Good morning,
Covid
As I was writing this today Scotland has just announced Covid vaccines by the fourth week have resulted in a reduction of hospitalizations by 85-94% for Pfizer and Astrazeneca “jabs”. Good news.
On Back Story with Dana Lewis podcast, 2 epidemiologists lament the fact Europe and American never tried for Zero Covid. If they had we wouldn’t be experiencing yo-yo openings and closings and unlocking lockdowns that suppress but don’t eliminate.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zero-covid/id1512445640?i=1000509854802
Here’s why it’s important - as we vaccinate more people the virus will try to escape and that means more mutations increasing the chance of outrunning the vaccines.
Today Britain outlines how it will now unlock, and that includes kids back to school March 8 and some social distancing relaxation but it will be slow. And so it should be.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/21/johnsons-route-out-of-covid-lockdown-loved-ones-and-schools-first
Germany is imposing border closure to stop the spread of variants from other European Countries. When was the last time you heard a European nation do that? It goes against everything the European Union stands for in terms of free movement, so it’s being hotly debated.
https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-latest-germany-to-partially-close-borders-with-several-countries/a-52777896
The U.S. has suffered 500 thousand deaths from Covid. That’s almost double the toll of deaths from Americans lives lost in WW2. You can’t escape the fact The Trump administration tried to minimize the threat, and then joked about masks and closures, and largely left individual states to impose their own restrictions or practically none at all in the case of Florida. Trumps legacy in addition to fuelling insurrection, will be the horrible death toll in America. The numbers of infected are now falling to below 100 thousand daily, but new variants like the British variant are spreading roughly 50 to 70% faster and are more deadly.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-21/us-coronavirus-death-toll-approaches-milestone-of-500-000
Grounded 777’s
If you didn’t see that scary video over the weekend of a plane engine fire over Denver and pieces falling to the ground below, it’s worth a look, unless you don’t like flying already! Boeing 777’s are being grounded by United airlines and other airlines in Japan. The aircraft landed safely with one engine. The engines are made by Pratt and Whitney and there are reports of an explosion, which could have come from engine blades fragmenting but the full answer to why is not yet known.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56149894
There is a lot of discussion about pilots who may not be getting enough flying time now because of Covid and planes that are parked for long periods and then reenter service. Those two issues not an element in this 777 engine fire, but can other accidents in the future be caused by rusty planes and pilots?
Canada and Comedy
This is a great write through on a case before Canada’s Supreme Court on freedom of speech. A comedian was Mike Ward of Quebec, who made fun of a disabled singer Jeremy Gabriel calling him among other things ugly and suggested if he didn’t die soon he might drown him and made fun of his hearing aid.
Comedians get away with a lot, sometimes making fun to prove a point such as racist remarks and irony to show how people in society can be treated unfairly. But this comedy seemed to go the offensive extra mile, and Mr. Gabriel countered that he was singled out for ridicule because of his disability and it had shaped his life.
Is offending someones dignity, in this case a 13 year olds, a crime or is comedy a free pass even if it hurts someone? The case will be decided in the next few months and could have far reaching implications for other comedians and free speech.
But you know, this argument of free speech, is wafer thin when you libel or slander or promote hatred and because of the amplification on the internet society needs to moderate while not seen to be muzzling except in the case of white supremacy, where we should muzzle big time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/world/canada/canada-comedian-speech.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20210221&instance_id=27338&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=67323566&segment_id=52062&user_id=7978ae3bd37bc548e89883d022582b81
More to come tomorrow on Britain and lockdown easing.
Have a good Monday everyone. And please share this letter with one other person?
Thanks, Dana