No turkey czar

My niece invited the extended family to her apartment for Thanksgiving this year. She created a  Facebook event called "A Very 2020 Thanksgiving." Then she cancelled it because our governor's new covid restrictions forbid multiple household gatherings. Yes, a very 2020 Thanksgiving.

My household had no turkey. But if you did, I think I know how you got it. You didn't order it special from a local shop or farm. You put it in your cart on a normal trip to the grocery store. You knew there would be plenty of reasonably priced turkeys for all who wanted one.

Thousands of people made that happen:

"Poultry farmers, of course, but also the feed distributors, and the truckers who brought it to the farm, not to mention the architect who designed the hatchery, the workmen who built it, and the technicians who keep it running. The bird had to be slaughtered and defeathered and inspected and transported and unloaded and wrapped and priced and displayed. The people who accomplished those tasks were supported in turn by armies of other people accomplishing other tasks — from refining the gasoline that fueled the trucks to manufacturing the plastic in which the meat was packaged."

There is no turkey czar with a master plan, issuing orders, forcing these workers to cooperate. But they do cooperate. They made thousands of smart decisions independently. Why? To create an income and take care of their loved ones. 

"Free human beings freely interact, and the result is an array of goods and services more immense than the human mind can comprehend. No dictator, no bureaucracy, no supercomputer plans it in advance." 

Adam Smith called it the "invisible hand" of the free marketplace.

from the Boston Globe

Eye thanks

Trying to find something to be thankful for? Your eye is a masterpiece of design. Your Creator gave you the exquisite sensitivity of your vision, linking you to the natural world and to other people and much more.

Thanksgiving 2020

We're almost at the four hundredth anniversary of the first Thanksgiving in America. Those who came to North America on the Mayflower (and were still alive) thanked God that they had a harvest. So they invited their neighbors to a feast.

Enjoy this art, representing the earliest days, by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris (American painter, 1863-1930).

Dinner cost 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

The average cost of Thanksgiving dinner for ten people across America this year is $46.90 in today's dollars, based on average prices for the menu items listed yesterday. 

To get a handle on how that compares to Thanksgivings in the past, it's necessary to use a measurement tool that made sense in past years and still does in 2020. 

Here's the solution: find the average American's wages for the year you want to compare it to, and then figure out how many hours the average American must work to buy the components of that dinner. Economist Mark Perry did that, and here are the results:

Generally speaking, Americans in 2020 can purchase this meal with fewer hours of labor than Americans in any other year since 1986. 

Dinner cost 1

The American Farm Bureau Federation is a voluntary organization dedicated to the well-being of farmers and ranchers. It's non-governmental and non-partisan. Like health care workers and small business owners, they want us to know that they're here for us in the day of covid.

Farmers, ranchers, all food providers fall into the "essential" category, obviously. Every autumn since 1986 they survey the cost of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for ten (because Americans like to celebrate the holiday with family and friends) to get a sense of how affordable that meal is from year to year.

Volunteers all over the country survey prices on the same traditional foods: turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a vegetable tray, pumpkin pie, whipped cream, milk and coffee. Despite the pandemic, they found that supplies were more than adequate. But are these feast elements affordable?

(cont'd tomorrow)

Big solar

The American state of Texas, known for oil wells, also produces the most wind power in the U.S. Now it's going to be the site of America's largest solar array. 

Invenergy, a global green energy developer, announced the project last week. They say that the cost to install big utility-scale solar projects like this one has dropped more than 70% in the last ten years. When it's complete in 2023, it will produce enough energy to power almost 300,000 homes.

from Electrek

Against the Tide

Today a very worthwhile movie comes out. It's based on the "lovable Irish grandpa" who loves to interact with people who see the world differently from his view, retired Oxford professor of mathematics Dr. John Lennox.

Theatres are closed by order of the governor where I live. But if they're open for you, go.

Less divorce 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Sounds like stronger marriages might be trending - right in the middle of a pandemic. It could happen as a result of other positive trends:

• Husbands and wives sharing more household responsibilities because they're both home
• Husbands and wives engaging together more, i.e. listening, talking, problem solving
• Both moms and dads interacting more with the kids, hearing/understanding their kids
• A re-discovered "productive household"

That last one needs some description.

Up until the last century, family homes were socially and economically the center of society with sharing of meals, labor, recreation, worship, education. Most of that in the 21st century can be and is purchased rather than created at home, which may reduce the home to just bunk space and fridge.

A backyard garden, cooking together, a bonfire, home improvements, garage cleaning--if a more productive household produces stronger family bonds during the pandemic, that's good news to be thankful for.

from Breakpoint

Less divorce 1

No one will be sad to see 2020 in the review mirror this winter. Stress is almost universal: job losses, money trouble, kids schooled at home, health worries, horrible politics, city rioting, business failures, little socializing and little entertainment. 

More stress on families could have led to more divorces . . but the number of divorces in America is down 10-20%.

In a family survey last year, 40% of married Americans said their marriage was in trouble - compared to only 29% this year. Over half of them this year said their appreciation for their spouse increased during the pandemic.

Maybe divorces are being deferred until court time opens up, or finances are restored. But if the trend is real, some good things are coming out of this difficult year. 

from Breakpoint

(cont'd tomorrow)

Crew-1 to ISS

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Victor Glover is the pilot on Crew-1 Mission. As a test pilot, he had been as high as 64,000 feet, but in space he's now a rookie. He says he is surrounded with love and support - from his wife and kids, his parents/grandparents, and the thousands of people whose work enables him and his astronaut colleagues to go into space.

To manage family relationships as he leaves earth for half a year, he tries to keep things simple, flexible, and low stress. His oldest child will graduate from high school next spring, and he hopes to be there for her; but they all know he might have to watch from space. 

Victor's favorite aircraft so far is the F-18. But he says that flying the brand new Crew Dragon spacecraft is a test pilot's dream. 

All four astronauts - Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, Soichi Naguchi, Mike Hopkins - are interviewed here:

a

Crew-1 Mission

Four astronauts were carried into low earth orbit yesterday about 7:37 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Tonight about 11 p.m. they will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) and begin six months of duty.

They flew in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, launched on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. After SpaceX carried two Americans to the ISS last May, NASA certified them to perform crewed missions. This one, Crew-1, is the first of several that are planned.

Here is NASA TV's highlights of flight day. 

(cont'd tomorrow)

Surprise bill 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Tim Regan needed more information at the hospital. At the very least, he needed to know what all those procedures were going to cost before they were done to him. 

A new rule just came out of U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services that will go far toward correcting this situation. Private sector insurance must now reveal real-time price information including cost-sharing. Transparency of costs will help patients make their choices.

The HHS secretary says, “We want every American to be able to work with their doctor to decide on the healthcare that makes sense for them, and those conversations can’t take place in a shadowy system where prices are hidden. With more than 70 percent of the most costly healthcare services being shoppable, Americans will have vastly more control over their care."

photo

Transparency is better than "shadowy" in the healthcare market.  Now patients will have better information. That means more peace of mind.

from HHS

Surprise bill

When you go to a store to shop, you expect to make your buying choices based on the features, the quality, and the price that's going to work for you and your family. There's no way you would leave the store with something you don't want, having no idea of its cost. 

But, in effect, that's what happened to Tim Regan. He had covid symptoms, so he went to ER to get a covid test. Somehow the hospital made different decisions . . and Tim left with random unrelated tests done on him but without the covid test he needed. 

Then he got a bill in the mail for $3200. His insurance would not cover what was actually done at the hospital, but would have covered a covid test if he had gotten it. What??

(cont'd tomorrow)

Honor brothers

 On 9-11 this year, you read about combat veteran Beau Wise and his passion to remember and honor his two brothers, Navy Seal Jeremy and Army Green Beret Benjamin. There's more to his story.

Both brothers were killed in the Middle East, 2009-2011. Beau is the only armed services member in America to lose two brothers in the war in Afghanistan. He was pulled from any additional combat duty. 

After the death of his second brother, Beau considered ending his own life. Thankfully, his walk with God helped him pull through that. It's in his book which will come out January 5. 

 Pray for our active service members and veterans today, America's Veterans Day.

from The Stream

Chinese racism

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

African citizens living in China have told their stories of discrimination on social media. They say the Chinese government imposes covid-related hardships on Africans which are more severe than those placed on other non-Chinese. 

Maybe the most blatant discrimination was a public order in Guangzhou to refuse business to anyone who looks African. An order so general and vague inevitably affected black Americans there as well. So the United States Embassy published a security alert warning.

photo

Chinese racism?

 African countries have received infrastructure projects, loans and treaties from the government of China for years, so they've been growing closer.

But during the pandemic, there has been stress due to reports of China discriminating against Africans who live in China, especially the southern province of Guangdong. Some have been evicted from their homes. Some public places, like supermarkets and public transport, are denied to Africans according to the reports.

Level Four 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

GM's Cruise describes itself as "a self-driving service designed for the cities we love." They've completed two million miles of testing self-driving cars with a backup driver, and now San Francisco has given them permission to test cars having no driver at all in certain areas. That's level 4, at the testing stage.

Cruise wants to deploy their commercial self-driving service delivering goods or freight, as well as transporting people, all over the world. There's a market for more affordable and accessible transportation, and Cruise believes those consumers will buy their product (the self-driving service) eventually -- when they trust that it's safe.

from MindMattersAI

Level Four 1

A completely automated car that can drive itself anywhere, anytime, is the dream of drivers and manufacturers. It's called Level 5 on the self-driving scale, and you could take a nap in the back seat because no human attention is required. Artificial intelligence would control the car's operation, probably better than a human driver - no steering wheel needed.

We're not there yet. In fact, many experts think Level 5 may be impossible because it's orders of magnitude harder than Levels 1-4.

A Level 4 self-driving car can handle everything - but only under certain conditions and in certain locations. A possible example might be a taxi only serving a particular route. A fundamental moral shift takes place at Level 4: the manufacturer is responsible for the car at this point, not the driver.

It's Level 4 that shows big progress. Daimler, Waymo, and GM are advancing the technology. 

from MindMattersAI

(cont'd tomorrow)

Kidnap drama

American citizen Phillip Walton, 27,  was living with his wife and child in the western African nation of Niger when he was kidnapped on October 26. Each day of captivity brings greater danger of loss or death to a kidnap victim. Ultimately the kidnappers are after ransom money.

With governments of the U.S., Niger, and Nigeria working together, Walton was rescued by Navy Seals on October 31. 

photo

Says a retired Navy Seal, "Men in these top-tier special forces units train their entire adult lives to be ready when called upon, hostage rescue operations are inherently dangerous. Those men put someone else's life above their own, they do so selflessly....it's an illustration of utter commitment."

Phillip Walton is safe and in the care of the US State Department. No military personnel gave their lives on this mission. Thank God.

from ABC News

CO2 reduction

You're well aware of the global movement to reduce CO2 emissions. Here is a study by the BP Statistical Reiew of World Energy in 2019, completed this year:

Two nations obviously stand out: America, with the biggest reduction of emissions, and China, with the biggest increase of emissions.

Platforms 2

 (cont'd from October 5 post)

Politicians are not trusted much. Campaign ads may be just spin and may even be lies. Go to the party platforms for more revealing information. 

This party's official platform is 91 pages long and few will read it. Here are a few big-issue promises:

• require federal health plans to fund gender surgery p.34
• restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood p.32
• colleges/universities tuition-free for families under $125k income p.70
• build 500,000 public charging stations for electric vehicles p.17
• end sexual assault and domestic abuse p. 47

The other party's platform is substantially unchanged since 2016. A few big-issue promises:

• defend the rights of conscience and religion against government control p.10
• oppose the forced funding of political candidates through union dues p. 12
• defend the unborn citizen's right to life p.13
• support parents' choice of schools for their children p.34
• secure national borders and enforce immigration law p. 42

These are just a few points. There's much, much more in the platforms.