Tag: news (Page 2 of 9)

Covid Chronicles, 3/25

March 25, 2020 / DB

I find myself bouncing between hope and despair quite often these days. The numbers from Italy and Spain are so staggering, and our country’s reaction so inept, that it is difficult not to live in great fear of what comes next. But I also know that despite all the issues we have had in preparing for this, America tends to do pretty well at crisis once we can get moving in the right direction. We have tons of amazing scientists working on the problem. The best pharmaceutical, bio-tech, and straight tech companies in the history of man are focused on finding solutions. Whole swaths of our manufacturing base will eventually pivot to fight this. I’m not much for prayer, but I do pray that we get our big, American machine cranked up in time to make a difference.

Indiana officially entered lockdown today. I chuckled to hear that beauty salons were absolutely packed up until midnight last night. I say that because S had her monthly hair check-in a week ago and was thrilled that she got in before things shut down. Especially since she had to film a video for her health network.

We are letting M and C color their hair. I’m not sure what they picked but I know orders have been placed and packages are en route. I’m kind of excited to see what they picked. L wasn’t interested but did ask if she could do a mohawk or something. We think she was kidding but we said absolutely not.

I’ve noticed significantly less traffic on the main road outside our house today, so perhaps people are taking the shut down seriously.

I went out for groceries first thing Tuesday and although it was just before 7:00, it was still strange for there to be so little traffic. It felt more like a Sunday morning.

No issues at the grocery store. I got 90% of what I needed, but that was also because I went to a bigger grocery store a few miles away instead of the ones closer to our house. I did my shopping in 30 minutes or so then got in line. There was a single line for all registers, even the self-check out ones, that stretched about halfway through the store. It took me a little over half an hour to finally reach the register, which wasn’t terrible. People were being polite, although there was very little interaction. I tried to smile and say excuse me to everyone, but most people would mutter something back and not make eye contact.

The entire time I was in the store I kept thinking, “I hope I don’t pick up any germs while I’m here.” I’m not normally a germaphobe but I think we all are now.

I had a little tickle in my throat last week that seemed to go away quickly. Except for there was always a little hint of pain still there, like that warning you get a few days before a cold. I wondered if I was really fighting something off or if it was just nerves. Yesterday I was a little sneezy and my throat began hurting again. Today, fine. Never any Covid-specific symptoms. As bad as spring colds can be, it’s kind of funny that you are relieved if you begin exhibiting signs that are more cold-related. “Sneezing, itchy eyes, sinus headache? Thank goodness!”

A couple times I’ve tried to write about the economic impact of all this. It always ends up being too daunting, though. Because the fact is our economy is fucked, and fucked real good. I like to think that whenever this ends, society will pick right back up and get moving again. I realize that’s pretty naive, though. It is going to be very difficult to get all the gears of the economy turning again, and large swaths of the world will be affected by this for a long time. I also think about these billions and trillions we will be spending in the coming months and wonder where those dollars come from. Eventually we have to pay the bills which is a whole other level of crap to dump on an economy that is attempting to restart.

So from that perspective I have an understanding of what people who are arguing that we shouldn’t kill the economy to kill the virus are getting at. There are likely some ways to split the difference, as South Korea has done, but our country does not seem prepared or willing to take the steps required to pull off that balancing act.

And I, too, have been disheartened by those graphs that show how controlling the coronavirus now likely means another spike or two later this year. Our sacrifices now seem futile if we may have to scurry inside again in six months.

But these people who continue to argue that we should be back to normal in two weeks are utterly insane. Their comparisons to how the seasonal flu, car accidents, etc do not interrupt the economy are so insulting and infuriating. Yes, tens of thousands of people die from the flu every year. BUT NOT ALL AT ONCE. Hospitals aren’t so overrun with flu victims that they can’t see the “normal” sick and injured people.

I am fed up with being stuck in the house. And it’s not been two weeks yet. I get queasy when I look at our retirement accounts. I’m sad that we’ve already cancelled one trip and may end up having to cancel another one later this year. I fear the long-term effects this disruption is going to have on the economy, my kids’ education, my wife’s career, and society as a whole.

But, fuck, look at what is happening in Europe, what is beginning to happen in the US, and realize this is just the beginning, and tell me saving tens of millions of people isn’t worth whatever it costs.

Our political leaders have an impossible task. I trust the ones who are speaking to us honestly, who are focused on keeping as many people healthy as possible, and who understand that while it will be an immense challenge to come back from this, we can’t be measured in response to our immediate threats for fear of what comes after.

Covid Chronicles, 3/17

March 17, 2020 / DB

The strangeness continues.

My last trip to the gym was last Wednesday. Thursday and Friday I was too busy being glued to the TV to run across the street to get a workout in. By Saturday I thought it best to avoid the gym. You can see my gym’s parking lot from our house, and over the past five days I’ve watched the crowds there get smaller each day. I have a friend who is a workout fiend and I still saw her car over there yesterday.

Doesn’t matter anymore, as all gyms have closed down as of this morning. We have a bench, some weights, and a treadmill in the basement, so I can still do some modified workouts. I can’t run much anymore, though, so I fear not having access to the elliptical machines will mean some of the 10 pounds I’ve lost since Christmas will return.

I do most of my podcast listening at the gym, so I’ve fallen behind. It’s been very odd to listen to podcasts that were recorded last Monday and Tuesday, when the market was beginning to crater and everything else was still hypothetical. They are a reminder of how quickly events spiraled and how long a week can feel.

I’ve been listening to the new bulletins on the BBC World Service a lot. I enjoy their more neutral, relaxed approach to the news. The BBC is also good for getting a broader perspective, as they often place developments in Europe ahead of the latest US news.

Last night I was listening to a bulletin and L walked through the room, heard voices coming out of my iPad but saw a black screen, and gave me a strange look. When the news summary ended she asked, “How does that work?” I explained that it was a radio broadcast that I was streaming. “Oh, I thought the news was just on TV.”

My mind was blown.

As I shared yesterday, C had an ortho appointment. We drove up to the office, walked in, she went to the computer to check in and the ladies at the desk asked if they could help us. Which they never do. “Uh oh,” I thought.

I told them C had an appointment and they apologized and said they had cancelled all visits, I should have received a call. I didn’t remember my phone ringing but as we re-booked I checked. Nope, no call, no voice mails.

As we left we tried to pull up the Panera menu to place a carry-out order, but the site refused to load. In fact no website was working and my email wasn’t loading. I powered my phone off, let it sit for a moment, and powered back on. Once it came online up popped a voice mail the ortho office left an hour earlier. Crap.

It looks like all the Colorado resorts shut down for the season today, which should make it easier to get refunds for everything we reserved. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not all that important. But it is one less thing to stress about.

I think the girls are already bored. L knocked out almost all of her assignments for the week today. M is whining about not being able to see her friends. It has been hard not to share every new development with them. We try to be honest and help them to understand what is happening. But I am feeling bad when each day brings some new disappointment to share. Today I’m struggling with how to share the possibility that this may go on much longer than people are currently expecting. Wiping out spring break was disappointing enough. We have a very big trip scheduled for late July, and based on some charts I’m seeing, I’m starting to believe it is in real jeopardy. I don’t even want to mention that to the girls yet, but at some point we may have to share that possibility.

Why China?

March 15, 2020 / DB

I thought this was a very informative video. I’ve heard many people, including some of our girls’ teachers, share explanations for why diseases often come from Asia that just seemed wrong. This explains why the jump from wildlife to humans so often takes place in Asia.

Corona Chronicles

March 13, 2020 / DB

And then life got even crazier…

I suppose this is the second in what will be an on-going series sharing my thoughts and observations on the most insane era of my lifetime.

I’ll work a little out of order to get caught up.

First, my girls are all out of school. Cathedral was scheduled to be off today for the St. Patrick’s Day parade.[1] The parade was cancelled so it’s just a day off for high schoolers. They were told at the end of the day yesterday that school was closing and all activities would be cancelled until at least April 14. They will begin an eLearning schedule on Monday and will be expected to be online to “meet” with their classes during normal school hours. M was sad that she won’t get a chance to play tennis, but was sadder for all the seniors who are missing out on their final seasons of spring sports. She said there were a lot of tears from seniors and their coaches as campus shut down.

A few hours later all Marion County public schools were ordered closed beginning today. The archdioceses quickly followed and St. P’s has suspended classes until April 6 at the earliest. I took C and L into school this morning to get all their books, check out C’s iPad, and grad a few assignments from their teachers. They also begin eLearning Monday.

As with everything else that has happened over the past three days, this was not a surprise. But for it to actually happen is absolutely surreal. As we walked through school today parents were all giving each other looks like “Can you believe this is happening?”

Thursdays are a meeting day for S, and she spent literally all of yesterday on the phone, bouncing from one conference call to the next as her health system raced to get policies and contingencies in place. It was a very stressful day for her.

She had been adamant as late as Wednesday that we were still going on spring break. But as the country shuts down that seems less realistic. Her employer is encouraging physicians to cancel plans so they don’t get exposed and put into quarantine in another state/country and not be able to see patients. They can get exposed/quarantined just as easily here but I guess they would prefer it happen closer to home. One of the girls cried when we told them spring break was in jeopardy.

With the girls home and S and I agreeing we should do our best to avoid eating out for awhile, I decided to rush out to the grocery store first thing this morning to make sure we could get through the weekend. I was not the only person with this idea. At 8:30 AM it was the busiest I’ve ever seen my grocery store outside the holiday rushes. The lady who rang me up said the place was a madhouse when they opened at 6:00. The store reflected that: there was almost no lunch meat or cheese, the fresh fruits and vegetables were well picked over. It was strange, though. For every section that was wiped out, there would be another section that had plenty to choose from. We normally drink 1% milk, and it was completely gone. The whole milk was getting scarce. But the skim section was completely full. Good luck finding a frozen pizza.

I saw a lot of people doing what I was doing, securing food for a few days and maybe throwing a little extra in. I grabbed a few extras on proteins that were on sale to freeze. But there were some folks who were panic shopping. One couple had two carts jammed full of food. And I did see one man with a cart that was full of toilet paper, which I found both humorous and sad.

It took me about 15 minutes to get through the line to pay. People were being polite and calm. It could have been a far worse experience.

There’s no evidence that the food supply chain is in any danger. You can never know for sure what is going to happen, but I’m confident while grocery trips may be a little more stressful for awhile, none of us should worry about losing access to food.

Onto sports.

Again, we knew it was coming, but when the NCAA tournament got scrapped I got a little emotional. Some of that was personal and stupid: I felt cheated that this KU team doesn’t get to see what their tournament fortunes held. This was going to be the third, maybe fourth time in my life that KU went into the tournament as the betting favorite.[2] Those teams all came up short. Would this team have been different? I feel worst for Udoka Azubuike, who stayed healthy all season and now doesn’t get to go out on his terms. I’m sad we will likely not see Devon Dotson play for KU again.

But there was also plenty of macro-level sadness. The NCAA tournament, for as often as it floors me, is my favorite event in all of sports. There is nothing like watching basketball all day with that hint of spring in the air. There is nothing like your favorite team making a run over three weeks. And now it’s all gone.

I hoped the NCAA could find a way to simply postpone the tournament and play it later, but I understand why that was an unrealistic hope. Forget all the logistics of gaining access to arenas, blocks of hotel rooms, etc. We don’t know when it will be safe to have large groups traveling across the country again. Even if we knew they could play the tournament in three weeks, how do teams get back in game shape without playing any games?

It’s for the best, even if I hate it. I had this fear that if they continued with empty arenas, important players would start getting sick and that would ruin the tournament, likely forcing a cancellation after games had begun. Or what if they made it to the Final Four and suddenly half of one team was symptomatic and locked down?

Every other sport shutting down is just an extra kick in the nads. I guess we’ll all be streaming a lot of TV for awhile. I made a run to the library today to grab an extra stack of books. Just as I was parking I got an email from the library saying all events it hosted were cancelled. It would not surprise me if most libraries either close or begin limiting their hours soon, thus my trip.

And so begins the strangest chapter in world history of our lives. I think we’ve jumped past 9/11. The entire world is shutting down. All the evidence is that this will pass in weeks, maybe months, and the massive majority of us will emerge unscathed. If it keeps our hospitals open, our healthcare workers functioning, and reduces infections and deaths, it will all be worth it.

I know, right? ↩
1. 2010, and maybe 1986. The 2016 team was the #1 overall seed but that was in a year when there was a big group of good teams at the top. They were just the top team that had lost the least recently to nab the #1 seed.

A Wild-Ass Day

March 12, 2020 / DB

Below are some collected thoughts on what is going on with COVID–19. I’m not going to promise they are coherent or all that intelligent. I’m trying to get them into text and online quickly, so I may contradict myself or miss some glaring flaws in logic. My apologies if it goes off the rails anywhere.

Wednesday was the craziest damn day I can remember since, perhaps, September 11, 2001. While the causes and immediate effects of each day were dramatically different, both are ones that will be seared into my memory.

Yesterday it seemed like each refresh of a news page or check of Twitter brought about some new story about COVID–19 that made me say “WOW!” and immediately share it with others.

There was the morning official declaration of a global pandemic by the WHO.

There was the news that the Congressional doctor warned staffers to expect over 100 million Americans to contract the virus.

There was news that the White House was locking down all COVID-related briefings.

That was before lunch.

When I picked up the girls from school M told me CHS had begun preparing students for classes to be postponed without really saying that was a possibility. They were downloading apps that would assist in eLearning, getting kids who need food assistance signed up for food delivery, and otherwise gently nudging kids so they would be ready for a change in school access.

The girls and I had a long conversation on our ride home about what was going on. They had some slightly crazy thoughts, but for the most part were on the right track. We’ve had several discussions about COVID in recent days and I did my best to reiterate what we’ve been saying: we are unlikely to face any life-threatening complications from COVID. However, we are almost certain to come into contact with the virus, if we haven’t already, and could face a range of uncomfortable complications from that contact. If their schools get closed it was more about keeping people like their grandparents and newborn cousins from getting sick than about our health.

In the afternoon and evening came two more huge waves of news.

The Big 12 and other conferences announced they would lock down their basketball tournaments beginning today.

The Ivy League cancelled all spring sports.

Two private high schools on our side of town announced they were closing until mid-April (These are super expensive, non-religious schools, so I’m guessing they have multiple week spring breaks so families can go to Geneva or Nepal or wherever, so this halt likely only knocks out a couple weeks of class).

The NCAA first announced that they were recommending all sports be played without fans in attendance. Moments later its president announced that he was locking out the public from the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

That was the first “Oh shit, this is getting real!” moment of the day. But not the last.

Later in the evening I was making a final run through Twitter before I settled into a book when the NBA decided to go crazy. First, the game between the Jazz and Thunder had been abruptly cancelled seconds before it started. Then word that Jazz center Rudy Gobert had tested positive. Finally the biggest bombshell of the day: the NBA was suspending the season. I flipped over to watch the surreal fourth quarter of the Nuggets-Mavericks game, what would be the last NBA game played for awhile.

In the midst of this, the president was speaking and not helping matters much. Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg was seen to be visibly ill on the bench in his Big 10 tournament game downtown.[1] And Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson announced they had tested positive.

Just before I went to bed at 11:30 Scott Van Pelt and Sean Farnham were speculating on ESPN that we may have seen the last college basketball games of the year. Which, HOLY SHIT!!!

I went to bed but struggled to relax and fall asleep after several hours of getting buzzed by breaking news and frantic texting.

What to make of all this?

Before yesterday I was firmly in the camp of “we should be vigilant but not overreact.” I thought people panic purchasing groceries and cleaning supplies were lunatics, causing more harm than good.

While that is still my general line of thinking, there was one other thing that came out yesterday that adjusted my thinking. This concept of “flattening the curve” resonated with me. The overwhelming majority of Americans either will not get sick, or will not face anything close to life-threatening illness. The biggest issue, though, is if too many people who do get dangerously sick do it at the same time and flood hospitals beyond their capacity. If we all take steps to slow the virus’ spread, we can stretch out the rate at which the sickest people hit the healthcare system, allowing it room to care for them.

Not that I wasn’t being safe, or teaching my girls to be safe, before. But now I’m a little more diligent about it. And shutting down public gatherings makes more sense. A little inconvenience for us all can make this crisis much more manageable while giving those at the most risk a better chance of getting access to care.

In two or three months we might look back and think it was insane to play games in front of empty seats or suspend the NBA season, close down schools, etc. But if that allows the healthcare system to cope with a flood of severely sick people and slows the spread of the virus, it will be worth it.

Several people have asked me “What does S think about all this?” She’s a pretty calm, rational person. She has remained so throughout this. She’s not cancelling our spring break plans – yet – or making any other dramatic changes to our lives. I figure as long as she is chill, I should remain the same.

It was interesting to sit next to her during a conference call this morning and listen in on some of the steps her employer is taking to plan for the inevitable. I should not/can not share specifics, but I will say they are talking through all scenarios and trying to come up with the best plan to keep the most people as possible healthy while treating those who are sick. There were some hard questions asked, and the response was always “We have a plan for that.” Hopefully it is the right plan. I would imagine most major healthcare systems around the country are having the same conversations with similar conclusions.

As if the times we are living in weren’t crazy enough, this drops on us. I remain optimistic that we will get through this. As a society, it will require some difficult decisions and adjustments, hopefully only for the short term. And hopefully things will slow down a little today so we can catch our breath.

Fortunately Fred just has influenza A. ↩

A Change Is Gonna Come

June 24, 2019 / DB

It has been an unsettled time for Catholic schools in Indianapolis. Unfortunately rather than watching other schools deal with a church leadership that is hopelessly out of touch with the times, it is now affecting our family directly.

Cathedral High School announced Sunday that after two years of working with the Archdiocese to resolve a personnel matter, they were caving[1] and choosing to “separate” from a teacher who is in a same-sex marriage. In a letter that went out to all Cathedral families Sunday afternoon, the school board said that the Archbishop threatened to remove Cathedral’s Catholic identity, which would prevent them from celebrating the sacraments, including holding masses on campus, and would also prevent Cathedral from calling itself a Catholic school, which would in turn remove the school’s tax-exempt status.

This came on the heels of Brebeuf, Indianapolis’ Jesuit high school, losing its Catholic identity on Friday as a result of their refusal to fire a gay teacher. Brebeuf is in a slightly different position as they are run by the Jesuits rather than the Archdiocese. The Jesuit leadership has offered vocal, public support of the Brebeuf board and questioned the Archdiocese’s decision.

This all began last fall when Roncalli, Indy’s south side Catholic high school, placed two school counselors on administrative leave until they renounced their same-sex marriages. The moves were made on orders of the Indy Archdiocese.

We also heard a rumor this weekend – at this point totally unconfirmed by anyone who would know for sure – that a teacher at St. P’s will not be returning next year because he is in a same-sex marriage. I fear a little for our main priest, who has voiced support for gay causes.

Clearly the Indianapolis Archbishop is on a mission.

I always struggle with how to handle issues like this. I have no problem criticizing many policies of the Catholic Church, or any church for that matter. But I do have a hard time understanding where the lines for my criticism fall. We pay tuition at two Catholic schools and send a monthly payment to a church in the archdiocese, I volunteer in the school and am a member of the athletic committee, so I am part of the community. But since I am not Catholic, I wonder what right I have to criticize the stances of an organization I’m not officially a part of.

But in a time when it is increasingly difficult to find people who have the gift for connecting with kids, who are willing to deal with all the shit that comes with being a teacher, who can live on the frankly embarrassing wages teaching offers,[2] it strikes me as counter to the mission of every school, Catholic or otherwise, to run people out of their jobs for the crime of wanting legal acknowledgement of and protection for their love for another human being.

It is more infuriating to see this come in an era when society as a whole is racing toward full equal rights for people of all sexual orientations. In an age where the leader of the Catholic church has stated that the church should accept and love gay people no differently than anyone else. When the American Catholic church has often been ahead of the Vatican in opening up to gay parishioners.

However, it seems that the Indianapolis Archbishop wants to carve out a niche as the man who took a stand against the Church accepting gay marriage. This seems like a decision that will only please conservatives in the church hierarchy who are trying to counter Pope Francis’ liberalization efforts, and people who will be dead in 10–15 years. At the same time it will continue to drive away the younger generation that the Church has been desperate to find ways of bringing back. This feels like a decision that may have seemed like a good idea to a small number of people when it was made, but down the road will look like a monumentally dumb and shortsighted choice that did more harm than good to the organization the Archbishop was trying to “protect.”

I do see some good in this, though. There has been an overwhelming response to the decision. My Facebook feed is filled almost exclusively with outrage at what Cathedral and the Archdiocese have done. Different people are laying blame in different ways, but the common message is that this was a horrible decision that will hurt Cathedral and its students. A few families who have written a lot of exceptionally large checks to Cathedral and churches within the Archdiocese over the years have come out strongly against the decision. Ultimately that is what could move the needle, if some of those funds that have only been promised but not yet delivered get placed in hold until there is a reconsideration.

One current teacher at Cathedral posted that she is divorced and remarried without getting an annulment from the church, which puts her in violation of the same morals clause in her contract the gay employees are charged with violating. She closed her post with “#FIREMETOO.” I can’t imagine how much courage it took to post something like that. There have to be dozens and dozens of teachers in her same situation across Archdiocese schools that will not be targeted by the Archbishop simply because they are married to someone of the opposite sex.

I was most pleased by how our girls responded. We got the email after dropping C off at camp, so it was just M and L with us. They both immediately expressed their confusion and anger. “That’s so stupid! It doesn’t make any sense! The only reason they should ever fire a teacher is if they are a bad teacher or hurt someone!” We’ve spent their entire lives teaching them not to judge people because of how they look, what language they speak, their culture, or who they love. When forced to confront the issue directly, it’s heartening to know that they can put those lessons into practice immediately.

I also think the vast majority of the Cathedral faculty support their colleague and believe this decision is wrong. I am confident that they will teach our daughters values that are more consistent with our world view than the Archbishop’s retrograde philosophy. It is that knowledge that allows me to remain comfortable with sending our girls there.

Despite those glimmers, it is a sad and frustrating moment. In general I think society is headed in the right direction, toward the time when everyone who pays taxes receives the same rights and protections under the law. There are still far too many extremely powerful organizations, though, that are dragging their feet and refusing to join the majority view that isolating and hating people is wrong. That this is occurring in the sphere of secondary education, where Catholic high schools pride themselves on having an advantage over public institutions in how they challenge young adults to broaden their perspectives, learn and practice empathy, and live moral lives where all God’s children are treated with love and respect is particularly disheartening.

My term, not theirs. ↩
I had a conversation with a teacher at a Catholic school this past winter in which I learned how much this teacher made. It almost made me want to cry at how little this person, who has tons of education and experience, clears each year. Especially when you factor in all the bullshit that comes with dealing with kids all day. ↩

We Are Living In A Society!

June 20, 2019 / DB

I’m not usually big on complaining about what the younger generation is doing. As times change so do behaviors and accepted norms. I think everyone needs to be flexible and realize what was fine when we were 20 may have totally changed by the time we’re 40, 60, etc. But I heard this story on the local news this morning – while checking to see how many hours of today would be lost to rain – and had to shake my head.

Poll shows many Millennials, Gen Zers aren’t wearing deodorant

For fuck’s sake, people! Basic hygiene is not up for discussion. No one needs to be sending out waves of body odor for the rest of the world to walk through.

I had a roommate for a year in college that refused to wear deodorant because he said it caused Alzheimer’s disease. Fortunately this was in a large house and he was often too busy in architecture studio to come home. But the kid did get a little ripe.

What really pisses me off are the people who come to the gym without taking a whiff of their bodies first. Tuesday morning there was an older woman – Baby Boomer! – at the gym who has absolutely kicking. It was that terrible, haven’t washed for a couple days in the summer smell. And she was sweating her ass off, so the odor kept getting worse and worse. Finally, after I literally had to stifle a gag when I was two stations away from her, I cut my workout short and left. She otherwise seemed like a nice enough lady. And good for her for getting out and trying to stay in shape as she approached 60 (I’m guessing). But, good Lord, did you not notice the odor coming from your pits before you left the house?

It kills me how many stinky people there are at the gym. Do people not understand that whatever aromas are on your body grow proportionately stronger as you increase your body temperature? Sometimes the people who have doused themselves in cologne or perfume are just as bad as the BO folks as they get deep into their workouts.

There should be a simple series of steps before you go to the gym. If you haven’t bathed in awhile, take a wash cloth, put some warm water and soap on it, and give your nooks and crannies a quick wipe. Dry them off and apply deodorant or anti-perspirant. Even if you bathed less than a day ago, go ahead and give your pits a test sniff. If there’s even a hint of something growing in there, a swipe of deodorant will knock that shit down enough not to gross out the people around you.

Easy, peasy. Let’s go, people!

D’s Notes

December 5, 2018 / DB

It’s been one of those weeks, so far. Nothing big going on, but lots of little things. Each time I pause and think, “I should really post something to Ye Olde Website,” I either don’t have time to sit down and focus or I’m at a loss for topics.

Thus time for a reader-favorite D’s Notes posts!

GHWB

Four years can be a lifetime when you’re young. When George Bush was elected as president in 1988, I was 17 and unable to vote. I likely would have voted for him had I been able. Four years later, when I cast my first presidential ballot, I voted against him. Things change quickly when you’re still young.

I kind of hate how we whitewash former presidents’ faults when they die. I mean, I understand that speaking ill of the dead isn’t cool. But when someone was president, and had such profound impacts on the lives of so many people, I think it’s ok to made an honest assessment of their lives instead of ignoring their weaknesses and failures and boiling it down to the standard platitudes.

But George Bush did seem like a decent guy. As many others who are on my side of the political spectrum have noted, it would be nice if there were still prominent Republicans like him. He was fiercely loyal to his party but also understood that politics wasn’t about forcing your views on others. He believed in service to country and that government can make a difference in people’s lives. He was willing to work with those who opposed him to bring about positive change. He would rant and rave about the Democrats when needed. But he also understood they were humans deserving of respect, who had the same right to express their views that he did, and that fighting in the political realm didn’t mean you had to hate people outside those ropes.

I disagreed with many of Bush’s political views. I voted against him because I thought he was a goofy, out-of-touch candidate of the past. But he seemed like a decent man whose core trait was kindness. We could use a lot more people in government, from all perspectives, like him.

Udoka

Ahh shit. Udoka Azubuike went down with a nasty ankle injury early in KU’s win over Wofford last night. At first glance it looked like his ankle was going the wrong way and he might be done for the year in December for the second time in his career. Today they’re saying that it was just an ankle sprain and he should be back on the court in a month or so. I have to think it’s going to be hard getting that rehabbed when you’re as big of a dude as he is.

Fortunately Bill Self is used to playing with limited big men after the past two seasons. In fact, KU looked as good as they’ve looked all year in the last 10 minutes of the Wofford game when he unleashed a bevy of athletic 6’5” guys that created havoc on defense. The only problem is this year he has one shooter, where last year he had at least three. And I’m not sure many KU fans have a ton of faith that his one shooter will be as effective over the entire season as he was for a four-game stretch before last night. The going small and spreading the floor thing can still work without 3-point assassins. But it is much easier if you have guys all around the arc who can punish the defense for letting them slip free.

Kid Sports

Both M and C had their first volleyball practices of the year earlier this week. The season does not begin until late January, and the school gym to scheduled very tightly. So they’ll only practice one more time before the holidays open up gym time a little. But they were both excited to get on the court again. No winter sport for L this year. We will look into some kind of individual soccer training for her in the new year, though.

House Stuff

We’ve moved on to phase two of filling the new house, with the focus being the basement. I have a big TV coming Friday. S found a great sectional on sale that we ordered a few weeks ago. It arrived yesterday. And it didn’t fit down the stairs!

Crap.

We only measured the opening to the stairway, not the space at the bottom. And the largest piece was too large to get in. We’re exploring whether the basement windows can be removed easy enough to drop it down the window well, but I’m thinking that might be too expense if it is possible. For now we have a very nice sectional sitting in our garage. And I’ll likely be watching KU games on a bean bag or something for awhile.

Yes, we feel stupid.

On McCain And Myth

August 27, 2018 / DB

I never voted for John McCain – I guess I had three chances if you count primaries, although I would not have voted in the primaries he ran in – but like a lot of folks who tend to vote Democratic, I long admired the man. For me it went back to reading Michael Lewis’ Trail Fever, his accounting of the 1996 presidential campaign. McCain did not run that year, but he was a finalist to be Bob Dole’s running mate, and thus bounced in and out of Lewis’ narrative. The basis of the McCain myth was lain in that book…

John McCain’s professinal life – or at least the last 35 or so years – were all about living as a symbol for both something he may not actually have been and a time that may have never existed.

He was a self-proclaimed “Maverick,” someone willing to speak against the leadership and prevailing winds of his party when his beliefs told him to. There was truth to that: he was rarely a favorite of the party elites because he would occasionally call them out. But he was also a man who, like most other senators, voted with his party an overwhelming majority of the time.

And despite claiming to be from outside the political class, he turned himself into the ultimate insider, appearing like clockwork on the Sunday talk shows.

As for the imagined time he called back to, while it is true that Democrats and Republicans were once more capable of finding common ground and working together, it’s not like the 1980s were a time when legislative matters were light-hearted affairs and politicians always said nice things about their opposition.

Still, even if you acknowledge that public image didn’t necessarily match reality – when does it ever? – it is difficult to not think that John McCain’s death signalled an end to a larger political era.

McCain may not have been all that he and his supporters touted him to be. But he was still a man who would at least entertain the idea that his political opponents might have some ideas worth consideration, that they had the political right to advance them, and that it was possible set politics aside and find common ground as people.

I can’t help but look at his treatment of Presidents Clinton and Obama and our current president when measuring how McCain’s words and actions lined up.

Despite his own experience in Vietnam and that of Clinton’s during the same age, McCain told Clinton he would proudly visit the Vietnam War memorial with him after he took office. There is no doubt that there was much about Clinton’s history, politics, and style that McCain loathed. But he knew it was better for the country to find a way to move past the divisions of the Vietnam era and the symbolism of he and Clinton visiting the war memorial together might move that process along.

Time and again during the 2008 campaign he defended Obama as a man of character and a patriotic American worthy of the same opportunities given McCain. Late in that campaign, when the angry, racist side of the right began to speak louder and louder – harbingers of the 2010 and 2016 elections – McCain was visibly uncomfortable as he understood they believed him to be the representative of their views. Through the Obama presidency McCain spoke forcefully and often about what he saw as the failings of the president. But he never made those attacks personal and the two men seemed to share a warm and respectful relationship until McCain’s death.

In his final two years he expressed continuous dismay and disgust with the current occupant of the White House. News that had leaked last spring was reiterated this weekend: McCain hoped that Presidents George W. Bush and Obama would deliver eulogies upon his death while the current president would not be welcome at his funeral.

Perhaps that was petty and stems from horrific comments the current president made in 2015 about McCain. And perhaps it undermines the points I made above, how McCain was always willing to look beyond politics. But it also demonstrates that McCain was also willing to judge those he found to be lacking in character. He had no time for phonies and frauds, even if they held the same political beliefs that he did. He was far more comfortable with people he disagreed with on the issues, but could find common ground with as humans.

Where the line between myth and reality can be found is always difficult. Maybe McCain’s embrace of his opponents was all for show and he secretly ranted against those he praised in public. Maybe some of his “maverick” statements over the years were done purely for effect and did not reflect his actual views.

However we can only go with what we saw over his career. In an age when both parties seem more interested in destroying each other than actually advancing policies that will make this country a better place for all, it’s comforting to think that perhaps McCain represented an age when both sides gave a little and found ways to work together, and even if they fought bitterly while the Senate was in session, found ways to look beyond politics and see each other as humans outside its walls.

Cody Keenan, a former Obama staffer, Tweeted out the story of his first meeting with McCain when he was interning for Ted Kennedy. They met on a Senate elevator. When McCain learned that Keenan worked for Kennedy, he responded, “He’s a good man, without him we’d be lost.” A Republican colleague also on the elevator scoffed and departed on the next floor. McCain raised his voice and said, “Don’t mind him, he’s an asshole.”

Again, it’s impossible to know where the line between myth and reality is in that story. But that memory also sums up what most of us, of all political stripes, wanted to believe about McCain.

Our country is worse off because there are fewer politicians like John McCain left.

On Tony and Travel

June 12, 2018 / DB

I haven’t posted anything about Anthony Bourdain. Although he didn’t impact my life as much as Scott Hutchison did, Bourdain’s suicide still struck me deeply. I watched his shows for years, read several of his books, and was a fan of his overall approach to life.
I’ve written before about the irony of my love of travel books given the general lack of traveling in my life. Bourdain lived a life, at least the one that we saw on screen, that I would have loved to have lived. Spending most of the last quarter decade traveling to places big and small, familiar and unknown, and finding ways of connecting with the people in those locations while sharing their stories with Americans in hopes of broadening our horizons. So many people these days live in fear of anything that is different. Bourdain’s shows were a forceful plea that we’re more alike than the people fanning the flames of nationalism, racism, and xenophobia would have you believe.
I saw this map yesterday and thought it was the best distillation of what Bourdain was all about. He didn’t travel just to fill his passport or check boxes on a list. Every dot on this map is a testament to his efforts to get people to open their eyes, get outside their comfort zones, and understand that most of the world – whether around the block or on the other side of the globe – live very differently than we do.

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