Category: News

  • End of Masks

    Seems like just about every state will end mandatory mask mandates in March. I know there is the asterisk for local communities who can still require a mandate if numbers go up again. But for all intents and purposes, the phase of masking up is coming down.

    Now, the cynical me feels like this is a Democratic ploy to get an issue off the table before the midterms. If there are no more mandates and restrictions to rally against, then the Republicans gotta come up with another issue. (Sadly, I know the “issue” will be school choice and the bullshit CRT issue. But that will be for another day.) In reality, I don’t think this move will help Democrats; they’re gun’na lose.

    I will say this honestly, I am ready for masks to go away. (I will still wear a mask on the subway, because it’s a stinky, crazy place down there.) Yes, there is a little fatigue, but I also feel, especially here in New York City, we have done our job of getting vaccinated; 77% vaccination rate for the City, with Queens the highest at 85%. We followed the rules, though no one was happy about it, and got on top of this. Besides, isn’t this what was supposed to happen.

    I thought the plan from the very beginning was to mask up, social distance, stay home, wash your hands, get your vax when available, and when we get to herd immunity – 75-85% – then we can all go back to normal. Seems like we hit the goal. Time for masks to go, and get back to doing whatever it is that you want to do.

    The only thing that I will say is that I would feel better about getting rid of masks if there was a vaccine for all ages. 6 months to 4 years are still waiting, so that is the only hesitancy I have.

    My last thing I will say about masks; I have adopted the idea of having a mask for winter. Covering my face outside on the coldest of cold days made the weather bearable. So, not all masks were bad.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Tottenham Woes, Something Worse, and Museum Day

    (Stuff and things…)

    On Wednesday, Tottenham played, the facing relegation, Burnley FC in Burnley, and the Spurs found a way to lose. This is the same Tottenham team that beat Man City on the road, which was just about impossible. Yet when it comes to playing a bottom of the table team, Tottenham can’t seem to even get a draw. Then when Tottenham’s manager comes out and says that he doesn’t get why they can’t win consistently, well that just screams that this team is in trouble. Sadly, I don’t see the Spurs qualifying for the Champions League, and that will be the death nail for Harry Kane’s departure. (I have a feeling that Kane is going to go hog wild scoring in the World Cup this summer to drive up his contract price.) Not sure what this team will be like without Kane, but it might mean hanging out in the middle of the table for the next couple of seasons.

    I can’t get rid of the feeling that something worse is coming with the war in Ukraine. I know I wrote about that yesterday, but, surprise!, it’s still on my mind today. Who fights a land war? I really thought that was one of the things that World War II put an end to; wars of conquest. Economies are no longer based on how much land you have. But still, I feel awful for the people of Ukraine, and also for the people of Russia, who will be the ones to really suffer from the sanctions. The sanctions won’t have an effect on Putin and the other corrupt billionaire cronies; they won’t suffer. It’s always the people who do.

    Today is the final day of the kid’s Winter Break from school, and our big activity of the day is to ride the bus down to the Guggenheim! Yup, taking the kid to look at some art, and this was actually her idea. Going to a museum, not specifically the Guggenheim. I want to make sure that I raise a kid that can apricate all the different forms of art, and also apricate how great the City she live in is. I liked going to museums as a kid, and my Dad was pretty good about taking me to the Dallas Museum of Art growing up. I feel like I’m completing the circle by take my kid today.

  • Here Comes WAR

    I really wish I had a good take on this issue.

    There is a part of me that feels that we, the United States and NATO, should be confronting Russia militarily. I know that would lead to a larger war, but I also feel that not fighting back will lead to a larger war. If the only penalty that Russia will face is a sanctions, that at best will take years to have an effect, then I feel that will only embolden Putin, and other nations, to push against the US and our allies. What is to stop China from taking Taiwan? That’s why I feel a war against Russia now, stops a world war later.

    At the same time, I’m an anti-war person. I think we should make all efforts to avoid war, and it should truly be a last resort. Sadly, I am well aware that such a position can be taken advantage of, hence the situation we are now in.

    What I really don’t like hearing is the narrative that is being created here. It seems Republicans want to blame Biden for this, as he is too weak to stand up to Putin. At the same time, I really don’t like how Democrats are framing the conflict on how it will disrupt the economy. Republicans don’t have to become Biden cheerleaders, but they should be out there condemning Putin for invading another country. And Dem’s need to put this in the context of defending freedom and democracy. What both parties seem to be doing is trying to use the war as an issue for the Midterms.

    Sadly, there is no good answer here.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Storage Unit, More Covid, and Do What You Love

    ODDS and ENDS is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…    

    I am currently in an online chat with a person who works for U-Haul. It turns out that we need a larger storage unit. I feel a little defeated in having to do this. In a sense, I have a second apartment in New York City. An apartment for things I only want to see once a year, or never seen again, but don’t want to throw away. I could say there is a logical reason for this development in our lives, but it feels like our stuff is dictating how we live. So, another project for the weekend! And we get the Christmas stuff out of the apartment as well!

    We got another notice that there was a Covid exposure in the kid’s classroom. Which means that we will have another round of at home testing to see if she has been infected. Ironically, the kid got her second Covid vax yesterday. I know that she still needs about two weeks for the vax to fully get in her system for her to be TOTALLY COMPLELETY 100% AMZAINGLY VACCINATED! Yet, I feel like it is still a matter of time before the schools close and we are back to remoting. This is Omicron’s fault, and not the failing of some person or institution, and I am aware that I am in the minority of people who believe that. Soon, just like with the Delta variant, things will peak, and then a decline will start, so it is a wave we are riding. We all just have to hang in there for a while longer.

    Do what you love, and follow your bliss. Oh, Joseph Campbell, you inspiring mythology professor, you! I have been wrestling with his thought for, well, the past two years actually. As things fell apart, I started to question what I loved and what was my bliss. I wasn’t thinking about who I loved, and who made me happy, as I saw the question pertaining to a “what” – a thing, a desire, a concept even – not a person or persons. And as I thought about my “what” made me happy, my “what” never felt consequential, as I thought, that’s what it should be. Love and bliss should be a burning passion that I can’t live without, right? It should be epic. If it’s not top of the pops, and the best of the best, then can it be worth following? I’m not sure anymore. What brings me joy is not epic, but it is fulfilling. It gives me confidence and purpose, but it isn’t a burning passion. Is this state due to wisdom, or compliancy? But age is a factor.  

  • Covid in The City: Part 3 (But Could be Part 6?)

    I really wanted to write about Tottenham getting back to form and playing Liverpool to a draw. I even thought about putting a sport post together, and talk about the Cowboys as well.

    But alas, it was not to be.

    Because Covid is back in New York City. It feels like this is the third wave that has hit the City, but when I look at the US cases graph, this is like the 6th spike we have been through since the start of this whole thing.

    We can’t get away from it.

    Even though NYC has a 71.6% full vaccination rate, and Manhattan has an 80% full vaccination rate, I cannot deny that the lines of people getting tested, have been growing every day for a week, and now are wrapping around the block. The running of ambulances all day and night has started up again. Just about everyone is in a mask now on the street.

    Covid is back.

    Is it Delta, or Omicron?

    Who knows, but it is starting up again. And it is depressing and disheartening. New Yorkers had taken this thing serious. 70% to 80% was considered herd immunity, and we are there. Once more kids get vaxed, it looked like we were going to close in on 85% to 90%.

    But it feels like even if we do hit those numbers, it won’t stop people from getting sick.

    I have friends right now that are documenting their infection, and in one case reinfection of Covid.

    It has created a feeling malaise, and add that to the general oddness of this Christmas, and it makes a potent combination resignation going into 2022.

    I’m trying to stay upbeat, but a third year of a plague feels really awful. I wish I had a more creative way of saying it, but I have used up all the adjectives.

    It’s just awful.