by John Walters
Of Course………But Maybe
Revisiting this classic Louis CK bit in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of course—of course! – we should maintain social distancing and wear masks in order to flatten the curve. Of course!
But maybe… if a million or so Americans, most of whom were not the healthiest of our tribe in the first place, are going to die in order for us to continue going to movies and restaurants and bars and school, that’s not too high a price to pay.
Murphy’s Lore
That’s Phoenix area resident Trevor Murphy, 35, who went out for a run on Friday morning (after Thursday night’s monsoons brought much-needed rain but also lightning to the Valley of the Sun) and noticed a small brush fire breaking out.
So Murphy took it upon himself to fight fire with ire. He stamped on it with his shoes, shuffled dirt onto the path to widen it and create a fire break, even phoned the fire department.
Jerry-Miad
The headline of this Jerry Seinfeld Op-Ed in The New York Times says it all: “So You Think New York Is Dead (It’s Not).” *
*At least we’re not in Florida
Russian Meddling
It was Winston Churchill who said, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on.” In this case, it took the truth nearly four years to hitch up its knickers.
Remember how President Trump accused his opponent of skulduggery heading into the 2016 election and coined the phrase “Lock her up!” Remember how then-FBI director James Comey planned to launch an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and lost his job?
Remember Paul Manaforte? Michael Flynn? Carter Page?
Well, last week a Senate Intelligence Committee (the Senate has a GOP majority, recall) issued a 1,000-page report on its own investigation into this affair and concluded, without a doubt, that the “Russian government disrupted an American election to help Mr. Trump become president, Russian intelligence services viewed members of the Trump campaign as easily manipulated, and some of Mr. Trump’s advisers were eager for the help from an American adversary.”
Certainly President Trump, the one who in the summer of 2016 publicly pleaded for Russia to release any information on Senator Clinton that it had, could not have known any of his associates were working on his behalf. Of course not.
Go Your Conway
In a surprise development on the eve of the GOP convention, America’s most dysfunctional (political) couple appears to have reached detent. KellyAnne Conway, the White House’s most prolific prevaricator this side of the president, has announced that she is stepping down from her post. Her husband, George Conway, a co-founder of the Lincoln Project, which is not a reality show about pimping up over-sized ’70s sedans, has also announced that he will no longer work with that association (a group of Republicans doing their darnedest to oust Trump from office).
They’ve jointly announced they’re stepping away to spend more time with their four children, teens and tweens, who will most likely be begging them to return to work in a week.
UPDATE: The Conways’ 15 year-old daughter, Claudia, is seeking emancipation from her parents (someone has been watching Ozark). No, really. Over the weekend Conway tweeted (which makes her Conway tweety…we beat you to it, Ruth), “I’m (devastated) that my mother is actually speaking at the RNC. like DEVASTATED beyond compare.”
In a follow-up post, she wrote: “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. welcome to my life.”
For someone whose parents work in the capitol, she needs to work on her capitals.
In Your (Field Of) Dreams
So many events have been canceled or postponed these past nearly six months that we forgot that earlier this month the Yankees and White Sox were supposed to play a game at the Field of Dreams site in Iowa. First, those two clubs were supposed to play in the specially constructed 8,000-seat park on August 13th.
Then, Major League Baseball announced after the pandemic began that the game would still be played on August 13 but, due to re-scheduling issues, the Cardinals would replace the Yankees. Then that game was canceled, too (Might it have had something to do with seven Cardinal players testing positive for the coronavirus?)
Now MLB has said the game will take place in 2021. Stay tuned.
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Tesla update: In the past week two people I know personally have told me they’ve bought Teslas. News flash: I don’t know that many people (even fewer when I open my mouth). The stock is up another 3% this morning, Susie B. Where it stops? I dunno.
UPDATE: Seems like we’re having a minor Tesla correction as the stock has now plunged 2% from where it was at the open. Don’t worry about me, Susie B., I protected myself.
Did your friends say they had JUST bought in, as in last week? Oooooo. ALL tech stocks are “frothy” right now. Can that froth go even, er, frothier? Sure, but a correction is a’comin! It may wait until just before or after the election, but whenever a vaccine really is about to go into wide use (or the RUMOR that it is) , the hefty part of the market that was left behind will surge & investors will “rotate” out of tech. I won’t sell anything but I may buy some puts next month.
If you have read anything that George Conway has written/tweeted, it is AMAZING those 2 aren’t already divorced. Unless, it’s all been a scam, as Dietsch has been hinting the past 3 YEARS. But I don’t care if KA has been faking it for a paycheck NOR if she’s been blackmailed or otherwise threatened to spout the nonstop lies, she deserves to land on the trashheap of history, if not in PRISON. I’d VOTE for the latter.
BTW, the rescheduled Tour de France starts this Saturday. The cyclists have only been riding races for about a month so expect even more carnage than usual. The biggest news is that 5-time Tour winner Chris Froome & fellow teammate/TDF champ Gerraint Thomas have both been left OFF their Tour team (Ineos, nee Team Sky, AKA “Team Deathstar”). It had already been announced that Froome was leaving the team at the end of the season, but the supposed reason both were left off the Tour squad was that their “form was crap”, i.e. they weren’t ready. Going by the recent tune-up race, that seems fairly accurate. Still, I had been looking forward to the DRAMA of 3 Tour champs on the same team fighting it out on the road for Big Dog status. In other Tour news, sprinter Mark Cavendish is once again left off HIS team’s Tour squad but this time, he agrees that he was not in ‘Tour shape”. I don’t think ANY of these riders will be in Tour shape! Not enough training & racing the past 6 months. PLUS, this year’s route is supposedly the hardest in years & I don’t believe they are going to alter it! I won’t be shocked if only a third actually finish in Paris.
I don’t know who I will be rooting for in the Tour. At this point, my biggest concern is what the ‘sunflower situation’ will be in France in September. I LIVE for the sunflower photo & video shots every July & it wouldn’t be the same without them. Allez, allez! 🙂
Whoops, I think Froome has won 4 times but is still determined to win a 5th.
Susie B,
They bought actual cars. Not shares of the stock. Could I have written for any more plain?
It. Not for.
That, I guess, could have been written more plain.
Sorry, since you usually write about the STOCK, I guess my brain refused to read/comprehend their purchases as actual CARS.
I won’t ever buy the stock OR the cars. But I’ll be happy for you if you continue to make money on your investment. I’d be even happier if Musk would lose all HIS money, but can’t have everything.
And that correction is coming. Whether it’s just a rotation out of tech or a full market fall, I guess time will tell. I just hope tech goes up another 5-10% before that & then I’ll move some more out of my 401-k funds. Booyah.
Could it just be the case that the money managers finally figured out that the economy does not equal the stock market? Therefore, stocks really do only go up?
As someone who has been the market longer than I have been alive, have you ever seen something like this? The economy literally shut down, yet here we are with record highs.
I’ll overlook your OLD AGE snark & address your question(s). 1st, “the economy” has not really “shut down”; just parts. Those parts especially include the travel, hospitality, energy & clothing industries. Meanwhile, tech has been booming, at least after 3/23. And no, I haven’t seen anything quite like this, but unlike in 2008-09, when the entire market was hammered after greed destroyed residential real estate for several years and almost brought the banking industry to its knees (self-inflicted!) which would have caused another Depression, it seems “the stock market” rarely sees every sector up or down at the same time; it’s usually a mixture, a tale of two ‘cities’ when those ‘cities’ are named Profit & Loss. If the pandemic continues for ANOTHER YEAR & the temporary job losses in the above industries become permanent & we have 30% long-term unemployment, the entire market will crash again & even more severely than in Feb-Mar.
Meanwhile, there will be some folks (small in number) that will profit while the rest of the world teeters on the abyss ; “a tale as old as time”. Wait, that’s NOT about profiteering on human misery? I was misinformed. 😉
Susie B.,
I can’t comment directly to your comment, but old age snark? I was just pointing out that you’ve lived longer, meaning you have more knowledge/wisdom in this area.
Oh Jacob, I was TEASING. However, a piece of advice – to point out to a woman that she has done something “longer than you’ve been alive” is RARELY viewed as a compliment by the woman. Call it left side/right side of the brain or ‘Mars vs Venus’ but believe me that I’m trying to HELP you in future male-female interactions. 🙂
The world may one day be ready for the MH Fund.
Your daily dose of free proofreading of your free blog:
“Remember Paul Manaforte? Michael Flynn? Carter Page?”
Manafort > Manaforte
(… unless that was on purpose, in which case, forget I even said anything.)
Also – I’m wasn’t following, but are you advocating for thinning the herd through covid, or was that just a joke?
“I’m wasn’t following.”
Good one.
Not as easy as it looks to write good…