It could be we're talking about mechanisms that behave in mysterious (to me) ways. Or, it could be we are talking about relationships that behave in mysterious ways..
In any event, one of the major costs of the Corona-V crisis is how many people are living without hugs. And there's no mystery about that.
I really do appreciate the public health experts, I do. But some of the things they are asking us to not do are exceptionally hard not to do. Like hug our friends.
Let's just hope the more optimistic scenarios suggesting this virus may subside for at least a while prove true. There's urgent business the human race needs to get back to, and it involves more than the economy.
Since the economy has come up here, let's face it: It's f***ed. None of the so-called stimulus packages are going to jump-start this old jalopy -- its coupler is broken.
***
Students have built a virtual U-C Berkeley campus at Mindcraft so they can experience a graduation weekend, sort of.
It feels like everything is make-believe now; nothing seems real. That, in turn, benefits people with overactive imaginations.
The Big Fantasy is that we will soon be going to restaurants, bars, parties and conventions again, like in the old days, which is another way of saying February.
What makes a leader? Certainly, old age has nothing to do with it. Sweden's Greta Thunberg is 17 and she is a global leader we can all recognize, regardless of party, religion, preference or orientation. . That Donald Trump, a 70-something, mocked her will prove to be to his eternal shame. He was reportedly jealous that Time named her "Person of the Year".
That's rather like me working myself into a strop upon learning that my grandchild has been chosen Student of the Month. "Why didn't they recognize me as Grandparent of the Month?" I might ask.
Pathetic is the word for that.
Sundberg speaks plainly, apparently party due to a condition that used to be called "mental illness" but in enlightened circles is now recognized as special. She refers to her Asperger's syndrome as her "Superpower."
I love her for that -- it's as much of a gift she is giving the world as her message about climate change. We need Superheroes at a time like this.
Understanding how global climate change is related to the Covid-19 outbreak may be one of the great scientific breakthroughs in the coming months, I believe. We'll need both our best scientists and superheroes for that effort.
***
Today in my time zone is a Friday. Back when the days were differentiated one from the other, I loved Fridays and not just because they were the precursor to the weekend. On Fridays, a small team of us cooperated to produce a weekly television news show, called "KQED Newsroom," or KNR for short.
To construct a show like that you need skilled people, equipment, and a time slot assigned by your station or network. You need a studio, cameras, lighting, a teleprompter, an oscilloscope, a control room with many screens, a makeup artist, headphones, earbuds, microphones, other random equipment, and a group of producers and engineers willing to work together for a common purpose.
The control room is dark, the studio is lit.
In journalism, it doesn't get much more fun than that. So on this particular Friday, I am missing my KNR colleagues, who I know are working hard even as I keystroke these notes on a quadrilateral with five vertical rows and 80 horizontal choices. It would be 84 but for the space bar, which takes up the four extra key spaces.
My moods vacillate much like sound waves on that oscilloscope. up and down to peaks and valleys. Maybe that combined with my obsession with numbers amounts to a "mental illness," or maybe that is my Superpower.
I know one thing: Wisdom is not distributed evenly and it does not necessarily accrue with age.
So, thank you, Greta Thunberg. I'm 4.29 times your age with barely 23 percent of your wisdom. But working independently together, maybe we can help a blind world see.
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