COVID-10, DONALD TRUMP, TONY FAUCI AND NETFLIX

Here is a summary from The New York Times showing that the COVID-19 pandemic in our World is getting worse.

More revelations from President Trump’s tax records

The latest Times investigation into the president’s tax data and other records found that more than 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments had patronized Mr. Trump’s properties, funneling in millions of dollars, while reaping benefits from him and his administration.

“As president, Mr. Trump built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics,” writes an investigative team that has been covering the president’s finances and taxes for almost four years.

Here are the investigation’s key findings and a note from our executive editor, Dean Baquet, that includes links to all of the team’s work.

You think President Donald Trump has been evasive about his true health condition?  From TNYT:

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has yet to shake off questions about the effects of his bout with Covid-19 on his energy and focus. His office has not offered a medical briefing since he was discharged from the hospital six months ago.

Also, from the European Bank, the 19 countries of the European Union will not recover from the pandemic until 2022.  Finally, about the confirmation of Amy Barrett, which begins today in the U.S. Senate:

The committee is headed by Senator Lindsey Graham. His refusal to take a coronavirus test last week despite having been in proximity to two other Republican senators who tested positive prompted Democrats to speculate that he was worried that a positive result would imperil the confirmation hearings. Finally, finally...after seven months of dancing at the edges, Dr. Anthony  Fauci clearly contradicted President Trump in public.  He said that his statement was taken out of context by the Republican National Party in a  TV ad.   Dr. Fauci, who said he had never publicly endorsed a political candidate in decades of public work, has long had an uneasy relationship with President Trump. Just a little over a week ago, he clashed with his boss over his position on mask-wearing.

And this you probably missed:  Iga Swiatek, only 19 years old, won her first tour title in tennis, beating Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1.  Her nation won its first Grand Slam women's singles title.  Want to guess which country?  I'll give you ten tries.  France.

Also, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat in the NBA finals.  Watch how well these teams eat in their Disney World bubble.  Chef Lex cooked for the Heat.  Sure looks like the food at 15 Craigside.  The only difference is that Chef Kyle and his staff go home, unlike Lex.  This worries me a bit, for they don't test them more than once a month.  Yet, no one here has yet caught COVID-19.

I see a lot of Netflix for which I pay $12/month.  I send about the same amount to Amazon Prime, but they still want to charge me for many offerings.  Here is the top three from Netflix as of last night:

• #1  The Haunting of Bly Manor, first season, Rotten Tomatoes 87/63
• #2  Hubie Halloween (Adam Sandler), movie, RT 50/52
• #3  Emily in Paris, first season, RT 69/63

The only one worth watching in the top ten is #5, Schitt's Creek, RT 93/94, however, seasons 2, 4, 5 and 6 are rated 100%.  S1 only got 65%, which I'm in the process of wading through.  #10 is that venerable British Baking Show in its 11th year.  Seasons 4 and 6 got 100% ratings.

Coming soon are:

• A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting, movie, Wednesday, October 14, no rating yet
• The Trial of the Chicago 7, movie, RT reviewers 93%, Friday, October 16
• Black Pink, Light Up the Sky, documentary of that South Korean girl group, Wednesday, October 14, no rating
• Yellow Rose, movie, RT 85/90, a movie from the Philippines that shows good potential, should be opening in theaters this week, but Netflix will someday soon also show it
• Rebecca, movie, no rating, remake of the original, Wednesday, October 21
• Queen's Gambit, miniseries, the price of genius, Friday, October 23
• Yes, God, Yes, movie, RT 94/72, no date for Netflix yet.

In the meantime this past week I saw:

                                                    ROTTEN TOMATOES  My Rating

                                                      Reviewers  Audiences

Hunt for the Wilderpeople   (2016)   96               91               B

Carriers  (2014)                                   66               39              C

Dick Johnson is Dead  (2020)         100               72               C-

No Direction Home (2015)                 88               95               A-

Was bored with HftW at first, but it kept growing on me, and by the end, thought this was a worthwhile watch.  I tuned in Carriers mostly because it was about a pandemic.  Okay, but a C grade was about right.

I did not enjoy DJiD at all.  Certainly with a 100% score, it had to have something, and it did.  This was about a noted documentarian arranging with her father how he suffered through Alzheimer's.  They purposefully staged accidental deaths, which looked too real to be comfortable.  As I'm just at this stage of my life, the last thing I want to experience is what happened in this film.

NDH is the bio of Bob Dylan.  I'll not say much because I plan to use this documentary to do a posting on him in the not too distance future.  Make sure you have a lot of time to watch this, for it is 3.5 hours long.

My #78 favorite song is Elvis Presley's Don't Be Cruel.   He received writing credits and only sung this tune on the Ed Sullivan Show, three different times.  The record was released in 1956 with Hound Dog on the B-side.  No personal relationship nor transition meaning.  Just liked the song then, as I do now.

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