Author Megan McArdle is fond of saying, “the existence of a problem does not imply the existence of a solution.” (Is this an insight original to her? I don’t know. Here’s one cite for this, but she’s said this repeatedly.) I’d go a step further: that a given individual is particularly empathetic towards people who face a particular problem, or is indeed personally affected by that problem, does not mean that he or she is any more likely to know... Read more
Yes, I reveal my age. Reader, imagine that I was a very precocious child, rather than a young adult, when these events happened: first, in late April – early May of 1992, the riots in Los Angeles sparked by the jury verdict acquitting the police officers who had beaten Rodney King, and, second, the beating death of Malice Green of Detroit, on November 5, 1992. Now, unlike the King case, two of the officers involved in Green’s death were convicted... Read more
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve seen a pseudo-inspirational report of someone making face masks or collecting for a food pantry or sending letters of encouragement to first responders . . . well, to be honest, I’m getting rather tired of them; you can keep the nickels. Here’s a tweet, like so many others, that came across my twitter feed just now: the lockdown is the closest most americans now living have come in spirit to the... Read more
Last night, I wrote a little piece at JaneTheActuary.com (my personal website which I mostly use for retirement stuff) about Pritzker’s (non-)re-opening plan. But I try not to be too ranty on that site and, honestly, I’ve spent the entire day fuming at his plan, and am hoping that if I rant a little bit now I’ll be able to shake that and move on, which I sorely need to do (and I’ve already eaten half the clearance Easter bunny,... Read more
These are not “free face masks,” nor are they ‘face masks for sale”; instead, I will give to readers some as-yet-undecided number of facemasks in exchange for (1) a donation in excess of what you would otherwise have made (honor system) to a food bank near you and (2) a small sum directly to me to offset mailing costs. (If you’re near me in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, you can pick it up directly.) Yes, I have been donating... Read more
On twitter over the weekend, following a Chicago “re-open Illinois” protest, a photo circulated with the hashtag #IllinoisNazis: #IllinoisNazis So what is the polite way of saying, "Go fuck yourselves?" or are they doing it already? Asking for a friend. pic.twitter.com/p8Ns1Rco0R — Randi Rhodes (@RandiRhodes) May 2, 2020 The third and fourth of these photographs are patently not a matter of a Nazi celebrating Nazi-ness with a swastika, but are using the swastika to accuse their opponent of being fascist.... Read more
First, a person face mask update: I have now given away 117 face masks — to people requesting them for work (a grocery store bagger, a pharmacist, an unemployment agency worker), to an assisted living community, for my priest to give away to people he encounters, to a food bank, to a local services provider for the disabled. I have found a new method the developer of which calls the “hybrid face mask” because it has characteristics of the generic... Read more
On boating: From CapitolFax, reporting on Pritzker’s latest briefing, Saturday afternoon, April 25th: Q: We had heard some people wanting clarification on the boating, that’s going to be allowed starting May 1, two people per vessel, people were wondering. Is that two unrelated people what if it’s say husband wife and kids that all live in the same home, can there be more than two people in the boat if they are direct family members?… A: [He answered and then... Read more
In the news/media recently: “Out of pandemic crisis, what could a new New Deal look like?” Michael Tackett and Josh Boak, Associated Press. [N]early 90 years [after the original New Deal], the United States is fighting a disease that presents the country with wrenching life-and-death challenges. Yet at the same time, it has served up something else as well: a rare opportunity to galvanize Americans for change. . . . Yet the coronavirus outbreak has also revealed how ill-equipped the... Read more
In the local news: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has extended the stay-at-home order from its original end date of April 30, until a new date of May 31, with some small modifications: some state parks will reopen to hiking, fishing, and boating; some golf courses will re-open; greenhouses, garden centers, nurseries, and pet groomers will be deemed “essential”; some elective/nonemergency medical procedures will now be permitted; and non-essential retailers will be permitted to take telephone/online orders for outside pickup or... Read more
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