June 6.
I’m not going to be the first one to mention this, but I couldn’t help notice that some actions or items that have become symbols are now taking on increased meaning. Three of these recently jumped out at me.
The first is kneeling. This was of course made famous by Colin Kapernick about 4 years ago to protest the treatment of minorities during the playing of the national anthem during football games. Of course, kneeling was misinterpreted as a slam again the flag and veterans. And at the time, the NFL agreed and blackballed Kap. Today, it’s becoming the action that sparked the recent protests. A cop knelt on George Floyd’s neck until he passed out. More people are kneeling as a symbol of protest, made ever more prevalent since that Minneapolis arrest. As someone said, before the knee on the neck, there was the knee on the ground.
What did George Floyd say when under that officers knee? “I can’t breathe.” And of course, people who have COVID are dying from respiratory issues. They can’t breathe either unless assisted by a ventilator. Two pandemics and both can be identified with the same saying...”I can’t breathe”.
Finally, we need to mention bibles. Bibles have always had strong symbolic meaning as the word of god. And for President Trump maybe more. Like a prop to please his base. He certainly is no religious person. I won’t explain the details here, but suffice it to say......quiet protest between White House and church, teargassing protesters before curfew hour to clear a path, then trump’s entourage (including military men and Ivanka carrying the Bible) arriving at the church with a bible for a photo op. It doesn’t diss the Bible, but certainly gave many a reason to either further hate trump or for the first time, for some Repugs to dismiss him. Even some former big name party affiliates who say they won’t vote for him this November. Has the first domino finally fallen? Well see.
More days of economic and social turmoil. Oh, and health turmoil. The infection rates continue to rise in places that didn’t want to listen to the experts. Like Brazil. And some Southern states. And the Tesla plant. Ugh.
Is anyone else burned out on the news? Does hearing about more Covid deaths still register with people? Seems that we just want to open up businesses, at least those ones not damaged by looting in the recent troubles. But is there a second wave approaching from all of the protests? I think soon we’ll know. Random thoughts about random thought processes.
C got her new bike from Italy! Finally! The story is after many months of delay due to the shutdown in northern Italy, it took two days to get to Oakland from Italy. But then it took another 5 or 6 days to get from Oakland to our house in Berkeley, 10 miles away. Fedex fails! So frustrating! But the first ride was nice, with the new carbon fiber beauty. Hopefully, many more fun rides will follow!
One more memorable line, as written in a poem in the SF Chron (by Jay Manson of Berkeley)
Our orange sociopath-in-chief wants me to wear a holster but not a mask.
That’s enough. I’m beginning to think that this blog needs to move on from political discourse and return to cycling. Partly because there is no keeping up with 45’s daily BS and the COVID and social unrest news is just too depressing. Cycling is the antidote and since we can still ride, why not concentrate on it? It’s been a year since our trip to Spain and good memories remain. Why not stick to those good thoughts? Back to bikes.....thank you!
Friday, June 19, 2020
Friday, June 5, 2020
A Different Kind of Memorial Day
May 25.
The start of week 12 (I think) of shelter-in-place with no real end in sight in the Bay Area, here we are, approaching 100,000 dead from the virus, with another take on who to memorialize. With as many interpretations on how and when to reopen the economy as people, the craziness continues. The debate has turned to how soon and to what extent should the economy be returned to normal, whatever that is. Governors are being sued. The president is saying “liberate”. Big assault rifles are showing up at protests, of course without masks or distancing. And it seems that the only guy in Trump’s orbit that was trusted (Dr. Fauci) isn’t showing up at his side very often these days. What a great country.
More COVID observations.
- One day after hearing from a relative how North Carolina is so lax that people don’t even wear masks in stores, a story comes out about how their infections are rising quite fast. The story’s title is: “North Carolina Reports Highest 1-Day Spike Of COVID-19 Cases”. The same is happening in Brazil, where the president didn’t believe the virus was bad and policy reflected that opinion. Doesn’t all of this seem predictable?
- It’s clear that elderly rest homes / asssited living locations are the source of large numbers of infected and dying folks. Of course, prisons are part of this too. But I wonder whether America’s temptation or habit to shuffle old folks off to these places will change at all? China had a big problem with infections and deaths early on, but stifled it pretty quickly. They typically have multi-generational families living under one roof. Logically, this lack of close living with many people would help keep the infection rate under check better than our system. Maybe we should make room for granny in that spare bedroom?
- One COVID testing center in San Francisco was set up to aid homeless people, I think in the Tenderloin. It’s success was limited because one of the requirements was that those requesting testing needed to have a smart phone and have an email address. Now, I know the city gives out cell phones to many indigent people. But wouldn’t it make sense to waive this requirement in the time of a pandemic? Or at least if they didn’t have one, test them and then give them one right there on the spot so they would be tested? The best laid plans.......
- There have been various musings about how tech companies will fare as a result of these times, including their employees. The prevailing thought has been that San Francisco has been invariably changed due to their proliferation over the past 20 years. Both here and in Silicon Valley. Well, now with COVID, their management has started falling in line saying that their folks can work at home for the foreseeable future. And some have gone as far as saying forever. That’s led some of the techies to say the hell with San Francisco. “If I can work for the same company anywhere and the city that I knew has changed, why would I want to pay super high rent and be there? Why not move to the countryside? Or back to where I grew up? Or maybe to an exotic, less expensive location like Hawaii?” So....let’s see how far this goes. But if it happens in large amounts, the whole real estate market could flip, both residential and office buildings. Maybe it will bulge somewhere else like Sacramento or wine country. Who knows? To be honest, how can all of these companies, which often only make “vaporware” or survive on advertising, survive these times? There’s a possibility of a shakeout of mass proportions in the next year or so in many areas, including companies, population and real estate.
May 31. COVID has taken a back seat to something we as a society can see. An affliction we can actually see, unlike the virus. An enemy with visibility. And that’s bad police. It’s the end of the weekend where Memorial Day was again redefined, where many US cities exploded with fury over the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a policeman in Minneapolis less than a week ago. As if we didn’t have a big enough tragedy/challenge/dividing issue in this country. Oh my. And the looting and protests are likely far from over. While it would be foolish to defend the perp whose actions (along with three other nearby officers), I just can’t fathom people who would undermine the whole message with looting? They hurt innocent people, businesses, cities and of course, their own cause. (Well....it’s doubtful they are the same people.). In past protests, which the Bay Area has plenty of experience with, those wearing masks were clearly the bad boys, covering up their identity and causing mayhem unidentified. Remember Antifa? Now, with masks de rigeur, except for those who don’t want their “rights infringed upon”, we’re seeing some of those protesters (in tight crowds with no social distance) running around without masks. Ironic? Yep. Masks good? Masks bad? Well, that makes it easier to ID ‘em and arrest ‘em. But let’s wait two weeks and see if there are any surges in infections in these protest cities. Let’s hope it’s only windows broken and a few cars burned And not an increase in deaths. (Post note: There is plenty of speculation about whether the looting was done by opportunists, white supremacists or just teenagers who have been pent up for 3 months. But bottom line....given the attention it’s given to racism in this country and the hope to reduce/eliminate it, many seem to be giving the looting a pass. That’s a tough one to swallow for me.)
- Day 3 (or is it 4?) of civil unrest due to George Floyd’s death. Here are a few sayings I’ve come across that sum things up well for me.
- Stephen Colbert - Talking about the need to address systemic racism in the US and the disagreements within our society, he said: “Contents under pressure will eventually explode. That’s not a threat, that’s a law of nature.”
- SF Chronicle editorial - “President Trump’s failure as a leader and lust for conflict were never more apparent.”
- Also......”This nation is wounded in so many ways right now, ravaged by sicknesses with no vaccine in sight.”
- “Donald Trump has his knee on the neck of democracy.” (Otis R. Taylor, SF Chron)
June 2. I couldn’t help but think of how fragile peace is and how quickly it can all go to hell since the protests and looting started about 4 days ago. The pandemic lockdown or shelter-in-place has been going on for almost 3 months now. It’s protected people’s health, but also tested their patience. I have to say, in general, most people have shown they can and will comply and with that, offer more smiles and words of comfort than in normal times. Of course, there are those who have carried big guns to state houses and demanded “freedom”. They are dangerous, but in the minority. They are like a dumpster fire and unfortunately get lots of press. To me, they are scary, but most people are compliant and also very helpful and believe we are all “in this together”.
That is, until the protests and rioting started. Maybe it shows that people have a limit and then they explode. And the lockdown forced people to approach that limit. Of course, there is reason to explode with George Floyd’s unnecessary and brutal death. But if there wasn’t a lockdown, would this poor man’s death have been just another one in a string with a few protests and that’s it? We’ll never know. Does anyone else agree that what seemed like a great amount of compassion and helpfulness just disappeared overnight? On a ride today, I even had a keen feeling of awareness that I’d better ride defensively because who knows what nut job driver might be out to run me down. Is this rational? Hopefully not. Or am I missing the good news because of the focus of the press on bad news? And we’re all on bad news overload here. It’s certainly serious, but maybe it’s like that dumpster fire. It’s taken all of the figurative oxygen out of the system and has not only eclipsed the good word of the protesters, but also what seemed like the goodwill of people during the COVID pandemic. Maybe these protests will make a difference. I hate hate hate to see people looting and rioting, but they are pissed for reasons us white people don’t fully understand. Some of them anyway...others are opportunists or perhaps antifa or whatever fringe group. I hope the pandemic is not just a memory of better times. Wow....I don’t know what to think right now. Ahhh, humans. They can be so complicated, irrational and frustrating.
And the next day, we had cops taking a knee. Humans can also be rational and unpredictable in a good way.
With the George Floyd protests and looting, COVID has taken a back seat to being the top news story. It’s become a tragedy wrapped in a tragedy. And just like COVID, it has spread almost everywhere, so there is no escaping it. It’s been said before, but usually when there is a tragedy or natural disaster, you can go way from it, leave, find refuge elsewhere. But both of these events are such that you can’t escape, there is nowhere in the world unaffected by COVID. And at least in the US, it seems there is nowhere you can go to escape at least the news and awareness of protests and looting. The COVID infection rate and death counts have been replaced by counts of the arrests and the number of stores looted. It’s scary and there’s no immediate solution.
Everyday, there are many observations, revelations, confusions, etc., associated with this latest tragedy that divides the country. The country is going through cultural spasms in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. And the president is inciting violence, losing even his biggest supporters and may we say, he is feeling cornered as the election approaches. Within just a few days, we’ve switched from every moment paid to how to deal with the worldwide COVID pandemic to the country shaking from another type of pandemic, racism. I’m sure trump is glad that COVID is at least temporarily out of the news and in the rear mirror. But this issue, in a country where many people cannot trust the cops, he isn’t really a get out of jail free card. Especially when you aren’t really a leader.
By the end of the week, we all seemed to be in a better place, with no more looting, a newfound awareness of the need to address racism and maybe reform policing in this country. But what a week it was. There were protests in literally hundreds of cities across the country, many in places not known for any activism. It went along with the fact that some of the looting happened in these places too. It got their attention that these are problems that affect everyone, not just those in big cities. This early in the game it’s hard to know if we’ve turned a corner, but some people are saying we have. If we can complete that turn in November with some new leadership, maybe we can not only survive, but flourish.
I’m constantly thinking of topics to explore here, but often forget before getting a chance to jot down an idea and pursue it. But the basic idea is that we are are going off the rails. And so is this blog. It’s suppose to be about cycling, remember?! I’ll continue to try and jot down thoughts, but want to mention at least some ride info. We attempted to escape the East Bay heat this week by riding over the bridge to Marin and up BoFax in the redwoods. That was beautiful, It was quiet and the coast was super clear. But most of the ride was with temps in the 90s, if not higher! We never really did escape the East Bay summer temps. C and I rode almost 70 miles, and I lost at least 5 pounds (water weight). She bonked on the way back, but entering cooler temps over the bridge was a bit rejuvenating. Just enough to get us home and rehydrate with lunch and a cold beer. Maybe that’s what the country and the world needs....to ride back into cooler temps, have a beer and get back on the rails. If only it were so simple.
The start of week 12 (I think) of shelter-in-place with no real end in sight in the Bay Area, here we are, approaching 100,000 dead from the virus, with another take on who to memorialize. With as many interpretations on how and when to reopen the economy as people, the craziness continues. The debate has turned to how soon and to what extent should the economy be returned to normal, whatever that is. Governors are being sued. The president is saying “liberate”. Big assault rifles are showing up at protests, of course without masks or distancing. And it seems that the only guy in Trump’s orbit that was trusted (Dr. Fauci) isn’t showing up at his side very often these days. What a great country.
More COVID observations.
- One day after hearing from a relative how North Carolina is so lax that people don’t even wear masks in stores, a story comes out about how their infections are rising quite fast. The story’s title is: “North Carolina Reports Highest 1-Day Spike Of COVID-19 Cases”. The same is happening in Brazil, where the president didn’t believe the virus was bad and policy reflected that opinion. Doesn’t all of this seem predictable?
- It’s clear that elderly rest homes / asssited living locations are the source of large numbers of infected and dying folks. Of course, prisons are part of this too. But I wonder whether America’s temptation or habit to shuffle old folks off to these places will change at all? China had a big problem with infections and deaths early on, but stifled it pretty quickly. They typically have multi-generational families living under one roof. Logically, this lack of close living with many people would help keep the infection rate under check better than our system. Maybe we should make room for granny in that spare bedroom?
- One COVID testing center in San Francisco was set up to aid homeless people, I think in the Tenderloin. It’s success was limited because one of the requirements was that those requesting testing needed to have a smart phone and have an email address. Now, I know the city gives out cell phones to many indigent people. But wouldn’t it make sense to waive this requirement in the time of a pandemic? Or at least if they didn’t have one, test them and then give them one right there on the spot so they would be tested? The best laid plans.......
- There have been various musings about how tech companies will fare as a result of these times, including their employees. The prevailing thought has been that San Francisco has been invariably changed due to their proliferation over the past 20 years. Both here and in Silicon Valley. Well, now with COVID, their management has started falling in line saying that their folks can work at home for the foreseeable future. And some have gone as far as saying forever. That’s led some of the techies to say the hell with San Francisco. “If I can work for the same company anywhere and the city that I knew has changed, why would I want to pay super high rent and be there? Why not move to the countryside? Or back to where I grew up? Or maybe to an exotic, less expensive location like Hawaii?” So....let’s see how far this goes. But if it happens in large amounts, the whole real estate market could flip, both residential and office buildings. Maybe it will bulge somewhere else like Sacramento or wine country. Who knows? To be honest, how can all of these companies, which often only make “vaporware” or survive on advertising, survive these times? There’s a possibility of a shakeout of mass proportions in the next year or so in many areas, including companies, population and real estate.
May 31. COVID has taken a back seat to something we as a society can see. An affliction we can actually see, unlike the virus. An enemy with visibility. And that’s bad police. It’s the end of the weekend where Memorial Day was again redefined, where many US cities exploded with fury over the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a policeman in Minneapolis less than a week ago. As if we didn’t have a big enough tragedy/challenge/dividing issue in this country. Oh my. And the looting and protests are likely far from over. While it would be foolish to defend the perp whose actions (along with three other nearby officers), I just can’t fathom people who would undermine the whole message with looting? They hurt innocent people, businesses, cities and of course, their own cause. (Well....it’s doubtful they are the same people.). In past protests, which the Bay Area has plenty of experience with, those wearing masks were clearly the bad boys, covering up their identity and causing mayhem unidentified. Remember Antifa? Now, with masks de rigeur, except for those who don’t want their “rights infringed upon”, we’re seeing some of those protesters (in tight crowds with no social distance) running around without masks. Ironic? Yep. Masks good? Masks bad? Well, that makes it easier to ID ‘em and arrest ‘em. But let’s wait two weeks and see if there are any surges in infections in these protest cities. Let’s hope it’s only windows broken and a few cars burned And not an increase in deaths. (Post note: There is plenty of speculation about whether the looting was done by opportunists, white supremacists or just teenagers who have been pent up for 3 months. But bottom line....given the attention it’s given to racism in this country and the hope to reduce/eliminate it, many seem to be giving the looting a pass. That’s a tough one to swallow for me.)
- Day 3 (or is it 4?) of civil unrest due to George Floyd’s death. Here are a few sayings I’ve come across that sum things up well for me.
- Stephen Colbert - Talking about the need to address systemic racism in the US and the disagreements within our society, he said: “Contents under pressure will eventually explode. That’s not a threat, that’s a law of nature.”
- SF Chronicle editorial - “President Trump’s failure as a leader and lust for conflict were never more apparent.”
- Also......”This nation is wounded in so many ways right now, ravaged by sicknesses with no vaccine in sight.”
- “Donald Trump has his knee on the neck of democracy.” (Otis R. Taylor, SF Chron)
June 2. I couldn’t help but think of how fragile peace is and how quickly it can all go to hell since the protests and looting started about 4 days ago. The pandemic lockdown or shelter-in-place has been going on for almost 3 months now. It’s protected people’s health, but also tested their patience. I have to say, in general, most people have shown they can and will comply and with that, offer more smiles and words of comfort than in normal times. Of course, there are those who have carried big guns to state houses and demanded “freedom”. They are dangerous, but in the minority. They are like a dumpster fire and unfortunately get lots of press. To me, they are scary, but most people are compliant and also very helpful and believe we are all “in this together”.
That is, until the protests and rioting started. Maybe it shows that people have a limit and then they explode. And the lockdown forced people to approach that limit. Of course, there is reason to explode with George Floyd’s unnecessary and brutal death. But if there wasn’t a lockdown, would this poor man’s death have been just another one in a string with a few protests and that’s it? We’ll never know. Does anyone else agree that what seemed like a great amount of compassion and helpfulness just disappeared overnight? On a ride today, I even had a keen feeling of awareness that I’d better ride defensively because who knows what nut job driver might be out to run me down. Is this rational? Hopefully not. Or am I missing the good news because of the focus of the press on bad news? And we’re all on bad news overload here. It’s certainly serious, but maybe it’s like that dumpster fire. It’s taken all of the figurative oxygen out of the system and has not only eclipsed the good word of the protesters, but also what seemed like the goodwill of people during the COVID pandemic. Maybe these protests will make a difference. I hate hate hate to see people looting and rioting, but they are pissed for reasons us white people don’t fully understand. Some of them anyway...others are opportunists or perhaps antifa or whatever fringe group. I hope the pandemic is not just a memory of better times. Wow....I don’t know what to think right now. Ahhh, humans. They can be so complicated, irrational and frustrating.
And the next day, we had cops taking a knee. Humans can also be rational and unpredictable in a good way.
With the George Floyd protests and looting, COVID has taken a back seat to being the top news story. It’s become a tragedy wrapped in a tragedy. And just like COVID, it has spread almost everywhere, so there is no escaping it. It’s been said before, but usually when there is a tragedy or natural disaster, you can go way from it, leave, find refuge elsewhere. But both of these events are such that you can’t escape, there is nowhere in the world unaffected by COVID. And at least in the US, it seems there is nowhere you can go to escape at least the news and awareness of protests and looting. The COVID infection rate and death counts have been replaced by counts of the arrests and the number of stores looted. It’s scary and there’s no immediate solution.
Everyday, there are many observations, revelations, confusions, etc., associated with this latest tragedy that divides the country. The country is going through cultural spasms in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. And the president is inciting violence, losing even his biggest supporters and may we say, he is feeling cornered as the election approaches. Within just a few days, we’ve switched from every moment paid to how to deal with the worldwide COVID pandemic to the country shaking from another type of pandemic, racism. I’m sure trump is glad that COVID is at least temporarily out of the news and in the rear mirror. But this issue, in a country where many people cannot trust the cops, he isn’t really a get out of jail free card. Especially when you aren’t really a leader.
By the end of the week, we all seemed to be in a better place, with no more looting, a newfound awareness of the need to address racism and maybe reform policing in this country. But what a week it was. There were protests in literally hundreds of cities across the country, many in places not known for any activism. It went along with the fact that some of the looting happened in these places too. It got their attention that these are problems that affect everyone, not just those in big cities. This early in the game it’s hard to know if we’ve turned a corner, but some people are saying we have. If we can complete that turn in November with some new leadership, maybe we can not only survive, but flourish.
I’m constantly thinking of topics to explore here, but often forget before getting a chance to jot down an idea and pursue it. But the basic idea is that we are are going off the rails. And so is this blog. It’s suppose to be about cycling, remember?! I’ll continue to try and jot down thoughts, but want to mention at least some ride info. We attempted to escape the East Bay heat this week by riding over the bridge to Marin and up BoFax in the redwoods. That was beautiful, It was quiet and the coast was super clear. But most of the ride was with temps in the 90s, if not higher! We never really did escape the East Bay summer temps. C and I rode almost 70 miles, and I lost at least 5 pounds (water weight). She bonked on the way back, but entering cooler temps over the bridge was a bit rejuvenating. Just enough to get us home and rehydrate with lunch and a cold beer. Maybe that’s what the country and the world needs....to ride back into cooler temps, have a beer and get back on the rails. If only it were so simple.
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