20200822 - Corona Virus Part 23 - BLM Part 12

Greetings from our little tin can by the sea, where Wendy and I are trying to ride out the effects of the corona virus pandemic. Our health is doing well, though I think we both wish that we could see people and some more sunshine. I tripped last Sunday from a toe-drop (dern MS), so I've been recovering. It has been a gloomy week, with a lot of rain. The forecast is for more of the same, as we are about to have two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time. The last time that there were two named storms in the Gulf was back in 1933 - a  cat 3 hurricane and a tropical storm. This time, we're looking at two cat 1 hurricanes, Marco, the western one due to make landfall on Tuesday, and Laura, the more eastern one that will deliver the second blow on Wednesday. The latest forecast shows that Marco may not strengthen to hurricane force - I guess we will wait and see. With multiple intense lows like this, they "dumbell" by influencing the track of the nearby storm. The actual effect is called the Fujiwhara effect, where these proximity of the two storms prevents either of them from intensifying greatly. I ran across this in the pacific during a transit from Pearl Harbor, HI to Yokohama, Japan. We had three storms and their paths became erratic. The USS Mount Vernon tried to flank them, but eventually, we went right through one of them. It was a mess onboard. A hurricane can really rock a ship. I practiced my bulkhead walking and the max value of the inclinometers for every roll was broadcast throughout the ship. The meals that day were boxed lunches, since the cooks couldn't tend a hot pot with those rolls. It made tying up at Yokohama all that much sweeter. Work this week is going better. I've moved to a different group, where I don't know much, which is fine by me. I'll learn and start contributing soon. Meanwhile, the ghosts of the past group keep coming up. These folks don't get it - we all should be able to do each other's job. Oh well - I have a couple of months before looking for greener pastures within the company. 

The Western half of the US is burning up, literally. All of the pinks, reds, and oranges on the map to the right are heat advisories and warnings. There are wildfires all through this, with daily announcements of evacuations in northern California. Death Valley recorded a temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the hottest temperature recorded, ever, at any location. This is all without an El Nino. Looks like this news is only going to get worse year-over-year. On Friday, Iowa was the site of a derecho - a straight-line wind and storm event that can reach hurricane force. It leveled crops and homes and caused massive power outages throughout the state.
 

Cases	Deaths	Tests

Scope	Cases	% Inc.	Deaths	% Inc.
Worldwide	23,149,739	8.2	803,807	5.2
United States	5,798,983	5.9	179,240	4.5
Florida	593,286	5.3	10,177	11.2
Pinellas County	19,247	4.2	591	9.2

Two years. That's the only number that really matters. The World Health Organization's prognosis is, with mutual cooperation between countries, we can beat the corona virus in two years. That just floored me. Though, if I think back on it, my first inkling was a year, and now we're looking at over two and a half. So, this blog may extend to parts higher than 100 - what a mad, mad, mad, mad, world! The concept of mutual cooperation won't happen. There are too many "leaders" asking "WIIFM?! (What's In It For Me?!)" to have some sort of global cooperation. So, Christmas 2022 is our best delivery date for a return to some semblance of "normal". I'm going to need fistfuls of Patience, Persistence, and Perseverance; we are all going to need divine assistance to make it to 2023.

Protesters in Portland, Oregon have decided to target the us immigration and customs enforcement building this past week. Is this an effort to stay in the news? I do need some help understanding what goal is meant to be gained by moving from the federal courthouse to the ice building. Do the protesters want to engage the police?  I generally avoid op-eds, but I'll search around to see if I can uncover the motivation for the change.

In the economy, Google tells me that our local 7/11 is selling gas for $1.96/gal. The DJIA has been flat over the week, starting Monday morning at 27970 and closing Friday afternoon at 27948. Unemployment claims increased to 1.1 million over the past week. The IRS estimates that there will be a drop of 38.9 million jobs between 2020 and 2021. Further, the IRS estimates that it will take years for these jobs to recover. 

US Constitution excerpts:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

- The Constitution of the United States of America, Amendment 19, Section 1

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

- The Constitution of the United States of America, Amendment 15, Section 1

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

- The Constitution of the United States of America, Article I, Section 8

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:– "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

- The Constitution of the United States of America, Article II, Section 1, Clause 8

A Florida man... 🙄

A Florida man was recently arrested for trying to cash in a winning lottery ticket at the same store that he had stolen it and several others from, according to police. In a statement posted to Facebook, the Clearwater Police Department in Florida wrote, "for most people, it's their lucky day when they get a winning scratch-off lottery ticket." The man who attempted to cash in the stolen ticket was identified by police as Herbert McClellan, 27, of Clearwater, Florida. McClellan is accused of stealing 13 scratch-off lottery tickets from a Speedway. Shortly after going back to the same store, Speedway employees, who remembered him from before, called the Clearwater Police Department. He was arrested shortly after officers arrived at the Speedway, according to police. Following the arrest, McClellan was charged with petit theft and dealing in stolen property, authorities said. "It's safe to say it was not his lucky day," the Clearwater Police Department wrote in its statement posted to Facebook.

- Matthew Impelli, "Florida Man Arrested for Cashing In Winning Lottery Ticket at Gas Station He Stole It From, Cops Say", Newsweek, 21 August 2020

Some lyrics to reflect the idiocy of leadership at the usps:

Please Mr. Postman

Please Mr. Postman, look and see. (Oh yeah.)

Is there a letter in your bag for me?

- Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland, and Robert Bateman, Please Mister Postman, The Marvels, 1961