Forty years ago today on the evening of December 8, 1980, John Lennon, was shot dead in the archway of The Dakota his residence in New York City. He was 40 years old. I did not learn about his death until early the following morning when I was driving on I94 to the Chelsea Family Practice Clinic for a meeting with the clinic manager. When WJR 760 announced the death during their newscast, tears immediately started flowing. When I exited I94 near Chelsea I pulled off the side of the road and bawled my heart out. One of the most influential musicians of all time was senselessly taken from us during his prime. Although his music has lived on for over 40 years, I can only “imagine” what might have been.
As reported in the NY Times earlier today, General Chuck Yeager, the most famous test pilot of his generation, who was the first to break the sound barrier and, thanks to Tom Wolfe, came to personify the death-defying aviator who possessed the elusive yet unmistakable “right stuff,” died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 97. He was a war hero with 13 aces in WWII. in March 1944, on his eighth mission, he was shot down over France by a German fighter plane and parachuted into woods with leg and head wounds. He was hidden by members of the French underground, made it to neutral Spain by climbing the snowy Pyrenees, carrying a severely wounded flier with him, and returned to his base in England. He was one of only a few who was allowed to fly additional missions after being shot down. He also flew missions during the Vietnam War, He was a true American hero.
The press seems to be making a big deal out of the U.S. deal with Pfizer and our only getting 100 million doses because we chose not to purchase additional vaccines when the deal was signed in June. As a result Europe is getting twice as many doses as the US. This is Monday morning quarterbacking at its worse. In June 2020, the US like everyone else did not know which company was going to be first and which was going to be the most effective as there were at least 5 other companies making good progress at the time. The US decided to not put all of its eggs in the Pfizer basket, which at the time was the reasonable thing to do. I am sure that the US is going to get its fair share of the vaccines from the other companies as they come available, which should be soon. The press is making a mountain out of a mole hill on this issue.
CNBC reported earlier today that Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate presidential election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan.The lawsuit asserts that “unlawful election results” in those four states, which President-elect Joe Biden won, should be declared unconstitutional. The filing argues that those states used the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to unlawfully change their election rules. Experts in election law were quick to dismiss the likelihood of the nine Supreme Court justices taking the case. I am not a legal expert, but it seems to me that Texas needs to mind its own business.
Stay safe, wear your mask, social distance and wash your hands regularly.
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. John Lennon.