QUARANTINE BLOG # 93

July 1, 2020

New coronavirus infections could increase to 100,000 a day if the nation doesn’t get the ongoing surge under control, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress yesterday:  “We’ve really got to do something about that and we need to deal with it quickly. It could get very bad.”

Fauci, the top infectious disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, said the surge has been caused both by some areas reopening too quickly and by people not following guidelines.   Testifying weeks after he’d previously warned of needless “suffering and death” if appropriate steps weren’t taken, Fauci, said he’s “quite concerned” about what’s happening in many states. New cases have been increasing by about 40,000 a day, he said.

Asked what’s going wrong, he said several states may have moved “too quickly” and skipped over some of the checkpoints laid out for a safe reopening.  But even in areas where state and local officials followed the federal guidelines, individuals acted as if all restrictions had been lifted.

👉  Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., opened the hearing on the state of the coronavirus pandemic by re-upping his past recommendation that President Donald Trump wear a mask to reduce the political divide on that health recommendation.

“The president has plenty of admirers,” Alexander said. “They would follow his lead.”

Alexander lamented that “this simple life-saving practice has become part of the political debate that says this, ‘If you’re for Trump you don’t wear a mask.  If you’re against Trump, you do.’  That’s why I’ve suggested that the president, occasionally wear a mask, even though in most cases, it’s not necessary for him to do so.”

Editorial comment from the writer of this blog: You are our leader, Mr. President.  Lead!  Wear a mask!

👉  European Union countries reopened today to international visitors, but Americans will not be among them.  Travelers from 14 countries will be welcomed to the EU, including Canada, South Korea and Australia.  But those from the U.S. and many other nations will be barred as too risky because of spiking coronavirus cases in their home countries.  Lists will be reviewed every two weeks as new information about coronavirus trends in different countries becomes apparent.

👉  Google users know about a Google Doodle – when opening a new page for the search engine, a graphic will appear at the top of the page representing a person or event.  Yesterday, when I started to write today’s blog the graphic was “Celebrating Marsha P. Johnson.”  I did not know who Marsha P. Johnson is or was, but the Doodle was accompanied by a rainbow, and that should have been a clue – the symbol of God’s promise to never again destroy the world by water has been co-opted by the LGBT as a symbol of their diversity.

Born Malcolm Michaels Jr., Johnson was a gay liberation activist and drag queen whose death in 1992 was first ruled a suicide and then “undetermined.”  On February 1, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the East River Park in Brooklyn would be renamed in Johnson’s honor.  It would be the first New York state park named after an LGBT person.  Now, a new petition wants to honor Johnson with a statue in Johnson’s hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to replace a statue of Christopher Columbus, who, according to the flame of petitioners quoted on https://thehill.com/changing-america/ single-handedly murdered, raped, and enslaved all of the indigenous people of the Caribbean.

👉  It’s time for some music.  And for a few days I’m going back to the era known as Big Band.  Musicians like Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Les Brown, Tommy Dorsey, and Jimmy Dorsey.  Instrumentalists like Artie Shaw, Henry James, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton.  Vocalists like Frank Sinatra, Helen O’Connell, Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, Peggy Lee, and the Andrews Sisters.  You youngsters stay with me.  Click on the links and enjoy some good music.

First up, Benny Goodman, jazz clarinetist and the “King of Swing.”  Goodman's bands started the careers of many jazz musicians.  During an era of racial segregation, he led one of the first integrated jazz groups.

Goodman was the ninth of twelve children born to poor Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire.  His father, David Goodman, and his mother, Dora Grisinsky met in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to Chicago.  His father enrolled ten-year-old Goodman in music classes, studying with a classically trained clarinettist, and the “licorice stick” would never be the same.

Goodman helped racial integration in America.  In the early 1930s, black and white musicians could not play together in most clubs and concerts.  In the Southern states, racial segregation was enforced by Jim Crow laws.  Goodman hired talented musicians without regard to their color.  This integration in music happened ten years before Jackie Robinson became the first black American to enter Major League Baseball.  According to Jazz by Ken Burns, when someone asked him why he “played with that n*gg*r” (referring to Teddy Wilson), Goodman replied, “I’ll knock you out if you use that word around me again.”

Here is “Sing, Sing, Sing” with Benny Goodman on the clarinet, and Gene Krupa on drums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mJ4dpNal_k Enjoy!

More from the King of Swing tomorrow.

👉  Just before the close, a logic puzzle.  Look at the drawing below.  How many triangles do you see?  Prize?  Bragging rights!

👉   From Praying With Jesus by Eugene H. Peterson:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled,
Believe in God, believe also in me.”
(John 14:1)

The evening before his crucifixion, Jesus had an extended conversation with his disciples (John 14-17).  His purpose was to prepare them for a courageous act of belief – to believe in him when it looked like everything was falling apart.’

What troubles do you face?

Prayer: God, you well know how the troubles in the world and the troubles in my heart gang up on me and threaten to defeat me.  I reaffirm my belief in your strong presence and wait on you to renew my strength, through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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