Shadows in the Light

Day by day it's looking like the pandemic is gradually fading away into history. It still may stage a comeback next winter but if so the vaccine makers should be ready with upgrades to fight off any of the variants that emerge.

I'm reading the tea leaves here and am a congenital optimist, so everyone is free to disregard my assessment. But it's based on sorting through the news every day, reading any studies I can obtain, and talking with doctors.

In short, I think we've got this thing beat.

If this is true, we now are returning to the world as it existed pre-Covid, adjusted for the alterations that occurred during the crisis, in some cases, because of the crisis.

On the positive side, Trump is no longer in power. He was the worst possible leader to have during a pandemic. First he denied it was happening, then he weaponized it every step of the way, by blaming China, belittling mask-wearing, undermining his own public health officials, and using the virus to further polarize the nation.

But though he's out of office, Trump is still lurking in the shadows, like a monster in a horror film. Perhaps worse, polls indicate that he successfully corrupted his own political party to such an extent that a majority of Republicans actually believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

As a result of that fantasy, an incredibly dangerous toxin is coursing through our electoral bloodstream. Voter suppression efforts are underway in multiple states; Trump-like candidates are campaigning for office; and election-deniers are bent on installing officials in key districts who would violate the law in order to guarantee Republican victories in the future.

Therefore, as a nation we potentially face an electoral crisis as soon as next year manufactured by conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists.

If the decent people who are loyal Republicans allow themselves to be hoodwinked by the demagogue and his acolytes, the horrendous events of January 6th may be merely a precursor of worse to come. And remember, I'm an optimist...

...but not a fool. It's easy to see how the politics of fear and disinformation are reshaping a large enough portion of the electorate to throw the entire democratic underpinnings of our society into doubt.

So despite the bright light of vanquishing the coronavirus threat, which is an accomplishment we all can celebrate this holiday weekend, a bleak darkness hovers just over the horizon. It is going to require vigilance and aggressive investigative reporting on a national scale to hold it at bay.

A few days ago I posted about the hope represented by the Local News Network, which aims to serve the audiences in the "news deserts" of our small towns and rural areas. It is no coincidence that these are the places where pro-Trump sentiment is flourishing. It feeds on the fake news offered by Fox and even more marginal sources.

As a result, in these places reality has given way to ignorance, and an ignorant population is vulnerable to manipulation by dark forces. Like drowning men, if they are not reached before they drift too far and get caught by the rip tide, they will drag all of the rest of us under with them.

***

The news:

* GOP senators block legislation seeking probe of Capitol riot -- The Senate failed to muster the 10 Republican votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle for the legislation, dashing hopes that a comprehensive investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection can happen outside of Congress’s political fray. (WP)

* American Democracy Isn't Dead Yet, but It's Getting There -- A country that cannot even agree to investigate an assault on its Capitol is in big trouble, indeed. (New Yorker)

* White House to propose $6 trillion budget plan in bid to reshape safety net, economy (WP)

* The Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one with four or more people injured or killed, not including the perpetrator, has counted at least 232 mass shootings so far this year. (California Today)

* Big oil may get more climate lawsuits after Shell ruling (Reuters)

* Hong Kong Has a New Type of Prisoner: Pro-Democracy Activists -- Hundreds of protesters, many students or college-educated, face potentially stiff sentences after Beijing’s crackdown. Those behind bars already battle isolation and disillusionment. (NYT)

* Election-deniers are running for a key role in swing states. It could lead to a scary 2024. (WP)

* Prosecutors Investigating Whether Ukrainians Meddled in 2020 Election -- The Brooklyn federal inquiry has examined whether former and current Ukrainian officials tried to interfere in the election, including funneling misleading information through Rudolph W. Giuliani. (NYT)

* New York Prosecutor in Trump Case Known for Aggressive Pursuit of Evidence (WSJ)

* Plague of ravenous, destructive mice tormenting Australians (AP)

* Bulldozers threaten conservation of ancient Mexican metropolis (Reuters)

* Harris Pushes Companies To Invest In Guatemala, Honduras And El Salvador (NPR)

* Biden’s Silence on Abortion Rights at a Key Moment Worries Liberals -- As a case before the Supreme Court threatens Roe v. Wade and Democrats’ urgency grows, many activists believe the president needs to be bolder in defending reproductive rights. (NYT)

* Polls find most Republicans say 2020 election was stolen and roughly one-quarter embrace QAnon conspiracies (CNN)

* Google Is Nearing a Settlement of France Antitrust Case (WSJ)

* In visions of post-pandemic life, Roaring ’20s beckon again (AP)

* India’s covid surge has killed more than 500 doctors and sickened hundreds of others since March, stretching staffs thin (WP)

* European regulators OK Pfizer vaccine for children 12-15 (AP)

* Major League Baseball’s Great Hitting Depression -- The record pace of no-hitters in 2021 isn’t an aberration—it’s the product of a series of evolutions that have pitchers dominating. (WSJ)

* Facebook’s AI treats Palestinian activists like it treats American black activists. It blocks them. (WP)

* Facebook Apologizes For Giving Mark Zuckerberg A Platform (The Onion)

***

"You've Got To Stand For Something" (excerpt) 

Sung by Aaron Tippin 

Written by Aaron Tippin and William Brock 

Now Daddy didn't like trouble, but if it came along 

Everyone that knew him knew which side that he'd be on 
He never was a hero, or this county's shinin' light 
But you could always find him standing up 
For what he thought was right 

He'd say you've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything 
You've got to be your own man not a puppet on a string 
Never compromise what's right and uphold your family name 
You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything 

-30-

Think Like An Investigator

Today there are multiple articles in leading publications calling for renewed efforts to uncover the origin of Covid-19. Until and unless the Chinese authorities come clean on the identity of the earliest Covid patients, speculation as to the cause of the plague will persist. 

A growing number of experts suspect it was a leak from the bio-research lab at Wuhan. And after something as globally significant as Covid-19, the world deserves an explanation. 

The same was true decades ago for AIDS. The search for its origin was traced in "The River: A Journey to the Source of HIV and AIDs," by journalist Edward Hooper.

Just as with Covid-19, the dominant theory initially was that HIV/AIDS jumped to humans via animals -- in that case when a simian immunodeficiency virus carried by African chimpanzees mutated into the human disease. 

But after a decade of investigation, Hooper sided with others who argued that the mutation was the result of Western medical interventions in Africa during the 1950s. That was when more than a million doses of an experimental oral polio vaccine were administered in Africa, some of which were manufactured from chimp kidneys.

According to Hooper's research, the earliest known cases of AIDS appear to have tracked closely with the distribution of that vaccine. I should note here that Hooper's theory was extremely controversial at the time he published it in 1999 and some scientific journals later declared that it had been fully debunked.

Other studies indicated that the virus may have mutated much earlier than the 1950s -- in the 1920s when hunters of chimps got infected with the simian version either by eating the animals or in cuts they received in the course of the hunt. The chimps in turn apparently got the disease by eating two types of monkeys.

The issue is so clouded that probably the best we can say is that a definitive origin for HIV/AIDS has never been established. And that may well prove to be the case with Covid as well. For now, the most we can say is that the escape of a bat coronavirus under study at the Wuhan bio-lab seems at least as likely as the cause of the Covid pandemic as the "wet market" animal transfer theory.

Getting to the bottom of what happened is complicated because then-President Trump weaponized the matter by blaming China for deliberately releasing the disease -- a charge for which there is absolutely no evidence. But finding out as much as we can has nothing to do with the toxic state of U.S. politics and everything to do with preventing more pandemics.

There are far more labs like the one at Wuhan here in the U.S. than in China and they have had many documented accidents and leaks. That an outright disaster has not previously occurred because of those incidents is small comfort.

Much tighter regulation of bio-warfare research is needed before the next pandemic we unleash, like AIDS and Covid-19, turns into a war against ourselves.

***

On a lighter note...

The reunion series of "Friends," the popular sitcom that originally ran on NBC from 1994-2004, premiered on HBO Friday. News stories hyping this new release marveled that the chemistry that existed between the six primary cast members a quarter century ago seems to have translated into lifelong friendships.

Good serialized fiction works like a close friend to many of us almost as well as the homo sapiens variety. Pets can serve the same role, of course, and now scientists have been trying to perfect robots to play the part as well.

So as I was patting Betsy (the dog) and reading about the effort to deploy robots to combat the loneliness and isolation endured by elderly people, it occurred to me that perhaps this is one more lesson we can draw from the pandemic -- that old friendships with people or pets or robots or novels or even sitcoms not only endure over time but can get better.

Certain friendships just age well.

***

The headlines (there's a ton of news this cycle):

* Biden will unveil his first full budget on Friday, setting the stage for a pitched battle with Republicans opposed to his plans to spend trillions on infrastructure, childcare and other public works. (Reuters)

* The Sudden Rise of the Coronavirus Lab-Leak Theory (New Yorker)

* Biden Orders Intelligence Inquiry Into Origins of Virus. (NYT)

* The Biden administration announced that it has called on intelligence agencies to redouble their efforts to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in China as a way to prevent future pandemics. (AP)

* The Wuhan lab-leak theory is getting more attention. That’s because key evidence is still missing. (WP)

* Why A Lab In Wuhan Is Worth A Closer Look As A Possible Source Of The Pandemic (NPR)

* Who were the first coronavirus cases? China should help solve the mystery. (Editorial Board/WP)

* Gladys Sicknick -- the mother of U.S. Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who died after clashing with rioters during the Jan. 6 attack -- is asking Republican leaders for meetings to convince them to back a proposed commission to investigate the day's events. Senate GOP leaders today are likely to block a bipartisan measure to form the commission. [HuffPost]

* A new survey from the polling firm PRRI breaks down conspiracy theory acceptance by religious group, level of education, and sources of news and information, among other things. (NPR)

* A Wave of Afghan Surrenders to the Taliban Picks Up Speed -- Dozens of besieged outposts or bases, and four district centers, have given up to the insurgents this month, in an accelerating rural collapse as American troops leave. (NYT)

* Gov. Gavin Newsom of California condemned the “rinse and repeat” cycle of mass shootings in America after a gunman killed eight people at a rail yard in San Jose. (AP)

* Gun buying among Californians rose sharply last year. Before the pandemic, California was reporting about 100,000 background checks per month, but last March, that number rose to 164,000. (Sacramento Bee)

* Brazil’s Bid to Outsource Amazon Conservation Finds Few Takers -- Brazil is seeking to share the cost and burden of protecting the rain forest with the private sector. But it has found few firms willing to help. (NYT)

* U.S. weekly jobless claims drop to fresh 14-month low; economic recovery gaining speed (Reuters)

* Biden’s budget assumes that his proposed capital-gains tax rate increase took effect in late April, meaning it would be too late for high-income investors to realize gains at the lower tax rates if Congress agrees. (WSJ)

* Three major disability rights groups in Georgia have joined the broadening coalition of people suing the state over its Republican-sponsored voter suppression law that severely restricts access to voting. “The change in the voting law creates new barriers for everyone but those barriers could be insurmountable for people who experience disabilities," said Devon Orland, legal director of the Georgia Advocacy Office. [HuffPost]

* Deep-rooted racism, discrimination permeate U.S. military (AP)

* We need to put science at the center of the UFO question. (WP)

* The top U.N. human rights body on Thursday passed a resolution aimed to intensify scrutiny of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, after the U.N. rights chief said Israeli forces may have committed war crimes and faulted the militant group Hamas for violations of international law in their 11-day war this month. (AP)

* Multiple organizations are filing a lawsuit that seeks to overturn a West Virginia law that bans transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s school sports. "Trans kids deserve better," said Betty Pepper-Jackson, an 11-year-old girl who is prohibited from joining a school team because she is trans. [HuffPost]

* A physician representing a Japanese medical body warned Thursday that holding the postponed Tokyo Olympics in two months could lead to the spread of variants of the coronavirus. (AP)

* U.S. scientists expand efforts to determine when booster shots will be needed (WP)

* The Texas Grid Came Close to an Even Bigger Disaster During February Freeze  --Many “black start” units, which are used to jolt failed electricity systems, weren’t working properly. The emergency system’s spotty performance could have left Texans without power for much longer than a few days. (WSJ)

* First-ever Colorado River water shortage is now almost certain, new projections show (CNN)

* As the drought intensifies, the federal government announced that water allocations to cities and farms were being reduced. (Fresno Bee) 

* There’s a 40% chance that the world will get so hot in the next five years that it will temporarily push past the temperature limit the Paris climate agreement is trying to prevent, meteorologists said. (AP)

* A mountain lion broke a window and prowled around inside a home in the Bay Area city of San Bruno. The homeowner ended up scaring the animal away. (San Francisco Chronicle)

* 

“Ghost nets” from unknown origins drift among the Pacific's currents, threatening sea creatures and littering shorelines with the entangled remains of what they kill. 

Lost or discarded at sea, sometimes decades ago, this fishing gear continues to wreak havoc on marine life and coral reefs in Hawaii. (AP)

* Climate Activists Defeat Exxon in Push for Clean Energy -- Shareholders elected at least two of the four directors nominated by a coalition of investors that said the oil giant was not investing enough in cleaner energy. (NYT)

* Three of the world’s largest oil companies face a reckoning over climate change as shareholder revolts and a landmark court ruling added new pressure to slash emissions. [HuffPost]

* President Biden plans to announce that he is nominating Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles to be his ambassador to India, turning to a longtime political ally for a high-profile diplomatic posting. (California Today)

* All the things Apple won’t let you do with your iPhone (WP)

* K-Pop Group BTS And McDonald's Launch Exclusive Meal And Clothing Line -- The meal includes Chicken McNuggets, a medium order of french fries, a medium Coke and two new sauces inspired by McDonald's South Korea. (NPR)

* Kevin Clark, preteen drummer in "School Of Rock," dead at 32, was hit by car when biking. (HuffPost)

* An umpire asked a Cardinals pitcher to take off his hat. It led to a dust-up over what a manager called ‘baseball’s dirty little secret.’ (WP)

* Tensions remain high between Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers fans after the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme in 2017. A fight between fans broke out on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston. (KPRC) 

* The best, most emotional and weirdest moments of the ‘Friends’ reunion -- As the producers explain, that was the point of “Friends” all along. Co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane pitched it as a sitcom about the years in your 20s when your friends are your family, but with story lines that could relate to anyone. And part of the reason for “Friends'” dominance is that the chemistry among the six stars wasn’t just on the show — their actual fondness for one another came through on the screen and has continued for all these years. Their dynamic feels similar to real-life friends that you haven’t seen in far too long: When you get together, it’s like no time has passed. (WP)

* Coronavirus Variant Excited To Compete With World’s Top Mutations In Tokyo This Summer (The Onion)

***

"Morningside"

By John Gorka

I'm I a fool at this late date 
To heed a voice that says, 
You can be great 

I heard it young, now I hear it again 
It says, you can be better than you've ever been 

Don't want to waste what I have to give 
In all of the time that I've left to live 
Don't want to waste what I have to give 
In any of the time that I've got left 
I can do more than I thought I could 
Work brings more luck than knocking on wood 
There's random bad and random good 
Work brings more good luck 

You ask the world 
And the world says, no 
It's the world's refrain 

Mine says, go 
You ask the world 
And the world says, no 
It's an old world refrain 
Mine says, go 

Don't want to waste what I have to give 
In all of the time that I've left to live 
Don't want to waste what I have to give 
In any of the time that I've got left 
I can do more than I thought I could 
Work brings more luck than knocking on wood 
There's random bad and random good 
Work brings more good luck 

Better be off 
I've got dreams to dream 
Though it seems uphill and a little extreme 
If I can find hope in this fading light 
Then I'll find you on the morningside

(Thanks to Roger Toennis for today's lyrics.)

-30-

Good News (For A Change)

For the past 20 years, local newspapers have been going out of business all over the country, leaving "news deserts" in their wake. It has become very difficult for small publishing companies to survive the shifting economic conditions of the Internet era, and those that do typically erect "paywalls" that make accessing their news content difficult and costly.

This trend has had many ripple effects, including a vast divide between those with viable news sources and those without. In addition, the loss of affordable advertising options for local businesses has further weakened local economies. 

National advertisers, by contrast, can penetrate even the most remote rural markets with their widespread brand recognition and ability to scale. (Everybody knows Amazon, McDonald's and Walmart.)

But there are solutions to problems like these and they can sometimes be found right back at the local level where they developed in the first place -- and that is what is happening in this case. 

Laurie Sigilitto and Bert Carder launched the Local News Network (LNN). https://www.thelocalnews.us in Durango, Colorado, in 2019. LNN is a startup dedicated to bringing community news back to the communities that don't have any. 

Sigilitto owned a small sign and graphics business when she purchased the local cable TV access station a few years back. She knew she needed a local advertising channel and that the entire community needed a news outlet.

Thus: LNN.

The company distributes its news and advertising in a variety of ways, including on websites and mobile apps, social media sites, third-party aggregators, podcasts, and free opt-in email newsletters. It also maintains a proprietary distribution network of digital displays placed in high-traffic locations, like airports, DMVs, quick-serve restaurants, bank drive-throughs and hardware stores.

It's sort of like a local TV station produced digitally by local people.

“We are currently in four towns in the Four Corners area of Southwest Colorado and northern New Mexico, and despite the pandemic, our subscribers and advertisers are growing. We hope to expand to hundreds of other markets over the next five years,” says Carder, who is COO.

“We are all about the communities we serve,” says CEO Sigillito. “We tell their stories because, at its core, all news is local.”

When the LNN team asked me late last year if I would like to join their advisory board, it was a no-brainer for me. I've been worrying about the decline in journalism at the local level for years and have published those concerns here on Facebook numerous times -- which is how LNN and I found each other.

One troubling consequence of the widespread "news deserts" all across the country is the polarized political environment between rural and urban communities. In the absence of honest journalism, conspiracy theories flourish, undermining any hope for the more inclusive consensus we so badly need as a nation.

For that to happen, we need to start rebuilding real journalism, one community at a time. 

[If you'd like to know more or get involved, please contact the LNN staff at <https://www.thelocalnews.us/contact-the-local-news-network>.

***

In other news:

* How Americans Process the News -- A shift toward online news consumption, combined with greater political polarization, has altered the media landscape. (Knight Foundation)

* Pentagon Accelerates Withdrawal From Afghanistan -- American troops are set to be out by early to mid-July, well ahead of President Biden’s Sept. 11 deadline, even as big issues remain unresolved.  (NYT)

*Biden pushes to redouble efforts to determine definitive origin of coronavirus (WP)

* HHS chief calls for follow-up probe on origin of pandemic (WP)

* Five months after the U.S. began distributing doses, half of adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. More than 73% of adults over 65 have been fully vaccinated. [HuffPost]

* Resistance to vaccine mandates is building. A powerful network is helping. -- A New York firm has filed suit or sent letters to employers in several states, part of an effort spearheaded by one of the largest anti-vaccination groups in the country. (WP)

* Dutch court orders Shell to deepen carbon cuts in landmark ruling (Reuters)

* EU Eyes Formal Antitrust Investigation Into Facebook-- The European Union is close to opening its first formal antitrust probe into the company, according to a person familiar with the matter, ramping up its competition enforcement of big tech companies (WSJ)

* The Myth of Coexistence in Israel -- Palestinians live under a racist system whose laws enshrine their second-class status. (NYT)

* Trump Criminal Probe Heats Up (HuffPost, WP)

* Amazon Makes A Deal To Buy MGM For Nearly $8.5 Billion (NPR)

* 8 killed in shooting at San Jose, Calif., rail yard. The gunman is also dead. (WP)

* Facebook, Instagram to Allow Users to Hide ‘Likes’ --Facebook and Instagram will begin allowing users to hide “like” counts on their posts, even after pilot tests of the feature didn’t show meaningful impact on how people use the platforms or feel about themselves. (WSJ)

* U.S. steps up pursuit of far-right activists in 2016 voter suppression probe (Reuters)

* The Central California Town That Keeps Sinking -- The very ground upon which Corcoran, Calif., was built has been slowly but steadily collapsing, a situation caused primarily not by nature but agriculture. (NYT)

* Ford Expects 40% of Global Vehicle Volume to Be Fully Electric By 2030 (WSJ)

* Car-free San Francisco streets: Residents debate reopening (AP)

* Japanese newspaper publisher Asahi Shimbun, an official partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, called for the Summer Games to be cancelled in an editorial on Wednesday, citing risks to public safety and strains on the medical system from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)

* More than 250 public figures and other advocates have signed a letter in support of Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of “The 1619 Project,” who has yet to be offered tenure at the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism. The letter accuses UNC of bowing to pressure from conservatives opposed to the project. [HuffPost]

* Biden Opens California’s Coast to Wind Farms -- The idea of erecting wind farms in the Pacific Ocean has long been dismissed as impractical. But major hurdles, including military objections, have now been cleared. (NYT)

* Gun control advocates are confident they can secure the Senate confirmation of David Chipman to become the first permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in more than six years. But the ATF faces a multitude of problems after years of attacks from the National Rifle Association and its allies in Congress. [HuffPost]

* What Robots Can -- and Can't Do for the Old and Lonely -- For elderly Americans, social isolation is especially perilous. (New Yorker)

* California has already had 900 more wildfires than at this point in 2020, which was a record-breaking year for fires. (LAT)

* Birds are going blind in the D.C. region, and wildlife experts don’t know why (WP)

* Paleontologists are excavating a recently discovered trove of fossils from the Miocene era — including mastodons, camels and fossilized trees — in the Sierra Nevada foothills. (Gizmodo)

* Biden administration proposes protections for threatened bird species out West, setting up clash with oil and gas industry (WP)

* Only 1 in 3 California parents understand teen slang (Solitaired.com)

* Critics Warn $15 Wage Will Force McDonald’s To Replace Burger Patties With Robots (The Onion)

***

(Theme From) New York, New York

Song by Frank Sinatra

Songwriters: Bernstein Leonard / Comden Betty / Green Adolph

Start spreading the news
I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York

These vagabond shoes
They are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

I want to wake up in a city
That never sleeps
And find I'm king of the hill
Top of the heap

These small town blues
They are melting away
I'll make a brand new start of it
In old New York

If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you
New York, New York

New York, New York
I want to wake up in a city
That doesn't sleep
And find that I'm number one
Top of the list
Head of the heap
King of the hill

These little town blues
They've all melted away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it
In old New York

And
If I can make it there
I'll make it practically anywhere
It's up to you
New York, New York
New York

Time to Connect

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”
– C.S. Lewis

Every Thursday night at 5 p.m., several neighbors gather on this block for happy hour. Invariably, a long-haired cat named Pretty Kitty shows up to greet everyone, rubbing against our legs. She lives a block from here but loves to roam and is exceptionally social. So far as I've been able to determine, Pretty Kitty does not partake in the red wine that is the favored beverage of the group.

Most of the people sitting around in folding chairs are on the older side, like me, but some are younger folks with children. As delivery trucks come and go, everyone waves. We all know the delivery guys.

There is no agenda for these gatherings; people just exchange the latest information about their lives as peoples have been doing since time immemorial. It's just a chance to catch each other up.

For the past year everybody wore masks, but recently the masks dropped away. Everyone's vaccinated.

This sort of thing didn't happen back in the Mission, where I lived for 17 years. I did become acquainted with some of my neighbors, however; we'd chat and help each out now and then, but if anyone celebrated happy hour they did so in the privacy of their own home.

An exception to this came about halfway through my time living there when a new couple moved in upstairs and instantly converted our large backyard into a weekly party space. They were in the music business and had a wide network of friends who showed up on a regular basis.

They always included me in their parties, which vastly improved my social situation at that time. When after a few years they moved out, I was sad and the ensuing period was made worse when my girlfriend left as well.

They say bad things come in threes, so when soon after those two losses my job ended it hardly came as a surprise. The year was 2010 and it qualified as one of the low points in my life.

But isolating myself from the world did not turn out to be a wise strategy so I turned things around by reaching out to old friends and making some new ones. For me, and I suspect most people, connecting with others is the key to any real sense of well-being. And that will be my main strategy as we emerge from the pandemic.

It's time once again to renew old friendships and make some new ones. 

That's what is called a recovery strategy.

***

The news:

* The Beginning of the End of the American Pandemic -- The country is reopening. What does the future hold? (New Yorker)

* More than half of American adults vaccinated as COVID cases ebb (Reuters)

* New Variant Posing Threat, as Global Vaccine Drive Falters -- The coronavirus variant first seen in India is rapidly outpacing all others in Britain, a problem for the U.K. and a potential new burden on poorer nations. (NYT)

* Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine found safe, effective in teens (Reuters)

* Children's Risk Of Serious Illness From COVID-19 Is As Low As It Is For The Flu (NPR)

* Justice Dept. releases part of memo on not charging Trump in Russia probe (WP)

* U.S. freeways flattened black neighborhoods nationwide -- In many cities, black residents were displaced by the freeway-building boom of the 1950s and 1960s. (Reuters) Belarus Is Isolated as Other Countries Move to Ban Flights -- The extraordinary forced landing of a commercial flight with a Belarusian dissident aboard escalated into one of the biggest flare-ups in East-West tensions in recent years. (NYT)

* The European Union agreed to impose sanctions against Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the bloc's airspace, amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet to arrest opposition journalist Raman Pratasevich, a key foe of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. [AP]

* Dozens of Mexican Candidates Have Been Killed This Election Season (WSJ)

* President Joe Biden will hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month in Geneva, a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders that comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. (AP)

* Former Donald Trump campaign manager and now-pardoned felon Paul Manafort lied repeatedly to investigators about arranging to share polling data on U.S. citizens with a Russian spy, according to court files unsealed Monday. Manafort was convicted of several crimes in 2019. [HuffPost]

* California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed $2 billion to fight forest fires this year. (KCRA)

* Pope launches green initiative, decrying "predatory attitude" toward planet (Reuters)

* Biden looks to California for next phase of offshore wind (WP)

* President Biden Wants To Replace All Lead Pipes. Flint Has Lessons To Share (NPR)

* Food trucks survived, and even flourished, during the pandemic. (California Today)

* The blockbuster trial between Apple and the maker of ‘Fortnite’ goes out with a ‘hot tub’ session (WP)

* Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Tuesday that the U.S. would reopen its Consulate General in Jerusalem — a move that restores ties with Palestinians that had been downgraded by the Trump administration. (AP)

* Ask Yourself Which Books You Truly Love -- They will tell you a lot about who you are. (Salman Rushdie)

* As Israel’s Dependence on U.S. Shrinks, So Does U.S. Leverage -- Israel has quietly sought, and perhaps achieved, a large measure of autonomy from its half-century of reliance on the United States. (NYT)

* Garlic Clove Concerned About Being Deployed Into Water Glass With No Real Exit Strategy (The Onion)

***

"You've Got a Friend"

James Taylor, Carole King

When you're down and troubled 
and you need a helping hand 
and nothing, whoa nothing is going right. 
Close your eyes and think of me 
and soon I will be there 
to brighten up even your darkest nights. 

You just call out my name, 
and you know wherever I am 
I'll come running, oh yeah baby 
to see you again. 
Winter, spring, summer, or fall, 
all you have to do is call 
and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah. 
You've got a friend. 

If the sky above you 
should turn dark and full of clouds 
and that old north wind should begin to blow 
Keep your head together and call my name out loud 
and soon I will be knocking upon your door.

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am 
I'll come running to see you again. 
Winter, spring, summer or fall 
all you got to do is call 
and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend? 
People can be so cold. 
They'll hurt you and desert you. 
Well they'll take your soul if you let them. 
Oh yeah, but don't you let them.

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am 
I'll come running to see you again. 
Oh babe, don't you know that, 
Winter spring summer or fall, 
Hey now, all you've got to do is call. 
Lord, I'll be there, yes I will. 
You've got a friend. 

-30-

To Know May Be To Not Know

For a while now, anticipation has been building over the upcoming release of declassified U.S. government files on UFOs. A number of highly placed intelligence officials, including at least two former CIA directors, have publicly confirmed that sightings by seasoned fighter pilots have been occurring for decades now.

As the era of civilian air travel dawned in the wake of World War II, professional pilots also reported seeing odd objects, including syndical discs hovering, darting and speeding away in maneuvers human aircraft are not capable of.

After a brief period when such sightings were made public in the late 40s and early 50s, spurring many additional reports by civilians, intelligence agencies deemed all such incidents as classified events. 

Meanwhile, as our unclassified knowledge of the universe grew, we became aware that it was extremely unlikely that we are alone as an intelligent species in the vastness of space and time. Any life form just a tad more advanced than our own may well have solved the riddle of space travel well enough to travel between solar systems before we have been able to do so.

Today, as the topic moves from the realm of science fiction to scientific inquiry, we have to all be open-minded about the evidence. It's unlikely that anything conclusive has been discovered, such as an alien spaceship or alien life forms. But we now know enough to say that there is much more that we do not yet know.

Come to think of it, that could be said about virtually every question facing us as a species at this time.

Including Covid-19, its origin and its impacts.

Some of the pandemic's lasting effects are only now becoming apparent. Perhaps facing a common enemy in Covid-19 will prove to have unified us even though that may be difficult to see that at present due to our polarized political sphere. 

Meanwhile the political faultiness have shifted, dramatically in the case of the current Israeli-Palestine conflict.

For as long as I can remember, official U.S. government policy has been unwavering support for Israel, including massive foreign aid that guaranteed its military superiority in the Middle East. That support has remained constant through countless wars and bloody incidents in the region.

But now increasing numbers of younger people are pointing out the hypocrisy of American support for Israel when it mercilessly suppresses the human rights of its Palestinian population.

Accordingly, the moment may have arrived when Israel can no longer have it both ways -- calling itself a democratic ally of the U.S. while engaging in imperialistic land grabs and wanton murder.

Unfortunately, on the Palestinian side, Hamas doesn't help the prospect of a peaceful solution to the conflict by acquiring and firing rockets in response to the Israeli aggression. Pro-Palestinian advocates need to realize that and pressure for change there too.

All reasonable voices want a two-state solution and peace in the region. Perhaps the Black Lives Matter movement that emerged during the pandemic, and the emergence of a new generation of progressive leaders hold the key to us finally getting there.

Or perhaps we'll soon solve the UFO riddle and realize our earthly problems are no longer worth fighting about.

I for one would take either solution.

***

The news:

* Are We Entering a New Political Era? -- The neoliberal order seems to be collapsing. A generation of young activists is trying to insure that it’s replaced by progressive populism, not by the fascist right. (New Yorker)

* Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Belarus’ interception of a Ryanair flight and arrest of an opposition journalist on board as a “shocking act” by the country’s leadership that threatened press freedom and the lives of passengers on board. President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered a fighter jet to accompany the plane and divert it to Minsk, where Raman Pratasevich was arrested. [HuffPost]

* The European Union is banning member airlines from Belarusian airspace after the country’s leaders brazenly forced down a commercial jet and arrested a dissident journalist. (WP)

* Before Rage Flared, a Push to Make Israel’s Mixed Towns More Jewish -- An eruption of Arab-Jewish violence inside Israeli cities has focused attention on a movement of religious nationalists seeking to strengthen the Jewish presence in areas with large Arab populations. (NYT)

* As India Stumbles, One State Charts Its Own Covid Course -- Kerala uses tracking of patients and supplies, a network of health care workers and coronavirus “war rooms” to succeed where the national government has fallen short. (NYT)

* Iran and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agreed Monday to a one-month extension to a deal on surveillance cameras at Tehran's atomic sites, buying more time for ongoing negotiations seeking to save the country's tattered nuclear deal with world powers. (AP)

* That Covid escaped from a lab isn’t the predominant hypothesis for the pandemic’s origins, yet prominent scientists are calling for a deeper probe and clearer answers from Beijing. (WSJ)

* Dr. Fauci says he's 'not convinced' Covid-19 developed naturally (CNN)

* Lawmakers worry the toxic mood on Capitol Hill will follow them home -- Tensions among lawmakers have been running high since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. As House members head out of Washington for three weeks, some Democrats have concerns for their security back home. (WP)

* Half of New York Voters Stand by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Poll Finds (WSJ)

* Seven people are dead and 33 others injured following four separate weekend mass shootings in Ohio, South Carolina and New Jersey. This year is setting itself up to be particularly violent when it comes to gun violence, with 223 mass shootings recorded as of this month, according to nonprofit research group the Gun Violence Archive. [HuffPost]

* Biden administration moves toward making the pandemic work-from-home experiment permanent for many federal workers (WP)

*Are U.S. Officials Under Silent Attack? -- The Havana Syndrome first affected spies and diplomats in Cuba. Now it has spread to the White House. (New Yorker)

* NYC mayor: Public schools will be all in person this fall (AP)

* It’s Crunch Time and Biden’s Climate Gambit Faces Steep Hurdles -- He wants to require power companies to replace fossil fuels with clean energy. It’s a broadly popular idea but its path in Congress is perilous. (NYT)

* Rich in quartz, limestone, and algae, Lake Erie is also rich with seasonal color. (NASA Earth/Twitter)

* How UFO sightings went from joke to national security worry in Washington (WP)

* In a few years, there’s a good chance your Uber or Lyft ride will be in an electric vehicle. At least 90 percent of the miles driven by ride-hailing companies in California must be in electric vehicles by 2030, according to a new mandate by the state Air Resources Board. (Sacramento Bee)

* Water crisis ‘couldn’t be worse’ on Oregon-California border (AP)

* As hurricane season looms, Biden doubles funding to prepare for extreme weather (WP)

* New Orleans Airbnb Touts Location In Heart Of Historic Airbnb Quarter (The Onion)

***

"Alien" (excerpt)

sung by Dennis Lloyd

written by Nir Tibor

I'm feeling like an alien, baby
Riding around the world
I'm feeling like a stranger lately
'Round and around we go and around we go
'Round and around we go and around we go

So where can I go?
A million miles from home
What am I going for? How can I know
What I'm fighting for?

-30-