Masks

We are celebrating National Public Health Week by making cloth face masks. We cannot find masks in any of the shops or pharmacies in the neighborhood, though it seems we should be wearing them. At least we can say that the Portuguese government is trying to recover stolen face masks, not perpetrating their ‘thefts’, as in the US. These are the times.

Disturbing news continues to flood over the Atlantic ...

Last Friday we found out that Acting Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Modly, relieved Captain Brett Crozier of his command aboard the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. His ship stricken with COVID-19, Capt Crozier was unable to quarantine his crew and keep them safe. He wrote a terse letter that leaked to the SF Chronicle. Capt Crozier was dismissed despite Sec Modly‘s assurance that the letter "would absolutely not result in any type of retaliation". As the Captain departed the ship on Monday, the crew gave their CO an emotional send-off. Along with over one hundred and seventy shipmates, Capt Crozier tested positive for COVID-19.

On Saturday, we learned that President Trump fired the Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, who handled the Ukraine Whistleblower report. This, of course, followed the firings of: Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovonavitch, NSC Director for European Affairs Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, NSC Attorney Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Vindman (Alexander's twin brother), and Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland.

Yesterday we received the news that Sec Modly, himself, resigned. This, after he flew eight thousand miles to Guam, and got on the USS Rosevelt's PA system in order to, apparently, berate the crew and their former CO. Sec Modly claimed Capt Crozier was "too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer" if he believed his letter would not leak. Ironically, it was a leaked audio clip of his ‘Trumpian’ announcement that provided the self-inflicted pressure for his own resignation. Modly was preceded as Secretary by Richard Spencer, who was fired last November following another personnel disagreement (Spencer also served briefly as Secretary of Defense, and was Modly's boss for about a week). Modly is succeeded by James McPherson, who becomes Trump's fourth Secretary of the Navy (sixth if you count Modly's and Spencer's discontinuous terms).

Also yesterday, we heard that Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham resigned after holding exactly zero press briefings; she served 281 days. She is succeeded by Kayleigh McEnany, Trump's fourth Press Secretary after Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Grisham.

Finally yesterday, we learned that Glenn Fine was removed as the IG preparing to oversee the two trillion dollar COVID-19 relief fund. Fine was the Acting Inspector General for the Department of Defense, with a reputation for independence, and was set to chair the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. Trump replaced Fine with Sean O-Donnell, the IG at the EPA, who will now serve both the EPA and the DoD. No reason was given for the dismissal.

These high-level government jobs are passed around like funny hats. No one wears them for very long. Too naive or too stupid? Maybe the only person laughing is Trump himself.

Meanwhile, there are one and a half million COVID-19 cases worldwide, and nearly ninety thousand deaths. In the US, there are well over four hundred thousand cases and, in a sharp rise, over fourteen thousand deaths. In Portugal, there are over thirteen thousand cases and approaching four hundred deaths; since April 1, the new case totals in Portugal have definitely leveled-off – a ray of hope that the quarantine is working.

cases: 1,495,051 global • 425,107 USA • 13,141 Portugal

deaths: 87,469 global • 14,262 USA • 380 Portugal

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Painfully, we lost John Prine to COVID-19 yesterday, too. His wife Fiona, who recovered from the virus, was with him.

When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
I'll be halfway to heaven with Paradise waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever I am
 – from "Paradise"