Revenge of the Kelp (The Movie)

On Friday morning my seven-year-old granddaughter was watching an interactive video about sea creatures as part of her remote learning routine. She is learning to read so I offered to help her with that part even though we both knew she had the option of hearing the questions read aloud by simply clicking a button.

The lesson considered the origin of the mermaid myth -- certainly of interest to my young friend and to me as well. The program made a convincing case that when in ancient times people glimpsed some of these large creatures like manatees and sea lions from afar or through the mist they probably thought they had human characteristics.

Also, the skeletons of these creatures when they washed up on a beach bore a striking resemblance to human bones, which no doubt helped the myth gain strength.

Fifteen years ago, when my youngest daughter (her aunt) was seven, her favorite book was "The Little Mermaid." She had me read it to her so many times that she could recite the entire story long before she could actually read herself. As the myths an memories played in my mind, I started to sort through the day's news headlines...

***

When it comes to resource management, scientists periodically suggest a better way forward from our modern industrial methods of deforestation and exploitation of fossil fuel deposits would be to return to the methods employed by indigenous people who've lived in balance with nature for millennia.

Of course this approach would not solve every aspect of the looming climate crisis, because native people did not have to generate food for billions of city dwellers who do not engage in food production or resource conservation except in indirect ways like recycling waste products or home gardening.

But the essential principle of living in balance with all of the other plants and animals that inhabit this planet would certainly go a long way toward reaching the goal of avoiding the medium-term extinction of the human species.

Another part of the puzzle is the slow but steady flow of new information about the intellectual and emotional characteristics of life forms besides humans. I include as many headlines about these discoveries as I can among my daily news summaries but they are not really news stories at all. They have far more profound implications than a daily news cycle can capture.

One recent example is the disappearance of kelp forests from the coastal Pacific off of the western edge of our continent. The kelp resemble the giant redwood forests on land but they move with the poetry of the tides. So many creatures live among the kelp that they could be called the rainforests of the sea.

Who knows what the kelp think or feel -- certainly not us.

Against the majesty of these natural systems and the enormity of the challenge facing us to preserve them, our politics seem so tiny and trivial by comparison that some days I can only give a glancing nod to the Beltway soap opera featuring third-rate actors and outright fools.

In the political world, climate deniers somehow still have a voice as the fools on the hill nod and hold their hands out for the political donations (bribes) that keep them in power. If only the kelp forests (and the coral reefs and the coho salmon) had a voice in our public affairs, most of those in public office would be swept away by one massive angry tsunami.

And their insurance policies would be of little help, since this would qualify as an "Act of God." You can't really insure against stuff like that.

***

* There’s a Global Plan to Conserve Nature. Indigenous People Could Lead the Way. -- Dozens of countries are backing an effort that would protect 30 percent of Earth’s land and water. Native people, often among the most effective stewards of nature, have been disregarded, or worse, in the past. (NYT)

* Global Rise in Childhood Mental Health Issues Amid Pandemic (AP)

* The Justice Department on Friday said it expects to file criminal charges against more than 100 additional people who allegedly participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, in what it described as probably the most complex investigation it has ever handled. (Reuters)

* Justice Department seeks to build large conspiracy case against Oath Keepers for Jan. 6 Capitol riot (WP)

* A broad majority of Americans say that political violence in response to election results is likely in the United States in the next few years, according to a new poll. (CNN)

* Maryland-based drugmaker Novavax said its vaccine candidate appears to be highly effective against COVID-19. Novavax said its vaccine is 100% effective in preventing severe disease, raising hopes that a fourth vaccine could be available in the U.S. in the coming months. [HuffPost]

* California regulators are ordering car insurers to refund money to car owners in the state, accusing them of overcharging customers during the pandemic. (WSJ)

* Thousands marched in central Beirut on Friday demanding a new independent government to lift Lebanon out of its deepening crisis as frustration over the country’s financial meltdown grew. (Reuters)

* A memo from Afghanistan's education ministry banning girls 12 years old and older from singing at school functions has been causing a stir on social media. (AP)

* The Seattle area once had more coronavirus deaths than anywhere else in the United States. A year later, the region’s deaths per capita are lower than any other large metropolitan area. (NYT)

* Lobbyists for Facebook and Google threw their weight against new U.S. legislation that seeks to aid struggling news publishers by allowing them to negotiate collectively against the tech companies over revenue sharing and other deals. (Reuters)

* The House approved a pair of bills aimed at expanding and strengthening background checks for gun purchasers. The bills are expected to face stiff opposition in the Senate. (AP)

* Biden called out the rise in attacks on Asian Americans since the beginning of the pandemic, saying these "vicious hate crimes" are "un-American." A database collecting reports of racist incidents found more than 2,800 reports from Asian Americans by the end of 2020, a number that is likely an undercount. [HuffPost]

* Biden met leaders of Australia, India and Japan on Friday, a group central to his efforts to counter China's growing military and economic power, and said a free and open Indo-Pacific region was crucial to all of them. (WP)

* Rage Spreads in Paraguay as Virus Surges, Exposing Corruption (NYT)

* The national debt is high and growing. Congress’s infrastructure bill must keep that in mind. (WP)

* U.S. pedestrian fatalities jumped 45% over the last decade as planners prioritized vehicle speed and traffic flow over the lives of those on foot. Florida is by far the most deadly state for pedestrians. [HuffPost]

* Next items on Biden’s agenda — immigration and infrastructure — face trouble already (WP)

* Man Sues Hertz Over Lost Receipt That Was His Murder Alibi -- He spent four years imprisoned on a murder conviction before the car rental company finally located a receipt showing he was nowhere near the scene of the 2011 killing in Michigan. (NYT)

* N.Y. Assembly authorizes impeachment inquiry into sexual misconduct allegations against Cuomo (WP)

* Majority of New York congressional Democrats call for Gov. Cuomo's resignation (CNN)

* As Vaccines Roll Out, Major League Baseball Eyes a Return to Full Ballparks (WSJ)

* Minor League Baseball To Experiment With Robotic Umpires -- The robot could help rein in different interpretations of the strike zone among umpires. It also limits the ability of catchers to frame a pitch. The machine will appear in select Low-A games. (NPR)

* More Americans Putting Off Marriage To Focus On Making Nachos In The Microwave (The Onion)

***

Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it's better
Down where it's wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin'
Full time to floatin'
Under the sea

-- Songwriters: Alan Menken / Howard Elliott Ashman (The Little Mermaid)

-30-

Gen C 'R Us

It was bound to happen. Our newest generation has a name -- Gen C (for Covid). Actually, marketers been using that term for a while but only now does it seem to be catching on more broadly.

So I agree with this one. Due to circumstances I spend a large portion of my time around young children and I've noticed over the past year that they're behaving in ways I haven't seen with earlier generations.

For many of them, masks are just another item of clothing that they take off according to their whims and the degree of intimacy they feel with the people they are with. They perform what I call the "Covid dance" when they play, jumping, running, bouncing in and out, always maintaining a certain distance but always face-to-face, so deeply engaged with each other they hardly notice an adult observing them from nearby.

Psychiatrists and child development experts will test for long-term damage among this group. Do they trust people less? Are they less connected? Can they form deep bonds? But there may be some positive effects as well, like the ethereal Covid dance.

When it comes to definitions of who exactly is part of Gen C, the current consensus seems to be just those born after 2016. (I take issue with that.) And there is plenty of evidence that the prevalence of mask-wearing around babies and toddlers may have severe consequences for their social development.

Infants in particular need to see the whole face of those who come near them -- not just the eyes but the nose and the mouth -- to learn how to identify people and how to detect emotions like joy, anger, fear and affection.

But beyond the very young, I believe every generation up to and including mine has been affected by this life-altering pandemic. Even as we seem to be on the verge of returning to something resembling pre-Covid life, the residue of experience living through this past year will stick with us.

Not all of it has been bad. We've formed new virtual communities and rediscovered old friendships and importantly we have *shared* a huge experience -- the biggest since World War II. We'll be talking about it one way or another the rest of our lives.

***

It is gratifying to see the open source community working on identifying suspects involved in the Capitol riot. Check out their beta website, <Jan6evidence.com>. It's a work in progress but an impressive one.

Developers are integrating thousands of bits of data including video clips to trace who was where and who did what leading up to the riot and during its course. Crowd-sourcing is proving to be the ultimate tool of loyal citizens to identify the rioters and help authorities bring them to justice.

Many of those responsible for this terrible act, the worst domestic terrorism incident in U.S. history, remain at large, including those who incited the crowd to storm the Capitol. It is noteworthy that Trump's acting secretary of defense now says that his boss was primarily responsible for the assault.

The investigations remain ongoing.

***

* President Biden’s new role as a crusader for Americans in poverty is an evolution for a politician who has focused on the working class and his Senate work on the judiciary and foreign relations. (NYT)

* Congress makes student debt forgiveness tax-free, limits revenue that for-profit colleges get from enrolling veterans (WP)

* Open-source investigators have launched Jan6evidence.com, a slick new website to organize digital evidence collected about the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The citizen sleuths have already made major contributions to the FBI's investigation into the hundreds of suspects who stormed the Capitol on Donald Trump's behalf. [HuffPost]  

* One of the veterans charged in the Capitol insurrection worked in the Marine Corps unit responsible for transporting the president and operating his helicopter, Marine One, according to Pentagon records. (CNN)

* Trump's own Defense secretary says he was responsible for Capitol riot (The Hill)

* A digital artwork sold for nearly $70 million at Christie's on Thursday, in the first ever sale by a major auction house of a piece of art that does not exist in physical form. (Reuters)

* Poll: 1 in 5 in US lost someone close in pandemic (AP)

* How GOP-backed voting measures could create hurdles for tens of millions of voters (WP)

* Trump asked a Georgia law enforcement official to find evidence of fraud with absentee-by-mail ballots. He told her: "When the right answer comes out, you'll be praised." (Georgia Public Radio)

* Mexico Set to Legalize Marijuana, Becoming World’s Largest Market (NYT)

* It's no longer a question of if this pandemic will shape an entire generation. But how. Some experts have started to use a new term to talk about seismic changes they're seeing -- changes that could cause ripple effects in children's lives far into the future.They've given a new name to the world's newest generation: Gen C, or Generation Covid. (CNN)

* QAnon is an American invention, but it has become a global plague (WP)

* North Fork Mono tribal members are teaching California officials about their traditional practices that use small, controlled fires for land management. The officials are eager to learn what California's oldest residents have long known after the most destructive fire season in the state's recorded history. [HuffPost]

* Michelle Obama hooked on knitting, thinking about retirement (AP)

* ‘There’s No Town Left’: Fukushima’s Eerie Landscapes -- Ten years after a devastating earthquake and tsunami led to a nuclear meltdown in northern Japan, residents are readjusting to places that feel familiar and hostile at once. (NYT)

* Returning Jesus Christ Downed By U.S. Missile Defense 30,000 Feet Before Making Landfall (The Onion)

***

I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name.
Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.

I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light,
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space,
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face.

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me.
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.

-- Bob Dylan

-30-

What We Can Do

The coincidental timing of the pandemic with my retirement created an opportunity to create a virtual community at this outpost and I'm grateful for that. Over the past year, it's evolved into a place where we can not only catch each other up on how we are doing but exchange information on the issues we care about.

In that spirit, I want to salute one of the members of our community, Jackie Ross, for her long-time human rights advocacy. For some time she and I have been exchanging private messages about our shared concerns about dire the human rights situation in Egypt, which is a major beneficiary of U.S. foreign aid.

Egyptian dictator Al Sisi maintains power through the systematic suppression of the rights of his own people. In addition, he currently is holding at least 30 American human rights activists in jail as well. Egyptian prisons are no joke -- reportedly there no mattresses, doctor visits, medications, adequate food or water, family visits or any of the other basic requirements under international norms.

Yet Sisi is getting away with this abuse because Egypt is deemed vital by some to U.S. national security in the Middle East -- the region where our foreign policy is easily at its most hypocritical. Egypt takes in roughly $1.5 billion dollars in foreign aid from the U.S. annually, the fourth-highest in the entire world.

Egypt's oppressive regime has generated the occasional terrorist, which indicates our foreign policy there is hardly a success, so can anyone explain to me how our nation is safer by financing human rights abuses of this nature and magnitude? For that matter, how that is consistent with freedom and democracy and the concept that all human beings are created equal under God?

The reason I'm bringing this up now is that Jackie has started a petition at change.org to urge the Biden administration to use its substantial leverage to pressure Sisi to release all political prisoners and cease his human rights abuses forthwith.

Please consider signing the petition and taking a stand against human rights by a dictator financed by our tax dollars. Here is the link.

***

The pandemic is a reminder that all human beings are inter-connected across time and space. We all are equally vulnerable to the ravages of Covid-19. 

Every day I curate more stories about the unequal access to the vaccines that leave the poorest and least powerful people around the world waiting for the shots.

Those of us who live in the U.S. are so privileged in so many ways that it can be easy for us to take our position for granted. Or to turn away from uncomfortable realities as if they are somebody else's rather than our problem.

But it's really very simple. We can choose to do nothing or we can choose to do something. When that something is a very small and simple gesture -- like signing a human rights petition -- it's a reminder that we all are either part of the solution or, unfortunately...

...we are the problem.

***

The news:

* Congress passes $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package (WP)

* Immigration arrests have fallen sharply under Biden, data shows (WP)

* A Year Later, Who Is Back to Work and Who Is Not? -- Black and Hispanic women and those without bachelor’s degrees are at risk of being left further behind as the economy slowly begins to recover. (NYT)

* A sixth woman has accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct, the Times Union of Albany reported Tuesday. The unnamed aide claimed Cuomo inappropriately touched her late last year at the governor's mansion. Cuomo said he wasn't aware of any additional allegation. [HuffPost]

* An artificial intelligence “chatbot” was introduced at California State University to keep students on track to graduate. But as pandemic lockdowns and loneliness set in, students turned to the robot for emotional support. [Los Angeles Times]

* Dow hits record high as inflation fears recede after data (Reuters)

* China, Russia Announce Plan To Build Moon Research Station (NPR)

* The Senate confirms Michael Regan as EPA chief, where he will play a major role in President Joe Biden's climate plans. He is the first black man to lead the agency. (CNN)

* Alaska makes vaccines available to those 16 and older, becoming first state to remove eligibility requirements (WP)

* Chile is on course to become the first developing country to achieve herd immunity after the South American country lined up shots early and faced little antivaccine sentiment. (WSJ)

* An Iowa journalist recounted getting pepper-sprayed and arrested while covering a protest for racial justice last year, testifying in her own defense Tuesday at her trial on charges stemming from the incident. She was acquitted of all charges. (AP)

* Federal officials relax guidance on nursing home visits, citing vaccines and slowing infections (WP)

* The University of California, Davis, is offering $75 to students who stay home for spring break to discourage them from traveling during the pandemic. [KCRA]

* The Best Bagels Are in California (Sorry, New York) (NYT)

* Merrick Garland confirmed as attorney general (WP)

* In a personal essay, Chesa Boudin, the district attorney of San Francisco, wrote about what it was like growing up with incarcerated parents. [The Nation]

* Roger Mudd, probing TV journalist and news anchor, dies at 93 -- Mudd was a distant relative of Dr. Samuel Mudd, the doctor who was arrested for treating an injured John Wilkes Booth shortly after Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. The doctor, who was eventually pardoned, said he hadn’t been aware of the killing when he aided Booth.(AP)

* CDC Guidelines Allow Fully Vaccinated People To Gather Indoors With Curtains Drawn To Reduce Spread Of Jealousy (The Onion)

***

How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever had
Redemption songs
All I ever had
Redemption songs
These songs of freedom
Songs of freedom

-- Bob Marley

-30-

The Man Who Never Returned

Many years ago I wrote a short story about a man who was laid off but didn't tell anyone. He just continued getting ready for work in the morning and getting on with his regular commute as if everything was the same as before. 

Around a decade ago, I met up with a friend who had just retired. He had been employed for decades by a big agency downtown and lived way out at the edge of town. Recently, his wife had died; they'd been close. His children were grown up and on their own.

He told me he still commuted downtown every day like nothing had changed. He would get a cup of coffee at the same Starbucks he had patronized for years, and then he would sit alone for hours, reading the morning newspaper.

The only difference, he told me, is that rather than buying the paper at a newsstand before his commute he now picked it up free from the trash receptacle where he used to discard his on the way to the office.

I didn't tell him about the man in my story. But I was glad his newspaper now was free. And that it was getting reused.

After I left him at the coffee shop, I remember that it was a warm day and that there was a liquor store nearby. I also felt like it would be a really good idea if I could meet somebody who might become my girlfriend. 

There is a certain amount of wisdom in the old saying that the main way to succeed in life is just to show up. So you might say my friend was being successful by showing up even though that was no longer required.

I suppose that description fits me as well. Since my retirement 18 months ago, I'm working more steadily than ever, in fact I've expanded my work week to seven days from the standard five.

That is, if you consider writing as work. In my case, companies paid me mainly not to write but to manage other people who wrote. My chief function, I guess, was to help other people be productive, to overcome obstacles and achieve success in the eyes of those who ran the enterprise. I'm not sure anyone really cared whether I was a good writer or not.

The one good habit I formed over that half century was to get up and be ready for another day of gathering the news.

I still do that. 

There must be many different types of retirement. Because some people hate their work but love the money they make. Some people love their work and don't care much about the money.

Most people probably fall somewhere in between. I've always wondered whether people whose work is essentially making this world a worse place stay that way after they retire.

Of course, things aren't really that simple. One man's sin may be another's virtue. Who am I to judge?

There also are people who work to make the world a better place. And I've noticed that those people never actually retire.

***

Today is Sarah's birthday. She is a wonderful writer, designer, daughter, sister, mother and friend. She is raising her three young boys, my grandsons, into men.

The news:

 * Pandemic Relief Bill Fulfills Biden’s Promise to Expand Obamacare, for Two Years -- With its expanded subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act, the coronavirus relief bill makes insurance more affordable, and puts health care on the ballot in 2022. (NYT)

*Airlines and public transit agencies say $1.9 trillion relief plan would prevent deep cuts and job losses (WP) * The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released long-awaited safety recommendations for Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Here's what it means for families trying to navigate this next stage of the pandemic — and it's good news for grandparents hoping to see their grandkids. [HuffPost] * Humans have degraded or destroyed roughly two-thirds of the world’s original tropical rainforest cover, new data reveals – raising alarm that a key natural buffer against climate change is quickly vanishing. (Reuters) ‌ * In Nepal and Across the World, Child Marriage Is Rising -- The pandemic has worsened economic distress and other factors that lead to such unions. Studies show a clear link between marrying early and dying young. (NYT)

* Democracy is on trial in Hong Kong — and China is fixing the verdict (WP)

* Myanmar media defiant as junta cracks down (AP)

* White supremacists and other extremists are expected to further their ideologies by increasing their "affiliation with military and law enforcement entities," the FBI wrote in a report seen by ABC News. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) accused the FBI of not leveling with the American people "about organized racist infiltration of law enforcement." [HuffPost]

* In a new filing, federal prosecutors allege that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was in direct contact before and on Jan. 6 with individuals who stormed the Capitol. (NPR)

* Amazon fights aggressively to defeat union drive in Ala., fearing a coming wave (WP)

* Petaluma is thought to be the first city in the country to ban the construction of new gas stations. Other cities are looking to it as a model. [Petaluma Argus-Courier]

* The Officers Danced at a Black Lives Matter Rally. Then They Stormed the Capitol. -- What appeared to be racial progress in rural Virginia turned into bitter conflict over a Confederate statue, the election and the Capitol riot. Now, people there foresee “a very dangerous time.” (NYT)

* After year of isolation, vaccinated older Americans start to reclaim their lives (Reuters)

* The Metropolitan Museum is selling art to survive the pandemic. Critics say it’s a dangerous precedent. (WP)

* Remote C.I.A. Base in the Sahara Steadily Grows -- The agency has been conducting surveillance flights from the base, which has grown since 2018. Any drone strikes would be limited while the Biden administration carries out a review. (NYT) 

***

M.T.A.

Well, let me tell you of the story of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA

Well, did he ever return?
No he never returned and his fate is still unlearned (what a pity)
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned

-- Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes

-30-

What Have We Done?

Somebody once observed that while non-profits only make up about 5 percent of the country's GNP, they account for 95 percent of its social conscience. Legions of farmworkers and food handlers get sick and die every year while getting our food planted, harvested, packed and shipped to our tables.

Capitalism is not about compassion, of course, it's about generating profits. And in the process the free-market system generates all kinds of what economists call externalities, like environmental damage and health impacts.

Left to its own devices, capitalism in truth creates a lot of collateral damage.

When we formed the Center for Investigative Reporting in 1977, we were aware that our work would challenge many entrenched economic interests, and that did happen on many occasions.

One of our earliest and long-running investigations was called the Children's Environmental Health Project. We had determined that the regulatory standards established by such agencies as the EPA and FDA were based on what was good for an average-sized man, not a woman or a child.

For example, the amount of pesticide residues allowed in food products -- despite lab evidence that they caused cancer or birth defects -- was determined by assessing the threat to (say) a 32-year-old man weighing 160 pounds and living in Kansas City. Such a person, BTW, was among the *least* likely to be affected by pesticide poisoning.

At the same time, this process neglected the unique vulnerabilities faced by an 8-pound baby growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. Infants are born with immature organ systems and are therefore much more vulnerable to environmental insults than a fully grown human being.

Our stories were essentially a regulatory critiques and a call to action. We argued that environmental health regulations should be based on the potential damage to the most -- not the least --vulnerable. Over time, we had some positive impacts though today much work remains to be done on this issue.

I often think back to those early investigations we did in the 70s and the 80s when stories turn up now of official concern about the weakening immune systems detected among each succeeding generation living in our highly industrialized, polluted world.

Many problems like food allergies, reduced sperm counts, autism, rare diseases, and the inability to withstand pandemics could reasonably be traced back to the continuous chemical assault on the bodies of our children and their children.

Of course, humans adapt to their environment and have some native abilities to fight off new bacterial and viral threats, but our massive difficulty with Covid-19 causes an old journalist to wonder:

What in the world have we done to ourselves?

***

The news:

 * In the Stimulus Bill, a Policy Revolution in Aid for Children -- The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package moving through Congress advances an idea that Democrats have been nurturing for decades: establishing a guaranteed income for families with children. (NYT)

* U.S. proposes power-sharing plan to Afghan and Taliban leaders -- Along with the proposal for an interim power-sharing arrangement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that a U.S. departure remains under active consideration and could lead to “rapid territorial gains” by the Taliban. (WP)

* Americans are likely to continue to suffer from more psychological issues after the pandemic subsides.  (WSJ)

* Review of Capitol Riot Urges More Police, Mobile Fencing (NPR)

* President Joe Biden signed two executive orders Monoday -- International Women's Day -- to establish a Gender Policy Council and to review Title IX policy guidelines, which regulate sexual assault investigations on campuses. But it could take years to undo the damage that former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos did to the Title IX rules. [HuffPost]

* Study in Brazil indicates Sinovac vaccine works against P1 variant found in Brazil (Reuters)

* In 2018, Diplomats Warned of Risky Coronavirus Experiments in a Wuhan Lab. No One Listened. -- After seeing a risky lab, they wrote a cable warning to Washington. But it was ignored. (Politico)

* Alaska’s Remote Villages Race Against Time and History -- The coronavirus has spread into the most remote villages, a reminder of earlier pandemics that ravaged the state. Now there is a rush to deliver vaccines in time. (NYT)

* 9.6% of Americans are fully vaccinated (CNN)

* The top five news web sites are Google News, CNN, NYT, Fox and Yahoo. (Drudge)

* Boarded up and lined with barbed wire, Minneapolis braces for murder trial in George Floyd’s death (WP)

* U.S. House Democrats demand IRS to extend tax filing deadline to July 15 (Reuters)

* Former President Donald Trump spent four years stoking anti-federal land zealots and prioritizing natural resource extraction. This doesn't bode well for Rep. Deb Haaland as she proceeds through the nominating process to take the reins of the Interior Department. Experts are worried about repeats of 2014's armed standoff between federal agents and militias at the Bundy ranch. [HuffPost]

* Yellen Expects U.S. Economy to Return to Full Employment in 2022 (WSJ)

* U.S. Supreme Court dumps last of Trump's election appeals (Reuters)

* Bay Area weather: Biggest storm in five weeks coming, but still not a drought-buster -- Tuesday and Wednesday, coastal hills will see up to 2 inches, cities half an inch, with 1 to 2 feet of new Sierra snow (SJMN)

* Health experts worry about variant-driven surge as states lift restrictions (WP)

* Health Experts Recommend Against Getting Zapped By Any Sort Of Futuristic Space Gun (The Onion)

***

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
The girls have picked them every one.
Oh, When will you ever learn?
Oh, When will you ever learn?

-- Pete Seeger

-30-

The Safer We Get

It was clear and sunny the day I got my second dose of the Moderna vaccine. At the entrance to the West County facility where the vaccinations are taking place,  I asked the intake nurse whether people without appointments were still showing up there.

One month earlier to the day, when I got the first shot, a number of residents were waiting patiently, without appointments, because they had heard that vaccines were available there. They spoke Spanish and were dressed in work clothes. Some were old, some were young.

But this time, I saw no one, and the place seemed less crowded as a result.

"No, that 'drop-in' thing is not happening anymore," the nurse explained. "We have much better community outreach now, so people without Internet access know when to come."

Once I was inside the building, there were elderly people in wheelchairs, or with canes, or just looking somewhat lost. Most of them had caretakers, including spouses, adult children or friends. I watched them speak softly in several languages, touching their elders' shoulders, explaining the process.

At the holding area, they told us to wait 15 minutes after the shot to observe whether we had an adverse reaction. After 13 minutes, they called my name.

As I exited, one caretaker urged her very slow-walking elder in Cantonese to step aside and let me pass. I smiled through my mask, waved, and left the area.

I'm glad the crowds of people without appointments here are gone now, but that is not necessarily the case everywhere across America, as today's top headline from the Washington Post makes clear. Internet access is hardly universal; in-person outreach remains critical.

***

Life's little moments can be precious. yesterday I got to see my youngest grandson awake for the first time and to hold him, He smiled at me. Oscar is a lively, warm little fellow, and seeing him made my day.

The headlines:

* Online vaccine sign-ups make Internet access a matter of life and death (WP)

* In Georgia, Republicans Take Aim at Role of Black Churches in Elections (NYT)

* 'Why Us?': A Year After Being Laid Off, Millions Are Still Unemployed -- Millions who lost jobs at the beginning of the pandemic are still out of the labor force, making up levels not seen since the Great Recession. (NPR)

* President Joe Biden signed an executive order Sunday expanding voting access in what the White House calls "an initial step" in its efforts to "protect the right to vote and ensure all eligible citizens can freely participate in the electoral process." The move comes just three days after the House of Representatives passed HR1, a sweeping ethics and election package aimed at ensuring voting rights, with provisions expanding early and mail-in voting, restoring voting rights to former felons, and easing voter registration for eligible Americans. (CNN)

 * Biden stimulus showers money on Americans, offers generous expansion of aid to poor -- The $1.9 trillion package enjoys wide support across the country, polls show, and it is likely to be felt quickly by low- and moderate-income Americans. (WP)

* To Juice the Economy, Biden Bets on the Poor (NYT)

* MSNBC host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough says there's 'no doubt' that the GOP is 'unsavable' (Business insider)

* A Mexican restaurant in Texas kept its mask rule. People threatened to call ICE on the staff. (WP)

* ‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This’: Chaos Strikes Global Shipping -- The pandemic has disrupted international trade, driving up the cost of shipping goods and adding a fresh challenge to the global economic recovery. (NYT)

* U.S. states look to step up wolf kills, pushed by Republicans (AP)

* N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s behavior created ‘hostile, toxic’ workplace culture for decades, former aides say (WP)

* Amtrak Wants to Expand Across the Nation. Local Politics Might Intervene. -- Extending nationwide service has been an elusive goal for Amtrak. Since 1971 — when the publicly funded, privately operated rail agency was created — routes have largely remained unchanged. (NYT)

* Few people have been as involved in Trump’s finances as Allen Weisselberg, a trusted figure in the family business since 1973. Legal experts and a source familiar with the matter say prosecutors want to convince him to cooperate with a criminal probe into Trump’s dealings. (Reuters)

* V.P. Harris caught between a restless base and a traditionalist Biden (WP)

* A Year With our Our Work Friends (NYT)  

* Scientists underestimated the coronavirus — and are racing to keep up with evolution (WP)

* Russian intelligence agencies are trying to undermine confidence in Pfizer’s and other Western vaccines, using online publications that have questioned the vaccines’ development and safety, U.S. officials said. (WSJ)

* Massive explosions rock Equatorial Guinea’s largest city; 17 dead, hundreds injured (WP)

* If You Live to 100, You’ll Need More Than Money -- The number of centenarians in the U.S. is growing steadily. If you join them, you’ll need not just a robust retirement fund but also a plan, and a purpose. (NYT)

* With less U.S. tactical support, Afghan elite forces struggle to roll back Taliban advances (WP)

* Satellite images show kelp forest off Northern California almost gone (AP)

* Biologists Discover Modern-Day Corn Dog Descended From Ancient Aquatic Sausage (The Onion)

***

God only knows
God makes his plan
The information's unavailable
To the mortal man
We work our jobs
Collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway
When in fact we're slip slidin' away

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

-- Paul Simon

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