Why was the response to the Coronavirus Pandemic so ineffective? Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta of the Washington Post covered the Pandemic from the beginning and their analysis of the failure begins with the Trump White House: “Many of the senior staff and cabinet members who had joined Trump in January 2017 had already left. More than twenty had been pushed out or fired. Others had resigned in disgust. At least one appeared to be headed to jail.

“Who was left? A mix of family members, twenty somethings, hangers-on, fourth-stringers, former lobbyists, sycophants, and scattering of competent, well-meaning aides…who mostly kept their heads down.” (p. 29-30)

Trump’s team completely misread the signs of the growing Pandemic. Even with the FDA and CDC and the Coronavirus Task Force, Trump and the people around him were in denial about the disaster. Mostly, they were focused on Trump’s ReElection campaign and regarded the Coronavirus as an annoyance.

Two of the best chapters in Nightmare Scenario are Chapter 7, Dr. Birx (read p. 145 where Birx overplays her hand on the Christian Broadcasting Network) and Chapter 8, Dr. Fauci. Abutaleb and Paletta carefully provide the background of these two key figures in the battle against Covid-19. Both doctors are specialists and came to understand the enormity of the Pandemic…but as the virus spread, Trump and his team ignored them.

As the news of the Pandemic grew worse, Trump dismissed Dr. Birx as “pathetic.” When Dr. Fauci threw out the first pitch at a National’s game, Trump was enraged. Trump claimed he was going to throw out the first pitch at a Yankees game, but the Yankees refused. Trump seriously considered firing Dr. Fauci because Fauci’s ratings were higher than his own. And Trump was apoplectic about the Fauci doughnuts, T-shirts, socks, and the Fauci bobblehead doll! (p. 155).

There were many chances to get the Pandemic under control, but Trump’s distaste for masks–“It makes you look weak”–and his belief that the virus would “just go away like a miracle” resulted in a weak, ineffective Government response. Trump surrounded himself with anti-science types and minions who blocked actions that could have saved lives.

The numbers in Western NY for Delta Variant infections and hospitalizations are going up. The Nightmare Scenario continues here. What’s happening in your neighborhood? GRADE: A

Table of Contents:

Authors’ Note ix

Prologue: Covered in Death 1

Part I

Chapter 1 The Invisible Enemy 11

Chapter 2 Like Water Through a Net 23

Chapter 3 Trapped at Sea 45

Chapter 4 Testing, Testing 63

Chapter 5 The Panic 85

Chapter 6 The Shutdown 109

Chapter 7 Dr. Birx 131

Chapter 8 Dr. Fauci 153

Chapter 9 Of Masks and Men 175

Chapter 10 “Liberate” 197

Part II

Chapter 11 Pharmacist in Chief 217

Chapter 12 Remdesivir 243

Chapter 13 Jared’s Shadow Task Force 251

Chapter 14 The Downfall of the Health Agencies 277

Chapter 15 From Bad to Worse 305

Chapter 16 The Second Wave 319

Chapter 17 Opening Day 339

Chapter 18 Atlas, Shrug 349

Chapter 19 A Shot in the Dark 369

Chapter 20 Long Live the King 391

Chapter 21 Judgment Day 411

Epilogue 425

Acknowledgments 431

Notes 437

Index 461

Let’s start with the most ridiculous bar fight scene of any movie I’ve seen. Nick Bannister, played by Hugh Jackman, is a future private eye who uses a memory machine to discover clues to his cases. When Nick falls for a mysterious singer called Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), he falls hard. When Mae disappears, Nick is obsessed with finding her. Yes, all the elements of a typical film noir show up including Nick’s annoying voice-over narration.

So, back to the ridiculous bar fight. Nick strolls into a New Orleans bar where a criminal kingpin (Daniel Wu) conducts his crime empire. The kingpin is surrounded by body guards. Nick asks about Mae and suddenly finds himself thrust into the kingpin’s fish tank filled with menacing creatures. Then, all hell breaks loose while Nick continues to drown. Since this scene is about mid-way through Reminiscence you can guess what happens. Very predictable..and silly.

Reminiscence opens with a shot of Miami drowning in water. No taxis…just motor boats get people around the sinking city. The future is grim, but Director Lisa Joy (who also wrote the screenplay) makes the submerged world look fabulous–which is the best part of this disappointing movie. GRADE: C

Philip Ball believes we have modern myths that we live by. And, in this new book, Ball sets out to argue we pattern our lives around the wisdom of Robinson Crusoe, the mistakes of Frankenstein, the bi-polar Dr. Jekyll, the hungers of Dracula, the terror of Martians (and other invaders), the analytical Sherlock Holmes, the vigilantism of Batman, and the prospect of more modern myths to come.

Ball makes his case for each modern myth chapter by chapter. He provides in-depth histories of the source of the myth, then extends the influence of the myth on the wider culture. For example, after giving a grand account of how H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds came about, Ball goes into the Orson Welles radio extravaganza of Orson Wells that terrified the country. He even provides a photo of Orson Wells with H. G. Wells in 1940. In addition, Ball includes other books, movies, radio programs, etc. that spun off of The War of the Worlds including reimagining like Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!

If you’re interested in popular culture and modern myths, this is the book for you! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. How can a Myth be Modern? — 1

2. John Bull on a Beach: Robinson Crusoe (1719) — 36

3. The Reanimator: Frankenstein (1818) — 69

4. Unchaining the Beast: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). — 130

5. The Body and the Blood: Dracula (1897) — 165

6. Who Shall Dwell in these Worlds: The War of the Worlds (1897) — 223

7. Reason Wears a Deerstalker: The Sherlock Homes stories (1887-1927) — 275

8. I Am the Law: Batman (1939-) — 311

9. Myths in the Making, Myths to Come — 351

10. The Mythic Mode — 370

Acknowledgments — 383

Notes — 385

Bibliography — 407

Index — 415

Adam Grant, a organizational psychologist, believes we can make better decisions to improve our lives if we take the time to reconsider our choices. Remember the advice when you’re taking at multiple choice test: don’t change your answers! Grant researched that strategy and found that students who did change their answers went from Wrong Answer to Right Answer 70% of the time.

As a consultant, Grant worked for several companies that took his advice and changed their direction…and improved their work atmosphere and profits. Grant points out that smart people can become convinced they’re right about their opinions and choices when a thoughtful reconsideration can produce more accurate results.

Have you reconsidered a recent decision? We’re reconsidering out travel plans for the Fall with the Delta Variant raging. GRADE: B+

Table of Contents:

Prologue 1

Part I Individual Rethinking Updating Our Own Views

1 A Preacher, a Prosecutor, a Politician, and a Scientist Walk into Your Mind 15

2 The Armchair Quarterback and the Impostor: Finding the Sweet Spot of Confidence 33

3 The Joy of Being Wrong: The Thrill of Not Believing Everything You Think 55

4 The Good Fight Club: The Psychology of Constructive Conflict 77

Part II Interpersonal Rethinking Opening Other People’s Minds

5 Dances with Foes: How to Win Debates and Influence People 97

6 Bad Blood on the Diamond: Diminishing Prejudice by Destabilizing Stereotypes 121

7 Vaccine Whisperers and Mild-Mannered Interrogators: How the Right Kind of Listening Motivates People to Change 143

Part III Collective Rethinking Creating Communities of Lifelong Learners

8 Charged Conversations: Depolarizing Our Divided Discussions 163

9 Rewriting the Textbook: Teaching Students to Question Knowledge 185

10 That’s Not the Way We’ve Always Done It: Building Cultures of Learning at Work 205

Part IV Conclusion

11 Escaping Tunnel Vision: Reconsidering Our Best-Laid Career and Life Plans 225

Epilogue 245

Actions for Impact 251

Acknowledgments 259

Notes 265

Illustration Credits 295

Index 297

Lionel White, who wrote some of the best and authentic caper novels of the 1950s and 1960s, is well represented in this new STARK HOUSE volume. Steal Big (1960) features a group lead by a professional bank robber named Donovan. Donovan, just released from prison, wants a big score so he can live in the style he dreams about.

But Donovan’s crew all have serious flaws. Donovan broods about his accomplices: “An evil old woman who would steal the pennies from a dead man’s eyes. A puny psychopathic sadist who likes to kill for the fun of it. A punch-drunk moron who by all rights should be in a side show. A college boy who hates the world because he figured he took a bum rap. A group who isn’t dry behind the ears yet and who wants to go for the ride because she thinks she’ll get enough money out of it spring her old man out of the clink.” (p. 101)

Lionel White weaves a compelling story of gathering resources–guns, cars, recording equipment–and planning for a bank robbery that could net Donovan and his crew an estimated $750,000. But, of course, the perfect plan starts to unravel and Donovan has to scramble to adjust. GRADE: B+

The Big Caper (1955) centers around a criminal mastermind called Flood who needs money to dig himself out of debt. Flood puts together a quirky group that includes an arsonist, a psychopathic killer, and a safe-cracking specialist. The plan is brilliant, but Flood underestimates the power of attraction as two of the team fall in love. The Big Caper displays the professional preparation and planning that goes into a heist. And, it also shows how even the most brilliant plan can go wrong. GRADE: A

Nicholas Litchfield’s informative “The Learned, Bookless Master of the Big Caper” provides more information about Lionel White’s writing career than previous STARK HOUSE volumes. Cullen Gallagher sums up Lionel White’s impact in “A Matter of Time: Looking Back at Lionel White.” Plus, there’s a Lionel White Bibliography, too! Don’t miss this latest terrific Lionel White Stark House collection!

When the artist known as Prince died in 2016 he didn’t leave a Will, but he did leave a Vault full of hundreds of recorded songs. Welcome 2 America was just released although it was recorded back in 2010.

My favorite song is “One Day We Will All B Free,” an anthem type song. The only song that might get some airplay on radio would be “Hot Summer” which is about a hot summer. And, this being a Prince album, there’s “When She Comes,” a song about orgasms.

Many of the songs on Welcome 2 America have a political aspect or message.  Rock critic Kory Grow wrote that Welcome 2 America contains ”stronger songs and sharper messages than much of the music he [Prince] released during his final years.” Grow maintains that the ”grooves are funkier, the sex jams are sexier, and the Curtis Mayfield homages are superflyier”.

I have a different opinion on Welcome 2 America than Grow. Many of the songs sound unfinished. I do agree with Grow that the music Prince released in his final years is weak. Perhaps drugs affected Prince’s performance and musical abilities. I probably won’t listen to Welcome 2 America again. Are you a fan of Prince? Do you have a favorite song? GRADE: C

TRACKLIST:

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	“Welcome 2 America”		5:23
2.	“Running Game (Son of a Slave Master)”		4:05
3.	“Born 2 Die”		5:03
4.	“1000 Light Years from Here”		5:46
5.	“Hot Summer”		3:32
6.	“Stand Up and B Strong”	Dave Pirner	5:18
7.	“Check the Record”		3:28
8.	“Same Page, Different Book”	PrinceShelby Johnson	4:41
9.	“When She Comes”		4:46
10.	“1010 (Rin Tin Tin)”		4:42
11.	“Yes”		2:56
12.	“One Day We Will All B Free”		4:41
Total length:	54:21 All tracks are written by  Prince, except where noted.

While reading On Violence and On Violence Against Women by Jacqueline Rose (you can read my review here), I noticed Jacqueline Rose referred to Hannah Arendt’s On Violence and Crises of the Republic frequently. I’ve read a lot of Hannah Arendt’s work, but I hadn’t read these two books.

My favorite essay in Crises of the Republic (1972) is “Lying in Politics.” Hannah Arendt writes: “…the aspects of deception, self-deception, image-making, ideologizing, and defactualization…all these people, involved in an unjust war and rightly compromised by it…” (p. 44-45). Arendt is writing about the Vietnam War (and the Pentagon Papers) but what she writes about could easily be applied to the Catastrophe in Afghanistan now happening.

For over 20 years, we were told by our Government that progress was being made, that success and “nation-building” was just around the corner. Arendt debunks that flim-flam in On Violence, too: “…only in a world in which nothing of importance ever happens could the futurologists’ dream come true. Predictions of the future are never anything but projections of present automatic processes and procedures, that is, of occurrences that are likely to come to pass if men do not act and if nothing unexpected happens; every action, for better or worse, and every accident necessarily destroys the whole pattern…” (p. 7)

The world considers America powerful, but Arendt explains how debacles like Vietnam and Afghanistan can happen despite our vast technology and power. “Power corresponds to the human ability not just to act to act in concert. Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group and remains in existence only so long as the group keeps together.” ( p. 44).

Clearly the “group” in Vietnam and now Afghanistan couldn’t keep it together. After 2400 casualties, 60,000 injured service personnel, and $2 TRILLION spent we’re in the state of chaos…again. What do you think of what happened in Afghanistan?

I just bought and watched this newly remastered Blu-ray, from a 4K film scan of the original elements, which looks better than any other DVD or Blu-ray of Nashville that I’ve seen!

Nashville (1975) is the ultimate ensemble movie. It follows 24 quirky characters through 5 days in the country music capital of the world. Robert Altman’s Oscar winning epic presents a stunning portrayal of America’s obsession with celebrity, fame, and political power.

Altman’s cameras capture the various stars, wannabes, hangers-on, grifters, and media types including a politically ambitious country icon and his fragile star protégée, a self-absorbed rock star who woos a lonely married gospel singer while sleeping with other women, a talentless waitress who is painfully humiliated at her first singing gig, a runaway wife with dreams of stardom, and a campaign guru who is trying to organize a concert rally for a mysterious presidential candidate.

There’s a lot going on in Nashville, but my favorite scenes are the ones Geraldine Chaplin–claiming she’s with the BBC and working on a documentary–steals. Are you a fan of Nashville? GRADE: A

CAST:

Keith Carradine

• as Tom Frank

Karen Black

• as Connie White

Ronee Blakley

• as Barbara Jean

Shelley Duvall

• as L. A. Joan

David Arkin

• as Norman

Barbara Baxley

• as Lady Pearl

Ned Beatty

• as Delbert Reese

Timothy Brown

• as Tommy Brown

Geraldine Chaplin

• as Opal

Robert DoQui

• as Wade
• (as Robert Doqui)

Allen Garfield

• as Barnett

Henry Gibson

• as Haven Hamilton

Scott Glenn

• as Pfc. Glenn Kelly

Jeff Goldblum

• as Tricycle Man

Barbara Harris

• as Albuquerque

David Hayward

• as Kenny Fraiser

Michael Murphy

• as John Triplette

Allan F. Nicholls

• as Bill
• (as Allan Nicholls)

Weighing in at 914 pages, Simon Heffer’s The Age of Decadence certainly qualifies as a Big Fat Book (a book with 500+ pages). I’ve always been interested in the growth of the British Empire and Heffer’s tome presents the time period in glorious detail.

One of the characters that I admire in the 1880-1914 years is Oscar Wilde. He was wild and crazy and talented. “On his first visit to America in 1982 (when he is alleged to have said he had nothing to declare except his genius)…” (p. 22). Wilde pops up in various chapters to interject levity…or to be persecuted.

Simon Heffer doesn’t spare the Royal Family. He skewers Albert Edward mercilessly. “By 1890 the Prince, then nearly forty, was an accomplished adulterer and glutton, the former hobby noted by his circle (and his wife) but never publicly remarked upon, and the latter earning him the nickname ‘Tum-tum’.” (p. 87)

Along with fascinating stories of the great people of that age, Heffer engages in some cultural anthropology, too. “One of the great evils of working-class life–as well as one of its main recreations–was drink. Karl Marx said that drink was the curse of the working classes: Wilde that work was curse of the drinking classes.” (p. 173)

The Age of Decadence is the best book of history that I’ve read about these critical years in British and World History. I highly recommend it! Are you a fan of History? GRADE: A

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Prologue: Swagger 1

Part I The World of the Late Victorians

1 The Decline of the Pallisers 39

2 The Rise of the Pooters 118

3 The Workers’ Struggle 169

Part II Coming Storms

4 Imperial Tensions 213

5 Ireland 270

6 The Death of God 336

7 The Civilising Mission 363

8 Protecting Women 392

Part III Public Debates, Public Doubts

9 The Future 419

10 Nostalgia 442

11 Imperial Consequences 474

12 Art and Life 497

13 The Uses of Literacy 534

Part IV Strife

14 Men and Power 561

15 Dukes and Dreadnoughts 596

16 The Great Unrest 651

17 Votes for Women 707

18 Rebellion 769

Envoi: One Afternoon of Heat 825

Bibliography 827

Notes 839

Index 863

Picture Acknowledgements 899

Nanci Griffith, a singer who straddled the genres of folk, folk rock, and country western music, died on August 13, 2021. She was 68 years old. No cause of death was given, but Griffith battled breast cancer and thyroid cancer in the 1990s; perhaps one of them returned.

I own about a dozen Nanci Griffith CDs and have enjoyed them all. I’m featuring Flyer from 1994 because the title song includes the lines:

He was a flyer for the Air Force
On a plane from San Antonio
I was traveling to London
He was going off to Buffalo

There are plenty of other songs to like on Flyer. I’m fond of “Don’t Forget About Me” with Mark Knopfler’s guitar work. “Fragile” is very pretty with a choir that includes Emmylou Harris, another favorite of mine.

I’ll miss Nanci Griffith, knowing her crystal clear voice and her wonderful songs only exist on disc now. Anyone who dies at 68 is leaving us too soon. GRADE: A

Tracklist:

1		The Flyer	4:23
2		Nobody’s Angel Harmony Vocals – Adam Duritz	4:15
3		Say It Isn’t So	3:19
4		Southbound Train	4:32
5		These Days In An Open Book	3:33
6		Time Of Inconvenience	3:49
7		Don’t Forget About Me Electric Guitar – Mark Knopfler Vocals [Supporting] – Pat McLaughlin	2:59
8		Always Will	2:42
9		Going Back To Georgia	4:16
10		Talk To Me While I’m Listening Harmony Vocals – Adam Duritz	4:13
11		Fragile Choir – Emmylou Harris,  Holly Tashian,  Lee Satterfield,  Pam Rose	3:26
12		On Grafton Street	4:03
13		Anything You Need But Me	3:07
14		Goodnight To A Mother’s Dream	4:03
15		This Heart	3:25