I hope y’all had a great Canada Day (July 1st).
We marked the occasion with our 100-day cake. It was actually Day 110 but the kids didn’t seem to mind.
In their excitement, after we sang Happy Birthday Canada, they started chanting U-S-A, U-S-A!
Best lockdown ever.
Magical thinking is a coping mechanism that I have met in different places.
I’ve seen magical thinking by CEOs of bust companies. Athletes with regard to supplements and superstitions. Hospice patients trying to deal with a terminal diagnosis.
I think we might be seeing something similar from the President and his supporters. Some of my friends are echoing a line I heard the President say yesterday, “this is all going to blow over by the fall.”
I sure hope so.
The whole issue about masks is an own-goal by the President. I think it is related to his aversion to using protection. I get it.
Separate from his personal views, it wasn’t necessary for his political goals. His core constituency will follow his lead.
Outside of his core supporters, is a group that doesn’t like him much but supports his agenda. Why place these people in a position where they have to publicly go against him?
Why alienate the supporters of convenience? Each break makes the next one easier.
Anyhow, information on the practical benefits of masks appears to be spreading. Spreading slowly, and in a very American fashion (loud, pissed off, lots of debate, people getting shot).
Our President is planning a no-masks no-distancing rally at Mt Rushmore to celebrate July 4th. Their governor told people worried about infection to stay at home.
Unfortunately, we’re in this mess as a result of the next infection, not the first. The National Infection Tour rolls on.
Our governor shut our bars, and clubs, this week. On this first go-round, they had been allowed to reopen for 14 days. At the end of April, he told us we’d be opening/closing/iterating as we navigate through the crisis.
Some red-state governors are starting to converge to the blue-state approach. That said, Cali is trending up again. I wonder if there’s a lot of AC-equipped dormitory housing in SoCal.
Just in case things blow up, rather than blow over, I’m continuing to prepare for another shelter in place order.
Russia is in the news for doing very Russian things (cash bounties for killing our soldiers). Seems like a stupid thing for Putin to do, and he isn’t stupid. More typical would be to offer cash and weapons for “general purposes.” Here’s a link to what our CIA did when the Russians were fighting in Afghanistan.
You’ll probably see the current situation through whatever lens confirms your views of the administration. Here’s a point to consider about malfeasance…
It’s impossible to know all of the misdeeds of a regime while they remain in power – Mao’s China, Stalin’s Russia, etc…
Even for the good guys, it takes time for facts to come out.
I was living in Hong Kong during the Handover from the Brits to the Chinese. Recently, the Handover hasn’t gone well, but it has gone as many expected.
The UK has offered a five-year visa to Hong Kong holders of the BNO document. I think this is a very honorable thing to do. I can remember many people viewed the documents as worthless when they were issued. More on the path to citizenship being offered in this BBC article.
I was cleaning the fridge this week. Afterwards, my wife asked, “How long did that take?”
As far as I know, I am the only first-born male in 125 years to clean a refrigerator in his 50s. I’ll be doing the toilets later, Sweetie.
Freedom turned out different than I expected.
Feel The Byrn 
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