December 16th, 2020

Hey there,

Before we get into it, had a realization for y'all and while it isn't great news, thought you should know.  I really hate being a dire predictor of negative thoughts, but see and hear a lot of people looking forward to 2021 and a change to the Earth's karma.  That is not gonna happen on January 1st and here is why.  While January was pretty sucky in 2020, and the virus originated sometime in late 2019, it really didn't hit the global fan until February, right around Chinese New Year.  As the virus' origin is Chinese, I am certain that the karmic change will not occur until February 12th when the Chinese New Year changes from the stinky rat to the delicious cow.  Still pretty close, and one would think that with vaccines being administered now and a new administration coming in on the 20th of January, that the first of the month would be safe, but the vision I had was of a lot of people being 'affected' by the raging virus, and what some element of whatever these Q cultists will do based on their fever dreams about their savior, the 6 weeks are still gonna suck hard and I beg my friends and loved ones to keep their heads down and hearts open until then.  

The Boy finished his quarantine last Wednesday.  He only opened the door to his studio apartment to bring the food we dropped off in and put empty bags out for us.  The government texted him twice a day asking him to rate his health...1 was fine, 2 was feeling ill and 3 was having symptoms, and he received a call from the CDC every other day or so asking how he felt and what his temperature was.  A few days before his time was to end, the cops showed up, but since his apartment needed keys to get past the gate and then main door, and he didn't dare step out to open those, they went away.  They came back the day before his quarantine was to end with a better plan apparently as he told us there was a knock on the door and there they were.  They asked the same stuff and went away.  We were kinda surprised they didn't administer a test, but at this point we trust their analysis of situations.  

We were talking in the car one day and the subject turned to mask wearing and I was curious about what he sees in the States.  He says that most people have them on but that a ton of those are the under nose/chin.  He hasn't seen any of the 'mask as tyranny' yahoos, but a lot of passive resistance.  I tell him to look out the window at the people walking on the street.  It is morning rush hour and there are a couple/three dozen people walking in view and at least 2/3 of them have masks on.  No local transmissions in almost 8 months but still extreme vigilance.  Will ask him his impressions at the end of his stay in January.

The big news around here is that we got another first down in our parenting football drive.  Have been working on this metaphor for a while and can't seem to get anyone else on board as I don't think there are many people as die hard a football guy as myself, but it works so well.  In short, raising a kid is like a football drive.  The kickoff is the birth.  Most folks start at the 25, but some kids are born with issues and so they get backed up.  A touchdown is when your kid graduates from whatever school level they ultimately reach and get a job that puts them on their own.  Only then can you spike the ball.  Sometimes you get big gains early, but the last 20 yards is the hardest.  Some kids grind it out early in the drive and get in gear later.  There are penalties that push you back and sometimes plays result in a loss of yards.  Any success or failure can be measured in this metaphor.  

Babydoll just got a chunk play first down putting her in field goal range.  This week, she was accepted via early decision into her school of choice...University of Virginia.  Yes, that is the same school that her brother is attending and is on schedule to graduate in May '21.  She withdrew her applications for the other schools as if you submit for early decision and are accepted, it is binding that you attend that school.  We are quite happy with UVA based on The Boy's experience and that it means regular trips to DC for us,, but I was (not so) secretly hoping for any of the other ones to be the choice.  We'll never know if they were possible now, but in consideration were Tulane (food and music), Vanderbilt (same, especially hot chicken) and UNC (their baby blue looks great on me plus The Boy will be 10 miles away).  And she tells me a few days before all of this that if she didn't get into those, that she was still gonna apply to schools in Melbourne, which was my dream.  

The Boy was puffing himself up saying that his sister copied him, and Betty and I were somewhat surprised that was her first choice, but her familiarity with the place through her brother, that it has weather, but not the extreme kind, that it is well respected in the areas of study she intends to pursue, and that it has the college town rah-rah experience she was looking for , it made all the sense.  The kids roads to going there were as close to opposite as they could be; The Boy took little time thinking about where he wanted to go and didn't even remember applying to UVA and sent his applications at the 11th hour, while B-doll has been mulling it over for more than a year, submitting her apps as early as possible, etc, so it is funny that all roads led to Charlottesville for both.   

It is good having the Boy in town as it is really the first extended period of time we have seen him since 2017 and can see how he has evolved.  Or devolved.  Seems like a decent dude and I can still see a ton of his parents in his mannerisms with the most noteworthy that he has become an avid napper.  It should be no surprise that he is a polyphasic sleeper as both Betty and I enjoy/require a nap each day.  In the nature v nurture debate, based on my personal experience, it is a solid 35 nature/65 nurture.  I say that based on watching the other child.  She has little of Betty's or my weird habits but plenty of her own that could only come from DNA.  Like she has still never burped.  Ever.  Not once.  We all walk around oozing burps like human bagpipes.  I think it is most pronounced in her handwriting...pretty sure I've shared an example before, but it could be confused with something printed off a typewriter and in a tiny font.  It's almost looks pathological in nature and would be easily confused with a crazy persons manifesto.  In my retelling of this story to people, this is where I would get a little horror movie and say in a hushed tone that she is adopted and doesn't have a belly button.  I do get a few "really"s before they realize that it a bit, but can tell they are still not 100% sure.

Allrighty then.  Didn't see any fun local news articles to share this week.  There was one yesterday about a rookie policeman being hailed as a hero for saving a kitten that was abandoned and stuck in the middle of the freeway, but did not come with the funny writing or insight.  I will share this article with the headline: Taiwan rated only country in Asia with open civic space in 2020.  

In its annual report titled "People Power Under Attack 2020," Civicus Monitor wrote that amid the coronavirus pandemic, civic space has declined across the globe, with only 3.4 percent of people living in an open society. In the 25 countries listed in the Asia Pacific region, only Taiwan has been rated as truly open.

The report assesses the civic space of various countries from the perspectives of the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, and expression. Each country is rated as falling into one of five categories: “open”, “narrowed,” “obstructed,” “repressed,” and “closed.”

In the Asia Pacific, four countries — China, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam — were rated as closed. Nine were listed as repressed, nine as obstructed, and only Taiwan was deemed to be open.

Under the section "Positive Developments," Taiwan was listed for having hosted one of the few Pride marches seen in 2020, with the LGBTQI+ community "visibly asserting their rights."

The Philippines was the only country in the region to be downgraded from obstructed to repressed "owing to its decline in fundamental freedoms." The report cited the shutdown of ABS-CBN; conviction of journalist Maria Ressa; imprisonment of Senator Leila De Lima; and attacks, murders, and harassment of human rights defenders as reasons for the downgrade.

However, the report also pointed out that Taiwan’s legislative amendments directed at combating misinformation raise concerns about the right to freedom of expression. Civicus Monitor also expressed concern that Taiwan's Assembly and Parade Act "continues to disproportionately restrict people’s right to hold peaceful assemblies."

It doesn't say in this article that the States was downgraded from 'open' to narrowed', and I would have thought that S. Korea or Japan would have been in the open category.  Anyhoo...one more notch in Taiwan's lipstick case (for you Benatar fans).