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Entries in Covid-19 (27)

Sunday
Sep192021

News Of The Week Roundup: Week 37, 2021

DateSunday, September 19, 2021 at 04:15PM

It's officially the last weekend of summer and it was a crazy hot one in my neck of the woods. Fall will officially be here on Wednesday. That means colder, shorter days. Most people love fall. I don't care for the season much because it means winter is close at hand.

This past week had a lot of news headlines. Stories were kind of all over the place.

The city of Pasadena, California wants to pay tribute to Eddie Van Halen. There might be a park named after him!

 


Remember, even (big) cats can get COVID-19:

 

 


Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom easily beat back naysayers during Tuesday's recall election. The fiasco wasted over $200 million in taxpayer money.

 


The search continues for missing travel blogger Gabby Petito. Now her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, is also missing (or in hiding). Laundrie is apparently the last person to see Gabby alive. He wouldn't cooperate with police or give them any information, which is definitely... odd. This story is very weird.

 

 

 


A U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan killed 10 innocent civilians. The strike was aimed at Taliban fighters. The Pentagon admitted the mistake after media investigations. The CIA did try to send a warning that the area was full of kids - but the warning wasn't relayed in time. Tragic. 

 

And I leave you with this:

 

AuthorAllyson B. Crawford | Comment9 Comments |
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Sunday
Sep052021

News Of The Week Roundup: Week 35, 2021

DateSunday, September 5, 2021 at 11:01AM
My shoulder/arm/wrist is absolutely killing me today, so not much commentary from me follows. I have no idea why I am throbbing so bad, but it sucks and ibuprofen is not helping.


The two biggest stories of the past week (for me) are the unconstitutional Texas abortion ban that the Supreme Court let stand via shadow docket and the horrific remnants of Hurricane Ida on the east coast.







Also, I'm a weather nerd. The storms up the east coast definitely were forecast. Meteorologists mentioned catastrophic flooding as a possibility. The rain came so fast and swift, infrastructure just could not keep up. Some elected officials, namely New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, keep going on TV saying no one knew the weather was coming. That just is not true.






...and some hopeful COVID-19 news for America:


AuthorAllyson B. Crawford | Comment7 Comments |
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Wednesday
Sep012021

Gene Simmons Tests Positive For COVID-19

DateWednesday, September 1, 2021 at 09:19AM
Last week, Paul Stanley tested positive for the coronavirus. Now, Gene Simmons has it too. This means four more KISS concerts are postponed. Everyone in the band and on the tour is vaccinated, so this is another breakthrough infection.



AuthorAllyson B. Crawford | Comment2 Comments |
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Sunday
Aug292021

News Of The Week Roundup: Week 34, 2021

DateSunday, August 29, 2021 at 01:53PM
So much news over the past week and especially today. Hurricane Ida is a massive category 4 storm. She is lashing parts of Louisiana today and will bring large storm surges and heavy rain to surrounding states. Watching some of the live cams, I fear for the folks who decided to stay in place. There is going to be widespread damage for sure. Hospitals in the south are already full because of COVID-19 and it's a confluence of bad events. Also, a reminder for folks since so many of us will be dealing with flooding rains far from the hurricane in the days ahead: do not drive your car through water. You can drown and your car will get destroyed too.




Federal resources (FEMA) and disaster declarations are already declared so hopefully people will start getting help immediately once the storm passes. The humanitarian airlift out of Afghanistan continues. Over the past couple of weeks, 113,000 Americans and SIV-Afghans have been flown out of the country. A bad situation turned worse when a member of ISIS-K detonated a suicide vest, killing American troops and Afghans. The violence just reinforces my opinion that it was time to leave Afghanistan... 19 years ago.




Today, President Biden went to Dover Air Force Base for the dignified transfer service of the remains of the troops killed in the suicide blast.




The U.S. fought back swiftly, launching a drone strike that killed the planner and associate of the deadly attack.


The Delta variant and low vaccination rates are two reasons COVID-19 is hanging around this summer. Case numbers are climbing all over the country, but the crisis point remains the south. Still, some states are reissuing mask mandates to try and stop the spread. Illinois is now under a mandatory mask mandate for everyone again.



Booster shots are coming for sure. It's just a question of when.




Sirhan Sirhan, the man who killed Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and altered the course of history was granted parole and will be released from prison unless California Governor Gavin Newsom reverses the decision. Personally, I think it's ridiculous to let him out of jail. He should stay behind bars for life.



Actor Ed Asner has died. He played Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and then later on the spinoff Lou Grant. Such great television!



And I leave you with this:


AuthorAllyson B. Crawford | Comment4 Comments |
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Thursday
Aug262021

The Cult Cancels Shows

DateThursday, August 26, 2021 at 09:40AM
Blame it on COVID-19 and the Delta variant surge. The Cult has canceled all upcoming shows. The band is going to try again in Spring 2022. There have been other notable cancellations the past few days including Garth Brooks. I expect to see more of this in the coming weeks ahead.



AuthorAllyson B. Crawford | CommentPost a Comment |
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Sunday
Aug222021

News Of The Week Roundup: Week 33, 2021

DateSunday, August 22, 2021 at 12:01AM

My physical therapy continues and my shoulder is getting stronger. I had a different physical therapist this past week and she worked me really hard! I was incredibly sore yesterday for the first time in a long time. I still can't lift my arm above my head but I am getting closer!

I watched some of the "We Love New York" homecoming concert on CNN last night (until it was interrupted by the outer bands of Hurricane Henri). The hip hop section was really awesome. I still don't quite understand how having 60,000 people together in a park wasn't considered a COVID-19 super-spreader event, but everyone did have to show proof of vaccination (and kids under 12 a negative test) so I guess that was the argument.


Speaking of the pandemic... don't take bloody horse or cow pills to ward off the disease. Good grief. Just get the damn vaccine, people.

 

 

 


Not much with the pandemic surprises me anymore, but Orlando rationing water so the liquid oxygen used in the treatment process can be sent to hospitals for COVID patients instead definitely surprised me.

 

I own a Chevrolet Bolt. My husband has a Volt. Before the Bolt, I owned a Mitsubishi i-Miev. All are electric cars (the Volt has a gas engine, too). On Friday after the stock market closed, Chevrolet announced a recall of... every Bolt period. Previously, the 2017-2019 model years were recalled due to bad battery modules which could cause fire. Now every car is under the recall and there is a stop sale order as well. So this is a giant hassle but I love the car. It's the best car I've ever owned. I hope the battery issues get sorted quickly.

 


Now to Afghanistan, which remains a war zone. Seriously, did anyone think pulling out of a 20 year un-winnable war was going to be anything less than messy? It's like Americans think every image coming from the region should be all kittens and rainbows, with people lined up orderly, each getting a first class seat and pre-boarding beverage out of terrorist land. That was never going to happen, sad to say. When the State Department started telling Americans and SIV-eligible Afghans to start leaving country months ago, they should have listened. That said, the major pull-out push last weekend was definitely chaotic but within a few days, thousands of people were leaving via government, commercial and private chartered flights.


Both Trump and Biden campaigned on leaving Afghanistan, and rightly so. The media and regular folks alike criticized Trump's draw-down deal with the Taliban, but the only issue was that he didn't include the Afghan government in the plans. The Taliban was always going to regain full control of Afghanistan, it was just a matter of time. Apparently no one in the massive United States military, State Department, Congress or White House had any idea the paper army would fold in a couple days. I guess that's what 83 billion taxpayer dollars gets you. That's how much it cost to train up that "army" folks.

 


As I watched the news a few days ago, I was pretty scared for the Americans and Afghans left behind. I feel sorrow for the mothers who are so desperate they were throwing their babies at American troops to try and get them out of the country... but I also grew increasingly mad, too. Why the hell was the U.S. in Afghanistan for so long (and for so little) anyway? Why is the media giving Bush and Cheney a free pass on this mess? That administration failed to capture Osama Bin Laden at Tora Bora and that just set off a cascade of events that left American troops further embedded in the country. Before Barack Obama surged troops to Afghanistan to more than 100,000 at the peak in 2011, Joe Biden fought him tooth and nail the whole way. They were on opposite ends of the spectrum on the issue, with Biden wanting to pull out of the region a decade ago.



As the years wore on, Afghanistan become known as the forgotten war. This wasn't just because Americans quit thinking and talking about it. The media stopped covering it too.


So call me callous. As long as every American gets out of Afghanistan, I'm good. Thanks to all the Americans who are currently serving there for the evacuation operations and to all those who deployed in the past twenty years. It wasn't all for nothing, but the costs in lives and money sure were (are) very high.

 


And I leave you with this: a Disney World vacation is about to get even more expensive. Get ready to pay for shorter lines and surge prices for the best attractions. It's confusing and if you are planning a Disney trip, this is something you should study carefully!


AuthorAllyson B. Crawford | Comment1 Comment |
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Sunday
Aug152021

News Of The Week Roundup: Week 32, 2021

DateSunday, August 15, 2021 at 02:47PM
The news over the past week was dominated primarily by four stories: the continued COVID-19 crisis in southern U.S. states, the departure of American troops from Afghanistan, a massive and deadly earthquake in Haiti and the return of football as the NFL preseason kicked off.


Things are bad in Florida with the Delta variant causing COVID-19 to spread everywhere across the state it seems.



As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues his b.s. tour of blaming everyone and everything for the virus instead of encouraging preventative measures, folks are fact-checking him in real time:



Of course, the first point of mitigating spread is so folks don't get sick and die. The other main reason is to protect the healthcare system. There are so few hospital and ICU beds in the south that it is scary. Don't forget it's hurricane season too...




America's war in Afghanistan is 20 years old, which is about 20 years longer than we ever needed to be there in the first place. The Biden administration announced a final troop pullout back in April and it began in earnest a couple weeks ago. Now the country is in shambles and the Afghan National Army (ANA) just gave up and surrendered to the Taliban. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani took off and fled the country, signaling a collapse of the official government. There sure is a lot of unpack here:


1. The end result of the Taliban retaking power was inevitable. Why was American intelligence so poor that military officials believed it would take months - instead of days - for this to occur?


2. Why did 20 years of U.S. military training, huge supplies of state-of-the-art weapons and infusions of monthly payments fail to produce a strong ANA? This is rhetorical, but I will answer it anyway: because you can't impose your own beliefs about democracy and the will to fight on other people (and nations). The individuals have to believe in the cause and do so without fear. Also, you can't beat guerrilla (or tribal) warfare. See Viet Cong.



3. Why were U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan in the first place? The 9/11 terrorist attacks, of course. Why have U.S. forces stayed in the region so long after allies left? No exit plan (see Bush/Cheney), a fear of military failure, a desire for nation building, a patriotic belief that it is America's job to "fix everything" and "help everyone." That last part isn't a dig, by the way. I am proud so many nation's around the world respect America, our wealth and especially our military might. Still, hard power can't always fix everything.


4. Why did the Trump administration - especially Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - so ardently believe the Taliban were worthy partners in peace and were negotiating in good faith? Why did the Biden administration keep Trump's draw-down deadline?



President Biden is now sending more troops in to Afghanistan to rescue Americans and the Afghan partners who have helped us all these years. I hope they all get out safely and that the evacuations occur quickly. One thing to note: the Taliban knows not to engage with U.S. troops. They certainly live in the stone age, but they are not so stupid as to know that engaging with American military will mean certain - and massive - retaliation against them.


A final thought, er, question on Afghanistan: of those who believe leaving the region at this time was the wrong decision, then when was the right time to go? Another year? Decade? Never?



Poor Haiti, man. A decade ago the country was just about destroyed by a big earthquake. Earlier this week, another massive quake hit the island. Over 700 are confirmed dead now and more certainly will be in the coming days.




Football (the NFL kind) is back! I watched my Bengals against the Buccaneers last night in preseason play. The Bengals won, edging out the current Super Bowl champs! Of course, Bengals QB Joe Burrow didn't take any snaps - he is still recovering from a massive knee injury - but the rest of the team looked really promising. Oh and this happened at a different game - people are nuts:



And since we're on football, I leave you with this:


AuthorAllyson B. Crawford | Comment8 Comments |
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