Last year Donald Trump was president and the risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 was pretty high.
This year Donald Trump is not president and the risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 is pretty low as long as you're vaxed and boosted.
In other words, 2021 was a big improvement over 2020. Right?
Well, I'm older, so that's bad. We're also one year further into climate apocalypse and the end of American democracy. Otherwise your point is well taken.
as noted in a slightly different context in the "lunchtime photo" comments, older means you're still a live, which is a good thing. which also means you're around to fight the climate apocalypse and to keep american democracy alive. same as me. let's make use of our gift.
Get old sucks but it sure beats the alternative.
If not for Joe Manchin, things would be looking even better!
Or worse. He could be a Republican after all.
True! Judges matter.
Right - for the US.
For the old, old dominion, not so much. Northam & our majority in the General Assembly will be gone next month, & the RW may attempt to reverse the abolition of the death penalty.
But yes, if Biden gets the support that he needs, some aspects of 2022 will appear better.
We just need to keep Chap Petersen in line. He was my state senator but the new gerrymander by the VA Supreme Court puts me into the 34th instead.
Hope that's an easier task than herding Manchin & Sinema.
Very disappointed that the joint letter from our senators to the state supreme court about the disproportionate affect on current Democratic women officeholders was ignored.
When could the broad swath of people first obtain a vaccination for COVID?
April.
That right there meant that 2021 would "have" to be better than 2020, and that 2020 thus was at an insurmountable deficit. Ie the comparison is at least a little bit silly.
And Trump's term didn't end until January 2021, so on that basis as well it would be impossible for 2021 to be as good as 2020, unless you consider an alternative timeline in which Clinton wins the 2016 election. And in that timeline, the COVID-19 situation might be different because Clinton would have tried to contain the virus in China.
"And in that timeline, the COVID-19 situation might be different because Clinton would have tried to contain the virus in China."
Yep. I was first notified by the US State Department that China had a killer virus with a lot of unknowns in mid-December, 2019. The only thing I saw happen was that some government "officials" re-arranged their stock portfolios in the subsequent months with donnie saying it was no big deal.
Son is too young to be vaccinated so no. It's only a little better.
Maybe. I personally think we are doomed. This is just one more example of how vulnerable we are to all kinds of mischief. 💣
New York (CNN Business)Ultimate Kronos Group, one of the largest human resources companies, disclosed a crippling ransomware attack on Monday, impacting payroll systems for a number of workers. After noticing "unusual activity" on Saturday, Kronos noted that its systems were down and could remain that way for several weeks.
Kronos has a long list of notable customers across the public and private sector, including the city of Cleveland, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Tesla and MGM Resorts International. It also works with many hospitals across the country.
Some employers find themselves having to make contingency plans in order to pay workers, such as shifting to paper checks. And some impacted employees have been unable to access payroll systems.
The ransomware attack impacts Kronos Private Cloud solutions, a data storing entity for several of the company's services, including UKG Workforce Central, which is used by employees to track hours and schedule shifts.
So… basic worker payroll systems are down for people all over the country.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/16/tech/kronos-ransomware-attack/index.html
Society has been hacked. And is being held for ransom. Happy New Year!
I used to think you were a pessimistic troll. But these days perhaps you are not pessimistic enough.
Sorry to be that guy. Have a Happy New Year!🎆
My employer uses Kronos for hourly payroll. Their back up time sheet systems work for now but they can’t get it to pay shift differential of 2nd and 3rd shift.
They hacked a supposedly secure payroll system. It’s not getting much coverage in the news. Maybe it’s not so bad, but it sure seems like a BFD.
Good luck.
Yes why the heck isn't this in the news like the Colonial Pipeline hack? Also was this meant to happen right was Putin and Biden had a phone call?
It happened a couple of weeks ago, but is still not repaired.
Yes, 2021 was a lot better. Agreed.
It was better, but still difficult. The Biden covid relief bill helped many pay rent & feed families. Judges, infrastructure. Personally we spent time with family and even flew to FL to visit relatives who we hadn't seen in 2 years. With the help of vaccines, boosters, better masks, and (fortunately) rapid test kits, which I had bought the week before Omicron boomed. I'd feel more confident if BBB had passed. Grandchildren really need that child tax credit. Hoping they can get vaccines for under 5's soon.
Very worried about the broader political landscape. Still traumatized by the severe radicalization and explicitly violent rhetoric of the GOP. Not sure where all that ends.
I'll take 2021 over 2020.
People forget how bad the shortages were at the grocery store and the fear brought on by uncertainty. Started a yeast collection, made bread, rolled and cut noodles from scratch. U?
2022 is the year we transition from pandemic to endemic, assuming we don't somehow manage to screw it up.
But January could be a repeat of spring 2020 as the worst of omicron peaks and so many workers are out sick.
Maybe not. It's too soon to tell but Omicron variant could be
the last big wave of Covid and possibly much milder .
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/31/south-africa-omicron-coronavirus-peak/
I am hopeful that 2022 will be an improvement. This is an instance where the MSM is truly unreliable. The headlines are frequently worse than the trends.
Milder doesn't mean symptom free. The concern is that workers will be out sick en masse because even vaccinated workers could get 2 weeks of flu like symptoms.
With vaccinate, boosted daughter (35) who got covid a few weeks ago, I am cautiously optimistic. She had symptoms (headache, low fever, cough), which diminished after 5 days. Didn't clear rapid test until day 11.
No more war/occupation in Afghanistan is an improvement, but otherwise hard to say anything has improved all that much, mostly due to COVID and which I don't really blame Biden for (or think about Trump much). My own professional situation has certainly improved though.
Yes, but you wouldn't feel that way if you were watching the news....
Another terrible commentary on inflation. This one tells us how unhappy we are supposed to be about it. That’s a ridiculous notion.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/31/upshot/economy-inflation-2021-review.html
“But 2021 has made it clearer why inflation is less of a micro story about how higher prices affect individuals, and more one of generalized discontent.”
He’s just making shit up now.
That's one of the reasons I've dropped my web subscription to the Times. They're aarently too worried about "appearing librul", so they've got to right-slant everything instead of just reporting facts. "Balance" only means leaving out the lefty perspective these days. (sigh)
Generalized discontent? Hell, yes. We are human beings, aren't we? Never satisfied, no matter how much we have.
Because husband retired this year, and I am freelance working from home, and limits on visiting, we hardly drive at all. Other than gas prices, we haven't noticed inflation.
Right.
Interesting perspective on the pandemic. Highly recommend watching (only 18 minutes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZhr8Hz03jY