A bit of political thinking, a bit of cooking

Up at 6:30 this morning with Sophie who needed to go out—I watched, and she really did need to go—but she came back in fifteen minutes, and I went back to bed. Still sleepy when I got up at eight.

The day’s news woke me up. It’s all about the novel corona virus—or is it? I see some silver linings, believe it or not, in this terrible pandemic that has hit the world. All over the globe, people are staying home—and the air is cleaner, the rivers purer. It’s an obvious connection—people going about our daily lives are polluting the earth and climate. I pray we can learn a huge lesson from this. It’s not just cars—it’s planes and all kind of things. As an agricultural friend of mine said, “It’s not cows.” Pope Francis has even said the pandemic is the earth’s way of cleansing itself. I’m not sure I’d go that far but it’s an interesting thought.

The other lining came to my attention just today when I read about an economist who says that we should let venture capitalists and mega corporations fail. Many corporations squandered their bail-out two years ago in buybacks for executives and are now hurting again. We, the taxpayers, do not need to rescue them. The world might be a lot better off without greedy billionaires. It’s a thought I’ve had, but it’s nice to see it come from an economist.

We need a new normal, because obviously the old wasn’t working. So maybe climate protection and an end to the domination of big business may be part of that new normal. My fingers are crossed, my prayers said.

But much about the news today scares me. The White House will not bail out the United States Postal System, which is hemorrhaging. Of course they won’t—trump doesn’t want the possibility of a mail-in election, because the higher the turnout, the more like a Democrat victory. He, who wants to do away with all regulations, wants to privatize the post office. How has that privatization of other things worked out in the past? Not very well for the consumer. I don’t think a transition from public to private could be accomplished between now and November—probably a fact trump is counting on. Pray Congress steps in with some backbone—a long shot for the Senate, I know.

Republican corruption continues to amaze me. The Senate slipped a tiny provision into the virus rescue bill—something like a paragraph on p. 230 of an 800-page document, that will allow trump and Jared Kushner to get payments for rents lost. In addition, due to McConnell’s bargaining, taxpayers will be bailing out corporations to the tune of $500 billion—with no supervision except for trump, unless Congress again gets a backbone. Schumer and Pelosi are fighting the best they can, but it astounds me the ways the Republican party can find to take advantage of American taxpayers.

I am worried too, really worried, that trump’s frantic concern to restore the economy will result in opening our world way too soon—resulting in many more infections and deaths. Governor Cuomo said it today—it’s a choice between American lives and another dollar. For trump, it’s  desperate attempt to win re-election—and I wonder if it’s not made more desperate by the knowledge that he will be indicted as soon as he is out of office.

All this goes on outside my tiny, constricted world, and I am grateful that we have the internet so I know what’s happening in the larger world. But I am also grateful for the safety and security of my tiny world, where the days blend into each other. I was thinking today that the only thing that distinguishes one day from the other is what we cooked and what we ate. Yesterday it was carnitas for dinner—a funny story. I ordered 2.5 lbs. of pork shoulder (would have preferred pork butt which doesn’t have the bones) and got 7.5 lbs. That’s a whole lot of carnitas.

I put the meat on to cook at 4:30, forgetting that my hot plate kicks off automatically every thirty minutes. By the time we finally got all the liquid boiled off and the meat crisp, it was 8:30. But they were so good.

Today, thanks to a friend who sent me a recipe, I made a tuna loaf. We’ll see tomorrow how it comes out. And tomorrow we’ll cook an Easter dinner—brisket, scalloped potatoes, salad, and maybe a cucumber salad. Probably an Easter dinner so different from the usual it will remain seared in my memory

Yep, food marks the days and keeps me sort of sane. Political machinations keep me angry.