I just read a Politico article about bird flu virus being detected in retail milk samples in the US. Sounds scary right? Thankfully, the FDA says the pasteurization process should render the virus inactive.
Then I remembered an earlier Politico article about how some right-wingers—having already jumped on the anti-vaccine bandwagon—are now rejecting pasteurized milk. Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong there.
©2024 SummitCityScribe
There's more to come in the next dispatch.
©2024 SummitCityScribe
Three years ago this week, in March 2021, I was extremely grateful to finally get vaccinated against Covid-19 through my local health department.
On the day in question, I joined a large number of my fellow Hoosiers also hoping to do the same over at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum.
In years past, I'd attended circus performances, hockey games, concerts, and even my high school graduation at the venerable arena, but never a mass-vaccination during a global pandemic.
I remember being quite nervous that day—Covid-19 was killing people all over the world, and I wanted to get the shot before it got me, too. There was also an additional concern—I have allergies and wasn't sure if this new Pfizer shot would trigger any of them.
Those of us with similar concerns that day were instructed to report post-vaccine to a waiting area, where we sat on metal folding chairs for 15 to 30 minutes to see if we suffered any adverse reactions.
Two nurses from the Allen County Health Department hovered nearby to render assistance to those who did feel any ill effects.
I've always liked to diffuse tense or nervous situations with a bit of humor, so after sitting in silence for a moment or two with a dozen or so my fellow vaccinees, I posed a question to one of the nurses.
"I know it's only been a few minutes," I said to her, "and I feel okay so far, but do you think I'll be able to play the piano after this?"
The nurse looked up from her laptop with a reassuring smile.
"Oh, of course," she told me. "That won't be a problem."
"Wow," I replied, "that's great, because I never could play it before."
It took a second for one of the oldest jokes in vaudeville to sink in, but the very calm medical professional eventually laughed.
Immediately afterward, I sensed her sizing me up as some kind of wiseacre (which I am), but after 30 minutes had elapsed and I hadn't turned blue, she graciously allowed me to exit the waiting area.
As I stepped outside the Coliseum that afternoon, I felt a great sense of relief and security—something I hadn't felt in the months since the Pandemic first hit US shores. The little laugh I'd shared with the nurse made me feel better, too, if only as a way to relieve some tension.
Still, while it's often said that laughter is the best medicine, if the global pandemic taught me anything, it's that there's no substitute for actual science-based medicine. Thanks, Pfizer!
When I first realized this week marked the three-year anniversary of my first Covid shot, I recalled that old campaign slogan: "Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Four Years Ago?"
Remembering how truly terrible 2020 was: the rampant fear, uncertainty, and death—along with widespread school and business closings—it's incomprehensible to me how anyone say anything but a resounding "yes!"
There's more to come in the next dispatch.
©2024 SummitCityScribe
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| President Carter's State of the Union Address—Jan. 23rd, 1979 |
I didn't really pay much attention to politics until my teen years, so the first State of the Union speech I ever saw on TV was probably one given by our 39th President, Jimmy Carter.
I don't remember if I watched Jimmy's SOTU address on January 23rd,1979, but I did see Saturday Night Live's version of it four nights later on January 27th (with host Michael Palin and musical guests The Doobie Brothers).
As usual, Dan Ackroyd impersonated the President, this time giving the SOTU address while suffering from an attack of hemorrhoids—just as Carter was in real life at the time.
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| TV Guide's SOTU Close-Up with Preparation H ad beneath. |
Judging by the strategically placed ad in that week's edition of TV Guide (see above photo) American Home Products—manufacturers of Preparation H—also decided to cash in on the President's painful affliction.
Much like the SNL sketch, the ad placement was pretty tasteless—but timely, nevertheless.
There's more to come in the next dispatch.
©2024 SummitCityScribe
Recently, an online controversy erupted when Conservatives angrily rejected the idea that Black folks can't be racist. As I see it, their problem stems from the continued refusal of those on the Right to acknowledge systemic racism.
Look, Black folks can exhibit racial prejudice against white folks, but while such behavior is bigotry, it isn't racism, for the simple fact that racism = prejudice + power.
For Blacks to be considered racist, they would have to systemically benefit from that bigotry, and in the history of the USA, only one group has ever benefitted from such a system: white folks.
That's why it's so ludicrous when rich white folks like Elon Musk and Bill Ackman claim that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs are racist, when, in fact, those programs are meant to help combat racism.
Musk and Ackman whine that such programs amount to "racism against white people"—which is not only something that doesn't exist (see the helpful formula three paragraphs above) but on Jeopardy would probably be known as "Things White Supremacists Say".
To summarize: black folks can be bigoted, but not racist. White folks, on the other hand, can be both (re: Musk and Ackman)
As an eternal optimist, I continue to believe that someday all of us will live together free from the blight of racial strife—but when one side fails to even acknowledge the existence of systemic racism, that struggle remains an uphill battle.
Update: Just read this interesting article from the UK's Guardian which contains this very pertinent quote:
©2024 SummitCityScribe
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| US President Jimmy Carter |
Over the USA's nearly 250-year history, it's nearly impossible to find a Commander-in-Chief without a shot fired in anger by American forces during their time in office. The exception to this rule: our 39th President, James Earl Carter, Jr.
This remarkable achievement—first noted by the Washington Post's William Grieder upon the completion of Carter's first year in office—continued for the entirety of his term.
It's fitting that a man known for a commitment to peace—as evidenced by his administration's signature achievement: the Camp David Accords—can also lay claim to this singular honor.
At his current age of 99, he's also our longest-living former President. Way to go, Jimmy!
©2024 SummitCityScribe
Right-wing book bans are all the rage in 2023, but such authoritarian tactics are nothing new. Back in the 1950s—during the height of the McCarthy Era—conservatives actually tried to get the legendary hero Robin Hood removed from schools as they were convinced his steal-from-the-rich-give-to-the-poor philosophy was nothing less than straight up communism.
Just a few years earlier, Republicans had prodded the F.B.I. to investigate Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life, outraged that George Bailey was—gasp!—some kind of socialist (well, duh!)
As a native Hoosier, I wasn't surprised to discover this Robin Hood ban originated in Indiana—a state long known for its embarrassingly backward politics—but I was pleased to learn how a group of Indiana University students organized a campaign of resistance against it.
Known as The Green Feather Movement—because supporters wore a single chicken feather dyed green to show their antipathy toward censorship—the movement eventually spread to other U.S. college campuses: Purdue, Harvard, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and U.C.L.A.
While the Green Feather Movement may have been short-lived, the idea behind it is as important today—when right-wing groups such as Moms for Liberty are attempting to cleanse school libraries of books they don't agree with—as it was during the McCarthy Era.
You can read more about the Green Feather Movement here and here. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to order my Green Feather button from Etsy, which I plan to wear during the next school board meeting.
There's more to come in the next dispatch.
©2023 SummitCityScribe