Tuesday, October 20, 2020

 Last night I took half a Zopiclona and went to bed at 10:30, couldn’t fall asleep so I got up at 12:30 and took the other half, got up again at 3:30, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

Last night I played 4 games on Chess.com, winning 3 and losing 1. My rating is now 1530.

Jose called me at 8:30; he forgot we weren’t playing chess today. I told him if he didn’t mind waiting I could shower, dress and meet him at the mall for coffee in 30 minutes. I arrived at 9am and we had coffee at Habia Una Vez. (He told me not only did he forget we weren’t playing chess today but he forgot his facemask and the taxi driver had to stop at a pharmacy so he could buy one.) I showed him the new chess book I bought and he said it looks good. After about an hour he went to the bank and I walked back to the apt.

Teresa and I left the apt at noon and took a taxi to El Tesoro. Teresa had her oncologist’s appointment and I understand all is well.

She did some window shopping in the mall but didn’t find anything suitable. We had lunch at J&C Delicias then took a taxi back to the apt in a pouring rain with occasional hail.

I watched Solaris (6.2) on Medellin TV but didn’t really enjoy it.

The paperback I’ve been reading had a loose page which I repaired with my Swiss knife, scissors and Scotch tape.

 

The New York Post ran an anti-Biden story last week that was literally unbelievable. The article, which had the superficial appearance of an "October Surprise," was filled with convoluted details involving Hunter Biden, a Ukrainian gas company, an alleged laptop, some alleged emails, and an unnamed shop owner in Delaware. The conservative tabloid was apparently handed the story by Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon.

At face value, one of the problems with the story was that the underlying premise of the allegations were discredited quite a while ago, which is why most major news organizations had the good sense to steer clear of the Post's reporting.

But it now appears that even some of the key people who work at the conservative tabloid had serious concerns about the highly dubious article. The New York Times reported overnight:

The New York Post's front-page article about Hunter Biden on Wednesday was written mostly by a staff reporter who refused to put his name on it, two Post employees said. Bruce Golding, a reporter at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid since 2007, did not allow his byline to be used because he had concerns over the article's credibility, the two Post employees said, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

 

USA Today, one of the largest newspapers by circulation in America, gave Joe Biden its first-ever presidential endorsement on Tuesday.

 

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows confirmed in court on Tuesday that President Trump's tweets authorizing the disclosure of documents related to the Russia investigation and Hillary Clinton's emails "were not self-executing declassification orders," after a federal judge demanded that Trump be asked about his intentions.

 

Retired Adm. William McRaven, the former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, is perhaps best known to Americans as the Navy SEAL who oversaw the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In a new op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, the retired admiral talks about the ballot he cast this week in Texas.

Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national-anthem-standing conservative. But, I also believe that black lives matter, that the Dreamers deserve a path to citizenship, that diversity and inclusion are essential to our national success, that education is the great equalizer, that climate change is real and that the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy. Most important, I believe that America must lead in the world with courage, conviction and a sense of honor and humility.

He added, "I voted for Joe Biden."

 

The US has 8,122,865 ð 8,188,764 ð 8,252,426 coronavirus cases with 219,500+ ð 220,000+ ð 220,500+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 959,572 ð 965,883 ð 974,139 cases with 29,272 deaths. Medellin has 83,145 ð 84,088 ð 84,569 cases, an increase of 481 from October 19^th to 20^th. Envigado has a total of 5,727 cases, an increase of 59 from October 19^th to 20^th. New infections are still decreasing.

 

Joke of the day

A retired gentleman went into the social security office to apply for social security. After waiting in line for a long time, he got to the counter. The woman behind the counter asked him for his driver's license to verify his age.

He looked in his pockets and realized he had left his wallet at home. He told the woman that he was very sorry but he seemed to have left his wallet at home. 

“Will I have to go home and come back now?” he asked.

The woman said, “Unbutton your shirt.” 

So he opened his shirt, revealing lots of silver, curly hair. 

She said, “That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me.” And she processed his social security application.

When he got home, the man excitedly told his wife about his experience at the social security office. 

She sniffed at him, “You should have dropped your pants, you might have qualified for disability, too.”