The news lately has been filled with so much to ponder, that Life in the Boomer Lane barely had time to focus on her three hour cry-for-help call to Apple this morning. But she did get through the call, learned her issue would remain unresolved, and so could then get back to the musing at hand: considering the variety of life-threatening issues that present themselves to her eyeballs every time she turns on the news or looks at the news feed on her phone. The following are a carefully curated array of some of them:
Covid-19 Covid continues to dominate the news, although in slightly different form. The President continues to fight the pandemic he wants us to have, rather the the one we actually do have. To that end, he has eliminated both the World Health Organization and the advice of any sentient human who possesses a medical degree or has had any experience whatsoever with a pandemic. He relies, instead on Dr Hunch, in order to give updates about this current life-threatening situation. Those of us who have thus far survived both the pandemic, as well as the suggestion of bleach and Lysol ingestion as a preventative, are still left with the fear that Eric Trump’s mixed metaphors will be the thing that eventually does us in.
Murder Hornets. These flying insects have been spotted in the US since December, settling in just in time to watch the pandemic distract us from their arrival. Their December arrival does give credence, though, to these murderous guys being Obama’s final gift to the new administration. LBL is not yet aware that Fox has been alerting folks to this Conspiracy Du Jour, but she suspects they will soon. Added to this is the fact that the hornets originated in Asia, giving credence to some kind of Covid-Murder Hornet connection.
Wildfires in Florida and a Polar Vortex across the US and Canada, has put a damper on springtime. Giant locust swarms, which started in Ethiopia and Somalia and then spread to a number of other countries, have unleashed locusts the size of dorm refrigerators across the land. Epic wildfires raged across Australia, neatly followed by devastating flooding.
Hurricane season is expected to be worse than normal this year. Without any scientists left in the administration, nobody knows what constitutes “worse than normal” but Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury, is already preparing to issue a new standard for “normal,” so that these hurricanes don’t seem so bad and the stock market won’t be impacted and everybody can just go about their usual business without worry.
Loyal Readers who are concerned about the dearth of any scientific and/or well-considered thought emanating from this administration are welcome to consult Facebook for any number of crises doing us in and explanations for what ails us. One post showed a captured Murder Hornet with Obama’s face on it. It’s tough to argue with that one.
Life in the Boomer Lane 
Keith
May 16, 2020
Renee, I just finished reading Michael Lewis’ latest (and excellent book), “The Fifth Risk.” The premise is he read all of the unread reports prepared (by law) by Obama administration departments for briefings of the incoming Trump administration. These reports went largely unread and the briefings unattended. Why? Trump did not think he was going to win, had fired his transition team (who told him not to hire Michael Flynn, by the way), and had many unfilled positions for long time. Plus, when loyalty is measured first over competency, you replace a nuclear physicist who headed the DOE with a former governor with no science degree, who was once described as “all hat and no cattle” by a widely heralded Dallas editorialist.
As a result, the department heads do not really know what they are leading, or at least as well as they should, they have minimized science and we have tremendous risks in our country that are being unattended or not focused on. These are those folks who Trump and others call the “deep state.” After reading the reports and conducting far more interviews than Trump officials did, Lewis made the following observation – “the deep state are the folks who know what they are talking about.”
Some of the best examples in the book involve predicting and forewarning people about storms or where people who fell over board might drift. But, there are pedestrian things that are not known about what the government does and some scary things that worry these hard-working scientists like nuclear radiation leaks and electrical grid attacks.
One things is certain about scientists. The more people know, the more they realize what they don’t know. Contrast that to a president who admittedly does not like to study who says his gut is smarter than most scientists’ brains. Really? Keith
Ilona Elliott
May 16, 2020
That book was an eye opener. I read it a while ago, but lately, the way the wheels are falling off the cart, I have been urging everyone I engage with on social media to read that book. The level of incompetence coupled with arrogance on the part of this administration and all of it’s appointed lackeys is proving more dangerous every day.
Keith
May 18, 2020
Thanks Renee and Ilona. Before the election, I knew about the lying and bullying. What I did not have as good a grasp on is what conservative pundit David Brooks calls the White House, “equal parts chaos and incompetence.”
Today, the president is calling Obama incompetent, but here is a question for him. Mr. Trump, you inherited an economy that was 91 consecutive months of economic growth strong, had seven years in a row of 2 million jobs increase and the stock market more than doubled. While presidents get too much credit and blame for the economy, you have no trouble in beating on your chest like Tom Hanks in “Castaway.” So, Mr. Trump, if that is your definition of success, then you are also saying Obama did a heck of a job. I just thought I would throw that in for fun.
Keith
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 17, 2020
Keith, your observations are outstanding. I’m sending your coments to a bunch of people and will check out the book. Thank you so much for this
Widdershins
May 16, 2020
Down, down, down, goes the spiral of madness. Even if, by some slim chance, any of them wanted to get off the orange cheeto insanity train, it’s way too late for them. 😦
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 17, 2020
I sometimes think we have to hit bottom before anything changes. Then again, will there be any of us left if bottom actually occurs?
Widdershins
May 19, 2020
Enough of us, I hope, to rebuild something better.
Ilona Elliott
May 16, 2020
UGH!!!!
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 17, 2020
I know. The world has turned into a giant UGH.
Yash Jain
May 18, 2020
Hurricanes and wildfires pose a real threat to humanity, but not “Murder Hornets”. The name is very misleading. Hornets do not bite anyone who isn’t aggressive towards them or their nest. Their sting is painful, but the pain with the swelling can subside in a few days. One should remain centred, look for facts, and not give in to our primal reactions. The hornets that are now spotted in North America, have been present in Asian countries like Japan, and have caused less than 13 deaths a year, which is less than 0.00001% of the nation’s population- in a country where many people spend time in the woods
.
https://earthsky.org/earth/what-are-asian-giant-hornets-dangerous
Read this full article about these hornets.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 20, 2020
Many thanks for these comments. I have been reading about this. I also read that the #1 insect that people should fear is the mosquito. And climate chnge is affecting the habits of mosquitoes. I’m thinking this is not for the good.