Baby Boy Weir!!!

 

That World War Covid

The pandemic that started out as a sprint has long since turned into a marathon, and -- as one of the articles from the Huffington Post listed below indicates -- most of us are feeling like we may start to wander a bit off the course. 

Around here most people are wearing masks and avoiding close contact still, but many are also easing up a bit on the restrictions constricting their social lives.

This situation is particularly difficult for parents of young children, who desperately need to play with friends and gain social skills. But teenagers and 20-somethings can't be expected to isolate themselves indefinitely, either.

It's one thing for people my age to tell them they should but we had our chance to be young and crazy decades ago when there was no pandemic.

Honestly, all age groups are suffering. Singles of any age who would like to date and meet new partners are feeling the restrictions intensely. Middle-aged people who are divorced or widowed feel trapped as well. And too many of our elders are shut away from the world, unable to pursue even the small joys of bingo games or walks with friends.

If Joe Biden is good at one thing, it is his empathy for everyone who is suffering, and that makes him the right person for the job right now. I hope he also knows how to be a very aggressive hunter, bringing the full force of our species to the war against SARS-CoV-2. Although we have the virus in our gun sights, it's a pesky devil, mutating constantly while trying to elude destruction.

But it can't thrive without a host, so if we can rapidly inoculate everybody, it will ultimately fade away like all the other virus invaders from our recent past.

The point is we are at war -- it's humans vs. virus.

***

One of the weirder jobs in America has to be White House press secretary. The current occupant, Jen Psaki, is a welcome change from her predecessor, the serial prevaricator Kayleigh McEnany.

Then again, McEnany was accurately reflecting the values and beliefs of her boss, much as Psaki is reflecting hers. It's just that watching someone who spins facts as opposed to conspiracy theories is refreshing.

I do have one small bit of advice for Jen, I hope you don't mind me calling you that, Jen. And that is to consider laying off just one of those cups of coffee before the daily press briefing.

Of course you've only been on the job for 17 days or should I say two-and-a-half weeks. I know you know I know that you know that I know how government works but for the people who don't necessarily know, or should I say, really would like to know, or should I say probably should know, or...where was I again?

Maybe just one less, Jen...

*** 

Big news later today: We are expecting the birth of a grandson!

The (other) news:

* House passes budget plan, bringing Biden’s covid relief package a step closer (WashPo)

* Toll Worker Job Losses Highlight Long-Term Fallout of Pandemic -- The Pennsylvania Turnpike laid off workers to switch to labor-saving technology, in what might be a broader trend. (NYT)

* Republicans worry their big tent will mean big problems in 2022 elections (WashPo)

* Democratic lawmakers delivered emotional testimonies of their experiences on Jan. 6, the day that armed, pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who earlier this week gave a play-by-play of the moments she thought she was going to die during the attack, organized a “special order” hour on the House floor for nearly a dozen lawmakers to speak to their own trauma after the riots. [HuffPost]

* After Capitol riot, desperate families turn to groups that ‘deprogram’ extremists (WashPo)

* A dozen state police officers were being questioned following their arrests in connection with the killings of 19 people, including Guatemalan migrants, whose bodies were found shot and burned near the U.S. border late in January. Tamaulipas state Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica said all 12 officers were in custody and face charges of homicide, abuse of authority and making false statements. [AP]

* ‘I Am Not Afraid’: With Her Husband in Prison, Eyes Turn to Yulia Navalnaya -- After Aleksei Navalny’s sentencing, his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has been reluctantly thrust into a public spotlight, winning admirers but making her a target of Kremlin propaganda. (NYT)

* Amazon warehouses are quietly transitioning workers to a 10-hour graveyard shift, from 1:20 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., known as “the megacycle.” [Vice]

* Amazon is  set to pay $61.7 million to Flex drivers to settle a Federal Trade Commission investigation into its withholding of driver tips. [The Los Angeles Times]

* Afghanistan is Biden’s first big foreign policy headache (WashPo)

*Within the past couple of weeks, many of us have been slammed with major pandemic fatigue. We’re burnt out. We’re expected to be productive at work or to parent (or often both) as though we haven’t been living in hell for the last year. The winter has been bleak and could potentially get bleaker. And even though the vaccines are bringing us some much-needed hope, our feelings of exhaustion and hopelessness are swallowing any positive emotions whole. (HuffPost)

* A member of the World Health Organization expert team investigating the origins of the coronavirus in Wuhan says the Chinese side granted full access to all sites and personnel they requested — a level of openness that even he hadn’t expected.Peter Daszak told The Associated Press on Friday that team members had submitted a deeply considered list of places and people to include in their investigation and that no objections were raised. (AP)

* 

U.S. senators propose limiting liability shield for social media platforms

 (Reuters)

* How ‘Brain Fog’ Can Linger After Mild COVID-19 Cases (KQED)

* California's employment agency and Bank of America made millions on unemployment debit card fees — while workers still missing money struggled to survive. [CalMatters]

* A Parallel Pandemic Hits Health Care Workers: Trauma and Exhaustion -- Vaccines may be on the way, but many on the front-lines are burned out. Has the government done enough to help alleviate their stress? (NYT)

* Volunteer army helps Florida elders book coveted COVID shots (AP)

* Complications are plaguing the aftermath of Pacific Gas & Electric’s bankruptcy. Survivors of the fires that the utility caused are racing against time to be compensated. [The San Francisco Chronicle]

* Trump created a toxic environment for immigrants. Biden must remedy that. (WashPo)

* Biden’s administration is “reviewing” what executive actions he could take to cancel some student loan debt, his press secretary said, the first time the White House has indicated that the president could move unilaterally on the issue. “The President continues to support the canceling of student debt to bring relief to students and families,” press secretary Jen Psaki wrote on Twitter. [HuffPost]

* The Second COVID-19 Shot Is a Rude Reawakening for Immune Cells -- Side effects are just a sign that protection is kicking in as it should. (Atlantic)

* Senate and House Democrats renewed their effort to enact sweeping reform to U.S. labor laws, reintroducing a broad bill that would expand collective bargaining rights and help rejuvenate labor unions. The package of measures, known as the Protecting the Right to Organize Act would, if it becomes law, be the most significant labor legislation enacted in the post-war period, and the most beneficial to unions in nearly 90 years. [HuffPost]

* Be careful not to confuse percent with percentage point. A change from 10% to 13% is a rise of 3 percentage points. This is not equal to a 3% change; rather, it’s a 30% increase. (AP Stylebook) You don't say. (DW)

* Americans Scrambling For Covid Vaccine After CDC Director Announces Thousands Of Doses Buried Somewhere In California (The Onion)

***

There's a young man that I know
His age is twenty-one
Comes from down
In southern Colorado

Just out of the service
And he's looking for his fun
Someday soon, going with him
Someday soon

My parents can not stand him
Cause he rides the rodeo
My father says that
He will leave me crying

I would follow him right down
The toughest road I know
Someday soon, going with him
Someday soon

And when he comes to call
My pa ain't got a good word to say
Guess it's cause he's just
As wild in the younger days

So blow, you old Blue Northern
Blow my love to me
He's driving in tonight
From California

-- Songwriter: Tyson Ian; Singer: Judy Collins

-30-

Vaccination Day

It was just another day. As I readied myself for the shot to protect against Covid-19, my first thought was about the weather; it was bright and sunny here in the Bay Area. 

Last year, when I was researching a possible memoir, I reread the hand-written journals I'd kept for a half century. And one curious element that stood out to me was how many entries opened with a description of the weather on that date.

This struck me as odd. After all, I'm not a farmer or a truck driver so why should it particularly matter what the weather was like? The point of a journal is to record your thoughts, feelings and activities and in my case, the weather rarely affected any of those.

And yet, I always felt compelled to record it for posterity (a polite word for the elderly me) almost as if I might want to relive it all again someday.

***

Being targeted for a vaccination is just the latest reminder that I am officially an older person. Then again, there are active debates in various media organizations (especially public broadcasting) whether you should even use that phrase "older person."

It also turns out that you should think twice before calling them "senior citizens," or "the elderly" although I'm not exactly sure why. Obviously, "geezers" is a pejorative, as are terms of endearment if used by strangers, like "Pops, Grandpa or Old Man," so avoid those at all costs.

One report went so far as to suggest that you shouldn't refer to a person as "old" at all. The logic behind that is that as medical science advances, aging is a relative matter that varies case by case. And to label someone as old is presumed to suggest they may be somehow diminished in capacity. And that may not be the case.

Well, I don't know about any of that stuff, but being designated by my county as one of the first citizens to get the vaccine most definitely affirmed to me that I am "old," because I am not a front-line worker, nor would anyone say that what I do is essential for the public health. 

So you can call me whatever you want, because I'm pretty much happy to be that thing that must not be spoken. Especially when one considers the alternatives.

***

At the intake door to the clinic in San Pablo, the man ahead of me did not have an appointment. A lady gave him sheet of paper about how to get one and told him to step aside.

So it was my turn. A very young woman greeted me and explained what would be happening  next. But first she nodded at the man who didn't have an appointment.

"People show up all day without appointments. I feel sad for them."

"Do you work here eight hour shifts?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's pretty busy."

"Everything seems pretty relaxed."

"Yep, the old people are cool. Only the young people seem nervous. Some of them seem scared."

"I guess they have more at stake," I suggested. "You know, longer life expectancy and stuff like that."

She was silent a moment. "I'm a senior...

...in high school. You know, no graduation or parties or any of that stuff."

"I worry about you guys," I said. "You're missing so much."

"It's cool," she said. "At least I feel like I'm doing something about it."

***

Next it was time to get the shot. 

All went smoothly; I didn't feel a thing.

But one palpable effect of getting vaccinated is the relief felt by my family members. I can only imagine what it must be like to carry the burden of worrying about an older loved one during this pandemic. Because the facts are indisputable -- roughly 80 percent of those who die of Covid are old.

Hopefully this is the start of a return to normal for them...    .

***

The news:

* House Removes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene From Her Committee Assignments (NPR)

* MacKenzie Scott and the Great Man theory of entrepreneurship (Medium) This is a terrific read -- (DW)

* Voting tech company Smartmatic files massive $2.7 billion libel suit filed against Fox News, Giuliani for  election conspiracies. (CNN)

* Michael Regan, Biden’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, told lawmakers he would move swiftly to rein in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, repair the damage that the Trump administration inflicted at the federal agency and put environmental justice communities at the heart of the agency’s efforts. [HuffPost]

* Impeachment officials asked Trump to testify on his own behalf. (CNN)

* Trump rejects request to testify in Senate impeachment trial (WashPo)

* Americans' satisfaction with seven broad aspects of the way the country functions is collectively at its lowest in two decades of Gallup measurement. This includes satisfaction with the overall quality of life in the U.S., assessments of government, corporate and religious influence, and perceptions of the economic and moral climates. The average percentage satisfied with these seven dimensions has plunged to 39% at the start of 2021. That compares with 53% a year ago, the highest average in more than a decade amid strong economic confidence and before the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S. (Gallup)

* We can’t let one anarchic mob lead to the forever fencing-off of our arena of democracy (WashPo) * Biden Plan To Expand Child Tax Credit Could Help Lift Millions Of Kids Out Of Poverty (NPR) *  High levels of toxic heavy metals found in some baby food: U.S. report (Reuters) * Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and other major automakers said they would no longer oppose California’s stricter fuel-economy standards. (NYT) * Fearing violence and political uncertainty, Americans are buying millions more firearms (WashPo) *  Biden to name special Yemen envoy, end support for Saudi-led coalition, aide says (Reuters)

* Inside the Shadowy Militias Luring Unsuspecting Afghans to Fight, or Die -- Afghanistan’s poor are being deceived into defending outposts from the Taliban, sometimes under the guise of construction work — a scheme partially bankrolled by the government. (NYT)
* In the Ozarks, the Pandemic Threatens a Fragile Musical Tradition -- The older fiddlers and rhythm guitar players don’t rely on sheet music, so their weekly jam sessions — now on hiatus — are critical to passing their technique to the next generation. (NYT)
* Modi’s Response to Farmer Protests in India Stirs Fears of a Pattern -- Critics say Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s approach to dissent increasingly involves stifling dissenting voices, blocking the internet and cracking down on journalists. (NYT)
* Court Faults France Over ‘Ecological Damage’ From Its Emissions Levels  -- A Paris court said the French state had failed to meet its commitments on greenhouse gas emissions. The lawsuit is among a growing number of such legal actions internationally. (NYT) 






* Flower In Bucket Nearest To Grocery Checkout Deemed Girlfriend’s Favorite (The Onion)

Our Conversations With Each Other

When sociolinguist Deborah Tannen published her book "You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation" in 1990, it helped me understand a pattern I'd noticed during my years in journalism. 

Many of my male colleagues, including me, seemed to get ahead in media companies faster and win more awards than our female colleagues, despite the fact that IMHO we were not better reporters or writers.

If anything, when it came to interviewing sources, women seemed to be the better listeners, generally, so they often got better and deeper information than we did.

Tannen's book at least provided a context for all of this. She wrote:

"For most women, the language of conversation is primarily a language of rapport: a way of establishing connections and negotiating relationships ... For most men, talk is primarily a means to preserve independence and negotiate and maintain status in a hierarchical social order."

Although she was talking mainly about personal rather than professional relationships, her book proved useful in my teaching jobs. I started pointing out to my women students that they might use their conversational preferences to their tactical advantage when interviewing men in positions of power.

Also, women journalists inside the company faced a similar challenge and therefore an opportunity. In that era, female colleagues tended to speak less in meetings, and when they did have something to say it more often was to raise a question, whereas the men favored making declarative statements and staking out a position.

The men also interrupted the women much more frequently than vice versa.

I'm not pretending that I was some sort of genius for noticing this stuff, because I wasn't, but I could see that the whole situation was pretty unfair. And when around the same time the pay disparities between men and women surfaced, the whole thing started to sicken me.

I developed the kind of bad feeling I always get when confronted with injustices. All too easily, I knew, it could have been me on the outside, left out, feeling diminished. Despite whatever successes I had had, there were plenty of failures too, setbacks, betrayals and disappointments -- mainly but not exclusively dealt me by men.

And to be fair, there were some pretty mean moves put on by women colleagues as well, including behind-the-back betrayals that hurt a lot. In fact, they still hurt to this day. So I concluded neither sex had any claim to a higher degree of morality or decency in the media environment; it really boiled down to how each individual behaved.

Systemic discrimination existed, yes, but the impact of that reality varied widely person by person. Some turned out to be kind; some turned out to be mean.

Not to sound cynical, but I'm not sure all that much has changed to this day. At least at work, men and women still seem to misunderstand each other pretty much as ever. But least there is a much broader consciousness of the problem than in the past.

In that spirit, I haven't met the person yet who couldn't try just a little bit harder to understand the other. And that includes me. Maybe we just have to switch roles now and then. Isn't that what the Golden Rule is all about?

*** 

A bit of personal news: I'm to get vaccinated today.

The news:

 * Why Are Republican Presidents So Bad for the Economy? -- G.D.P., jobs and other indicators have all risen faster under Democrats for nearly the past century. (NYT)

* Biden Signs 3 Executive Orders on Immigration -- President Biden on Tuesday signed three executive orders aiming to roll back former President Donald J. Trump’s policies on immigration and reunite migrant families who were separated at the Mexican border (AP)

* House votes to levy fines of up to $10,000 on lawmakers who flout security screening (WashPo)

*The vaccine created by Oxford University and AstraZeneca reduces the spread of the coronavirus, according to the first research showing how vaccines affect transmission of the illness. Further, a single shot can provide significant protection against COVID-19 if its second dose is delayed by three months. The findings could allow countries to vaccinate many more people with their first shots with less fear that they won’t have enough on hand for a second jab. [HuffPost]

* U.S. extends arms control treaty with Russia for 5 years, Blinken says (Reuters)

* 

Canada declares the Proud Boys a terrorist group less than a month after members allegedly joined Capitol riot (WashPo)

 

* First Came the Lockdown. Then Came the Wildfire. -- Residents on the outskirts of Perth in Western Australia fled their homes in the middle of the night, just days after being told to stay in because of the coronavirus. (NYT)

* President Biden, first lady pay respects to Officer Brian Sicknick at U.S. Capitol (WashPo)

* Nearly a year after suspending a presidential campaign that she built on the idea of a national wealth tax, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is poised to join the Senate Committee on Finance and introduce legislation to make her stump speech a reality. Warren pledged that she will “press giant corporations, the wealthy, and the well-connected to finally pay their fair share in taxes.” [HuffPost]

* Under Pressure to Rebuke Their Own, G.O.P. Leaders Face a Critical Test -- The fates of Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Liz Cheney have become a proxy battle for the soul of the party, prompting a clash among top Republicans. (NYT)

* WHO team probing COVID-19 visits Wuhan lab, meets 'Bat Woman' (Reuters)

* San Jose and Oakland may require grocery stores to compensate workers with additional “hazard pay.” [The SJ Mercury News]

* One of the first things experts will tell you about trauma is that the body never forgets. This is what Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was referring to when she told more than 150,000 people who tuned in to her Instagram live to hear her recount her experiences during the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol: that “trauma compounds.” [HuffPost]

*Amazon Inc. agreed to pay more than $61.7 million to settle allegations it cheated Amazon Flex drivers out of nearly one-third of tips from customers for more than two years. The money paid to the Federal Trade Commission will be used to compensate drivers. The FTC said Amazon in 2015 advertised that a program called Flex would pay drivers $18 to $25 an hour to make deliveries and that they would receive 100% of any tips. But in late 2016 Amazon “secretly reduced its own contribution to drivers’ pay,” according to the FTC complaint. [Reuters]

* Deranged Conspiracy Theorist Convinced Large Cabal Of Americans Want Her To Disappear (The Onion)

***

Lay a whisper
On my pillow
Leave the winter
On the ground
I wake up lonely
There's air of silence
In the bedroom
And all around
Touch me now
I close my eyes
And dream away

It must have been love
But it's over now
It must have been good
But I lost it somehow

Songwriter: Per Gessle

-30-

New Hopes Sprouting

Soon enough, the gloom of the unending pandemic, the divided nation, the broken economy and the looming devastation of another fire season will darken our skies over Northern California, but for now, for just a minute, I'm transfixed by the new shoots of grass sprouting all around here.

They are courtesy of several sheets of rains that swirled in from the Pacific, bringing with them the hope that we can deal with it all once again like we have always have.

There will be a spring! 

Monday as I was focusing on how journalists -- and therapists and detectives and even strangers can get so much out of anyone by simply asking questions, my son brought me back to the other side of the equation: How much hangs on how you answer those questions when they come in a job interview.

We had just parked the car and were walking down the hill toward a restaurant when his phone rang and he took the call while standing in the entryway of a building near the corner.

I've never been much of a snoop, so I didn't listen to what he was saying but I could tell from his tone it was an important call.

A few minutes later, as we settled into our table on the outdoor patio of the cafe, he filled me in on the details.

"I'm nervous about how I will do," he started. He's just completed one phase in his quest to get certified as a medical assistant. This follows a stretch as an EMT answering 9-1-1 calls and transporting patients all over Northern California night after night for most of the past year.

He's seen a lot of people in situations we'd never want to be in, including many 5150s, usually younger folks who had tried or were threatening to commit suicide. After too long doing that work, he realized he hated dropping people off at the hospital when what he really wanted to do was stay behind and help them get better.

So he quit his EMT job and went back to school. Now he needed to land an "externship" -- a temporary training program in a workplace, offered to students as part of their study. That could be in a doctor's office in the very same medical complex where he had been born back in the 90s; at least that's what this phone call had indicated.

But first he had to get through the job interview, scheduled at the office for Tuesday afternoon.

We reviewed what he should wear -- a nice shirt, slacks, definitely *not* his usual dark beanie -- and how to answer some of the questions they always ask on such occasions. 

"And don't forget to smile,." 

"Right! Straight through my mask, Dad." 

"Well, ah, maybe lower your mask for just a second to flash them your smile."

We turned to other topics as I thought to myself what a weird time this is for 20-somethings.

An entire generation has been frozen in place by the pandemic -- graduating college with no ceremony, applying for jobs when there are none, saddled by college debt, having to move back in with their parents, never able to see their friends, living isolated lives just when they ought to be at their *most* social selves, networking, getting into relationships, launching careers, and maybe most importantly of all -- being able, finally, to feel like the adults they have worked to become.

I'm sure somewhere in the back of his mind, all that same stuff was swirling like the rainstorm poised off the coast Monday evening, or maybe he was just thinking about how he would let the interviewer see him smile.

***

I wish *somebody* on the national scene would develop a sense of humor to lighten up these dark times. Too bad Al Franken got so serious when he became a Senator, he certainly had the potential to be funnier than he was in office.

But the gravitas of it all really gets to these guys, as does the constant need to always be on point and on the job.

No one ever tells a joke and heaven forbid anyone should ever  actually laugh.

But no matter what, these Presidents, Senators and Representatives have been sent to Washington to make things better and now they need to do that when absolutely everything around them sucks.

Back there, they've gotten snowed on this week. If I were Speaker of the House, I'd propose that they take recess, go outside and have a snowball fight. It would probably do them a lot of good.

Then maybe they could get down to the real job of making a great big old snowman together.

***

P.S. Update: My son aced the interview and got the position.

The news:

* WHO mission to visit Wuhan Institute of Virology (NHK)

* N.M. official who warned of ‘blood running out of’ U.S. Capitol jailed pending trial in Jan. 6 riot case (WashPo)

* White Christian Evangelicals Were Among Capitol Rioters -- They oppose democracy and democratic values just like Trump. (Reveal)

* An Emboldened Extremist Wing Flexes Its Power in a Leaderless G.O.P. -- As more far-right Republicans take office and exercise power, party officials are promoting unity and neutrality rather than confronting dangerous messages and disinformation. (NYT)

* Former President Donald Trump raised $76 million by citing the need to challenge his reelection loss and for Republicans to win two Senate runoffs in Georgia, but through the end of 2020 he didn't spend a penny on either. “He put all this money in the bank for his own legal fights. He never cared about Georgia’s races," a top Republican told HuffPost's S.V. Dáte. [HuffPost]

* Right-wing mobs are a real danger. Fencing at the Capitol won’t help. (WashPo) 

* 'He invited us': Accused Capitol rioters blame Trump (Reuters)

* Bezos Will Step Down as Amazon CEO (Amazon)

* Rocket Startup Astra Space Poised to Go Public at $2.1 Billion Valuation -- The Northern California company—one of the few space startups with flight-proven technology—intends to be the first maker of small rockets to go public in the U.S., using a blank-check company, or SPAC.(WSJ)

* The House impeachment managers accuse Donald Trump of summoning a mob to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, whipping the crowd "into a frenzy" and then aiming them "like a loaded cannon" at the U.S. Capitol, pinning the blame for the deadly violence that ensued directly on the former president. (NPR)

* The Real Rosa Parks Story Is Better Than the Fairy Tale -- The way we talk about her covers up uncomfortable truths about American racism. (NYT) 

* Senate confirms Buttigieg to lead Transportation Dept., the first openly gay person confirmed to a Cabinet seat (WashPo)

* A gloomy Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil says more winter (AP)

* Rochester, New York, police released body camera footage that shows a 9-year-old girl being handcuffed and pepper-sprayed by officers responding to a family disturbance call. "You're acting like a child," one officer tells the girl. "I am a child," she responds between sobs. “This is not something that any of us should want to justify, can justify, and it’s something we have to change,”  Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said. [HuffPost]

* Exclusive: Wikipedia launches new global rules to combat site abuses (Reuters)

* Confederate names are coming down, but San Francisco is now taking on … Abe Lincoln? (WashPo)

* Michael Lewis, the author of “The Big Short” and “Moneyball,” takes on a fraught subject in his next book: how to prevent a viral outbreak even worse than Covid-19. (NYT Book Review)

* Biden Faces Pressure to Make Amends on Family Separation -- Restitution, mental health services and legal permanent residency are among the demands for compensation to families harmed by the Trump-era border policy. (NYT)

* In case you missed it, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia who has routinely repeated conspiracy theories, wrote a Facebook post in which she falsely suggested that a secretive entity had caused the devastating, deadly Camp Fire using lasers from space in order to make way for the high-speed rail. [Media Matters for America]

* Fauci says there’s no definitive answer for when life returns to ‘normal' (WashPo)

* Judge throws out Trump rule limiting what science EPA can use (WashPo)

* Depressed Groundhog Sees Shadow Of Rodent He Once Was (The Onion)

***

Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal.

Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say,
He was made of snow but the children know
How he came to life one day.

There must have been some magic in
That old top hat they found.
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around.

O, Frosty the snowman
Was alive as he could be,
And the children say he could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me.

Frosty the snowman
Knew the sun was hot that day,
So he said, "Let's run
And we'll have some fun
Now before I melt away."

Frosty the snowman
Had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye saying,
"Don't you cry,
I'll be back again some day."

Songwriters: Steve Nelson / Walter Jack Rollins

-30-