News Updates

I know we're all overwhelmed and burned out on the news, but I'm going to call your attention to a few stories that might interest you. I spend all day reading, it's my favorite thing to do (other than skiing), and it's funny how every story now changes within 24 hours, and so much is not only dated, but irrelevant, especially the prognostications, especially about the economic impact. I get it, I get it, we're all affected by the stock market in some way, but the hoi polloi are still gloating, however uninformedly (I know that's not a word), over the crash, laughing at the headlines as the rich see their fortunes disappear.

Speaking of which, I first bring your attention to this opinion piece in the "New York Times":

"Don't Feel Sorry for the Airlines - Before providing them any assistance, we must demand that they change how they treat their customers and employees": https://nyti.ms/2xKog3N

You should read this. But to boil it down, American Airlines raped the public for profits and then employed these billions in a buyback scheme to drive up the stock price and now, AND NOW, the airline wants a government handout. We squeezed into tiny seats and overpaid for baggage and change fees and now we've got to give them money? Isn't it time to ask for something in return?

And speaking of the corporations and the system screwing us, you should read this:

"America Is a Sham - Policy changes in reaction to the coronavirus reveal how absurd so many of our rules are to begin with.": https://bit.ly/3d6t3Nh

Bottom line, you can now bring a bottle of Purell that's 12 ounces on to a plane. Did we really have to scrap all our shampoo bottles and... (I've had to throw out new bottles of contact lens solution that have been just over the 3.4 ounce limit.)

And it's so funny to see Trump caught with his pants down as he lies and keeps telling us what a great job he's doing. Is this the moment when Americans finally realize that their country may not be the greatest in the world, or that it has been superseded in certain areas by others?

The U.S. essentially ignored the coronavirus crisis, but not every country did. South Korea learned from being behind the curve on MERS, so they were ready for the coronavirus:

"Virus Testing Blitz Appears to Keep Korea Death Rate Low-Country is testing at fastest global pace as cases top 5,000 - Faulty, limited testing in Japan, U.S., could worsen outbreak": https://bloom.bg/2wdJoPl

Important result: The mortality rate in South Korea is under 1%, the lowest in the world (except for Singapore which has been hardly infected).

Yesterday, APA agent Craig Newman held a virtual concert with his daughter Sadie on Facebook Live. Tummler par excellence Craig had us riveted for an hour, when it's frequently hard for me to pay attention to name talent for that long.

This is the new thing, virtual concerts. Coldplay did one on Instagram today and now Neil Young is gonna do some and... Fifty years after the sixties, it appears that music wants to be free once again, the economic angle has been decimated, so why not focus on just satiating the fans? John Mayer, the digital native always pushing the envelope, broadcast last night. In 2001, we all turned on the TV to see Jimmy Iovine's 9/11 concert. Now, we all fire up our apps. It won't be long before spammers clog up this channel, figuring it's a way to get traction under the rubric of "giving back," but for now, we're still on the cutting edge and expect some great acts to do great things, at least they should.

And speaking of great things, you probably read that Universal is gonna put their movies on pay-per-view while they're still in theatres. Funny how necessity eliminates perceived barriers. With few theatres open to exploit these films, and people afraid to go to those that are, these flicks are soon to become distressed assets, best to dash for cash now. And, in these topsy-turvy days SOME studio should break out one of its yet to be released films for pay-per-view, something most people want to see. They should make it an event, something we all want to watch because we're looking to converse with our fellow citizens about something we can all relate to other than the virus.


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