1. It’s Tuesday, May 19, 2015. The fog has not lifted in the New York area.
2. I’m sure I’m betraying my Eastern elitism, but I had no idea biker gangs were that big a deal. The weekend battle in Waco got as much attention on CNN this morning as the war against ISIS and the Amtrak crash investigation. It is a little weird to think that there are still Jets and Sharks out there in the 21st century.
3. Do you have to join a gang if you ride a motorcycle? Just asking.
4. The Philippines is stepping up to take some of the Muslim refugees from Myanmar. A lot of these people are trying to escape persecution from the Buddhist majority in what was once called Burma. They’ve been turned away from closer nations, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
So, the Filipino government deserves the world’s credit, and support, in trying to minimize a humanitarian tragedy.
5. President Obama has a new @POTUS Twitter account. He already had one under his own name. This one he only gets to keep for the remaining 20 months and a day of his presidency.
The best thing I saw was a series of tweets between the president and former President Bill Clinton, who wondered if the account would carry over to subsequent officeholders, adding the hashtag #AskingForA Friend.
The account, unfortunately, brought out the pillbug element that emerges every so often from under its rock to spew its leavings. That, alas, is the danger of social media. Most of these cowards don’t sign their names — or maybe they have trouble spelling them
6. The song of the moment is “Tenderly” by Chet Baker.