Reading the news today, Sonny and Cher’s big 1967 hit, “The Beat Goes On”, sprang into the mental music stream. I’m sure we all know why that song deserves to be today’s theme music.
More
More cases, more deaths, more jokes about drinking wine.
More demands about re-opening businesses, and then everything will be fine.
More stories about valor and the sacrifices made.
More stories about lying, misinformation, and the debts to be paid.
Some things will not change, don’t seem they ever will,
But every time we go through something like, someone pays the bill.
It’s not usually the rich, nor the pols running the gov,
It’s the workers and the nurses and the people that we love.
Florida
They always warned you,
the day will come,
that the way you govern
by giving others crumbs
would someday bite you in the ass.
You dismissed that with a laugh.
But now that day has come to pass
that the government you wanted and thought was right
isn’t up to this situation, is too fragile, too light.
So I wonder what lessons you might’ve learned
as people sicken, fall ill, and die,
and the economy burns.
Political Rant
Sorry, but I’ve reached a saturation point with the POTUS and the coronavirus. I need to vent before I bust a spleen (yes, a new phrase that I just made up). (Yeah, that’s a lie; it’s an old expression.) (And I’m not going to bust a spleen.)
See? Consistent. Exaggerate; I own up to it. Lie, same. Consistent.
But, here in the last two days, we have Trump telling the states that they don’t need as many ventilators as they claim.
Trump downplays need for ventilators as New York begs to differ
Meanwhile, he’s berating (and threatening) Ford and GM for not making more ventilators, fast. (Side irritation, as part of that, he’s demanding that GM open their Lordstown, Ohio plant, a plant that GM sold in 2019. Always on top of things, that dithering Donald.)
Trump lashes out at GM, Ford over ventilators
Even as he’s claiming that too many ventilators are being requested and that GM and Ford must make more faster (and sooner), he’s telling states that he won’t give them more unless they’re nice to him.
‘It’s a two-way street’: Trump suggests federal coronavirus aid will be given to governors who ‘treat us well’
Yet, even as he says these things, he said a few weeks ago, “And we’re prepared, and we’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.” (March 10, 2020)
Prepared? Doesn’t sound like it. Doesn’t look like it.
These statements do not align; they are not consistent. Some might claim that it’s part of a dog and pony show for the public’s consumption, but the inconsistencies don’t strike me as such.
Today, the United States took the lead in total number of cases, almost reaching 97,000 as I write this, surpassing the totals in China and Italy. We’re fortunate to have not met their death totals, but with this administration acting in its mercurial, disorganized ways, it feels like that’s just a matter of time.
The rant is over. That is all.
99 Floofballoons
99 Floofballoons (floofinition) – International hit song by the rock floof band, Nenfloof.
In use: “The song, “99 Floofballoons” was about balloons that animals were using to save trapped animals, but humans, mistaking the balloons for UFOs, began shooting at them. The animals used their quantum cloaking to hide further activities from humans, successfully de-escalating the situation.”
Sunday’s Theme Music
Well, from sometime yesterday, out walking in the hills, admiring the sunset’s effects on the northern mountains, came some lines from the Styx song, “The Best of Times” (1981).
The headlines read, “These are the worst of times”
I do believe it’s true
I feel so helpless like a boat against the tide
I wish the summer winds could bring back paradise
Yes, the helplessness and frustration that seems to permeate so much of life sometimes can make it seem like the worse of times. It’s not for me, of course, but stress, and that sense, comes from that lack of control and the inability to steer things, to be able to take action and change the course before we wreck.
I’m sure most of us have experienced it at least once in a lifetime, where we said, “I know where this is going, and you’re not going to like it.” Then it happens, and all the misery you predicted comes to pass and others ask, “Who could have seen this was going to happen?”
Well, hell, many of us do see these things, but we’re ignored. We don’t get used to that; it’s just frustrating.
Then it all passes, and the courses that you thought should have been taken are, and things go great for a while.
No, I’m not a master prognosticator. I just color my memories with the best of times.
Friday’s Theme Music
Just riding the day this morning, surfin’ the news and the web, maintaining my balance, trying not to wipe out and crash.
From that, yeah, “Surfin’ Safari” by the Beach Boys (1962) plunged into my mental musical stream. It came out when I was six. Don’t know when I first heard it. Simple lyrics, etc., so it was easy to learn and memorable. Today, it seems like music from a kinder era. But then, I peruse my limited memory of U.S. history at time, refreshing myself with, oh, yeah, those protests against that war, and that war, itself, and that cold war, and an assassination the next year, and the air pollution.
So, back to surfin’ the wave of the day, trying not to wipe out.
Monday’s Theme Music
West coast. We wake up to news of stock market plunges, oil price wars, cancellations, and falling gas prices. They’re talking about $2 a gallon gas in Florida as a real possibility, ignoring that falling demand drives that price.
COVID 19 cases are up in Oregon. As other governors have done in other states, Governor Brown declared a state of emergency this week as they scramble have people tested and monitor the situation.
Amidst all of this (and my dreams) one song popped into the stream and stayed: “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” by George Harrison, 1973. I chose the video from a concert that celebrated George, with Jeff Lynne (ELO) singing.
The Stock Market
There was a 2,000 point dip in the stock market (yeah, that’s a fun dip, innit) earlier this week. President Trump was quick to step forward with his insights.
“I think the financial markets are very upset when they look at the Democrat candidates standing on that stage, making fools out of themselves, and they say, ‘If we ever have a president like this,’” Trump said, referring to the most recent Democratic presidential debate held in South Carolina. “When they look at the statements made by the people standing behind those podiums, I think that has a huge effect.”
Trump made those comments on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. The Democratic debate was the previous night. As others pointed out, the stock market posted their losses and closed on Monday and Tuesday before the debate.
Let’s ignore that the debate happened after the losses. Trump seems to have a poor view of people trading on the stock exchange. He’s essentially suggesting that they’re so ignorant and weak-willed that a debate between the Democratic candidates to be POTUS would worry those traders and send stocks plunging.
The second aspect of it is that he’s discounting his own ability to affect the stock market. He’s in charge, but he thinks this debate between candidates to be the nominee has greater influence than him.
Wow. Talk about a lack of confidence, and high levels of desperation.
What most analysts (and non-analysts) believe is that the spreading coronavirus is affecting supply chains, travel, and productivity. They worry that a spreading virus (here’s a nifty site where you can track it) and the threat of greater quarantines and less travel will affect companies’ profitability. They base this on companies like Apple and Pepsico already warning that the coronavirus is negatively affecting their earnings, that they’re playing soccer games in empty stadiums in Italy, that the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo is in danger of being cancelled, and that Delta Airline slashed flights to and from South Korea this week. With travel down, tourism will drop. So will consumer spending. It’s all connected.
President Trump doesn’t believe any of that, of course. He’d rather escape responsibility for anything bad that happens while he’s POTUS. So much easier to blame others.
It doesn’t bode well for the future, does it?
Thursday’s Theme Music
Looked out the window and saw a sun-drenched landscape showing evidence of spring under a powerful blue sky. “I Gotta Feeling” (Black Eyed Peas, 2009) roared into the stream.
Yeah, I gotta feeling that today’s gonna be a good day. Sure, more folks are worrying about the coronavirus and the U.S. response to it. Of course the DOW doesn’t like what the virus is doing to supply chains and profits. That’s sinking stocks and pension plans.
Naturally, many are worrying about the upcoming elections in the U.S. Or they’re fuming about Trump attacking a juror or his attacks on Supreme Court justices.
Others are worried about climate change, rising sea waters, stripped environmental protections, and safe drinking water. Ongoing hostilities in other countries will sober you up with a sigh, too, as you peruse the news of death, destruction, and displacement.
More locally, racism and sexism flare up in numbers as disturbing as the coronavirus spread.
Yes, I worry about these things. But strip it all down to the bare metal of my existence, and the tiny piece of me that I can do much about, and my life, and I gotta feeling, today’s gonna be a good day, despite news to the contrary.
Michael Seidel, writer 