Mary Ann

One year ago today, jewelry designer and gay-rights activist Lois Sasson died from the covids.  Sasson was the wife of singer Lesley Gore.  On that same day, Dawn Wells, "Mary Ann" on the '60s sitcom Gilligan's Island, also died from the covids.  Impermanence is swift.

Borsht

Today is the day for sprinkling water on the head for with it, following birth in a family, we are at last able to attain complete perfect enlightenment.

Sofia Zhukova was a Russian serial killer who committed three murders between 2005 and 2019. Some sources claim that Zhukova partially ate her victims. At the time of her last crime, she was 80 years old, making her the oldest serial killer in the history of Russia. One year ago today, Zhukova died of the covids. Impermanence is swift.  She died before her trial but was posthumously found guilty.

Records

Today is the day for wisdom that leads us from one state to another state, for with it,. having water sprinkled on the head, we accomplish total wisdom.

Georgia set a record today for the most new covid cases in a single day.  The New York Times reports 24,911 new cases, but that probably includes non- and under-reporting over the Christmas weekend.  The Georgia Department of Health reports 9,780 positive tests on the day, a number that likely doesn't include any missed results over the weekend.  Either way, a grim number.

The number of cancelled college football bowl games is now up to six.

Holidays

The second day after Christmas.  This is the day for the state beyond regressing and straying for it is replete with the teachings of past buddhas.

On this date in 1988, film director Hal Ashby (Shampoo, Coming Home, Harold & Maude, The Last Detail, and more) died at age 59 in Malibu.  Impermanence is swift. On the day that Ashby passed away, singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman Hayley Williams, best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore, was born.  Life is change.

Six college football bowl games have now been either cancelled or had a team drop out.  Omicron variant cases are skyrocketing.  Dr. Anthony Fauci says its not unforeseeable that in the near future, everyone will either be vaccinated or have had the covids.

Also, the climate is changing.

JonBenét

Today is the day for attainment of realization of non-appearance, for with it attain affirmation. It is the 360th day of 2001 and we only have 5 more of these sumbitches left to get through.

It's Carlton Fisk's birthday!  Former Red Sox catcher Pudge turns 74 today.

On this day in 1996, child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was murdered. Impermanence is swift. Her death remains an unsolved mystery.

Three college football post-season bowl games have been cancelled so far due to the omicron covid variant, and more are sure to follow.  The United States is now averaging over 200,000 new covid cases per day, a level not seen since the January 2021 peak last winter.  As the current rate shows no sign of abating, we will almost assuredly pass the 250,512 record set on January 12.  The only "good news" is that despite the caseloads, hospitalizations and deaths are only about half of what they were last winter.  Still, many hospitals are reporting that that are overloaded and past capacity.

Russian troops are still massed along the Ukraine border.  The Republican party, almost to a man, are resisting any attempt at inquiry into what happened on January 6, 2021.  And state legislatures are still quietly rigging election boards so as not to be accountable to the popular vote.

These are dangerous times.

Santa Dog

Today is Christmas.  It is the day for obedient following, for with it we obey the teachings of all buddhas.

As you well know, we've been tracking the infection rate of the covids here in Georgia on this site.  We noticed the welcome decline in average number of cases per day in September and October, and then saw the rate flatten out in November.  The rate started increasing again in December, but just look at how sharply the numbers have climbed as the omicron variant became dominant this month.

That's a 300% increase over the past two weeks, most of which occurred in just the past five days.  Holy crap! That's one steep climb!

It's anybody's guess how high that peak will go before it finally crests.

But it's Christmas, no time to worry about global pandemics.  In keeping with recent tradition, here's the annual posting of yet another version of The Residents' Santa Dog:

Animal Collective Meets Aurora Nealand

Today is the day for attainment of the state of unrestricted speech, for with it we cause all living being to totally rejoice.

It's Christmas Eve, so here's my gift to you, given because I love you:

Lincoln

There are only eight days remaining to the virus-plagued year of 2021.  Today is the day for accomplishment of the state of dharani, for with it we hear the teachings of all the buddhas and are able to receive and maintain it. 

On this date in 2013, jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef passed away at age 93. Impermanence is swift. In the 1960s, for some reason Lateef performed for the students at my St. James, Long Island elementary school. The reasons may have something to do with jazz pianist Mose Allison, who lived in town and whose daughter was in my class, but I don't know. Anyway, we were told how fortunate we were to have someone of such renown and accomplishment play for us, but since his name wasn't John, Paul, George, or Ringo, it went right over our head. Oh, to be able to go back in time and listen to that show again!

Meanwhile, Republican voter suppression in Georgia continues.  Republicans took control of the local election board in rural Lincoln County and plan to eliminate six of the county's seven polling places.  I assume they figured that closing all seven and just declaring the winner themselves would look too obvious.  

Let's be clear - they're not doing this for the benefit of the people of Lincoln County. Republicans don't care about the rural citizens of Lincoln County, Georgia or serve the interests of anyone but themselves and their corporate benefactors. 

They seek to seize the election process to ensure they never lose power ever again. Even disgraced, twice-impeached, former so-called "president" Donald Trump has admitted that when more people vote, Republicans can’t win. 

They seek to empower and embolden their crazy-ass base.  That person screaming at the server at your favorite restaurant? They get to vote. That person having a meltdown on a flight over a simple mask? They get to vote.  That person that harasses minorities? They get to vote.  That kid who murders two people during a protest? He gets to vote and is elevated to hero status.

It’s time to take Georgia and the rest of this country back from the crazies and restore society, not to an old or previous standard, but to a new inclusive standard where we can once again trust our neighbors. Where we don’t have to worry about encountering emboldened crazies in our communities. Where we all get a vote that counts in elections.

Life During Wartime

 

Today is the day for entry into all conduct, for with it we attain realization of the Buddha's eye.

On this day in 2019, spiritual teacher, psychologist, and author Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) died in Maui.  Impermanence is swift.  I was never a particular follower or adherent of his teachings, although I must admit that his 1971 book, Be Here Now, was one of my first introductions to Eastern mysticism. I had earlier read a 1966 book he co-authored simply titled LSD.  

It's Ted Cruz' birthday.  The piece of Texas bullshit turns 51 today.

The omicron covid spike is now affecting college football.  Today, Texas A&M University announced it doesn't have enough healthy players left to play in December 31st's Gator Bowl.  The Gator Bowl is currently looking for a replacement team, but that would only be possible if another bowl is affected by cancellation.

Meanwhile, the NCAA announced that if a team is not eligible to play in one of the two college football  championship semi-final games because of the covids, it will forfeit the game and the other team will be declared the winner.  If both teams are ineligible, the winner of the remaining semi-final game will be declared the national champion.  If three teams are ineligible, the remaining, healthy team will automatically be declared the champion.

If all four teams are ineligible, meaning they're all too sick with the covids to field a team, it will be attempted to reschedule the championship game to no later than January 14.  If neither team is healthy by then, there will be no national champion for 2021.  If only one team is healthy by then, they'll be the 2021 champion. 

But here's the catch - if Team A isn't eligible for the championship game on the original January 4 date, and then Team B isn't eligible on the scheduled make-up date, then Team A, which caused the delay to start with, becomes the champion.  That doesn't sound fair, considering Team B was healthy and ready to go on the original date, but then, no one's asking me.

Tomb With A View

Today is the day for entry to the state of unrestricted speech, for with it we attain realization of the true eye.  Most people, though, consider today the 21st day of December, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.  Here in Atlanta, the sun rose at 7:39 a.m. and will set at 5:33 p.m. - only 9 hours and 54 minutes of daylight. The rest is night. Day and night are at their most unbalanced, with the state of darkness overwhelming the attainment of light.  

Georgia, like much of the nation, saw a sharp increase in the average number of new covid cases. Yesterday, we suffered 1,784 new cases; today, the number spiked to 2,591, a 98% increase from two weeks ago. This is the infectious omicron wave rolling over the state.  Here in Atlanta, restaurants and bars are closing until (at least) the new year.  More closures, mask mandates, and shelter in place restrictions are probably in store for us.

The optimism we experienced in September and October as the number of new cases tumbled was replaced with caution in November as the number plateaued and held steady at around one thousand cases per day.  But then since the start of December, the number of cases began increasing, at first slowly and now rapidly.

One year ago today, country singer-songwriter K.T. Oslin died from the covids,  She had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in June 2015 and moved into an assisted-living facility the following year. She died a week after being diagnosed with the covids in Nashville.  

We are doomed.  We're all going to die (eventually).

Fear

Today is the day for the wisdom-view, for with it wisdom is realized and fulfilled.

Last year, it wasn't until the NBA cancelled a basketball game in March that the covid pandemic became a reality for many Americans. Twenty-one months later, the sports world is now facing the omicron variant, which has caused infections, hospitalizations and deaths to climb across the United States. 

Yesterday, the NBA postponed a total of five games involving nine teams in response to rising covid numbers.  Three Sunday games were called off - Cleveland at Atlanta, Denver at Brooklyn, and New Orleans at Philadelphia. Also shelved were Orlando’s game at Toronto on Monday and Washington’s game at Brooklyn on Tuesday.  The postponements came on the same day that Atlanta announced star guard Trae Young entered the league’s health-and-safety protocols and the Los Angeles Lakers said coach Frank Vogel also was added to the list.  Leaguewide, there were at least 75 players from 20 teams who have either been ruled out to play - or in the case of the postponed games, would have been ruled out - because they are in the protocols. 

That number has soared in recent days, with the NBA just one of many sports leagues worldwide dealing with a rapidly worsening issue. Brooklyn’s list of players in protocols includes suiperstars Kevin Durant and James Harden.  To help fill their depleted roster, the Nets reinstated Kyrie Irving, who has missed the entire season because he is not vaccinated, but then he tested positive and went into covid protocols before playing a single game.

Omicron is affecting other sports, too. The NFL rescheduled three football games this weekend to account for outbreaks.  The NHL announced that it's postponing all cross-border hockey games until after the holiday break that begins December 23, suspending 12 games against Canadian teams that were set for Monday through Thursday this week. The Premier League in England called off most of its games this weekend. 

It's NCAA Football's bowl season, and so far nine bowl games have been played without cancellation or incident.  But with some campuses closing or going to on-line learning, it remains to be seen if all of the remaining 35 bowl games, including the CFP Championship Game, get played.

Picture Post

Today is Sunday, the 19th day of December, 2021. It is the day for stillness, for it realizes, and is replete with, the realization of the Buddha.

It took me a long day of stillness and idleness to recover from yesterday's 12-hour live-blogging marathon.  Still don't have much to say, so let's clean our our image cache once again for another picture post.

The Breakdown

Today is the day for the practice of the balanced state of meditation for it fulfills the ten powers.

Short post tonight.  I spent 12 hours today watching college football and live blogging the games on Facebook.  I'm exhausted and more than a little burned out. 

Normal posting will resume tomorrow.

SAWB

Today is the day for the accretion of happiness as it benefits all living beings.

On this day in 2010, Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) died at a hospital in Arcata, California, about a month before his 70th birthday. Impermanence is swift.  The cause of death was listed as complications from multiple sclerosis. Tom Waits called him "Wondrous, secret. . . and profound," and "a diviner of the highest order." I know someone who sometimes calls himself "Captain Stevehart," a play on words from "Captain Beefheart."

In other news, the City of Atlanta reportedly sold about $145 million in bonds that included a poison pill for the  proposed Buckhead City effort a day before the City Council met to consider the defensive maneuver.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ administration approved the presentation of the bonds to investors on Tuesday. After the initial $145 million were sold on Wednesday, the remainder of the $188 million offering was sold on Thursday. The City Council’s meeting on Wednesday was for the express purpose of considering the terms that authorized the poison pill. The Council ultimately approved the poison pill by a vote of 11-1, with Buckhead-area Councilmember Howard Shook casting the lone dissenting vote. Shook introduced a motion to remove the poison pill provision. It failed.

The poison pill establishes financial consequences for any parts of Atlanta that secede from the City. The provision would require a separate Buckhead City to pay Atlanta its share of a debt — up to $198 million — in a lump sum a year after the new city is formed.  The actual amount of payment is to be determined if and when a Buckhead City is established. The City Council would have to vote to call the debt under the terms of an “extraordinary optional redemption” provision.

I love that the Atlanta City Council beat all of the Smart Ass White Boy millionaires and financial "geniuses" in Buckhead at their own game.

Purdue

Today is the day for acceptance of the Truth, for it eradicates the afflictions of all living beings.

Disgraced, twice-impeached, former "president" Donald Trump has initiated a campaign against "disloyal" Republicans that has set off GOP worries around the country over its potential to divide, weaken, and radicalize the party.  Nowhere has the dynamic played out more openly than in Georgia. 

Former Republican Senator David Purdue, a Trump loyalist, is now challenging current Governor Brian Kemp's reelection in 2022.  Kemp, a Republican, famously refused to overturn the Georgia presidential election results or send "alternate" electors to certify the vote.

It's now been revealed that 25 of the state Senate's 34 Republicans quietly sent Perdue a letter last month asking him not to run. In the letter, the Senators told Perdue that he “made us proud" during his time in the U.S. Senate — but asked him to join them in endorsing Kemp for reelection.

There was so much concern about the letter becoming public that the senators refrained from sharing an electronic copy, circulating the text only in paper form.

When asked about the letter, Perdue acknowledged he’d received it but said it never affected his decision.  "They think that endorsements among each other can elbow an outsider out of a race," he said. “People who vote don’t care about that," he said. "You know, who cares about that? Career politicians."  State Sen. John Albers, a signer, called the career politicians comment "concerning and wholly inaccurate. Most have been in office less than Perdue."

“We hold Senator Perdue in the highest regard and always will," said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, who also signed the letter. but "wish that he had responded to us in the same manner in which we originally engaged with him." 

Scorecard

Today is the day for teaching and guiding living beings, for we ourselves never indulge pleasures nor become tired.

The average number of covid cases in Georgia continues to rise and is now about 1,500 cases per day, up 74% from two weeks ago.  The United States currently averages 1,285 covid deaths per day, and is on course to reach a total of 800,000 covid deaths tomorrow.  Americans 65 and older account for about three-quarters of those deaths.

The Northeastern and Midwestern states in particular are struggling to contain viral surges as the country averages about 120,000 cases per day. New Hampshire and Rhode Island, where infection rates continue to increase rapidly, lead the country in recent cases per capita.  Hospitals in the Midwest are straining to treat an influx of covid patients. Michigan, Indiana and Ohio have the highest coronavirus hospitalization rates in the nation.

The delta variant remains the dominant force in the United States. It is not yet known how the omicron variant, which is gaining a foothold in Washington State and other parts of the country, might affect those trends in the coming weeks.  So far, five cases of the omicron variant have been reported in Georgia, and one of those Georgia cases is currently quarantined in New Jersey.

About 61% of Americans are fully vaccinated. Approximately 50% of Georgians are fully vaccinated. Around two million doses are being administered each day, a figure that includes booster shots.

Yesterday I learned that my vaccinated and boostered younger brother has just recovered from the covids.  He apparently caught it from his unvaxxed, 20-something son, who came down with it, too.   Interestingly, my vaxxed brother only suffered mild symptoms, mainly fatigue, while his son unvaxxed son was more symptomatic.  The fact that the virus affected two genetically similar persons of different generations so dissimilarly shows the efficacy of vaccines in limiting the severity of the virus.

Dereliction of Duty/Criminal Conspiracy

Today is the day for the four elements of sociability for with them we accept all living beings and, after we have attained the truth of wisdom, we bestow that truth upon all living  beings.  The four elements of sociability are generosity, kind words, useful conduct, and sharing a common aim.

It's the 14th of December, the 348th day of 2021, but who's counting?

Today is Charley Trippi's birthday!  The former Georgia Bulldog standout and Chicago Cardinals player turns 100 years young today! He was first drafted in 1945, but didn’t play that year because of WWII. When he came back in 1947, the Cardinals, then located in Chicago, won the championship his rookie year, which is also the last time the Cards have won the championship. He is the oldest living member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is just the 2nd Hall of Famer to reach the century mark.

Last night, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol voted to hold Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena. In order to justify their votes, they revealed some new details about what happened on January 6. 

Liz Cheney read text messages Meadows received on January 6. They included texts from lawmakers to Meadows begging Trump to call off the rioters, making it clear that those closest to him understood that those attacking the Capitol would respond to his orders. Dozens of texts urged the president to act to stop the protesters: “POTUS needs to calm this shit down” and “Someone is going to get killed.” 

Those texting Meadows about the president also included his son, Donald Trump, Jr., which brings up the question of why Trump, Jr. needed to communicate with his father through his chief of staff.  Fox News personality Laura Ingraham texted Meadows during the insurrection that “this is hurting all of us.”  Fox's Brian Kilmeade and Sean Hannity also texted Trump to call off the rioters.  

As Cheney said, “These texts leave no doubt: the White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol. Members of Congress, the press, and others wrote to Mark Meadows as the attack was underway."

And yet, Trump remained unmoved for over three hours while our Capitol was under attack and lawmakers hid from the mob. Cheney said, “Hours passed without necessary action by the president. These non-privileged texts are further evidence of President Trump's supreme dereliction of duty during those 187 minutes.”

A number of lawmakers tossed the term “dereliction of duty” around immediately after the insurrection, but it has faded from conversation as Republicans have lined up behind the former president. It is, though, an offense under the U.S. military code, and therefore is something that people understand is serious. The Capitol was under attack, and the one person who everyone believed could stop the attack, the commander-in-chief, refused to do anything to stop it. 

The right-wing media, including the Fox News Channel, Newsmax, and One America News, did not cover last night's committee hearing. Hannity, though, did interview Meadows, opening his show by telling viewers, "The hyperpartisan predetermined-outcome anti-Trump January 6 committee just voted 9-to-0 to hold Mark Meadows in contempt for refusing to comply with their orders." He went on to ask Meadows why Congress is not investigating what Hannity painted as the terrible riots in the summer of 2020.

Their discomfort might reflect, in part, that they, too, were implicated in the events of January 6. After begging Trump to call off his supporters during the insurrection, the same personalities went in front of their audiences on camera and lied that Trump had nothing to do with the insurrection. Ingraham, for example, blamed Antifa for the attack on the Capitol, suggested the riot was staged by provocateurs, and suggested there were just three dozen people. 

The suggestion that Antifa was the real culprit on January 6 might or might not have been related to the revelation that Trump had expected counter-protesters on that day, and had been prepared to use the ensuing violence as a pretext to declare martial law.  Did he allow the lawlessness to continue for over three hours in an attempt to draw Antifa and other counter-protesters to the Capitol in order to trigger his plan?  And does that constitute criminal conspiracy?

1 in 100

Today is the day for expedient means, for with them we manifest ourselves according to dignified forms that living being admire, and we teach and guide living things according to the teachings of the elders.

On this day is 1944, Russian-born painter, theorist, and teacher Wassily Kandinsky died in France. Impermanence is swift.

The waxing gibbous moon set at 2:27 a.m. last night (technically, very early this morning) and will rise again at 2:22 p.m. this afternoon.

The average number of new covid cases in Georgia is now 1,458 cases per day, up 37% from two weeks ago.  As the coronavirus pandemic approaches the end of a second year, no group has suffered more than elderly Americans. All along, elderly people have been known to be more vulnerable, but the scale of loss is only now coming into full view. Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the virus in the United States have been 65 or older. 

One in 100 elder Americans has already died from the virus. One percent of the population over the age of 65.  For people younger than 65, the ratio is closer to 1 in 1,400.  Many elderly Americans continue to endure isolation and fear, long after millions of younger people have largely resumed normal lives.

Last year, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, helped stop the attempts of disgraced, twice-impeached, so-called "president" Trump to reverse the 2020 election results. But state legislators here in Georgia have since weakened his powers, and Republican Jody Hice, a Trump-backed candidate, is running to replace Raffensperger next year.  Hice was one of several U.S. House members who objected to certifying Biden’s victory in Georgia,  and last December, Hice was one of 126 Republican members of Congress who unsuccessfully urged the Supreme Court to stop several key states from certifying Biden’s victory. Hice has since tried to re-write history by portraying the January 6th insurrectionists as "the real victims" of that lawless day. If elected as Secretary of State, there is no reason to believe that Georgia will send electors to Washington that represent the popular vote of the people.

Georgia Republicans have also passed a law that gives a commission they control the power to remove local election officials. There was much discussion of the portion of the law that forbids people from providing food or water to people waiting on line to vote, which is cruel and unnecessarily punitive, but very little attention to the much more significant issue of dismantling locally-elected vote-oversight officials.

Georgia's moves are part of a nationwide anti-democratic movement, inspired by Trump but much larger than him, that is making significant progress. In those swing states that decide modern presidential elections, this movement has already changed some laws and ousted election officials, with the aim of overturning future results. It has justified the changes with blatantly false statements claiming that Biden did not really win the 2020 election.

Disturbingly, the movement has encountered surprisingly little opposition. Most leading Republican politicians have either looked the other way or supported the anti-democratic movement. In the House, Republicans ousted Liz Cheney from a leadership position because she called out Trump’s lies.

Most Democratic officials, for their part, have been focused on issues other than election security, like the covids and the economy. It’s true that congressional Democrats tried to pass a new voting rights bill, only to be stymied by Republican opposition and the filibuster. But the Democratic efforts have been sprawling and unfocused. They have included proposals — on voter-ID rules and mail-in ballots, for example — that are almost certainly less important than a federal law to block the overturning of elections.

All of which has created a remarkable possibility: In the 2024 presidential election, Republican officials in at least one state may overturn a legitimate election result, citing fraud that does not exist, and award the state’s electoral votes to the Republican nominee. If this occurs, America will no longer be a functioning democracy but instead become an autocracy, and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams.

Twelve Twelve Twentyone

Today is the day for the perfection of wisdom, for with it we eradicate the darkness of ignorance together with the attachment to views, and we can teach and guide foolish living things.

One year ago today, country music singer Charlie Pride died from the covids at age 86. Impermanence is swift.

The United States will reach 800,000 covid deaths by this Friday.  The world has already seen 5,300,000 covid deaths.

Deadly tornados tore through the midwestern U.S. late last week, killing around 100 people.  I can't even begin to process the terror the storms must have caused, and the grief they left in their wake.

In light of a recent Supreme Court hearing signaling the end of Roe v. Wade, red states across the country are enacting ever tighter restrictions on abortion access, if not bans altogether.

Russian troops are still massed along the Ukraine border, waiting on orders or an excuse to invade.

Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate David Purdue says that had he been in office at that time, he would not have certified the results of the 2020 presidential election, the latest outrage in the far right's war against American democracy nd move toward authoritarianism.

We are five days away from the opening kickoff of the Bahamas Bowl (Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo), the first of the 44 games of the 2021 Bowl Season.

Axios

Today is the day for the perfection of meditation, for with it we accomplish all balanced states and can teach and guide distracted living beings.

In an interesting read under the "Hard Truths" heading, the Axios news website noted that the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed raised hope that the U.S. might finally address the systemic racism behind so much American history and policy. But instead, a backlash occurred and even some once-strong allies backtracked. A wave of proposed reforms that rose up ultimately crashed into the status quo.  Defund The Police plans fizzled. Federal voting rights and police reform bills remain stalled. 

There is historical precedent for this "one-step-forward, one-step-back" pattern.  After the U.S. fought an exhausting Civil War over slavery and then emancipated enslaved people, the nation then allowed Southern states to roll back civil rights and adopt Jim Crow laws that legalized segregation.  Following the Civil Rights Movement and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs to tackle poverty, the nation turned to Richard Nixon to elevate "law and order" over civil rights.  

But U.S. history shows the walls of inequality seldom collapse all at once. Instead, cracks emerge and with time turn into larger openings.

Some states, like Illinois and New Mexico, have passed sweeping police reform bills that banned chokeholds and required officers to wear body cameras.  Activists were quick to denounce and draw attention to a rise of anti-Asian violence that resulted from the COVID pandemic.

Although sweeping plans to revamp law enforcement appear dead, for the first time officers have been convicted for use of excessive force, including the former policeman who killed George Floyd. Activists toppled some statues once honoring former slaveholding Confederates and murderers of Indigenous people. Black, Latino, Asian American and Native American voters cast ballots in record numbers.  

The summer of 2020 saw millions across the U.S. take to the streets to demand that cities and the federal government radically change policing. Multiracial demonstrators called for changes to laws protecting officers from prosecution over allegations of fatal excessive force. Demonstrations also called for eradicating racist symbols, from sports mascots to street names of known white supremacists. Puerto Ricans and the Latino community joined the Black Lives Matter protest standing in solidarity and seeking justice for victims of police brutality.

At first, unlikely allies like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and white residents in small towns joined Black Lives Matter marches and calls to end systemic racism.  But the ongoing pandemic and the violent rhetoric from the disgraced, twice-impeached former "president" Donald Trump, who falsely alleged BLM protesters were linked to Antifa, helped dampen support for racial justice demonstrations.

Police unions fought back and began publicly supporting Republicans like Trump who vowed to fight policing reforms. That starkly divided support for Black Lives Matter along party lines. Rising murder and violent crime rates in some major cities allowed police unions and conservatives to argue BLM demonstrations contributed to crime — despite lack of evidence to support that position.  

Following the 2020 election, a group led by Russell Vought, a White House budget director under Trump, began a campaign to rid discussions about racism and diversity from public schools under the pretext of attacking Critical Race Theory — a graduate-school concept that examines the racial inequality baked into the U.S. legal system.

Whether the U.S. will again retreat from addressing systemic racism and ensuring equality for all Americans, regardless of race or ethnicity, in the name of "returning to normal."

Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young

TGIF! Today is Friday, the 10th day of December 2021. There are 21 days left to this covid-plagued year. Today is the day for the perfection of diligence, for with it we completely attain all good things, and we teach and guide lazy living beings.

Redneck history lesson: On this date in 1996, country musician and honky-tonk legend Faron Young (Hello Walls, If You Ain't Lovin' You Ain't Livin', It's Four In the Morning, and Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young) shot himself in his Nashville home.  Impermanence is swift.  But on that very day that Young died, former LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow (now with the Cincinnati Bengals) was born in Ames, Iowa.  Life goes on.

During this month of December, the average number of new covids cases in Georgia has been steadily rising again.  It remained steady at around 1,000 cases per day (give or take a hundred or so) for the month of November, and on November 30 the average was down to 874 cases per day.  But that number steadily rose over the past 10 days of December, and now we're up to an average of 1,363 cases per day, the highest it's been since October 24.

Yesterday the state Department of Health announced that a third Georgian has tested positive for the omicron variant.  The patient is an unvaccinated metro Atlanta resident with no recent international travel history, indicating the omicron variant of the virus may be spreading in Georgia.  “You’re going to have local transmission,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, distinguished professor of infectious diseases at Emory University. “That’s how it always starts, first you have people who traveled, and then it starts spreading at home.”  The patient has mild symptoms and is isolating at home. The state is tracing the person’s recent contacts in order to identify people who might have been exposed to the new variant. 

I'm glad that I'm fully vaccinated and boosted. 

Meanwhile, just over the cold and snowy eastern border of the Ukraine, Putin continues to amass Russian troops seemingly intent on invasion.  Worse, Putin is claiming that Ukrainian counter-measures, including moving its own troops and surveillance facilities closer to the border, represent aggression on the Ukraine's part and justifies a Russian invasion.  I recognize that this is happening half a world away, but this is how world wars start.

Don't get me started on the climate. 

Or the attacks on American democracy.

These are crucial times, and I fear that the near-future world is going to be bleak and unforgiving for the next generation.

We really fucked it up this time, didn't we?

Malkovich

Today is the day for the perfection of patience, for with it we abandon all anger, arrogance, flattery, and foolery, and teach and guide living beings who have such vices.

It's John Malkovich's birthday!  The actor and producer turns 68 today.

The world will end soon.  Impermanence is swift.

Budd

Today is the day for the perfection of ethics, for with it we we teach and guide unethical living beings and distantly depart from the hardships of evil worlds.

One year ago today, composer and musician Harold Budd died from the covids. Impermanence is swift. After suffering a stroke on November 11, Budd was undergoing therapy in a short-term rehabilitation facility when he contracted the illness. 

The picture above is Budd performing at the Church Street Church in Knoxville, Tennessee in March 2019 as part of that year's Big Ears Festival.  That's Budd seated in front behind an electric piano.  Harpist Mary Lattimore and other members of his ensemble for that day, including his son, Terrance, are behind him. It was a magical performance, and I got to see him perform again two days later. I also saw him the next morning at breakfast at my hotel, but didn't intrude on his privacy, because, well, privacy. That same year at Big Ears, I also got to see composer Alvin Lucier, who passed away a few days ago.

You may have heard Budd's music if you watched the heart-breaking HBO mini-series, I Know This Much Is True in 2020.  Budd's luminous soundtrack both underscored the themes of sorrow and loneliness that ran through the series as well as provided an emotional balm for the most wrenching scenes.

Infamy

 

Today is the 80th anniversary of the "date which will live in infamy."  On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces launched a surprise attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor.  2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.  Impermanence is swift.

On that infamous day, journalist and activist Melba Pattillo Beals was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Today is her 80th birthday!  Beals was a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who were the first to integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1956.   Racist Governor Orval Faubus used National Guard troops to block their entry to the school, forcing President Eisenhower to send in the 101st Airborne Division to protect their lives.  I was 2 years old at the time.  

Today is the day for the perfection of generosity, for in every instance it causes features to be pleasant,  adorns the world, and teaches and guides stingy and greedy living beings. 

I finally set Fallout 76 aside yesterday after some 335 hours of gameplay.  It's my fourth-longest-played game, after Fallout 4 (640 hours), Cyberpunk 2077 (513 hours) and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (344 hours).  If I had played all four of those games back-to-back and non-stop, it would have taken me 76 days and 8 hours to complete.

My new game is Far Cry 6.  I've played Far Cry 3, 4, and 5, as well as Far Cry: Primal and Far Cry: New Dawn.  So far, the game's okay - not great but passable.  I often don't like new games when I first start (they're, well, different), but I have a feeling this one's not going to improve much from here. We'll see.

Development

Today is the day for development, for with it we realize all things concerning the root of good.

Because I really don't have anything else to say today, it's also once again the day to consider the beauty of the City of Atlanta, as captured by various contributors to social media.  Here's what's been in my feed lately, a portrait of a city, including both the usual skyline drone photography as well as some more intimate, street-level views. All credit goes to the original photographers.