Final Cut Rewrite

Since the pandemic started, my youngest son told me he hears coyotes howling at night from the top of the hill at Bernal. That is one of many changes in our world over the past year or so.

That the George Floyd case and its aftermath happened during the Covid-19 pandemic was hardly coincidental, either. As the nation locked down and became more dependent on virtual communications, the senseless murder of a black man by a police officer for trying to cash a counterfeit $20 bill became a reality TV show too compelling for a captive audience to resist.

It wasn't a unique story; it wasn't a new kind of problem. This sort of thing had been going on since long before any of us were born. But this time it was different in that it was captured on video shot by a bystander, 17-year-old Darnella Frazier, and everyone was stuck at home to see it.

So finally what had long since become a tired narrative couldn't be ignored any longer.

Of course, Tuesday's conviction in the case is only one step toward ending the systemic racism that results in police misconduct. But at least justice has been done in this one case.

That is one silver lining of the pandemic.

***

There are additional silver linings we can reasonably seek involving climate change. Every day among the headlines I curate are stories detailing both the latest signs of planetary damage and new efforts by officials to address them.

One of the primary reasons to be hopeful about the Biden administration is this president's clear, determined priority on climate change. He has the right officials in place to advance policy priorities that could make a difference.

I've been rereading a book I've mentioned here previously, "The World Without Us," which describes how the planet would adapt and recover once human beings disappear and it presents what is truly a bittersweet story.

The good news is that most other life forms would survive. Of course, if Hollywood were to make the book into a movie, there would have to be a different ending.

And that is we would make it back into the scene during the final cut so that we could hear the coyotes as they howl from the top of the hill in our dreams.

***

Headlines:

* President plans to cut emissions at least in half by 2030 (WaPo)

* U.S. to join global effort to decarbonize shipping industry (Reuters)

* Lagging Vaccination Rates Among Rural Seniors Hint At Brewing Rural-Urban Divide (NPR)

* U.S. takes steps to protect electric system from cyberattacks (AP)

* Coal miners join climate activists to back Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan (CNN)

* The girl in the Kent State photo and the lifelong burden of being a national symbol (WaPo)

* Run out of milk? Robots on call for Singapore home deliveries (Reuters)

* TikTok Adds Automated Captions, Making Platform More Open to Deaf People (WSJ)

* Far-Right-Friendly Platform Parler Expected To Return To App Store Next Week (NPR)

* Knicks Praised For Embodying New York Spirit Of Overhyped Media Creations (The Onion)

***

Who can tell just how it starts 
Angry words and broken hearts 
Till silently we sit apart 
You and I 
But in awhile the anger's gone 
And we forget who's right or wrong 
Then one of us will end it all 
With just a smile 

We believe in happy endings 
Never breaking 
Only bending 
Taking time enough for mending 
The hurt inside 

We believe in new beginnings 
Giving in 
And forgiving 
We believe happy endings 
You and I 

Just a word is all it takes 
And so it pass 
The silence breaks 
And looking back it makes us ache 
For what we've done 

And so we cling together now 
And wonder why we're oh so proud 
When all that matters anyhow 
Is our love 

We believe in happy endings 
Never breaking 
Only bending 
Taking time enough for mending 
The hurt inside 

We believe in new beginnings 
Giving in 
And forgiving 
We believe in happy endings 
You and I

Songwriter: Bob Mcdill

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