Charlie and I went to a backyard party this past week, the first one thrown in our neighborhood in quite a while.
It felt good.
Most of our close Nevada friends have been inoculated for Covid-19, but there are exceptions. One couple says that they have autoimmune issues (that they caught “from each other”!), another is dominated by a know-it-all husband, and the other couple includes a former F.B.I. agent and his physician wife. The only things that all three couples have in common are that they’re over 65 years of age and are very politically conservative: don’t know for sure, but they might have contracted Trump-itis.
Speaking of politics, there have been some strange goings on this past month.
The State of Georgia (of course) is re-instituting some Jim Crow voter suppression bullshit for “election integrity” purposes.
That excuse doesn’t pass the smell test because the State of Georgia elections boss did three recounts of the 2020 election returns and publicly announced that he could find no fraud or improprieties in the Georgian elections. You might recall that Donald Trump was livid about this reality and even (illegally) asked the elections official and the Governor to change the vote totals in his favor. That impropriety was duly noted via a taped phone call which we all heard on the evening news. The bottom line, I suppose, is that votes in the great State of Georgia are deemed to be fraudulent or improper when they are cast for Democratic candidates.
When the latest Georgian Jim Crow shenanigans hit the fan, several prominent Georgia-based corporations (Delta Airlines and Coca Cola, to name two) showed solidarity with their Black customers by publicly expressing outrage and, in the case of Major League Baseball, canceling the All Star game scheduled for Atlanta.
Mitch McConnell, the two-faced G.O.P. Senate Minority Leader, warned corporate America to “stay out of politics”…while at the same time welcoming corporate campaign funding for Republican candidates.
“We don’t want your advice, only your money!” seems to be the attitude.
There were another couple of mass shootings in the past week. Unfortunately, Americans have become numb to these horrid events, with a shoulder-hunching “What can you do?” attitude. The answer is: probably nothing, as our irresponsible, head-in-the-sand Federal elected officials don’t have the testicles to regulate gun sales and gun possession by idiots and minors. I’m sure Mitch McConnell would prefer that concerned citizens “stay out of politics” on this issue, as well.
The Derek Chauvin case is big news right now. He is the ex-Minneapolis Police Department cowboy who calmly and defiantly suffocated George Floyd (for allegedly passing a fake $20 bill in a convenience store) in the street back in May 2020 in front of numerous witnesses.
The City of Minneapolis subsequently settled a $27 million wrongful death civil suit with the family of George Floyd: the city fathers knew that Officer Chauvin done Floyd wrong.
In the criminal trial against Mr. Chauvin, the prosecution’s witnesses (including Minneapolis P.D. officers) have made it pretty clear to the jury that the ex-police officer was not following proper use-of-force procedure when he kneeled against Mr. Floyd’s neck for over 9 minutes, some of which occurred when the victim had no pulse.
The defense will likely make a big deal about Mr. Floyd’s past criminal behavior, his drug use, and Officer Chauvin’s belief that he was somehow entitled to use deadly force against a Black man who was handcuffed behind his back, was prone (on his stomach, with Chauvin’s full weight on him ), was gasping for air, and who was begging for his life. Of course, only one juror needs to buy the defense’s bullshit excuses and ex-Officer Chauvin will walk.
If that happens, America could see another episode of the devastating Los Angeles’ riots of 1992…on a National scale. It would be a monumental tragedy if that happened.
Speaking of the Nation, the economy seems to be rebounding to some extent. Many millions of workers are still out of work, though, and it will be a long time before most of those jobs come back. The “stimulus” money has staved off a devastating recession for the time being and has pumped money into an ever-enlarging Wall Street bubble. The bubble will burst sooner or later; it always does. It is unlikely that blue collar Americans will see any more stimulus “funny money”: Congress has lost the stomach for it.
Housing prices are, like many other consumer costs, skyrocketing. In our area (the Nevada “sun belt” with no State income tax), lots of Californians with fat retirement accounts are relocating, gobbling up available housing and boosting prices paid. As of last week, there are only four homes available on the re-sale market in Sun City. Our neighbor, Carol Kline, whose husband Marcus died several months ago from Covid-19, put her house (virtually identical to ours) on the market last week and sold it in four days for $545,000. That is $200,000 more than the base price that she paid twenty-four months ago.
When we bought our home in late 2018, we paid a “lot premium” of $12,000…because it was a large lot with a view (easterly from the back yard) of Virgin Peak, elevation 8,000 feet. Some of the better “view” lots in our subdivision had higher premiums, some as much as $30,000. Our developer, Pulte Homes, is building more homes right now up on a higher ridge with nice views. The home styles and sizes will remain the same, but the lot premiums have skyrocketed: there is one lot on a cul-de-sac called “Majestic View” that is commanding a $300,000 premium…and there are reputedly three or four bidders who want that bare lot.
Wow. How long will it be before a gallon of gas costs $10?
We are currently in the process of spending a bunch of money on our RV. One “surprise” (but, not entirely unexpected) expense is repair/replacement of the air bag suspension system under the chassis. The existing air bags (which keep the RV level during operation and when parked) are sixteen years old, suffering from leaks and dry rot. It’s time to bite the bullet and do what is necessary to keep the rig operational and safe. Mucho dinero, I’m afraid. However, since costs of everything are skyrocketing, maybe now is the time to pay the freight…before the job becomes too costly.
Ay, Chihuahua!
With regard to the RV, we want to take advantage of the lull in pandemics (what’s next, Covid-23?) and maybe schedule an eastern trip next year to see friends and our son Jonathan and family who live in Lexington, Kentucky. I’m going to do some research in the next few weeks to get a general idea of routing, time, and costs. We gotta get some use out of those new air bags!
Tomorrow, I’m going to watch the final round of the Masters’ golf tournament. It is an unusual contest this year, as reckless driver/iconic golfer Tiger Woods will not be involved at all; he is home in Florida recuperating from multiple injuries suffered in a self-induced auto accident. The tournament is also unusual this year because a Japanese golfer, Hideki Matsuyama, will go into the final round with a four-shot lead. No Asian man has ever won the Masters, despite the fact that the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (the female pro golfing circuit) is dominated by Asian women. Coincidentally, a young Asian-American golfer, University of California-Berkeley grad Collin Morikawa, won this past year’s P.G.A. Championship and a young Thai lady, Patty Tavatanakit, won last week’s LPGA major tournament in Palm Springs.
While Asians are on a roll in golf, they are targets in American society right now. Xenophobia (against China) which was driven to fever pitch by ex-President Trump, is manifesting itself in many urban areas, where thuggish individuals have taken out their frustrations on innocent Asian-Americans. Gee, just when I was thinking that our country could stoop no lower…now we’ve got deranged idiots assaulting and stomping elderly citizens because their parents or grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from the Orient many decades ago…before the pandemic, trade imbalances, and whatever.
As the French philosopher Voltaire once said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”. And so, the blame-throwing, hate-mongering legacy of Donald Trump lives on.
However, it’s the second week of April, the sun is out in force, and the shrubs, trees, and succulents in Mesquite, Nevada are beginning to put out a variety of bright flowers. Signs of optimism, at last.
It’s “back to normal”, at least in a horticultural sense.
