Monday Mood: Hope for 'Merica

In the spirit of sharing softer news and/or silly vibes:

Delivery driver prompted laughter by following additional instructions.

Daily pandemic update:  

Spain reopened its borders to most European countries, as well as Britain, as the coronavirus state of emergency ends. Spaniards were also allowed to move freely around the country from Sunday.  Aljazeera.com timeline

22 June 2020	Cases		Deaths		Recovered
11:02 GMT*	Yesterday	Today	Yesterday	Today	Yesterday	Today
World	8,795,032	9,072,642	463,260	471,175	4,653,821	4,854,950
US	2,298,108	2,356,715	121,424	122,249	956,077	980,367
NY	409,953	411,264	31,159	31,215	87,002	87,131
CT	45,557	45,755	4,238	4,260	9,039	9,091
NC	49,840	52,934	1,250	1,272	29,219	29,219

A moment of silence for those we’ve lost to coronavirus, including the first 100 and the first 100,000 in the US.

As of today 11% of closed cases in the US resulted in death; 89% recovered.

Globally 9% of closed cases resulted in death worldwide; 91% recovered.

Currently 1% of all active cases are considered serious or critical.

*Documenting time of day because real time data updates continuously.
Tracking specific states:  NY is US epicenter. Son Reid lives in CT. I live in NC. 
Worldometers     Coronainusa     Starsexpress2020     https://ncov2019.live/

In the news: 

• Astronauts spent father’s day watching rare Ring of Fire solar eclipse from space.
• Audrey Strauss was promoted as Geoffrey Berman agreed to resign from SDNY. 
• CA protestors marched after police killed 18 year old security guard Andres Guardado, #JusticeforAndres.
• Enes Kanter, Boston Celtics center, announced his father had been released from Turkish prison after 7 years.
• John Bolton alleged Trump proposal to intervene in SDNY investigation of Turkish bank was obstruction of justice. Pirated pdf of Bolton’s book was made available for free download.
• Philadelphia PA protestor was identified via Etsy review and social media sleuthing.
• Tik-Tok users and teen K-Pop stans likely were responsible for inflated attendance projections for Trump Tulsa rally. Estimated attendance was between 6,200 and 6,611 total. 6 protestors were arrested including Norman OK city council rep Alexandra Scott and Catholic school art teacher Sheila Buck. Trump’s speech ran long at 1 hour 41 minutes though WaPo distilled pertinent content down to 4 minute video. Several other videos were released over the weekend including a pro Biden ad, a coronavirus testing video by American Bridge, Trump Rally Fail and Fred’s Failure by Meidas Touch, How to Happy Father’s Day and How to Empty Seat by Sarah Cooper, End the Nightmare by Really American, multiple post rally walk of shame clips, and a montage by the Lincoln Project.  
• Tom Petty's family issued cease and desist order after Trump campaign played "I Won't Back Down" song at rally. Petty had publicly denounced racism and the confederate flag before his death.
• Trump campaign reportedly owes municipal governments more than $1.8 million in unpaid police and public safety costs stemming from MAGA rallies.
• Tulsa BOK arena capacity is 19,199. A variety of acts reportedly sold out shows there including Nickelback, Sha Na Na, The Pips without Gladys Knight, Loverboy, John Tesh, WV Touring Company of La Traviata, Elton John, Pink, and the Wiggles. Tulsa Oilers hockey also had a significantly bigger crowd.
• US halted hydroxychloroquine clinical trial after finding no additional benefit for COVID-19 patients.
• WHO reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases Sunday, more than 183,000 new cases in the latest 24 hours. Brazil led the way with 54,771 cases followed by the US at 36,617 and India with over 15,400.

NC News

• Ace Speedway again argued state is stepping on race track owners' rights to "enjoy the fruit of their labors" and suggested COVID-19 isn't an emergency in NC. Alamance County Superior Court Judge Tom Lambeth extended restraining order barring speedway from holding races with spectators until he can issue ruling in lawsuit brought against track operators.
• Graham mayor enacted curfew while in state of emergency because of civil unrest over Confederate monument.

  

Following Kenny Beck’s lead to share a few signs of hope:

• KY father and daughter created smile project to bring joy to others.
• NH daughters used bucket truck visit 93 year old father in long term care facility.
• UNCG father and daughter nursing duo both enrolled in BSN program.

In my personal life…

Saturday was the summer solstice, midsummer, the longest day of the year. In England, sunrise and sunset at Stonehenge were broadcast for the world to see though clouds diminished the views. Rain was intermittent in Pfafftown so we mostly stayed inside watching tv (Greg) and napping (me).

There were roughly 20,000 people online watching the Moral March on Washington DC Saturday morning when I tuned in. The event was broadcast 3 times with over a million people participating throughout the weekend.

Saturday night Greg and I both followed news of Trump’s Tulsa rally online and on tv. Live videos and photos on Twitter prompted us to flip back and forth between CSpan and Fox News to see how coverage compared. Very interesting!

Sunday was Father’s Day. I texted my brother Randy to wish him a happy day with his kids and Greg texted several of his dad friends. I was going to send a peaceful message to my estranged father but after reading what he recently posted on Facebook I decided against it. He and his conservative friends are still Trump supporters and intend to vote straight republican ticket in November. He also posted about not being able to schedule a doctor appointment through the VA despite 21 years of active duty service in the US Army. I was tempted to initiate a discussion about the Trump administration’s efforts to privatize the Veterans Administration but didn’t waste the effort because dad and his buddies are brainwashed Fox News cult members. They would never be open minded enough to connect the dots between diminishing VA benefits and the current administration. Instead, they would recite some stupid Trump talking point blaming Obama for their woes. In a different post dad whined about me refusing to have anything to do with him. One of his friends lamented that he too has a socialist daughter which is painful for him. News flash: parental estrangement is not easy for daughters or sons either. Comedian Paul F. Tompkins posted a Father’s Day thread about forgiveness. I read it several times, studied it, read all the responses too. I’ve forgiven dad for various transgressions over the years and apologized for my own. Still, I can’t bring myself to really truly honestly deeply forgive and forget. Each time I try, he quickly reminds me who he is. The man is toxic, absolute poison to my soul.

Son Austin visited with his girlfriend Leslie and our granddaughter Alex. Greg grilled steaks while Alex and I picked raspberries from the garden. It was the best father’s day Greg and I had enjoyed in a long time, maybe ever. Alex was absolutely adorable the entire visit! She is very well behaved, eats well, plays nicely, shares, put her toys away without even being asked, showed us how she wears her mask, and hugged us goodbye. Also had fun visiting with Austin and Leslie. 😀

  

Saturday Greg tried to make grits he had purchased from the market in Cana VA but they did not turn out right despite following directions precisely. He wanted to throw the remainder of the uncooked grits in the trash but I convinced him not to. We’ll try to cook another batch in a few days. Without grits we ate some country ham with biscuits Greg had made. (I learned to cook mostly from watching and “helping” my grandmothers. Both tried to teach me their art of biscuit making but I never did master those particular skills. Greg’s biscuits are much better than mine.) We snacked intermittently until dinner time when Greg ordered pizza, chicken wings and brownies from Marco’s.

Sunday I made pancakes with country ham. I put blueberries in my pancakes but Greg didn’t want any. Afterward I made deviled eggs and cut up squash picked from the garden while Greg’s cherry crumble baked in the oven. He modified Paula Deen's recipe a bit, in part because he feels conflicted making her dish. Austin brought ribeye steaks, asparagus and sweet corn. Greg grilled the steaks, corn and half the squash. We roasted the rest of the squash in the oven along with baked potatoes. Greg steamed the asparagus; would have grilled if balsamic oil had been readily available. He also carefully reheated some leftover grilled chicken for Alex. There was way too much food for 4 and a half people and we enjoyed the feast immensely.

My daily actions for racial justice Saturday and Sunday were reading, listening and watching. Bojangles incident awareness is a continuing effort. Today I also intend to watch the movies Just Mercy and 13th.