Monday Musings - August 17, 2020

1. It is the third of five Mondays this month. The month is over one-half complete and September is rising on the horizon. Nighttime lows are dipping into the 60s.

2. The Orioles continue to have a winning record. The season is over one-third complete and the Orioles are 12-9. I never would have believed it. The lost a close game yesterday to the World Series Champion Nationals, but continue to be one of the better teams in the American League. 

3. Google is playing with the interface that I use to create this blog. It has resulted in uneven fonts and problems with the images. For the time being, I have reverted to the legacy software.

4. The rain made the lawn very wet. Hopefully the grass will grow thicker and more dense than it has been during other years at the time.

5. I have one newspaper delivered to me each week. I wondered this morning why it was in my neighbor's yard rather than my driveway. I almost did not notice it in the grass. Thankfully, it was double wrapped and dry. 

Rex
Odenton, MD
August 12, 2020

6. Check out the New York Times article below about how the Trump campaign is deceptively editing the words of their opponent to foster fear and misunderstanding. I have a new motto for our country: Make lying wrong again!

7. There is something about the way dogs look at us. Sometime, they just make us laugh. This is Rex, Patrick's dog. He just seems to look through us into our souls when we are near him. He is a cutie but all muscle. When he jumps to greet me, I have to be ready.

8. Chris and I went shopping for lamps yesterday. I can report that the retail establishments in this area are fully open and that everyone was observing physical distancing and wearing masks. Welcome to the new normal.

9. Today in History. On August 17, 1969, the grooviest event in music history–the Woodstock Music & Art Fair–draws to a close after three days of peace, love and rock ‘n’ roll in upstate New York. Conceived as “Three Days of Peace and Music,” Woodstock was a product of a partnership between John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and Michael Lang. Their idea was to make enough money from the event to build a recording studio near the arty New York town of Woodstock. When they couldn’t find an appropriate venue in the town itself, the promoters decided to hold the festival on a 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York—some 50 miles from Woodstock—owned by Max Yasgur.

Trump Says He is Considering Pardon for Leaker Edward Snowden - Reuters

Trump Ads Attack Biden Through Deceptive Editing and Hyperbole - The New York Times

Pelosi to Recall House for Postal Service VotePelosi to Recall House for Postal Service Vote - The New York Times

U.S. coronavirus death toll hits 170,000 ahead of fall flu season - Reuters 

Italy closes nightclubs as coronavirus cases rise among young - Reuters

‘A national crisis’: Millions of disconnected students are being left behind - The Washington Post

Al-Shabab gunmen storm a beachside hotel in the Somali capital, killing 10 - The Washington Post

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week


We need a rebirth of the American tradition of leadership at every level of government and in private life as well. The United States of America is unique in world history because it has a genius for leaders - many leaders - on many levels. But back in 1976, Mr. Carter said, "Trust me." And a lot of people did. And now, many of those people are out of work. Many have seen their savings eaten away by inflation. Many others on fixed incomes, especially the elderly, have watched helplessly as the cruel tax of inflation wasted away their purchasing power. And, today, a great many who trusted Mr. Carter wonder if we can survive the Carter policies of national defense. 

"Trust me" government asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man; that we trust him to do what's best for us. But my view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties. The trust is where it belongs-in the people. The responsibility to live up to that trust is where it belongs, in their elected leaders. That kind of relationship, between the people and their elected leaders, is a special kind of compact.
(Acceptance of the Republican Nomination for President, July 17, 1980)


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Rainy Sunday

The Deck on a Wet Sunday
Elkridge, MD
August 16, 2020

I was supposed to be out on a golf course this morning, but not! It is raining and the rain was predicted in time to cancel the tee time yesterday. If the courses are anything like my lawn, after nearly three solid days of drenching rain, I am sure it would have been a muddy round and not much fun. Slogging around a wet, muddy course getting covered with mud is not my idea of an exciting run of golf. And when the golf ball plugs instead of running out, it makes the course just that much longer.

And as it is, Sunday has arrived. It is wet and quiet outside. I was lucky enough to get the lawn mowed yesterday, so I can enjoy the rain without worrying about trying to cut the grass. I asm waiting for my weekly Sunday New York Times to arrive--hopefully it will be dry. I treat myself to one newspaper a week--in the print variety. It is amazing the articles I find that I don't see on the internet when I read the same paper. 

I can also get back into the coronavirus statistics--although they are not easy to understand. In the weekly trend statistics, as reported by the Washington Post, Maryland is showing 12 new cases per 100,000 residents; meaning that the state is unlikely to come off the New York quarantine list again this week. Florida showed a huge drop, but is still at 23. 

Well, I guess we will have to wait for another week to get off the list.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Upside-Down in the Constitution, Again

Establishment of the Post Office is a constitutional requirement--for the Congress! It is found in Article 1 Section 8. Failing to maintain the post office is yet another failing of the government.

The President should not interfere with the establishment and funding of the post office. It is out of his lane. 

I do not understand why The Congress is not telling the President to step aside and allow the funding of the Post Office as required by the Constitution. 

Apparently, we are upside-down again in the Constitution. 

Above the fold in The Washington Post this morning:

Trump’s assault on Postal Service gives Democrats a new campaign message

Trump Admits He’s Starving the Postal Service to Sabotage Voting by Mail - New York Magazine

Defunding the Post Office, in my mind, constitutes election tampering. So let's review the different entities reportedly engaged in tampering with the upcoming November election: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the President. Hmmmm--I wonder what these all have in common?

Are Americans willing to risk their health to vote in November? I dearly hope so.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Life in a Fish Tank

Cichlid Fish Tank
Odenton, MD
August 12, 2020

I visited my youngest son and his friends for dinner the other night. It was a great dinner and the discussion was fantastic as well. But, one of the major new changes in the house since my last visit was the relocation of his fish tank. 
I enjoyed looking at the tank and the fish. He collects cichlids. The tank is awesome and I snapped this one shot. 
Life in a fish tank! Sometimes that is how I feel. 
Life in a fish tank is not the peaceful placid existence that I like to think about. Fish are attacked by other fish and die. If disease gets into the tank, all of the fish can die. It would be akin to a pandemic. The owner of the tank is responsible for everything to keep the tank clean, healthy, and free of disease. 
I am glad that I do not live in a fish tank, but life under the pandemic has similarities. I just hope the people in charge start doing something to stem the spread of the virus, soon, before there entire tank dies.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Getting to Normal

Traffic on MD 295
August 11, 2020

 It happened on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway for the first time in months. I was caught in traffic. Slow moving, almost stopped traffic. 

I was returning home from an afternoon racquetball match when the traffic suddenly slowed to a crawl. I snapped this image as I was about to move under the Route 32 overpass. The slow traffic can be seen on both sides of the highway.

Being caught in traffic was an experience that I have not enjoyed since B.C. (before coronavirus). The traffic is a sure sign that the economy is reopening and people are going back to work, but the coronavirus continues to rage. At least in Maryland, the virus seems to be mostly under control through physical distancing and widespread use of facial coverings as reported on the Maryland COVID website. BTW--I still cannot figure out why 

I guess the traffic is a clear sign that some sense of normalcy is returning.  But traffic? Why did it have to be traffic?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Race is On

 

The announcement by the Democratic presumptive nominee, Joe Biden, yesterday of his running mate for sets the sides for the November election. 

Kamala Harris

After next week's Democratic convention, we will finally be able to drop the word presumptive when describing the Biden-Harris team.

For me, I was happy that there is at least someone in the field who is not an old white guy. Kamala Harris is 55 years old. I realize that Vice President Pence is also a youngster at 61 years old, and that is reassuring because both of the presumptive (yes, Trump is presumptive until the convention as well) presidential nominees are in their 70's.  

Well, as they say--the race is on. I can tell the race is heating up because the dirt is beginning to fly across the internet. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

I'd rather not be on the list

 Making the list sometimes is not good. 

Maryland is currently on New York's quarantine list! I think it was a mistake to include Maryland, which has been stable for weeks with only a small bump, on the quarantine list with Florida, Texas, and Arizona along with a large number of other states. 

New York has certainly posted some very impressive results in its quest to control coronavirus. I believe that they may have figured it out. 

But being on the list is a real problem especially since Chris and I have so much family in New York. While we are not precluded from visiting family in New York, we are required to quarantine when we arrive which effectively means no activity away from the residence. 

Here is the guidance from New York State regarding a short term visit with family:

I am a resident of a designated state and will be visiting family in NYS for less than 14 days. Will I have to quarantine in NYS for the full 14 days?

While in New York State, you will need to maintain quarantine for 14 days from the last day you were in a designated state(s). If you are in New York State for less than 14 days, you will need to quarantine for the entire time you are in New York and, to protect the public wherever you are, you should complete the remainder of the 14-day period quarantine period in your home upon return to a designated state.

It means that, in my case, no visits to wineries to stock up on fantastic New York white wines or anything else. While I understand the requrement. Maryland never exceeded the 10 cases per 10,000 residents prescribed to be on the list. Maryland has consistently been below 5 cases per 10,000, so inclusion on the list was seemingly arbitrary. 

Sometimes it just is a pain to make the list.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - August 10, 2020

1. The month is racing past. This is the second Monday of August 2020. There are five Mondays this month!

2. The Orioles have through some magic achieved a .500 record for the year and were thwarted by the Nationals yesterday in achieving a winning record due to the ineptitude of the grounds crew to install the tarp on the field. Believe it or not--had the game been stopped in the same place because of rain--it would be a win for the Orioles. As it is, the game was suspended and will be continued on Friday night. The Orioles are tied for 6th place in the American League with two other teams.

3. Chris and I spent Saturday with friends at a Virginia winery--and it was fantastic. We are beginning to get out and do some of the things we enjoyed B.C. It is not hard to do if we are conscious of physical distancing and respectful of others. 

4. Florida is in sight! We have selected dates for our first trip to the Sunshine State of 2020! This will be the second planned trip of the year. We canceled the first due to coronavirus. 

5. We have received enough rain of late that the lawn is continuing to grow despite the heat. Usually about this time of year I can mow on a biweekly schedule--but not this year. 

6. The last presidential primary of 2020 occurs on Tuesday--Connecticut. After that, next week, the Democratic Convention and we will be finally in the run to the election on November 3rd.  This all started almost two years ago. If they are always running for office, when do our political leaders ever do real work? 

7. Here is hoping that the COVID-19 numbers begin to show improvement this week. 

8. Does anyone else find it weird that the nation's two largest foreign competitors (China and Russia) cannot agree on who should be the next president? They are as confused as our allies.

9. Today in History. After a decade of debate about how best to spend a bequest left to America from an obscure English scientist, President James K. Polk signs the Smithsonian Institution Act into law on this day in 1846. In 1829, James Smithson died in Italy, leaving behind a will with a peculiar footnote. In the event that his only nephew died without any heirs, Smithson decreed that the whole of his estate would go to “the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Smithson’s curious bequest to a country that he had never visited aroused significant attention on both sides of the Atlantic.

‘Christianity Will Have Power’: The Pledge That Bonded Trump to Evangelicals - The New York Times

Scenes From a Biker Rally, Undaunted by the Virus - The New York Times

Millennials Slammed by Second Financial Crisis Fall Even Further Behind - The Wall Street Journal

U.S. National Security Adviser Says China Targeting 2020 Election - The Wall Street Journal

Chaos coast to coast as plans change and a school year like no other launches - The Washington Post

5.1-magnitude earthquake strikes North Carolina, is felt hundreds of miles away - The Washington Post

Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under security law - Reuters

'Holy warrior' selfies: Pakistan teen feted for killing U.S. blasphemy suspect - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

History tells us that 56 men signed the original Declaration of Independence in '76, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. By the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, some had given their lives, most had given their fortunes, but all had preserved their honor.

We Americans today are not often asked to make such sacrifices. Most never have known the kind of winter that our forefathers suffered through at Valley Forge. Nevertheless, it will take new determination, new resolve, to preserve the treasures of our Revolution.

We live in a precarious world threatened by totalitarian forces who seek to subvert and destroy freedom. The peace we enjoy is maintained only by our strength and resolve, and it's our duty to fortify both.

Remarks on Signing a Proclamation Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the British Surrender at Yorktown, Virginia September 14, 1981

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

It Doesn't Seem so Long Ago

Happy Anniversary

This morning, as I sit here in the chair where I write most of my blogs, I am looking at a dozen long-stemmed yellow roses and the card that I gave to my bride to celebrate our anniversary.

It is a BIG one--one of the ones that end in a "5" or a "0" which always have special significance. 

We should be on a cruise somewhere exotic to celebrate the four-and-a-half decades of married life that has seen us live in nine states and overseas in Germany. But, as we are all too painfully aware, the coronavirus is running unchecked through the U.S. and none of the cruise lines are operating. So we will hold the trip in abeyance until a more appropriate time. 

On this day, and it doesn't really seem so long ago, two kids got together in a church with family and friends and started a marriage that grew into a family. 

Over the years the family has grown with the addition of children and then spouses, and grandchildren and close friends who have crossed over from being friends to family. We have seen some of the members leave and others arrive--but that is the way of life. Most importantly, however, we are fortunate that our family is close. 

During these past decades, we have learned that the Richard Bach statement about family is true. And we cherish and welcome each family member regardless of their parentage.

And, as they say, it is all because a girl met a boy!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Something had to be said

Yesterday I wrote about the unfounded libelous statements that the president uttered at a rally.

By not responding in kind, the target of those statements, Joe Biden, took the moral highroad--something which we have not seen often lately. It seems that our leaders have lost civility. For some reason verbal exchanges are usually laced with invectives.

And so, I was encouraged yesterday when I read how the Democratic presumptive nominee responded to the despicable remarks made about him. His eloquent response gives me hope that should he be elected some measure of honor and civility will be restored to the Office of the President and also to our nation.

We should not elect people to office solely on their words or phrases, but understanding the difference between fact and fiction, real and imagined, and then being compassionate for the people of our great nation certainly is a good start.

Here is the response that Joe Biden made to the president's allegations:

"Like so many people, my faith has been the bedrock foundation of my life: it's provided me comfort in moments of loss and tragedy, it's kept me grounded and humbled in times of triumph and joy. And in this moment of darkness for our country — of pain, of division, and of sickness for so many Americans — my faith has been a guiding light for me and a constant reminder of the fundamental dignity and humanity that God has bestowed upon all of us," Biden said.

"For President Trump to attack my faith is shameful. It's beneath the office he holds and it's beneath the dignity the American people so rightly expect and deserve from their leaders," he added. (Biden calls Trump's 'hurt God' attack 'shameful' - CNN)

It is important to take a deeper look at some of what the president said in his remarks. One allegation that caught my attention was "Hurt the bible, hurt God."  Only a person who uses the Bible for decoration would say something like that about another person. It is an allegation with eternal consequences. And why did the Second Amendment to the Constitution come up again? Is it because the president still believes that only people excising their Second Amendment rights have First Amendment rights? 

Yet, these inflammatory statements resound with many in the electorate. I do not approve of thuggish untruths. But, apparently that is just me.

Something had to be said and something needs to be done--in November!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD