Pasta night

Grace

Christian Cooper, New York birdwatcher and victim of the scourge of racism in America, had the good grace to express a certain measured forgiveness: “I’m not excusing the racism,” he said. “But I don’t know if her life needed to be torn apart.” As the springtime birds flitted around him, one could imagine a touch of Saint Francis in this Christian.

One less lawyer...

... one more musical legend...

After serving in the Army during World War II, Hendricks went home to attend University of Toledo on the G.I. Bill as a pre-law major. Just when he was about to enter the graduate law program, the G.I. benefits ran out. Charlie Parker had, at a stop in Toledo two years prior, encouraged him to come to New York and look him up. Hendricks moved there and began his singing career.

Have I reminded you lately to donate to Wikipedia?

Can Music Be Perfect? Vol. 97

From Annie Ross Sings a Song with Mulligan! Made for each other. The whole album is simply splendid.

Baby you're my centerpiece

Sure, we all know Joni's excellent bluesy rendition from Hissing of Summer Lawns, acerbically encapsulated within her own avant-depressing "Harry's House." But how about the Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross original? Or Bags & Trane, unexpectedly simpatico? Or best of all, James Carter, in duet with the song's co-composer, Harry "Sweets" Edison, from Carter's Conversin' with the Elders, a fantastic album in which he respects the elders while engaging in a little friendly (?) one-upmanship. Craig Taborn on piano is in on the conversation too, as he always is.

What could possibly go wrong?

My parents live in a central Florida retirement development quite close to The Villages, which bills itself as Florida's friendliest hometown and is now home to more than 120,000 folks, generally 55 and over. Thanks to Florida's Trumpian governor Ron DeSantis, as well as the freedom- and fun-loving population of the Villages, the lockdown seems to be over...

Town squares in The Villages heat up as Coronavirus caution cools off

My parents, being sensible, smart, and respectful of science, are not eager to join the fun just yet, and are venturing out as seldom as possible, wearing masks, etc. I hate to be melodramatic, but if the infection rate in this highly vulnerable population flares, Messrs. Trump and DeSantis will have the blood on their hands.

By and large...

... I like hip-hop and I like country... both maybe more than most pop music genres. Do I like hip-hop country? The jury's still out...

Mayor Tubbs is with me...

He has this to say about Kamala Harris's idea of $2,000 per month to every American for the duration of the coronavirus crisis:

There will be a prolonged economic crisis after COVID-19, particularly for the groups who are oftentimes most impacted by downturns in the economy: people of color, women of color, etcetera. So I would argue that $2,000 a month during a pandemic is a great step, but it's time to really think about a social safety net and understand that we live in a time of pandemics. If it's not an illness, there's an earthquake. If it's not an earthquake, there's a fire. These happen yearly, so we need to make sure that folks have the tools they need to build a great foundation. I feel a guaranteed income is an important part of that solution.

UBI: Just do it. Now.

Andrew Yang had the worst timing. Or rather, the coronavirus had the worst timing, from the perspective of the Yang campaign. The UBI is really the simplest and best solution to so many of our problems, not the least of which is the coronavirus and its economic fallout.

U.S. net national product per person is on the order of $50,000 per year. Yang's UBI proposal was $1000 per month. How's about we double it? Everyone receives about $25,000 per year, plus somewhat less than half of what they earn, on average, taxed progressively to support the UBI and a few other key government functions. Kids get half the adult UBI, some of it going to their parents to pay for cheetos and video games, and some to a fund for their use upon adulthood, to help with paying for college, starting a business, or throwing parties for their friends (on zoom of course).

Some people, economists among them, assert that the UBI will have big work disincentive effects and reduce national income a lot. But really, will you or anyone you know settle for your 25K? Nah, you'll be bored and want to get a decent job, and work toward those nice dinners out, vacations, and maybe a Tesla in the garage. Yeah, the garage... in your house. Mortgage.

I'm happy that Nancy Pelosi is on board for another $3 trillion in emergency spending, but how about we just make the big move once and for all? I bet if Trump went for it right now, he'd be re-elected in a landslide. Nancy, Andrew: time for that chat with Donald. Let's get it done.

Tony Allen, RIP

The education-unemployment gap

Less-educated workers have been hammered by the COVID depression. The four-year degree seems to make the difference between workers who can keep their jobs from home and those who cannot.

Coronavirus and the racial unemployment gap

Dean Baker calls attention to the unusual fact that the unemployment rate actually rose more for white workers than for black workers in April. For decades, the unemployment rate for African Americans has tended to be about twice that for whites, with the differential typically widening during recessions so as to preserve or even expand the proportional gap.

The experience during the current debacle has been a little different. Here are some selected numbers, comparing January with April, stratified by race and gender (BLS data, civilian non-institutional population, seasonally adjusted).

Over this period, the percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate was pretty similar for blacks and whites, with the gap increasing by an extra point for black men and by about a point less for black women. For both men and women, the ratio of black to white unemployment rates fell quite a bit, defying the typical 2:1 pattern. The pattern is similar for the ratio of non-employed to population, which takes account of labor-force "dropouts."

Among the three racial groups here, the most dramatic increase in the unemployment rate was for Latino workers. Given the importance of food-service and related jobs for Hispanic workers, this may not be too surprising. Up next: breakdown by educational attainment.

Our buckeye

Right now our California buckeye is covered in fragrant blossoms, each a confusion of stamens. But the bees don't seem confused– just a little dazed at the abundance. This part of the show will all be over within days, when the flowers will be replaced by swelling, pendulant nuts that pull down the slender branches and contribute to the tree's spreading, horizontal architecture. A beautiful plant for all seasons.

California state animals and plants: proposed updates

California is a great state, and the California poppy is one of the best things about it. Keep the poppy.

I nominate the dark-eyed junco for new state bird. It is found everywhere you go– city, suburbs, farmland, chaparral, forests– and is even more ubiquitous than the admittedly appealing California quail, the current office holder. If it weren't so damn common, we'd find the junco more lovely and charming. Now it is true that our subspecies of dark-eyed junco used to be called the Oregon junco, which may be off-putting to some chauvinistic Californians. But Oregon's state bird is the western meadowlark; I see no big problem here. We'd also be the first state to have a variety of sparrow as state bird.

The current state reptile is the desert tortoise. I've never seen one outside a zoo, and frankly, there's a better option here: the western fence lizard. Not only are they everywhere, brightening your day as they scurry off the trail or fencepost right in front of you, but they offer all of us protection against Lyme disease by killing the bacteria when ticks feed on their blood. Well, it's a nice story anyway, even if it ain't necessarily so. The Pacific rattlesnake would be an excellent alternative.

The incumbent state tree is the coast redwood. I like the redwood just fine, but overall it is not a particularly beautiful tree, selected presumably for its age and stature. Its cousin, the giant sequoia, is a much more charismatic tree, but its range is very restricted and it may not survive climate change.

My nomination is the valley oak, a glorious tree: the largest North American oak, it is endemic to California and widespread in the central valley. Leave it to Wikipedia to offer us a poetic description: "The branches have an irregular, spreading and arching appearance that produce a profound leafless silhouette in the clear winter sky. During Autumn leaves turn a yellow to light orange color but become brown during mid to late fall. In advancing age the branches assume a drooping characteristic. Its pewter-colored rippled bark adds to the attractive aesthetic of this species." Exactly so.

The state mammal, the grizzly bear, is extinct in California, which makes it a sad joke, and, Cal Bears notwithstanding, it ought to be replaced. The black bear would be a good choice, or of course the mule deer, tule elk, coyote, or mountain lion. These are all excellent, charismatic critters, but a little unoriginal. I would go with the dusky-footed woodrat, an industrious if retiring animal, and super-cute.

Republican "distrust of" food stamps?

Dean Baker hits the nail on the head. "Opposition to" or "dislike of" would be perfectly suitable and more accurate combinations of noun and preposition for our newspaper of record.