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Michael McLeod

This is the scariest insanity he's tapped into yet.

Hiding my copy of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

America is perfect in every way and don't you dare tell the kiddies otherwise.

I can barely type this. Shaking a bit. I don't know if it's anger or fear.

Come to think of it I better hide my copy of 1984, too.

WASHINGTON — President Trump escalated his attacks on “left-wing demonstrators” and “far-left mobs” on Thursday, portraying himself as a defender of American heritage against revolutionary fanatics and arguing for a new “pro-American” curriculum in the nation’s schools.

Speaking at the National Archives Museum, Mr. Trump vowed to counter what he called an emerging classroom narrative that “America is a wicked and racist nation,” and he said he would create a new “1776 Commission” to help “restore patriotic education to our schools.” The president reiterated his condemnations of demonstrators who tear down monuments to historical American figures, and he even sought to link the Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to the removal of a founding father’s statue in Mr. Biden’s home state, Delaware.

“Our heroes will never be forgotten,” Mr. Trump said. “Our youth will be taught to love America.”

Since the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, in police custody in May in Minneapolis, and the protests that followed nationwide, the president has seized on cultural issues and has sounded many of the same themes — notably including at a showy Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore.

Since then, his vision of a Democratic Party hijacked by anti-American Marxists has become a core theme of his campaign. But he elevated the concepts on Thursday by delivering them in the august setting of the National Archives Museum, standing before the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in what was billed as the first “White House Conference on American History.”

Timothy Lavelle

Jim,

"Socialism" has not been defined well here in Forumland. Since it is, pardon my term, boogie-man, for conservatives, I would like to open a discussion on what we all believe it to be. 

The googled tech term definition says ...the means of manufacture and production are owned by the public to benefit of the public.

I don't support that doctrine, am not here supporting it. I do not believe that Americans would ever vote such a system into existence here. We believe that good ideas, hard work and sometimes, some good luck lead toward the American dream. You are pretty technical with things medical. I wonder if you could explain what conservatives see as socialism. 

I ask because we all pay taxes. So life is not free. I don't see that as a yearly subscription fee so I can brag that I am an American. I see that as the price of admission to live in a country where the roads work, etc etc.

Like most of us paid all of our working lives into a government mandated program to provide "security" of a financial type. I remember being young and looking at my paycheck and being astounded by taxes and social security amounts.

So, I would appreciate your view on what socialism means to you and whether there is gray area where aspects of socialism might be beneficial to our country...like free Covid vaccinations.

Then Jim, question two, what are we as a country going to do when next year some "never vaxxers" say they will not be vaccinated? We will be soooo lucky that I am not president in that instance. 

Long time listener...I'll take my answer online.

Washington is a pretty big state so while it is still pretty smokey, we have had some rain in the western part that has helped a bit.

Michael McLeod

Tim: If I may be so bold, what's useful to Trump and his ilk about the word socialism is precisely that: Its vagueness. So vague you could put it in the dogwhistle category. It ties into the democratic boogieman fantasy that Trump is pitching: the democrats want to destroy you suburbs and your way of life. So yep it would be interesting to see specifics either from Jim if he's so inclined or, for that matter, from anyone.

Politically -the term is perfect, as are words like "snowflakes" and "libtards" and all the other schoolyard insults that so many Trump devotees are fond of. And to bring this discussion around to my post above, it's equally simplistic to characterize our country and its history as a fairy tale consisting of nothing but noble white dudes. But that is the line they are selling. And astonishly enough, again, it works! I think it's far more patriotic and humanistic to learn from both the noble notions that infuse our national past the and the mistakes, some horrific, that were part of the process as pursued by fallible and flawed human beings. But even that word - humanistic - gets twisted and tranformed into "secular humanism" by some - a good thing flipped around by rhetorical connivance into a bad thing. Again, hiding my copy of 1984. 

Timothy Lavelle

Mike, I appreciate what you have to say. I do. I am not a secret operator for republican party or anything like that. 

Now let me draw us back from "because you and your beliefs piss me off" type of confrontational discussion to Jim's (or anyone else's) discussion of what conservatives really mean when they decry creeping or rampant socialism or "freebies". 

I'd rather discuss, say, the rules for Checkers, than to spend the next 40 days calling the side that is about to be whupped, Cheaters.

Michael McLeod

Meantime here are the kind of headlines we're seeing down here.

I just got back from helping out at a food line for out of work theme park entertainers and their families and this is what I saw when I got home and sat down at my computer and relaxed with a sandwich - one that I did not take for granted.

Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort is laying off 1,100 employees

I've said this before: I remember the stories my parents told about the depression - and I never thought I'd be living through one myself.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Tim, 

First of all let's get something straight. I'm a life sciences guy, not a historian or political science person. Like many Americans I try to keep up with trends in our government and political affairs but do not consider myself an in-depth expert on every topic. However, I do have my own opinions. 

Mike is correct that some aspects of socialism are vague. I think of it as a middle ground form of government between capitalism and Marxist communism. Often that pathway leads to communism but I doubt it reverses to capitalism. The ultra progressive people in the Democratic party - some of whom actually profess to be Democratic Socialists - are desperately tryng to move their party in that direction.

Yes, Social Security is a very limited socialistic program. Unfortunately, it has been used for other things besides a retirement fund. It is also in trouble. I worked most of my career for a government sponsored health care system, the DOD. We had problems that were partially solved when TriCare was instituted and partnered with the civilian sector. Same can be said for the VA. I am not in favor of a universal socialized medicine system for our country. 

You also asked about vaccinations. It is sad that some people refuse safe vaccines but I don't believe the Federal Government has the right to force them to be inoculated. The military can as service members are employees, and I agree that even civilian employers should have that right. I will let the court system decide this issue for schools.

Now, I shall retreat to subjects that I know better. According to a report I received today on one of my medical websites there is a new kid on the block in the viral world. An influenza A virus that started in pigs (another "Swine Flu") has arisen in - you guessed it - China. It is also a zoonosis that has been able to jump from pigs to humans. Some 10-15% of the pig farmers there have tested positive for antibodies. Studies in ferrets given the virus shows it can be transferred to other ferrets via nasal secretions.

Could this be the next pandemic? How severe of a human illness can this cause? Companies are alredy starting to look into producing a vaccine.

I will end on that uplifting note. 

Jim 

Timothy Lavelle

I don't know...I've spent a lifetime asking questions about what I don't understand. I have been looked at sometimes like someone trying to draw attention because of this trait. Or I've been thought clueless, likely closer to the mark.

Or, often, I find myself nodding and saying "uh huh" when I really don't understand the answer...sneaking into the computer later to get a better understanding of what the answer was trying to tell me.

Your answer didn't tell me squat about what it is exactly you think, and I am pretty interested.

So, not this time. Sorry Jim, but I'm calling you out. You have beliefs and are not a political analyst. OK. You or your buds would never say "It's a sort of Cancery-Tubercuolousy sort of ailment" because that would be an empty pronouncement...no meaning present. Pardon my spelling please. So let's work together toward me understanding. 

To say that socialism is essentially a vague concept, while half the country thinks it is really the path to perdition, may be true. Or not. AGAIN, NOT SELLING SOCIALISM. So let's ask, what are these socialist people asking for or doing that you don't approve of. Jim, I am not screwing with you. I would like to move into "What the hell are we actually, no invective involved, trying to figure out" phase of discussion. I've given you plenty of scope so you can discuss the broad protests or anything. I want to whittle down to what the core beliefs are of you and the other conservatives writing here with regard to this huge bugaboo you bring up.

Jim, I believe there are Americans who don't have as much as the rest of us. I am not Christian so my answer is "Tough, you should have studied harder." (Or been luckier, like Frank Ganley and myself). But when people in the land of the free don't feel free, or they desperately need a helping hand, how does one say "Sorry, no, you should have studied harder, or you shoul go home and shut up"? I am not saying you say this. I am trying to understand what the heck you conservative thinkers mean by socialism or freebies. Think beyond the words you hear from campaigns. What's your beef exactly with the whole socialism thing. Is it just giving stuff to poor people you don't like? (That is below the belt to fire you up. C'mon Jim!) TL

PS. "Get a vaccination, or board this cruise ship conveniently anchored at Idiots Dock along with these other maskless folks."  

John Jackson

Jim - Biden’s remark about challenging Trump to a pushup contest was offered in response to a Trump suggestion that Biden was old and totally unfit for the job – kind of hypocritical for a President who is himself morbidly obese and, to most observers outside of Fox News world, increasingly deranged and delusional.

You also never respond to the questions I ask, so I’ll ask you, who go out of your way to assure us you are offering offer only MEDICAL (and not POLITICAL) advice and who have assured us that, even though you don’t support mask mandates, you support mask wearing in general:  Was Trump sending the right message when he asked his supporters (referring to Biden) if they ever saw "a man that likes a mask as much.  It gives him a feeling of security.  If I was a psychiatrist, I'd say this guy has some big issues."  Please reply on the MEDICAL issues only.

Your suggestion that Trump was implying Biden was wearing his mask unstylishly is equally indefensible - third grade schoolyard taunting stuff and I'm surprised you would condone this - aren't you aware of  Melania's anti-bullying BE BEST campaign? 

And I’ll say again that, although I’m not in any way a socialist on most issues (I’ve run a for–profit company since 1980), I am in favor of socializing our health care system (gradually, in stages) so we can enjoy the significantly improved health care outcomes and greatly reduced costs that every other advanced nation offers its citizens compared to ours.  If you want to discuss, you’d best base your defense on anecdotes because the numbers are not on your side.  We have absolutely first world medical facilities/assets and second world outcomes.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Tim,

We all know that socialism is government control of many economic parameters. Often thse are referred as "community owned" but that community is the government. Economics include businesses (a very broad term)that, in a capitalistic society, are private sector owned.

The road to complete socialism looks to me to be a slippery slope, the grade of which varies and the time frame for the transition can be slow or fast. Sometimes riots and revolution lead to an overthrow of an existing government and hastens the process. That process can end up into a communist state.

President Reagan talked about our country could be but one generation away from losing our freedom. That was about 40 years ago, more than a generation.

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party is pushing for many socialisic ideas: abolishing the Second Amendment, defunding local police forces (which would require a federal police force to maintain order), a universal government sponsored health care program, taxpayer funded college for all, illegal immigration with full citizen rights (incuding the health care and college aspects), guaranteed minimal income, greatly increasing taxes (to pay for all of this), and the Green New Deal (which is filled with capitalist-killing programs), abolishing the Electoral College among others (which would disenfranchise millions of middle American voters), among others. Clearly, the progressives are taking over the party and will be a major factor in controlling Joe Biden, if elected.

I am a compassionate person. I, too, want to help those in need. But not from womb to tomb which would be, in my opinion, what socialism would do.

"Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

John,

Once again, medically speaking, I am for the wearing of masks to help decrease the spread of coronaviruses as well as other respiratory pathogens. Was President Trump sending the right message? That line you quoted tells me nothing medically. What he said the next day, which I mentioned in Post #8091, was more medically directed.

Jim

Michael McLeod

I'm reading up on the fires, and I've been following rising ocean levels and melting icebergs even more closely, and I realize that I want to factor in a discussion about climate change as I talk to my kids about what I'll be able to leave them when I'm gone. For example: I'll tell them to try to hang onto the two homes I have in Orlando since all the people living along what is now coastline will be moving inland and real estate around here will be even more valuable. Just feels interesting - apart from being sad as hell - to realize that a cause I have been engaged in philosophically is now a matter of practicality. 

Michael McLeod

And....apart from the shrewd, incisive, courageous heroine we lost yesterday, another passage of note. Maybe you've seen this. I hadn't. Just a good time to remind ourselves that heart outranks smart. Always will. I do forget it now and then so I'm grateful when reminders come along.

I love the comparison made below to Huck Finn. By chance I just re read that book. I had forgotten what a compelling and courageous early argument against  racism it was. Twain was brilliant and funny but he was also fervently compassionate and in favor of underdogs. (His lesser-know book about Joan of Arc was one of his proudest creations). We think of Twain as a humorist but he was so much more than that. Huck was not the most significant figure in Huckleberry Finn. The runaway slave he befriended was. It's Jim, not Huck, who is the lesson and the heart of that book. But here's to Forrest Gump. What was it he said? I think I remember it correctly:  "I may not be smart, but I know what love is." 

Winston Groom, a Southern writer who found a measure of belated celebrity when his 1986 novel, “Forrest Gump,” was made into the 1994 Oscar-winning film starring Tom Hanks, died on Thursday at his home in Fairhope, Ala. He was 77.

He died in his sleep, most likely from a heart attack, his stepson Frederick Helmsing said.

Mr. Groom had published three well-regarded novels and a nonfiction finalist for a Pulitzer Prize when he wrote the book that would define him as a writer and turn the Gumpian phrase “life is like a box of chocolates” into a modern-day proverb.

“Forrest Gump” tells the picaresque adventures of an Alabama man who stumbles through contemporary American history with an IQ of 70 and a headful of folksy wisdom. The novel sold respectably and earned good reviews. The novelist and critic Jonathan Baumbach describe it in The New York Times Book Review as “a kind of defanged ‘Candide,’ an unabrasive satire of the idiocy of life in our time.”

But when “Gump” was made into a film by Paramount Pictures, it became a cultural phenomenon. Forrest Gump became, like Huck Finn and Atticus Finch, to name two other fictional Southerners, a beloved American character. His koan-like sayings — “stupid is as stupid does” and the line about chocolates (neither of which appeared as such in the novel) — entered the lexicon as “Gumpisms.”

Janie Albright (Blank)

A good article and links for checking that your ballot is received if you opt to vote by mail. You can enter your own state on the second link. 
 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/18/online-ballot-tracking/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most

https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/how-to-vote/

I received this email confirmation after registering for this service. 
 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL.,

For those wishing to move inland, consider this Colorado Bungelow. Sits at an elevation of about 10,500 feet, guaranteed not to flood from global warming, comes with kitchen appliance seen through the open window (which also supplies energy efficient ventilation), covered wooden porch with a beautiful view, natural landscaping.

Jim

James Hamilton, M. D.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Jim

John Jackson

Jim, Trump routinely ridicules mask wearers (and these are big applause lines at his super-spreader rallies) and then once in a blue moon he wears a mask or gives lukewarm support to masks (which you trot out as a shameless fig leaf in your post 8091).  Which of these two types of comments do you think predominates in the minds of his supporters?  

Since you, as an MD, refuse to disavow Trump’s frequent ridicule of mask wearing I’ll assume, despite your protests to the contrary, that you condone harassing mask wearers in general.

Have the last word if you like – but I fear I’m getting tiresome so I’ll take a break.  With RBG’s passing I need something to cheer me up - the venality and total lack of principle of Mitch McConnell and the congressional Republicans will be on full display.  I get a chuckle each time I look at that Palindromist poster – my personal favorite is “gnu dung” – scatological humor never goes out of style.

David Mitchell

Boy Howdie!

Yu gize are reelly gettin' it on over here. I'll have you know I've ordered three new woodworking tools and had too bowls of popcorn while all this wuz goin' on. And got the lawn mowed before all that nasty rain.

All this talk about Soshalizm. Like we ain't got a whoel eeconumy chuc full o' Soshalizm. Remember, "Incentives" is another word for a type of subsidy - which is an important element of Soshalizm.

1- We got short term fast write-offs for new factory equipment - benefitting larger corps immesurabley over a shorter amount of time than that darned eequipment actally does git used up. Why not jist let it be depreciated over it's actuall life - like 30 years instead of just 5? Cause them big corporate guyz wouldn't be able to avoid those huge tax bills that they would utterwize have to pay. And they wud not probaly get it so often - which might lower the price in a "free market" econmy (Y'all hear o' dat old sayin'  - "Supply and Demand"?)

2- We got theze funny write-offs (only ones like it in all of "employee" accounting proceedures) for professional athleetes so them billioniare owners can git those huge tax breaks for their multi-billion dollar corporate endeavors. Otherwize they might have ta' pay more of their own fare share. Players aren't employees like you an' me. Theyz "assets" so those huge slaries can be "depreciated" over time as a "deduction. Golly, dont'hca think such critical skilled guys like Baker Mayfiled and Dak Prescott out'ta make hundreds (even thousands) of times more than those useless, irrelavant jobs like nurses and teachers. I mean c'mon!  

3-  We got those nice accellerated methods of "Depreciation" for our real estate investors. Like "Sum of The  Year's Digits", and "Double Declining Balnace" and all that. Why without those forms of faster write-off "incentives" (government subsidies) they might be just tempted to buy them for more economic reasons - like in one o' them there a "free market economies" (which we keep insisting that we have - lol)

4- And we got some doozies "incentives" for that bastion of Western Civivlization - Hollywood. Why, if those movie investors couldn't use special write-offs, Julia Roberts might only make $5 million per picture, insted of $20,000,000. How d'ya 'spect George Cloony could scrape by on a mere $8 or $10 million a year- huh? 

But pay a decent slary fo ra cop or fireman - huh uh - no sir!

5- And here's one you''ll all want a piece of my tail for bringing up. (And it used to piss off my real estate buddies no end). Why on earth do we subsidize mortgages in this country? Answer; So it'll encourage more folks to buy houses - of course - and that's a good thing. It' helpful for everyobdy that can qualify for, and buy a house. But after a continium of years, it artificially assists the "buy side" of the equation, and now you got houses going for many times what a true "free market" would result in otherwise. All my Real Estate buddies go nuts when I raise this argument, and then I say, "So, how happy are your kids that they now have to pay $600,000 for a little bungalo on Washington Park - the one you paid $30,000 for back in the day?  

Until we "capped" that legal amount a few years ago, it was the only place in the entire 2,000 pages of the entire IRS code where the "subsidy" got bigger, the richer you were. Up to that point, it still is.) And in the case of the resident owner, Canada does not even allow such deductions. That's part of the reason their housing market didn't crash in 2008.

Go figure. (note: I only had two years of Economics so I am open to challenges)

(whole seperate topic - the currrent housing crisis for the working poor and especially single moms)

And finally, what about our entire "infrastructure" system. We build our cities and roads and "public works" with a Socialistic method of financing. Ask yourself what it would be like if we tried to build a new sewer line down "D" Street, and we had to stop and end the line at Joe's house (because he voted against the bond issue), and then had to re-start it at the next house and continue to the end. How would we build half a high school?  Or two thirds of a hospital or library, or sewer system?  

I'm not arguing for a completely socialistic system. I am merely pointing out that we already use a lot of Socialistic methods for financial "incentives". I get the the fact that we humans react to things - like when you say it's "free", then we have a tendency to not value it. My dad used to complanin about this all the time. If he gave his patients free advice, they would usually ingnore him. But if he charged small fees - voilla! They would place much more value on it and try to make use of it. I'm sure the same thing could be argued about college education. And probaly, all kinds of stuff.

(Whole separtate topic - why do we not emphasize technical training more in this country ??? All this emphasis on a "college education" above all else, is in my opinion, a somewhat false priority.) This country is woefully short of quality tradesmen and there is not one damn thing degrading about those jobs - except that we make it so).   

 P.s. And John, I wish you'd stop using those big words. Please respec da fac dat I live in South Cackaltchie, an we don talk like dat down heah'.

James Hamilton, M. D.

John J.,

No, John, I do not condone harassment. It was your, not my conclusion that President Trump's statements are of a harassing nature.

I also do not harass people myself.

I trust that you do not condone the open harassment and calls for harassment (example: Maxine Waters) of conservatives and Trump supporters by many on the left. Riots, screaming, cursing and physically assaulting conservatives, even children, have become frequent events recorded on video and televised. People leaving the White House, older couples dining in the open air, conservatives being accosted inside restaurants, etc. are becoming all too common.

I do not accuse you of condoning these actions but I also do not recall any of your posts addressing them. I urge you not to make assumptions as to what I do or do not condone.

The political world here in America is about to boil over again what with the need to fill another SCOTUS seat. There is bound to be a lot of hostility being expressed as this process unfolds and I hope that does not spill over onto this Forum.

Jim

Michael McLeod

I always look at the mask issue in terms of how its history will be writ. And I think of readers 50 years from now whose jaws will drop when they thumb through accounts of a time when a substantial percentage of Americans refused to take a very simple step involving small swatches of cloth to protect themselves and their fellow human beings from illness and death. And that they debated over it, stood on principle against it.  From that distance it will seem sad, unfathomable, insane. 

It's also helpful to look at the past. I'm thinking now of that Greek guy who summed things up nicely - and I'm quoting him a bit out of context here, but I think the words still apply - when he said "first do no harm."

It's not really that complicated, is it.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL., 

That would be Hippocrates, the Greek physician whose quote is more famous in Latin, "Primum non nocere" ​, and does translate as "First, do no harm". It is the code by which physicians are bound to practice.

Jim

Michael McLeod

Jim: I know.

Believe it or not it was adopted as one of the bylaws of the Professional Journalism Society I belonged to.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike,

 Did you just admit that a professional journalist society plagiarized part of a physician's oath??!! 😱

Jim 

Joseph D. McCarthy

Dr. Jim.  As a follow up to an earlier qustionconcerning smokes affect on grapes for wine making.  Today's page L8 of the San Francisco Chronicle Food + Wine section had a short story on "Smoke Taint".

"Smoke taint hits wineries, not drinkers."

"The 2020 fire season feels scary for everone who lives on the West Coast.   But there's a unique type of anxiety for those whose livelihoods depend on crops that are ripening under these smoke-choked skies.

When wildfire smoke lingers in the air, compounds from the smoke can make their way into grapes hanging on the vine and imbue the resulting wine with a set of flavors and aromas that are unpleasantly smoky.  The phenomenon, known as smoke taint, can ruin a wine.

By now, it's clear that smoke taint will be the question of the California wine industry's 2020 harvest.  It's a question that we can't yet answer.  Yes, it seems inevitable at this point that some of this year's wine grapes will be irreparably impacted by wildfire smoke.  But how widespread that damage is, and the degree of harm to individual vineyards, are still unknown quantites.

In the meantime, though, I think it's important to get one message across.  Smoke taint is a concern for winemakers and farmers.  It should not, however, be a concern for wine drinkers.

Farmers (vineyard owners - my insert) are at risk of losing their paycheck for the entire year.  If their fruit is damaged by smoke, the wineries who buy the fruit might reject it.  Some farmers have crop insurance that would compensate for these losses; many don't.

Winemakers, on the other hand, have to contend with the possibility of investing in wine that could tur out undrinkable.  They might buy the fruit and go to the trouble of fermenting it and put it into expensive oak barrels, only to find the finjsihed wine unpleasantly smoky. That's a big financial hit.  Smoke compounds are notoriously sneaky; they can hide in grape juice or wine in a nonvolatile state, only to reveal themselves later, so a winemaker might not even know what they're dealing with initially.

These are awful prospects with dangerous consequences for a $40 billion statewide industry.

But for you, a drinker of California wine, there are no risks."

Notes:  A vineyard is where grapes are grown.  It is today usually seperate from a winery.  Different vineyards produce grapes for specific types of wine.  A winery purchases grapes from vineyards, sometimes many vieyards, to crush into "grape juice" which after some processing is fermented in stainless steel tanks.  After a prescribed time, determined by the winemaker, the "juice' is transferred to Oak Barrels similar to the way Bourbon (example) is stored in Oak barrels for the final phase of winemaking.  Last, a winery usually contracts with vineyards before the vineyard starts the years growth of wines.  They may, depending on a bunch of factors cancel the contract at or before harvest.  Reasons could include reduced prices in the market for grapes, infection of the vines, or whatever.

Now that I've almost gone as long as Dave or Mike, but not as long, I'll quit.

Joe

James Hamilton, M. D.

Joe, 

Thanks for that info. A bit scary and disappointing but good to know.

Jim 

Michael McLeod

Just another example of fake news, Jim. 

Michael McLeod

Well I am teaching a writing class virtually this term and I tend to complain about having to learn web-ex stuff - as in: if you miss one step, you're screwed. That's apart from not having the fun of being face to face with students.

But given the fact that one of those students just messaged me that he has covid19, I think I'll stop complaining.

And hearing about the far more taxing difficulties of my girlfriend, who teaches elementary education at a montessori magnet school, puts my own issues in context.

She's not just wrangling students but misbehaving and/or underprivileged parents through a whole new ballgame as she adjusts to the virtual teaching game.

Meanwhile her absolutely brilliant daughter, who barely got out of Beijing, where she was an executive with a Chinese corporating that teaches English to Chinese children on line, is going through PTSD as a result of her experiences during the Chinese lockdown to contend with the virus. People in the US who complain about what we've gone through have no idea about what it's like to live through it in a totalitarian regime. Like everyone else in that city her every move was tracked and recorded. She was stopped on the street a half dozen times in the space of a block. Nothing wrong with it under the circumstances; by isolating neighborhoods and people and restricting their movements they were far more effective than we have been in shutting down the disease (and their researchers, by the way, provided doctors all over the world with the virus' genome so they could begin working on a vaccine.). Anyway the Chinese people are accustomed to living in an authoritarian system - where they are outcasts if they don't exercise regularly and where, if, say, they get caught criticizing anything about the government, they have to publicly apologize - an apology that is not even written out in their own words but a government-authorized, one-size-fits-all template, written out for them, word for word.

So imagine an American who'd been living within that system at a privileged distance suddenly being in the same stew, by virtue of the emergency situation - having all her otherness as an American citizen stripped away while being frightened to death in the middle of a mysterious disease in a foreign land and having to contend with that fear and the full blast of that authoritarian mind set.

Forgive me for going on about this but it's my way of understanding what she is going through. And this is also part of the reason why, like John, I tend to focus in on and get riled by the mask business and the selfish blowhards who object to it on grotesque misconceptions about the privilege of living in a democracy. They should be pretty damn grateful they have the freedom to make selfish and/or pompous asses out of themselves.

Ok I'm chill now.