Napping in America

It was just another normal day in the life of an elderly person. Repeated text messages had alerted me that two of my prescriptions were ready to be picked up at the local Safeway pharmacy. But when we arrived at the pick-up window the attractive young pharmacist informed me that her system indicated that I no longer qualified for Medicare. 

"Why is that?" my daughter piped up. "He certainly is isn't getting any younger."

I wished she had not put it exactly that way but I smiled at the attractive young pharmacist and asked her to try and figure out why. After a few more tries she said she just couldn't do that so she advised that I should call the 1-800 number on the back of my red, white and blue Medicare ID card.

But I've been carrying that red, white and blue ID card around in my wallet for so many years that the 1-800 number is so faint as to qualify as invisible ink, but using my superpowers as an investigative reporter I discerned it anyway.

It was roughly a good hour and half later and several dropped calls when the most recent actual human being to try to help me figured out that the Medicare system had determined that I no longer lived in an area that qualified for prescription benefits, which struck me as a far bigger story than my particular quandary.

I started to compose the headline: "San Francisco Bay Area No Longer Legally Part of the U.S. or its Possessions."

Since it's been a while since I broke a big story myself I was licking my chops when it dawned on me this whole mess was probably just a computer error somewhere along the winding road from AARP to Medicare to Plan D to me.

Well, to make a long story short enough to tell here, the most recent actual human being to try and help me came up with a creative solution. "Why don't I just enroll you in a new Medicare Plan D right now?"

That sounded fine to me. Out with the old, in with the new, as I allowed myself to be re-enrolled in that which I already was enrolled in with the same address I always use. Of course, it all will be deducted from my monthly social security check, assuming something doesn't happen to *that* on its way from the federal government to the same address that I always use.

As I carefully inserted the old red, white and blue ID card with the faded 1-800 number on the back into my wallet, I thought to myself how happy I am I paid into those great big entitlement programs for 55 years.

Even though that apparently landed me outside of the legal U.S. territory and its possessions.

***

Should prosecutors ever succeed in cornering Trump and charging him for even a few of his numerous crimes, I've no doubt he will be declared mentally unfit to stand trial. I know this because although I may technically qualify as an elderly person, he is a lot more elderly and demented than I will ever be.

Numerous reports this week reveal that the Joint Chiefs of Staff fought back against his plan to start a war with Iran in order to hold on to power after he lost the election to Biden. Drip by drip the enormity of this demagogue's machinations are emerging, and they make it crystal that he is completely mad.

The problem for those of us who care about democracy is that even if and when Trump himself goes away somehow someday, the forces that propelled him into power will remain. 

Millions of Americans, mainly white and mainly living outside our major metropolitan areas feel angry, left-out and resentful. What they have been left out of is not exactly clear to me, but I can tell they feel angry and resentful.

Now, unfortunately, they also will be getting sick, at least those who stubbornly refuse to be vaccinated against the virus that causes Covid-19. Since I carefully read the reports coming in every day, I know the data indicates that the U.S.-manufactured vaccines prevent the delta variant and other mutations from making us ill, but that leaves the unvaccinated extremely vulnerable to the virus, which will hone in on them as its new victims.

This is the modern insanity that grips our culture, and in no small measure it is Trump's fault, for dismissing the virus as "fake" and politicizing what should have been a unified stand against a common enemy.

But he did what he did; his followers won't do what they won't do, and not even an attractive young pharmacist or a red, white and blue Medicare card can fix the disease that grips this country, I'm afraid.

I feel bad about all of this but what can I do? After all, it's gotten to be time for a midsummer's nap.

***

* What makes humans unique? Just 7% of our DNA is unique to modern humans, study shows -- The researchers also found that an even smaller fraction of our genome — just 1.5% — is both unique to our species and shared among all people alive today. Those slivers of DNA may hold the most significant clues as to what truly distinguishes modern human beings. (AP)

* Hundreds Missing and Scores Dead as Raging Floods Strike Western Europe -- Strong rains caused rivers to burst their banks and wash away buildings in Belgium and Germany, where at least 1,300 remained missing. Homes and streets in the Netherlands and Switzerland also flooded. (NYT)

* Rescuers race to prevent more death from European floods (AP)

* Democrats push sweeping climate legislation amid a scorching summer (WP)

* Greenland suspends oil exploration because of climate change (AP)

* Drought and Heat Fuel Dozens of Wildfires -- Over 60 active fires are burning across the Western United States, displacing hundreds of people and burning over 900,000 acres, with hot, dry conditions expected to continue. (Reuters)

* Authorities in southeastern Oregon ordered a new round of evacuations amid worries that the Bootleg Fire could merge with another blaze that's spreading miles a day in windy conditions. The Bootleg Fire has now torched an area larger than New York City and has stymied firefighters for nearly a week. [AP]

* The Amazon rainforest is the world’s carbon sink. Parts of it now release more carbon than can be absorbed. (WP)

* Biden to Restore Protections for Tongass National Forest in Alaska -- Trump invited mining and logging to a vast wilderness of bald eagles, black bears and 800-year-old trees. President Biden is reversing course. (NYT)

*The Key to Avoiding Future Climate Disasters? Adapting-- Wildfires, floods and other crises are influenced by climate change, but we can do much more to save lives and property by focusing on urgent practical changes on the ground. (WSJ)

* The health and climate consequences of the American food system cost three times as much as the food itself (WP)

* Los Angeles County said residents will be required to wear masks indoors once more, regardless of vaccination status, amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19. The new ordinance comes about a month after California dropped most restrictions for vaccinated people. Los Angeles County is averaging more than 1,000 new cases a day, a sharp increase from the average of 173 cases per day when the state was still under virus restrictions in mid-June. [HuffPost]

* American democracy survived its Reichstag fire on Jan. 6. But the threat has not subsided. (WP)

* Texas Should Be a Warning to Democrats Everywhere -- America should pay attention to what has gone awfully wrong in the Lone Star State. (NYT)

* Trump Lawyers Who Spread False Election Claims Are Now Defending Themselves In Court (NPR)

* Two men charged in alleged plot to firebomb California Democratic Party headquarters (WP)

* Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) was detained by U.S. Capitol Police while protesting for voting rights alongside other Black women at a Senate office building in Washington. Beatty tweeted a photo of herself being zip-tied by police with the message: “Let the people vote. Fight for justice.” [HuffPost]

* Apple Has a Growing Homeless Encampment on Its Property in San Jose (Vice)

* White House says Facebook's steps to stop vaccine misinformation are inadequate (Reuters)

* Young Cuban activists carry on the fight for freedom started by their parents and grandparents (WP)

* Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said. (Reuters, NPR)

*  “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” debuting this summer at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in Incline Village. With a cast of just three actors, the comedy will compress the playwright’s works into the time frame of a typical play — about two hours. (Sacramento Bee)

* Why is K-pop so popular? The genre’s catchy songs, savvy use of social media and dedicated fans are a formula for global success. (WP)

* So much for Donald Trump’s quest for “perfect” hair. The Biden administration is reversing a Trump-era ruleapproved after the former president complained he wasn’t getting wet enough because of limits on water flow from showerheads. (AP)

* Wreckage from TWA Flight 800 to be destroyed 25 years after crash (WP)

* Why Crash Weight Loss Programs Don't Work: Clues From Hunter-Gatherer Societies (NPR)

* Baby Has Sinking Feeling He Left Home Without Oversize Multicolor Plastic Keys (The Onion)

***

"I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair"

Song by George Jones

Songwriters: Kerry Kurt Phillips / Frank Dycus / Billy Yates

… I don't need your rockin' chair
Your Geritol or your Medicare
Well I still got Neon in my veins
This grey hair don't mean a thing
I do my rockin' on the stage
You can't put this possum in a cage
My body's old but it ain't impaired
I don't need your rockin' chair

… I ain't ready for the junkyard yet
'Cause I still feel like a new corvette
It might take a little longer but I'll get there
Well I don't need your rockin' chair

-30-