Morning statistics – Shooting rampage in Canada – The sourdough starter in progress – Shakespeare on bread-making – The Government’s insatiable appetite for paper – Drive-in movies – Two teenaged bigots – The death of a firefighter’s child – Evening statistics
Today’s statistics as of 7:00 AM — # of cases worldwide: 2,419,724; # of deaths worldwide: 165,799; # of cases U.S.: 764,235; # of deaths U.S.: 40,565. In Spain the case count is over 200,000 and the death count is nearly 21,000. In Belgium the number of deaths is nearly 6000, or more than 1 in every 2000 per capita. However, this may be due to how Belgium reports its deaths. All deaths in nursing homes at this point are automatically attributed to the virus, whereas less than 10% of these are confirmed to be the result of COVID-19. Since over 50% of the deaths occurred in nursing homes, this method of counting can only lead to skewed data. It’s one thing to cover your bases and err on the side of caution in order to get the effects of the virus under control; it’s quite another to inflate data until it becomes meaningless. The country is following a general lifting of lockdown measures just like its neighbors, which suggests that the virus is somewhat less severe there than the statistics would indicate. Evidently the Belgians themselves don’t place much stock in their own data.
A shooting rampage has occurred in Nova Scotia, in a small town near Halifax. The perpetrator disguised himself as a policeman and shot 16 people in their homes, apparently at random. It is not known whether the virus was a contributing factor (if, for example, the lockdown caused him to lose his job).
Our national debt now exceeds $24 trillion, which is greater than our gross national product – the first time this condition has occurred since WWII.
I’m making progress on the sourdough starter. This morning the mixture acquired the sponge-like appearance described in the cookbook. I have added milk and flour to double the amount (otherwise I would have to go through the process of creating a starter again the next time I wanted to bake bread) and am waiting for it to become spongy again. Starters take a long time to make. I had to pour out a glassful of milk and wait two days for it to sour; then, after adding the flour, I had to wait another two days for the mixture to become spongy. The method for making bread will actually require the better part of another two days. One has to use the starter to make a batter, let it rise overnight, and then complete the process the next day, which means adding more flour, kneading, shaping the loaves, and baking them. Making a loaf of bread can be an intricate process, as Shakespeare noted in Troilus and Cressida:
PANDARUS: He that will have a cake out of the wheat must tarry the grinding. TROILUS: Have I not tarried? PANDARUS: Ay, the grinding, but you must tarry the bolting. TROILUS: Have I not tarried? PANDARUS: Ay, the bolting, but you must tarry the leavening. TROILUS: Still have I tarried. PANDARUS: Ay, to the leavening but here’s yet in the word hereafter the kneading, the making of the cake, the heating the oven, and the baking. Nay, you must stay the cooling too, or ye may chance burn your lips.
(Incidentally, this discussion about bread-making is actually an extended metaphor for Troilus’ desire to bed Pandarus’ niece, and that last reference to burning one’s lips contains a suggestion of venereal disease. Shakespeare never missed out on an opportunity to be bawdy.)
I had to fax some forms this morning and I was worried as to whether the UPS store would be open. My concerns were groundless; it is considered an essential service and was operating as usual. The personnel there were not even wearing face masks.
The forms that I sent were filled out on my mother’s behalf for the Veterans Administration to claim survivor benefits. My father died this past November and I have been filling out forms for my mother since that time. I initially had to supply fifty pages of documentation to the VA. But that, apparently, was insufficient; since that time the accountants have been sending me one form after another to fill out, and when I do so and turn it in, they send me a request for an additional form. This process has been going on for six months. Their appetite for paper seems to be insatiable. In my mother’s case it is less of an issue than for many others. I have the energy to pursue the matter for her and, since I am retired, I have the leisure as well. But I have to wonder what happens to the surviving spouses of military men and women who similarly elderly and infirm. If they don’t get outside assistance, they will be unable to handle the paperwork themselves and consequently they will be deprived of the benefits that they should be receiving.
Drive-in movies may be making a comeback. It obviously is impractical to attempt to run movies in theatres as long as the measures prohibiting large gatherings remain in force. But if the movies are to be distributed at all, it seems likely that drive-ins will be the answer. Actually, the current conditions are merely accelerating an existing trend. Movie theatres have had to face declines in attendance as it has become continually easier to view movies on workstations at home. It is possible that drive-ins will be a temporary fix only and that once the stay-at-home restrictions are lifted people will revert to watching movies in theatres or at home again. But it is not a certainty. People might discover a type of communal enjoyment in watching films in this manner, and the demand for drive-ins could conceivably increase. If so, it would one of the many unexpected consequences of the pandemic’s aftermath.
Jeffery Hume and Stephanie Freeman, two high school students from Georgia, posted an absolutely disgusting video denigrating African-Americans on TikTok, a video-sharing network. It is truly remarkable in its way: one does not expect to see such concentrated malevolence in youngsters not yet eighteen. The video went “viral,” as the term goes, and this precious pair discovered belatedly that bad actions have bad consequences. In addition to receiving some well-earned abuse from various viewers, they have been expelled from their high school without the prospect of graduating and getting their diplomas. Hume, who is a junior wrestler, has been excluded from WWA4, the wrestling organization. Freeman tried to do some damage control by posting some rather lame apologies, the sincerity of which has been questioned by numerous commentators. I believe, however, that she truly is sorry for having made a fool of herself on such an enormous scale, for there is nothing as ridiculous as having been found out. It seems that she has since contracted the coronavirus, giving her the dubious distinction of being the only person afflicted with the illness for whom I cannot feel the slightest sympathy.
Another sad story: Skylar Herbert, the daughter of a first-responder firefighter, died of the virus at the age of five. It is not clear how she contracted the virus. Her father showed symptoms and was tested for COVID-19, but the results were inconclusive. She herself has been kept at home for weeks and had no pre-existing conditions. But whatever the reason, she fell ill, was tested, and shown to be positive. In her case the virus developed into meningitis. Viral meningitis, as opposed to bacterial meningitis, has a lower mortality rate; but of course a five-year old child does not have the level of resistance common to adults. It is heart-breaking to look at the photos shown in the articles about her. She appears to have been of a happy disposition – not merely smiling for the camera, but smiling as a result of a natural zest for life. She showed promise of beauty as well. The case occurred in one of the areas in Detroit – in the entire state for that matter – hardest hit by the virus. In the meantime protestors have been besieging Lansing with cries to rescind the lockdown.
Today’s statistics as of 10:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 2,481,287; # of deaths worldwide: 170,436; # of cases U.S.: 792,759; # of deaths U.S.: 42,514.