As an Elder I pictured myself seated in a circle inside a large teepee, surrounded by the leaders of the tribe, smoking a ceremonial peace pipe, the fur pelts of foxes and bears draped around my shoulders. (It’s been said I look an awful lot like Kevin Costner).

As it turns out, the peace pipe was a hit on a joint of 28% THC Cookie Gelato, which made the winner of the High Times Cannabis Cup more Marlboro than cannabis legend. As for the furs, go with a knitted shawl tucking me in as I slept like a recent arrival to the ICU.

It’s a fuzzy concept, the notion that there is a distinction between being elderly and being an Elder, with a capital “E.”

Basically, being an Elder means bitching less and giving such earth-shattering guidance to your granddaughter as “Find your own path and follow it where it leads you.” When she says, “What does that mean?” smile knowingly, and suggest she check out your post on Myspace.

It’s helpful when pontificating to make your advice as bland as possible because it can come back to haunt you. When my son was in his teens, I told him, “Do what you enjoy doing and the money will come.” After decades of skiing every mountain in North America and kayaking most of the continent’s rivers he scolded me for the lousy advice that kept him broke and driving a 1986 Datsun.

There is no point to imparting your knowledge, your wisdom, your experience, to your children. Notice when they bob their heads as you orate that they are wearing earbuds. They are listening, but not to you.

Another truism that Elders must accept, it is sheer fantasy to imagine yourself using the computer for anything other than sending email on your AOL server. It is not going to happen; your technical facility stopped with the Jacquard loom. Accept that all the jokes about Grandparents calling their grandchild to turn on the computer, are not funny, they speak to the truth. The first year of this blog had no graphics until my eight year old granddaughter showed how to access and move pictures to the site. As for playing Roblox, I have no idea what you are talking about unless that is one of the Angry Birds.

I write this because I have just finished reading some lengthy excerpts from Judith Viorst’s “Nearing Ninety and Other Comedies of Late Life,” the latest in her series of decade poetry books (“Unexpected Eighty,” “I’m too Young to be Seventy.”) Her advice is the simplest of all: Laugh.

My gummy eyes peer anxiously at the blurry numbers of the
bedside clock,
Straining, without my glasses, to determine
If it’s a sufficient 7:20am, or merely a miserable 25 to 4,
Which is too late for Ambien, and too early to get up.

Her book opens with a wonderful quote from philosopher George Santayana: “To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” It’s still another reminder to forego longingly looking back at the past or anxiously imagining what the future might bring.

My days are too precious to waste. So I’m laughing. At myself, at all the times I take myself too seriously. To cite Ms. Viorst, “Laughter comes sooner and easier now, for it would be a shame to miss the delights winter offers to those nearing 90.”

By the end of week six, Chicago Public Schools needs to make a decision about remote learning for second quarter, I argued in my summer editorial.  The sixth of the ten-week quarter ends tomorrow.  For second quarter from November 9 to February 4, high schools in CPS need to continue with remote learning during the pandemic.

Let’s take it quarter by quarter.

A recent Atlantic article explains that, with the holidays coming up,  “small gatherings are safer in places that “have a test-positivity rate less than 5 percent.”  As I write this, Chicago’s rate is 4.5%.   Bringing back high-school students to in-person learning–even if it’s only hybrid for 9th and 10th graders–does not amount to a small gathering.  My high school, my son’s high school, has about 500 freshmen and sophomores.

To make teaching and learning more manageable during second quarter’s remote learning, high-school teachers need to organize a vote in favor of block schedule.  This way, students do not have seven 50-minutes classes every day.  Instead, they have three or four 90-minute or so classes each day.  My 2016 blog post for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards explains the value of block schedules.

In order for these votes to happen, the Chicago Teachers Unions needs to make sure members are well informed about the schedule-vote process explained in our contract.

As also mentioned in my summer editorial, the district’s remote-learning plan should include ways to bring small groups of students into the school building if they need additional support: students with Individualized Education Plans, English learners, academically struggling students, students with significant social-emotional issues, and students without secure housing.

CTU–as a socially conscious organization–needs to advocate for this and be part of the group creating the safety plans.

My argument focuses on high schools.

As I said in my WTTW commentary a few weeks ago, “High schools, middle schools, elementary schools, and pre-k programs are all different worlds. Inflexible, universal policies [on either CPS’s or CTU‘s side] won’t do our students any good.”

Remote learning remains far from perfect–but we are living a reality far from perfect. Europe is closing schools after virus cases escalated with in-person instruction. We need to learn from the world.

Good teachers know that good learning cannot happen if students feel emotionally uncomfortable.  As good teachers, we cannot do our job well if we are not emotionally well.  A remote learning plan for high-schools that continues into second quarter allows more opportunities for teachers to support students academically and emotionally during these difficult times.

Back in March, one parent I spoke with shared the difficult economic times their family faced.  But the parent told me holding back tears, “As long as we have our health, we’ll be fine.”

During these difficult times, we cannot support a CPS back-to-school plan that risks the one thing that should matter the most.

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Moose and Pink are shy, sweet and loving three-month-old, brother and sister kittens looking for a loving guardian together.

These two magnificent kittens were rescued outside as babies. While shy, they crave human attention, and purr and purr when held and cuddled.

These plush blue kittens were raised outdoors in a thick hedge by a momma cat who was killing birds, chipmunks, rabbits … and begging for food at a cat-lover’s home. The woman followed the momma cat one day and found her nest. She carefully brought all the kittens and momma indoors and socialized them beautifully.

Moose and Pink have come so far! And, they will continue to progress with the more love and care they receive from their humans. They are great with teenagers and adults.

These kittens love their canned food, use the litter box beautifully and are well-behaved in the home. I always recommend you start newly adopted kittens and cats in a smaller area with their litter box, food and water when you first bring them home in order to help them acclimate and make sure they are using their litter box, eating well and don’t get lost in your apartment or house.

They love to play with each other and cat toys; when comfortable in their home, they chase each other and get the kitty zoomies!
They are extremely healthy, neutered/spayed, de-wormed, up-to-date on distemper and rabies vaccines, micro-chipped and virus-tested negative. Their adoption fee of $300 as a pair benefits the Friends of Petraits Rescue.

They are currently being fostered in Glenview, Illinois.

I’m so tired, I haven’t slept a wink
I’m so tired, my mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drinks 

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

February: Coronavirus hadn’t hit the United States yet, but we knew it was coming. You stared down every person who came into your sight; wondering if they were a carrier. If someone coughed near you, you took a few steps backward. Public bathrooms were jammed with people not using the toilets, but at the sink washing their hands.

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

March: Life started to shut down. Offices and schools closed. Work and education were done remotely and virtually. Zoom became the next big thing. There was a run on toilet paper. I still don’t know why. Groceries were ordered online for delivery or pick-up. It sometimes took up to two weeks to get your food.

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

April: The streets were empty. I’ve never seen the highways so clear of cars during rush hours. Why should there have been traffic? We had nowhere to go.

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

May: Summer vacations were officially canceled. No big deal. It wasn’t as if you could do anything once you reached your destination. Plus, how would you get there? Would you get on an airplane? Would you go on a cruise? Geoge Floyd is murdered by Minneapolis police. Peaceful protests and looting simultaneously begin throughout the country.

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

June: Summer is here. Donald Trump said the virus would go away once the weather warmed up. The weather became warmer. The virus is still here. Restaurants did open for outdoor dining. When you were seated, you looked around to see how close you were from the nearest table. Trump holds an indoor rally in Tulsa. More than 100,000 signed up for tickets. 19,000 were expected. 6,000 showed up. Included in that crowd was Herman Cain. He died a few weeks later. Coronavirus.

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

July: Fourth of July. The birthday of our country. Parades, parties, celebrations and fireworks are canceled…like everything else. They go on at Mount Rushmore. Trump holds a rally. Few masks are worn and there’s little social distancing. The cases of coronavirus rise in the Dakota’s. They go up more after a bike rally is held in Sturgis, South Dakota.
Professional sports began. No crowds in attendance and the NBA and NHL played all their games and lived their lives in a bubble. Major League Baseball started their season in their home parks. No bubble. It led to coronavirus breakouts for the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams played multiple doubleheaders to get their scheduled games played. Both teams made the playoffs.

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

August: Both political parties had their conventions….virtually. Trump gave his acceptance live in the White House Rose Garden. Multiple violations of the Hatch Act. Nothing new!

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

September: RUTH BADER GINSBURG DIED!!

It’s 2020 and I’m exhausted.

October: Debates occur and a debate is canceled. Trump announces a replacement for RBG. He introduces her at another White House Rose Garden event. It’s another violation of the Hatch Act. Again, nothing new. Again, there are very few masks and little social distancing. It’s another super spreader event that led to positive coronavirus tests for Kellyanne Conway, Kayleigh McEnany, Mike Lee and thirty or so members of the White House staff. Oh yeah, Trump and the first lady test positive, too. Don ends up in the hospital and he’s given a series of drugs that help him get better. He says it’s a cure for coronavirus. No one really believes him. Now he’s back on the road having large rallies. More super spreader events with few masks and little social distancing. Oh yeah, almost 220,000 Americans have died from the virus. We’re not even halfway through October. Who knows what’s to come!

The election is still twenty-one days away.
2021 is still seventy-nine days away
It’s still 2020 and I’m exhausted

* Song lyrics from “Im So Tired”~The Beatles

Related Post: The reaction to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was one single word…”fuck”

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Amy Barrett (Screen shot.)

Nor will they in this, the second day of the hearings into the confirmation of Amy Barrett to the Supreme Court.

As if throwing in the towel, Democrats have used their time in the hearings not to plumb the depths of Barrett’s intelligence and commitment to the law, but as free campaign time to deliver a lecture to voters about the dangers of a court in which conservatives–for the first time in years–would have more voices on the court than the radical left.

Republicans used their time to adhere to constitutional and legal topics during their time, except for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz who met the Democrats on their own ground and kicked in their teeth.

Cruz raised the specter of a court dominated by the likes of the four liberal judges and Senate Democrats whose voting record constituted an extreme challenge to the cherished Bill of Rights. (Transcript is here. Entire remarks are in video below.) He said:

The entire Bill of Rights is incredibly important to Americans. I also think what is really striking about this hearing today and also yesterday is that Senate Democrats are not defending what I think is really a radical agenda that they have when it comes to the Bill of Rights. And the topics they’re discussing today have little bearing to the rights that are really at issue and in jeopardy at the Supreme Court.

The four liberal justices, he pointed out, were one vote short in one case of outlawing the individual ownership of a gun by agreeing with a Washington D.C. ordinance banning any kind any gun. That’s not an issue about “reasonable” gun regulation–as Democrats deceptively argue–but an issue about whether individuals can own guns at all.

Regarding freedom of speech, Cruz pointed to  Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in which “a small nonprofit organization based in D.C.” could be fined for airing and promoting “a movie critical of a politician,” namely Hilary Clinton, that liberals argued constituted  forbidden “electioneering communication.” In other words, the government could censor speech that was critical of a politician, he noted, and by extension could likewise censor such books.

As far as religious freedom goes, Senate Democrats represent the radical view of what they want from the Supreme Court. He said:

I’m sorry to say Senate Democrats introduced legislation to gut the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act when it passed this body, passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. Senate Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, and Joe Biden, and Ted Kennedy, all voted for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Democratic President Bill Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And yet in the wake of the Hobby Lobby decision, this body voted on legislation to just gut the protections for religious liberty. And I’m sorry to say every single Senate Democrat voted to do so. Not a single one, zero, would defend religious liberty.”

Cruz also meet head-on the Democrat senators’ carping about how “dark money” is funding Republican campaigns:

First of all, our Democratic colleagues, when they address the issue of so-called “dark money” in campaign-finance contributions, are often deeply, deeply hypocritical and don’t address the actual facts that exist. Here’s some facts. Of the top 20 organizations spending money for political speech in the year 2016, 14 of them gave virtually all of their money to Democrats, and another three split the money evenly…. So, all of the great umbrage about the corporate interests spending ‘dark money’ is wildly in conflict with the actual facts that the corporate interests that are spending “dark money” are funding the Democrats by a factor of 3 to 1 or greater.

In an abortion-related issue, Cruz referred to the case of  The Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania.

The Little Sisters of the Poor, our Catholic Convent of nuns, who take oaths of poverty, who devote their lives to caring for the sick, caring for the needy, caring for the elderly, and the Obama administration litigated against the little sisters of the poor, seeking to fine them in order to force them to pay for abortion-inducing drugs* among others.

In that instance, the federal government was prosecuting nuns for exercising their right not to have to fund government activity that violated their consciences.

Another liberal judge on the court would also ensure the legality of an abortion is a fundamental and unchallengeable right for any reason at any time for the entire term of pregnancy, including partial birth abortion at the moment of birth. That is an unpopular view among Americans, polls show.

Like Democrats, Cruz was engaging in a campaign argument, beyond the scope of the hearings. But it had to be done to illustrate just how dangerous a court that genuflects to the radical progressive agenda will be. The kind of court that Democrats want.

A side note: Democrats thought they were cornering Barrett by displaying pictures of what they said were victims of Republican policies. How would they have acted if the other side had posted pictures of aborted infants, who are victims of Democratic policies and court decisions?

*The abortion industry railed against Cruz, accusing him of inaccurately calling birth control drugs “abortion-inducing” drugs. Truth is, he was referring to a particular class of drugs that indeed induce death. Planned Parenthood itself calls it the “abortion pill.”

The current stock market levels are very misleading, as the indices are all artificially inflated by Federal government intervention. Eventually reality will set in, and we’ll all come down to Earth, but there is still some reason to be bullish going forward.

One reason is that the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, formerly known as the consumer confidence index, is now at its highest level since the coronavirus pandemic broke out and hamstrung the economy. Apparently, the consumer market in the world’s richest country is feeling better right now about the state of things that at any previous point during COVID.

And that could mean American consumers now have more disposable income available for entertainment spending, such as playing real money pokies at online casinos, wagering with daily fantasy sports or the now legalized betting on NFL and college football. While much of the American economy has re-opened, the entertainment and travel sectors remain largely shut down.

That disposable income which would be funneled into these industries is being saved/spent in other areas. As we profiled before, the entertainment economy, pretty much anything you can call an “event” or something you need to buy a ticket to, is down on the canvas for awhile yet. 

The University of Michigan (so #GoBlue and “those who stay will remain champions”) consumer sentiment level rose to a 6 month high in its last report, hitting 78.9, up from 74.1, but still a far cry from pre-pandemic levels. It was 22 points highers before COVID hit, and historically, a number around 100 is far more the norm. Still, this might be the most exciting to happen with his metric since satirical news outlet The Onion posted a brief article Consumer Confidence Verging on Cockiness, a couple decades ago.

Consumer Confidence/Sentiment is just one of several metrics for taking a good temperature of the economy at any given moment. There is also the Beige Book, which the Federal Reserve publishes eight times a year, in advance of Federal Open Market Committee. 

Each report gathers “anecdotal information on current economic conditions” by each Federal Reserve Bank in its district from “Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and others.”

There is also the PPI (Producer Price Index), which is a group of indices that calculates and represents the average movement in selling prices from domestic production over time. It’s researched, calculated and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Finally, you have jobless claims, an oft-quoted and largely mis-represented and misunderstood metric. No matter what much of the media tells you, these numbers are not the unemployment rate much like the stock market is not the economy. It’s simply people who filed for unemployment benefits that week.

It is not people who are unemployed, but didn’t file and it is not a measure including those who are jobless, but don’t qualify for benefits, nor those who are unemployed and have seen their benefits reach completion.

Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

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We watched with dismay as we heard about the militias gathering in Kenosha to allegedly protect lives and property. No one denounced them until the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin did so. The Sheriff of Kenosha County skirted around the issue by saying words to the effect that they were not invited.

Trump is encouraging these groups by his statements with regard to the activities in Charlotte and by letting the husband and wife team who brandished guns at protesters participate in the RNC.

As the old saw goes, “Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it.” The Nazi Party began as Brown Shirts, a vigilante group, who first pushed people around and then after the Nazi Party seized power, started to perpetuate violence and unspeakable wrongs.

By encouraging the militia groups, Kenosha local law enforcement was responsible for two deaths and one wounding.  In addition, the young man who allegedly did the shootings is going to have his life ruined even if he is not convicted.

Now, we have an alleged conspiracy by a militia group to kidnap and harm two state governors.  Again, Trump was the enabler, tweeting to his minions to “liberate Michigan.”

Wisconsin’s and Michigan’s open carry laws and the encouragement of “unofficial militias” should be taken care of in order to prevent further horrors like these from taking place.