How’s everyone’s weekend going? Thanks for spending a portion of it with the Six.
This past week, we surpassed the third year anniversary of one of the greatest national catastrophes in the history of our nation.
Various federal and state public health agencies and governments collectively declared a national emergency over the COVID-19 virus in March of 2020. Schools closed. Businesses were scuttled. Our nation’s economy, in a bull market with record low interest rates, slowed to a halt.
The catastrophe was not the virus. It was our reaction to the virus. I no longer refer to Covid as a health ‘pandemic.’ The label lends too much credence to public health, an industry not deserving of status. More accurately, it was a disastrously hysterical response to a pathogen that posed no threat to children or healthy adults (apologies to Grandpa Joe and Auntie Edith).
Three years later, we are past mandated lockdowns and school closings. But we are not beyond stupid. It remains ubiquitous.
There’s agency in Numskull.
The New York Times published an “opinion” piece Friday claiming the science “clear that masks work.”
Tennis star Novak Djokovic was denied entry into the United States for a tournament because he remains unvaccinated for COVID-19.
In congressional hearings this week, a U.S. representative from Houston seemed drunk when questioning journalist Matt Tiabbi, one of the reporters who exposed the ways in which social media platforms have, under pressure from U.S. government agencies, censored ordinary Americans and spread disinformation.
Ahh…Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Locally, here in Chicago, during a mayoral debate, Chicago Teacher’s Union Party candidate Brandon Johnson sidestepped questions about denying students in-person learning for almost two years by saying “a 100-year pandemic was responsible for everything being shut down.”
And this guy is ahead in the early polling to be the next mayor of Chicago.
There will be more examples of this brainless twaddle today, tomorrow, this week, month; there’s no end in sight.
Dopiness is everywhere.
Three years removed from a “national emergency,” what we’ve learned is COVID-19 was not the catalyst for a health pandemic.
It was the enzyme that incited a pandemic of stupid.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. Chicago Teacher’s Union: Militants, Not Educators.
The Chicago mayoral run off race is in full throated form. Left with a binary choice for the April 4 election––policy wonk white guy Paul Vallas vs. preacher progressive black guy Brandon Johnson––the rhetoric on both sides is being cranked up to 11. Both claim to be Democrats but in the case of Johnson, his party affiliation should be changed to ‘U’ as in Chicago Teacher’s Union. The CTU’s political influence in the city of Chicago has been strong for decades but never more so than now and the organization has a hand-picked candidate for mayor in Johnson. The City Journal explores the rise of CTU and its militant policies that are less about educating students but protecting the rank and file: “…owes to CTU’s determination to focus on politics rather than on students.”
2. Billionaire and Former Chicagoan Ken Griffin Leaves “Anarchy” Behind.
Every week there appears to be a new story of an Illinois business relocating or shutting down operations. Democratic leaders dodge those questions and just rattle off platitudinal statements about “growth” and “new jobs creation.” There is no more damning testimony about draconian lockdown policies than from business leaders. Billionaire Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Capital Investment, moved his company from Chicago to Florida during Covid Hysteria. Griffin is a longtime adversary of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and his name continues to surface in Illinois politics. At a recent sit down interview sponsored by Bloomberg, Griffin talked about his reasons for leaving Chicago, comparing Florida’s pro-business policies with Illinois and how he will spend “whatever it takes to make sure (Pritzker) doesn’t make the White House.” The linked video is 45 minutes long but fast forward to the 14:00 mark for good stuff on moving to Florida and his feud with Pritzker.
3. The Highest Paid Athletes of All-Time.
We like our lists on the Six and this is good one! What athlete has cashed the biggest checks in the history of professional sports? The first two are not all that unsurprising and likely our first guesses (MJ and Tiger). But the rest of the top 10? There are few on there I would not have believed to be all-timers. List includes inflation and non-inflation adjusted earnings. If calculating what athletes make dollar-per-hour, Floyd Mayweather the easier winner of that category. Boxers fight at most twice a year and Mayweather, now retired, finished his career with a perfect 50-0 record. At 1.41B career earnings, that’s a pretty efficient way to make a living, taking out the potential brain damage and all.
4. Athletes Sue Ivy League Over Non-Scholarship Policy.
The professionalization of amateur athletics continues to be the ball rolling downhill with no resistance in sight. Our court system will be filled with lawsuits the remainder of the decade arguing this point: what is the definition of amateurism? To pair of Ivy League athletes, it means receiving a free education for services rendered. A male and female athlete at Brown University are suing the Ivy League alleging it coordinates to avoid providing athletic scholarships. Said the lawsuit: “The Ivy League Agreement has direct anticompetitive effects, raising the net price of education that Ivy League Athletes pay and suppressing compensation for the athletic services they provide to the [universities].” Things are getting mighty interesting in collegiate athletics and we won’t recognize the model by 2030.
5. Equality vs. Equity? Bernie Sanders Has No Idea.
Bill Maher, the host of Real Time on HBO, has a segment where he reads viewer questions. A panel of guests attempt to answer the questions. One reader asked about "equity” and “equality” (which are not the same things). Maher turned to former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and asked him to take a stab at differentiating the two words. Put on the spot, Sanders began to stammer before uttering “I don’t know the answer.” Considering the source, an unintentional moment of awkward buffoonery.
6. Gene Hackman Sighting! And Eating A Wendy’s Sandwich!
While scrolling through another movie list earlier this week, it occurred to me I’d never seen “The French Connection.” Big miss. Later that same day, “Gene Hackman” popped up on Twitter’s trend stream. Out of interest––Hackman is unquestionably one of the great actors of the 20th century and famously, quit Hollywood nearly 20 years ago and lives a quiet, reclusive life in New Mexico––I jumped into the stream and there they were…recent photos of the 90-something aged Hackman. He’s alive! And apparently doing very well living in New Mexico with his much-younger wife. As only the NY Post can provide, we get images of Hackman walking out of a gas station and video of him ordering a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s. What a Boss Man Hackman is, very trim and appears to be of sound mind and health. I’ll be streaming “TFC” soon, a movie starring Hackman that won him an Oscar in the 1970s.
Thanks for reading everybody and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com