I was just talking to an English musician who is afraid to go on the road. Covid is raging, people aren’t wearing masks and he doesn’t trust the government. Which has pooh-poohed and botched the Covid response:

“Covid: UK’s early response worst public health failure ever, MPs say”: https://bbc.in/3jovPlN

As you will remember, it was just a month ago or so that Covid infections suddenly dropped in the U.K., no one knew why, maybe it was never going to come back. But now:

“UK government accused of being ‘willfully negligent’ as Covid cases mount”: https://cnn.it/3m4P1qu

“On Thursday it reported 52,009 new infections, the highest mark since July. 

The government has nonetheless ruled out moving to its ‘Plan B’ approach, which would see the introduction of vaccine passports and mandates in line with many European countries.

‘We are sticking with our plan,’ Boris Johnson said Thursday. ‘The numbers of infections are high but we are within the parameters of what the predictions were.’

But in a scathing intervention on Wednesday, the British Medical Association (BMA) said Johnson’s government ‘has taken its foot off the brake, giving the impression that the pandemic is behind us and that life has returned to normal.'”

And the rest of Europe is freaking out:

“UK’s neighbours criticise Covid policies as cases begin to surge across EU – Several European nations have questioned British response but there are growing signs of fresh wave across continent”

But it’s always sunny in Philadelphia, er, the United States, because we’re different, we’re immune, right.

It wasn’t like we didn’t get a heads-up on the Delta variant. It was crawling all over the U.K. and Europe before it got here. And it was here for quite a while before anybody took action. And now there’s a new variant. As a matter of fact, it’s already here:

“COVID-19: New, infectious strain of Delta variant detected in the US”: https://bit.ly/3m2LU2d

Rust never sleeps, nor does Covid. You might be out living your life willy-nilly, but Covid keeps mutating and each new iteration is MORE TRANSMISSIBLE!

But we can’t take further action in the U.S. because of people’s FREEDOM!

Yeah, right.

And then there’s that bozo Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich who decided to get fired rather than get vaccinated. Now he’s suing for illegal termination: https://es.pn/3C7qR41

Ain’t that America. No one can lose out. Everyone thinks their way will prevail. You see Rolovich is a “devout” Catholic, and therefore he deserves an exemption.

What hogwash.

You’ve got to read this article:

“Many are searching for vaccine mandate loopholes. These are the people trying to stop them.”: https://wapo.st/3B4tN0b

“Almost all of Troup’s applicants for religious exemptions objected to taking a vaccine developed using fetal cell lines (whose origins can be traced back to cells from electively aborted fetuses several decades ago). So Troup and his team devised a strategy: Those employees would have to sign an agreement not to take any other medical treatments developed using fetal cell lines. Among the 28 medications on the list: Tylenol. Motrin. Preparation H. Claritin. Benadryl. Tums.”

“‘I very gently and politely asked, “Well, you know, tell me: What medicines on that list…do you think were not developed with fetal cells or tested on fetal cells?”‘ Troup recalls. ‘The response was this diatribe about how evil the vaccine was, how much harm it causes, how data and reports are being covered up. Which told me that it really wasn’t about fetal cells at all. It’s all about a vaccine hesitancy.'”

In other words, the claimed religious exemptions are just b.s. And we should call everybody on their b.s. I’m sick and tired of the minority holding sway over the majority.

Fewer than 13% of Americans are anti-vaccine: https://bit.ly/3Ga7bPu This happens again and again, with guns, abortion, taxes on the rich, the majority supports the foregoing, but it never ever goes their way. You think there’s not pent-up anger?

And the both sides media gives attention to anybody who causes a ruckus, who expounds upon their bogus position loudly, when the truth is they should be ignored or their position skewered.

It’s hard to have faith in America today. Manchin takes money from fossil fuel companies and therefore there can’t be strict climate controls. Yes, that’s America, where companies are not only people, they’re immune to the long hand of the government. People in West Virginia want what’s in Biden’s infrastructure bill:

“In deep red West Virginia, Biden’s $3.5tn spending proposal is immensely popular – Working-class people – even Trump voters – understand the Build Back Better plan will benefit them”: https://bit.ly/2Zg48EA

And then there’s the inane Republican January 6th position. Nothing happened, there is no need to investigate…BUT WE SAW IT WITH OUR OWN TWO EYES!

As for Steve Bannon… That’s what I want to do, next time I get a traffic ticket, just not show up. Maybe I’ll claim a religious exemption when they come after me. Or sue saying I should be paid by the police for stopping me. Everything up is down.

And most of America knows it.

But this is the same America playing by the rules while the rest do not.

Do you know why Covid raged in the south over the summer? BECAUSE EVERYBODY WENT INSIDE! You need the A/C to survive. And as soon as the weather cooled, they went back outside and infection rates went down. And then it got cold again in the north and people went inside, and BINGO!, increased infection rates, especially amongst the unvaccinated.

But the vaccines don’t work, you know that, right? And they kill your immune system and by December everybody who gets a booster will no longer have an immune system. PEOPLE E-MAIL ME THIS IDIOCY EACH AND EVERY DAY! They’re in a paper war, albeit online. There are endless sites preaching this nonsense. If you believed these people you’d think millions of people have died from the vaccine and it’s new and experimental and while we’re at it, we should eliminate the need for any vaccines, while we hobble government’s right to take action. No masks, no mandates… It would be utterly laughable if it wasn’t so scary.

So America is open for business. And since the nincompoops are not abiding by the rules, the rest of the population shrugs its shoulders and gives up too. It’s like letting the wild child in school ride herd over the rest of the students, and you know that never happens, because there are CONSEQUENCES! Actually, there are consequences for the unvaccinated, they could die. But the fact that the vaccinated can die too means the vaccine doesn’t work. But the truth is the unvaccinated get infected and die at a much higher rate. And the vaccinated are infectious, can spread Covid, for a much shorter period of time than the unvaxxed. But good luck convincing these flat-earthers like Kyrie Irving of the truth, which is everywhere if you just look. But oh no, better to do your own research than depend upon experts. I’ve got it, you’d rather fly in a plane built by Facebook followers. Or maybe go to their health clinic. THEY DON’T EXIST! No one is holding them back, the main problem is THEY’VE GOT NO EXPERTISE!

So now what happens.

Well, we need more mandates and vaccine cards/documentation. But we can’t even get voting laws passed, never mind the infrastructure bill, because one party keeps on saying no and Manchin and Sinema are whored-out to their donors as opposed to their constituents. After all, you can’t continue to win without money!

We’ve got to close the window on these crybabies, like they do in reasonable countries, like France. The country is no longer a punch line. You can go unvaxxed, BUT YOU JUST CAN’T GO ANYWHERE! It’s your CHOICE! Why can’t we have the same damn thing in America?

Then there’s that story that Paul Stanley’s guitar tech died of Covid, HE FAKED HIS VACCINATION CARD! That was on the radio. Don’t take it to the bank without further confirmation. But the bottom line is the guy did have Covid and he did die. How’d you like to work with that prick?

And it’s not only the wingnuts, it’s the above the law rich too:

“Broadway folks bragged about forging COVID tests to go to Tonys parties”: https://bit.ly/3C3Pj6r

Seems like you’re a sucker if you obey the rules.

Meanwhile, Biden is afraid of his shadow while the right wing press keeps going on about the drop in his approval ratings…WHICH THEY’RE CAUSING! It’s the do-nothing right wing congresspeople who are doing their best to shut down the government, LITERALLY!

And no one can see further than their nose. The big problems? We can’t afford to tackle them. This is like the jerk who refuses to buy health insurance and then gets into a major accident or gets cancer or… Oops! Then we end up taking care of this freeloader. But who is going to take care of us on climate change… NOBODY! And it’s happening while we speak:

“Climate Change Poses a Widening Threat to National Security – Intelligence and defense agencies issued reports warning that the warming planet will increase strife between countries and spur migration.” https://nyti.ms/3E5GQA6

It seems like the goal of many Americans is to be an ostrich, they never learned this parable in school. Then again, many believe God will save them, you know, that old powerful man in the sky. And you’ve got to know, just like they want monoclonal antibodies, just like when they go to the hospital to treat their infection, they want a complete pass when they wake up and need science. They’re picking and choosing. Let’s see, why don’t we let Boeing pick and choose which parts they install in the airplane. As a matter of fact, Boeing is screwing up building their planes, and who is holding them to account? THE GOVERNMENT! Which wastes all your tax money and should be drowned in the bathtub. Yeah, right.

So Covid could die out. It’s possible. But past is prologue, and looking at the U.K….it appears that a new wave is on the horizon, HOLD ON, IT’S COMING!

And no one is immune.

“One in three music industry jobs were lost during pandemic”: https://bbc.in/3vxT3dX

“One in three jobs in the British music industry were lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report from trade body UK Music.

The research said there were 69,000 fewer jobs in music in 2020 than in 2019 – a drop of 35% – due to the ‘devastating impact’ of coronavirus.”

You may want to go to the show, but there may be no show to go to! Ticket sales have slowed to a crawl, so many of the big acts are delaying their tours.

Yes, we live in a society, networked, where the actions of one affect the actions of another. You won’t get vaccinated so other people are scared to go to the show and then there is no show… You call this victory?

Strict mandates. Vax cards. Masks. That’s the only way to improve the situation.

Do I expect this to happen?

NO!