Protests

For What It's Worth

There's somethin' happenin' here

But what it is ain't exactly clear

There's a man with a gun over there

A-telln' me I got to beware

It is time to stop and look around, but also to do something.

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and far too many people have died as the result of police activities.  Jacob Blake has been physically injured, but far too many others have less visible, but still real, emotional injuries.  Protesting these actions is a right that is protected by the US Constitution.  These protests may anger some.  This anger has been expressed by using cars, guns, pepper spray, and mace against the protesters, some of which have resulted in deaths, all of which can be morally, if not legally, considered to be assault or worse.  Is it surprising that some of these assaults provoke others to defend themselves or others, which has led to the death of Jay Danielson and his shooter in Portland, Oregon?

It is important to remember why there are protests, and not create further injustices in defense of those protests.  Two wrongs do not make a right.   The fact that a second wrong has occurred does not somehow make the first wrong go away.  Trying to fix EVERY wrong is the right response.  If the protests continue, as I believe they should, let us hope that they are peaceful.

Altruism

 Step To The Rear

Will everyone here kindly step to the rear

and let a winner lead the way.

Nice guys finishing last, assumes that a game will never repeated.

Nobody wants to be a loser, particularly the former star of Mark Burnett’s Apprentice, who is the current President.  However watching Mark Burnett's shows demonstrates that winners of one show fare poorly on future shows.  So how can a winner one day, be a loser the next day?  Does altruism ( "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known" ) have any value as winning strategy.  Did John McCain’s suffering as a POW for his country make him a loser?

The answer lies in Game Theory.  Altruism is a valid strategy if a game is infinitely repeated. So acting as if each game will never be repeated and the future has no value might be a valid strategy for winning one game.  However it does not describe the society in which I wish to live.  I expect that there will be a future, and that even if I "lose” today, that will help me or someone else win tomorrow.  Otherwise, why would I even play the game ?  And if I no longer  play the game with you, how can you ever be a winner?

It's A Wonderful Life

Buffalo Gals

Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight
Come out tonight, come out tonight
Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight
And we'll dance by the light of the moon 

The film "It’s a Wonderful Life" speaks to conditions today. 

At the Republican National Convention, President Trump was compared to George Bailey as played by Jimmy Stewart in the film It’s a Wonderful Life.  That comparison was soundly denounced by Kelly Stewart Harcourt, the daughter of the late Jimmy Stewart.  I too am reminded of the film today, but if I were Frank Capra, President Trump would be my inspiration for Mr. Potter.  ( As an aside this would not be President Trump's most famous connection to the movies.  According to Bob Gale, the screenwriter of Back to the Future, Donald Trump served as the inspiration for the bully Biff Tannen.)  In the famous bank run scene, Mr. Potter tries to take advantage of the bank panic by buying shares of the Bailey Building and Loan at 50 cents on the dollar.  Mr. Potter's housing is described as slums and broken-down shacks, while the Bailey houses are decent. 

One of my favorite characters in the film is Bert the cop. (Bert and his sidekick Ernie, the taxi driver, may have been the inspiration for Jim Henson’s Sesame Street characters)  When the system is good, Bert is good.  When the system is bad, as in the Potterville scenes, he still enforces the system but he is less sympathetic.  The police are the enforcers of the system.  The way to support good police is to have a good system.

Another reason that It’s a Wonderful Life is timely today is that its theme song, “Buffalo Gals", is not just an innocent American folk song. It came from minstrel shows.  The only person of color in the film is Annie, the Bailey’s cook.  While it is clear from the dialog that Annie is considered to be part of the Bailey family, we thankfully are not shown her fate in the Potterville scenes.  It’s a Wonderful Life is a testament to Black Lives Matter.  It is clear from the film that All Lives Matter, but left unsaid is that black lives are in danger.  That even the film did not recognize its systematic casteism, with blacks as the lowest caste, demonstrates that even if it is a wonderful life, it can be better by making it a wonderful life for everyone, including the lowliest of us.

Safer Vaccines

You Can't Hurry Love

You can't hurry love
No, you'll just have to wait
Just trust in a good time
No matter how long it takes

 We all want a COVID-19 vaccine right away, but like love we'll just have to wait.

During the 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic, counties in Northern Europe used Pandemerix as a vaccine.  It was never  approved for use in the United States.  It was later found that an increase in narcolepsy was a side effect of the vaccine.  Because of this side effect, Pandemerix is no longer used or available. 

 
But the fact that there is a side effect could only be determined with time.  That is the reason that it was not approved in the United States, because the required testing time had not yet elapsed.  We will have enough trouble making people who are fearful of the side effects of all vaccines to take a corona virus vaccine.  If we rush and there are side effects we will only make it harder.

Rushing a vaccine with side effects can be just as bad as not having a vaccine at all.
 

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

 Teach Your Children 

Teach your parents well. 
Their children's hell
Will slowly go by. 
And feed them on your dreams.
The one they pick, is the one you'll know by.

Nuff' said

Kellyanne Conway announced that she is leaving the Trump administration at the end of August. Her husband, George Conway, announced that he is leaving the Lincoln Project opposing the re-election of President Trump.  Their daughter Claudia has announced on Tik Tok that she is taking a break to focus on her mental health.

I have to assume that each of these actions are interrelated.  Claudia has previously said her parent's views have caused her distress.  If her parents and she are ceasing their positions  to focus on their family then best of luck to all of them.

Safety First

The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last 

Moving too fast in the development of vaccines is also NOT a good idea. 

I remember the Thalidomide crisis and I have worked with British victims of Thalidomide. Babies were born in Europe because it did NOT safely test Thalidomide before it was approved as a treatment.  The FDA did not  approve Thalidomide in the United States at that time because its safety had not yet been proven, and in hindsight that was the correct decision.  

There is a reason that there are test periods before adopting new treatments, drugs, and vaccines, not just to determine whether they are effective, but whether they would create more harm.  If drinking bleach as a treatment for COVID-19 is harmful and hydroxychloroquine is ineffective, rushing a treatment to market before safely testing is also a bad idea.   A fetus is in the womb for 9 months.  If the desire is to protect the fetus, then how in the world is rushing a treatment to market  before 9 month is a good idea, no matter how long it is until the election.

I would rather wait and be safe, than to rush to approve a treatment.  The FDA that protects me is one that is slow and cautious.  That it has a proven record of  protection does not make them part of the deep state.

Government Services

 Please Mister Postman

Mister Postman look and see
(Oh, yeah) Is there a letter in your bag for me?
(Please, please, Mister Postman) I been waiting a long, long time
(Oh, yeah) Since I heard from that girl of mine

There is a difference between a government service and a business

The post office is under siege these days.  Since 2006 it has been operating under rules that have assumed it is a business.  Given that its very name is the United States Postal SERVICE, I am not sure why it is assumed to be a business.  It is a government service.

You can choose to use a  business.  You are provided government services.  It may be a business decision that it is too expensive to deliver prescriptions to rural areas, but that is not a governmental decision.  The Post Office has been in existence longer than the United States has had a constitution.  As a society we have decided that while it may be unprofitable, and thus not a good business decision, to deliver some letters and packages, it is still essential to deliver every letter and package. 

 
Business can go bankrupt.  If they do, then the losers are those businesses but also the creditors and customers of that business.  Governments can NOT, by definition, go bankrupt since we as the government are also its creditors and customers.  (yes, I realize that some city governments have gone bankrupt, but that is only because some other government bailed them out.  Governments can truly go bankrupt only if every government also went bankrupt and there was no one to bail them out, e.g. make their customers and creditors whole.)

Government services are NOT supposed to make a profit.  It is nice if they do, but that is not the point.  Trying to force them to make a profit is effectively making it NOT a service and if that is the case, then we should at east be honest and also remove service from the USPS name.