Hey:
So unlike last weekend’s washout, where many of us had a 3 day weekend, this weekend was sunny and hot!! Summer May not be here per the calendar, but it’s here weather wise. I hope you all were able to get out and enjoy, especially now that the pandemic numbers are going down.
Speaking of which, here is where we will start…
POLITICS: Fauci's E-Mail's
The Washington Post, thanks to a FOIA request, received and published about 2,000 of Dr. Anthony Fauci e-mails last week.
Several Republicans, including and especially Rand Paul of Kentucky, are saying that the e-mails prove what they have been saying all along.. that Fauci was dishonest, misled the public and did all of that in the name of defeating Donald Trump in November 2020.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that many of the people who are claiming that Dr. Fauci is a liar didn't bother to read any of the e-mails, or even any of the stories written about the e-mails. Just the little snippets provided by FOX News or Newsmax.
Because if you took some time to read the stories and put the e-mails into context, you'd see a man who yes, made a few mistakes in the beginning, but who also had the presence of mind to change course when the data suggested it was necessary, who wanted to inform the public, even if they weren't going to like what he had to say, and someone who worked hours upon hours to help as many people as he could.
One of the major beefs of the Republican party is that Fauci dismissed the idea that the virus was created in a Wuhan, China lab.
I wrote this in my Coronavirus Special Last Year...
A couple of weeks ago, a friend of a friend, posted an NPR article stating that the chances that COVID-19 was either manufactured in a Chinese Lab or was accidentally released from said lab were slim to none.
I'm not saying my friend, or the article he posted was wrong.
But I'm not ruling it out.
And I'm still not ruling anything out. I don't think Dr. Fauci was either, but the fact of the matter is that the chances of this being created in a lab are very slim. I saw nothing in these e-mails that changes my mind on that.
Like I said, there were definitely missteps on his part, not mandating masks right away was a big mistake, but it's the ones who don't think masks and social distancing were necessary that are the ones going after Fauci the hardest. To me that's just more noise. I will always believe in my heart that as bad as things were (and with almost 600,000 of us dead, let's remember how bad this really was) it would have been a hell of a lot worse without Dr. Anthony Fauci. He's not the villain here folks. Not by a longshot.
RELIGION: Back to Church?
I was notified last week by WM's Religion Editors (my Mom and my sister) that the dispensation for not going to Mass because of COVID-19 was being lifted as of June 3.
In doing some research for this, I stumbled upon this article from The Jesuit Review. Many of the dispensations around the country have already ended, or ended and went back into effect after the 2nd wave over the winter.
As you might expect, there has been much confusion over whether or not you are obligated to return to Mass. One bishop in this article said
If you’re truly, truly afraid of catching the virus, then you stay home,” Bishop Thomas Freyer said in a video announcing the change. “If you’ve gone out to lunch, if you’ve gone out to dinner, then you’re not truly afraid.”
OK that sounds reasonable enough, since when I go out to lunch, I have complete strangers sitting right next to me eating the bread and crackers out of the same basket.
Another Bishop said...
“I ask Catholics to look at their lives at this moment. Are you meeting with groups of people, perhaps attending sporting events and participating in other forms of entertainment, but not attending Mass? The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, but are we making other things a priority in our lives at this time? Are we making this dispensation an excuse?”
I understand where this guy is coming from. During the pandemic, Tara, Timmy my mother in law and I have been watching The Sunday Mass on Channel 10/55 at 9 AM on Sunday. The Priests are from the Passionists Order and they do a really nice job. Fr. Paul Fagan is the host and usually about once a month, presides over the Mass. He's our favorite, but the other priests do a good job too. I treat that 1/2 hour as if I'm in church. In fact, I probably pay closer attention and say the prayers with more conviction than I do if I'm actually in church.
I get it that the main reason for attending Mass in person is so you can receive the sacrament of the Eucharist. Well I hate to break to ya Bishop, but it's going to be a loooong time before I take communion again. And this is no knock on the Eucharistic Ministers, who I know take the proper precautions.. I count both my sisters, my wife (at one time) and many friends as eucharistic ministers.
But I'm not ready for that yet. No way.
So we've decided that we will for the time being continue to watch Fr. Paul and Co. on Sunday mornings, at least until Labor Day. (that'll piss off all those teachers and priests I had at St. Mary's who used to tell us "God doesn't take a summer vacation") We'll re-evaluate it at that time. If I'm lucky enough to get to heaven, Jesus and I will hash it out then. I believe He will understand.
BASKETBALL: Bye Bye Knicks:
The Knicks were put out of their misery by the Hawks last Wednesday night. The reaction from most Knicks fans was disappointment but hope that better days are here.
I felt like they were a better team than Atlanta, but the Hawks rose to the occasion. Julius Randle on the other hand did not. Neither did anyone else not named Derrick Rose, but even he didn't play that well the last two games.
Right now, I feel disappointed that they didn't make it to the second round, but if this truly is the start of a new era, then I can look back on this as a stepping stone. But for now, it's just a big letdown.
The Nets meanwhile sent the Celtics packing and are taking on the Bucks. The Hawks will play the Sixers.
Speaking of the Nets, there was an interesting debate the other morning on WFAN's Boomer and Gio show. Now, I'm not convinced the Nets are the mortal lock to win the NBA Title that the above referenced radio hosts say they are. But for the sake of this discussion, lets say they are.. Where do you hold the victory parade?
Boomer Esaison and Greg Gianotti both said the parade would have to be somewhere in Brooklyn. Maybe down Atlantic or Flatbush Avenues. One of them suggested marching over the Manhattan or Brooklyn Bridges.
Myself, like many of the folks who called to weigh in, didn't see why the Nets wouldn't be feted down the Canyon of Heroes like any other NYC team that wins a title. When the Giants won the Super Bowl in 1987 and 1991, they had their parade in East Rutherford, NJ, on orders of the spiteful mayor Ed Koch, but the last two times, they marched down Lower Manhattan.
Otherwise, by Boomer and Gio's logic the Yankees would parade down the Grand Concourse, and the Mets down the Boulevard of Death. Only the Rangers and Knicks would get parades down the C of H. We've been waiting a long freakin time to see that happen too.
The Islanders, if they manage to win, would probably have a parade down Hempstead Turnpike, which at least I could get over to from my office if I wanted to (I doubt I would want to).
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Forgot to mention in last weeks blog that we had three celebrity deaths on Saturday. In the morning I found out that former Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton died in a bike accident at age 64. When I was a kid, he was a shot blocking machine. At 7'4, if he wasn't the tallest player in the league, he was in the top 3 or 4.
Later on, we heard that someone else was going to have to captain the Love Boat into Puerto Vallarta as Gavin MacLeod who played Capt. Merrill Stubing on our favorite Saturday night early 80's show died at age 90. With his passing, only Lou Grant and Sue Ann Nivens remain from WJM in Minneapolis.
And then BJ Thomas succumbed to cancer at age 78. A few years ago I read a book about the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, and every chapter was named after a song from 1975. So one of the Chapters was Hey Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song. I never really liked that song till I read that book and now it's like a total brain worm. He also sang Hooked on a Feeling, and how apropos, that on the day the "Raindrops Keep Fallin on my Head" singer died, it was pouring here in NY.
He also sang the theme to one of my favorite TV Shows, Growing Pains. RIP to all.
That’s all we got folks
Stay Safe. Get the vaccine
and Have a Great Week
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