(from https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/the_cold_generation_1246364)
They don’t dance the tango in Argentina anymore
but you can do the twist alone but keep your distance.
However, the elegant the waltz is out, superb dresses
is not a defence against the virus.
To do the swing is awkward to without a hand to hold
on to, I don’t know about square dance though.
We are becoming a withdrawn society, like the Swedes
they are not famed for warmth and kisses.
That is the way they have *****-industry to make up for
the lack of intimacy.
". . . Claim: The U.S. has conducted 'over 50 million tests'
According to the graphics displayed behind Trump during his remarks, the U.S. has conducted more than 45 million tests. This requires context, because the president is citing the data point as a measure of the U.S.'s success in combating the virus. Public health experts say the number of tests that have been conducted doesn't on its own indicate a country's success in controlling an outbreak. He said the rate of positive tests indicates that far more people are being infected than are being tested, and he pointed to Arizona, where 1 in 4 tests are positive, as an example. "Right now, our pandemic is out of control," he said.
Claim: 'Our case fatality rate has continued to decline' and is lower than 'almost everywhere else in the world'
This is misleading. Trump is trying to make the U.S. look better by emphasizing the ratio between confirmed deaths and confirmed cases — known as the case fatality rate — over the more telling mortality rate. The former lowers as testing expands and detects more mild cases, while the latter reveals how many deaths a country has had relative to its population. According to Johns Hopkins University data, the U.S. mortality rate is one of the highest in the world, thanks to the large outbreak. The case fatality rate has fallen, but it isn't lower than "almost everywhere else in the world."
Claim: 'We're closely monitoring hospital capacity' in states with surging cases. 'All of the governors we've spoken with say they have enough bed capacity.'
While we can't verify what governors have told the Trump administration, U.S. hospital capacity appears to be strained. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, raised the alarm Monday over COVID-19 hospitalizations, saying the state's caseload had the potential to strain hospital resources and staff. Last week, NBC News reported that 54 hospitals in Florida had no available beds in their intensive care units and that 40 more hospitals had less than 10 percent availability. NBC News reported this month that Houston hospitals have been forced to treat hundreds of patients in their emergency rooms — sometimes for several hours or multiple days — in their scramble to meet the pandemic's rising numbers.
Claim: 'We again have tremendous amounts of supplies, we're in very good shape, and we can move them quickly'
Not according to internal administration documents obtained by NBC News, which showed that the federal government may not have the capacity to supply medical professionals with personal protective equipment.
Claim: The Trump administration inherited 'very, very empty cupboards'
This is a false claim we've fact-checked previously. Both former Obama administration officials and previous news reports dispute it. While Trump didn't inherit empty shelves, congressional budget cuts might have depleted parts of the Strategic National Stockpile during the Obama administration. However, Trump didn't do anything to change that during the first three years of his administration.
". . . The adults were too sophisticated to see Trump’s special political talents—his instinct for every adversary’s weakness, his fanatical devotion to himself, his knack for imposing his will, his sheer staying power. They also failed to appreciate the advanced decay of the Republican Party, which by 2016 was far gone in a nihilistic pursuit of power at all costs. They didn’t grasp the readiness of large numbers of Americans to accept, even relish, Trump’s contempt for democratic norms and basic decency. It took the arrival of such a leader to reveal how many things that had always seemed engraved in monumental stone turned out to depend on those flimsy norms, and how much the norms depended on public opinion. Their vanishing exposed the real power of the presidency. Legal precedent could be deleted with a keystroke; law enforcement’s independence from the White House was optional; the separation of powers turned out to be a gentleman’s agreement; transparent lies were more potent than solid facts. None of this was clear to the political class until Trump became president. . . "
Several years ago, I encountered the talented and distinguished local musical artist Doug Allen Wilcox at the now-defunct SAW Songwriters Showcase at Brewer's Alley in Frederick, MD. I much appreciated his thoughtful, laid-back style, insightful writing and jazz-sensitive musical approach. When he asked me if I would consider performing his latest album (at the time) with him, live at the Frederick Coffee Company, I hesitated not in the least. During the process of learning the tunes, I experienced the wonderful composition 'Distraction.' I was enamored, envisioning potential improvisations in my mind when listening to the melody and the chord progression. Eventually, I mustered the nerve to ask Doug if I could include his composition on my next album, to which he humbly and characteristically replied - Yes. Here is the result.
. . . to know WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS!!
Dear Lisa Blunt Rochester,
Ethics regulations prevent executive branch employees from using their office for personal gain or to "endorse any product, service or enterprise for the private gain of friends or relatives." See https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/15/beans-brains-critics-say-trump-photo-promoting-goya-makes-clear-ivankas-tweet-was-no
I would like to know what you are going to do about this!!
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Dear Tom Carper,
Ethics regulations prevent executive branch employees from using their office for personal gain or to "endorse any product, service or enterprise for the private gain of friends or relatives." See https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/15/beans-brains-critics-say-trump-photo-promoting-goya-makes-clear-ivankas-tweet-was-no
I would like to know what you are going to do about this!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Chris Coons,
Ethics regulations prevent executive branch employees from using their office for personal gain or to "endorse any product, service or enterprise for the private gain of friends or relatives." See https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/15/beans-brains-critics-say-trump-photo-promoting-goya-makes-clear-ivankas-tweet-was-no
I would like to know what you are going to do about this!!
One fact that I,
In my infinite wisdom,
Could not always see.
But in the end you always convinced me
Things aren't always
What they appear;
The things I've always looked for.
Once long ago, before we met,
I thought I could
Singlehandedly make the
Spinning world go away;
Just like some king
from back in those bygone days.
But I was wrong.
I don't belong
Inside this category.
Seemed to be,
At the time to me,
To my advantage.
Missing why,
Not knowing
When to try
To start believing
In my very own
Self determination.
Sometimes at night when I'm alone,
The solitude
And the quiet can bring out
All the worst in my head.
But now it seems that isn't so big or bad.
I've learned a thing,
Or maybe two,
And just ahead there’s always you.
