After ordered to cruise off the California coast for the last 3 days, a cruise ship with 3000 passengers and crew will dock inside San Francisco Bay at the port of Oakland, on the bay's east Shore. This comes after Health officials from the state delivered coronavirus test kits by helicopter to be used to begin testing those same people on board the ship. Controversy has surrounded all the decisions involved from the waiting time to the confusion related to the ship's itinerary that include stops in Hawaii and Mexico, and discharging passengers at every stop.
California governor, Gavin Newsom, has authorized the docking location despite some verbal opposition from a low level politician who felt aggrieved by the dock site given that San Francisco is the ship's home port(although it sails under a foreign flag.
While the focus in the US has been the State of Washington and the deaths of 14 residents in a nursing home there, California has the numbers to indicate this could be the location of another serious outbreak of infections. The passengers will be removed from the ship and sent ot 2 military bases: one near Sacramento(Travis AFB), and one in SoCal(Miramar). They will be quarantined for 14 days and monitored and observed for symptoms(fever, cough, headache). Seniors and other sensitive individuals will be closely watched.
The Chinese government announced that there appears to be a slowdown in new infections. Health authorities are doubtful that China is being truthful given the government's unreliability on statistics.
Italy has announced further restrictions on travel within its borders, especially in the northern provinces near Milan. The entire country is taking a huge economic hit as tourists and travel agents change plans due to conditions related to the infections of coronavirus. The City of Venice will be sharply restricted, given its seaport location and the frequency of cruise ships to stop for a few days.
In Greece, refugees seeking passage through the coountry have been forcibly turned back at the Turkish/Greece border. The president of Turkey has told Syrians that they can enter the EU from his country, contrary to reality. It will continue to be a difficult situation for all refugees in the area.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Friday, March 6, 2020
Book Review: The Death of Santini: the Story of a Father and His Son", Pat Conroy
Pat Conroy, the noted American novelist, published a memoir 7 years ago. It was his last book before he passed away 2 years later. Many readers loved his books, especially "The Great Santini", a thinly disguised story about growing up in
a family that was led by an outsized American hero: a Marine Corps fighter pilot who fought in WW II, the Korean conflict, and the war in Vietnam. Pat Conroy wrote of the family life that was an adjunct to this one man's career as a military man during peacetime and during war.
It's not a pretty picture. Author Conroy was the oldest of 7 Conroy children: 5 boys and 2 girls. His mother, lovely and vivacious, was hardly the ideal match for this wild Irishman from Chicago's Southside where the Conroy boys were well known along the turbulent streets of the City Of Big Shoulders. The Dad, Don Conroy, dropped out of college to join the Marines after Pearl Harbor. He was sent to flight school and earned his golden wings of a naval aviator. He joined the fleet air wing and learned his trade among the best of the era. But there was a dark side to this man: he was an alcoholic and a wife beater and child abuser extraordinaire. No matter where they moved, and the family moved 23 times during his 33 year career, the shadow of his tempestuous personality followed along, creating anxiety and fear among the many offspring. Conroy does not gloss over the actions of his Father: he underlines them in bold. Today, this man would be arrested and imprisoned for a long time. But the Marine Corps tolerated this behavior: the organization needed its heroes and its leaders no matter the cost to the families involved. Sadly, after Don's retirement, he changed somewhat. As his story came out in the books and then the movie(Don played by Robert Duvall in 1979), Don began to create his own mythical life- a life without the abuse, the drunk behavior, the alcoholism; the sad outcomes for many of the children and his former wife who divorced him just before he retired.
Pat Conroy wrote other books and tried to explain the effects on the family members raised by this madman. In the end, when his father succumbed to cancer at 78, Pat Conroy accepted Don as a good man with many faults. Most of the siblings did,too.
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| iconic flag of USMC |
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| book cover |
It's not a pretty picture. Author Conroy was the oldest of 7 Conroy children: 5 boys and 2 girls. His mother, lovely and vivacious, was hardly the ideal match for this wild Irishman from Chicago's Southside where the Conroy boys were well known along the turbulent streets of the City Of Big Shoulders. The Dad, Don Conroy, dropped out of college to join the Marines after Pearl Harbor. He was sent to flight school and earned his golden wings of a naval aviator. He joined the fleet air wing and learned his trade among the best of the era. But there was a dark side to this man: he was an alcoholic and a wife beater and child abuser extraordinaire. No matter where they moved, and the family moved 23 times during his 33 year career, the shadow of his tempestuous personality followed along, creating anxiety and fear among the many offspring. Conroy does not gloss over the actions of his Father: he underlines them in bold. Today, this man would be arrested and imprisoned for a long time. But the Marine Corps tolerated this behavior: the organization needed its heroes and its leaders no matter the cost to the families involved. Sadly, after Don's retirement, he changed somewhat. As his story came out in the books and then the movie(Don played by Robert Duvall in 1979), Don began to create his own mythical life- a life without the abuse, the drunk behavior, the alcoholism; the sad outcomes for many of the children and his former wife who divorced him just before he retired.
Pat Conroy wrote other books and tried to explain the effects on the family members raised by this madman. In the end, when his father succumbed to cancer at 78, Pat Conroy accepted Don as a good man with many faults. Most of the siblings did,too.
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
US Mandates removal of Chinese Journalists
It has finally come about after China sent home 3 Wall Stree Journal reporters from its country. The State Dept. announce yesterday that certain news agencies would have to send home a certain number of their reporters loose within the US. This was reported to be in response to China's abusive treatment of USA media reporters in China. This will get worse as time and the coronavirus keep gooing forward.
Super Tuesday Across the USA
So, we've had a few dropouts this week: Amy, Pete, and Tom are gone. Today's primary election could add to those names as Joe Biden, Bernie the Bern Man, Mike, and Elizabeth hope for good results. It could be a long night for all. Bernie seems to lead in California polls, but the rest of the states are a tossup.
Keep your eyes on the early returns for the latest call.
Meanwhile, many states have important local issues. In California, it's another Proposition 13, a measure that has already caused anxiety among voters as they are fed misleading information and also missing information as to the likely results of passage. The super majority legislators in Sacramento have concealed the "true" effects of passage by hinging passage of other related bills that would then go into effect. Basically, what happens is that tax increases would be able to pass without a 2/3's majority required. School districts could saddle home owners with significant property tax increases to pay for bonds to finance pensions, pay, and infrastructure improvements at the district level. There would be little control of the spending after any passage. This is what gave rise to 1978's original Prop. 13 that came to be as owners were taxed right out of their homes as assessments made gigantic increases inassessed valuations of homes. It could come back and drive the DEms from their lofty seats that currently dominate state politics.
Keep your eyes on the early returns for the latest call.
Meanwhile, many states have important local issues. In California, it's another Proposition 13, a measure that has already caused anxiety among voters as they are fed misleading information and also missing information as to the likely results of passage. The super majority legislators in Sacramento have concealed the "true" effects of passage by hinging passage of other related bills that would then go into effect. Basically, what happens is that tax increases would be able to pass without a 2/3's majority required. School districts could saddle home owners with significant property tax increases to pay for bonds to finance pensions, pay, and infrastructure improvements at the district level. There would be little control of the spending after any passage. This is what gave rise to 1978's original Prop. 13 that came to be as owners were taxed right out of their homes as assessments made gigantic increases inassessed valuations of homes. It could come back and drive the DEms from their lofty seats that currently dominate state politics.
Greece and Its Border
The Greek government announced that it has dispatched army troops to the Turkish border to aid in efforts to halt illegal immigrants to cross from Turkey into the country. The President of Turkey announced that they can no longer control the millions of Syrian immigrants having absorbed over 5 million since the beginning of the war in that country. The Turks began busing Syrians to the Greek border to pressure the EU to recognize the problem: again.
The EU authorities recognize the Greek government's efforts to control the problem where it begins instead of waiting as the EU did before in 2014-15. Now the Union realizes that the countries in the union have little recourse but to stem the flow across the continent. Now that the UK is effectively out of the EU, that country's availability is off the table. NATO will no doubt be forced to deal with the issue given Turkey's membership in the organization.
Russya and its home grown dictator, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, are involved in supporting the Assad government in Syria as its troops descend on Idlip province to eliminate the last bastion of rebel forces concentrated there among the civilian population which is fleeing the combat for safety wherever they can find shelter(Turkey).
It's not going to be solved anytime soon.
The EU authorities recognize the Greek government's efforts to control the problem where it begins instead of waiting as the EU did before in 2014-15. Now the Union realizes that the countries in the union have little recourse but to stem the flow across the continent. Now that the UK is effectively out of the EU, that country's availability is off the table. NATO will no doubt be forced to deal with the issue given Turkey's membership in the organization.
Russya and its home grown dictator, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, are involved in supporting the Assad government in Syria as its troops descend on Idlip province to eliminate the last bastion of rebel forces concentrated there among the civilian population which is fleeing the combat for safety wherever they can find shelter(Turkey).
It's not going to be solved anytime soon.
Lake Tahoe Makes the News, Again.
Well, folks, in the mind of some water watchers, it's not to early to begin the chant: drought, drought, and more drought. The State of California dispatches its measuring teams to the Sierra twice a year or more to measure snowpack on the ground. The teams insert tubes to take samples of snow accumulation in specific zones to assess the amount of water held in these high altitude locations to aid in forecasting the amount of water that can be made available to the state's agricultural users and residential areas in need of information relative to the spring melt. This year's measurements were not surprising: it stands at about 20% of what is considered "normal" for February. Thus the first warnings are sent out to districts around the state. Now there is sufficient water in storage already that means normal amounts will be delivered for 2020. However, it's next year that users look to when figuring needs ahead of the current year.
Lake Tahoe makes the perfect picture: a scan of the horizon indicates what little snow is on the ground. The surrounding basin peaks are only lightly dusted with visible snow. Such is the life of Tahoma residents: we see it everyday. We live it everyday. There isn't much snow this year. Maybe we'll get lucky in March; maybe not. keep your fingers crossed: forecasters see some precipitation for the coming weekend.
Lake Tahoe makes the perfect picture: a scan of the horizon indicates what little snow is on the ground. The surrounding basin peaks are only lightly dusted with visible snow. Such is the life of Tahoma residents: we see it everyday. We live it everyday. There isn't much snow this year. Maybe we'll get lucky in March; maybe not. keep your fingers crossed: forecasters see some precipitation for the coming weekend.
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| Look to Nevada |
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| Look to Heavenly Valley |
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Recep Tayup ERdogan: Trouble in Syria-Again
So, it was a bad day for members of the Turkish army who were on the border with Syria manuevering against Russyan-backed Syrian army forces in the vicinity of Idlip, the last stronghold of the rebel army that has fought with the loyalist troops of Bashar Assad's Syrian nationalist forces. During the action, a Russyan fighter bomber dropped munitions on the Turkish troops, killing at least 33 soldiers and wounding many more. President ERdogan, under pressure across the country, is meeting with Russyan Pres. Putin to discuss the problems as it appears that another million refugees are approaching the Turkish border seeking safety from the last days of the 6year conflict. No doubt these are the final days of the struggle that has driven millions of Syrians from their homes to the uncertainties of foreign lands as refugees fleeing a war torn country.
As a ploy for an improved bargaining position, Mr. Erdogan has threatened Greece by implying that he will open the border between the two countries and release a flood of refugees into the country and Europe proper. Greece has finally begun a real recovery from the depths of its recession of 2008/9. The economy is expanding and any new influx of refugees could derail any progress. In light of the spread of the coronavirus-Covid 19, all movement within Europe itself could come to an end soon. Should EU states close all borders, the refugee problem could develop a host of new problems unseen in the recent past.
The Turkish government is keeping an eye on Russya's moves across the border as Russyan military assets continue to build up in the region as Mad Vlad continues to expand his influence even as he currently loses influence at home due to international sanctions imposed by the US government and EU States. It's not a good time in Turkey and it will be awhile before stability returns to that troubled nation.
Thank you, Mr. Erdogan-chief Turkish narcissist.
As a ploy for an improved bargaining position, Mr. Erdogan has threatened Greece by implying that he will open the border between the two countries and release a flood of refugees into the country and Europe proper. Greece has finally begun a real recovery from the depths of its recession of 2008/9. The economy is expanding and any new influx of refugees could derail any progress. In light of the spread of the coronavirus-Covid 19, all movement within Europe itself could come to an end soon. Should EU states close all borders, the refugee problem could develop a host of new problems unseen in the recent past.
The Turkish government is keeping an eye on Russya's moves across the border as Russyan military assets continue to build up in the region as Mad Vlad continues to expand his influence even as he currently loses influence at home due to international sanctions imposed by the US government and EU States. It's not a good time in Turkey and it will be awhile before stability returns to that troubled nation.
Thank you, Mr. Erdogan-chief Turkish narcissist.
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