“Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe – Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy.”: https://nyti.ms/3xLGGvm

I read this this morning and I went INSANE!

I’m not one of those people who sleeps with their phone by their bed, if I did I’d never get any sleep. As for those who e-mail me telling me not to send missives late at night… Do you really get that little incoming? And if you want to be available for emergencies do you really not know how to adjust your settings so you’re not awakened by interruptions of a lesser sort?

Ah, power users. David Pogue’s contract with O’Reilly for the “Missing Manuals” expired and he now has a new series, “Unlocked.” Over the holidays I read the books on the Mac and the iPhone. Genius. If you don’t read the manual, you’re unaware of so much you can do. Like in Big Sur, the Do Not Disturb feature. Yes, just like on your iPhone, you can click on Do Not Disturb and all banners and sounds are silenced, there is no incoming, so you can concentrate. I use this every damn day, during Zoom calls, but mostly while I’m writing, otherwise I can’t concentrate. Check it out: https://apple.co/3tdFCgr Also, the Pogue book will tell you how to put the Do Not Disturb icon in the menu bar, readily available always. As for the iPhone…did you know you could ask Siri for your passwords? Try it, amazing!

So all this is to say the first thing I do every morning is to unplug my iPhone in the kitchen, take it to the bathroom and catch up. I’m sorry if you’re grossed out, but I watch these foreign TV shows where high school students sleep over at each other’s houses and have sex and the parents don’t bat an eyelash. Can you imagine how much healthier our nation would be if it stopped being so puritanical and admitted we all have bodily functions and desires? Don’t hold your breath.

So I’m reading this article about the failure to reach herd immunity because of the anti-vax camp and…I want to write but will it have any impact? And then I think we’ve got to get the country artists on board. But I Google, and it turns out they already are, they made a PSA which has…325 views! A kid farting in his basement has more views! Check it out: https://bit.ly/3gZewYa

What this tells us is the Academy of Country Music has no idea how to reach its audience, never mind impact it. And it’s not only the ACM, the entertainment brass is so inured to the old methods that it’s lost touch with the majority of the public. Grammy and Oscar ratings keep tanking and they think it’s about the show…no, it’s about the CONTENT! Most people don’t care! You may call it “Record of the Year,” but I’ve never heard it and have no desire to listen to it. Think about this, when it comes to entertainment most people are anti-vaxxers, they can’t be swayed, because in this case they’ve been turned off by crap or are deep into something more appealing or both. BUT NO ONE ACKNOWLEDGES THIS!

I could write about how insane the anti-vaxxers are, how the vaccine didn’t work for me and now I’m subject to their bad behavior, BUT I CAN’T REACH THEM! I’d just be preaching to the converted, and how exciting is that?

But think about that. The anti-vaxxers have an infrastructure appealing to them, and that’s all they listen to. Not only Fox News, but the Daily Caller and so much more. There’s no need to read news that you don’t like. And the algorithm twins, Facebook and Google, have reinforced this. Let me tell you right now, America is going down the drain, and it’s our own damn fault, we let these internet giants disrupt our nation and around the world authoritarians are taking over, because otherwise you’ve just got chaos, nothing gets done. Think about that, Biden wants an infrastructure bill passed, and the right wants to debate the definition of infrastructure, it’s more worried about appealing to its base than what’s right. Do you think they do this in China? Of course not! And a whole hell of a lot gets done in China, but in America, you have the freedom to be an uninformed idiot, freedom not to worry about the greater good, and we end up with gridlock. And false protests. You want to recall Newsom? Waste our California money to do so, there’s no way in hell a Republican will replace him, no way, but I’ve got to pay for you to stroke your tiny unit.

No one can reach everybody, NO ONE! But systems keep operating like they can. The movie business…pre-Covid it raises its prices to keep grosses up while attendance flags. And then it focuses on foreign exhibition and for a while it works but now domestic films dominate in China. Everybody’s selling out today to ruin themselves tomorrow. Kinda like the online “influencers” who forgo educations because they believe their momentary fame is forever. Why not ask Milli Vanilli? Oh, Rob is dead and Fab…who knows what even happened to that guy!

It’s like our nation is comprised of 340 million cars with the pedal to the metal heading straight towards the cliff. And so much of what we’re told is just plain wrong.

So when it comes to music… Do it your way, focus on art not cash. You’re never going to be as rich as Jeff Bezos, but you can make him squirm.

If you’re involved in politics, it’s all about grass roots, going door to door, just ask Stacey Abrams.

And if you make any progress, expect the losers to move the goalposts. Or to double-down. Do you hear the record companies saying they’ll increase streaming payouts? No, they like that Spotify is getting the heat, just like you think Ticketmaster is the criminal when the truth is it’s the acts themselves. If people can’t understand this, what are the odds they can understand the big issues? And you can’t complain about anti-vaxxers if you’re bitching about streaming payouts, think about that.

As for vaccinations, the best article I read on this came from CNN:

“Covid-19 vaccine myths: These reasons for not getting a shot don’t hold up. In fact, they’ll set the US back”: https://cnn.it/3xL2wPS

Send this and the “New York Times” article above to every anti-vaxxer you know, each and every one! Forget all the “science” coming down from the top, how you can’t change people’s minds. Of course you can! By making them feel like a minority! Everyone wants to be a member of the group, freedom is no match for ostracization. If people were inundated with these messages, were taught that their reluctance to get vaccinated is hurting everybody else, not only themselves, maybe they’ll re-evaluate. What people don’t realize is opinions switch on a dime. If door to door canvassing got people to vote against Trump, why do you think it won’t work against the anti-vaxxers!

As for Rupert Murdoch, like Trump you’ve got to know he’s been vaccinated. As a matter of fact, if you Google you’ll find out he got his first shot back in December. Yet he lets Tucker Carlson spew falsehoods ad infinitum, stirring up an ignorant base that continues to act and vote against its interests under a false conception of freedom. Words have power. Thank god Tucker Carlson can’t reach the majority of the population, but when it comes to herd immunity we need 90% of people to get the shot and he’s messing it up for all of us!

Never forget, you don’t shame the mouthpiece, you shame the deep pocket. Rupert is married to Mick Jagger’s old flame, Jerry Hall, he wants to be included, how about an anti-Rupert song? No, we’re too busy singing about inanities to focus on the big issues. Where’s the money in an anti-Rupert song, where are the branding possibilities?

And it’s always someone else’s responsibility.

No, the truth is it’s yours. And you’re the only one who can save yourself, via action. Power now comes from the ground up, not only in politics but the arts. But those at the top don’t want you to know this, they want to keep you uninformed and dumb. And no one wants any responsibility and everyone’s afraid of losing a potential fan. But not the corporations, they take a stand and lose real money but the artists are wimps. Yes, Delta lost a Georgia tax break and you’re unwilling to risk the fandom of someone who doesn’t like you that much to begin with?

Things are not only rotten in Denmark, they’re rotten in America too. The smell is overwhelming. We can’t rely on our politicians and talking heads, we certainly can’t rely on musicians, we’ve got to take action ourselves. Don’t shut up about vaccines, it’s literally life and death, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise!