The United States of America just about....now.....reached the 50% fully-vaccinated rate. This began in December of last year. What about the remaining 50%? For one, those 11 and younger have not been approved, and they represent 15% of the population. Thus, 35% of those eligible have chosen not to be fully vaccinated yet. These are:- 16% of American athletes in the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Some of those unvaccinated Americans have little to no confidence that the vaccines will protect them, especially the variants, or are worried about side and long term effects. Evidence shows they are WRONG!!! But there is Fox news and the like. It's not that there is a lack of information. Unvaccinated individuals are being convinced to be suspicious by what they hear, watch and read. Solution? Don't know, but this is the group that mostly supports Donald Trump, save for some non-whites who don't trust the government.- 43% of Republicans and 10% of Democrats.
- 37% of those under 45 and 16% of those older than 45.
- 30% of non-college graduates and 18% of college graduates.
- It's a free country, but Howard Koh of Harvard surely reflects a sad reality:
"What I learned from my patients is that when a loved one dies, that's a tragedy," said Koh, who was a senior public health official in the Obama administration. "But when a loved one dies and you know it could have been prevented, that tragedy haunts you forever."
If you watch a lot of TV as I do, this weekend has been heaven. Mind you, this is terrible for my long-term health, back and knees. Three or four straight hours of sitting, three times/day, wreak havoc.
My remote control (which should also be so for yours--call your service to find out how to do this) has been enhanced so that I can click on any of up to 14 stations. That was adequate for me to flip among baseball (4 different games), golf (3 stations), news channels and the Olympics, especially the latter, where I can find 5 separate channels, although one charges for use, and is not worth it. I thus avoid all commercials, and have no guilt in doing so.
The more I watch those obscure Olympics sports, the more I get to appreciate them. You need to understand the rules for 3-people basketball, handball and the like. Just by listening to the sportscasters, I get to learn about the personal stories of individuals, making me want to schedule viewing to incorporate them into my schedule. I still can't stand anything synchronized.
Can you believe that Hawaii has more Olympic athletes/million residents than any other state? We have more than 7.5, double the rate of California, which has the most number of participants, with 150. #2 is Florida with 64 of the 613 Americans in Tokyo. But about Hawaii, when you further add those with ties here because of attendance at the University of Hawaii, and those who were able to join the teams of other countries, we off the charts.
For example, there are four Australian women softball players who studied here. Yesterday, that team almost beat the USA in softball, but succumbed in extra innings, and is the only one that has scored against the U.S. This is confusing, but the USA plays Japan today, and again on Tuesday for the gold medal. As I earlier said, those pathways to the championship in some sports defy logic. In any case, the last time softball was played in the Olympics was in 2008 when Japan beat the U.S. for the gold.
Soccer is another sport that requires mathematical skill. Has something to do with scoring differential. Thus, it is almost assured that the American women's soccer team will advance because, even though it lost to Sweden 3-0, beat New Zealand 6-1, so we are +2 overall. Still need to get by Australia, but do not be shocked if the U.S. gets to participate in the gold medal final. Conversely, the men's team last made the Olympics in 2008, so don't look for them in Tokyo.
Today will be another TV feast, for in addition to continuous free coverage all day on four NBC channels, there are six Major League Baseball games and three golf tournaments. Unusual, but the major LPGA Evian Championship, which is not related to the Olympics, will be on CNBC.
The vaunted NBA-led USA basketball team? They lost to France 83-76. American women getting vanquished in soccer and men being beaten by France in basketball? What is happening? Turned out Australia was favored to get the gold, with the U.S. set for the silver, but France was rated #7. Australia today handled #4 Nigeria 84-67. And, by the way, Australia has twelve players with NBA experience, including Joe Ingles of Utah, Patty Mills of San Antonio, Ben Simmons of Philadelphia and Josh Green of Cleveland.
The most surprising gold medalist so far? I nominate 18-year old Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia. All he did was from lane #8 (which means he was the slowest qualifier) win the 400 freestyle swim. He hadn't before won any major international race.
The latest tally has China leading in gold and total medals with 6 and 11. The U.S. is #2 in medals with 10. #3 is ROC with 7. ROC? Stands for Russian Olympic Committee. I thought they were out of these Olympics? Nope, they are just not flying their flag or playing their anthem. Instead, their gold medalist will hear Tchaikovsky's Piano Concert No. 1. Ironically, this is what American Van Cliburn played to stun the world in 1958 by winning the First International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Remember We Are The World, 36 years ago? The idea came from Harry Belafonte and the song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, then recorded by the supergroup, USA for Africa. 45 singing stars (50 or so more wanted to get in) met at 10:30PM on 28January1985 and completed the task at 8AM the following morning, conducted by Quincy Jones. The prominent ones you know, but I had forgotten that also in the group were Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Dan Aykroyd and Harry Belafonte. It became the 8th best selling single of all-time. Raised an equivalent of $150 million for humanitarian aid in Africa, and the U.S.
Well, all 500 Clarksville Elementary School students from Indiana during this pandemic period outdid those stars. Watch their We Are The World.
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Oh, I said no typhoon was headed for Tokyo during the Summer Olympics. I was mostly right, but there is Tropical Storm Nepartak, named for a Kosrae warrior, that is already beginning to affect the Tokyo area, and will cause postponements of various outdoor events, including probably the Japan-USA softball game. Could be good for surfing, for there was some early worry about no waves. Hate to be wrong, but there is a chance that Nepartak could reach typhoon strength at landfall.
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