R.I.P Eddie Van Halen (1955-2020)

Tragic loss to music and his family.

Rest in Peace Eddie...your talent and music touched millions around the world.
You will be missed.

Rick Beato's live memorial for EVH...

Tonight I lift a glass on high and toast the universal karma...

My daily prayers are one large step closer to coming to fruition.
May COVID-19 ravage that asshat with the full force of every one of the nearly 210,000 dead Americans he has contributed to and sullied their memories.

He OWES more than money, and I want to see the bill collected - in full.
I do not want a recovery for him, I want a full blown infection and progression.

I want video of him being wheeled out of 1600 and airlifted to Bethesda, a sickly shade of purple instead of unholy orange.

May karma ever be minded because when she comes, she comes with force.

So what is Trump going to do when he loses same day voting as well as mail-in?

His gambit right now is obvious - he believes that he will have a lead on election night in votes cast and counted on Nov. 3rd. He then plans to claim all votes NOT counted by sometime on the 4th (presumably he does not plan to wait until much past Alaska and Hawaii closing their polls? It's not really clear now, but most of the rest is...) are somehow illegitimate and should NOT be counted, thus suing his way to the Supreme Court and a 6-3 partisan ruling installing him for a second term.

The pure lunacy of that is obvious after more than 30 seconds of reflection, but that is not stopping him from promoting it as his "strategy", now obviously since he stopped campaigning FOR the Presidency and is just actively torpedoing everything in sight now in an attempt to bring down the entire voting system at all.

But this all hinges on him actually winning in same-day totals and that is far from a sure thing at any rate. So what does he do when he finds out that not only do people hate his guts, but that are voting him out of office and into prison?

I hope he takes the coward's way out...

So, I guess social distancing and COVID-19 are officially "no big deal" now?

Before I get completely flamed for being insufficiently sympathetic or understanding of the underlying injustice and hate that drives this behavior...

1) The FOUR (4) officers should be charged and await trial in a cell. That was murder on tape and disregard for human life, period.
2) NOTHING excuses the actions of the officers OR the looters. Not "resisting arrest", not very real oppression. Nothing.
3) Systemic racism is REAL and has been for a very, very long time. This is beyond debate.

BUT...why has everyone suddenly 'moved on' from the pandemic and the risks and dangers of these mass protests and marches?
A month ago, no one could go to the store without fear of COVID-19...now? Its riot and protest season? It makes no consistent sense...the danger is/was real or it was not...pent up frustration and legitimate anger not withstanding.

I am seeing "protest rallies" on CNN from major cities with hundreds of people on top of each other, chanting, breathing the same air (and tear gas and pepper spray from the pigs) without any seeming recognition of the fact that there is STILL an active pandemic, that their actions are serious risk to viral outbreaks and then more death and devastation

So is that it?
Have we just collectively decided to shrug, sacrifice the old and the weak and put everyone on god's good humor if they contract?
The virus is highly contagious and opportunistic at spreading...it also does not make many people whi contract it sick enough to even know they are shedding virus and making the death of an innocent 'other' more likely...

FULL DISCLOSURE - I am a hypertensive diabetic with a history of renal cell carcinoma (remission for 11 years...but lost 1/2 a kidney to the disease)... COVID-19 for me is a 50-50 coin flip to live or die, so its obviously personal to me in ways that many who are angry and oppressed and right to feel aggrieved and desiring to lash out in rage...but the media has not mentioned this ONCE - on three channels over HOURS of coverage last night and today...

At some point there are real world consequences to this disregard of real risk...this is also an issue that conservatives and the GOP will be sure to point out in short order...."see...those damn libtards just hate America, when there was no riot or looting, they wanted masks and distances and fear, but as soon as the riots started, the concern for health was NEVER mentioned..."

If you thought last week that the pandemic was a legitimate concern, then why is everyone suddenly silent about it for the last 6 days?

Hey Lincoln Project....here's an idea for you to use, free of charge!

Start running a series of ads and online memes calling the pandemic and economic collapse the Trumpocalypse.

Put it on billboards, buses and signs across the country.
Pay farmers to put those interstate signs up that spell out the message for MILES...

Get planes to circle cities with air-banners...
Go on TV shows and pimp out the term...

Make it omnipresent...and then get President Obama to say it a few times.

Trump will fucking implode with rage and hopefully horror.

This has been stuck in my head for days...(MCR)

My Chemical Romance
Welcome to the Black Parade

I was never a big fan of theirs back in the 2000-2012-ish era, but right now, I feel the need to put a fist in the fucking air and just emote...

When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten, and the damned?"

He said, "Will you defeat them
Your demons and all the non-believers?
The plans that they have made?
Because one day, I'll leave you
A phantom to lead you in the summer
To join the black parade"

Sometimes I get the feelin'
She's watchin' over me
And other times I feel like I should go
And through it all, the rise and fall
The bodies in the streets
And when you're gone, we want you all to know

We'll carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And in my heart, I can't contain it
The anthem won't explain it

A world that sends you reeling
From decimated dreams
Your misery and hate will kill us all
So paint it black and take it back
Let's shout it loud and clear
Defiant to the end, we hear the call

To carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches on

Do or die, you'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Go and try, you'll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part
I won't explain or say I'm sorry
I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scars
Give a cheer for all the broken
Listen here, because it's who we are
I'm just a man, I'm not a hero
Just a boy, who had to sing this song
I'm just a man, I'm not a hero

Had a long conversation with my dad last night...

He is 77 years old and in relatively good health compared to my mother, who at 75 has been a 6 time cancer survivor over the past 17 years. They are traveling / fleeing Florida to return to our family home in Indiana off of Lake Michigan. They are literally going from the frying pan in Florida to the fire between Detroit on the east and Chicago on the west and running the gauntlet of FL, GA, TN, KY and IN to get there.

My mom is too scared to stay in Florida. She is having panic attacks and despite near total social isolation since February, she is convinced she is going to die from this and doesn't want to do so away from 'home'. My sister and I begged them to stay put, to not take the risk of travelling cross-country at this time...but they would not be dissuaded. They're on the road now and we're terrified for them...I hope they manage to pull this off, but I fear I will lose them both this year because of their insistence and Trump's malfeasance.

What got me and dad to taking though was Dr. Jonas Salk and the release of the polio vaccine in 1955-1957. Like all children of that era, my mom and dad grew up in constant fear of contracting polio. It terrified my grandmother constantly that my dad would come down with polio, to the point that it gave her nightmares whenever a local case was reported.

That terror, for YEARS and DECADES, of living in fear of a virus was what he was thinking about now. He vividly described the relief that not only he and his friends felt when the vaccine was released and then perfected, but also the relief it brought to my grandmother. We lost grandma 3 years ago this June at the age of 96, although dementia and other maladies had really taken her from us much sooner. But I could not help but be moved to tears talking with my father about his mother and the relief that a vaccine had brought to them so many years ago.

I am scared to lose dad and mom, even though I know that there are fewer days ahead for me to be able to share with them then there are days in the rear-view mirror now...but it filled me with love and despite my fears and the current situation and the darkness all around us, it also reminded me to stop and appreciate the things I still have access to now - my parents, even at advancing ages; my family, my wife and my siblings.

Closing this rambling missive, all I can say is that we all can benefit from introspection and reaching out to loved ones now more than ever...remembering times long past, reliefs and triumphs, anxieties and comforts...is what makes life have meaning for us all.

Be safe. Be well. And remember to tell those you love that they matter to you and that their contributions to your life are cherished memories too. We may not have the chance 'later' and this tragedy is at least a reminder to never pass up the chances we do have...ever.

I thought that Sandy Hook would be the worst thing I would witness...

And today I see the threads about the Assisted Living Center in New Jersey and photos of the infected and assumed infected and I hear stories from all angles about how "America NEEDS to get back to work" and "Open for business" and "Controlled Infections" and I am in the same level of despondence as I was that day.

Then, I was the father of a then-6 year old who was the same age as many who were slain at Sandy Hook, and my heart was ripped from my chest and the sucking wound has never really healed...now my little girl is becoming a young woman and I am reminded DAILY how much of a shot to the nation's soul that horror was...

Today, those residents are the same age as my parents, and my parents are not yet in assisted living, but are on a path to require such care in the coming months or years (if we all survive this)...I see assholes like Hannity, Beck and Patrick saying things like 'they should die glad to die for the economy' and I want to rip their throats out...

WTF happened to America in the last 20 years? How did we ever get to this low point, this catastrophe, this void of leadership?

I'm sorry, but my depression is really settling in and overwhelming me right now...I can't see how this country EVER recovers or becomes better than it was once, and we're a long, long way from even breaking even again.

This CAN'T be how things like life and death and family and aging are discussed and dealt with - in naked $ and cents figures, as if we are all just entries on a ledger and someone needs us and our families to go so their 'value' can increase?

I want to hug those obviously traumatized residents and workers and the worst thing is not only can I not do so, they can't get hugs from anyone in that scenario.

This can't be real...it just can't be.

Sick of the GOP talking points on everything, but this one REALLY grinds my gears...

This idea that "the cure can't be worse than the disease"...I want to choke the motherfuckers that are running around parroting this as if it were humane or anything but a monstrous clarion call to place profits over people forever.

I swear to god, the next time a Republican hypocrite even TRIES to utter the phrase "pro-life" NEAR me, there is going to be a jaw broken and it won't be mine. They can ram that line of bullshit straight up their ass, through their intestines, into their stomachs and right out their filthy fucking hypocrite mouths.

Pro-Life? FUCK YOU, you anti-women, anti-elders, pro-profit pieces of shit. Seriously, FUCK. YOU.

Wait...you mean the house of cards economy, built on the backs of labor is soft?

NO WAY, BILL!!!

YES WAY, TED!!!



The facts are that no one knows what to do in this situation because no one is asking or considering the right questions. IF you're goal is to temporarily stabilize the status quo system in the hopes of returning to "business as usual" soon, then the correct things to do are to:

1) freeze all foreclosures and simply add on an extra month of payments or restitution for the number of months of protection/stagnation this requires; keep people in homes, keep businesses in place and keep from a destructive momentum that would wipe out jobs, businesses and local economies simply to grant landlords the titles and restitution in the face of this disaster. During this time landlords and debt holders could be provided with principal payments, but would have to forego interest payments until the economy is restarted...we're trying to keep people and businesses WHOLE, not ENGORGED or MAXIMALLY PROFITABLE...

2) provide direct financial assistance to the public only when it is done as a pass-through for wage replacement on a sliding scale that basically provides all workers (and bosses and owners) Federal Minimum Wage benefits for the duration of the shut down...I'm sure many people would be wishing that $15/hr. minimum had gone through, but we can put a floor under people, not necessarily the entire structure though...

3) Criminalize ANY profiteering, price gouging, or stock buy back style executive enrichment during this time AND for the immediate 6 months after the crisis abates...those at the top are going to have to share in the pain of those at the bottom if we want to retain a civilized society and not fall into a totalitarian nightmare or dystopian anarchy in many areas. This is being bandied about as a 'war footing', well war profiteering was one of the ugliest charges a person could face in the 1940's, so it should be treated the same here and now...

4) Food distribution and the food preparation and delivery system should be prioritized to kick in as soon as the need becomes overwhelming...like now or next week at the latest; one of the ways to help people in this time of need is to eliminate the worry of where the next meal is coming from...keeping people from being overcome by fear is a great challenge, but keeping HUNGRY people from mob violence and social disintegration is even harder still. I have heard literally NOTHING about this challenge from anyone in Congress or the office of POTUS or the media for that matter...this is a major oversight and needs to be addressed ASAP...

5) Medical care for non-COVID19 patients...if nothing else, this crisis is shining a very ugly spotlight on the shortcomings of the medical system in the USA - the "best in the world"...supplies are critically under stocked and under produced to pretend like they are any other commodity unit in a business warehouse textbook. You cannot have the 'best in the world' ANYTHING without the 'Best in the World PLANS and CONTINGENCIES"...nurses, practitioners, aides and staff are being run through a wringer right now because admins and bean counters values PROFITS over PEOPLE (not solely their fault...it is endemic to the entire economic system). Without a massive allocation of resources to these hospitals and clinics and offices, there will be suffering and deaths and a ripple effect through the overall economy and society.

And that's just to duct-tape this whole thing together long enough to GET TO THE NEXT PHASE - rebuilding a NEW economy from the ashes of this one... This idea that Trump (or ANYONE) could simply decree that things go 'back to normal' ignores the very reason this thing is as bad as it is - FEAR. Yelling at a scared animal is not going to make them do what you want them to...and demanding that "the economy be restarted" is not something the President can make happen...open the doors? Maybe...get people to gladly risk infection for the profits of someone else? Doubtful...

This is an opportunity for bold proposals and policy ideas to come forth and to redesign a new economy for Q3-2020 and beyond, a new start on how governments, people and businesses SHOULD interact and staff and stock; as well as a thorough review of the impacts of this on the current economy to enhance building a new one from its ashes. Anyone else holding their breath waiting for THAT outcome? Didn't think so....