Questions Without Answers

It starts with a look. You see her and you know, you just know. Even if you deny it at the time, that initial feeling will stick with you until you do something about it.

It may not be convenient or even wanted when it first happens, but it is real.

This is part of what I know about love from a man's point of view. I don't know much from a woman's point of view. It may be different. And though I'm talking about heterosexual love, I feel sure that the feelings are similar for same-sex lovers and any kind of gender mix.

Love is love. It's a human condition. And it frequently is disruptive. 

If you don't act, that feeling will come around again anyway, even years later, when perhaps your mutual circumstances have changed, even subtly. Suddenly you know it is time to tell her. What you do next matters.

I once wrote a line in a screenplay for a movie that did not get produced: "There are two types of regret. regret for what you did and regret for what you didn't do." That line was either stolen by various writers in Hollywood or it was not original to begin with.

Either way I've heard it used a number of times in films. It's too good to be mine anyway, because it is a universal truth.

In my particular life, which is not a movie, I tended to act on love's impulse. The consequences turned out to be momentous. So which type of regret is mine?

That is a question without an answer.

***

Donald Trump's Republican convention is under way. On the first night, Nikki Haley's measured delivery  was impressive and effective, but the harangues by Kimberly Guilfoyle and Don Jr. were laughably ineffective.

Beyond the TV show, which I grade as a C (can't anyone properly mic a guest anymore?), here is what else is moving this overnight:

* More than 500,000 mail ballots were rejected in the primaries. That could make the difference in battleground states this fall.-- The record use of voting by mail during the coronavirus pandemic has increased the possibility of voter error or delayed delivery. (Washington Post)

* Wisconsin Reels After Police Shooting and Second Night of Protests -- Jacob Blake, a Black resident of Kenosha, was shot in the back, setting off condemnations from Wisconsin’s governor and Joe Biden, the Democrats’ presidential nominee. *New York Times)

* Millions fall back into crisis as stimulus and safety nets disappear -- Without federal aid, households on the margins are being pushed to the brink of financial ruin. (Washington Post)

* We’re doing our best with Zoom. But we’ll still need offices — and each other. (Washington Post)

* The litany of people who know and have worked alongside President Donald Trump -- but who now question his fitness for the job -- seems ever-expanding, a roster that now includes a member of his immediate family as well as an unusually large number of national security officials who departed the administration in its first three years. (CNN)

* Sanders on Trump: This is a major effort to undermine election (CNN)

* Former chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele is joining the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans working to prevent President Donald Trump's re-election. (CNN)

* 4 Years of Catastrophic Fires in California: ‘I’m Numb’ -- For the eight million residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, a ring of fire across Northern California feels inescapable. (New York Times)

* Long before there was such a thing as California, the old-growth giants of Big Basin Redwoods State Park towered over the coast. They burned last week, and the state park, California’s oldest, was closed. [The New York Times]

***

I do swear that I'll always be there
I'd give anything and everything and I will always care
Through weakness and strength
Happiness and sorrow
For better, for worse
I will love you with every beat of my heart

From this moment, life has begun
From this moment, you are the one
Right beside you is where I belong
From this moment on

From this moment, I have been blessed
I live only for your happiness
And for your love, I'd give my last breath
From this moment on

I give my hand to you with all my heart
I can't wait to live my life with you, I can't wait to start
You and I will never be apart
My dreams came true because of you

From this moment as long as I live
I will love you, I promise you this
There is nothing I wouldn't give
From this moment on, oh… 

(Written by Shania Twain at a soccer game in Italy.)

-30-

 

Love Over Politics?

Late Sunday evening, Trump's long-time counselor Kellyanne Conway announced  that she will leave her post at the end of the month while her husband, George Conway, said he was withdrawing from The Lincoln Project, both citing a need to focus on their family.

These startling developments come after one of the couple's four teenaged children caused an uproar over the weekend with her statement that she will be "divorcing" her parents. Many media outlets carried that story with long, detailed quotes.

I chose to not report those salacious details when they broke overnight Friday because this appears to be a family matter, and I believe their privacy should be respected. The child made her comments over social media.

Th dual resignations will apparently end, for now, the public spectacle of one of the most divided political couples since the days of James Carville and Mary Matalin. Given how polarized our politics seem to be these days, I say hurray to them both for choosing family over the circus.

To me, love is much more important than politics, as any casual reader of mine already knows. After all, what kind of political junkie would constantly post corny country music lyrics rather than political diatribes?

Sure, I care about politics and yes I am a news junkie, but 54 years in the business taught me that the last place I'd want to be during my dying days would be a random office somewhere.

I'd rather "roll in my sweet baby's arms." Unfortunately I do not have a sweet baby but you get the idea. (Sigh)

On to the headlines, which I'm afraid will bring none of us any relief or cheer:

* TRUMP ACTING DHS CHIEF: ‘NO AUTHORITY’ TO GUARD POLLING STATIONS (HuffPost)

 * Biden enjoys post-convention bump in favorability. (ABC)

* Trump ‘Has No Principles’ And ‘You Can’t Trust Him,’ His Sister Reportedly Said On Tape (HuffPost)

* Trump has no idea how to run for reelection as an incumbent--He insists on the outsider’s posture, even though that means attacking the institution he leads.*Washington Post)

* We'll be stuck in this recession for years, economists say (CNN)

* Tennessee adopts new law that could strip some protesters of voting rights (Washington Post)

* Protesters Gather At USPS Locations Nationwide To ‘Save The Post Office’ (HuffPost)

* Infections are trending upward in the Midwest--Spikes in cases across the Midwest come as other regions of the country have reported gains against the virus after seeing infections surge over the summer. (Washington Post)

* Trump obliterates lines between governing and campaigning in service of his reelection--Presidents of both parties have mixed a measure of campaigning with official White House business, but President Trump has trampled over norms once respected by both parties and challenged legal boundaries that limit political activity by federal officials. (Washington Post)

* As California fires rage, lightning-sparked blazes forecast into Monday--Another dry lightning event could spark dozens of new fires, further stretching state resources. (Washington Post)

* Trump is ‘Fox’s Frankenstein,’ insiders told CNN’s Brian Stelter — and here’s the toll it’s taken--One surprise Stelter says he found while reporting his new book, “Hoax,” was the number of Fox News staffers who acknowledge the harm it has done and its frequent failure to meet basic standards for truth-telling — and who struggle with whether to remain at the network. (CNN)

***

Whether you love politics or hate politics, you gotta love bluegrass music

I ain't gonna work on the railroad
I ain't gonna work on the farm
Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back
And roll in my sweet baby's arms


Roll in my sweet baby's arms
Roll in my sweet baby's arms
Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back
And roll in my sweet baby's arms

-- Flatt & Scruggs

-30-

Flatt & Scruggs

Flatt & Scruggs

Is That You?

Starting sometime last year, I became aware of a strange new sensation that recurs periodically, no matter where I am or what I am doing.

When in this state, I find myself questioning whether this is really me..

It is as if one part of myself is doing the questioning and another part struggles to answer. 

Most of the time, there is no question what is going on and I can prove it to myself. I can recite my name, DoB, social security number, current address and voter registration. I've even memorized my driver's license number, to cite one random piece of data retained by my brain that rarely serves any useful purpose.

On the rare occasion that it is useful to know my driver's license number, an alternative option is to reach into my pocket, pull out my wallet, and confirm that it is right next to my photograph.

"Is that really you?" According to Wikipedia, out of the body experiences can be induced by traumatic brain injuries, sensory deprivation, near-death experiences, dissociative and psychedelic drugs, dehydration, sleep disorders and dreaming and electrical stimulation of the brain, among others.

I've never been a fan of this sort of thing, though I have read the recollections of some of my fellow survivors of near-death experiences. And I'm starting to alter my point of view.

I just had another one of these sensations today, so I'll file it away and concentrate instead on the news. *That* will surely pull me back toward reality!

* Immigrant ‘Dreamers’ in Search of a Job Are Being Turned Away -- President Trump hopes to end DACA, which has granted employment authorization to thousands of young immigrants. Already, some large employers are refusing to hire them. (New York Times)

* In raising the idea of law enforcement at polls, Trump invokes tactics of voter intimidation -- Civil rights advocates said even the threat of encountering law enforcement officials at the polls could be frightening to some voters, particularly in communities of color where residents distrust the police. Washington Post)

* Heat is turbocharging fires, drought and tropical storms this summer--At least 140 western weather stations notched record highs in the last 10 days. More than 35 wildfires are raging in California. Parts of the country are suffering drought conditions. And in the Atlantic Ocean, a marine heat wave is fueling what is becoming an unusually active storm season (Washington Post)

* Young voters prefer Biden by a large margin, but they may not vote (CNN)

* Oh, great: NASA says an asteroid is headed our way right before Election Day. Good news is there's little chance it will hit us. (CNN)

* Three Calif. fires are now the state’s largest ever, and they keep growing--More than 100,000 evacuations have taken place, and more lightning is on the way as officials seek help from other states, as well as Canada and Australia. (Washington Post)

* Maryanne Trump Barry bitterly criticized her brother, President Donald Trump, saying, "Donald's out for Donald," and appeared to confirm her niece Mary Trump's previous allegations that he had a friend take his SATs to get into college, according to audio excerpts obtained by CNN.

* Biden is favored to win the election--We simulate the election 40,000 times to see who wins most often. Biden wins 73 percent of the time; Trump 27. (FiveThirtyEight)

***

Somewhere I heard this story: A hungry bear was chasing a priest. When he came to the edge of a cliff, the priest jumped over. There was no chance of survival, but partway down his fall was broken by a branch sticking out of the cliff. The priest grabbed the branch, which started to loosen. As he was hanging there, he noticed a flower growing out of the side of the cliff.

"What a beautiful flower," he thought.

***

Smile.

A polar bear walks into a bar and gets up on a barstool. The bartender comes over and asks "What'll it be?"

"I'll have a gin..........and...........tonic," said the bear.

The bartender answered, "Why the big pause?"

-30-

They're Everywhere

The big picture is that we are stuck. It is an in-between time between what has befallen our society and what, if anything, is going to be done about it.

Our economy is in tatters. Too many people are out of work with limited prospects for getting their old jobs back. Many renters face eviction. Single parents are struggling with how to support their children when they can't go to school.

The pandemic rages; science races to catch up. There are indications that the number of infections may be far greater than the official numbers reported by the CDC and WHO, but nobody seems to know for sure.

The political environment features a polarizing President who is frightened he will lose in his bid to be re-elected to a second four-year term, and a non-charismatic challenger with a reputation for compromise and getting things done.

Accordingly, many Republicans are defecting from Trump's team to support Biden. Whether enough voters follow this course to sway the election is unclear.

What is clear is that incumbent Presidents rarely lose. The only two in my lifetime to lose are Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.

So Biden has his work cut out.

An additional complication is what many consider to be the outmoded Electoral College, which allowed two candidates in my lifetime -- Al Gore and Hillary Clinton -- to win the popular vote but lose the election.

Except for that antiquated electoral vote system, therefore, the Democrats would have won every election since 1992. But wait -- what about 2004? Didn't W win re-election?

That was due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- Gore as the incumbent would have won re-election also. A cat as President would have won re-election that year.

So from the perspective of simple mathematics, the Republicans have been a minority party for a long time now.

Another use of the term "minority" is one of the reasons for that. The Democratic Party has courted minoritie voters much more assiduously than Republicans for generations now. The Republicans have never run a minority candidate on the national ticket.

This year's election will test that strategy as never before.

***

So what's happening this overnight?

* Facebook Braces Itself for Trump to Cast Doubt on Election Results --The world’s biggest social network is working out what steps to take should President Trump use its platform to dispute the vote. (New York Times)

* The 14-hour storm caused extensive damage. Now Iowans are trying to recover from the 'land hurricane' (CNN)

* Since she first ran for state attorney general in California a decade ago, Kamala Harris has forged close ties with the tech industry. [The New York Times]

* A series of lightning-sparked wildfires has devastated California's oldest state park.--Big Basin Redwoods State Park endured extensive damage from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in Santa Cruz on Tuesday, according to a press release from the California Department of Parks and Recreation. (CNN)

* Cases rising again in Europe; crowded events in U.S. raise concerns--Large, crowded gatherings raised new worries among health authorities about possible super-spreader events in the U.S. and around the world. (Washington Post)

* Touting conspiracy theories, Trump welcomes fringe views into the political mainstream--Beyond being unfounded, many of the ideas Trump is bolstering are dangerous, according to intelligence officials, political scientists and, increasingly, members of the president’s own party. (Washington Post)

* How the impeachment inquiry laid bare Trump’s fixation on Biden--In “Trump on Trial,” which will be published Aug. 25, Washington Post reporters reveal how the president's alarm-raising request to a foreign country centered on one person — his political rival Joe Biden. (Washington Post)

* Trump retweeted Russian propaganda about Biden that the U.S. intelligence community recently announced was part of Moscow's ongoing effort to "denigrate" the Democrat ahead of November's election. (CNN)

* Trump remains largely silent on reported poisoning of Russian dissident (CNN)

* After World War II, thousands of Japanese-Americans returned to the West Coast from internment camps with nowhere to live. Poverty, restrictive housing covenants and racial prejudice led many to seek out housing wherever they could. [The New York Times]

***

Personal updates:

(1) The mother quail has hatched a chick! This is a domesticated breed that supposedly ignores their eggs but she built a nest and has been sitting on four eggs for weeks.

(2) My youngest daughter may have found a house to rent with two friends for her senior year. in college. It's on the Jersey shore. We'll find out tomorrow.

***

Smile:

A rabbi walks into a bar with a parrot on his shoulder. The bartender says, “Where did you get that?” The parrot says, “Brooklyn, they’re everywhere!”      -- The Internet

One Down, One to Go

So, the "news" is that the Democrats have nominated a ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. And you certainly don't need a retired journalist to tell you that this isn't news. It's entertainment, but your faithful correspondent watched every minute of it, and it was a pretty good show.

Next week, the Republicans will nominate Donald Trump and Mike Pence. That, too, will not be news. But if Trump gets his way, it will most definitely be entertaining. I will be "there." 

The pandemic's impact has revealed these shows for what we already knew them to be -- television productions. As such, I'd give the Democrats a B. As they prepared their live-to-tape segments for broadcast, the editors failed to update the Covid-19 death totals cited by two speakers, including Michelle Obama.

Thus, the toll, which stood at over 170,000, was referred to as 160,000 and 150,000 in those two segments. You don't need carbon dating to trace the dates those pieces were filmed, all you need to do is reverse engineer the daily figures as certified by the CDC.

A cardinal rule of this kind of TV is to not let such embarrassing slips make it on the air; thus the reduced grade for the overall performance. The fix in such cases is a simple text line -- "At the time this interview was taped the death total was 150,000. Currently, it stands at 170,000."

Beyond that, the little Zoom squares of people clapping was sometimes silly and sometimes effective. The determining factor was how emotionally resonant the speech they were clapping for actually proved to be. Jill Biden's speech proved to be the emotional highlight of the convention, IMHO.

The final fireworks show in a parking lot outside the convention center with all he cars flashing their lights and people cheering was highly effective. As were the content creators, especially the Bidens, Obamas and Harris. Those speeches get an A.

***

Somewhere, strewn among my distributed possessions, is my press placard to the 1996 Republican convention. It was held in San Diego, where the GOP nominated Sen. Bob Dole to oppose the sitting President, Bill Clinton.

San Diego is such a beautiful city that landing there takes your breath away as your plane lands. It also traditionally was one of the most conservative cities on the west coast, and a big military town. It's become much more liberal in recent times.

As it happened back in '96, my hotel was the same one used by the Michigan GOP delegation, and we all left at the same time for the climactic night's proceedings, save for a few stragglers who had tied one on the night before and were too groggy to get out of bed. I joked and exchanged pleasantries with my former state's delegates, who were a friendly lot in the familiar way us Michiganders tend to be.

That year, I was coordinating coverage for my employer, Hotwired, one of the first media websites and the online arm of Wired magazine. My specific job was the producer of a daily political news site called the Netizen, and we had various reporters on the scene to serve our audience, which for the web at that time was substantial.

As I sat in the press section, which unlike the TV News area was distant from the podium, Sen. Dole was lit up as he spoke from a tiny peninsula thrust out over the arena filled with a massive crowd. He resembled a tiny silver finger bent at the waist, leaning into his moment.

***

Well, the Democrats have done their thing. We now enter a brief hiatus before the Republicans do theirs. Normally, each party gets a bump in the polls after these galas, so watch the polls this weekend.

Here are the headlines from overnight:

*  Joe Biden Accepts Democratic Nomination: ‘I Will Draw on the Best of Us’ -- Mr. Biden urged Americans to have faith that they could “overcome this season of darkness,” and he pledged to bridge the country’s divisions in ways President Trump had not. (New York Times)

* Fox's Bret Baier right after the speech: That was "the best he's been, as far as his delivery." Chris Wallace: "It was an enormously effective speech. Remember, Donald Trump has been talking for months about Joe Biden as mentally shot, a captive of the left, and yes Biden was reading from a teleprompter and a prepared speech, but I thought he blew a hole -- a big hole -- in that characterization."

* New York City teachers threaten to strike over reopening plan--The teachers union says Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to return to classrooms Sept. 10 imperils the health and safety of students and staff. (Washington Post.

* Trump said that he “appreciates” that supporters of QAnon, the far-right conspiracy movement, “like me very much.” Supporters of QAnon, which has been identified by the FBI as a potential domestic terrorism threat, believe that an individual dubbed “Q” has been leaving “breadcrumbs” of information online about Trump and others. [HuffPost]

* Former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor, who is endorsing Joe Biden for president, said that Trump asked if America could swap Puerto Rico for Greenland and frequently made disparaging comments about the Puerto Rican people. Taylor said that during the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2018, the president actually began tossing around the idea of “swapping” Puerto Rico for the autonomous Danish territory. “In his words, Puerto Rico was dirty and the people were poor,” Taylor said. [HuffPost]

* Airbnb bans parties amid continued coronavirus outbreaks. The ban caps house occupancy at 16 people. (C/NET)

* About 11,000 lightning strikes have sparked 367 wildfires in California. (New York Times) New satellite images show smoke drifting roughly 600 miles from wildfires scorching California. (CNN) Tens of thousands evacuated as California wildfires double in size--Wildfires sparked by lightning strikes in central and northern California have more than doubled in area since Wednesday. (Washington Post)

* American Airlines to cut service to 15 cities once terms on billions in pandemic aid expire--The service cuts would leave nine airports without any airline flights for at least a month. (Washington Post)

* A federal judge on Thursday said New York state prosecutors could have access to President Donald Trump's accounting records for a criminal investigation, siding harshly against the President and increasing the possibility the tax records could go to a grand jury before the November presidential election. (CNN)

* As the Dixie Chicks take Democratic convention stage, three generations of country singers challenge genre’s conservative stereotypes -- While country music expands its popularity on the coasts and some of the format’s young stars are outspoken about voting for Democrats, the stereotypical “country music listener” is still seen as a conservative from the South. (Washington Post)

***

My six-year-old granddaughter's assignment yesterday was to answer the question "Why am I special?"

Her answer was "I'm special because I like dogs." (I later suggested to her that there are many other reasons also.)

It strikes me that during our present circumstances, that exercise is one that we all should consider.

Why am I special? Why are you special? Let me count the ways. (If you like dogs, that certainly qualifies.)

These are indeed, as Joe Biden noted last night, dark times.l, So don't make them worse. Remember to connect.

"And anytime you feel the pain
Hey Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it's a fool
Who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder"

                    -- Beatles

-30-

The Only Rule That Matters

By mid-day Wednesday, at least 33 wildfires were burnIng in the Bat Area, burying this area under a layer of acrid smoke. Ash littered the car as we started it up here in the northern East Bay to head for my doctor's office in the mid-peninsula.

Driving on the freeways and over the Bay Bridge was a surreal experience, with little visibility of the surrounding buildings and hills and water. Vehicles emerged from the thick haze only to disappear back into it.

The heat has eased along this coast but the oppressive humidity remains. We are living with a heaviness that makes us yearn to breathe deeply once again.

This is just the latest additive factor in the sequence of problems that make so many feel trapped. We've accommodated best we can to the social isolation, the lack of mobility, the need to conduct meetings remotely and the financial stresses that beset so many.

We miss seeing our friends and family members as often as we would have.

We miss our popular sports, reduced as they are to caricatures of their former selves.

We miss eating out at the many excellent restaurants that grace most of our towns and cities.

We miss our exercise venues.

We miss travel.

We miss unrestricted movement around the region where we live.

We miss normal routines like going to the store.

We miss celebrations. Even weddings have to be virtual.

We miss mourning. This is a bad time to die, alone and with our any real memorial service possibility.

We miss seeing our kids and grandkids off to school.

We miss cheering for them on the sidelines of their games or dramatic performances.

We miss going to the theater and the movies.

We miss concerts.

This list could go on and on but we all know the score. Of course this is our new reality but it sucks.

***

* Barack Obama and Kamala Harris gave effective speeches at the DNC's third night. (DW)

* Ocasio-Cortez’s speech serves as a warning to Democratic establishment and Biden--A new generation of liberals is growing their ranks and preparing to take on the former vice president should he win on Election Day. (Washington Post)

* SALLY YATES: TRUMP WOULD RATHER 'FAWN OVER A DICTATOR' THAN DEFEND AMERICA Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates excoriated Trump for what she called a relentless attack on democracy in a blistering speech at the DNC, urging voters to unite behind Biden. “From the moment President Trump took office, he’s used his position to defend himself rather than our country,” Yates said. “Rather than standing up to Vladimir Putin, he fawns over a dictator who is still trying to interfere in our elections.” [HuffPost]

* Young people emerge as main coronavirus spreaders, WHO says--Experts fear that the global trend seen by the World Health Organization may grow in the United States as many colleges and schools reopen. (Washington Post)

* Fires across Northern California sent residents fleeing from their homes in triple-degree temperatures, amid the ongoing threat of power outages. Follow continuing updates. Thousands of people were under orders to evacuate in regions surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area Wednesday as nearly 40 wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. Smoke blanketed the city of San Francisco. (AP) [The Press Democrat | The San Francisco Chronicle]

* Uber and Lyft have threatened to suspend operations in California -- if they’re forced to abide by a contested new labor law. But they’re also exploring another way of doing business — sort of like a taxi company. [The New York Times] 

***

As the Democratic convention proceeds this week, the contrast between Biden and Trump is stark. This election is not about ideas or policies or ideology. 

It is about human decency.

The choice is between a man who may not inspire you with his vision but who is a decent, caring human being committed to public service -- and a cruel narcissist who belittles women and men who oppose him, cages children at the border, and gasses peaceful protestors so he can have a photo opportunity.

The year 2020 is the year when Americans need to put their political preferences and ideological differences aside and unite for once.

There is no greater wisdom than the Golden Rule, the principle of treating others as you want to be treated.

One candidate lives by that rule. The other has never heard of it.

-30-

Honoring Our History

With the confusing turmoil around voting by mail, I found myself double-checking my voter registration yesterday morning. After voting in 13 straight national elections, I'll be damned if I am going to be cheated out of my 14th.

I'm pretty sure it was a redundant "change-of-address" form I submitted to the California DMV, which is how most of us register to vote out here, but I did it anyway.

It's simple to understand people's fears that their ballots may not count this November. The current President has been explicit that he will withhold money from the postal service to ensure that the venerable service will not be able to handle the expected in-flux of ballots coming through the mail due to Covid-19.

If Trump has accomplished one thing of note during his term in office, it is to demonstrate for those who needed reminding just how fragile our democratic traditions really are. Here is a man so obsessed with his own electoral success that he is openly undermining public confidence in voting by mail.

He isn't doing this because there is any danger of fraud -- that is a fantasy that has been debunked many times. There is no systematic fraud in the vote by mail system.

He also isn't doing it because he fears more Democrats will vote that way than Republicans. There's no evidence for that either; in fact the opposite may be true.

He isn't doing it because he has some sort of a personal principle against it. He votes by mail himself.

No, he is doing it as part of a calculated plan to undermine your confidence in our election results. He intends to contest the election, which he desperately fears he is going to lose, since every credible poll shows him trailing Joe Biden badly.

When I think back about that my experiences with that voting system during my long lifetime, I remember going to garages, schools, libraries to cast my vote. When my children were small, I remember taking them with me to witness the process.

When my girlfriend, who was Japanese, asked to come one year, I took her. She wanted to see American democracy in action. Coming from a society where women are second-class citizens, she had trouble imagining a woman on the ticket of a major political party.

But there was a woman that year -- Sarah Palin was the vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 2008. She followed by 24 years Geraldine Ferraro's run for VP on the Democratic ticket in 1984. (Ferraro passed away nine years ago.)

This year we have Kamala Harris running for VP. Will the third time be a charm?

Meanwhile, of course, we all know what happened to the first woman who ever ran on one of the two party tickets for President. She won the popular vote by 3 million votes in 2016, and no Mister President, there was no voter fraud involved. You lost fair and square.

Trump's all-out assault on our democracy is frightening to any person who values it. The reason is that we have a fragile system that rests on the consent of the governed. And it presumes a certain decency of character that this President sorely lacks.

George Washington set the tone when he refused to run for a third term though he would have won easily. But it would have been legal for him to do so, which is why FDR did that in 1940 and again for a fourth term in 1944. That convinced those who care about our system to restrict the number of terms any President may serve consecutively to two.

Back to women running for office and voting, it was 100 years yesterday that women won the suffrage, on August 18, 1920, when the 19th Amendment was finally ratified.

It's vital to remember that women *won* the right to vote; men didn't just give it to them. Women organized, marched and demanded their rights in order to win them.

Over the past four years, the modern women's movement has organized massive demonstrations to demand that the remaining vestiges of gender discrimination, such as pay inequality, be eliminated.

The current President opposes those efforts as well and he treats women abysmally. So there is much work yet to do.

I've described democracy as fragile, but it also is strong and vibrant with great resiliency. With 77 days left before this year's election, we can all hope for a historical result, as opposed to the ahistorical vote in 2016.

Because of the anniversary, I've focused on women's rights today, but an equally significant moment is upon us for the struggle to attain cilvil rights for black people. The same high stakes await us on November 3rd in that critical battle to democratize our society.

Republican, Democrat, Independent, whatever...Vote!

***

* Jill Biden's powerful speech highlights convention's second night. (CNN)

* Trump erupts angrily at Michelle Obama's convention takedown but it boomerangs (AFP)

* High school students want schools to teach more Black history, include more Black authors -- Young people band together to demand change wherever they attend school: at large public systems, elite private schools or small parochial institutions. (Washington Post)

* DeJoy says he is ‘suspending’ policies blamed for causing mail delays ahead of election -- The postmaster general said retail hours would not be changed, neither mail-sorting machines nor blue mailboxes would be removed, no mail-processing facilities would be closed, and overtime would be available as needed. (Washington Post)

* The River Fire has torn through thousands of acres south of Salinas. The pandemic has complicated firefighting and evacuations.(The Salinas Californian) 

* Record-crushing heat, fire tornadoes and freak thunderstorms: The weather is wild in the West (Washington Post)

*  The Trump campaign’s interactions with Russian intelligence services during the 2016 presidential election posed a “grave” counterintelligence threat, a Senate panel concluded Tuesday as it detailed how associates of the Republican candidate had regular contact with Russians and expected to benefit from the Kremlin’s help.The report, the fifth and final one from the Republican-led Senate intelligence committee on the Russia investigation, describes how Russia launched an aggressive, wide-ranging effort to interfere in the election on Donald Trump’s behalf. (AP)

* A former senior Trump administration official who is endorsing Joe Biden's presidential campaign said Tuesday that if President Donald Trump wins a second term he will "align with dictators around the world." (CNN)

***

Recovering the confidence and ability to do simple tasks is satisfying in the wake of serious illnesses that precluded such activities. Yesterday I did two small tasks I hadn't done in over 18 months.I walked around a mall and located a place to eat a frozen yogurt for lunch.

That sounds simple. But as I only make out shapes and signs in a fuzzy haze, it was challenging to do so on my own.

After that, I got directions and continued walking until I found an ATM, where I withdrew some cash.

That also sounds simple and it was. Eluding the traffic was a bit trickier.

This is the middle of an extended period of medical visits for me, as we try to address chronic problems that could not be treated during the worst of the lockdown. That's because they were all considered "non-essential." 

Thus, they became worse. There are many more appointments to come, according to Google Calendar, and hopefully, many more opportunities to regain simple functions that have been lying dormant.

For now, it's baby steps, one at a time.

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