Hikes in autumnal weather and sunlight – More attempts to palliate the actions of the January 6th rioters – A setback for Trump and its ineffectiveness – Encouraging news from the WHO – Another food store in Fairfax – Evening statistics
I have been diverted from the journal as a result of the weather of the past several days, which featured autumn weather at its best. Not only are the temperatures comfortable but the skies have been exceptionally clear and the sunlight has displayed an intense mellowness that occurs only at this time of the year. Naturally I have been out of doors a great deal, hiking Monday in Burke Lake on my own and hiking the Browntown loop with the Vigorous Hikers yesterday. This last hike is one I have never done before, although I have been over parts of it previously. The hike begins from a parking area of a church in the little village of Browntown and goes along a road that eventually turns into the Browntown Trail, which I have never used before. The Browntown Trail ascends gradually past the park boundary up to the Appalachian Trail, at which point I was on more familiar territory, going north up to the Dickey Range Trail and turning down the Lands Run Trail, which eventually terminates at the end of a road that leads back to Browntown again. It is a beautiful hike and, despite the fact that it involves about 3400 feet of elevation gain, not unduly strenuous; the ascents are for the most part not especially steep. We had lunch together at the overlook at the top of North Marshall. We have used this overlook as a lunch stop on various other hikes, and it is fascinating to see it during different seasons. On this occasion many of the trees at our elevation had already shed their leaves, while those in the valley below were just beginning to change color.
On the way back I had a rather frustrating conversation with BR about the rioters of January 6th. If he had maintained that they were merely rioters like all others and not, as I contend, guilty of sedition, I could understand such a point of view, however mistaken I might think it. But he was continually asserting – with what degree of seriousness it was difficult to tell – that they were carrying few or no weapons during their breach of the Capitol; and how he acquired such a notion, which flies in the face of all documentary and photographic evidence, I have no idea. It is on a par with the risible suggestion, put forth by various Republican members of Congress, that people entering the Capitol on that occasion were merely “tourists.” The monetary damage alone that they inflicted on the Capitol has been assessed at well over $30 million, to say nothing of one policeman losing his life and several others severely injured as a result of their activities, many of them to such a degree that they will be disabled for life.
In connection with this matter, district Judge Tanya Chutkan turned down Donald Trump’s attempt to keep White House documents from the hands of the House committee investigating the riot. But several delaying tactics are still available and Trump can be relied to use every single one of them. The delay can easily last well past the 2022 elections; and if the GOP regains control of the House as a result, they will simply terminate the investigation. That other investigation about his blatant attempt to steal votes in Georgia, in which I had placed such high hopes, appears to have come to nothing, as have additional suits from various parties to hold him accountable.
Matters are coming to a point that I’m contemplating a process of molding a statuette of Trump out of wax, jabbing it with a few dozen pins in all directions, and using a pair of tongs to hold it over an open fire while reciting the Lord’s Prayer backwards until it wastes away. No earthly power appears to be able to touch him, but maybe some supernatural intervention might work.
After restoring myself to a somewhat calmer mood, I am pleased to find that the WHO has reported that virus incidence rates are falling all over the world, with one exception. Cases continue to rise in continental Europe. Much of this appears to be due to Russia and various other nations that were formerly members of the Soviet Republic. In other parts of the world rates are declining, even in Southeast Asia and Africa, despite the lack of vaccines. In the Americas, the new weekly cases fell by 5% and deaths declined by 14%, with the highest numbers of decreases reported from the United States. Even in Brazil new cases are occurring less frequently than before.
I have neglected to mention that yet another food store is on the verge of opening in Fairfax City, this one by Amazon. After having very nearly transformed the strip malls into an anachronism and driven all of the Mom-and-Pop food stores of this country to their knees, Amazon is going into live marketing on its own. Yes, it may be true that Jeff Bezos is ending up second-best in his contest with Elon Musk for ownership of the moon; but does he not possess the entire planet by way of compensation?
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 252,092,605; # of deaths worldwide: 5,087,462; # of cases U.S.: 47,641,613; # of deaths; U.S.: 779,942.