NOTES, 10 JANUARY 2022
Welcome, blog reader, on Monday, January 10, 2022. My best wishes to you. It is time to check in on the topics we have been following for some time now even though we may not want to face the painful facts. I have always believed in the principle of the ancient Greek philosophers---it is better to know the truth even if it hurts because truth leads to understanding and wisdom. So, here goes.
PANDEMIC. Two years. Two years we have been enduring the worst health crisis in the world in the last century! Moreover, it is no where near ending. Quite the contrary, new cases are skyrocketing as never before. The Omicron variant is far more contagious and is spreading as wildfire. Even people with all the shots are contracting "break through" cases. Some say it is like the worst head cold you ever had, others like the worst case of the flu.
The numbers of the last ten days are horrifying. According to our usual metric, Worldometers, there were nearly 20m new cases, to 308m in the world. That is a 7% rise, in just 10 days! If there is a "good news" side of all this, it is that death rates are low, just 1% rise in the last 10 days (52k deaths, for a total of 5.5m in the world).
The United States continues to be the world's epicenter of this plague as it has been all along for the two years. The U.S. has had by far the most cases and deaths from COVID-19. In the last 10 days, new cases shot up by 5.5m, a whopping 10% rise. Some one in five Americans has contracted the virus. Some 1,000 Americans die every day from the virus, 12.5k in the last ten days. The total number of dead Americans now stands at 859,356, far exceeding the dead from the great flue epidemic of 1918-19 and from any war in American history.
Our southern states continue to suffer along. In South Carolina, new cases are soaring far above any period before now. In the last ten days, SC reported a jump of 7% to some 1m cases. In these ten days, 110 South Carolinians died of COVID, for a total of 14,746 in the pandemic. Just over half the population is vaccinated (53%).
The plague is spreading in Charleston County faster than in the state as a whole. In the last ten days, the county reported 7,286 new cases, up a stunning 10% (in 10 days!). Six more people died in the county for a total of 761.
Alabama is faring even worse. In the last ten days, new cases were off the charts, three times as many as any earlier ten day period. New cases stood at 82k, up 9%. There were 169 deaths, up 1%, to a total of 16,624. AL has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, at just 48%. In both SC and AL hospitals are overwhelmed with incoming cases.
Bottom line---we are in the fourth great surge of this pandemic. It is the worst of all for new cases. The only "silver lining" is that the percentages of deaths are falling drastically reflecting improved medical treatments the professionals have learned by trial and error over two years. BTW, we should all take a moment and say a silent prayer for the angels in the forms of the medical professionals (from the CEOs to the custodians) who are risking their lives every day to save the lives of others. I thank God for each and every one of them. They, and the first responders, are the heroes of the day and we all owe them a great deal.
SCHSIM. Nothing new to report. We are in a holding pattern awaiting the SC Supreme Court's written opinion on the Episcopal Church's appeal of Judge Dickson's nullification of the SCSC order of 2017. Judging from the hearing in the SCSC of Dec. 8, 2021, there is no way to tell how the justices will land on this. They were all over the place.
Meanwhile, both parts that came out of the schism of 2012 are moving on with new leadership and struggling with the effects of the pandemic.
POLITICAL. In the big picture, we Americans are seeing the clash between the predominate historic force of developing democracy in America and the backlash against this. Given the history of American society, this struggle is based on race. White men are reacting desperately against the rising tide of a multi-racial society and culture. In short, democracy is under assault by the forces of anti-democracy. Democracy has two underlying principles: equal rights, and majority rule. In the last seventy years, the U.S. has moved dramatically more and more to both of these and at the same time a large minority had developed and is taking action to stop this process. History tells me democracy will win but may come out badly battered and wounded in the process. The minority will not surrender power quietly, e.g. assault on the Capitol of Jan. 6, 2021.
Today, for one day, none of the above matters in the state of Alabama. Once again, football is the topic of the day. Yet again, the people of Alabama are setting everything else aside in anticipation of another national championship. Alabama is fiftieth or nearly in virtually every category among the American states except in one field---college football. A state that has little else to point with pride can revel in the glow of being the best in something. I say, go for it. Forget everything else for the day. Win or lose, Alabama is in a good spotlight. We need this respite. We need this diversion from the world of hurt all around us. I for one will enjoy tonight's game. Peace.
