How to Stop Pandemics (and Wars)

Now that the long-awaited moment is upon us, and we can declare at least a temporary end to the pandemic, it's time to take stock of what we've learned and what we don't yet know.

First, we don't know much about the origin of the virus that causes Covid-19. There is a very good chance that the reason Trump blamed it on China is that he received classified briefings from U.S. intelligence officials indicating that human error at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the possible cause.

Chinese officials have suppressed the records of the earliest cases of the virus, preventing international experts from access to the data they need to determine whether this is true. A growing number of scientists are now calling for a "proper" probe into the virus's origins, as Post is reporting in our top headline below.

So I am going to make a prediction, as an investigator, since I've learned where there is smoke there is fire. Trust me on this one -- there's plenty of smoke. The first case or cases were probably among workers or relatives of workers at that lab.

Meanwhile, one of the *positive* learnings we can take away from the pandemic is how preventative measures can halt the spread of even the most contagious virus. Case in point: The past winter's flu season.

There were hardly any cases of flu at all, and that is certainly because so many of us did the following things:

* We got a flu shot.

* We wore masks.

* We kept our distance from each other.

* We worked from home.

These lessons should be applied to workplaces and workforces uniformly going forward. Various flu and Covid variants will be with us permanently. If someone feels symptoms, they should mask up and get permission to stay home!

Stopping the spread should be the hallmark of our policies nationwide, but it all starts with us. Personal responsibility is the key.

When we adopt the right pubic health practices we can limit the damage.

We are an intelligent species, so we can do this. Now let's move on to tackle climate change. 

***

So I need to apologize in advance for today's song lyrics, the sickly sweet "What the World Needs Now," but here's the context.

What the world most definitely does *not* need now is what Israel is doing in Gaza. Oh, I get the pretense -- rockets fired by Hamas and shame on them! -- but I'm not buying it. Our closest "ally" is in fact not acting like one. The unacceptable suppression of Palestinian rights and murder of Palestinian civilians has to end.

Only the U.S., with its massive foreign aid to Israel can stop this nonsense. It's time -- it's beyond time. President Biden?

***

The news:

* Scientists call for ‘proper investigation’ into virus origins including the possibility of a laboratory incident triggering the global health crisis. (WP)

* Pandemic’s end looks to be in sight, though virus will persist (WP)

* Fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks or maintain social distance indoors or outdoors, with some exceptions, the C.D.C. advised. (NYT)

* Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research Shows (NPR)

* India 'on war footing' as coronavirus infections pass 24 million (Reuters)

* Facebook Loses Bid to Block Ruling on EU-U.S. Data Flows -- The social-media company lost a bid to block a European Union privacy decision that could suspend its ability to send information about Europeans to the U.S., opening a pathway toward a precedent-setting interruption of its data flows. (WSJ)

* Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), along with several other progressive Democrats, spoke out about Palestinians "being killed as the world watches" and the lack of recognition by U.S. leaders of the Palestinians' suffering at the hands of Israel. Tlaib, who is Palestinian American, said she was "a reminder to Congress that Palestinians do indeed exist, that we are human.” [HuffPost]

* Israeli forces hit Hamas tunnels in Gaza as all-out war looms; more rockets rain down (WP)

* Israel Ground Forces Shell Gaza as Fighting Intensifies (NYT)

* In Mixed Israel Cities Proud of Good Relations, a Sudden, Explosive Division (NYT)

* Some banks are reducing credit-score requirements and offering more generous loan terms, eager to lend after tightening up when the pandemic hit. (WSJ)

* Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers that unaccompanied minors are moving more quickly out of custody and into facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. (NPR)

* Deleted video shows Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's office during 2019 Capitol visit. She did so again this week. (CNN)

* In a private meeting last month with big-money donors, the head of a top conservative group boasted that her outfit had crafted the new voter suppression law in Georgia and was doing the same with similar bills for Republican state legislators across the country. “In some cases, we actually draft them for them,” she said, “or we have a sentinel on our behalf give them the model legislation so it has that grassroots, from-the-bottom-up type of vibe.” (Mother Jones)

* Spain logged hottest year on record in 2020 (Reuters)

* Ignoring climate change hasn’t made it go away (WP)

* California's coastal trail, which would run 1,230 miles from Mexico to Oregon, is now about 70 percent complete. (San Jose Mercury News)

* Marine Corps officer is first known active-duty service member charged in Capitol riot (WP)

* The recall effort against San Francisco's newly elected progressive D.A., Chesa Boudin is, "far from qualifying for the ballot." (48 Hills)

* California’s recall law is broken and doesn’t work in our age of hyperpartisan politics. (Atlantic)

* Push Notification Informs Man Of Human Rights Violation (The Onion)

***

What the World Needs Now Is Love

Song by Jackie DeShannon

Songwriters: David Hal / Bacharach Burt F

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No not just for some, but for everyone

-30-

Let the Planet Die?

Urban heat waves, melting icecaps, forest fires, rising sea levels, coral reef damage, deforested kelp fields, endangered species of many kinds, the increased threat of pandemics -- the era when we could debate whether global climate change was real is long past.

It's now our daily reality. Joe Biden, for one, seems to get that.

For policy makers, mitigation is the only option left, since prevention is no longer possible. A rapid transition to carbon-neutral infrastructure systems therefore is vital. That renders the current debate over the cost of Biden's proposed initiatives almost irrelevant.

Whatever price tag lawmakers eventually place on it simply won't be enough to address the underlying issues. So it feels like a waste of time to compare the Democratic version v. the Republican version because for both parties this issue is just another political football.

They are arguing for short passes or quarterback sneaks, when what they should be doing is looking downfield for a "Hail Mary."

Besides, what they actually care about is which party will win control of the House of Representatives next year; that's their motivation, not getting serious about climate change.

Meanwhile, the ship of state is heading straight for an iceberg, and even though it's melting, that iceberg will certainly swamp the ship.

Which is why as much as I loved the recent SNL riff on the iceberg that sank the Titanic <https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-the-iceberg-on-the-sinking-of-the-titanic/4342375>, my tears of laughter were mixed with the other kind while watching it.

Environmentalists -- much maligned as a group by way too many people for way too long -- have been raising the warnings about what we're doing to the earth since the 1950s. For decades, nobody in power listened. Now, as the UN and various political leaders including Biden begin to act, it must be difficult for environmental activists to remain patient.

Because there no longer is any time to lose. What's at stake, straight up, is whether we will leave a viably habitable planet to our descendants.

Our grandchildren's children will not judge as for being Republicans or Democrats, or socialists or capitalists or being good debaters or bad ones. 

They will judge us for despoiling their planet.

***

Even as I contemplate these dire circumstances, on a personal level I am happy, because for a few days I am back in the city I love. Such are the contradictions of life in the short term. San Francisco's air always has a certain freshness to it, even when it leaves you shivering when everywhere it's hot.

When the fog rolls in here, depending which microclimate you're located in, it can feel like rain.

The city is kicking itself back to life after the long pandemic hibernation. The signs are everywhere. When it comes to climate change, this city has been at the forefront of mitigation measures for decades.

And now, in late spring, before the fire season has started, the hills are green and the sky is blue. Hope is riding in on that moist breeze from the Pacific. 

I'm getting to hang out with my two youngest grandchildren, Bettina (2.5) and Oscar (0.25). Believe me, like all people, they are way more than numbers. There is nothing like being with babies to refresh the soul.

Maybe, just maybe, we're going to find a way to be alright after all.

***

The news:

* Climate Change Is Making Big Problems Bigger -- New data compiled by the E.P.A. shows how global warming is making life harder for Americans in myriad ways that threaten their health, safety and homes. (NYT)

* "To want to solve a problem, you first have to know there is one... most Americans don’t know how much of a crisis we truly face, nor how little time we have left to solve it." -- Joe Biden (The Hill/Twitter)

* Mass shooting insurance in high demand as U.S. emerges from lockdown (Reuters)

* Hamas launches more rockets, Israeli jets strike Gaza as casualties mount (WP)

* As Gaza War Escalates, New Front Opens in Israeli Cities -- Rioting and mob violence between Arabs and Jews tore through towns and cities across Israel. Rockets from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes continued to kill civilians. (NYT)

* Global airlines cancel flights to Israel as violence escalates (CNN)

* Newly released footage of the Capitol riot shows a mob descending on D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone. They beat him with a flagpole and attacked him with a stun gun. The riot resulted in five deaths and more than 100 injured police officers. [HuffPost]

* A sprawling investigation: What we know so far about the hundreds of Capitol riot suspects (WP)

* Car makers have cut production of 1.2 million vehicles in North America because of a shortage of computer chips, losing sales amid high demand. (WSJ)

* Amazon to hire 75,000 workers, offers $100 extra for vaccination proof (Reuters)

* Rep. Greene accosts Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, prompting N.Y. lawmaker to raise security concerns (WP)

* University Of South Carolina President Resigns After Plagiarizing Commencement Speech (NPR)

* Gaetz associate signals he will plead guilty in federal case, a worrisome development for the congressman (WP)

* Mysterious Ailments Are Said to Be More Widespread Among U.S. Personnel -- The Biden administration has begun more aggressively investigating episodes that left spies, diplomats, soldiers and others with brain injuries. (NYT)

* McDonald's-owned U.S. restaurants boost pay to lure new workers (Reuters)

* White supremacy is the greatest domestic terrorism threat facing the U.S., Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee rejected Garland's argument. [HuffPost]

* Chief of teachers union is ‘all in’ on full fall reopening (AP)

* Amateur sleuths traced stolen Cortés papers to U.S. auctions. Mexico wants them back (Reuters)

* Biden unveiled his latest batch of judicial nominees, and it included Lauren J. King, who would be one of the nation's few Native American federal judges. If confirmed, King would be one of just three Native American judges out of nearly 900 federal judgeships. Biden is moving fast to fill federal judgeships and is making diversity a driving factor. [HuffPost]

* The Joy of Black Hair -- At the end of the last century, advances in weaves, wigs and other innovations allowed for a new degree of autonomy — and fun. (NYT)

* Elon Musk Unveils New Clean Energy Luxury Car Pulled By 8 Tesla Employees (The Onion)

***

"Song for a Dying Planet"

by Joe Walsh

Is anyone out there? 
Does anybody listen or care anymore? 
We are living on a dying planet, 
We're killing everything that's alive, 
And anyone who tries to deny it 
Wears a tie 
And gets paid to lie 
So I wrote these songs for a dying planet, 
I'm sorry but I'm telling the truth, 
And for everybody trying to save it 
These songs are for you, too. 
Is anyone out there?

-30-

Imagine That

"I cannot define the real problem, therefore I suspect there's no real problem, but I'm not sure there's no real problem." -- Richard Feynman

One of the most confusing things about our imagination is when it takes us to a place we can't go to, yet it feels so real it hurts. We may well be able to reach that place one day, but progress toward getting there remains agonizingly slow.

Case in point: space travel.

We know the universe is vast and that the odds of other inhabitable worlds are extremely good. We also know that the sun will ultimately explode and die, rendering life on this planet impossible. So for our species to survive we will have to travel.

While we believe these things to be true, our ability to do anything about them is apparently limited by the laws of physics.  On the other hand, a relatively new law, quantum mechanics, suggests none of those constraints are immutable -- that space and time and consciousness are all figments, so to speak, of our imagination.

Thinking too hard about all this will take us around the circle Feynman so eloquently described. Intellectually, there is no escape.

But some of us yearn to break away from the constraints that bind us to current reality. Perhaps none more than journalists, who are stuck covering reality in detail every day. We are perpetually unsatisfied. That is where some combination of art and fiction come in, as our most imaginative impulses take the form of music, dance, painting, sculpture, novels, short stories, poems and more.

These help deliver the future to us. Meanwhile, predicting it is, at best, a crap shoot. 

One of the books I'm reading is "Super Forecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction," by Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner. The book describes a massive effort by an army of volunteers to forecast global events. According to this research, once they given the best evidence, about two percent of those involved prove to be "super forecasters," able with uncanny accuracy to figure out what is going to happen next about almost anything.

Evidence-based forecasting is in vogue in journalism and other fields; data scientists have come to the fore. I've got nothing against data scientists (we have a special one in our family), or "data journalists," who've worked with me in the past, but there are limits to what they can contribute as well.

And it's precisely where the data-based approach hits a wall that fiction via our collective imagination takes over.

This is how I explain my own preoccupation with novels and movies. "You had me from 'Hello,'" says Dorothy Boyd to 'Jerry McGuire' in that film's climactic scene.

That fits me & fiction perfectly. "You had me from hello." 

***

The news:

* Man Who Is Paralyzed Communicates By Imagining Handwriting -- By decoding the brain signals involved in handwriting, researchers have allowed a man who is paralyzed to transform his thoughts into words on a computer screen. (NPR)

* The new CNN is more opinionated and emotional. Can it still be ‘the most trusted name in news’? (WP)

* Gas stations in the Southeast run out of gas as people panic buy fuel (CNN)

 * To Vaccinate Younger Teens, States and Cities Look to Schools, Camps, Even Beaches (NYT)

* Indian coronavirus variant has now spread to almost 50 countries, says WHO (WP)

* House GOP ousts Trump critic Liz Cheney from top post (AP)

* On the eve of her ouster as House Republican Conference chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) took to the House floor Tuesday and doubled down on her condemnation of former President Donald Trump and his lies about a “stolen” election. (HuffPost)

* Though Cheney is now standing up to Trump's lies, she long stood with his outrages ranging from flirting with birthers to pushing anti-Muslim rhetoric. [HuffPost]

* Israel Airstrikes Leave Widespread Damage in Gaza (AP)

* Senior Hamas commander killed as Israel strikes Gaza, Palestinians fire rockets (Reuters)

* Death toll climbs, protests intensify as Israel and Gaza slip toward war (WP)

* More Than 30 Dead in Gaza and Israel as Fighting Quickly Escalates (NYT)

* Violence upends Biden’s Israel-Palestinian outlook (AP)

* UN warns conflict could turn into 'full-scale war' (CNN)

* In Iraq, powerful militias assassinate protesters with impunity (WP)

* Wall St drops as strong inflation data fuels rate hike bets (Reuters)

* As World Runs Short of Workers, a Boost for Wages—and Inflation (WSJ)

* Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa and several other GOP-run states have said they'll drop federal jobless benefits, which Republican governors blame for worker shortages. Congress intended for the extra benefits to stay in place until early September. [HuffPost]

* While the country suffers another bloody weekend, gun safety legislation languishes in the Senate (WP)

* Why a Lifelong Republican Views Arizona’s Recount as Wrong -- Bill Gates (another one), who's an election supervisor in Maricopa County, says the audit of votes in his state is based on the lie of election fraud, and is “tearing at the foundations of our democracy.” (NYT)

* ‘A hell out here’: COVID-19 ravages rural India (Reuters)

* Mysterious, devastating brain disorder afflicts dozens in Canadian province of New Brunswick (WP)

* According to a new poll, 49% of voters in California say they intend to vote against replacing recalled Gov. Gavin Newson (D), an increase from three months ago. He will need only a plurality of the vote, which has yet to be scheduled, to keep his job -- not an absolute majority. [HuffPost]

* Police shootings of children spark new outcry, calls for training to deal with adolescents in crisis (WP)

* German government agrees on tougher climate targets (Reuters)

* Urban heat waves, loss of Alaskan permafrost signal intensifying climate change, EPA finds in report delayed by Trump officials (WP)

* The Hitter Who Bats Like Ty Cobb -- The Washington Nationals’ Josh Harrison defies modern convention by how he holds a baseball bat: he keeps his hands several inches apart (WSJ)

* Manchester City Clinches Premier League Title (WSJ)

* Palestinian Family Who Lost Home In Airstrike Takes Comfort In Knowing This All Very Complicated (The Onion)

***

"You Had Me From Hello"

Sung by Kenny Chesney

Written by Donald R Ewing Ii / Kenneth A. Chesney

One word, that's all was said,
Something in your voice called me, caused me to turn my head.
Your smile just captured me, you were in my future as far as I could see.
And I don't know how it happened, but it happens still.
You ask me if I love you, if I always will

Well, you had me from "Hello"
I felt love start to grow the moment I looked into your eyes,
You won me, it was over from the start.
You completely stole my heart, and now you won't let go.
I never even had a chance you know?
You had me from "Hello"

Inside I built a wall so high around my heart, I thought I'd never fall.
One touch, you brought it down
Bricks of my defenses scattered on the ground
And I swore to me that I wasn't going to love again
The last time was the last time I'd let someone in

Well, you had me from "Hello"
I felt love start to grow the moment I looked into your eyes,
You won me, it was over from the start.
You completely stole my heart, and now you won't let go.
I never even had a chance you know?
You had me from "Hello"

That's all you said
Something in your voice calls me, caused me to turn my head
You had me from "Hello"
You had me from "Hello"
Girl, I've loved you from "Hello"

-30-

What I Know

 (This one is for my hero.)

“Karl Marx was right, socialism works, it is just that he had the wrong species”
― Edward O. Wilson, The Ants 

So a while back I developed this theory about humanity, which I'll get to in a minute. But first, Tuesday was not really a news day for me. There was something much more deeply personal on the agenda.

My youngest, Julia, is graduating from college later this month and she gave a thesis presentation on restorative justice, one of her passions. She chose to argue how this process might be enhanced through art and yoga -- two more of her passions. Her focus Tuesday was on both the people victimized by crimes and their victimizers.

Julia has always been a quiet presence in any group, and perhaps that is why when she does speak people tend to pay close attention. She takes the hardest subjects straight on with an unusual diligence; when she expresses an opinion, it's thoughtful and original. 

From an early age she has also been a visual artist; she attended a boarding school for artists when in high school., and her own art almost always amplifies what she expresses with words. 

She speaks softly, with unusual hand gestures, which helps her weave her case gracefully, poetically, with a surprising forcefulness. Her words resonate.

Her mother, brothers and I were watching from out here, a continent away. When she reached the centerpiece of her presentation, she unveiled a beautiful, moving painting she had created portraying the survivors of sexual violence sitting in a circle, supporting each other, trying to heal. It brought tears to our eyes. 

As her parent, when I look at this strong, lovely young woman I naturally still see the little girl she used to be. Always independent, determined and tough, she also has stayed modest, kind and loving. As I watched her present her case, it was like I was in an actual room with the audience present physically. You could have heard a pin drop.

It was a compelling performance by a young woman very much on her own terms.

After she had finished, there was silence for a moment and then members of the audience began to speak up. It was clear that she had moved many of them deeply. And it was also obvious that these fellow students and faculty members, none of whom I have ever met, love and respect her deeply as we do. 

I was too choked up to say anything. Initially, I felt an immense sense of pride, but then something deeper, more universal.

What she was arguing for is a world we can only aspire to, but it will come to pass if we put our best selves forward in a concerted fashion; by listening and really hearing each other.

Hers is the voice of youth, yes, but also the wisdom of ages. And that's what humanity needs now if we are to survive.

***

Okay, back to my theory:

By a whisker, we humans are a little more generous than selfish, a bit kinder than meaner, more honest than dishonest, more trusting than suspicious, more social than antisocial, more heroic than cowardly. 

If you insist on the math, let's put it at 50.1% v. 49.9%.

Think about it. It's gotta be true because otherwise we'd be extinct by now. We're pretty much the only species that kills each other, enslaves one another, and steals each other's possessions and dreams. Okay, there are some other stinker species, granted, and also of course I'm not the first person to come up with this theory. But we seem to still have a fighting chance to save our future on this planet long enough to develop the technology to migrate elsewhere.

I remind myself of this belief of mine whenever the dark side shows up in our public sphere, and while I'm on the dark side, do you know what is the worst human quality of Donald Trump? There's such a long list you're forgiven for overlooking it. But it's this: That he hired people over and over and found excuses not to pay them. Instead he cheated them out of their rightful pay. He is a rotten human being, a thief.

There's gotta be a special place in hell for men like him.

Him aside, most of us are made up of slightly more good stuff than bad stuff, even though we all have our moments of selfishness, mean words or thoughts, unkind or cowardly deeds. So what can we do about that?

I think I know. We can draw each other out of the shadows with a word of encouragement here, or a tiny gesture there. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, I'll be hopeful for you if you'll be hopeful for me.

***

The news:

* F.D.A. Authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine for Children 12 to 15 (NYT)

* Virus Variant in India May Be More Transmissible, Says W.H.O. -- The World Health Organization said Monday that the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus, which has spread throughout India is now a “variant of concern,” and may be fueling a rise in infections. (Reuters)

* Federal judge denies NRA attempt to declare bankruptcy (WP)

* How big is the $76 billion budget surplus announced by California Gov. Gavin Newsom? Bigger than the entire state budgets of all but 3 states: NY, FL and TX and roughly the size of Oregon's state budget. So, very big. (Scott Shafer, KQED/Twitter)

* Drought: Gov. Newsom expands drought emergency to most of California, including parts of Bay Area. (S.J. Mercury News) 

* Poll: Most in U.S. who remain unvaccinated need convincing (AP)

* Capitol Police must make major cultural shift to confront rising threats, inspector general says (WP)

* Uber, Lyft to Provide Free Rides to Covid-19 Vaccine Sites Until July 4 (WSJ)

* Reaching Back To The New Deal, Biden Proposes A Civilian Climate Corps (NPR)

* Arizona state Sen. Paul Boyer (R), who initially backed the controversial recount of November 2020 election votes in Maricopa County, now says he regrets his support of the "ridiculous" operation. A growing army of Arizonans are criticizing the recount operation by a private company that targets only races won by Democrats in the county that includes Phoenix. [HuffPost]

* Scores of dead bodies found floating in India’s Ganges River (AP)

* F.B.I. Identifies Group Behind Pipeline Hack -- The attack by DarkSide, a relatively new criminal group believed to have roots in Eastern Europe, exposed the remarkable vulnerability of key American infrastructure.(NYT)

* Airlines are battling a scourge of passengers traveling with falsified Covid-19 health certificates, with test results easy to manipulate. Because of that, vaccine cards may be coming. (WSJ) 

* No New COVID-19 Deaths Reported In Most Of U.K., As Restrictions Set To Ease (NPR)

* The biggest threat to America is the Republican break with reality (WP)

* More than 1 million Americans have signed up for coverage at HealthCare.gov since February, taking advantage of an extended open enrollment period and new financial assistance that the Biden administration put into place as part of the government's COVID-19 response. The Affordable Care Act is working better these days and reaching more people. (HuffPost)

* China’s ‘Long-Term Time Bomb’: Falling Births Stunt Population Growth -- Only 12 million babies were born last year, the lowest number of births since 1961, providing fresh evidence of a looming demographic crisis that could complicate Beijing’s ambitions. (NYT)

* Warren, Sanders Call For Expanding Food Aid To College Students (NPR)

* Biden administration approves first large-scale offshore wind farm in U.S. (WP)

* How climate change may lead to the use of more pesticides in California’s farming regions, increasing runoff that could pollute the state’s waterways. (Inside Climate News)

* The style 911 is acceptable in all references for the U.S. emergency call number: He called 911 to report a crash. No hyphen in any use: a 911 call problem. For the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 9/11 is acceptable in all references. (AP Stylebook)

* Rock Looked Way Cooler Wet (The Onion)

***

For my hero, Julia Matthiessen Weir, and for all of our daughters everywhere:

"You Are So Beautiful"

Sung by Joe Cocker

Songwriters: Bruce Carleton Fisher / Billy Preston

You are so beautiful
To me
You are so beautiful
To me
Can't you see

You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need
You are so beautiful
To me

You are so wonderful
To me
You are so wonderful
To me
Can't you see

You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need
You are so wonderful
To me

You are so beautiful
To me
You are so beautiful
To me
Can't you see

You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need
You are so beautiful
To me

 

-30-

You Had to Be There

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

I've got a girl crush
Hate to admit it but
I got a hard rush
It's slowin' down

I got it real bad
Want everything she has
That smile and that midnight laugh
She's givin' you now

I want to taste her lips
Yeah, 'cause they taste like you
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume

I want her long blond hair
I want her magic touch
Yeah, 'cause maybe then
You'd want me just as much

I've got a girl crush

I've got a girl crush
I don't get no sleep
I don't get no peace
Thinkin' about her

Under your bed sheets
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

I want to taste her lips
Yeah, 'cause they taste like you
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume

I want her long blond hair
I want her magic touch
Yeah, 'cause maybe then
You'd want me just as much

I've got a girl crush

I've got a girl crush
Hate to admit it but
I got a heart rush
It ain't slowin' down

-30-

Just Do It

I've been thinking a lot about careers lately, even though I no longer have one, because many of the people I care about still do. I don't know that much about other professions, but in my field, it usually goes like this. 

First you're a rookie, maybe doing research or serving as an intern.

Then, at some point, you get to do a story and people discover you can report, you can write.

After you do this for a while, you become a much better reporter, reducing your mistakes and learning to better trust your instincts.

Somewhere along the way, you play a part in breaking a really big story -- the kind that makes the world sit up and pay attention.

Now you have started to make a name for yourself, so you win some awards, get some job offers, and discover that you had many more friends than you previously seemed to have.

If you're good, you start repeating the whole process, breaking story after story, getting scoops and even occasionally having a notable impact on society. Now you have lots of friends.

Just about when this starts sinking in, you turn some age or another, say 40, and your whole world blows up -- personally and professionally. Maybe your marriage breaks up, maybe you change jobs, probably both, but people start treating you differently. You notice some of your friends have drifted away.

It's not subtle. Employers are telling you it's time to transition from worker to management. "Time to grow up, kid." In journalism you go from reporter to editor, from telling stories to facilitating other people telling stories. Now you have fewer friends for sure but a new level of respect.

If you're good at management, that new track of editor carries you higher in your field, you earn more money and they add more titles to your job description -- senior editor of this or that. Now you have a new set of friends (frenemies), and a growing list of outright enemies.

This second stage of your career probably will carry you straight through to retirement unless you mess up big time (which happens) or you're the type driven to rise higher in management to the point you actually run things somewhere.

God forbid you become the boss, the person everyone talks about behind your back. Lots and lots of enemies and absolutely not a friend in the entire world

At this stage anything might happen, for better or worse. If you're a good boss, you really impact some group of people somewhere, and they're truly grateful for that. You may not exactly be able to be friends with your employees, but something pretty close to that comes into play. 

Then one way or another, the day approaches when you will retire, perhaps voluntarily or circumstances (other people) make the decision for you.

And then it's over. Completely. You are officially retired. Nobody controls your time, you no longer have to dance to anybody's tune. And people start having trouble remembering whether you are alive still or maybe you have passed on. They're just not sure.

But assuming you remain very much alive, you finally may change direction altogether, and try doing something you always wanted to do, but never quite got around to when you were on the clock. And at this stage you discover you really did have a few real friends all the way along, because they show up in your new life.

And now younger people ask your advice as they hit the various turning point stages of their careers. "You've been there, what do you think I should do next?"

So you hear them out and then answer something like this, "You already know what you want to do, my friend. Otherwise you wouldn't be asking me." 

"Just go for it."

***

The news:

* Vaccine deserts: Some countries have no COVID-19 jabs at all (AP)

* It’s time to apply Warp Speed to vaccinate the globe (Editorial Board/WP)

* Vietnam says new COVID outbreak threatens stability (Reuters)

* As India surges, Bangladesh lacks jabs, faces virus variants (AP)

* Economists Disagree Over How Much Covid-19 ‘Herd Immunity’ Needed for Recovery (WSJ)

* Bombing Outside Afghan School Kills at Least 50, With Girls as Targets (NYT)

* Debris from Chinese space rocket booster reenters Earth’s atmosphere over Indian Ocean, China reports (WP)

* China Says Most Rocket Debris Burned Up During Reentry (NPR)

* NASA criticizes China's handling of rocket re-entry as debris lands near Maldives (CNN)

* Scottish nationalists vow independence vote after election win (Reuters)

* Where Ukrainians Are Preparing for All-Out War With Russia (NYT)

* Education company CredForce has to pay the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania more than $1.2 million related to an executive program in talent management at the elite business school, a judge ordered Friday. (WSJ)

* Child care has bipartisan support. But the culture war could wreck that. (WP)

* A Farmer Moved a 200-Year-Old Stone, and the French-Belgian Border -- A marker that was moved seven feet into French territory by a farmer in Belgium might have changed the countries’ border forever if not for a sharp-eyed group of friends. (NYT)

* Arizona's Copper Canyon Fire grows to 2,560 acres (CNN)

* Alamo renovation gets stuck over arguments about slavery (WP)

* Dogecoin tumbles after Elon Musk calls it a ‘hustle’ on SNL (Reuters)

* Baby Emerges From Game Of Peekaboo Wiser, More Reflective (The Onion)

***

"Red and Black"

Les Misérables

It is time for us all
To decide who we are...
Do we fight for the right
To a night at the opera now?
Have you asked of yourselves
What's the price you might pay?
Is it simply a game
For rich young boys to play?
The colors of the world
Are changing
Day by day...
Red - the blood of angry men!
Black - the dark of ages past!
Red - a world about to dawn!
Black - the night that ends at last!