Watching the numbers of Covid-19 cases grow around the world and in our little American corner of it is very revealing. About a week ago the United States had about one third of all the cases of the virus on the globe, but only a quarter of the fatalities. While our percentage of cases is holding at about a third of the planets burden, our death toll is quietly creeping up. We are now between Read more…
I’m in rarely travelled territory. I’m watching the Virtual Town Hall with President Trump on the Fox News Channel. If you’re going to write about what’s going on, sometimes you have to do a little dirty work, so here I am. The first thing I noticed about the format was they have staged it at the Lincoln Memorial. Not sure that was the greatest idea, as the comparison is quite jarring, and I’m pretty sure Read more…
Many have suggested that after this upending moment in history, our former lives will be examined and found wanting. The priorities we once had will seem parochial, too small by half. Our mostly unbridled capitalism will look cruel, uninclusive, divisive. This could be the moment we see our failures, our weaknesses and choose a new path, a path that finally embraces a governance of, by and for the people, the regular Jills and Joes, the Read more…
Michigan was on the march again yesterday. Well, a few hundred, but they were heavily armed, more so than when they had marched on the Capital and caused gridlock on the streets of Lansing just two weeks ago. Governor Gretchen Whitmer was the target of their ire, more specifically her stay at home order that had closed businesses and limited gatherings of all kinds in the state. They were marching for their individual rights and Read more…
It may be premature, but sooner or later we will all be going back to work. There is no other way, and when we do there will be risks involved. The goal is to minimize them and to create an environment we can operate in and gradually grow into and eventually thrive in. This has to be approached with care and forethought, weighing each new freedom that is afforded us to make sure it doesn’t Read more…
Leave it to Orange Julius to take the Defense Protection Act and turn it into a weapon against the American Worker. Meat packing plants are the latest hot spot on the landscape for Covid-19 infections, eclipsed only by Senior Living facilities. Thousands of people work in close proximity to each other in these plants that are typically the principle employer in their geographic area. What happens in these plants has a direct and immediate influence Read more…
He’s back, and nothing has changed. The President had a particularly disastrous weekend. After his nearly universally derided medical advice on Thursday, he took no questions on Friday and cancelled the briefings for the rest of the weekend. Instead, his Twitter account exploded with lies, vitriol and bombast. The highlight was when he insisted that journalists return their “Noble” (sic) prizes for their work as all they were spewing were lies, fake news, and that Read more…
Next chapter. Now what will he do? There was no briefing on Saturday. Friday’s briefing was brief and uni-directional. There was no question and answer period. I doubt we will see him today, Sunday. Someone got to him. You’re shooting yourself in the foot on the daily. All we got from the President on Saturday was a tweet saying the press was mean and liars and he wasn’t going to play anymore. “What is the Read more…
One day we may look back on today, or at least these few days, as an inflection point of the 2020 election but you might not notice it unless you’re a political junky too. As you may be aware, the President had some curious medical speculations yesterday. It seems humans may have to have a port installed in their bodies that goes directly to the lungs so they can be treated with UV light and Read more…
The Donald wanted us to know that he is not a doctor, so he’s just thinking out loud, you know, but he’s got a great brain, so he was probably right. A report was presented that made a connection between elevated levels of heat, humidity and UV light and reduction of the novel coronavirus. They seemed to effect the half life of the virus on specific types of surfaces. The report was presented by the Read more…