Versão 2.256

Durante todo o dia recebi notificações acerca de Portugal e da retoma. Qual retoma? Nem a meio da crise estamos e acham que já estamos na retoma. É impressionante a forma como deturpam o significado das palavras em Portugal. O Primeiro Ministro diz que a economia perdeu apenas três anos. Há três anos, em 2017, o PIB Português era de quase 196 mil milhões de euros e ele diz que já gastou 22,9 mil milhões apenas com as famílias para combater a crise.

Somemos assim de cabeça, 196 + 22,9 = 218,9 mil milhões. Sabem quando é que o PIB português teve esse valor? Nunca. Em 2019, antes da pandemia, o PIB português era de 212.3 mil milhões de euros, de acordo com os dados da Eurostat/INE que consultei na Pordata. Agora adicionem quanto Portugal já gastou a apoiar as empresas e forçosamente terão de concluir que a matemática não é o forte deste génio político. Nem dele, nem do dos jornalistas que não se prepararam para fazer perguntas pertinentes ao PM Costa.

Mas isto do confinamento cheio de medidas malucas como proibirem os hipermercados de vender roupa, livros, etc., serve para quê exactamente? Não tiveram quase um ano para aprender a viver com o vírus? Matar a pouca actividade que existe não parece ser no melhor interesse de ninguém. Se há pessoas com dinheiro, que querem gastar dinheiro, então arranje-se maneira de o poderem fazer de forma segura.

Version 2.255

And on hump day, January 13, 2021, Mr. Trump was impeached for a second time by the House of Representatives. We shall wait until after the inauguration for his trial in the Senate, but I very much doubt that he will escape this time. I have seen quite a few people saying "too little, too late," that he is DOA, thus why bother now torturing the man? He is about to be DOA because people are fighting back, the Am4erican people never stopped fighting him. It is not enough that he lost the election, for he can still wreak havoc, as he has so aptly proven. In fact, his plans for after the Presidency were to create a TV channel, which does not seem harmless at all.

The amount of anti-American sentiment is a bit mindboggling; but, certainly, there will come a time when the western world will be begging for America to lead yet again. America is not perfect, but the world with a weak America is a bit unsafer than the alternative. Anyway, the country is broken, so it must be mended and steered back in the right direction. If other countries feel like that is an opportunity to make fun of Americans, so be it.

Version 2.254

Besides finishing listening to Alain de Botton's Essays in Love during our dog walks today, I also watched the last episode of Bridgerton on Netflix. I quite enjoyed the show and felt comforted that the cast was very diverse, but race was not presented as a source of conflict. They all got along, just like I do everyday where I live. That was so refreshing that I even thought I should buy Netflix stock, as I like the innovations that the company is bringing to TV.

The House of Representatives is moving along with impeachment, as, in a letter to the Speaker of the House, VP Pence does not want to invoke the 25th ammendment and says the country needs to heal, rather that be subjected to political games. The news have been peppered with cancellations of activities at Trump's properties, like the PGA 2022 championship. I will heal when I see him bankrupt again and without credit.

Slowly, this big charade in which we have been living is sorting itself out. It's about time.

Version 2.253

In the middle of my afternoon, a friend wrote me to let me know that MRS has tested positive for coronavirus. How on God's green earth did he get infected? And how convenient, in the middle of the campaign, to pull off a Trump and get Covid-19. I am sure that all the media will be talking about it, as if they were not devoting enough attention to our prima donna excuse of a President. I pity the other candidates who cannot even pretend in their wildest dreams that they stand a chance, although they could start behaving even more crazy to get people's attention.

What excuse have the people now, the voters? If you love your country, do you vote for an elderly man infected with a virus that can induce mental disorders or even death? I would not, but then again, we, the emigrants, are not able to vote because of the pandemic. But I am quite certain that as long as ugly pretentious men are able to participate in celebrations of the 1974 revolution, Democracy is alive and well in Portugal. If only decency and decorum were that easily safeguarded.

Version 2.252

Alas, it is Sunday evening and I kind of wish I had a little bit more time in the weekend, as last week was so intense that I ended up working until 9 PM last Friday and also worked a bit today. I did not study any for my driver's license exam and my friends are already after me, asking when I will get it done. To be honest, if I were still in Houston, I think I would've given up my car and just used Uber/Lyft, plus public transportation. In Memphis, such proposition is infeasible.

But I had a very good day. I woke up and remembered that I had not picked up the mail yesterday, so I found the Home Owner's Association newsletter and, low and behold, one of the neighbors had nominated me for the "Kindness Korner" for being so thoughtful and caring for his mother-in-law, who is 86.

I baked a couple of things, both from the Sweet Laurel cookbook/blog. I have been making their grain-free popovers for several weeks and it has become one of my favorite breakfasts. Today, I also tried some almond butter cookies, which turned out quite good -- the original recipe actually calls for sunflower seed butter, but I did not have that. It's funny, but I like almond butter just fine, although I am not a big fan of peanut butter; I think the only way I like it is in Thai cooking.

I was quite social today and entertained a few video calls and chats with friends. Who would've thought that little old me, who used to hide from the neighbors with anxiety attacks for being unable to greet them, would have so many friends and acquaintances all over the world?

Version 2.251

The reckoning has begun! Yesterday, Google announced that it would remove Parler from its store, and today Apple followed suit. This evening, Amazon announced that it would stop hosting Parler. Twitter and Facebook both blocked Donald Trump several days ago. The QAnnon supporters are also being blocked.

One cannot forget the lawsuits. Dominion, the voting machine company that the President and his team said had rigged the election filed a defamation lawsuit against Sidney Powell, the former Trump lawer, for over $1.3 billion dollars. I am certain that Mr. Trump will be added to that suit, once he leaves the White House. But there are many more lawsuits that will happen.

It's like dominoes, they are all falling one by one.

Version 2.250

Unless the President resigns, he will be impeached. McConnell has already circulated a memo regarding how to conduct the impeachment trial in the Senate, which would take place after the new administration is inaugurated. At this point, the most advantageous thing for Trump to do is to resign, which would allow him to still hold political office.

It is very unlikely that he is done scheming and misbehaving. Tomorrow is Saturday and neither Ivanka, nor Jared, will be available to control him: since they are Jewish, they observe the Sabbath. That leaves the rest of the cabinet, which is shrinking due to resignations. We will see what damage, if any, he does tomorrow.

Version 2.249

Mr. Trump is still in office and has attempted to recant, but nobody believes him. The staffers that are still in the White House are worried that they will be unemployable after this. You play with fire, you get burned. Americans appreciate the crazies only until a point. If you go too far, they will tear your life with no mercy. And that is one of the greatest frustrations about Trump because a big chunk of the population believed that he had gone to far and needed to be held accountable, while the rest were under the impression that all of his behavior was in good fun. This week, he clarified his position and for that I am thankful.

Nevertheless, he still has support from some folks, just like he said he would, even if he shot someone on fifth avenue. I do not have a problem with that: we do not all have to agree to live in the same country, but one does feel reassured that, when confronted with reality, most of the people choose the side of common decency. I do not take that for granted.

Speaking of common decency, the Portuguese Prime Minister has shown, yet again, that he fails to grasp the concept. He is under the impression that criticizing the government is being against the country. It is the exact opposite, as those who want what is best for the country will criticize when confronted with an opportunity to do so. And there are lots of opportunities because the Prime Minister and his cabinet are incompetent people, not to mention corrupt. You can justify making a mistake once, but the second time around, when you're at the national government level, it is not so easily justifiable, nor can something wrong be offered as something above scrutiny.

It seems clear to me that he is already trying to justify his future failures, should there be any. When he fails, it was because of others; when he succeeds, it was because of himself. After being around the same block several times, we get the gist.

Version 2.248

I started the week by reading and thinking about Joan Didion's Vogue piece "On Self-Respect." Perhaps the most striking passage is

"However long we post-pone it, we eventually lie down alone in that notoriously un-comfortable bed, the one we make ourselves. Whether or not we sleep in it depends, of course, on whether or not we respect ourselves."
~ Joan Didion, Vogue, 1961

The time has come for Republicans to sleep in the bed that they have made and many are walking away. It is utterly naïve to think that you'd rile up the crowd, the same one that lives and breathes by the Second Ammendment right to bear arms, and not think that it would lead to today's fatal confrontation at the Capitol, in Washington, D.C., while Congress attempted to certify the Electoral College count of the election. A woman died a senseless death and these people that incite violence don't even have the courage to assume the consequences of their actions. Now they walk their rhetoric back in cowardice and lack of conviction.

The President's Twitter account has been blocked temporarily and a ban threat is pending, if he does not retract some of his tweets. Trump's political career seems to be over. The chances of him running for office again are nil; he may also have cost his daughter her political career. It is doubtful that he will be able to make a living in the United States after this debacle. He has destroyed his brand. I do not see it possible for him to start a news channel, as some people have mentioned: he has no money, anyone that sponsors him will be doomed, and anyone who works for such an outfit will be turned into an outcast.

We have 13 days until inauguration, but people want him gone before then, mostly as a way of giving closure to the country. In that time, he will likely either be impeached or resign, but we can rule out the latter as he is not smart enough to realize that resigning would be the most advantageous for him. Using the 25th Ammendment would be too time-consuming and require two-thirds majority of House and Senate. Republicans have lost the Senate majority, as the two Georgia seats went to Democrats, but Pence still breaks a tie; however, impeaching Trump requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate. McConnell, the Senate majority leader, seems to be amenable to holding most of the Senate against Trump. Maybe Pence will be President for a few days.

Version 2.247

Saiu o relatório de 2021 do Banco Mundial acerca das perspectivas de crescimento. Que grande falhanço da União Europeia, com uma quebra esperada de 7,3% para a Zona Euro em 2020 e 3.6% e 4% em 2021-2022, respectivamente. Estes resultados, a par com o número de casos e mortes na Europa devido à pandemia, são uma completa aberração, que desafia todos os princípios básicos da Europa Social.

Os europeus pagam muito mais em impostos para estarem mais protegidos em situações de doença e de desemprego, ou seja, exactamente para se protegerem dos efeitos que esta pandemia gerou. Sendo assim, não faz sentido que a Europa se tenha saído tão mal e apenas demonstra que as autoridades da União Europeia não estavam à altura do desafio. É óbvio que mais podia e pode ser feito.

Portugal costuma estar na cauda da Europa, logo é natural que tenha resultados abaixo da média. É difícil de acreditar que, caso estas previsões se concretizem, não haja um êxodo em massa de portugueses para o estrangeiro. Os países com pior desempenho desaceleram ainda mais; os países com melhor desempenho recuperam mais depressa: esta é a implicação de se fazer parte de um bloco económico com livre circulação de pessoas.

Version 2.246

The next two days will be very exciting in the U.S.: tomorrow, Georgia will have its runoff for the two U.S. Senate seats, which will determine which party will have the majority, and, on Wednesday, the Senate will certify the results of the Electoral College vote. In the meantime, President Trump and his allies continue their effort to overturn his loss on the election.

I have a feeling that he does not realize the implications of losing, meaning that he will have to move out of the White House. He probably thinks that this is like a bankrupcy, where you have meetings with the creditors and still get to carry on with life as usual. Well, I hope someone packs his bags before he leaves for Florida.

Of course, in about three years, we will likely be entertaining Ivanka Trump on her bid to get elected to something. Could it be the Senate, could it be the White House? I'm kind of curious to see how all of that will unfold. Of course, there is a chance that she will face legal action against her in the meantime. She can still run for office if she is indicted on criminal charges, but if she is convicted, things start to get complicated at the state-level, even though a convicted fellon is allowed to be President. It should be interesting.

Version 2.245

Since the Portuguese Presidential election is going on, why don't the media do a profile on each candidate. I'd like to see their history, how much money they have, where it came from, where it is. What activities they had in their youth that shaped them as individuals, etc. What stains do they have? What mistakes have they made? It would be nice to know if they had a history of cheating on their partners, maybe a saucy little recording. I don't know, the kind of weird things that Americans care about.

After all, it is only fair that after spending almost 5 years hearing Portuguese people complaining about the disgrace that Donald Trump is, his loose morals, corruption, etc., the Portuguese candidates should be subjected to the same level of scrutiny. Let's see if they hold up. Let's see if the Portuguese people are that much better than Americans. Let's see if the Portuguese media are as competent as American media. To be competent you don't just make deals with The New York Times; competency is doing investigative reporting like The New York Times.

Version 2.244

What is a country? Is a country the people or the place? People, individually at least, are too insignificant to be a country and, yet, we often define the country by its people. One way or another, the place will survive the people, leaving us with little incentive to concern ourselves with well-being and prosperity; after all, misery is temporary, not permanent. It is not pleasant, but we as a species have endured unpleasant lives for millenia.

The idea that things will turn out OK is completely false. There is nothing that compells the universe to treat us more kindly than it has treated our ancestors. Thus, it is up to each of us to fend for ourselves and when we collectively fail to do so, it is us who harvest the bad crops we sow. So many times history has taught us this and so many times we have chosen to no heed the lesson.

Version 2.243

I have been daydreaming about all the innovations that will happen due to the extreme current state of affairs. It seems to me that working in an office will be forever changed, thus houses will likely have to get bigger to accomodated at-home offices, thus more people will be moving to the suburbs where housing is cheaper.

But, if you work remotely, why settle for living in the U.S.? You'll be able to work anywhere in the world remotely, as long as you have an Internet connection. That means that many services can be set up remotely, so maybe your kids can attend remote classes from another location and have in-person activities at some other institution where you are. That would be the ultimate flexibility. And maybe moving will be easier and you can move your family around often, not because you need to, but because you enjoy knowing and being in different places.

Hotels aren't particularly suited for this kind of innovation, so one will likely see a greater shift toward people renting houses and apartments and maybe efficiency units, but the latter would not provide very good quality of living in terms of experience. People will value experiences because they will be reeling from the lockdown. For a while, sensory activities will be highly sought after.

We have been on this quest for more freedom since the industrial revolution. Until then, the vast majority of the population shared the same life project as their parents: the child of a farmer would be a farmer, the child of shoemaker would be a shoemaker. Industrialization allowed people to fully understand time: it is a concept in which you can observe change, rather than ensure constancy. And so "The Time Machine" was written and the concept of time travel was created.

This pandemic will allow to effect more change. Those who insist on remaining the same will be left behind and will not partake on the gains of the new order.

Version 2.242

The evening that we have longed for has arrived: we enter 2021 tonight and never was there a stronger feeling that what awaits us has to be better than what we are leaving behind. Nothing has changed; but, in a way, everything is different, as there is a new collective awareness that we have to work hard to make this year better than the last. We must overcome adversity and we must do so together, supporting each other, taking our turn carrying one another as each of us endures the difficulties that lie ahead.

Happy New Year to us! May we find a way to build a better future.