IMPORTANT READS

VIEW FROM HERE-While Joseph Biden chimes in from a studio in his basement, President Trump has the biggest bully pulpit in the world, including the ability to stage a town hall in the lustrous shadow of the Lincoln Memorial.

OTHERWORDS--If you want to see some mild misogyny disguised as jokes, I recommend Jerry Seinfeld’s new standup special on Netflix “23 Hours to Kill.” 

VOICES-No other nation has endured as much death from Covid-19 nor nearly as a high a death rate as has the United States. 

SOCIAL SECURITY POLITICS-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and senior advisor Jared Kushner listen as President Donald Trump meets with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Oval Office of the White House on April 28, 2020 in Washington, D.C.

PERSPECTIVE-Along with millions of other Southern Californians, my family and I have been learning to live with the probability in our lifetimes of a mega-quake,

PERSPECTIVE--“Avridamah!!” shouted Matteo, from across the park.

GUEST WORDS--The Senate just unanimously passed a $483 billion coronavirus aid package in addition to the $2.2 trillion previously authorized by The CARES Act to soften the economic impact of Covid-19 on Americans.

PERSPECTIVE--After the demise of the Soviet Union and the US intervention that crushed Saddam Hussein’s attack on Kuwait in 1991, President George H. W. Bush pronounced a new world order.

GUEST COMMENTARY--In the midst of  a pandemic that's killed more than 65,000 Americans and infected more than a million,

COVID POLITICS--President Donald Trump's brand of "America First" isolationism was on full display Monday as the U.S. declined to participate in an international pledge drive which raised more than $8 billion during its kick-event to create a global fund to develop and deploy diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

PANDEMIC POLITICS-A new analysis of financial disclosure documents found that Republican and Democratic members of Congress made nearly 1,500 stock transactions worth up to $158 million between February and April as the coronavirus spread across the U.S., heightening suspicions that elected officials in charge of the federal response to the pandemic have opportunistically cashed in on it. 

SS WATCH--President Donald Trump on Tuesday expressed opposition to providing additional direct relief payments on top of the $1,200 checks that are slowly trickling out to eligible U.S. households, saying he would instead prefer to slash the tax that funds Social Security and Medicare. 

OTHER WORDS-I don’t know how you’re spending your quarantine, but I’ve spent the past few weeks wondering how to legally obtain marijuana.

PERSPECTIVE--You know you are in a dark place when you must cite Adolf Hitler to support your side of the argument.

WORLD WATCH-The formation of an Israeli coalition government led by Netanyahu and Gantz, the leaders of Likud and Kahol Lavan respectively, will finally put an end to Israel’s nearly 18-month-long political paralysis and, for now, personal rivalry following three elections.

GUEST WORDS--“Be assured of one thing: whichever candidate you choose at the polls in November, you aren’t just electing a president of the United States; you are also electing an assassin-in-chief.”

VOICES-The long U.S. tradition of providing equal time to the opposition party after a president’s yearly State of the Union (SOTU) address must now apply to Trump’s daily COVID-19 “briefings.” 

ELECTION POLITICS---First, it was a public health crisis. Now, it’s decimating the economy. And for its next trick, the coronavirus is threatening to undermine the 2020 election. 

THE NEW NORMAL-The traditional handshake, once part of our daily interactions, is now defunct.

GUEST WORDS--In late December of last year, the Chinese announced an epidemic in Wuhan.

VIEW FROM HERE-Social distancing may feel like a new and abnormal concept for most Americans but not for those familiar with the research and writings of Edward T. Hall (1914 – 2009).