Notes From All Over -- The Mid-Morning Thursday Edition -- June 4, 2020

The market: all that hand-wringing over the "pause" in the rally. All three major indices up a bit in early morning trading.

Protests: scrolling through the twitter feed it looks like the enthusiasm that the protesters have will increase and last longer than that of law enforcement. It would not surprise me to see law enforcement starting to ask, "why do we even show up for work," when the state and city governments don't back them and one mistake could put them in prison forever. At least that's the gist of the twitter scroll.

Wuhan flu: I'm glad to see that Wuhan flu is no longer an issue and social distancing is now "out the window" in deference to George Floyd. The latter, by the way, tested positive for corona virus (at the autopsy). That will go down as another case and certainly as a Covid-19-related death.

Cops and robbers: many cities are facing huge pension deficits and most of them are police- and fire-related. The tea leaves suggest it's just a matter of time before underfunded pension plans are further eroded by money being transferred from these accounts to "reparation" accounts. Lawyers have a way of going after deep pockets. The pensions may be underfunded but they are still huge pockets of money.

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Another Sophia Story

Sophia was in a great mood, as usual, going into Tutor Time.

I asked her what the best thing in her life was. There was some silence. I assume she was thinking. I then thought that might not be the most appropriate question to ask, so I answered for her, telling her that she has such a wonderful family, her mom and dad, and especially her two sisters, and going to Tutor Time, and so forth.

Then I was quiet.

Without missing a beat, but having had time to think, Sophia said: "catching that big fish on my first 'training' day. That was the best thing."

LOL.

That was the day she did catch that huge bullhead / catfish, maybe two or three pounds, and it was her first bite / her first day ever fishing. And that was about a month ago, and she still remembers.

She called that her "training day."

By the way, if you are in the mood for another Sophia story.

On the way home from Tutor Time yesterday, Sophia told me that her class held class officer elections. Remember, she if five years old. I did not know that Tutor Time / Montessori held such elections.

I was aware of something going on because getting into the car, Sophia handed me a hand-written note on a self-made-envelope-sort-of-thing that said "Vote For Melia."

I asked her how the election turned out. She said it was a tie, 6 - 6. The boys all voted for the boy candidate, Arien, and the girls all voted for the girl candidate.

I can't make this stuff up.

I asked about the candidates' platforms. It sounds like Melia did not have a platform but she was the girls' favorite because she brought in a lot of nice things, like her American Girl doll. Arien actually did have some type of platform, promises about better food or something along that line. It was a bit unclear.

I asked who will be class president now that there was a tie. She didn't really know but putting words into her mouth, two co-presidents, perhaps, she agreed.

I asked her about the vice-president. That was much, much easier: her best friend Hunter, who also has an American Doll.

By the way, that explains why Sophia dressed up Corky in a brand new dress and took her into Tutor Time today. I suggested Corky stay home (Corky tends to wander off and has been known to be gone for two or three weeks before finally showing up again). But Sophia was adamant about taking Corky to school today.

I asked Sophia if she had run for any class officer position. She said, "no." I asked why. Two reasons:

• no one listens to her instructions; and, 
• she can't read; those that ran, could read.

Mind you, Sophia reads quite well; she is five years old.

Arien is in the after-school program. He is eleven years old.

By the way, Sophia added that if two boys would have voted for Melia, she would have won. Apparently the girls put a lot of pressure on two boys to vote for Melia but in the end, it appears, they were not swayed by the "American Girl" angle.