February 11, 2021

One of the articles on the front page of my local paper this morning addressed the effort to ban the “1619 Project” from being taught in the state’s schools.  The representative who proposed the ban cited “a misleading narrative of American history.”  The proposal drew criticism from both Republican and Democrats on the House panel.  The main criticism of the bill was that the two dozen teachers who choose to be trained to teach the material should be regulated at the local level, rather than the state.  Rather than ban the curriculum, the Districts should be able to decide if, and when it is taught, and then allow parents the right to opt in or out for their children.

When I looked the project up online, I found it had been created to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in England’s Virginia colony.  The 1619 Project is a journalism project developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones, writers from The New York Times, and The New York Times Magazine which “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States’ national narrative”.  The project has received mixed critiques from historians.  In a letter published in The New York Times in December 2019, several historians expressed “strong reservations” about the project and requested factual corrections.  They accused the project of putting ideology before historical understanding.  Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her introductory essay to the 1619 Project.

Opposition to teaching the curriculum began in July 2020, when Republican Senator Tom Cotton (Arkansas) proposed the “Saving American History Act of 2020.”  This called for the prohibition of K-12 schools from using federal funds to teach curriculum related to the 1619 project, and to make schools that did ineligible for federal professional-development grants.  Cotton added that “The 1619 Project is a racially divisive and revisionist account of history that threatens the integrity of the Union by denying the true principles on which it was founded.”  This was backed by the administration who used an Executive Order last November to create the “1776 Commission” to develop a “patriotic” curriculum.  The commission was terminated by President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.  History is always bias, just usually in favor of the elite.

Thoughts:  One of the requirements for my graduate degree in American History was completion of a Thesis.  While the MA Thesis is designed to prove your ability to research and recount what other historians have said in a scholarly manner, the PhD instead focuses on presenting new information on the past.  Over the last half century this has resulted in a focus on “revisionist history”.  This often revises how we interpret and understand existing documents rather than finding new sources to shed new light.  One of the things I have been taught (and found to be true) is that what we record, save, and retell are the stories that support our individual bias.  That is true for individuals, but also for a nation.  The 1619 Project presents a different voice.  That is what free speech is about.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 10, 2021

The only thing that has not benefited from video game use has been the brick-and-mortar retail chains like GameStop, which still rely on physical sales in a world swiftly transitioning to digital transactions.  That changed last month as GameStop’s stock skyrocketed as part of a frenzy orchestrated by small-time investors on Reddit and TikTok.  To get back at the hedge funds profiting off GameStop’s steadily declining business, these investors banded together to buy the company’s stock and increase its value. That created a “short squeeze,” forcing the hedge funds that had shorted GameStop’s stock to buy more and more shares to cover their losses.  The stock’s price reached a high of $483 on January 29, up 12,000% from its $4 price around this time a year ago.

When I looked online, I found that a short sale is a transaction where the seller does not own the stock being sold.  Instead, they borrow it from the broker-dealer where they place the sell order.  The seller has the obligation to buy back the stock at some point in the future.  Short sellers are subject to the risk of short squeezes.  A short squeeze occurs when a heavily shorted stock moves sharply higher, which “squeezes” more short sellers out of their positions and drives the price of the stock higher.  That is what happened with GameStop.  The advantage of a short sale is that it allows traders to profit from a drop in price.  Short sellers aim to sell shares while the price is high, and then buy them later after the price has dropped.  The hedge funds who bought GameStop stock for short sale were making millions.

A hedge fund is an “investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and can make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques to better performance.”  One of the tools of the hedge fund is short selling.  Financial regulators generally restrict hedge fund marketing to institutional investors, high net worth individuals, and others who are considered “sufficiently sophisticated.”   Many of the small investors who drove the GameStop frenzy were not “sufficiently sophisticated.”  However, when they banded together, they were able to cause the hedge funds huge losses while making money for themselves.  Perhaps sophistication is relative.

Thoughts:  The elite rarely give credit to those they consider beneath them.  That was true with the hedge fund traders in the stock market.  That was also true with the revolutions of Europe:  the American Revolution in 1776, the French Revolution in 1789, and the Russian Revolution in 1917.  When the populace did rise it caused a frenzy as power shifted from the elite to the masses.  While some say a living wage is a right for every worker, others say we cannot afford it and point to “small business” as an example.  MacDonald’s small franchises reported over $93 Billion in sales during 2020.  We cannot afford not to provide this help to our essential workers.  That is what 1776 was all about.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 09, 2021

I came across an article this week about the first slave freed by Abraham Lincoln.  Nance Legins-Costley was not born in the south and was not freed as part of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.  She instead was born into bondage in the state of Illinois in 1813.  Nance’s slavery became a life-long indentured servitude when Illinois became a state and in 1822, she and another indentured servant named Dice, were sold to Nathan Cromwell to recover debts owed by Mr. Cox, their master.  While Dice went along with the sale, Nance objected as she was being taken from the only home she had known.  Her case ended up in the state Supreme Court where Cox lost, awarding Nance to Cromwell as property.  This is the only legal slave auction in Illinois history.  

The Northwest Ordinance (1787) banned slavery in Illinois and the rest of the Northwest Territory, but slavery remained an issue throughout the territory’s existence.  When Illinois Territory was created in 1809, they kept the Indiana Territory’s Black Code, which restricted free blacks and required them to carry documents to prove their freedom.  Slaveowners could keep their workers in bondage by forcing them to sign indentures of anywhere from 40 to 99 years, threatening them with sale elsewhere if they refused.  When Illinois became a state (1818), the constitution stated that slavery shall not be “thereafter introduced”, but existing slavery was still tolerated.  The Illinois Supreme Court ruled indentured servants could be bought and sold, although three years later it also held that their children were legally free. This ruling ensured that slavery would gradually end. The census records reveal that 747 slaves resided in Illinois in 1830, while by 1840 that number had dwindled to 331.

Nance’s case went to the Illinois Supreme Court again after Cromwell decided to move to Texas in 1836.  Nance again refused to go, and her servitude was sold to David Bailey, an abolitionist on the promise of $400.  Cromwell died in route and Nance declared herself free.  Cromwell’s heirs sued Bailey for the money owed and the judge deemed Nance was again property.  Baily took the case to the Illinois Supreme Court and hired an attorney friend whom he had served with in the Black Hawk War, Abraham Lincoln.  At the time, Lincoln was ambivalent on the issue of slavery, but his discussions with Nance pushed him toward an anti-slavery stance.  On July 9, 1841, Lincoln appeared before the state’s high court.  His arguments leaned heavily on the anti-slavery language of the Northwest Ordinance and the Illinois Constitution.  The justices agreed and ruled in favor of Bailey and Lincoln: “It is a presumption of law, in the State of Illinois, that every person is free, without regard to color . . . The sale of a free person is illegal.”  Nance had finally won her freedom.   

Thoughts:  It is always easier to point the blame at others than to embrace our own culpability.  Northerners tend to look at the South and say, “It is their problem.”  The struggles of Nance took place in a northern state that had declared slavery illegal, yet she was born into slavery and lived as a slave for the first 28 years of her life.  Clearly, this was not a Southern problem, it is an American failure.  It is notable that the BLM movement began in 2013 in response to the death of two Black men in northern cities.  Last summer’s protests primarily occurred in northern cities following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.  Racism is our problem, and we all need to acknowledge its institutional foundation.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 08, 2021

Yesterday’s Super Bowl was touted as a battle between the young and the old.  The two weeks before the game was all about the quarterback duel between Tom Brady the GOAT (greatest of all time) and Patrick Mahomes the wannabe GOAT.   Brady was vying for his seventh Super Bowl ring in ten trips to the game during his 21-year career.  Mahomes is in his fourth season and was attempting to become the first back-to-back champion since Brady led the Patriots to victories in 2004 and 2005.  There is an 18-year age difference between the two quarterbacks.  Most predicted the kid would have a big edge.  Yesterday’s 31-9 Buccaneers victory showed being old was a good thing.

The 43-year-old Brady became a free agent last March after the Patriots refused to resign him for a multiyear contract, ending a 20 seasons stint with the Patriots.  A month later Rob Gronkowski ended his year-old retirement to join his friend.  Brady and the Gronk were joined by Leonard Fournette after he was waived by the Jaguars in September.  Receiver Antonio Brown who had been let go by the Raiders and Patriots last season for his outrageous behavior signed in late October.  All were believed to be past their prime.  These four accounted for all the Bucs’ touchdowns on Sunday.  Gronkowski’s two touchdown catches were the twelfth and 13th Brady-to-Gronkowski postseason touchdowns, an NFL record.  It seemed the experience of being old was an advantage.

The 25-year-old Mahomes ended up scrambling for his life behind a makeshift offensive line.  Pro Bowl left tackle Eric Fisher tore his Achilles’ tendon in KC’s AFC championship win over Buffalo.  Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz was the team’s best offensive lineman last season but has been out with a back injury since Week 6.  That meant inserting new players int the lineup and shift others to new positions.  The turf toe Mohomes suffered in the Divisional round appeared to again flare up as KC’s line failed to keep the aggressive Buc defense from forcing Mahomes to scramble for his life.  Mahomes lost an NFL game by double digits for the first time in his career.

Thoughts:  Tom Brady was drafted 199th in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.  He led the team to its first Super Bowl victory in the following year and three in his first five years.  After a ten-year drought, he led The Patriots to three more titles over five years between 2014 and 2018.  After two years without a title, Brady was considered too old to play.  He signed a two-year deal with the Buccaneers and brought them their second victory in franchise history.   While the average tenure for NFL quarterbacks is 4.5 years, this year quarterbacks of six of the 14 teams in the playoffs were at least 36 years old.  Perhaps being old and discrimination through ageism needs to be rethought.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 06, 2021

Buried in the middle of my Saturday paper I found an article on changes the Biden administration has taken to protect migratory birds.  During the last administration, the Interior Department had sided with industry groups and sought to end criminal prosecution of accidental, yet preventable bird deaths.  The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA) is a US federal law for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Great Britain/Canada.  The law is of constitutional interest as it uses federal treaty-making power to override the provisions of state law.  The principle that the federal government may do this was upheld in the case Missouri v. Holland.  In a defense of the treaty, Judge Caproni on August 11, 2020 wrote in a decision, “It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime.”  The highest profile case under the MBTA was the $100 million settlement by British Petroleum after the 2010 Gulf oil spill killed 100,000 birds.  This illustrates how fragile bird populations can be.

Kansas is on the main route for many migratory birds between Canada and the southern US/northern Mexico.  When I lived in southeastern Kansas a local farmer’s field was inundated by migrating Canadian Geese.  For nearly four days geese would stop in the evening and fly off in the morning as they moved north.  The paper estimated there were around 80,000 geese who had stopped on these 80 acers and the small pond they held.  The geese were drawn by the water and abundant milo the farmer annually left standing in the field as fodder for the migrants.  While this was done on purpose, it had never attracted so many birds.

The MBTA is critical to protecting and restoring declining bird populations.  The statute makes it “unlawful without a waiver to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell” nearly 1,100 species of birds listed as migratory birds.  The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs, and nests.  Some exceptions allow for scientific collection and for enrolled members of Native American Indian Tribes to use feathers for religious purposes.  The Act was enacted in an era when many bird species were threatened by the commercial trade in birds and bird feathers and was one of the first federal environmental laws.  Similar Acts with other nations have been incorporated into the MBTA.  Some of these provisions stipulate protections not only for the birds, but for habitats and environs necessary for the birds’ survival.

Thoughts:  There have been 150 bird (recorded) species lost globally since 1500 CE.  Of those, 132 have been classified as ‘Extinct’ and four as ‘Extinct in the Wild’ (populations only surviving in captivity).  An additional 14 species have been classified as ‘Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)’ and one as ‘Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in the Wild)’.  While the reason for extinction can rarely be pinned to a single cause, extinction most often occurs when new threats develop that are “outside the evolutionary experience of species” (read humans and human pets).  Some believe if we block existing rules or reduce their penalties people will do the right thing on their own.  Try telling that to the 12% if bird species that are predicted to go extinct in the 21^st century.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 05, 2021

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On February 2, 1887 Congress passed a law to prohibit the use of Indian languages in schools.  It was not until a century later that President George Bush signed the Native American Languages Act on October 30, 1990.  In passing the act Congress declared it was the responsibility of the US “to act together with Native Americans to ensure the survival of these unique cultures and languages.”  The act went on to declare it was their right to use Native American languages “as a medium of instruction in all schools funded by the Secretary of the Interior.”  The act also stated this right “shall not be restricted in any public proceeding, including publicly supported education programs.”

I have infamously claimed to have failed to learn more languages than most even try.  In undergraduate school I tried to learn German (my ancestry) but gave up after failing 101 twice (hence, my BS).  My MA demanded a language.  I tried Hebrew (Ancient and Modern), took a course in Coptic, Syriac, and Nabatean, tried to become self-taught in Arabic, and finally again tried German, all to no avail.  For another MA I was finally able to pass Spanish 103, but only by the grace of the Graduate Assistant who let me slide by on “attendance.”  My final degree attempt brought Koine Greek (Biblical) and later French.  I have since tried to learn Italian.  I am not fluent in any of these eleven languages.

Indigenous languages in Indian education have a long history in the US.  Reverend John Eliot preached to the Massachusett Indians in their own tongue in 1646 and got the New Testament published in the language in 1683.  In the early Nineteenth Century, a Northeast mission school only used books written in the Chippewan language.  When the missionaries later switched to English the quality of education declined.  This was also true during the 1830’s among the Sioux.  It was not that the students lacked the ability to learn English, it was their unwillingness.  Another difficulty the English instructors found was that Native languages did not have words for many of the European concepts being taught.  By the 1880’s the federal government was running the schools and assimilation was the goal.  Not only were the youth taken from their families and placed in boarding schools, but they were also conspicuously stripped of anything representing their culture.  

Thoughts:  One of the reasons I struggle with language is the system used to teach me English.  Mine was the “test” class, and the system was abandoned during High School because it was shown that we all lacked the basic skills of grammar.  When learning another language, I was always taught referring to the grammatical forms I never knew.  Another reason I struggled was due to the heavy reliance on rote memorization.  Like the Sioux children above I was unwilling to be told.  Language is an integral part of any culture.  It reflects how society functions and our understanding of the world.  When we learn a new language, it forces us to look at the world in new ways.  The language we use will either bind us closely to our community or separate us from it.  Either requires a conscious choice.  We need to pay attention to health.  We need to follow the science.  We need to do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 04, 2021

I came across an article on my NYT newsfeed which asked whether the economy has fared better under Democratic presidents or Republican presidents over the past century?  They started saying the sensible answer might seem to be it is probably similar.  After all, presidents have only limited control over the economy.  Most of the millions of decisions every day are from consumers and business executives that shape economic growth, jobs, incomes, and stock prices.  With the changing economics of a century, it seems logical that the economy would have performed similarly under Democrats and Republicans.  What they found is that it has not.  The economy has fared far better under Democrats and this gap is “startlingly large” (over 2% increase in growth). 

Researchers have struggle to explain why there is a marked improvement under Democrats.  The study did not even include Herbert Hoover who presided over the economic downturn of the Depression.  Some suggest that while Republican presidents focus on tax cuts and incentives for the rich, Democrats instead focus on social programs and community infrastructure.  While it is clear incentives for the rich do not trickle down to the poor, it is unclear whether incentives for the poor make any long-term difference in economic equality.  While mere coincidence does play some role, it is highly unlikely to account for the entire gap, especially given its size, breadth, and duration.  

The authors, Yaryna and Leonhardt, explored three plausible explanations.  First, Republican presidents have been slow to respond to recessions and other crises.  Second, Democratic presidents have been more pragmatic and willing to listen to the evidence about when the economy would benefit from deficit reduction and when it needs government support for infrastructure, scientific research, and education.  Third, Republican presidents over the past 40 years have pursued one primary economic policy, tax cuts skewed toward the affluent that do not produce economic growth.  Even with these possible explanations the research report ultimately concluded, “it appears to be a matter of luck.”

Thoughts:  I am always amazed how the nations short-term economic gains seem to deflate over the long haul.  The Gap we are experiencing is widening between the top 1% (earning over $531,000 per household per year) and the 40 million in poverty, or the 13.5 million unemployed.  Some of the 1% have chosen to give large amounts of their wealth to world health and social causes.  This comes as a gesture of hope and of concern.  It reminds me of the movie, “Brewster’s Millions”, where a man found out how hard it was to spend $30 million in 30 days.  Giving away a billion dollars might seem easier when it only leaves you with the other $120 billion.  Economic inequality has been a recipe for disaster in other nations.  Perhaps it is time for us to wake up.  We need to pay attention to health.  We need to follow the science.  We need to do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 03, 2021

We got the call Monday that the parts had arrived for our furnace install and workers would be out to install the new units on Tuesday.  They asked us to prepare the space so they would have the room necessary to work.  I moved the items we usually stored below the elevated furnace door to allow access.  When they texted saying they were on their way Melissa moved our vehicles to provide room for them to bring the unit into the garage.  We are a three-car family.  My Wrangler is the main traveling car while Melissa’s Outback is her work car and our secondary vehicle.   We also have our fun car, the SLK convertible.  This is an older vehicle but still great to drive on sunny days.  Melissa moved two of the cars onto the street but parked the SLK on the front lawn.

I found two explanations online for why people park or keep cars on their lawns.  The first concerned people who found an old car at a “heck of a deal,” bought it, put it up on blocks, and have not yet (if ever?) finished the project.  This happens more in rural areas as more space is available to park.  Suburban lawns have another phenomenon where there is not enough parking space on the street for all the family’s cars.  This seems especially true when you own several large trucks, as is the case in our neighborhood.  Trucks are easier to maneuver on unpaved surfaces and seem to end up on the lawn.  I joked with Melissa that now we were finally fitting into the neighborhood.

It was exactly one week ago that our furnace decided to quit.  As luck would have it, this week also marked the coldest stretch of temperature this winter.  We really cannot complain.  We bundled up and allowed the house’s insulation to protect us from much of the cold.  After we contracted to have a new furnace and heat pump installed the company brought out two space heaters for us to use.  Melissa has been working from her chair in the living room and I join her after I am done in my office.  That meant we were able to concentrate the heater (or both) in one room during the evening when the drop in temperature was most acute.  I have been humbled thinking about our lack of heat and knowing there are great numbers of people in our country who live this way daily.  They have no hope for an impending furnace.

Thoughts:  Jeff Foxworthy has based his career telling stories about what he calls his “red-neck family.”   His on-liner goes, “You might be a red-neck if . . .”  Living in small towns and rural areas in the Midwest I have appreciated his humor as I resonate with many of his observations.  Since we parked the Mercedes rather than the pickup on the lawn, I wondered if this meant we were instead blue-necks.  One aspect clearly delineated by the pandemic is the growing divide between different economic groups.  Many of our essential workers lost jobs, health insurance, and have struggle to put food on the table.  At the other end of the spectrum there has been an increase in income and overall wealth.  My week without heat forced me to be empathetic to (or at least acknowledge) the ravages of economic inequality.  We all need to learn these lessons.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 02, 2021

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I decided to take a different road home from up north yesterday and got caught not paying attention.  I usually take the Interstate and the speed limit is now 75 mph.  As the road changes and goes over the river the speed drops to 65 mph.  I drive this road twice a week and have the route etched into my psyche.  One of the reasons I changed my way home was to get off the Interstate.  While I have seen several hawks perched on the wires or in the trees, I am generally going too fast and am by them before I am able to stop and take a picture.  That was again true yesterday as I whizzed past a new hawk I had not yet recorded.  I took the side road hoping to get a good picture.

I have mentioned before how careful I try to be when driving.  I let the cruise control gauge my speed, so I do not worry about how fast I go.  I avoid using my phone unless it is hooked up “hands free” to the car and generally ignore texts.  When I do pay attention, I have pulled over to avoid becoming a distracted driver.  That is even more important now.  It is not only dangerous, but a finable offence.  It continues to amaze me how many times Melissa and I approach an erratic driver and as we pass (or at least get close and they decide to speed up) we find they are on their phone despite the law.  I also know this stretch of road is next to the district office of the State Police and we frequently pass them stopped along the road.  I figure it is better to be safe than sorry.

After getting off on the side road I went through town and started across the bridge over the river.  I was paying more attention to finding birds than driving.  I let my internal cruise control kick in and became the distracted driver I try to avoid.   My speed increased as I looked for birds and came off the bridge.  That was where the trooper I should have suspected was sitting.  He was parked next to a sign that said the speed limit was 40 mph.  That was not the speed I was going.  He followed for a bit as usual, then followed as I pulled into a parking lot.  He pulled up behind me with his lights on.  I had obviously not been paying attention.

Thoughts:  I found it ironic that earlier in the day we had been discussing how we should not brag about what we do.  As I sat in the vehicle waiting for a ticket, I thought about my post several months ago where I had talked (bragged?) about how careful I am.  It seems I am not always as careful as I thought.  When the trooper returned, he noted how I had no violations or warnings on my record, and he was giving me a warning.  While I appreciated the acknowledgement of my attention in the past, I was painfully aware of my current lack of attention.  Consistently paying attention seems to be a problem facing our country.   We need to pay attention to the thoughts and feeling s of others.  We need to pay attention to their health.  We need to follow the science.  We need to do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

February 01, 2021

One of my favorite scenes from the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” finds mean old Mr. Potter as the chair of the draft board.  As he reviews the possible draftees, he glances at their information and says, “1-A . . . 1-A . . . 1-A . . .”  Being classified as 1-A meant “available for military service.”  Potter had no plan for any of the people he was reviewing, except to say regardless of your situation you are eligible to be drafted.  When I checked online, I found that draftees fall into one of five different classes, and each class includes a variety of different levels of availability.  The jab the movie poked at Potter was his demeanor resulted in everyone being eligible for the draft.

When I was in High School during the Viet Nam War, I received my draft lottery number (257) in January of my Senior year.  I assumed I would be drafted, but no one ever contacted me.  What I did not realize was that I was initially classified as Class I –S, or a “Student deferred by law until graduation from high school or attainment of age 20, or until end of his academic year at a college or university.”  On January 27, 1973, Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird announced the creation of an all-volunteer armed forces, negating the need for the military draft.  The seventh and final lottery drawing was held on March 12, 1975 for men born in 1956.  There were no new draft orders issued after 1972.  As it turned out, I never rolled into 1-A status and missed the draft.

Since there was no federal oversight of the vaunted Warp-Speed rollout of the vaccine the states were left to make their own plans for distribution.  Arkansas issued a three-phase plan for eligibility to receive the vaccine.  Just like the draft, each phase seems to have several parts built into them.  Phase 1-A (health-care workers, long-term residents and staff, and first responders) and Phase 1-B, part 1 (70 years or older, teachers and school staff, child-care, and higher-education) are both currently active.  We have been told that Phase 1-B, part 2 (Food and agricultural workers, firefighters and police not in 1-A, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, childcare workers, U.S. Postal Service workers, and essential government workers) is set for implementation in February.  Melissa and I both have the same classification (different reasons) as Phase 1-C (age 65-69, people age 16-64 with high-risk medical conditions, workers in transportation and logistics, water and wastewater, food service, shelter and housing, finance, IT and communications, energy, media, public safety, and public health workers).  This is not scheduled until March.  With the current scarcity of the vaccine, I might miss this as well.

Thoughts:  The number of doses of vaccine each state receives is based on population.  While we were told the procurement of vaccines and shipment to the states were being implemented at warp-speed, that was not the case.  The administration did not have a plan for how to get the doses to the states (at least one that worked) and the states plans were so convoluted shots were not being delivered to the scheduled people.  We should have known putting ex-military supply personnel in charge of the rollout was questionable.  There is a reason why so many military units rely on scroungers to get what they need when they need it.  We need to preform a reboot and provide a national approach to delivery.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.