Monday Musings - March 23, 2020

1. It is the beginning of the second week of coronavirus lockdowns and closures. It is also the next-to-last Monday of March. 

2. We must continue to have faith in others and ourselves to do the right things to help stem the rise in COBID-19 cases. 

Lake Bogoria, Kenya, is a Flamingo paradise
 with the largest population
 of Flamingos on earth.

3. My sister sent me the picture at the right containing a myriad of flamingos, just to brighten my day. Yes, for some reason I love flamingos they are pink and they wear it well. 

4. Being home is a good time to get the spring cleaning projects accomplished. Especially while the weather is good. Chris and I cleaned the garage!  

5. I was happy to fly Radio Flyer, my drone, last week  when the weather was especially nice. I enjoy slipping the surly bonds of earth, even of only vicariously in my drone. 

6. I especially want to point readers to the first two items under headlines--they are especially significant articles. The second one was written by John Meacham. 

7. Be safe and well during this period of concern about the spread of COVID-19. Don't do dumb things!

8. Today in History. On March 23, 1839, the initials “O.K.” are first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for “oll korrect,” a popular slang misspelling of “all correct” at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans.

During the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice among younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them and use them as slang when talking to one another. Just as teenagers today have their own slang based on distortions of common words, such as “kewl” for “cool” or “DZ” for “these,” the “in crowd” of the 1830s had a whole host of slang terms they abbreviated. Popular abbreviations included “KY” for “No use” (“know yuse”), “KG” for “No go” (“Know go”), and “OW” for all right (“oll wright”).

Headlines

No Empathy, Only Anger - The Atlantic

We Can’t Let Coronavirus Postpone Elections - The New York Times

The U.S. shut down its economy. Here’s what needs to happen to restart it. - The New York Times

Venezuela prohibits company layoffs and suspends credit collections over coronavirus - Reuters

Dollar surges on funding crunch as virus roils global equities - Reuters

Senate fails to advance $1.4T coronavirus emergency package - OANN

US senators accused of coronavirus insider trading are a symbol of moral bankruptcy - The Guardian

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

One of the oldest truths in the world is that nothing worth having is cheap. And many times, the greater the good, the higher its cost. Keeping America free has cost us dearly over the centuries. Since 1776 we as a nation have lost thousands of lives and suffered thousands of injuries to guarantee our freedom. Preserving the peace also requires the daily toil of millions of men and women who, without fanfare and glory, serve to protect our freedom and security.

The men and women in our armed services are our final protection against those who wish us ill. The soldier, the sailor, the airman, and the marine in the United States and around the world are the ultimate guardians of our freedom to say what we think, go where we will, choose who we want for our leaders, and pray as we wish.

It is sad that these rights, which should belong to all people, are not fully enjoyed by most of the human family. It is sadder still that some in the world view such freedom as a threat to their right to rule over their fellow citizens, and so long as that's true, we can't afford to take our freedom for granted. It cannot survive without protection.

-- Radio Address to the Nation on Armed Forces Day, May 15, 1982

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD