Monday Mood: Drinking from a Fire Hose

Keeping up with the news lately has been like trying to drink from a fire hose: sensory overload. Haven’t posted anything in 2 weeks because I’ve been struggling to process information. I’m grateful for Heather Cox Richardson who masterfully distills daily headlines citing reputable sources. When I feel overwhelmed by news feeds, I read her blog first for a no-nonsense recap of the day before. Then I check various headlines and blogs for other perspectives. Twitter has been particularly useful for following local journalists documenting Portland OR protests. Will share more about that and other things tomorrow, hopefully.

  

Daily pandemic update:  Aljazeera.com timeline

• WHO warned pandemic could get far worse if countries around the world do not follow basic healthcare precautions.
• Hong Kong is set to impose its toughest restricting measures after authorities warned the risk of a large-scale outbreak was extremely high.
• North Korea placed the city of Kaesong near the border with South Korea under total lockdown over coronavirus concerns, and declared a state of emergency to contain a potential outbreak.
• Russia, the fourth worst-hit country in the world, surpassed 800,000 coronavirus infections.
• South African Medical Research Council reported a "huge discrepancy" between the country’s confirmed COVID-19 deaths and the number of excess deaths from natural causes. 
• Iran, the Middle East's worst-hit country, reported a new single-day record death toll of 229 from the coronavirus. Iran began relaxing its lockdown in mid-April.
• Scientists at Oxford University said their experimental coronavirus vaccine prompted a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot. The vaccine called AZD1222 is one of 150 in development globally, but is considered the most advanced.

27 July 2020	Cases		Deaths		Recovered
10:13 GMT*	Mon 7/13	Mon 7/27	Mon 7/13	Mon 7/27	Mon 7/13	Mon 7/27
World	13,062,360	16,442,487	572,214	652,608	7,610,533	10,064,736
US	3,414,105	4,371,992	137,787	149,852	1,517,560	2,090,231
CA		459,195		8,455		141,211
NY	427,638	439,885	32,403	32,689	177,508	281,625
FL		423,855		5,855		41,866
TX		397,992		5,144		229,107
AZ		162,014		3,305		20,978
NC	85,730	112,771	1,533	1,813	55,318	78,707
CT	47,287	48,776	4,348	4,413	16,885	22,872

Worldometers     Coronainusa     Starsexpress2020     https://ncov2019.live/


When I began blogging mid March 2020, only 3 states held my attention: NY was US epicenter, CT because son Reid lives there, and NC because I live here. In recent weeks infections increased sharply in many states with CA, FL, and TX rising the fastest, leading me to look at a wider variety of states and regions. The NE region was hit hardest early on though new cases and deaths are trending much lower now. Southern and western states are currently seeing the biggest spikes in cases and deaths. During the past week, new cases in the US reached 70,000 each day while deaths surpassed 1,000 daily.

A moment of silence for those we’ve lost to coronavirus, including the first 100 and the first 100,000 in the US.

As of today 7% of closed cases in the US resulted in death; 93% recovered.

Globally 6% of closed cases resulted in death worldwide; 94% recovered.

Currently 1% of active cases are considered serious or critical.  

  

Johns Hopkins University is considered to have accurate and trusted COVID data and maps utilizing information gathered from individual US state databases and the World Health Organization. The Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project also utilizes data obtained from individual states rather than federal data collected by the CDC or Department of Health and Human Services.  

In my personal life... 

Saturday Greg and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary, and the 20th anniversary of our first date. 💗

Monday Mood: Keep Calm and Wear a Mask

In the spirit of sharing softer news and/or silly vibes:

Boy and his dog enjoy mini convertible car ride.

Daily pandemic update:  Aljazeera.com timeline

• Lockdown measures were re-imposed in Australia's second biggest city, confining Melbourne residents to their homes unless undertaking essential business for 6 weeks. 
• Hong Kong will close all schools after the territory reported a spike in locally transmitted COVID-19 infections. First coronavirus case has been confirmed in northern Syria.
• US officially notified UN secretary-general of the country's withdrawal from the World Health Organization even as it grapples with 3 million cases of coronavirus.
• WHO reported record daily increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 228,102 in 24 hours.

13 July 2020	Cases		Deaths		Recovered
11:36 GMT*	Mon 7/6	Mon 7/13	Mon 7/6	Mon 7/13	Mon 7/6	Mon 7/13
World	11,586,780	13,062,360	537,372	572,214	6,553,127	7,610,533
US	2,983,155	3,414,105	132,571	137,787	1,289,687	1,517,560
NY	422,268	427,638	32,248	32,403	115,168	177,508
CT	46,717	47,287	4,335	4,348	12,760	16,885
NC	72,983	85,730	1,425	1,533	45,538	55,318

A moment of silence for those we’ve lost to coronavirus, including the first 100 and the first 100,000 in the US.

As of today 8% of closed cases in the US resulted in death; 92% recovered.

Globally 7% of closed cases resulted in death worldwide; 93% recovered.

Currently 1% of all active cases are considered serious or critical.  

*Documenting time of day because real time data updates continuously.
Tracking specific states:  NY is US epicenter. Son Reid lives in CT. I live in NC. 
Worldometers     Coronainusa     Starsexpress2020     https://ncov2019.live/

In the news: 

• Betsy DeVos and Trump threatened to cut funding from schools if they do not fully re-open, despite lack of guidance regarding how to open schools safely and CDC warning. Teachers and parents expressed concerns, thoughts and opinions. Multiple states are suing dept of education for diverting coronavirus relief funds to private schools instead of public schools.
• Biden-Sanders task force policy recommendations aim to unify moderates and progressives.
• Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and other Latin American leaders tested positive for coronavirus.
• CA Gov Newsom is rolling back reopen plan to control spread of coronavirus.
• Colin Kaepernick signed deal with Disney and ESPN films.
• FL reported record-breaking 15,299 coronavirus cases Sunday; highest daily total of any US state. Previous record was set by NY April 4 with 12,274 cases. US and Brazil accounted for half of all new infections. US reported 69,000 new cases in one day with cases rising in 44 states and 1/3 of states breaking records.
• International students may have to leave US if classes are online. 200+ schools support Harvard and MIT lawsuit against ICE.
• New York City reported no new COVID deaths for first time since outbreak began.
• New York Times explored racial inequity of coronavirus in the US.
• New Zealand lifted all coronavirus restrictions.
• PPP loans intended to help small businesses save jobs benefitted some billionaires, financial advisors, hate groups, churches and religious organizations among others. Lobbyists with ties to Trump helped clients secure a least $10 billion in federal coronavirus aid.
• Republicans registered more voters than democrats in recent weeks.
• Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) vowed to continue holding up 1,100+ military promotions despite retirement of Lt Col Alexander Vindman.
• Supreme Court ruled part of OK remains tribal reservation. Justices ruled employers can opt out of providing birth control to employees. SCOTUS also decided president is not above the law though Trump’s tax records likely won’t be released before November election.
• Trump accused public health officials of lying about coronavirus and attempted to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci.
• Trump commuted sentence of Roger Stone. Robert Mueller said Stone remains a convicted felon. A judge questioned whether probation would apply.
• Trump postponed NH rally due to weather, low turnout, and/or survey results.  
• Trump was against confederate flag in 2015.  Tucker Carlson changed his mind about masks.
• Washington Redskins announced team is dropping name and logo. New name expected to be announced soon.

NC News

• Chapel Hill - Carrboro announced preliminary plan to reopen schools.
• Federal judge put hold on Graham protest restrictions. Graham mayor issued state of emergency Friday before protestors and counter-protestors gathered peacefully near a local confederate statue outside the Alamance County Courthouse Saturday.
• Protestors in Raleigh asked Gov Cooper to veto Senate Bill 168 which would shield death investigation records from the public.
• Winston Salem protestors were arrested for blocking street. Saturday rally was educational. Demonstrators gathered Sunday to discuss prison reforms. 

Political Videos

• Biden: Proud, Train Home, 4 Hours, Economic Recovery Plan, This Is How, That’s Joe.
• Brave New Films produced multiple videos exploring race, immigration and politics. 
• Democratic Coalition: Vote Biden and Trump is still in denial. 
• Don Winslow: #DemocratsStandTall, #TrumpHatesWomen, and #Trump Traitor.
• Eleven Films:  Dangerous Ones #VoteForOurLives and American Protest. 
• Lincoln Project: One Day, Law & Order, Virtual Town Hall, Names, Whispers, Historic, and more.
• Meidas Touch: #PardonMeTrump, #SupremeLoser, #CreepyTrump, #LeaveMeALoan, #TrumpHasNoCredibility, #TrumpLoots and more.
• Really American: Saudi Trump, Enemy of the People, Trump Virus, Too Good of a Job.
• Republican Voters Against Trump: Stone Cold Racist, Roger Stone and Trump’s Banana Republic, It’s Ok to Change Your Mind, and more.
• SNL: Voters for Trump.
• Trump: Decisive Action, Women for Trump, Melania Trump, Best is Yet to Come, and Abolish.
• VoteVets: Traitor in a Mask, Sunset, Duckworth Tough as Hell, Benedict Donald, Duckworth Is Ready, Don’t Thank Us.

Following Kenny Beck’s lead to share a few signs of hope:

Quibi’s 10-part Home Movie: The Princess Bride raised money for World Central Kitchen.

From Kenny Beck, WXII News:

• NCDHHS announces 55,318 people are now presumed to have recovered from COVID-19 in North Carolina. That's a little more than 74% of the total cases.
• To date, there are 74,529 lab confirmed cases and 1,398 deaths. If you take the total number of cases and subtract presumed recoveries, deaths, and hospitalizations (982 today, which is a new record) that leaves you with 16,831 presumed active, non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Put another way, approximately 1 in 623 North Carolinians knows he or she has the virus right now and is battling it outside of a hospital.
• In terms of daily cases, we have seen at least a thousand new cases for each of the last 13 days. The average over that span is 1,544 new cases (we had 1,546 today). The percentage of positive cases is back down to 9% after peaking at 11% late last week.
• The daily death toll from COVID-19 has been below 10 every day so far this month. The last time we had at least 10 deaths was on June 30 (14). The last time we had at least 20 deaths was on 6/14 (21) and the record for deaths in a single day was 32 on 5/25.
• People age 25-49 continue to make up a plurality of the cases (45%) and people age 75+ continue to make up a majority of deaths (59%). 79 of the total deaths (5.6%) are in people under age 50.

In my personal life…

The past 2 weeks were crap overall. My mood vacillated between angry and sad most days, and I felt low energy much of the time. Took a lot of naps and played a lot of solitaire instead of blogging. I skipped zooming with my women friends and chatting with son Reid because I didn’t want to expose them to my negativity. Greg continued to be supportive and good company day after day despite my doldrums. He truly is my best friend and partner. Feeling a bit more hopeful today and looking forward to having a better week ahead. Knock wood. 

Over the weekend I received a call from a dear old friend in Alabama. We were on the phone a little more than 2 hours. Willie tried to convince me Trump is not racist, mainstream media can’t be trusted, and coronavirus isn’t a health risk for most people. We also discussed Black Lives Matter protests. Willie is a conservative Black man who worked in law enforcement and served in the National Guard so our perspectives and life experiences differ significantly. We didn’t argue though by the end of our conversation I sensed he was disappointed I did not agree with his points of view. I felt conflicted; glad Willie called but sad he supports Trump. We both would “save” the other if we could, which we can’t, so we’ll have to just agree to disagree I suppose.

Greg signed up for Philo today. Paying $20 per month for 60 channels is appealing as an alternative to traditional cable tv. Currently we have access to hundreds of channels we don’t watch. Dropping the cable package will reduce our Spectrum internet bill by roughly half. We’re also considering cancelling Netflix because we rarely watch more than 1 or 2 programs a month. I’ll likely sign up for Disney Plus this week only so we can watch Hamilton then cancel afterward. 

Greg ordered groceries online today, delivered by Brad P wearing a mask. I joked he might be Brad Pitt in disguise until the Ring security camera proved he wasn’t. Not even close. 

Over the past week we ate everything bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon and red onion 2 or 3 mornings. We cooked several meals at home mixed with some take out for variety: Arby’s sandwiches, Pad Thai with shrimp and pineapple fried rice from Amazing Thailand in King, and pizza from Marco’s. Greg made biscuits with country ham for breakfast yesterday and I ate cereal this morning. For lunch I ate cucumber and radish slices with garlic hummus while Greg snacked on pretzels. Tonight Greg tried a new recipe: homemade California style steak burritos – delicious!

My daily actions for racial justice were listening, reading, watching, and a few small donations. I wish the November election could happen tomorrow.