Up in the pre-dawn darkness Monday to see our fisherfolk off on their latest adventure -- seeking halibut, striped bass and whatever else the guides could locate in their ten-plus hours out on the Bay. I was telling the kids how cool it would be to see the sun come up over one of the most beautiful and important waterways in the world, as well as watching from the water as a major metropolitan area wakes up and comes to life.
Already, at 4:30 am, the freeway was illuminated by the steady flow of trucks carrying food and supplies toward a thousand end points in this region, but the Bay itself remained jet-black. There weren't really any sounds around here.
The kids looked sleepy but excited. As they made their way to the car, then down to the freeway and over to the port in Oakland, I thought about many such mornings when I was younger. Getting up before dawn, sometimes to fish but more often to catch a flight somewhere far away or to drive family and friends to the airport while I stayed behind.
By the end of the day they were back with 20 pounds of fillets. In the store, that would cost $500. The kids don't know this, but the only thing about fishing I actually like is the story. Fish stories are a lot like children -- they just keep growing over time. And when you think about it, stuffing a trophy fish is sort of like journalism in that it is a form of accountability.
That stuffed fish on your wall can't really grow bigger than it actually was, though I suppose the tale of the massive fight to land it remains open to invention.
Then again, you probably had to be there.
***
I tend to avoid the world of gossip, under its various guises, like the plague (Covid); therefore I'd never given much thought to Elon Musk and knew very little about him until recently. In fact he first caught my attention a few weeks ago when he Tweeted "If there’s ever a scandal about me, *please* call it Elongate."
I like people who play with words that way.
So it was with a blank palette that I watched the video of his appearance on SNL last Saturday and I thought he was brilliant. Asberger's -- now it makes sense. His vulnerable awkwardness was charming, as was his sense of humor.
Don't know whether the writers helped him -- probably.
After some research, I understand why people resent him and what he represents, and there appear to be some problems with his factories and methods. And, no, I don't forgive him for his hurtful comments about trans people or for downplaying the danger of Covid. Those remarks were inexcusable.
He's also probably extremely irritating to be around, unless you've had the grace of knowing people with similar "disorders" (I call them gifts.)
You can call him a bad guy if you wish and of course power corrupts, so he could well be some kind of a corrupt guy, IDK.
But as for me, bottom line, from this limited sample, I like him. He's out there -- *way* out there, somewhere close in that spot in the universe where I orbit as well.
***
The headlines:
* Republicans aren’t just making it harder to vote. They’re going after election officials, too. (WP)
* Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said the sharply divided Republican Party is in a “slow sink,” like the Titanic, doomed by leaders’ stubborn fascination with reelection loser Trump. Kinzinger and embattled Liz Cheney were among 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. [HuffPost]
* ‘Why Do We Deserve to Die?’ Kabul’s Hazaras Bury Their Daughters. -- A bomb attack that killed scores of schoolgirls, members of a long-persecuted minority, offered still more evidence that Afghanistan may be on the verge of unraveling. (NYT)
* School bombing heightens fears among Afghanistan’s Hazaras, long a target for militants, amid U.S. exit (WP)
* Dr. Anthony Fauci said he has "no doubt" the number of Americans killed by COVID-19 is much higher than what has been officially reported. A recent study counted nearly double the amount recorded by federal health officials. [HuffPost]
* Slowing population growth raises questions about America as a land with unlimited horizons (WP)
* Reversing Trump, U.S. restores transgender health protections (AP)
* The Psychedelic Revolution Is Coming. Psychiatry May Never Be the Same. -- Psilocybin and MDMA are poised to be the hottest new therapeutics since Prozac. Universities want in, and so does Wall Street. Some worry a push to loosen access could bring unintended consequences. (NYT)
* The ransomware group accused of crippling the leading U.S. fuel pipeline operator said on Monday that its goal was to make money and not sow mayhem, a statement that experts saw as a sign the cybercriminals’ scheme had gone farther than they had intended. (Reuters)
* U.S. pump prices head for highest since 2014 as hacked fuel pipeline shut (Reuters)
* Policy Makers Can’t Agree on Causes of Shortage of Workers (WSJ)
* There Have Been, On Average, 10 Mass Shootings In The U.S. Each Week This Year (NPR)
* How an obscure Tex. firm helped convince many the election was stolen from Trump (WP)
* Companies behind digital currencies are rushing to hire well-connected lobbyists, lawyers and consultants as the battle over how to regulate them intensifies. (NYT)
* Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill 20 people, including nine children, Palestinian officials say (WP)
* 300 More Palestinians Wounded In New Violence; Jerusalem Day March Is Canceled (NPR)
* Transylvania File: Dracula’s castle proves an ideal setting for COVID-19 jabs (AP)
* Hundreds of bodies of covid-19 victims are still in New York’s refrigerated trucks more than a year into the pandemic (WP)
* The Importance of Holding a Funeral–Even a Year Later (WSJ)
* Schools Are Open, but Many Families Remain Hesitant to Return (NYT)
* Underwriters puzzle over how to make pandemics insurable again (Reuters)
* U.S. trashes unwanted gear in Afghanistan to be sold as scrap (AP)
* Close this FEC loophole that killed the case over Trump’s payment to Stormy Daniels (WP)
* Palestinians fear loss of family homes as evictions loom (AP)
* Melinda Gates Sought Divorce Lawyers in 2019 -- The philanthropist had discussions with lawyers in October 2019 around when Bill Gates’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein became public. (WSJ)
* Air pollution from farms leads to 17,900 U.S. deaths per year, study finds (WP)
* All four of the baby peregrine falcons that hatched in the nest atop the PG&E building on Beale Street in downtown SF have survived their first month and will soon begin to fledge — gaining the adult feathers they need for flight. (SFist)
* Extraordinary Fossils Of 9 Neanderthals Discovered In Cave Outside Rome (HuffPost)
* Maya Angelou and Sally Ride Will Be Honored on Quarters -- The coins are part of a new U.S. Mint program that will feature as many as 20 American women. (NYT)
* Fighting Continues Over World's Holiest Bombing Sites (The Onion)
***
"Girl Crush"
Sung by Little Big Town
Written by Hillary Lindsey / Liz Rose / Lori Mckenna
Hate to admit it but
I got a hard rush
It's slowin' down
Want everything she has
That smile and that midnight laugh
She's givin' you now
Yeah, 'cause they taste like you
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume
I want her magic touch
Yeah, 'cause maybe then
You'd want me just as much
I don't get no sleep
I don't get no peace
Thinkin' about her
The way that she's whisperin'
The way that she's pullin' you in
Lord knows I've tried
I can't get her off my mind
Yeah, 'cause they taste like you
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume
I want her magic touch
Yeah, 'cause maybe then
You'd want me just as much
Hate to admit it but
I got a heart rush
It ain't slowin' down
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