Howdy and welcome to our little tin can by the sea. Wendy and I have been doing well this past week, as we continue our self-isolation amid the corona virus pandemic. We had some work done on the house this past week - the lanai has been re-screened and we had the side deck fixed up. I just sat out on the side deck this morning and it was great listening to the birds, and seeing neighbors walk along the street.We have continuing plans on the lanai, so I'll add those as they are completed. Today, we're going to clean it. That will be a chore. Our state continues to "open up" despite accelerating case numbers of COVID-19. Wendy and I plan to continue isolating - it's the best thing for now. At work, they celebrated promotions day yesterday and that came with everyone getting the afternoon off. Pretty sweet perk.
|
|
| Cases |
Deaths |
| Scope |
Cases |
% Inc. |
Deaths |
% Inc. |
| Worldwide |
8,789,443 |
12.6 |
463,202 |
7.7 |
| United States |
2,297,642 |
8.0 |
121,414 |
3.7 |
| Florida |
89,748 |
21.9 |
3,107 |
6.1 |
| Pinellas County |
3,153 |
49.9 |
113 |
10.7 |
Numbers, numbers, numbers - Worldwide, the week-over-week rates of increase are remaining constant. This is largely due to Brazil, which is having an incredible surge in cases. In the US, the weekly rates show about the same for cases and a slight decrease for deaths. In Florida, the number of cases are skyrocketing. Both Tampa and Saint Petersburg have mandatory face mask health edicts in place as of yesterday afternoon, to try and combat it. The numbers for Pinellas county are just dismal, but that's what happens when the general population just doesn't care.
On the economic front, gas is selling for $1.95/gal at the local 7/11. The DJIA started Monday morning at 25270 and closed on Friday at 25929, for a small gain. 20.5 million people are collecting unemployment as of this week. The Treasury estimates that unemployment will continue to be high through 2020.
My least favorite section: Politics.Our president had another tweet decorated by the staff at Twitter. This time, it was "Manipulated Media." The tweet was a re-edited video involving a fake CNN byline as well as a contrived scene. Facebook also jumped into the mix, by deleting posts sponsored by the president that honored symbols that were used by Nazi Germany. The Supreme Court had two landmark rulings, the first was that sex discrimination in the workplace also applied to LBGQ. The second was that DACA stands. The decision to uphold DACA was a procedural one, since the government's assertion was a flight of whimsy, and roughly an edict from a dictator. Thankfully, there is a law to prevent that. Black Lives Matter is still protesting. In Colorado, they passed a law for police accountability. This removes choke holds, resets lethal force, and it removes "qualified immunity", so police can now be sued. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, the president is abusing the citizens of Tulsa while he holds a political rally. Masks are optional, despite the increase in cases there. I suspect there may be a meeting between Black Lives Matter and some of the more right of the president's right followers. It's like a train wreck, you don't want to see it, but you can't look away. In global warming news, CO
2 levels continue to rise unabated.
What have they done to the earth?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn
And tied her with fences and dragged her down
- Jim Morrison, When the music's over, Strange Days, The Doors, 1967
