20200725 - Corona Virus Part 19 - Black Lives Matter Part 8

Hello, howdy, and greetings from our little tin can by the sea. Wendy and I survived another week of self-isolation amid the corona virus pandemic. We are both healthy and doing well. The picture to the right was taken in Sawgrass Lake Park last Sunday. That park is near our home, and we got some Einstein bagels and sat in the car at the park for brunch. There was a lot of wildlife, including a red-headed woodpecker. Largely, though, I enjoy watching the butterflies. We still have some butterflies behind our home, and I get to see them from time to time as I work. Normally, I sit out on the west porch in the morning, but I've had to use the lanai on Thursday and Friday. We have an industrious mud dauber that is bent on building a cocoon somewhere on our west porch. Since I have vision issues, I can't readily distinguish between a wasp and a mud dauber, so I just relocate for now. I'll try to restake my claim to the west porch on Monday, after a bit of washing this weekend. I'm still working from home, which has been great. I must admit that I'm thankful for working from home. I disagree with how my group is being run, and it's just "better" for my longevity there that I don't vocalize any of it to management. I do like my employer, but I wish that the message from my immediate supervisors was consistent with the message delivered from the upper ones. 

Cases	Deaths	Tests

Scope	Cases	% Inc.	Deaths	% Inc.
Worldwide	15,985,274	12.3	643,581	7.2
United States	4,249,779	12.7	148,521	4.5
Florida	402,312	22.9	5,653	17.6
Pinellas County	14,726	15.8	367	22.3

Though I question the validity of the numbers being reported, I will keep reporting them. I've added another little trend from Reuters - one for the number of tests and the percentage of positives. There are three states that are setting the trend for cases and deaths: California, Florida, and Texas. Arizona is dropping out of the race by reducing the number of tests - fewer tests, fewer positives. I'm sure that the deaths are being swept into some other bin, so they won't show up until the mortality data comes out. Truth is hard to come by. Still, the primary topic is opening the schools. Our secretary of education has decided to blatantly lie by quoting selected quotes from medical papers. First, some at least have not been peer reviewed; second, the quotes are being applied out-of-context. The first is a fallacy of hasty generalization, the second is an intentional fallacy. I put a wary take on this: if the truth appears deceptive, then chances are that it isn't the truth. 

Meanwhile, the federal shock troops are moving into additional cities. They are now in Portland, Seattle, Albuquerque, Chicago, and Kansas City. Well, when a fascist is elected, you end up with fascism. 

One item of note on the global warming front - the expected global temperature rise is now estimated at 2.9 to 3.6 degrees Centigrade. This improves the previous worst case of 4.5 degrees C, though it worsens the previous best case of 1.5 degrees C. The article in Science Magazine, authored by Paul Voosen, concludes by saying:

Unfortunately, the years of work needed to attain that certainty came with a cost: 4 decades of additional emissions and global warming, unabated.

On to the economy - I haven't been out this past week, but google tells me that the local 7/11 is selling regular for $1.96/gal. Though the DJIA surged during the week, it is down overall. It opened on Monday morning at 26660 and closed on Friday afternoon at 26469. I've been reading a lot of prophets of doom regarding the US economy, while the Fed and treasury have largely been silent. Unemployment has increased, with an estimated 30 million people in the US out-of-work. Many of the provisions of the PPP law will end on July 31. Salary protection and the increased unemployment benefits are two of the most notable. The senate is having difficulty piecing together a package that will meet muster with the white house and the house of representatives. It's of their own design - they hoped to force the legislation, using the drop dead date as leverage. Now, that leverage has turned against them.

On politics - please look elsewhere.

I've got the apolitical blues

And that's the meanest blues of all

Apolitical blues

And that's the meanest blues of all

I don't care if it's John Wayne

I just don't want to talk to him now

- Lowell George, A apolitical blues, Sailin' Shoes, Little Feat, 1972

 

20200718 - Corona Virus Part 18 - Black Lives Matter Part 7

Howdy and welcome back to our little tin can by the sea, where Wendy and I try to stay healthy amid the corona virus pandemic. As you can see by the above chart, our picturesque state of Florida isn't doing so well with the number of COVID-19 cases. In fact, we are the model for what-not-to-do, perhaps only surpassed by Georgia, but I'll get to that in a bit. The two of us are healthy, and staying at home. We both communicate with the outside world via email, texts, and video meetings. I see many of my family up north circulating with pictures shopping and outdoors with no masks or social distancing. I wish that I could do that. Unfortunately, I have a plethora of ailments that put me in the upper percentiles of bad outcomes from COVID-19 respiratory distress. Luckily, my employer is very onboard with working from home, so I continue to do so. I haven't gone out except to grab a pizza for dinner yesterday. Weather is changing into our typical "summer" pattern - beautiful in the morning, rains begin at 3. This is the setup for the hurricanes in August. My thoughts and prayers go out to the sailors onboard the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), who have relentlessly fought an intense shipboard fire while docked at San Diego, CA 32nd street. Thanks for saving her, but I'm sure that each of the sailors lost something in that blaze, since their personal effects were still onboard when they evacuated. I spent three years in San Diego while on the USS Mount Vernon (LSD 39), and fire is the biggest nemesis onboard any ship.

Cases	Deaths

Scope	Cases	% Inc.	Deaths	% Inc.
Worldwide	14,230,773	12.3	600,304	6.5
United States	3,771,101	14.5	142,080	3.9
Florida	327,241	34.0	4,805	17.1
Pinellas County	12,714	20.0	300	31.0

Git yer numbas here! Numbers! Fresh, hot numbas! Just take a look to the left. This is bad and it is going to get worse, because our leaders aren't doing any thing about it. Suddenly, the governor of Georgia has elected to take an active Libertarian position on masks, to the point of signing an executive order preventing counties and cities from requiring masks to be worn. That's freakin' nuts! On the other side of the coin, the governor of Maryland is exaggerating the extents that his state went to in order to provide ventilators. Yet another grand-stander (YAG-S). The big topic for the week has been opening schools in the coming weeks. The guidance provided by the CDC has been denounced by the white house as too expensive. The CDC is now being bypassed for reporting, which is going to cook the books - the numbers won't be accurate. I read a report stating that the governor of Georgia cooked his numbers so his state could open early. I felt this was happening back in April. There was also a case of espionage where the Russian government was trying to gain information on corona virus vaccines from Canada, the UK, and the US by hacking. 

On the Black Lives Matter front - this just in - secret police from the department of homeland security are arresting peaceful protesters in Portland, Oregon. No poop. Federal officers in fatigues with no insignia or markings arrested peacefully protesting civilians. The federal officers were not there at the request of the governor or mayor; instead, an unidentified spokeswoman for the group said that they were there to protect the statues. 

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

- Amendment X, The Constitution of the United States

So, unless the state specifically gives the federal government the right,the federal government does not have the right. This is the concept of state sovereignty. The white house is trying criminal threats to impress their wishes on the states. The problem here is what is done has been done. Now, the fear of retribution by federal forces is planted. Even if the ACLU and the governor of Oregon sue and win, it will not change the fact that at least for one day, the constitution, and state sovereignty, were discarded by uninvited federal forces. I think that we have become the thing that we hate. I do wonder if the police lobbyists had a hand, because earlier in the week Oregon posted the names of officers that were decertified in that state back to 1971. The hope was to make the first move in creating a national database of officers that should not wear the badge. To those humans in the camo fatigues - it is highly unlikely that your leaders will pay for this disdain of the law; however, it is highly likely that you will.

On to the economy - gas is selling for $1.99/gal at the local 7/11 today. Over the week, the DJIA has been up, starting Monday morning at 26225 and ending Friday afternoon at 26686. The treasury secretary has suggested that all of the PPP loans under $50,000 should be forgiven - shoot, I didn't get my request in, dern it. This further demonstrates the need for oversight in everything this administration does. Those are my taxes being peed away, mister secretary.

That brings me to the section on politics. My least favorite of all things to discuss. The following definition should suffice:

Plausible deniability is the ability to deny any involvement in illegal or unethical activities, because there is no clear evidence to prove involvement. The lack of evidence makes the denial credible, or plausible. The use of the tactic implies forethought, such as intentionally setting up the conditions to plausibly avoid responsibility for one’s future actions.

- Political Dictionary

It used to be easy to understand the two primary political parties in the US. The whigs were for Britain, and the democrats were for France. Early republicans were states rights, where early democrats preferred federal authority. What I see now is concerning. Many approaches are from the far corners of leftism (socialism) and rightism (fascism). They are missing the middle, which is where I am. I don't want cops shooting citizens everyday. I also want my heart to swell with pride when I read the plaque at the Statue of Liberty. There needs to be mediation to the centralized vs. federated debate. Guidance should always be centralized. Enforcement should always be federated. That's exactly how our judicial system is set up. Here's a question: why do the police, teachers, and other public workers have unions? Is it because of fear that power will be abused, or is it to aim the abuse of that power? 

'Til next week - Ex20:13, and thanks to Patrick Semansky/AP for the pic.

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence

- Paul Simon, Sounds of silence, Sounds of Silence, 1966

20200711 - Corona Virus Part 17 - Black Lives Matter Part 6

Greetings and welcome from our little tin can by the sea. Wendy and I are doing well, still surviving through the COVID-19 pandemic. I returned to work this week, after taking some time off over fourth of July. There is so much that I wish that I could change about the way my group at work does things. We are a waterfall shop that is using scrum rituals. Everyone is either too afraid or too frustrated to make suggestions to improve what we have. Every suggestion is met with skepticism and irony by leadership, further enforcing the org chart on the team. There are no team decisions - everything is led by leadership. Daily, our architect makes some vague statement without examples that we have to follow. That announcement is typically in an "email of blast" to the entire group and up two levels in management. When I see it, my mind thinks: "applaud in public; correct in private." In the big perspective, I'll try to migrate to a different group and let these folks continue their waterfall ways. There's a comet in the sky! It's visible in the evening in the west. I thank Fred Espenak for capturing it and posting it to Earth Sky's Community Photos. Over the years, comets have been portents of change, and framing the tee-pee in the foreground is very appropriate. This past week, the supreme court ruled that the eastern half of Oklahoma is reservation land. That includes the city of Tulsa! It turns out that the Indian Removal Act of 1830 granted the reservation land "in perpetuity." The forced removal of indigenous peoples from southeast US to Oklahoma became known as the "Trail of Tears" because 4,000 of the 60,000 that were relocated died from exposure, disease, or starvation. After the ruling, lawyers for the Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw tribes began hammering out agreements for governance of the people currently on reservation land, and how that will look in the future. One point of note is that this land has been exploited for oil and gas in the past, and it is currently a fracking hotspot. The tribes may sue to recoup all of the money gained by exploitation of resources on their land. Big time portents!

Cases	Deaths

Scope	Cases	% Inc.	Deaths	% Inc.
Worldwide	12,674,605	13.0	563,910	6.5
United States	3,294,219	13.9	136,720	3.5
Florida	244,151	36.7	4,102	11.3
Pinellas County	10,596	37.7	229	25.1

Hi, my name is Steve and I've been a stupid Floridian for seven years. Maybe I should open up a "Floridians Anonymous" group. Bad, bad numbers; terrible. Quoting Dr. Anthony Fauci, "But as a country, when you compare us to other countries, I don’t think you can say we’re doing great. I mean, we’re just not." The numbers to the left bear this out. In Florida, it appears that our governor is planning to allow the corona virus a free run through the state. He's not alone; it appears that Texas, California, and Arizona have similar game plans. The chart of Daily Deaths for Florida shows what will happen if we continue on our present course.

The deaths will escalate, until the hospitals are saturated, then the deaths will escalate faster. We are nearly at saturation in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties (St. Pete and Tampa). Miami and Fort Lauderdale are saturated. We are already "ahead of the curve" on this predictive model. The lines that decline show scenarios where mask wearing is mandated and the easing of restrictions is rolled back. A lot of lives would be saved if we did either of these, but, instead, we do nothing. Well, we continue reopening, which I guess is something. At the city level, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale have rolled back some of the easing, closing bars, beaches, and setting restaurant occupancy to a max of 50%. In Pinellas county, we have closed up the bars and instituted mandatory face masks. The mandatory face masks appears to have a 50% adoption rate, with 0% enforcement. 

I haven't been out this week, but GasBuddy tells me that the local 7/11 is selling gas for $2.04/gal. The DJIA was essentially flat, starting the week at 25996 and closing at 26074. For closings, Brooks Brothers filed for Chapter 11. The treasury released a partial list of companies that accepted "loans" as part of congress' Paycheck Protection Program. Here's a link to a searchable database from the washington post. The number of unemployed has decreased to 18 million. However, if someone that was receiving unemployment gets a job, then is laid off again, they cannot re-apply for unemployment. Rigged system.

On the global warming front, we could hit the 1.5 degree C cap set at the Paris Accord by 2024. Another study states that if we cut CO2 emissions today, it would take another 20 years for the temperature to begin decreasing. Pink ice is being reported in the Italian Alps, which can't be good. A judge in Washington D.C. has ordered the Dakota-Access pipeline shutdown, pending an environmental review. The Lakota (Sioux) tribe score a victory. 

I'm really sick to my stomach of politics, and I know that I'm facing another four months before the election. So, in the interest of fairness, I'm suspending the politics section. A note of caution to candidates - check with the artist before using their song in your campaign. 

Sing hymns, make love, get high, fall dead

He'll bring his perfume to your bed

He'll charm your life 'til the cold wind blows

Then he'll sell your dreams to a picture show

- John Wetton, Robert Fripp, and Richard Palmer-James, The great deceiver, Starless and Bible Black, King Crimson, 1974

Meanwhile, on New York City's 5th Avenue, directly in front of Trump Tower:

Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP

20200704 - Corona Virus Part 16 - Black Lives Matter Part 5

Happy fourth of july from our little tin can by the sea. Wendy and I are doing well, just surviving through the corona virus pandemic. I've been on vacation this past week, which has been nice. I really didn't sleep in as much as I had hoped, but you take what you get when it comes to sleep. We had the fan installed in the lanai this past week, but it has been really hot, so we haven't had a chance to use it much. Right now, we just have a couple of light chairs in there, but we are expecting a couch and bigger chairs later in the month. As I think about it, it was listed on backorder, so we'll deal with it when it comes. It will require some assembly, which is like an erector set for adults, and I'm looking forward to that. I've used the side deck in the morning from time to time this week. When there's a southern breeze, it's heavenly on the deck. I got one of my pet projects done this week - we have a new TV in our bedroom. That's been in the works for over a year. There's a very long story to it, which involves me wanting to replace the TVs in both our bedroom and the guest bedroom, then ordering two TVs, only to get one working and one damaged, then being reimbursed for both, then being charged for one, then figuring out how to send payment, then looking for another seller of that model of TV, then forgetting about it for a while, then finding a seller and ordering, and it arrived and sat, and sat, until I put it in this past week. Well, maybe not so long of a story. It felt good to have the old CRT TV out of the house. My daughter got me a robot for father's day, which I've had time to assemble. It's a small R2D2, and it's fun to play with it. It's difficult to control it when it's coming toward you, but I think that's the nature of any R/C model. We've had a big batch of dust from the sarhara in our air this week, which is why the sun is so muddy in the above screen capture.

Cases	Deaths

Scope	Cases	% Inc.	Deaths	% Inc.
Worldwide	11,219,793	12.9	529,601	6.4
United States	2,891,267	13.2	132,112	3.5
Florida	178,594	45.2	3,686	9.5
Pinellas County	7,697	51.0	183	29.8

Data and Digits! New data; same analysis. We are doing terrible, and now it's another holiday weekend. Cases are way up! In fact, the US and Florida set records for the number of COVID-19 cases in a single day. Judging by the trend, there's more records to follow. In Pinellas county, our death count continues its meteoric rise. Our population base is older folks, many with multiple susceptibilities to this particular virus. Statewide, the death rate has plateaued. Largely, this is due to doctors, nurses, and technicians improving their skills with regard to this virus. The elimination of techniques that caused inflammation, as well as the use of steroid anti-inflammatories have dramatically improved survivability once a patient contracts COVID-19. However, as the number of cases rise, so do the number of hospitalizations, and the number of deaths. Once the level is reached that hospitals are saturated with no more equipment, beds, and staff, the deaths will skyrocket. It is a grim tale and I expect it to begin playing out before the end of the month. Meanwhile, Europe is reopening. I do hope that they fare considerably better that we have.

There has been a lot of activity for Black Lives Matter, from more examples of excessive force by police to demonstrations of stupidity by homeowners and reckless drivers plowing into peaceful demonstrations. One of the continuing themes is that the looting and destruction is largely being promoted by whites. I hope that they catch some of them and try them. There is a mural in Boynton Beach, FL, that has two black faces in it that have been rendered as white by the muralist. That's just crap - why would you do that, and why would you accept that work? Unfortunately, congress went on summer vacation without passing a police reform bill. That implies that one won't be passed this year. Once they return in the middle of July, it will be full press partisanship, since it will lead into the national conventions and then the presidential election. 

The above chart demonstrates how deep we have waded into global warming. Enough talking, time for action is long overdue. First item is to discover and reward energy solutions that involve acceptable discharges - no heavy metals, no radiation, no carbon, no nitrates, no etc! And the solution to pollution is NOT dilution! We have become sheep waiting for others to develop and engineer technologies for the energy sector. It's time to lead!

On the economic front, gas was selling at $2.09/gal at the local 7/11 this week. The DJIA had an increase this past week, opening at 25642 on Monday morning and closing at 25832 on Friday afternoon. The increase is attributable to pharmaceuticals talking up this or that version of vaccine. One ray of sunshine was that 2.5 million jobs were created last month, but that leaves over 20 million unemployed. The real time bomb is when the wage assistance runs out at the end of this month. Right now, there is insufficient agreement within the legislature to support extending any of these benefits, so the clock is ticking. Meanwhile, the labor department has removed a protection for excessive overtime. It used to be that over 40 hours was OT and payable at time and a half. If not payed, a court could order the OT to be paid at three times the OT hours. That is now gone, and it turns into a loan minus court fees. 

The object to the right is an Amsler Grid. Due to ailments with my vision, I have stared at these very often. However, I would like to offer a different use for these grids. Prior to the election, make a list of the issues. First choose two pro's and consider the vertical axis to be one of them and the horizontal axis to be another. Your opinion is the central dot. Map the stances by the candidates relative to your opinion. Now, choose two con's and do the same. Keep doing this and you will begin to see the candidate that has stances similar to your values. I'd like to promote this because we too often find one issue that a candidate is over the moon about, and we may be just leaning in agreement. That would show a large disparity on the grid. If anything, it is a self-assessment of your values and how the candidates stack up with what matters to you. Politically, the big news was that the Russians appear to have offered bounty on American lives in Afghanistan. I say "appeared" because this is politics, and nothing is black and white. The question now is why hasn't the president done anything about it? His statement is the Sgt. Schultz quote - I know nothing. It's a play for plausible deniability. Mr Teflon seems to have a doctorate in accountability avoidance. I have a lot of other notes from this past week, but I'm sick to my stomach from the misrepresentation of our current cast of characters in government.

If I gave you everything that I owned

And asked for nothing in return

Would you do the same for me as I would for you?

Or take me for a ride

And strip me of everything, including my pride

But spirit is something that no one destroys

And the sound that I'm hearing is only the sound

Of the low spark of high-heeled boys, heeled boys

- Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi, The low spark of high-heeled boys, The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, Traffic, 1971

End note: I fell in love with this picture of a couple in Italy. It makes me well up every time that I see it. It conveys the wishes of love and hope shared between a husband and wife despite COVID-19.

 

credit to Emilio Morenatti/AP.

20200627 - Corona Virus Part 15 - Black Lives Matter Part 4

... and the beat goes on...

Greetings from our little tin can by the sea where Wendy and I are trying to survive through self-isolation due to the corona virus. We are healthy and doing well. Our weather this past week has been hot - in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit kind of hot. The chart above shows the cycling of our air conditioner yesterday - it was on a lot! Today's forecast is a little cooler - 93. A small town in Russia had a similar high temperature last Saturday, and it is in the Arctic Circle! I have been using our new deck every morning. For about 15 minutes, I go out on it and sit. I listen to the bird calls and watch neighbors and butterflies. It turns out that there are a lot of butterflies that frequent the vegetation behind our house. They have been very comforting to watch. Even after a week, their numbers are dwindling, so I'm glad that I caught it, but I'll have to wait until next year to see them all again. At work, they announced that we won't be coming back to the office until Labor Day, at the earliest. I'm all for that - don't mess with success. Our group has been doing great, though that is largely because we are not centrally located, so we have been doing remote work from the start. I do miss the views from the office, but I'm not going to risk my health for a pretty vista. Last weekend, there was an eclipse, but it was not visible in North America. It was a ring of fire eclipse, caused by the moon being far from the earth (near apogee) so the lunar disk did not fully eclipse the sun at totality. I'm taking the next week off before Fourth-of-July. Hopefully, I can get some rest. My daughter celebrated her birthday this week and I'm sorry that I couldn't give her a hug. 

Cases	Deaths

Scope	Cases	% Inc.	Deaths	% Inc.
Worldwide	9,935,361	13.0	497,555	7.4
United States	2,553,686	11.1	127,649	5.1
Florida	122,960	37.0	3,366	8.3
Pinellas County	5,099	61.7	141	24.8

Numbers! COVID-19 is winning. We appear to be at it's mercy. It's frustrating that something with a countable number of atoms is so devastating. In the US, the reported number of cases represents 0.78% of the population. Two points on that: first, the CDC estimates that the actual number of cases is ten times the reported value. That would imply that 7.8% of the population has been infected at least once. The second point is that leaves 92.1% of the population to contract this illness. Recalling back to the days in early March, the intent of isolating was to "flatten the curve". In doing so, we have reduced the load on our hospitals, but we have lengthened the duration of the pandemic. Now, other states are overloaded - Alabama reported that it has no more ICU beds. They are moving coronary patients to secondary locations (I'm not sure what that means, though). Though Florida is leading the pack in the resurgence of cases, they are by no means alone in this race. California, Texas, and almost all of the southern states are having a "spike", as the politicians are terming it. This surge is of our own doing. We have opened too quickly and have not minded the evidence of exponential growth since Memorial Day. Even if we put on the brakes now, the response will continue through mid-August. Instead of heeding any of the warnings, governors are just closing bars. Bars were only opened last week - this is not being caused by last week's policy decisions! I have an engineering background, and I deal in rough numbers - so, once you catch COVID-19, there is a three to four week "incubation" period when the virus suppresses your immune system response while it replicates. The positives we are seeing today are from decisions made four weeks ago - Memorial Day weekend. From my view, it appears that there was no discussion of contingency - what to do when numbers started to rise. It also appears that there was no estimate of the response from a given policy. The decision appears to have been: we'll wing it. There also seems to be some question about the effectiveness of wearing masks. Time, distance, and shielding are the three vectors that you have available to minimize exposure. Minimize the time that you are exposed - that is, stay at home. Only go out for essential items. Maximize the distance between you and the source of the exposure. Use social distancing, and, again, stay at home. Maximize the shielding between you and the source of the exposure. Again, stay at home, and wear a mask. The mask is to protect everyone else - not necessarily you. Don't wear a mask with a vent; it isn't effective. From an engineering perspective, the two processes of sneezes, coughs, and even talking, are dispersion and diffusion. If you want to minimize a dispersion, you need to cut the velocity of the fluid. The further from the source, the larger the apparatus needed to cut the velocity. Once a dispersion is emitted, the vapor and droplet cloud that remains will diffuse into non contaminated air. This process is minimized if there is less moisture in the ejected material. That, too, is reduced best very near to the source. The source is your mouth and your nose. Cover them with a mask, and keep them covered. A call out our special snowflake lawmakers - learn what it means to lead and wear the mask. I have COPD and I initially had trouble wearing a mask, but I stuck with it and I now can wear one for hours, if necessary. Because of the increase in our infections, New York and New Jersey have implemented requirements that Floridians (and Californians, Texans, Alabamians, etc.) must self-isolate for twelve days when coming to their state. Europe won't allow folks from the US to enter. 

The Black Lives Matter movement continues, and it is moving into small towns now. That's good, because this isn't a big city thing - it's personal accountability. There have also been quite a few protesters knocking down statues in the name of Black Lives Matter, though I think it's in the name of general destruction. For example, they toppled Ulysses S. Grant's statue. He freed his slave a year before the Civil War, and led the Union Army to victory, which ended slavery. However, there are those that point to his wife, who was a slave owner. It will be difficult to name a person that lived before 1863 that didn't have a slave and is famous enough to have a statue. Even Thomas Jefferson had slaves, as did George Washington. There is talk now to remove the stars and bars from the Mississippi state flag. That would be a big move. Minneapolis, where the latest wave of Black Lives Matter support came from, has voted to remove the police force and replace it with the Department of Community Safety and Violence Protection. This is part of the city's charter, and a change to that requires the consent of the populace, so it will be on the November ballot. If the change makes muster, it will be instituted in May 2021. A number of other peoples will benefit from the changes brought about by Black Lives Matters. Among them are the tribal indians, or Native Americans. Many are pushing the sovereignty in order to protect the people from the spread of COVID-19. As a result, there will be some dilution in the message from Black Lives Matter, but we are stronger together than we are apart, which is the nature of embracing diversity. The senate bill for police reform won't meet a floor vote and the bill coming from the house doesn't look like ti will make it, either. Perhaps this standoff can be averted if we start from a basis of agreement - the police need to change. We have two strawman proposals of what that change could look like, so sit down and find words that are agreeable. No one will like the result, but it will be a start, and we have to learn how to start again.

A gallon of gas is still $1.95/gal at the local 7/11. The DJIA dropped over the past week, starting the week at 25865 Monday morning and ending at 25020 on Friday afternoon. The drop is related to the increase in COVID-19 cases. To support re-election, the white house wants another round of stimulus money injected into the economy. This move will be inflationary, and that doesn't sit well with conservatives, especially after already injecting $3 trillion into the economy. Eventually, that will come back as lower value to the dollar, making us look more expensive globally, which harms our businesses. Maybe we can get the $1.4 billion that was sent to dead people. Yes, that's how much one million stimulus checks add up to and they were dead people. If any were sent to congress-persons or their families, then I think we should collect those, too.

The president held his soiree in Tulsa. Six members of his campaign staff had COVID and had to self isolate. After the event, two others tested positive and two secret service members had to self-isolate as well. Attendance was lower than expected, largely from teens requesting tickets to skew the numbers. In the end, it was a first-come-first-serve event, but COVID and Black Lives Matter kept many from showing up. If it were me, just taking a flight would be enough for me to stay away. Tom Petty's family also issued a Cease & Desist Order for the campaign's use of a Tom Petty song, and the Rolling Stones have threatened suit for violation of past CDOs. It has also come out that Tulsa had provided seat stickers to maintain social distancing which were removed prior to the event. Our secretary of ed is diverting states funds to private institutions. I think that needs to end... the parents that are sending their kids to private school can foot that bill. I think that our attorney general needs to mind his p's and q's lest he be tried for treason. Subverting the separation of powers is treason. It appears that the current goal is to politicize the courts, replacing as many judges and attorneys as possible. This has the smell of a son-in-law to it. Then there is Bolton's book - I'll never read it, so I really don't care what light it paints anyone in. Instead, the question that I have is: given the premise that the president's actions to date have largely been directed by his desire to be re-elected, what will he do if he gets a second term? I have a real fear about the consequences of another four years of him. Two things that I have learned from our current president: you don't have to be smart to be rich, and anyone can be president.

Powers keep on lyin'

While your people keep on dyin'

World keep on turnin'

Cause it won't be too long

- Stevie Wonder, Higher ground, Innervisions, 1973

20200620 - Corona Virus Part 14 - Black Lives Matter Part 3

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, CO2 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

20200613 - Corona Virus Part 13 - Black Lives Matter Part 2

Howdy and welcome from our little tin can by the sea. Wendy and I weathered last week's tropical storm only to be in another rainy weekend this week as well. That's summer in Florida, though - rain in the afternoon followed by sunshine in the morning. Most of Florida has implemented "Phase Two" of reopening. In this phase, bars, movie theaters, tattoo shops, massage parlors, and tanning salons can reopen, with capacity and distancing restrictions. Thank goodness that I don't drink. It's just a recipe for disaster with the way the corona virus infection rate has been escalating. The chart to the left shows the increase since Memorial Day, when the "planned reopening" commenced. In about a month, there will be an associated bump in the number of deaths. Over the past week, the "Black Lives Matter" protests have taken eyes off of the corona virus, much like the corona virus has taken our eyes from matters like global warming and climate change. The media focuses our vision, so it's best to avert our eyes from that, as well. I only watch twenty minutes of TV each day during the week, while I'm eating a bowl of cereal in the morning. I started doing that some time back, so I could catch the weather and traffic before driving into work, and now it has become part of my morning routine. The town hall meeting at work was centered on Black Lives Matter, as was the Veteran's Social Hour. I'm still working from home, and as I plan for the remainder of this year, I don't believe that I'll be going into work until mid year 2021 at the earliest. My empathy is being split between my realization of the bigotry I've accepted over my life and the love I have for family members that are in the police force. As this unfolds, though, my disdain for unions is showing it's ugly head. I'll address that more in the politics area below.

Cases

Deaths

Scope	Cases	% Inc.	Deaths	% Inc.
Worldwide	7,806,582	13.0	430,111	7.6
United States	2,128,118	7.9	117,088	5.0
Florida	73,596	17.3	2,928	8.9
Pinellas County	2,103	42.3	102	7.4

And on to the numbers, which I've summarized in the table to the left. Generally, the percentages have declined over the past week, with two exceptions: the number of cases for Florida and for Pinellas County. Florida's week-over-week percentage increase went from 13.2% last week to 17.3% this week and contributing to that statistic is Pinellas county's jump from 19.4% to 42.3%! That's crazy! Whatever the plan is here, it's not working.

I haven't gotten out since Monday, but Google tells me that our local 7/11 is selling gas for $2.00/gal. The DJIA had a rough Thursday this week and that has put it in decline over the week. It started on Monday at 27233 and ending on Friday afternoon at 25597. One odd bit of news is that our Treasury Secretary refuses to disclose who received small business loans from the money appropriated by Congress to ease the shutdown caused by COVID-19. This has raised a lot of alarms in the nation'a capital, though I feel that nothing will get done about it. ABC has taken the tact of the freedom of information act, which may be enforceable through the courts.

And that brings me to politics. I'm not a fan of this section, but a lot is happening, so I will write about some of it. First, the Black Lives Matter protests have become largely peaceable. The looting has diminished, though now the rhetoric wheels are moving. One side wants complete police reform, while the other wants to include and advice to dissuade choke holds. There will be a middle ground somewhere, and community by community, we will find one. This is where the PACs and Unions come in. The unions are putting out solidarity messages to their members, and the PACs with them are telling the various candidates what they want. So, the police union is involved with buying political offices. The only argument they present is a tu quoque - "they did it too," pointing to the American Bar Association, AMA, various corporate PACs, etc. So, I'm sick of it. I now realize that these institutions are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

There is no pain, you are receding

A distant ship, smoke on the horizon

You are only coming through in waves

Your lips move, but I can't hear what you're saying

When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse

Out of the corner of my eye

I turned to look, but it was gone

I cannot put my finger on it now

The child is grown, the dream is gone

- David Gilmour and Roger Waters, Comfortably numb, The Wall, Pink Floyd, 1979

Mother, mother

There's too many of you crying

Brother, brother, brother

There's far too many of you dying

You know we've got to find a way

To bring some loving here today, yeah

- Marvin Gaye, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, and Al Cleveland, What's going on, What's going on, 1971