could get a vaccine, a free vaccine, are saying no thank you. Still not the really alarming part of the survey. The really alarming part is that of healthcare personnel, 18% said they had no intention of getting the vaccine and an additional 12% answer they had not yet decided. (Kaiser Family Foundation COVID Vaccine Monitor) Think of that the next time you go to the doctor. After being greeted by a receptionist, you will be escorted to the exam room and prepped by a medical assistant, have your vitals measured and history reviewed by a nurse, and then be seen by the doctor. Of those three people caring for your health, one has chosen to not receive the vaccine that will reduce the risk of exposing their patients to the virus that has as of May 1 already killed 576,339 Americans. (New York Times compiled from state health agencies) And we call them heroes. (pfft) (Expressed as a card-carrying member of the health care personnel world with as much venom as I can muster in written form.)

In the United States, even as vaccination rates have slowed, variant cases of COVID-19 are escalating. Earlier in the pandemic the question was raised if vaccination should be mandatory. Opponents argued that the 14th Amendment prohibits mandated vaccinations as an arbitrary legislative action. Supporters cited the Supreme Court’s 1905 decision to allow mandated smallpox vaccinations in part because “liberty for all cannot exist if each individual is allowed to act without regard to the injury that his or her actions might cause others.”

Attempting to argue the legality of mandatory vaccination is out of my league as I am not a constitutional lawyer (although that stops so very few nowadays) and about as satisfying as arguing with a Trumpican about who won the election. Arguing the safety and efficacy of the vaccine is a different story and firmly in my wheelhouse. It is. Period. Go get the shot. Just do it. You don’t need any other reason but if you insist, get it because you will be protecting liberty for all.

And if you don’t, don’t be surprised if the next time you stop for dinner and drinks after work you are greeted with, “Welcome to Henny’s! Will that be Vaccinated or Non?”

Not Vaccinated Section

Trash Talk

April 12, 2021April 11, 2021Michael 4 Comments

We are already firmly into the fourth month of 2021. That itself is frightening, but more is that we still are filling our conversations with 2020 sound bite phrases (and some even older) which even in 2020 was depressing. So in the spirit of culture cancelling, let’s make a Second Quarter Resolution to, in no particular order, cancel these.

Eraser

Cancel Culture: Cancelling is becoming the new fad falling somewhere between hobby, and cottage industry. Old fogies like me tend to confuse cancel culture with “the mob” burning books or tearing down statues. It originated with some fashion or beauty type person who apparently was tight enough with the Kardashians to have amassed close to 2 Billion views on his YouTube channel lost over a million followers in a single day because of some spat he had with another YouTube beauty person. Seriously. You know I don’t make this stuff up. With origins that trite it’s time to cancel this bit of unculture.

Unprecedented Times: Many of last year’s news stories were unexpected, life-changing events. Of that there is no question. Were they unprecedented as the hyperbolic news media introduced every story. Consider this. To be unprecedented something must not have a precedent and a precedent is not merely the first of something, but the first of something to be used as an example for others to follow. Let’s look at some of 2020’s “unprecedented” happenings. The pandemic was responsible for many of these events. First, there is the pandemic itself. Unprecedented, yes? Well, no, the WHO is currently tracking twenty different pandemics across the globe. Since 1900 there have been 12 worldwide pandemics, the most recent pre-CoViD were the 2013-2016 Ebola virus and the 2015-2016 Zika virus pandemics. Surely the vaccine response was unprecedent. Impressive yes, particularly in scope, unprecedented no. The 1947 smallpox vaccination drive in New York City claimed to have vaccinated 5 to 6 million people in less than a month. Verifiable data indicated 1.2 million doses were administered in the first week and a total of over 4.4 million administered during the 18 day campaign. Other “unprecedented” news stories from mass closures, to social unrest, to riots, to elections, even to the storming of the Capitol had precedents. The January attack on the Capitol was the sixth time the building had been breached and two other deadly incursions involving Capitol personnel occurred within its perimeter fencing.

Essential Worker – Clearly almost every worker can make an argument that a job is essential to somebody. Weather forecaster in San Diego might be stretching things but given that is only sunny there 362 days a year it could be essential for residents to know which three days to stay indoors. While I’m on this topic, there is no question of who qualifies as a Frontline Worker. If you have to ask, you aren’t one.

The New Normal – Do I have to say more?

Uncertain Times – A second cousin to Unprecedented Times, “Uncertain Times” is the nice little catch all to define any time that is uneasy or induces stress, real or imagined. Back when I was ineligible for AARP discounts, we called it a Get Out of Jail Card, AKA An Excuse to Get Out of Anything. You wanna know something, every time is uncertain. It if wasn’t it’s already past.

And finally, one to nip in the bud – Herd Immunity – Yes, it is a real thing, but unless you have a PhD in epidemiology or are a physician specializing in infectious diseases, you don’t know enough about it to carry on a Facebook level conversation let alone an intelligent one. Leave this to the experts. Hey, nightly news people, I’m talking to you, too.

There are a few hundred other choice words and phrases due for retirement: Blursday, Election Fraud, Super-Spreader, False Rumor (can a rumor actually be true?), and Remote [Anything]. Eliminate these and we have a good start on the return to intelligent life on this planet.

Genius

Reverse Engineering the National Pastime

April 8, 2021April 8, 2021Michael 2 Comments

If I read all the schedules right and didn’t miss anyplace, by the end of today all of the Major League Baseball teams will have hosted their season home openers. Barring rain delays. Or snow. Or CoViD. Yes, that new wrinkle for this time, game called on account of CoViD is a real thing. Last Thursday while much of the league was holding opening days somewhere, the Washington Nationals 2021 premiere was delayed until Monday, which was then further delayed due to an outbreak of infections on the squad and the ongoing contact tracing. All this was going on while a half of a country away the Texas Rangers were welcoming a sellout crowd of 38,238 people. (I suppose I could also call this post Alternate Facts and the National Pastime. You remember Alternate Facts. The Texas Rangers stadium actually holds 40,518 but according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the 38,000 attendance figure was “considered a sellout.” At least it wasn’t described as “the largest crowd to ever witness a baseball game – period.” ) (Hmm) (Now, where was I?)

The rest of the league is probably hoping for a season somewhere in between. At my local MLB outlet, the ball club is planning to welcome 8,000 to 9,000 fans, representing 25% capacity of its stadium, to a contactless, cashless, experience. (In Pittsburgh in April they should be hoping for a snowless experience also but that’s a post for another day.) Contactless experiences are no longer unexpected. Tickets are electronically delivered and optically scanned using a smart phone app, kiosk type food and souvenir stands will not be present on concourses, and food services including in luxury boxes will eschew buffet and hand packed selections for pre-wrapped and canned beverage choices. That takes care of the contactless, but cashless. Apparently, no outlets in the stadium will accept cash including the parking concessions. To handle the possibility that someone might wonder into the ballpark with a pocketful of bills to trade for hot dogs and pennants there is a solution.

What might be well known to others hit me as a completely new idea – the “Reverse ATM” dispenser. In the event somebody does not have a credit or debit card, machines will be available to accept cash and dispense pre-paid Visa cards.

I’m not too proud to admit my first opening day baseball game was so long ago I also went without a pocketful of bills to trade them for hot dogs and my personal ball game weakness, peanuts. I did have a pocketful of quarters though and I still got change in return.

Reverse ATM machines. I wonder how Leo Durocher would describe them.

BaseballInMasks

From 1919 baseball when ballplayers weren’t so concerned about what they looked like as long as they could play.

We Will Survive

March 15, 2021March 15, 2021Michael 4 Comments

Did you watch the Grammy Awards? That’s okay, I didn’t either. It’s been a while since I watched them. Possibly getting on to 40 years. The 1980 Grammy Awards are of particular note. That was the year Gloria Gaynor, Freddie Perron, and Dino Fekaris won for Disco Record of the Year* with “I Will Survive.” It was the first year an award category for disco was considered. It was also the last year for disco music to have it’s own category for consideration. Thanks to recently separated singers at karaoke bars “Survive” survives, but the respect for disco didn’t. (Actually, Rodney Dangerfield ‘s “No Respect” won Best Comedy Album that year.) ( Just sayin’)

Disco was born in 1970 when The Loft opened in Manhattan. It took almost the whole of the 70s to reach its peak, slowly building, earning its own hit chart, Billboard Magazine’s Dance Club Songs, in 1974 (its first #1 song was another Gloria Gaynor record, “Never Can Say Goodbye”), and topping out in popularity in 1978 following the release of “Saturday Night Fever.” After years of sharing the Grammy spotlight with the R&B categories, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (more commonly The Recording Academy) gave disco its own spotlight just in time for it to wither and die.

That seems fitting for America. We take forever to recognize something, throw together a quick acknowledgement, and then when it loses favor, drop it like a hot potato. We have little tolerance for what doesn’t give us an immediate benefit, ideally with no work on our part. And yet, like that classic from time gone by, we still survive.

We’ve spent the last year tempting fate with questionably adequate hand washing and poorly worn masks, packing thousands of people into small squares of urban real estate protesting a little bit of everything from everything side then aiming the blame for the subsequent week’s spike in CoViD cases, and making many wonder what year we just lived through when over 60% of Americans polled claom they will refuse to get vaccinated or will get the shot only if required (Kaiser Family Foundation poll, January 27, 2021).

Another thing fitting for America – with so many showing as much respect for our current situations as they had for Rodney 40 years ago, the rest of us will do our best Gloria Gaynor impersonations and still will survive. So there!

* Gloria Gaynor, Freddie Perron, and Dino Fekaris won for Disco Record of the Year with “I Will Survive” with the 12-inch club version. The same song in its commercial release version was nominated for Song of the Year.

Hugging Hope

March 11, 2021Michael 9 Comments

March 11, 2020: “WHO declares corona virus disease pandemic.” March 11, 2021: “Government says in person nursing home visits OK.” Who would have thought in a year we’d be turning this corner already? That’s who, little letters, not WHO. I don’t know that WHO is that optimistic. The CDC is not that optimistic either if you read beyond the headline. Not unlike another headline from this week, “Fully vaccinated people can have small gatherings indoors.”

It’s been a year. More than a year really as WHO probably should have declared the pandemic a pandemic 2 or 3 or maybe more weeks earlier than it did. People want to return to normal even though many can’t define normal. I will say that we are approaching a point in an exit to the pandemic that I figured we would not have reached until the end of this summer. That’s approaching(!) an exit. But there are many encouraging signs: Three approved vaccines in the US, four in Canada and the EU, twelve different vaccines throughout the world. Export and travel agreements and restrictions minimizing rampant spread. Voluntary mitigation efforts taking place in larger than anticipated numbers when official orders have expired – with some notable exceptions. All that and more is hastening a resolution to the pandemic, not an eradication of the virus and its disease, and a resolution is the best we can hope for against as cunning enemy an enemy as Orthocoronavirinae betacoronavirus-2.

But many people – and most Americans – aren’t good at reading beyond the headlines and that’s why the same papers also are running headlines, “Texas Rangers plan to allow full capacity of fans for 2021 MLB Opening Day,” “Gov. Wolf indicates Pa. restaurants and bars can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day,” and “Wyoming to lift statewide mask mandate next week.” (If you are wondering, Wyoming will join 16 other states without mask mandates.)

It is a great thing that the fully vaccinated and can re-socialize with other fully vaccinated and low risk individuals (fully vaccinated occurs 2 to 4 weeks after the final shot), and that nursing home residents can enjoy indoor visits with contact (hugs!), but there is more to the guidance beyond the headlines. In the nursing homes contact visits are allowed for residents who have completed their vaccination, precautions such as wearing masks and using hand sanitizer should continue, and outdoor visits are still preferred. When the CDC released new guidelines earlier this week that included, “Fully vaccinated people can visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing, visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing, and refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic,” the same guidance document recommends,“ it also noted that fully vaccinated people should continue to:

Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing
Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households
Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings
Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
Follow guidance issued by individual employers
Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations

20201004_185802 We do well to celebrate the approach of near normalcy but approach the celebration cautiously. Otherwise these will be the more representative headlines in the next few weeks: “Brazil hospitals buckle in absence of national virus plan,” “Africa’s new variants are causing growing concern,” and “1 in 5 in US lost someone in pandemic.” You don’t want to be one of the 1s or you may find out “Why the ‘grief pandemic’ might outlast the worst of COVID-19.”

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Please Note: All headline quotes are actual headlines from Associated Press, Austin American Statesman, BBC, CBS Sports, CTV News, and the Pittsburgh Press from March 8 through March 11, 2021. CDC Guidance from “Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Dept. of Health and Human Services, March 8, 2021. Links included in guidance direct to CDC web-site.

5 0 0 , 0 0 0

February 25, 2021February 24, 2021Michael 3 Comments

Five hundred thousand. 500,000. Five with five zeros after it. Half a million, half a mil. 500 K. Unless you’ve been under a rock or outside the reach of American news outlets, you’ve heard than number a lot this week. Earlier this week it was reported that’s how many deaths the US has suffered attributable to CoViD-19. That’s 20% of the world’s CoViD death total. Not bad for a country that represents a little over 4% of the world’s population.

500,000…that’s a lot of people. That’s like all of the people in Vermont. Or Atlanta. That’s five times the people who can fit in Ohio State’s football stadium, about ten times the capacity of Yankee Stadium. Five hundred thousand deaths is 167,000 times the number of people killed in the 9/11 attacks on the USA. It’s as many Americans who lost their lives in World War II, and Korea, and Vietnam. What it took three major wars almost 30 years to do, Orthocoronavirinae betacoronavirus-2 did in one year and 2 weeks.

That’s 20% of the world’s deaths from a country not even 5% of it’s population. Well, why would that surprise us. After all, that same 4.27% of the world controls almost 30% of its wealth, and damn near 99% of its football (as opposed to football). We’re badass. We don’t need no stinking masks, we don’t need no stinking social distancing. Oh but give us those vaccines. Oh yeah baby. The good old US of A has gotten almost 30% of the vaccine doses that have been produced.

We might as well give some back because 30% of Americans polled say they won’t get the vaccine. Last July that was almost 60%. It’s even gone down some since last November when 39% said they wouldn’t get the vaccine. Still, that’s almost 100 million people who I guess think the virus is a hoax. Idiots.

Sorry – no funny stories, no cute picture, no clever wrap up. But one bright spot – at least it’s not politicians making me sick this week.

Happy Anniversary?

January 21, 2021Michael 1 Comment

It’s not every day we see two momentous anniversaries. Actually that has to be untrue. I am certain a bazillion things happen every day that are momentous to somebody. Today there are two that are momentous to me. I’m sorry, that’s an untruth also. One I could care less about but it makes for an interesting contrast to the other.

On this date in 1972 the world’s first Star Trek convention was held in New York City. Wait, also untrue. On this date in 1972 the first “major” Star Trek convention was held in New York City. Who determined “major” I do not have a clue. I suppose “major” like “beauty” is in the eye of the beholder. Or the Spock ears. I enjoyed Star Trek but not so much that I made a trip to the Big Apple in full Star Fleet regalia. Apparently 3,000 people did enjoy it to that extent and showed up for it. No data regarding how many were in uniform. That’s a lot of people to pay homage to a TV show that had been off the air for 3 years by then and seven years before the motion picture would spawn an entire new crowd of crazies, errr fans. Remember that number though. We’ll get back to those 3,000 people in a moment.

January 21 commemorates another obscure occurence. It was in this day in 2020 (that was last year for those with short memories) that the first case of SARS-CoV-2, better known now as CoViD-19 was diagnosed in the United States. Since then 2,438,723 cases have been confirmed (as of Jan.20, 2021). That averages to over 6,000 cases per day. Twice as many people every day on average(!) get CoViD (that we know of) as those who flocked to NYC in their version of starship NCC-1701.

If you are having trouble picturing 2.4 million people that’s about the population of Chicago (2.7 million) or more than twice as many people in all of Rhode Island (1.1 million). That’s also about how many people have died from CoViD in the world since it worked it’s way into people some 14 months ago (2.06 million).

Let’s go back to the first Star Trek convention. Picture those 3,000 people milling about, some in Spock ears, and now imagine each person’s best friend who couldn’t make it to New York and is waiting back home. Now you have all 6,000 people in your mind. Well, that’s how many people die every day (on average(!)) from CoViD in the last year – in this world.

Do you think you could wear your mask now please? Spock ears optional.

2020 In a Word, or Three

December 28, 2020Michael Leave a comment

Ah, were getting close to the New Year. The way people have been saying they can’t wait for this year to be over you would think there is an expiration date on “the virus.” I put that in quotes because that seems to be how most people are looking at it. At least that seems to be how American people are looking at it and at most other news of the year. A character, a reference, a headline. It didn’t matter how complex a matter was, all of 2020 was a slogan. Health, welfare, politics, social justice, social injustice – all were condensed into a few words, small enough and simple enough to read as a headline, fit on a protest sign, or look spiffy behind a hashtag. Every cause must have hired a PR rep to ensure its message got across to the people without all the distracting stats, explanations, and sometimes facts.

Would you like proof?

Let’s start with the election, that solemn activity undertaken with thought and due consideration for all issues. If yard signs were any indication of the thought that was taken this year we are in big trouble. We could have chosen between “Keep America Great” or “Build Back Better.” What does either mean! But this is not unusual. Spiffy easy to remember slogans are a staple with elections. “I Like Ike” and “All The way With LBJ” didn’t rate very high on the infometer either. What was unusual this year was the trite sloganeering continued, er continues. It morphed from “Get Out and Vote” to “Your Vote Matters” to “Count Every Vote” to “Count Every Legal Vote” to “Stop The Steal.” Duh. Well, “You Can’t Fix Stupid but You Can Vote it Out.”

Protests lend themselves to spiffy slogans. They have to be short enough to fit on a sign in letters big enough to be legible when captured by the news cameras and catchy enough to be remembered after the cameras leave. “Silence Is Violence” is a great example. The pity is how many people did not know the origin of the phrase or its original context. Then it was confounded when the same movements adopted the “Muted” campaign. Think about that.

Lack of context could not stop a good protest throughout the year. We were intent on ensuring others knew we knew that various things mattered, that many peoples names needed said, that just about every ethic group was strong and that we should make America a variety of things again. We wanted to “Defund the Police” but still “Back the Blue,” and we let the world know our demands included “No Justice No Peace” then telling ourselves “Whatever It Takes.”

Neither could lack of facts stop a good protest. Marchers across America on Columbus Day carried signs to “Make America Native Again” or “Columbus Didn’t Discover America, He Invaded It” oblivious to the fact that Columbus never made it to any part of mainland North America on any of his four voyages.

And that takes us back to “the virus.” For almost the entire year a CoViD story was front and center on your favorite news source. We learned how to “Wash Your Hands” even if we didn’t know why we did it that way. We included “Flatten the Curve” in as many conversations as we could then we switched to “Business on Top, Pajamas on the Bottom” when it became clear that curve was tougher than we expected. If we did find ourselves in an intelligent conversation about CoViD and how to deal with it yet still uncertain of how to deal with it, we could fake our way through by looking thoughtful then declaring, “Corona, It’s Not Just a Beer Anymore!” Any attempt to break quarantine was met with “[Fill in the blank] IS Essential” and if that argument failed we turned to “Quarantine the Virus, Not the Constitution.” Apparently logic was what ended up in quarantine.

I will be glad to see 2020 come to an end but not because I think we will finally have put the issues of 2020 to bed. No, I’ll be happy to see it end because then I can finally stop having to listen to people say “I can’t wait for 2020 to end!”

Boy I can’t wait for 2020 to end!