7 March 2020

♄

 7 March 12020 doesn’t seem to be any particular holiday, though it is Arthur Lee’s birthday—also Rik Mayall’s. If I haven’t lost count it is JD 2458915, 11 Adar 5780 (on the Jewish calendar), 28 Meshir 1736 (Coptic), and 12 Rajab 1441 (Islamic). The saint of the day is Perpetua, who was martyred in 10203, and whose account of her last days survives, making it a rare early account from a Christian woman.

The novel coronavirus and the stock market plunge seem to have somewhat crowded the election news from the headlines, which means I don’t have to read those tiresome people explaining how I should vote for their candidate because their issues are the real ones, and “we” should all settle for what “we” can get, rather than such pie-in-the-sky notions as medical care, a decent income, or a livable planet. As Tonto said to the Lone Ranger, “What do you mean, ‘we’?” I don’t care what flavor of fat pig sits on the golden throne in the oval office—Democrat or Republican, it’s all the same—if he’s going to screw around with bullshit issues like what kind of people are crossing which borders to live wherever, or how we can protect the jobs of some obsolete or counter-productive industry that has had its day or never should have existed in the first place. And if those are the issues you think are “real,” you’re the one who needs a reality check. Check please.