As the United States becomes number one*

*in the number of deaths.

While the election of Donald Trump seemed like a step backwards for the United States, his actual leadership (or lack thereof) is what diminished the US as a consistent anchor in global politics.  Similar to the domestic front, the attention and global markets shifted from "what is the United States going to do" to "what kind of mood is Donald in today?"  "Who will be the next person in his administration to get fired?"

Still, because of US economic and military might, other leaders were required to humor him, and stay on top of the tweets, even as they sorted out how they were going to manage in a world that no longer had the US as a consistent global voice.  And of course, every country has its own set of priorities.  The pandemic has only heightened that trend, with the only upside being that Trump has virtually zero (actually, less than zero) standing in this global situation.  While the US consulate has made some posts about US assistance to other countries, the headlines have been dominated by every country scrambling to save their own people (and Republicans in the US pushing policies to increase deaths in some countries they consider enemies).  At least in Australia, the only major collaborative news was about China sending a team to Italy.   And so, it seems this pandemic, at least as far as the Trump administration is concerned, has cemented the US position as a non-leader.  Even Trump himself has tried to push his "states rights" agenda towards saying that the management of the pandemic is up to governors; not a federal issue.  While another administration might have thought globally in response to a global issue, as I say, Trump's response has been less than zero; overall increasing the likelihood of deaths. 

Does this mean the end of an empire?  The United States is still a large population with a large economy and that doesn't end overnight.  Regardless of whether the US has good leadership or not, its economy will still carry weight, even if its military becomes dysfunctional and demoralized.  But lack of leadership will definitely be a factor in recovery.  Economists and Congress seem to have grabbed the reins, but in the absence of any sense of shared destiny, the US recovery may take the same path as its initial response to the danger - too much partisan squabbling and not enough coherent action.  Inside the United States, the last catastrophe was known as the sub-prime mortgage crisis.  Outside the US, it's referred to as the GFC - Global Financial Crisis.  Even if the US is not a leader, it drags the rest of the world along whatever trajectory.  In that regard, seeing the decline of the US as a global leader is like the death of a drug cartel leader.  While it's an opportunity for someone, it means a lot of unrest and violence as they claw their way into the void. 

Bullets and toilet paper

Hygiene.  Some people think they need to hoard toilet paper.  Some people think foreigners are dirty and the problem would be solved if we just keep them out and get rid of them.  Those people are buying up ammo.  Trump's political career has relied, and continues to rely on the dystopian notion that it's always the foreigners that are the problem, so he insists on calling it the China virus to continue on the political theme of his campaign to remain in power.  Unfortunately for the spread of the pandemic, this distracts from the real hygiene that's required. 

Two Boys from Indiana

There are now two boys from Indiana on the national stage: Pete Buttigieg, and Mike Pence.  One of them believes that no one is really gay, it's just a lifestyle decision.  The other believes it's not just a decision, and is open about it.  Both of them claim to serve the Lord, because, well, that's a popular stance in Indiana, but one of them seems to be a bit in the closet when it comes to who his real boss is.

Storm run-off

What I find interesting about this article is Washington DC's approach, but also, that someone recently suggested a similar concept not for raw sewage leakage, but for Sydney Australia's water shortage.  The person suggested that Sydney's run-off should be captured by a system such as this and that would help reduce the water shortage problem.  I might add, the City Council in which I reside has program incentives for building permits to reduce hard spaces and create spaces where storm water will be more slowly released.  To my knowledge, Australians don't use wells for water as much as the US does - it seems in many locations the water is unsuitable for drinking.  The storm water reduction effort is largely to keep water at the beaches cleaner.

E.P.A. Is Letting Cities Dump More Raw Sewage Into Rivers for Years to Come

Difficult goodbyes

This post is about leaving Facebook, which I intend to do in the near future.  My two strongest beliefs in this moment are 1. that the current President of the United States is not fit for that office and 2. the management of Facebook is not fit for the level of access to personal data that they have.  I don't believe that either of those entities will ever be capable of the level of responsibility they should have.  They may have earned their position, and taking it away from them may be difficult, but it's past time, and damage has been done.

Six ways to Sunday

The man who works in government complains about the government in his life. There's a simple way to get the government out of your life Barnaby - get your life out of the government! And as for your cattle, two wives, and ten children... If I were a praying man I'd say "Dear God, could you send Barnaby a more explicit sign? Because he has interpreted every message you've sent as being for someone else." Barnaby's Rant

Mail order, trust

In the US, I made numerous purchases through the internet; delivered to home.  The biggest headache, which has been much parodied on YouTube, is that you're never home for a package that requires a signature.  They've made attempts to remedy that problem by adding drop-boxes or convenient pick-up locations.  There are extra layers of trust required over just buying something at brick-and-mortar. 

Now in Australia, I've made a few purchases; not as many.  And already, I've run into the nightmare - the missing package.  For a couple of weeks, the internet tracking said it was enroute.  Considering I made two purchases from the same retailer on the same day, both were in stock and one was delivered, the several week delay started seeming suspicious.  So I called the Australian Postal Service. At 4:30 pm, and after 17 minutes I started getting concerned that I was going to be on hold until after 5 pm and everyone had gone home.  Fortunately, it was holiday overload keeping them busy, aaaaand...  most peculiarly... although the web site was showing that the package was still enroute, a courier somewhere in the system (but not visible through the web interface), had recorded that they dropped off the package and got a signature.  So why wasn't that recorded in the web interface?  And so now they are investigating.  Australian Post has a pretty good reputation, but when the courier dropped off the other package, they were running away as I opened the door, and when I said something about signature required, they waved me off.  Did the other package go to the wrong address?  If it's lost forever will I be able to purchase another item at the sale price?  I am supposed to get more information within five business days.