Brad

No, but I’m planning to order it.

The vaccine rollout has been botched over in Europe, per this article, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/16/world/covid-19-coronavirus In addition, in one of The NY Times newsletters I receive made the following points about why Europe has done poorly. 1. Too much bureaucracy While the U.S. and other countries rushed to sign agreements with vaccine makers, the E.U. first tried to make sure all 27 of its member countries agreed on how to approach the negotiations. Europe chose “to prioritize process over speed and to put solidarity between E.U. countries ahead of giving individual governments more room to maneuver,” Jillian Deutsch and Sarah Wheatonwrite for Politico Europe. The result was slower regulatory approval of the vaccines and delayed agreements to buy doses, forcing Europe to wait in line behind countries that moved faster. 2. Penny-wise and pound-foolish Europe put a big emphasis on negotiating a low price for vaccine doses. Israeli officials, by contrast, were willing to pay a premium to receive doses quickly. Israel has paid around $25 per Pfizer dose, and the U.S. pays about $20 per dose. The E.U. pays from $15 to $19. The discounted price became another reason that Europe had to wait in line behind other countries. Even in purely economic terms, the trade-off will probably be a bad one: Each $1 saved per vaccine dose might ultimately add up to $1 billion — a rounding error in a trading bloc with a nearly $20 trillion annual economic output. A single additional lockdown, like the one Italy announced this week, could wipe out any savings. “The price difference is macroeconomically irrelevant,” Münchau writes. The E.U. “tried to lock in a perceived short-term price advantage at the expense of everything else.” 3. Vaccine skepticism “Europe is the world’s epicenter of vaccine skepticism,” Deutsch and Wheaton of Politico Europe write. That skepticism predated Covid, and now its consequences are becoming clear. In a survey published in the journal Nature Medicine, residents of 19 countries were asked if they would take a Covid vaccine that had been “proven safe and effective.” In China, 89 percent of people said yes. In the U.S., 75 percent did. The shares were lower across most of Europe: 68 percent in Germany, 65 percent in Sweden, 59 percent in France and 56 percent in Poland. The skepticism helps explain Europe’s latest vaccination problem. About a dozen countries, including France and Germany, have suspended the use of one of the continent’s primary vaccines, from AstraZeneca, citing concerns about blood clots. But the evidence that the vaccine causes clots is thin. Europe’s main drug regulator still says the benefits outweigh the risks. And Ann Taylor, AstraZeneca’s chief medical officer, has pointed out that the rate of clotting among vaccinated Europeans is lower than “would be expected among the general population.” Dr. Muge Cevik, a virus expert at the University of St. Andrews, told me yesterday that it was always important to scrutinize vaccines. But, she added, “I would say the benefits of the A.Z. vaccine in preventing Covid, hospitalization and death outweigh the risks of side effects, especially in the middle of the pandemic.”

This is a quite interesting article about Nabokov’s Lolita that appeared in the New York Times about 10 days ago. How ‘Lolita’ Escaped Obscenity Laws and Cancel Culture

Same here.

I received my Desmond box and it’s in terrific condition, probably closer to near mint.

That was the Hemingway persona: the hard boiled tough man, a men among men. Obviously, that doesn’t fly today and you wouldn’t write that way today. It’s a different age and that’s my point about interpreting writing from 70 to 80 years ago by today’s standards. Wolff also finished the paragraph you cited by saying the following: “But in the stories you find almost nothing of that. Indeed, I am struck most forcefully by their humanity, their feeling for human fragility.” That’s why Hemingway will endure. Public TV is doing a Ken Burns program on Hemingway. It will be interesting to see how they treat him.

I read the To Have and Have Not last year and it’s a terrific book. I don’t believe in judging a different time or milieu by today’s standards although I’m sure that will happen and by today’s standards they are objectionable. If you want to look at Fitzgerald his views about Jews (although perhaps not as blatant as Hemingway’s) were not good either but to me this was part of telling the story. I’m glad you’re not calling for banning Hemingway although I wasn’t aware you were so powerful. Before making such a conclusion which, frankly, isn’t worth much comment, I suggest you read the following: A Death in the Afternoon

-1

Wonder if there will be a business after he retires.

This record collects 12 songs from the Jubilee Broadcasts while the band was in LA in 1945.

Went ahead and purchased the Desmond Hall one. The Nat King Cole one price looks pretty darn good.

Ask about condition.

The prices look pretty good to me. I will call about one of the sets tomorrow

Just going from memory, right before Christmas it was 30%. I think if you bought a certain amount shipping was free. It’s hard to beat Amazon though.

The best time to use the store is when they’re having a sale.

An Impex reissue. Excellent sound.

Considering current prices, what a steal!

Seems cheaper in Lp than cd per Discogs.

Yesterday:

I detest these splatter colors. This one from VMP just seems wrong.

One and done!

I suspect that the J & J vaccination may become the dominant vaccine for the simple reasons only one shot is required and it can be stored in normal freezers.

The Hoffman people do seem very fussy. Unfortunately, a defect here and there will crop up even in new records. I asked Scott a month or two about making vinyl and they’re not interested although I can’t remember the reasons why.

I haven’t had too much trouble with Newark. Jersey City is another story however. The entire USPS seems a mess right now. Bills are arriving late and payments as well, incurring late and finance fees.