By mid-day Wednesday, at least 33 wildfires were burnIng in the Bat Area, burying this area under a layer of acrid smoke. Ash littered the car as we started it up here in the northern East Bay to head for my doctor's office in the mid-peninsula.
Driving on the freeways and over the Bay Bridge was a surreal experience, with little visibility of the surrounding buildings and hills and water. Vehicles emerged from the thick haze only to disappear back into it.
The heat has eased along this coast but the oppressive humidity remains. We are living with a heaviness that makes us yearn to breathe deeply once again.
This is just the latest additive factor in the sequence of problems that make so many feel trapped. We've accommodated best we can to the social isolation, the lack of mobility, the need to conduct meetings remotely and the financial stresses that beset so many.
We miss seeing our friends and family members as often as we would have.
We miss our popular sports, reduced as they are to caricatures of their former selves.
We miss eating out at the many excellent restaurants that grace most of our towns and cities.
We miss our exercise venues.
We miss travel.
We miss unrestricted movement around the region where we live.
We miss normal routines like going to the store.
We miss celebrations. Even weddings have to be virtual.
We miss mourning. This is a bad time to die, alone and with our any real memorial service possibility.
We miss seeing our kids and grandkids off to school.
We miss cheering for them on the sidelines of their games or dramatic performances.
We miss going to the theater and the movies.
We miss concerts.
This list could go on and on but we all know the score. Of course this is our new reality but it sucks.
***
* Barack Obama and Kamala Harris gave effective speeches at the DNC's third night. (DW)
* Ocasio-Cortez’s speech serves as a warning to Democratic establishment and Biden--A new generation of liberals is growing their ranks and preparing to take on the former vice president should he win on Election Day. (Washington Post)
* SALLY YATES: TRUMP WOULD RATHER 'FAWN OVER A DICTATOR' THAN DEFEND AMERICA Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates excoriated Trump for what she called a relentless attack on democracy in a blistering speech at the DNC, urging voters to unite behind Biden. “From the moment President Trump took office, he’s used his position to defend himself rather than our country,” Yates said. “Rather than standing up to Vladimir Putin, he fawns over a dictator who is still trying to interfere in our elections.” [HuffPost]
* Young people emerge as main coronavirus spreaders, WHO says--Experts fear that the global trend seen by the World Health Organization may grow in the United States as many colleges and schools reopen. (Washington Post)
* Fires across Northern California sent residents fleeing from their homes in triple-degree temperatures, amid the ongoing threat of power outages. Follow continuing updates. Thousands of people were under orders to evacuate in regions surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area Wednesday as nearly 40 wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. Smoke blanketed the city of San Francisco. (AP) [The Press Democrat | The San Francisco Chronicle]
* Uber and Lyft have threatened to suspend operations in California -- if they’re forced to abide by a contested new labor law. But they’re also exploring another way of doing business — sort of like a taxi company. [The New York Times]
***
As the Democratic convention proceeds this week, the contrast between Biden and Trump is stark. This election is not about ideas or policies or ideology.
It is about human decency.
The choice is between a man who may not inspire you with his vision but who is a decent, caring human being committed to public service -- and a cruel narcissist who belittles women and men who oppose him, cages children at the border, and gasses peaceful protestors so he can have a photo opportunity.
The year 2020 is the year when Americans need to put their political preferences and ideological differences aside and unite for once.
There is no greater wisdom than the Golden Rule, the principle of treating others as you want to be treated.
One candidate lives by that rule. The other has never heard of it.
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