What Did We Learn this Week - 10/16/21?

Well I'm a bit behind schedule this week. My internet service has been down for a bit. This morning I and many other New Yorkers in the Finger Lakes were awakened by a Tornado Warning instructing everyone to take shelter immediately. It was at that point that I realized I really don't have any central rooms other than a hallway and I'm tethered to a heavy oxygen concentrator that would probably wrap plastic tubing around my neck as we (the machine and I) flew out across Seneca Lake. That said, I got myself disoriented for a bit but everything is back to normal if there is such a thing in 2021. So, down to business. What did we learn this week?

We learned Steve Bannon has no respect for Congress or the rule of law. We also learned that Democrats in Congress can't get out of their own way when it comes to communicating and acting on holding people accountable. They talked for two weeks about how tough and swift they would be and now we find out that tough and swift isn't really something they know how to be.

We learned some related things about the Democrats. Their base is far ahead of their leadership on many issues. After months and months of time to put a plan together, it turns out there is no real plan on getting voting rights passed. Voting rights, the most basic rights of a democracy will have a test vote next week. This while states are passing more and more restrictive laws on voting. Perhaps they will learn that when marchers in a parade or demonstration overtake the leaders, new leaders appear. More and more it looks like that time has come.

We learned that the Moderna and J&J vaccines will be approved for a booster shot within the next week or so.

We learned about the supply chain this week, something we probably should have known about for some time. We also learned that ports in California will start operating 24/7. Interesting because many people thought they were alreadyoperating 24/7 for years. Some are saying Christmas and the holidays will be ruined but let's be clear, Christmas will be fine. Perhaps a little less materialistic. Wonderful!

We also learned that the tractors that pull those trailers full of goods that we're all dying for, get about 6 to 7 miles per gallon of diesel fuel, that we had a truck driver shortage before the pandemic, that DMV office closings caused problems related to new drivers getting CDL licenses. Too bad all of those railroad tracks were pulled up and removed.

We learned that the media just can't get enough of Donald Trump. They know it and he knows it. He doesn't need Twitter or Facebook. He just says something outrageous and every news outlet has a story on it. Free advertising and promotion and then they'll act shocked and outraged when he does so well in some poll somewhere.

We learned that Jeff Bezos and William Schatner are two peas in a pod. Two marketers who pretend for the cameras. Their sincerity and emotions are pretty phony if you ask me. It looked to me like weightlessness didn't seem to kick in for Shatner. I just wish that a guy who can afford all of these space shots could pay his fair share of taxes.

We learned, not just this week but over time,  that the conservative GOP that exists today is unbridled and power hungry. The people who make it up are interested in controlling abortions, creating voting barriers, gerrymandering. controlling academics and banning books. These are all part of goals that have been worked on and planned over a long period of time. What we see happening in Texas is an example of white power and the desire to control what happens when people of color take the majority. This game plan is exactly what we saw in South Africa. We should not turn our heads or avert our eyes to any of this. We should speak out wherever and whenever we can.