QUARANTINE BLOG # 491

August 3, 2021

Start the pity party.  Jeff Bezos is no longer the richest person on the planet because his net worth tumbled by $13.9 billion in one day.  Bezos’ net worth fell because Amazon’s stock price took a hit last week, sliding 7% after the company reported less-than-anticipated second-quarter growth.  The drop in Bezos’ net worth allowed for French tycoon Bernard Arnault to claim the No. 1 spot of the ultra-wealthy.  Arnault heads the luxury goods conglomerate whose subsidiaries include Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Moët & Chandon and Tiffany & Co.  Arnault’s net worth sat at $195.8 billion as of Monday, while Bezos’ hovered at $192.6 billion. 

👉  Speaking of more money than I can comprehend, a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package is coming up for debate and voting in the Senate.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised that Democrats would work with Republicans to put together amendments.  Formally the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the bipartisan bill is the first phase of the President Biden’s infrastructure plan.  It calls for $550 billion in new spending over five years above projected federal levels – one of the most substantial expenditures on the nation’s roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband and the electric grid in years.  

It looks like our Congress will pay for this by some creative bookkeeping: redirecting $250 billion in COVID relief funds, recouping $50 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefits paid out during the pandemic, and saving $50 billion by delaying a Medicare rebate, plus more fiddling.  In case you are wondering, the current U.S. debt is $23.3 trillion, which means that each of us owes $70,598.  Let’s just print some more money and buy something else.

👉  Some more movie quotes:

Forrest Gump was beloved by ‘90s audiences for its unique take on American history.  In the film, the box of chocolates adage acts a profound segue between Hanks as the simpleton Forrest and his partners on the bus bench.

– Quote: “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re gonna get.”

– Character: Forrest Gump

– Actor: Tom Hanks

Gary Cooper played famous ballplayer Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees, the true story that’s still considered a cultural standard.  Gehrig’s speech moved the nation as he reflected on his career in the wake of a devastating diagnosis of ALS that he referred to as “ a bad break.”  Gehrig’s wife helped write the speech.

– Quote: “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

– Character: Lou Gehrig

– Actor: Gary Cooper

All the Bond actors eventually deliver this line, but Sean Connery was the first in 1962's Dr. No.  Dashing, slick, and a paragon of handsome masculinity, he’s just as dapper in a tuxedo lighting a cigarette as he is killing an adversary in cold blood.

– Quote: “Bond.  James Bond.”

– Character: James Bond

– Actor: Sean Connery

👉  Here are some signs for the times:

👉  And some smiles from Family Circus:

👉  Today’s close, “The Strength of God s Love,” is from In the Grip of Grace, by Max Lucado.

“Can anything make me stop loving you?” God asks.  “Watch me speak your language, sleep on your earth, and feel your hurts.  Behold the maker of sight and sound as he sneezes, coughs, and blows his nose.  You wonder if I understand how you feel?  Look into the dancing eyes of the kid in Nazareth; that’s God walking to school.  Ponder the toddler at Mary’s table; that’s God spilling his milk.

“You wonder how long my love will last?  Find your answer on a splintered cross, on a craggy hill.  That’s me you see up there, your maker, your God, nail-stabbed and bleeding.  Covered in spit and sin-soaked.  That’s your sin I’m feeling.  That’s your death I’m dying.  That’s your resurrection I’m living.  That’s how much I love you.”

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