AMERICAN TO U.S. -- PIP WATCH -- RUMORS

AMERICAN TO U.S.   

In an earlier post I noted an American teacher, John McGory, originally from Westerville, Ohio (a community north of Columbus near where we bought our first house) who was living in Wuhan China had blogged about his experience living in the city where the Coronavirus emerged.   He had been unable to exit the city on the first evacuation flight.  He described with photos the vacant streets of Wuhan, possible issues getting food, his concern for free expression limitations in what he could safely write about the situation due to Chinese laws. 

John’s last blog post at American Speech Company the end of January revealed he was uncertain as to the circumstances of his future life there, if he would have to remain, what that might mean,  or if he would be able to leave.  I expected to follow any further posts he might write, but there were none. 

Finally, on February 4^th I found McGory’s updated post on Amazon where his book is listed.  He describes the frantic experience when the second evacuation plane he had arranged to take was cancelled in a post titled:  “Humans not statistics”  as he prepared for another evacuation flight.

“Real information remains scarce while rumors explode.”  He noted:  “We have to get our own transportation to an airport 40 miles away in a city with numerous army-patrolled stops along the way.  The Chinese want to know everything about the drivers taking us to the airport.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they put them in isolation for two weeks.   I’m trying to keep a wait-and-see attitude about the flight tonight.  Hope and fear, both cruel imposters, are best avoided.”

John made his flight touching down in San Diego at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on Wednesday, February 5^th with 166 other passengers as reported in the Los Angeles Times.  We do know those passengers are quarantined to monitor for Coronavirus symptoms.  I have been unable to locate any more current reports about John McGory's status.

Monday, Feb. 17th Up Date:
John McGory continues to be free of the Coronavirsus when tested in San Diego he reported in an interview I heard on the radio this morning.  He happily looks forward to going to Ohio when he's cleared to leave Miramar Air Station.

PIP WATCH

Freezing weather in our Big Bear Mountains is reported to have likely delayed the Bald Eagles two eggs expected beginning to hatch with pipping from inside the shell from around Valentine’s Day until possibly today(Sun.)  or  coming weekdays.  The 5x4x3ft nest has been subjected to some high winds in the 120ft Jeffrey Pine Evergreen tree at the 7000 feet elevation – thought to be the highest known Bald Eagle nest.  

Live Cam:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB

The eggs are on pip watch for signs of the eggs beginning to crack open which is a slow process of many hours once it starts.  I recall when we had regular and bantam chickens, ducks, that we weren't supposed to help them out of the egg shell.  If the baby bird doesn’t have the strength to continue pecking their shell open to emerge independently, they likely will not survive.  

If an egg has not been fertilized the parents may continue to sit on it, sometimes up to more than 2 months or until it begins to disintegrate.  Reportedly there is no reason to be concerned about these eggs until the 42^nd day after they were laid which would be Wednesday the 19th if they haven’t begun to show pip signs.

Some nasty Ravens have periodically been unsuccessfully harassing the brooding parents to lure them from the nest in order to get to their eggs.  Whichever parental guard bird is off the nest is seen swooping about in the sky chasing the Ravens away. 

RUMORS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

I hope people in the U.S. avoid being influenced by any Coronavirus alarmist false rumors.  There have been rumor problems deteriorating into a few racist discrimination incidents in Southern California, but efforts are ongoing to eliminate them.      

Social media sites are also reported to be a primary source of circulating false rumors, creating hysteria and conspiracy theories on all sorts of topics. Even in chat room sites those with moderators must screen out such sincere but uninformed comments as well as those of individuals who deliberately do so for effect.  Such responsible screening seems to be more than some sites will assume responsibility for doing.  

Unfortunately our very own President has been guilty of spreading untruths and conspiracy theories since before he was even a candidate for the office he now holds and has continued doing so.

Foreign infiltration on some of these sites has especially focused on our political and controversial social issues with bot comments created to inflame all points of view intended to incite us against each other.  If only we would not succumb to such efforts to undermine our democratic republic and would instead unify in peaceful tolerance of our differences. 

We might wonder if the benefits of social media outweigh the deficits due to those who abuse it. What do you think?

California Foreshadows Nation's Change

Recent years when we celebrate our various national holidays such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day,  I've often reflected on our nation's changes, especially those occurring during my lifetime.  This country has experienced numerous domestic challenges including some associated with  demographic changes.  Now we are encountering one of the most profound in our nation's history which is slowly expanding.   California officially became the third state following Hawaii and New Mexico where another ethnicity has surpassed Caucasians as a majority, U.S. census records reveal.       

Latinos are now the majority ethnicity group in the State of California.  Whites became a minority in the Los Angeles area just a few years ago when our population changed to the degree that no clear majority group existed among whites, African-Americans and Latinos.  Now Latinos have emerged as California's new majority ethnic group.     

I am a member of an ethnic minority for the first time in my life as there are now more Latinos than whites in California.    A population ethnic change is a trend across our nation.   Some may wonder what, if any, implications this may have for our lives?   I offer my experience as reassurance that this ethnic change has been a gradual, though increasingly rapid evolution, which has been non-disruptive in my life.   This California white person's life continues much as usual, but is enriched.   I have never expected it to be otherwise.  Perhaps how we think about such changes has some influence on their outcome.   I can only hope residents in the rest of the nation where such change occurs adapt as well in the years ahead.

We live in an ever-expanding world as are many nations composed of increasing multiple ethnic groups with varying beliefs and languages.  Newcomers to our United States generally learn our American English language.   We native English speakers by honing our skills in other languages can only benefit us all.   In this digital social media world I read recently about needing to learn even another specialty language, too -- how to write some computer programming code language -- as this is becoming an expected skill needed in the future by all, but that's another topic for a future discussion.

In the years to come, though maybe not in my lifetime, there are going to be other categories in addition to ethnicity, such as religion, where a once considered minority group in this nation may increase in numbers greater than the majority group we've known throughout our lifetime, even since the beginning of our nation's history.

We can only strive to see that any type of new majority groups will be more understanding, accepting, compassionate, tolerant, and fair to existing minority groups than some, once in the majority, have been since the founding of our great nation.    In the meantime, we would be wise to put our best foot forward, as the saying goes, toward how we treat others in order to reflect favorably on our minority group.  I'm sure we will want others to treat us well.-- perhaps better than some of us have treated them.

I think we need to think carefully about these matters when we consider who we would want as the next President of our country and representing us around the world.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS.....

“All I want for Christmas …” is rain and snow! 

 (apologies to lyricist Don Gardner who wrote “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” in 1946.  Other songsters have since orchestrated their own versions -- you may even have your own!)

California’s state-wide drought issues have caused the need for serious water usage conservation efforts, hence my wish.  I’m delighted the weather effect known as El Nino is bringing snow to our mountains and rain in our valleys that will, hopefully, continue the next few months.  Even then we’ll need such winter weather each year for several years to come.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, or Happy Hanukkah, Merry Kwanza -- these are the holiday wishes with which family, friends, or others we encounter are most likely to greet us this time of year.    The season offers us all, including those not celebrating any of these holidays, a unifying opportunity.   

Events this year have elicited emotional reactions from some across this country on how to insure future safety for all that have raised questions challenging our values -- personally and as a nation.    Hopefully, we'll all continue to practice tolerance throughout the coming year as we offer others respect, love one another and seek peace.