Innocent Bystanders

COVID-19 Vaccinations, Biden Style February 25, 2021

There are a lot of articles about how Joe Biden is on track to exceed the “100 million vaccinations in 100 days” benchmark he established on December 8, with few of the articles acknowledging the fact that the Trump administration had already put the country on that track, having administered 21 million doses by the time Biden was inaugurated.

So it is with great mirth that I present to you the following chart, with daily doses in blue bars and the 7-day moving average as the red line (chart lifted from the CDC):

Yup, a month after Biden took office – just about the time you’d figure his policies started taking effect – the doses administered started to drop.

There are, of course, caveats associated with this chart. The darker blue bars are preliminary data and may increase as tardy reports come in. And there was that nasty cold spell that delayed vaccination shipments and people’s travel to the vaccination sites.

But given how braggy the Biden administration has been, and how little credit they’ve given to their predecessors, I’m just going to ignore the caveats and enjoy a quiet chuckle.

An Orwellian Malaise February 10, 2021

Orwell anticipated Pelosi:

…do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”

George Orwell, 1984

I know this quote is overused, but it seems more and more like George Orwell was a time traveler. I mean, he really finished writing 1984 in 1948? Really? Over 80 years ago?

The story about the SF school board president who deliberately rejects historical accuracy when deciding which names should be removed from school buildings reminded me of another overused quote:

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

Getting Your Slapstick Fix February 6, 2021

If you’re wondering how you can entertain yourself with that highest form of humor, you could do far worse than check out The Goes Wrong Show. It’s a British mini-series about a theater troupe which puts on a different play in each show. Of course, every production goes disastrously . . . wrong.

You can watch it on Amazon Prime.

(Image from Wikipedia)

COVID-19 Update: Through 2/4/21 February 5, 2021

COVID cases hit their peak in early January, but are now on a very encouraging downslope:

…and it looks like daily deaths are starting to follow

These graphs were screencapped from Worldometer.

Mysterious Watercolor of Mystery February 3, 2021

I painted this:

Go ahead and start speculating about what it means.

Wags Wage Wage Wars February 3, 2021

When you base your humanitarianism on the use of other people’s money, bad things inevitably happen:

Kroger, the parent company of Ralphs and Food 4 Less, will soon shut down two of its stores in Long Beach in response to the city imposing a “hero pay” increase of $4 per hour for some grocery store workers.

The Ralphs at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal and the Food 4 Less at 2185 E. South St. are slated to close on April 17, the company said Monday. . . .

“This is truly unfortunate for the Long Beach community, its grocery workers and consumers, but not surprising given the magnitude of the Council’s actions,” Ron Fong, the group’s [California Grocer’s Association] president and CEO, said in the statement Monday. “We repeatedly warned that a $4/hour increase would have major unintended consequences – including potential store closures, the reduction of work for employees, and higher grocery costs for customers.”

Cue equally inevitable whining about food deserts and corporate insensitivity to displaced workers’ sufferings. Despite the warnings, and despite the fact that Kroger had already bumped up worker pay by $2/hr to compensate for working during the COVID-19 crisis.

It’s comforting to know that this is Joe Biden’s plan for the entire country via his $15/hr minimum wage.