Perhaps it's that I'm in foggy San Francisco, but the news is about as visible here as the road ahead when you crest the hill on Clipper Street with your windshield wipers at full speed, your headlights helplessly cross-eyed, and your passengers holding on for dear life.
America seems destined for a political crisis this fall, with nobody willing or able to prevent it. That's bad enough as it is, but the pandemic rages out of control, with large groups of people here and there defying public health experts' advice not to gather in crowds without taking preventive measures.
I'm in no position to judge anyone; if I wren't in a high-risk category myself, I would no doubt be out there, discarding caution for the social contacts I yearn for.
The city I've gotten to know over the past 50 years was always at its best when a party was going on and at its worst when the party was by and for one.
People are still trying to party here. Crowds gathered Friday night along Valencia Street, which has emerged over the years as the main venue for cafes, shops and bike traffic in the Mission District.
Still, most residents are practicing social distancing, wearing masks, and staying close to home.
The long-term contours of a new society are emerging, where most work will be virtual as the disparities in wealth become ever more stark.
Another way to put it is you will only be as good -- and employable -- as the strength of your Internet connection and your mastery of the etiquette for Zoom calls.
Meanwhile, I can't figure out how anyone is going to meet new friends, let alone forge deeper connections. Obviously masks and social distance are going to have to be abandoned if couples are to throw caution to the wind and actually form a relationship.
Maybe the local fog will decide to smother the virus and keep lovers safe, or maybe it will only make everything worse. Long-time San Franciscans know this much -- the fog has its own way and will do with us as it pleases.
Out on the bay, along with the foghorns, the rays of a lighthouse keep turning, trying to light the way. Today's incoming includes the following:
* The Voting Will End Nov. 3. The Legal Battle Probably Won’t. Get ready for a contested election. (New York Times)
* 97,000 children reportedly test positive for coronavirus in two weeks as schools gear up for instruction (CBS News)
Teachers are threatening strikes, and students are already coming home infected with the coronavirus, which has upended American education. (Washington Post)
* Trump attempts to wrest tax and spending powers from Congress with new executive actions. The political parties are at gridlock again. (Washington Posst)
* Trump abruptly ended a Saturday news conference after a reporter challenged him on a lie about veterans health care he has told more than 150 times. Trump had claimed again that he is the one who got the Veterans Choice program passed -- adding, "They've been trying to get that passed for decades and decades and decades and no president's ever been able to do it, and we got it done." In fact, former President Barack Obama signed the Choice program into law in 2014. (CNN)
* Trump's executive action deferring, and possibly forgiving, payroll taxes could leave Social Security and Medicare on even shakier ground.The entitlement programs' finances have long been troubled. And the crush of coronavirus-induced layoffs has only deepened the problem by slashing the amount of payroll tax revenue going into their trust funds. (CNN)
* Trump’s routine after failing to cut deals with Congress: Signing legally dubious executive actions -- He has frequently relied on showmanship and pageantry to try to turn negotiating failures into victories. (Washington Post)
* White House aides reached out to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem last year about the process of adding additional presidents to Mount Rushmore. According to a person familiar who spoke with the Times, Noem then greeted Trump when he arrived in the state for his July Fourth celebrations at the monument with a four-foot replica of Mount Rushmore that included his face. Noem has noted before Trump's "dream" to have his face on Mount Rushmore, the Coolidge-era sculpture that features the 60-foot-tall faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. (New York Times)
* A president ignored: Trump’s outlandish claims increasingly met with a collective shrug -- More than 3½ years into his term, President Trump often finds himself minimized, as many of his outrageous or groundless statements are briefly considered and then, just as quickly, dismissed. (Washington Post)
* Analyst Chris Cizzilla says the final list of VP candidates on Joe Biden's list are: (1) Kamala Harris, (2) Susan Rice, (3) Gretchen Whitmer, (4) Tammy Duckworth, and (5) Karen Bass. (CNN)
* Boycotted. Criticized. But Fox News Leads the Pack in Prime Time. Led by Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, the channel’s pro-Trump lineup outranked every network from 8 to 11 p.m. in June and July. (New York Times)
* Hong Kong Publisher Jimmy Lai Is Arrested Under National Security Law -- The pro-democracy figure is the most high-profile person detained under the sweeping law imposed by Beijing on the semiautonomous territory. (New York Times)
* Americans insist the atom bomb ended the war in Japan — ignoring its human cost. This part of U.S. history is poorly understood by most Americans. (Washington Post)
***
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
I'm gonna study, study, war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
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