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-

The Day Everything Stopped.7

When the orders came down in March 2020 to shelter-in-place due to Covid-19, most people had a place to shelter in. Due to an improbable sequence of events (illnesses, retirement, medical advice) I had three options. This was not necessarily a good problem to have, but one that would work itself. 

In the process my peer group turned completely over from mainly elderly people to mainly children. Suddenly I was many decades older than most of those around me.

The effect was stunning. Instead of isolating myself, monitoring my vital signs for indications of further decline, and finalizing my will, I suddenly was helping a 6-year-old learn to read, a 9-year-old puzzle over math, and a 12-year-old determined to develop his survival skills.

They had a lot of questions and expected me to have at least a few answers.

Looking into the future almost immediately replaced looking at the past. I stopped working on my memoir and reverted to my professional role of a newshound. Gathering, presenting and interpreting the daily news became my obsession.

In the process, I had many conversations with my grandchildren about what we were going through together. They had a far different view of Covid than my older friends -- they found it somewhat exciting, confusing and frustrating at the same time.

They didn't mind staying home from school, wearing masks, or mastering new technologies like Zoom calls. In fact they were already better using computers and mobile devices than their teachers.

But they couldn't have playdates, sleepovers or birthday parties with friends and this was an unwelcome change, to put it mildly.

One solution explored by many families was getting them pets. We did that here with baby quail. Another was to celebrate special occasions by converging on the house of a child whose birthday it was to create a shrine outside -- colorful sidewalk chalk greetings, flowers, and surprises in bags left at the front door.

Back at home, the family dinner hour became newly significant and a time when parents could exchange new information about the pandemic with their children.

There was no known treatment or vaccine, they explained, against a virus that was silent and invisible. You couldn't smell it, feel it or taste it. It came in on the wind and attached itself to you so you had to wash your hands constantly and avoid touching each other except when absolutely necessary. You could never touch a stranger. 

Most of all, we all had to remain separate in our family groups.

As if this all wasn't strange and scary enough, the kids got a first-hand dose of what that thing they kept hearing about -- climate change -- was all about when the worst wildfire season in history started up here in Northern California. The fires seemed to be everywhere around us and the smoke and haze moved into our region for days at a time. Had we not already been confined to the house, this would have chased us in because you couldn't breathe outside.

The sky turned orange.

As I navigated these experiences with my grandchildren, my worries about my own health faded into the background. 

For over a year I had been walking with a cane and living life in what is best called a passive manner -- relying on others to do the cooking and cleaning and laundry. I lived in a constant state of thinking I needed to be taken care of.

Now that felt selfish and unnecessary. I was around young people who *really* needed caretakers to guide them through an unprecedented crisis.

As I started contributing around the household by cooking, cleaning and supervising the kids, I  starting to get noticeably better physically.

With the physical changes, came more mental clarity and less of the confusion I'd felt in the aftermath of the stroke. The weird dreams subsided a bit and I started having more confidence in my ability to express myself. 

My writing evolved day by day and I developed relationships here on Facebook that helped me to keep going.

One thing was crystal clear -- the pandemic was a life-changing experience not just for me but for millions of people. Most everyone was reevaluating their place in the world every bit as much as I was.

Then our world changed profoundly right before our eyes. Massive demonstrations unlike anything since the 60s filled up the streets; progressive social change once again was in the air. It was all triggered by the George Floyd murder, but the implications went way beyond the awful problems of structural racism and police violence -- they reached into every corner of our social consciousness.

It was one of the most inspiring things I'd seen in decades. Out of the ashes of the pandemic a new world suddenly seemed possible -- based on justice, equality, freedom. 

Of course there was a dark side to this as well, and no one epitomized that better than the man occupying the White House.

(To be continued.)

***

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that three researchers at the Wuhan lab studying a bat virus that is the closest known relative to SARS-CoV-2 became sick enough in November 2019 that they had to go to the hospital.

This is the latest indication that an accident at the lab may have been responsible for the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, and will no doubt lead to greater pressure on the Chinese authorities to release information sought by public health officials but so far withheld.

The news:

 * Bob Dylan, the greatest songwriter of his era, turns eighty on Monday. A dominant presence for over sixty years, Dylan has made an indelible mark on the history of rock and roll, in part by not treating age and longevity like most here-and-gone performers. The New Yorker has covered him from the start. This week, as a birthday celebration, we’re highlighting a selection of pieces celebrating the musician and his virtuosity. (New Yorker)

* Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate On Covid-19 Origin -- Report says researchers went to hospital in November 2019, shortly before confirmed outbreak; adds to calls for probe of whether virus escaped lab (WSJ)

* Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications -- Fewer babies’ cries. More abandoned homes. Toward the middle of this century, as deaths start to exceed births, changes will come that are hard to fathom. (NYT)

* How Black Lives Matter changed the U.S. debate on the Mideast -- The group has shifted the Democrats’ lens on a range of issues, from the environment to the economy. Now it’s doing the same on global matters — pressing the Democratic Party to adopt a dramatically different approach to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (WP)

* Redistricting delays add to Democrats' worries about keeping U.S. House (Reuters)

* The mob made me do it: Rioters claim Jan. 6 crowd at fault (AP)

* In the Russian Arctic, the First Stirrings of a Very Cold War -- Though the Russian military has little in common with liberal Western politicians or environmental groups like Greenpeace, it is taking ice melt in the Far North seriously. (NYT)

* It’s a golden age for Chinese archaeology — and the West is ignoring it (WP)

* Iran says inspectors may no longer get nuclear sites images (AP)

* Australia Exhumes the Somerton Man, and His 70-Year Mystery -- This week the police disinterred a body, found on a beach in 1948, that has puzzled investigators for decades. “There’s lots of twists and turns in this case, and every turn is pretty weird,” one said. (NYT)

* Pandemic has fueled eating disorder surge in teens, adults (AP)

* Discord in San Francisco schools, on race and reopening, looms large (WP)

* Risk of Nuclear War Over Taiwan in 1958 Said to Be Greater Than Publicly Known -- The famed source of the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has made another unauthorized disclosure — and wants to be prosecuted for it. (NYT)

* The Biden administration is facing new pressure to resolve a mystery that has vexed its predecessors: Is an adversary using a microwave or radio wave weapon to attack the brains of U.S. diplomats, spies and military personnel? (AP)

* Ryanair flight carrying wanted Belarusian journalist forced to land in Minsk (WP)

* Once Nearly Extinct, The Florida Panther Is Making A Comeback (NPR)

* Giant Marilyn Monroe Statue Sparks Outcry in Palm Springs (WSJ)

* CNN parts ways with Rick Santorum, former senator who made much-criticized comments about Native Americans (WP)

* The Army Is Expanding Allowed Hairstyles For Women (NPR)

* Daily readings at tomb honor Dante 700 years after his death (AP)

* A massive heat dome is about to make the Southeast sweat (CNN)

* Children's Science Website Clearly Struggling To Come Up With 10 Facts About Slugs (The Onion)

***

"America"

Paul Simon

"Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together
I've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies
And walked off to look for America

"Kathy", I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"
"We smoked the last one an hour ago"
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

"Kathy, I'm lost", I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America

-30-

The Day Everything Stopped.6

[Part Six]

March 2020. As I tried to adapt to my new surroundings amid the weirdness of the pandemic, I started having anxiety dreams whenever I went to sleep. Sometimes, for example, I was on a passenger jet that developed serious engine trouble, forcing the pilot to land in a field and all of the rest of us to deplane and stand around while he (the pilot) tried to fix the plane.

In this dream, the pilot and I quickly became friends and my "job" was to keep everyone else calm.

For some reason no help was on the way and we had no means to contact anyone. We were just out there somewhere on our own. It was up to the pilot and me to get us out of there.

Awake, and careful not to wake my little granddaughters asleep in the bunk above,  I snuck out to the living room and started sifting through the news.

Whew! No reported plane crashes. It was 3 a.m.

This quickly became a nightly ritual; only the particulars of the dream changed. Sometimes I was in my apartment in the upper west side roaming room to room emptying bottles of poison that kept appearing in Fantasia-like fashion.

Someone was trying really hard to get me to drink that poison.

My overall mental condition had started getting freaky as much as a year earlier but now it was really getting to me. I heard myself making strange comments to the people around me, often in the form of bad jokes with no punchline. Despite all my time in hospitals and nursing facilities, none of those caring for me could explain in terms I understood what was wrong with me.

After many X-rays and cat-scans in 2019, the only thing I was told is that there was something going on "mentally" and I should go see a neurologist. My son Aidan drove me to the appointment and helped me into the examination room.

There, a woman administered the standard cognitive test that Trump would later famously claim he'd "aced." I aced it too, and believe me it would have been a really, really bad sign if I hadn't. Besides, I'd already had the same test several times before my visit to the neurologist.

After the cognition check, the attendant pulled out the grainy picture of my brain and pointed out a dark spot at the back of the organ.

"You know you had a stroke, right?" she said matter-of-factly. "It basically blew a hole in the base of your brain."

Although I appreciate straight talkers, this was a little blunt for my taste. I wished she would have eased me into this news, since no one else had explained me why I had had to go to a neurologist in the first place.

Now I started imagining that maybe everybody around me knew stuff I didn't know. That's truly a paranoid thought, which I'm not normally given to, but even my son didn't seem to be very surprised about the stroke.

While I was still trying to absorb the stroke bit, she added that I probably had "Parkinsonism" -- thus the tremors.

(To be continued.)

***

Back to the present. Even as I relive my two-year odyssey through our health system and the pandemic in the form of essays like the above, normality is returning all around me.

It was so nice to be able to go out to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, Alice's in Noe Valley, Saturday night. The city is slowly returning to normal; traffic is heavier now, but masks are still on and the infection rate here is microscopic.

Th occasion was Julia's return home after graduating from Goucher College; now I am able to say all six of my kids have college degrees, completing one phase of my parenting role that began 45 years ago next Sunday.

The news:

* Greta Thunberg aims to change how food is produced --Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has set her sights on changing how the world produces and consumes food in order to counteract a trio of threats: carbon emissions, disease outbreaks and animal suffering. In a video posted on Twitter on Saturday, Thunberg said the environmental impact of farming as well as disease outbreaks such as COVID-19, which is believed to have originated from animals, would be reduced by changing how food was produced. "Our relationship with nature is broken. But relationships can change," Thunberg said in the video marking the International Day of Biological Diversity. (Reuters)

* Green Finance Goes Mainstream, Lining Up Trillions Behind Global Energy Transition --After years of intermittent excitement and fizzled expectations, environmental-oriented investing is no longer just a niche interest. “We’ve reached the tipping point and beyond,” said one power-company executive. (WSJ)

* A changed Democratic Party continues to influence the Biden presidency (WP)

* Hamas defiant with military parade, appearance of top leader (AP)

* Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds, Egyptian mediators shuttle between the two sides (Reuters)

* Palestinian Anger With Israel Is Undimmed, Even With Battle Paused -- Unrest broke out in Jerusalem and the West Bank again on Friday, and Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories expressed the need for common cause against injustice. (NYT)

* Gaza struggles with twin health crises of war injuries and feared coronavirus surge (WP)

* After the Cease-Fire, Gaza Wakes to a Sea of Rubble -- In addition to relief, some residents felt a sense of déjà vu, having survived several recent wars with Israel. After each war, it takes years for Gaza to recover. (NYT)

* There is a growing sense Israel cannot come out of this crisis the same country it was when went into it (New Yorker)

* In echo of Arizona, Georgia state judge orders Fulton County to allow local voters to inspect all 147,000 mail ballots cast last fall. (WP)

* The history of black rebellion demonstrates a fundamental reality. Police violence precipitates community violence in a vicious cycle. (NYT)

* Trump is sliding toward online irrelevance. His new blog isn’t helping. (WP)

* Biden says he won’t allow Justice Dept. to seize journalists’ phone, email records (WP)

* America’s rich people could have saved local journalism — and perhaps democracy. They refused. (WP)

* The rivalry between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos already was intense. Now it’s extending to the moon. (WP)

* Great White Sharks Increasing Off Northern California (SJMN)

* Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic reports reaching space for the third time (WP)

* In Search Of A Better Life, Teen Moves Downstairs (The Onion)

***

"Ballad of a Thin Man"

Bob Dylan

You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked and you say, "Who is that man?"
You try so hard but you don't understand
Just what you will say when you get home
Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

You raise up your head and you ask, "Is this where it is?"
And somebody points to you and says, "It's his"
And you say, "What's mine?" and somebody else says, "Well, what is?"
And you say, "Oh my God, am I here all alone?"
But something is happening and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

You hand in your ticket and you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you when he hears you speak
And says, "How does it feel to be such a freak?"
And you say, "Impossible!" as he hands you a bone
And something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

You have many contacts among the lumberjacks
To get you facts when someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect, anyway they already expect you to all give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations

Ah, you've been with the professors and they've all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have discussed lepers and crooks
You've been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
You're very well-read, it's well-known
But something is happening here and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you and then he kneels
He crosses himself and then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice, he asks you how it feels
And he says, "Here is your throat back, thanks for the loan"
And you know something is happening but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Now, you see this one-eyed midget shouting the word "Now"
And you say, "For what reason?" and he says, "How"
And you say, "What does this mean?" and he screams back, "You're a cow!
Give me some milk or else go home"
And you know something's happening but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Well, you walk into the room like a camel, and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket and your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law against you comin' around
You should be made to wear earphones
'Cause something is happening and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

-30-