Yeah, the Dow dropped almost 3000 points today. That’s a drop of 30% in less than a month – they understand the seriousness of the situation.
Today restaurants in Michigan were ordered to close their dining rooms. They may still serve the carryout business. Which means Laney’s memorial luncheon, scheduled for the end of the month, has been indefinitely postponed.
Mark Sumner of Daily Kos gave the day’s statistics in his daily summary. As of yesterday, there are 4,450 cases in the US and 77 deaths. By late afternoon there were another 650 cases identified today, likely 900 by the end of the day. New York state has passed 1,000 cases, Washington state passed 700.
I add this is the number of cases for which tests have been done. There are a lot of sick people for whom a test wasn’t been authorized, so we don’t know how many cases of COVID19 are out there.
My stash of fresh veggies is about gone, so I’ll be switching to frozen. Maybe it isn’t yet time to stock up. Sumner wrote:
I missed the latest announcement from Donald Trump this afternoon, as I was busy gawking at the full parking lots and empty shelves at the three nearest stores. What people were shopping for among the empty aisles, I can’t say: I managed to land some frozen fish, some crackers, and a box of Tastykake pecan swirls. And coffee. Two packages of coffee. Which means I made out okay. But this seemed to be the day that my neighbors here in Missouri snapped from “It’s just the flu” to trampling each other for any sign of a paper product.
Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project of the Institute for Policy studies. She and Sam Pizzigati edit inequality.org. They note that as the rest of us suffer and many of us will die the wealthy are figuring out how to profit from our misery and pass laws to increase our oppression. But this is also an opportunity for the reverse to happen.
Alas, I see the wrong party is in control to allow passage of policies that would improve our circumstances.
Quote of the day:
I am very cautious of people who are absolutely right, especially when they are vehemently so.
~~Michael Palin, Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years
Dan Kois of Slate wrote:
All over America, the coronavirus is revealing, or at least reminding us, just how much of contemporary American life is bullshit, with power structures built on punishment and fear as opposed to our best interest. Whenever the government or a corporation benevolently withdraws some punitive threat because of the coronavirus, it’s a signal that there was never any good reason for that threat to exist in the first place.
Joan McCarter of Daily Kos reports there are 2,160 rural hospitals in the US. That’s already down 5% in the last decade. But one in five – 20% – are at risk of closing over this pandemic. It must be a feature of the GOP plan. A majority of those already closed are in states where GOP governors and legislatures refused to expand Medicaid.
McCarter then discusses the daunting problems faced by such hospitals as the one in Dayton, Washington (where Medicaid expansion was passed), such as a shortage of supplies (they found masks, gloves, gowns, and sanitizer at the lumber store).
Derek Johnson tweeted a thread about what his friend, who is a doctor, described at their last county board of health meeting. When we run out of hospital beds, where do we put patients? How do we make objective decisions about who gets the two ventilators? Do we have enough morphine for those who are dying and we can’t help? Do we keep a doctor out of rotation so we have someone when other medical staff get sick?
Johnson suggested the doctor should share this widely. She replied, “I’ve been told I can’t speak out much.”
Laura Clawson of Daily Kos takes up the issue those doctors were discussing – how do we ration care?
First, we already do. The current system of rationing in the US is based on money. Can you or your insurance pay? Somehow we think that’s natural and fair. But that is different than rationing because of too few ventilators. The public might accept rationing – unless it looks like it favors the rich or politicians.
Clawson describes the Italian priority system. How likely are you to recover? How long are you likely to live after recovery? Intensive care won’t go to the elderly. Nor to cancer patients. If you’re on a ventilator and don’t improve you might be taken off.
But there are those in the US who haven’t received adequate care for years because of the current money rationing. Which means underlying conditions are likely worse and may disqualify for treatment of the virus.
The House passed a good coronavirus relief package on Friday. The Senate will … maybe take it up Tuesday afternoon. Or later. Such urgency. GOP senators are already slamming it – and lying as they do so. Reminder: they don’t care if we die and likely prefer that we do.
The nasty guy has told state governors you deal with it. Several governors, such as Jay Inslee of New Mexico and Michelle Lujan Grisham reacted angrily saying the entire nation is at risk if one state doesn’t get the resources it needs. States should not compete against each other for scraps. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York tweeted at the nasty guy in response:
Happy to do your job, too. Just give me control of the Army Corps of Engineers and I’ll take it from there.
As part of Mark Sumner’s daily virus status report he suggested writing about what life was about now and last week because this will be before. Life will likely be quite different after. It might be good to have a record to allow comparison. So, here’s a bit of what my life was like recently.
My performing handbell ensemble was rehearsing for a concert three weeks away. Rehearsals were past learning the notes and into putting a concert together. The concert and the next few weeks of rehearsal have been canceled. My church bell choir was rehearsing a piece for Palm Sunday at the beginning of April. At the last rehearsal there was light attendance for a variety of reasons, so I spent time teaching a first-year ringer how to handle four different bells in a row. He was determined to master it, but hadn’t when the hour was over. Much of my composing since September has been to write pieces compatible with a church service, a smaller than standard number of ringers, and beginners. I now have enough to last to the end of our spring season (if we have one). I may try to get them published.
Two of my Sunday lunch friends had surgery on the same day a few weeks back, one to replace a knee, the other to piece together a shattered hip. Before my travels I visited both. I called the one with the replaced knee. She’s doing well, forgetting to actually use her cane as she walks around the house. The other isn’t doing well. The only person allowed to visit her now is her husband, who has his own health issues.
A big issue in my life is what the United Methodist Church will do at its General Conference scheduled for the first half of May. No postponement has been announced. Will our denomination amicably split? Or will conservatives muck it up for the rest of us?
I frequently go to Detroit Symphony Orchestra concerts. They are a top quality orchestra and I enjoy listening to them. A new Artistic Director starts in September and I anticipate the energy he brings to the group. I heard him direct the orchestra a few months ago.
The Ruth Ellis Center is still going strong, though the number of youth there tends to be light as the seasons change. They are currently renovating a larger building. They first said it would be ready in October, then November, January, and now April. In the meantime I’m now taking ear pugs for the loud dance music. I should contact them tomorrow about their plans for Wednesday.
I’m contemplating getting back into teaching, perhaps as a tutor in music theory. I contacted one school a couple months ago but they didn’t respond to my query. No reason to contact another now.
My bicycle has been idle since fall. Perhaps I can pump up the tires is a few weeks and get out on the road where there’s a great deal of social distancing. I have a map to which I’ve added pins to show the extent of my wanderings each year. I haven’t added to it in the last couple years because a new pin would require a trip of close to 2½ hours. Last summer a ride of 90 minutes seemed like enough.
I wanted to replace my driveway and garage floor last fall. The concrete company fell through. Late winter sounds like a time to try to get a spring job lined up, but maybe not right now. Cleaning out the garage in preparation for that prompted me to get started doing something about the garage walls. I’ve taken down some of the old paneling, the rest is sheets too big to handle alone. My brother has talked about helping me while he’s currently in the US. The possibility of him coming has prompted me to do some cleaning and organizing around the house.
Time to stop. Maybe more glimpses into my life later.
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