Ramblin' with Roger

The DeSantis variant of COVID-19

some have good sense

Someone suggested “the DeSantis variant”, and I’m not remembering who.

After I got my second dose of the Pzifer vaccine on March 24, I felt…liberated. It wasn’t that I thought the pandemic was over, but that it was ending in the United States sooner rather than later. The country had a sufficient amount of vaccines, enough to send to countries that didn’t have access, through WHO’s COVAX program.

Then the new vaccine numbers plummeted, and infection rates went up, first in the South and Midwest then everywhere. What I saw on the television, of medical personnel turning cafeterias and parking lots into extra COVID-19 beds. But this was different than last year at this time. Many of these folks were frustrated. And a lot of them were ANGRY.

Most of them DIDN’T say, “You dummies! You’ve brought this on yourselves!” But it was, in several cases, the clear subtext. Patients, or their families asking, begging for the vaccine as people suffer through the effects of the condition.

Some people who didn’t get injections I cut a lot of slack for. Pregnant women who worried about the side effects. The immunocompromised who are going to need that third dose.

“Freedom”

But the argument that people who aren’t getting the vaccine only are harming themselves is simply not true, despite the panoply of articles being sent to me by someone I’ve known most of my life. (It also includes info about the stolen election, the persecution of the Pillow Guy, and minimization of the Holocaust, so I’ve deigned to filter them out.)

Those folks not getting vaccinated are Petri dishes making the population, i.e., ME more likely to become sick with a variant of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, governors such as Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida have, in the name of “freedom”, banned school districts in their states from a vaccine and/or mask mandates, though some districts are ignoring them. What about the freedom to keep people safe and healthy?

Dr. Rob Davidson is looking to understand. “I don’t blame my patients for their refusal [to get vaccinated.] What breaks my heart, as someone who took an oath to prevent harm, is that my patients choose to abandon the science and evidence that can save their lives. I do blame Fox News and other right-wing media outlets for poisoning the minds of millions of Americans with the deceptive propaganda they spray into living rooms 24/7.”

Patience lost

True enough. Yet, despite my desperate attempt to try to “see the other side,” I’m just not able to do it anymore. Don’t have it in me. These people are, if I’m being totally honest, infuriating me. Thoughtless privilege. Cognitive distortions. And since I can’t just scream at them – it would do no good anyway – it leaves me in a state of melancholy. I have what Mark Evanier calls “The Springtime for Hitler” look at anti-vaxx/anti-mask efforts in our country.

DeSantis, in particular, irritates me, with his posturing to grab hold of the Trump voters when he presumably runs for President in 2024. He’s threatening to withhold salaries from district superintendents who mandate masks in schools. At least I can yell at him when I see his smirk on the TV. I’ve renamed the Delta variant the DeSantis variant; use in good health.

The vaccine could save us if we let it. But as we go backward in the fight against COVID-19, I can hold onto the fact that at least most of my friends and relatives have the good sense to protect themselves, and me. Especially me.

Movie review: Collective [Romania]

medical establishment

The International Feature Film Oscar nominee Collective, representing Romania, is an intriguing docudrama. It’s in no small part because the viewer thinks the story is going to be about one thing, but there continues to be much more to the narrative.

The title comes from Bucharest’s Colectiv nightclub. A 2015 fire there killed 64 people. But the majority of them died well after the conflagration. Why is that?

A group of reporters from, of all things, a sports daily newspaper, keep finding bits of the story, led by Catalin Tolontan and Mirela Nega. These are dogged investigators who might put Woodward and Bernstein to shame. Think of the movie Spotlight or other investigative films, without the Hollywood lighting and mood music.

The newspaper initially reveals one villain, a medical supplier. Did the company director know about the discrepancies in the product line? But this turns out to be merely the tip of the iceberg.

Knight to the rescue?

It is at that point that director Alexander Nanau pivots, rightly so, I believe. He then focuses on the personable new minister of health Vlad Voiculescu, a former activist after his predecessor suddenly resigned. Vlad’s job is to initiate a whole redo of Romania’s corrupt and inept medical establishment. Naturally, he experiences pushback from the systems, plural: medical, bureaucratic, and political.

Near the end, Vlad notes the lack of interest in hospital reform from Romania’s doctors, while the public grows frustrated with how slowly change is coming. He notes, “It’s like we are living in separate worlds.”

A minor, but compelling storyline involved the recuperation of burn survivor Tedy Ursuleanu and her nifty new mechanical hand.

Critic Roger Moore notes, “One can’t watch the… documentary… without feeling as if the film is a snapshot of America’s future.” This detailed review in Indiewire tells a lot more than I’m sharing here. 99% of the critics and 88% of the general audience applauded this movie.

Despite the many setbacks experienced by the protagonists, Collective shows the value of truth, and the importance of a free press addressing countervailing forces. The movie’s pacing is slow, especially early on, but it’s worthwhile overall. I saw it on Hulu. It is in Romanian, with subtitles.

Race, reapportionment: 2020 Census

Cube Root Rule

As you may know, I was an enumerator for both the 1990 and the 2020 Census. That means I went door-to-door, getting the responses from people who had not mailed in the form (both years). In 2020, they could also have called in the information or responded online, so they had even more opportunities to do it themselves.

Enumerating in 2020 was more difficult than in 1990. For one thing, because of the pandemic, the process started later in the year. I was working in May 1990, but not until August 2020.

So what was the biggest takeaway for me? The Census allowed the ability to choose more than one race for the first time in 2000, thanks to a 1997 OMB memorandum. “204.3 million people [identified] as White alone. Overall, 235.4 million people reported White alone or in combination with another group. However, the White alone population has decreased by 8.6% since 2010.

“The Two or More Races population (also referred to as the Multiracial population) has changed considerably since 2010. The Multiracial population was measured at 9 million people in 2010 and is now 33.8 million people in 2020, a 276% increase. The ‘in combination’” multiracial populations for all race groups accounted for most of the overall changes in each racial category.”

Redefining self

Back in 2000, I was at a New York State Data Center meeting, because that’s what I did. I expected that the multiracial category wouldn’t be too great numerically in the first iteration. It was because how one saw race was so tied to the era in which people grew up.

So someone such as Barack Obama, in 1970, 1980, and 1990 Censuses, would almost certainly be categorized as black/African American per Census rules of the time. But he COULD have been listed as black AND white in the last three Censuses. Since these are self-identified categories, and the results are confidential until at least 2072, we won’t know unless he chooses to disclose them.

Personally, I clicked on the box marked Black in 2020, although nearly 40% of my DNA is from Europe, almost all of it from the islands of Ireland and Great Britain, something I did not know in 1990 and 2000.

A Pew survey notes: “In 1967, when miscegenation laws were overturned in the United States, 3% of all newlyweds were married to someone of a different race or ethnicity. Since then, intermarriage rates have steadily climbed. By 1980, the share of intermarried newlyweds had about doubled to 7%. And by 2015 the number had risen to 17%.”

Reapportionment

Another implication will take place when the reapportionment of Congressional and state legislative districts takes place in the next year. When drawing lines, how will the majority-minority areas be designated? The Supreme Court allowed in the Johnson case (515 U.S. 900 (1995)) “affirmative gerrymandering/racial gerrymandering”, where “racial minority-majority electoral districts are created during redistricting to increase minority Congressional representation.”

New York State lost a Congressional seat as a result of the newest Census. The local Spectrum News recently inaccurately said that it was a result of the state losing people; untrue. It gained population, but not as quickly as other states.

In fact, the loss occurred because the House has been capped at 435 members since 1929. Suggestions such as the Cube Root Rule would raise the number of House members and New York would NOT lose a seat but would rather gain a few.

We’re in a period when people can give feedback about the reapportionment process. For instance, the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission was formed in 2014 for this very purpose.

Anecdotally, I’ve heard that some folks in Saratoga County, north of Albany, do not want to be represented by Elise Stefanik, a Republican House leader who has been a staunch supporter of the 45th president. This will be an interesting time for the state legislatures around the country.

How to make George hipper, musically

Blue by Joni Mitchell

George, who I do not know, wrote:

I was taking a shower this morning and “Old Roger draft-dodger” came into my head from outer space. That led me to your column on S and G and to your favorites. I am now 92 and should not have really paid much attention to the music of their era, but as a widower, I was dating younger women and listened to their music to seem hipper than I really was.

I started to really listen to lyrics, not Cole Porter’s masterful words, but to a new generation’s words. S and G knocked me out as did some Beatle lyrics (Eleanor Rigby). My God these kids are thinking! I collected a bunch of CDs.

A decade or so later I started to listen to the Eagles “she’s goin to the cheatin side of town”. That set me to wondering if my old hands are as cold as ice. Oh well, what the hell. Music (to me) nowadays doesn’t sound smart enough. That is why I am writing. What do you suggest? I still want to be hipper. My wife was born in 1952 so you can see where she’s at.

So many choices!

I find recommending music to be difficult unless I know people’s tastes quite well. I was recently listening to Living Colour’s Time’s Up album from 1990, which I don’t know would be your style sonically. But I think it’s strong lyrically.

I’m fond of an alt-country artist named Jason Isbell. In fact, there are a lot of country-related artists I like, such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lyle Lovett, and Lucinda Williams.

Steely Dan may be to your liking. John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival may be underrated. Tom Waits is a grand songwriter, but his voice, to be kind, is an acquired taste. Leonard Cohen, who is often covered, is a fine scribe.

In fact, there’s a bit in Stages, more a chat than a song, that I think is hysterical. It’s a conversation he was having with some guys in his band:

And they were talking about the
Various stages that a man goes through
In relation to his allure to the opposite sex
It was not a scientific evaluation
Just something that arose over a cup of coffee.

It went something like this:

You start off irresistible
And, then you become resistible
And then you become transparent
Not exactly invisible but as if you are seen
through old plastic.
Then you actually do become invisible
And then, and this is the most amazing transformation,
You become repulsive.

But that’s not, that’s not the end of the story.
After repulsive then you become cute
And that’s where I am.

And more

If you haven’t discovered him, try John Prine, a songwriter who surely belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kris Kristofferson is a great writer, often covered by people from Janis Joplin to Johnny Cash.

So many: Randy Newman, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Neil Young, David Bowie, John Hiatt. Find Joni Mitchell’s Blue album, which I JUST finished playing again; her other stuff, too. Since you’ve already glommed onto Lennon and McCartney, I should note that solo McCartney can be hit or miss, but you might like his 2007 album, Memory Almost Full.

And of course, there’s a ton of songs written by Smokey Robinson and Bob Dylan, among others. Rolling Stone created a list of the 100 greatest songwriters that you should peruse.

Hey, people out there, what would you recommend for George to make him hipper? Artists. Specific albums, if you’d like.

JEOPARDY hosts Mike Richards, Mayim Bialik

How to say “Correct” in different ways

Mike Richards Mayim Bialik Jeopardy I’m a bit ambivalent over the announcement of the new hosts of the game show JEOPARDY!

Mike “Richards will kick off Season 38 as the full-time host of the syndicated show… [Mayim] Bialik will serve as the host of Jeopardy!’s primetime and spinoff series, including the upcoming all-new Jeopardy! National College Championship. Richards will continue to serve as executive producer of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.”

On one hand, as the EP, Richards clearly knows how the game is played. He helped coach the over a dozen guest hosts who have appeared since Alex Trebek’s death. On the other hand, and many others noted this, it’s not entirely unlike Dick Cheney being in charge of finding a Vice-Presidential candidate for George W. Bush, and deciding he’s the best qualified, though other SONY suits weighed in.

JEOPARDY fans have noted the diverse pool of guest hosts, after which they pick Richards, much to the chagrin of quite a few. Is it his fault that he’s a little dull and looks like a Ken doll? He does have some limited game show hosting credentials: High School Reunion, Divided ; The Pyramid; Dailies and Beauty and the Geek , but over 4000 hours of producing credits.

Many have pointed out that Alex Trebek told TMZ in 2018 his top choice as his Jeopardy successor. “There is an attorney, Laura Coates,” Trebek told TMZ’s Harvey Levin. “She’s African-American, and she appears on some of the cable news shows from time to time.” Whether she was even interested in the job, I don’t know.

The Price Is Right

Richards previously worked as Executive Producer on The Price Is Right. A lawsuit claimed he engaged in “pregnancy discrimination in two complaints filed by former Price Is Right models. He was accused of making insensitive statements and taking other questionable actions around models on the show who became pregnant.

“‘These were allegations made in employment disputes against the show. I want you all to know that the way in which my comments and actions have been characterized in these complaints does not reflect the reality of who I am… I would not say anything to disrespect anyone’s pregnancy and have always supported my colleagues on their parenting journeys.’

“Richards got a notably public boost of support from Price Is Right host Drew Carey. Carey credited Richards with making the show’s famous showroom models a much bigger part of the show. ‘He took them from just bodies on the stage to actual people that audiences could get to know as part of the TPIR family,’ Carey wrote.”

It’s all in the game

Meanwhile, I AM pleased by Mayim Bialik’s role in the JEOPARDY brand expansion, although I’m unclear what that will look like. She was among the best candidates, and I watched them all. And one assumes that most of the guest hosts didn’t want to leave their regular gigs.

Hosting JEOPARDY requires some particular skills. Welcoming the contestants and making as though you care about them in the interview section. Reading the clues and indicating whether the contestants’ responses are right or wrong in a timely fashion, trying to vary them: “Yes,” “Right,” “Correct.”

A good host will tell you about where we are in the game. If someone hits the Daily Double, Alex would indicate that the player could take the lead, or get closer, or make it difficult for their opponents.

The hosts in the last few weeks had the difficulty of having a champion, Matt Amadio, who not only won a dozen and a half games and over half a million dollars, but most of his matches were runaway contests. This means that the outcome of Final JEOPARDY often did not matter.

Some folks are enraged by the choice of Mike Richards. I’m not. I admit that I was pulling for LeVar Burton before his appearance, but he wasn’t one of the better guest hosts, unfortunately. And him openly campaigning for the job, I dare say, didn’t help his chances.

But if Richards’ ratings tank, expect that the hosting conversation will be reconsidered.