My Daily Struggle in the COVID-19 Lockdown

Another eventful week. First, America is seeing an increase in states turning into hotspots. Except for New York, these are states that did not take the pandemic seriously. So far, thankfully, this is not much of an issue in Illinois. We are still in Phase 4, which allows us to enjoy the summer provided we use social distancing (or, as The Wife calls it, "physical distancing"). In fact, we went to a restaurant for the first time in months yesterday! Another beacon of hope: scientists found a COVID-19 vaccine this week, and it passed its first test! Sure, nothing is final, but a glimmer of hope is still hope. We are closer to the end of this pandemic now than we were months ago. Rejoice! Now for some unpleasant news. The savage rioters are at it again. They have destroyed church statues, Confederate statues, and they are now going after Christopher Columbus statues--specifically, the one in Chicago's Grant Park. Personally, I despise Christopher Columbus, and I ...

Well, the fun continues! Some overly sensitive people, in response to the riots, felt that it was time to retire two common American logos: Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.They think that they are offensive and it is time to "evolve" their logos. Look at these. Do they look stereotypical? Do they look offensive? Of course, the origin of the titles Aunt and Uncle were offensive. In Jim Crow South, if a White person wanted to be "polite" to an elderly African-American man or woman, he would not call them sir or ma'am, so the only other option was to call the woman Aunt or Auntie and to call the man Uncle. Granted, Aunt Jemima's origins are racist. For generations, they have shown her logo looking like an ugly mammy. In fact, one logo showed her with the pancake flour on her face to make her look paler, while the one that stuck the longest had her with looking less stereotypical but with the same kerchief on her head and with mild blackface.         Since ...