Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Childhood Heroes


Just as my first three children were reaching their Tweens, they took an interest in baseball, especially the local team, the Sam Francisco Giants.

It was the mid-80s and the team had not fared very well for years. Then Will Clark, a talented and fiercely competitive first baseman with a hot bat and a high-pitched voice showed up. In his very first at bat, Clark hit a home run off the great Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.

As a divorced father, I was looking for every way possible to keep connecting with the kids and Will Clark's heroics turned out to be one of our mutual passion. His smooth left-handed swing was a thing of beauty, and I rediscovered my childhood love of the game.

I managed to get tickets to home games at the old Candlestick Park and took them out there as often as possible.

When my son turned nine or ten, I got Clark to sign his rookie card during a photo shoot for my magazine, and  I framed it in a plexiglass card holder as a surprise birthday present.

In one game we attended, after his teammate Robby Thompson was hit in the head by a pitch, an enraged Clark hit a massive home run to the opposite field to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. A waiter gave my son a baseball that night.

The Giants intend to "retire" Clark's number -- 22 -- this season. He didn't make it to Cooperstown but he definitely has a permanent place in our family's Hall of Fame.

Thank you, Will Clark!

***

Well, it's election season so many of the news summaries I select will be political for the next two-plus months. But there's plenty of Covid news and where possible I'll mix in other stuff as well:

Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by a nine-point margin nationally, 51-42 percent according to a CNN Poll of Polls on the general election matchup released Monday. (CNN)

The Democratic National Committee’s presidential nominating convention kicked off Monday, with headliners Michelle Obama ("If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me they can"), and Sen. Bernie Sanders ("We have a come a very long way). The host city was set to be Milwaukee, but Joe Biden plans to accept the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination later this week from his home in Delaware due to the coronavirus. [HuffPost]

Miles Taylor, a former senior Trump administration official, endorsed Joe Biden'spresidential campaign on Monday, becoming one of the highest-ranking former Trump administration officials to do so. Taylor, who served as chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, also accused President Donald Trump of repeatedly using his office for political purposes, including directing officials to cut wildfire relief funding to California because voters there overwhelmingly opposed him in 2016. (CNN)

WHO reports record global Covid-19 increase over 24 hours (WHO)
* "The pandemic is a wake-up call for me to jot down keepsake ‘letters’ for my kids" --- A parent asks: What should I tell them about the lives we’ve all lived? What do they need to know about our family? My journals will preserve our memories. (Washington Post)

Death Valley soars to 130 degrees, potentially Earth’s highest temperature since at least 1931 (Washington Post)

More Americans Go Hungry Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Census Shows -- Causes include higher food prices, school closings; expiration of federal jobless benefits deepens distress (Wall Street Journal)

Violent clashes erupt between far-right groups and racial justice protesters in Portland and other cities-- Police did not intervene despite reports of violence and gunshots in downtown (Washington Post)

‘A national crisis’: Millions of disconnected students are being left behind -- As the pandemic forces many schools to switch to remote learning, more than 17 million U.S. schoolchildren do not have high-speed Internet at home and are locked out of virtual classes. (Washington Post)

A Michigan college is requiring students to download a phone application that tracks their location and private health data at all times in an attempt to protect them from the coronavirus.Albion College, located in Albion, Mich., is one of the first schools in the country to tackle contact tracing. The school is working to create a "COVID-bubble" on campus, and asking students stay within the school's 4.5-mile perimeter for the entire semester; if a student leaves campus, the app will notify the administration, and the student could be temporarily suspended. (Washington Free Beacon)

A mural paying tribute to country singer and Tennessee native Dolly Parton and her stance supporting the Black Lives Matter movement has emerged outside "The 5 Spot" on Forrest Avenue in East Nashville. (CNN)

***

Closing with a couple lines from a love song:

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

   -- Norah Jones


-30-

Monday, August 17, 2020

Wonderful World


Just like that, in the course of one sleepless overnight, summer ended and the school year began.

I didn't see that coming, but of course I'm not going to see anything coming until those damn cataracts are dissolved by laser surgery next month.

Do you remember back in the old days when kids got new clothes and backpacks for the start of the school year?

Ah, sweet memory.

Now they just discard their pajamas for the first time in three months and the backpack industry has probably long since gone bankrupt.

"Grandpa," the younger ones may ask, "What is school? I mean is it an actual place with walls and desks like in the books we read or is that just what's on Zoom?"

You can see how soon adults will lose all of our remaining semblance of credibility. ("There he goes again," one kid says to the other behind their Grandpa's back, "telling us to wear our good shoes for the Zoom call. When was the last time you saw somebody's shoes on a Zoom call?")

In that context, the question has been raised whether a certain fourth grader should take her aged grandfather into class this week as the answer to the question,  "What happened over summer break?"

"Grandpa," she could say. 

In an era when absolutely nothing happens over summer break, the arrival of a Grandpa at your front door can indeed be a notable event. it shows you can order pretty much anything from Amazon these days.

***

 Kamala Harris on Donald Trump's campaign to question her eligibility to serve as vice president and president. "They're going to engage in an attempt to distract from the real issues that are impacting the American people. And I expect that they will engage in dirty tactics. And this is going to be a knockdown, drag-out. And we're ready," Harris said. (TheGrio)

‘Reagan Democrats’ found a permanent home in the GOP after 1980. The tables may now turn at last for 'Biden Republicans'. (Wall Street Journal)

CNN Poll: Biden and Trump matchup tightens as enthusiasm hits new high -- Biden leads Trump 50-46 percent with margin of error of 4 points. (CNN)

Hong Kong journalists harassed, arrested and lose press freedoms under new China law (L.A. Times)

* State officials rush to shore up confidence in November 3 election as voters express fears about mail voting (Washington Post)

Baseball is honoring the Negro Leagues. It needs to explain why they existed. --As Major League Baseball pays tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues, it should also admit its history of social injustice. (Washington Post)

Trump’s Policies Are a Boon to the Super Rich. So Where Are All the Seven-Figure Checks? Only a small fraction of the president’s top donors from 2016 have given as much to his re-election effort. (New York Times)

COVID-19 Economic Downturn Triggers Exodus From San Francisco and other cities (CBS)

Scientists See Signs of Lasting Immunity to Covid-19, Even After Mild Infections -- New research indicates that human immune system cells are storing information about the coronavirus so they can fight it off again. (New York Times)

***

In my ongoing quest to find some reason or inspiration to restart work on my stalled memoir,  yesterday I reviewed tapes of our 25th anniversary party for the Center for Investigative Reporting back in 2002. They came my way courtesy of my co-founder Dan Noyes, who's saved many items from our shared past.

The great muckraker Molly Ivins, who has since passed, served as the Master of Ceremonies at the gala affair. A large crowd was in attendance. There is  a video of the celebration but it runs out just as I started speaking. So I have only a vague idea what I actually said that night.

Maybe it's just as well, since I suspect I spoke about my motivation to do investigative reporting, which was a deep anger at the injustices I saw all around me in the world. So it was at least partially an angry speech on what was supposed to be a happy occasion. 

Afterward, a friend told me that a mutual friend listening in the crowd was very upset that I had spoken about my anger; that she thought it was not appropriate to do so. It was a difficult night for me on other levels as well; my mother had just passed away and my second marriage was crumbling.

But what I said about my motivation to do the work was true then and it still is today.

***

WONDERFUL WORLD

Don't know much about history
Don't know much biology
Don't know much about a science book
Don't know much about the French I took
But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me, too
What a wonderful world this would be
Don't know much about geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for
But I do know one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be
Now, I don't claim to be an A student
But I'm trying to be
For maybe by being an A student, baby
I can win your love for me
Don't know much about history...
      -- Sam Cooke




Sunday, August 16, 2020

Which Side You On

Desperately seeking something -- anything -- funny, I binged on old SNL episodes. That worked, sort of. Then I watched a baseball game with my grandson -- that worked better. His team won the game, making him happy.

My team lost, making me sad.

In the process, I taught him the basics of fantasy baseball, which is as much about math as the actual sport. This seemed to energize him as he repeatedly checked various players' statistics and drew conclusions thereupon.

The overall problem here in the newly tropical Bay Area is, of course, that the ponderous news cycle will never help matters. And this global warming has become really oppressive. There is just no relief in sight.

It's Desperation Row around here. That has a certain ring to it.

Coming to us this sweaty overnight are the following tidbits:

‘We’re Clearly Not Doing Enough’: Drop in Testing Hampers Coronavirus Response -- For the first time during the pandemic, the United States saw a downward trend in the number of coronavirus tests conducted each day. (New York Times)

Cedar Rapids and nearby Iowa communities, still in shambles days after destructive derecho, plead for help -- Dispatches from Cedar Rapids reveal a disaster zone, with damage to most homes and businesses, some severe, trees down everywhere, roads blocked and hospitals overrun. (Washington Post)

The election is a choice between Donald Trump — and Kamala Harris (Washington Post)

Bald Eagle Sends Government Drone Into Lake Michigan  -- In a rare case of nature taking on a manmade machine and winning, a bald eagle attacked and destroyed a government drone that was flying above Lake Michigan on an environmental monitoring mission. The Phantom 4 Pro Advanced quodcopter drone was about 162ft in the sky when it is thought the bird of prey attacked – possibly mistaking the flying machine for a rival bird or tasty snack. The drone had one of its propellors torn off and spiraled from the skies, sinking to the bottom of the lake. (The Guardian)

Leaders at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were blindsided this week when President Donald Trump announced that the agency could deploy teams to assist schools with safely reopening in the fall, a senior CDC official told CNN. "My administration also stands ready to deploy CDC teams to support schools that are opening and schools that need help in safety and in order to safely reopen," Trump said on Tuesday during a briefing.The announcement left CDC officials scrambling this week to train-up staff to be able to deploy if they are called upon, the senior official said. (CNN)

Two senior Trump political appointees departed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a senior official at the agency confirmed to CNN. Kyle McGowan, the chief of staff, and Amanda Campbell, the deputy chief of staff, resigned effective Friday, leaving to start a consulting firm, the official said. Both left voluntarily, the official added. (CNN)

* The media was far less likely to let birtherism attacks slide this time -- When Trump launched in birtherism attacks, the media was more prepared this time. (Washington Post)

In Big Ten cities, a fall without college football is a crushing economic blow  -- Some college towns expect losses to measure in the tens of millions of dollars, crippling businesses already struggling through the pandemic. (Washington Post)

Several fights broke out in Kalamazoo, Michigan, during a rally held by the far-right group Proud Boys, police say.Members of the group were marching in downtown Kalamazoo when they clashed with counter protesters and officers moved to disperse the crowds. (WXMI) 

***

Don't blame me for the news. At least I added the bald eagle story.


DESOLATION ROW

They're selling postcards of the hanging, they're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors, the circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner, they've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker, the other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless, they need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight, from Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy, "It takes one to know one," she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning. "You Belong to Me I Believe"
And someone says, "You're in the wrong place, my friend, you'd better leave"
And the only sound that's left after the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up on Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden, the stars are beginning to hide
The fortune telling lady has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel and the hunchback of Notre Dame

Everybody is making love or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing, he's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight on Desolation Row

Ophelia, she's 'neath the window for her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday she already is an old maid
To her, death is quite romantic she wears an iron vest
Her profession's her religion, her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah's great rainbow
She spends her time peeking into Desolation Row

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood with his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago with his friend, a jealous monk
Now he looked so immaculately frightful as he bummed a cigarette
And he when off sniffing drainpipes and reciting the alphabet
You would not think to look at him, but he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin on Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients, they're trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser, she's in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read, "Have Mercy on His Soul"
They all play on the penny whistles, you can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough from Desolation Row

Across the street they've nailed the curtains, they're getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera in a perfect image of a priest
They are spoon feeding Casanova to get him to feel more assured
Then they'll kill him with self-confidence after poisoning him with words
And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls, "Get outta here if you don't know"
Casanova is just being punished for going to Desolation Row"

At midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders and then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles by insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping to Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn
Everybody's shouting, "Which side are you on?!"
And Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot fighting in the captain's tower
While calypso singers laugh at them and fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday, about the time the doorknob broke
When you asked me how I was doing, was that some kind of joke
All these people that you mention, yes, I know them, they're quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name
Right now, I can't read too good, don't send me no more letters no
Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row.

-- Bob Dylan

Saturday, August 15, 2020

As Goes Dolly Parton...


As I write these words, a rare heat wave has settled in along the coast of California. It's 99 degrees here. Inland, it's even worse -- way over 100 degrees. There is no discernible breeze.

The news cycle churns political rhetoric and oppressively bad news about the pandemic. Overall, it feels as if there is no relief from any of this.

But way down in my news summary cue today is a quote from the wonderful Dolly Parton. She's not only a brilliant songwriter and performer but a person who comes out with homespun pearls of wisdom known as Dollyisms, such as this classic:

"I'm not offended by all the dumb blond jokes because I know I'm not dumb, and I also know I am not blond."

We need people like her in public service. These humorless, ambitious narcissists who seem to predominate our politics leave all of us without laughter, only depressed silence.

After all, there must be something funny about all of this, though I admit to having trouble locating it.

Maybe our news summaries will bring some comic relief:

More than 80 million people are under excessive heat alerts this weekend with record temperatures possible in over 10 states.Excessive heat warnings are in effect for California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Texas. Heat advisories are in place for some surrounding states, including Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. (New York Times)

The U.S. recorded 64,201 new coronavirus cases and 1,336 related deaths on Friday (CNN)

*Postal Service tells 46 states that mail-in ballots may not arrive in time to be counted -- The warnings point to a grim possibility: Even if people voting by mail follow all the election rules, the pace of delivery may disqualify their votes.  (Washington Post)

Clinical Trials of Coronavirus Drugs Are Taking Longer Than Expected -- Antibody trials sponsored by Regeneron and Eli Lilly are off to a slow start because of a dearth of tests, overwhelmed hospitals and reluctant patients. (New York Times)

Recession ends for the rich while enduring for everyone else -- Jobs are fully back for the highest wage earners, but fewer than half the jobs lost this spring have returned for those making less than $20 an hour, according to a new labor data analysis. (Washington Post)

Widespread community transmission in hot spots sends virus surging into nursing homes -- With staff — and in some cases patients and visitors — entering and leaving facilities, community-acquired infections almost inevitably find their way inside. (Washington Post) [I've said it before; if you don't want to lose your loved ones, get them out of nursing homes! -- DW]

TRUMP HAD NO RESPONSE WHEN ASKED IF HE REGRETS ALL HIS LIES HuffPost senior White House correspondent S.V. Dáte asked the president a question Thursday that he's long wanted to raise: “Do you regret at all the lying you’ve done to the American people? All the dishonesties?” “That who has done?” Trump replied. “You have done,” said Dáte. Trump paused, then moved on to the next question. According to a running fact-check database by The Washington Post, Trump has made more than 20,000 false or misleading claims since taking office. [HuffPost]

* A new survey from Wakefield Research (a market research company) on behalf of Maven (a virtual women’s health clinic), reports that more than 60 percent of 1,000 parents surveyed said they do not have a clear plan of how they’re handing child care this fall.

BIDEN CALLS FOR NATIONWIDE MASK MANDATE Joe Biden called for a nationwide mask mandate and urged all Americans to wear masks for at least the next three months as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take lives. “Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months, at a minimum,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware. “This is not about Democrats, Republicans or independents. It’s about saving Americans’ lives,” he said. “Let’s institute a mask mandate, nationwide, starting immediately, and we will save lives.” [HuffPost]

State and Local Budget Pain Looms Over Economy’s Future  -- Providing more aid to struggling governments has become one of the biggest issues tangling up the debate over another pandemic rescue package. (New York Times)

In an interview with Billboard, Dolly Parton has voiced her indisputable support for Black Lives Matter as well as the importance of changing with the times.“I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen,” the 74-year-old Parton said, referring to the latest wave of racial justice protests sweeping the United States. “And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!” 

‌* Uber and Lyft are threatening to temporarily close down in California. Here’s why, and what it says about fierce fights over the gig economy. [CalMatters]


***


Well, so much for the idea of possible frivolity. Nothing remotely funny in there.


The only sparkle is the Dolly Parton piece. It always amuses me when uninformed friends dismiss country music as unsophisticated "hillbilly" music.


In fact, there is a highly progressive streak of country music that embraces all people and celebrates the human spirit. Its practitioners have long been long-haired "hippies" and who employ irony and self-deprecating humor ("I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee.") 


There are plenty of lyrical stories of love, loss,, drinking, redemption and plenty of strong women standing up for what they believe in.


 Nobody does heart-breaking songs better, not even the Blues. And when there's nothing to laugh about, it feels good to cry.


-30- 

Friday, August 14, 2020

Here With Me

Now the election season is on us, I'll try to sort through the noise, which is substantial, to locate any signal that seems useful. A dark foreboding cloud hangs over the 2020 Presidential election.

Certain principles are clear. Given the substantial risk of Covid-19, all parties of good will should unite to support voting by mail. There has never been any evidence of systematic fraud in the many vote-by-mail initiatives in multiple states, nor is there any measurable party bias (Republican or Democratic) among those of us who vote that way.

This is purely a safety issue.

As someone a bit on the older side, recovering from pneumonia and therefore with lungs vulnerable to respiratory infection, there is no way I would go to a public polling station this November. Nor would I appreciate any person I might come into contact who voted that way.

In fact, the only safe method we have is voting by mail; it's the method I've used for years. It gives me all the time I need to research the various ballot initiatives that I'm less familiar with.

So let's dispense with those who attempt to politicize the voting process and recognize that this is an option whose time has come.

The San Francisco Bay Area has a candidate on the national ticket for  the first time in a long time. Kamala Harris is well-known to us here; she emerged into public view when she defeated Terence "Kayo" Hallinan, the incumbent D.A. in 2003.

I knew Kayo well; he was a colorful, no-holds-barred character out of the Old West, whose nickname stemmed from a boxing career and his propensity to get into fights even when in office.

By contrast, Harris, born in Oakland, raised in Berkeley, has a background that rings many familiar bells for us in these parts. She eventually was adopted by San Francisco's social set, which trust me, is hardly the "hard political left" Trump rails against.

That she is one of the most ambitious mainstream politicians to come from this area is undeniable. She already is part of the elite group of women from San Francisco who hold political influence at a scale no other city nationally can match. Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris -- the Speaker of the House and the two Senators from the most populous state -- that is a female triumvirate no previous city has ever boasted in history.

As many have noted, California is actually a country, not a state. It is under marginal federal control; mainly this region does what it wants to do, regardless of federal direction.

I don't say that as an advocate, or an apologist; I say it as an observer. Within the nation of California, the nine-county Bay Area is the equivalent of a state. There are other huge states here -- Los Angeles Basin, San Diego, the Central Valley -- plus many other cities with spheres of influence: Sacramento, Fresno, Stockton, Bakersfield, San Jose, Santa Cruz, and on and on.

This is a very powerful nation.

Spending the past week in the metropolis of San Francisco had a profound emotional impact on me in both positive and negative ways. So many things happened there for me -- jobs, relationships, huge stories, historic events -- not to mention that all six of my children are native San Franciscans. I wouldn't be able to get over San Francisco even if I wanted to, and I don't.

The way the rest of the country and much of the media views San Francisco is a stereotype without merit. This is not a flighty, trivial city of airheads, this is a tough political minefield that sends strong, battle-tested warriors to the nation's capital.

Let me just put it bluntly. If there is a Vice-Presidential debate, I would not want to be Mike Pence. Harris will slice him to pieces.

On to the news headlines moving this overnight.

Trump says he’s blocking postal funds because Democrats want to expand mail-in voting -- The president made explicit the reason he declined to approve $25 billion in emergency funding for the Postal Service. (Washington Post)

Trump Encourages Racist Conspiracy Theory About Kamala Harris  -- Trump said he heard that Ms. Harris, the presumptive Democratic vice-presidential nominee born in California, was not eligible for the ticket, repeating a theory that is rampant among his followers. Constitutional scholars quickly called his words false and irresponsible. (New York Times)

Rushing reopening could have devastating consequences, Dr. Fauci says. (CNN)

How Trump’s Push to Reopen Schools Backfired -- Distrust of the president and his motives hardened the conviction of some educators that teaching in person was unsafe, helping drive union opposition. (New York Times)

Thanks to coronavirus and Zoom, we’re looking at the end stages of college as a commodity (Washington Post)

Never mind meddling by Russia, China or Iran. The most dangerous threat to the integrity of November's election is coming from the man sworn to protect it, the President of the United States.Trailing badly in the polls, overtaken by the worst health crisis in 100 years and deprived of the cruising economy he had hoped to ride to a second term, President Donald Trump is actively trying to discredit an election that could see him turned out of office -- or is at least preparing the groundwork for a bitter legal battle that could drag on for weeks in the event of a close result. (CNN)

Trump and first lady request mail-in ballots (CNN) [This is what would be known by two words -- irony and hypocrisy -- DW]

***

In case a casual reader thinks I obsess over politics, that couldn't be further from the truth. Yesterday, for example, I spent at the beach, watching my grandchildren play in the water and enjoying the sun. Politics was absent from my mind or stomach, which focused more on In 'n Out Burger (lunch) and It's It (snack).

Meanwhile, when I'm inside I eschew political documentaries and the like in favor of romantic comedies bereft of political meaning. In my entertainment choices, love is the only theme that matters.

Here With Me

Oh I am what I am 
I'll do what I want 
But I can't hide
And I won't go
I won't sleep
And I can't breathe
Until you're resting here with me
And I won't leave
And I can't hide
I cannot be until you're resting here 
And I won't go
And I won't sleep
And I can't breathe
Until you're resting here with me
And I won't leave

      -- Dido

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