COVID testkits website – An extreme example of “selfitis” – Plans for new capital in Indonesia – Evening statistics
The U.S. Government has now set up a website to order free COVID testkits. Since I wished to have some on hand, I clicked on the link and the form for ordering the testkits proved to be surprisingly easy, taking me all of 15 seconds to complete. A confirmation Email showed up in my Inbox almost immediately afterwards. It is somewhat ironic to be able to obtain them so effortlessly when pharmacies have been unable to supply them for months and just about the only way to obtain them was to order online from a private vendor at exorbitant cost or travel to regions (such as West Virginia, where one of my friends was able to purchase ten testkits from one of the stores) where the attitude towards the virus is somewhat more cavalier than it is here.
Lynda Douglas, of Ottawa, can certainly respond rapidly when an emergency strikes. She was driving her car on the Rideau River, whose surface was frozen. She was unaware, apparently, that rivers have currents and that seemingly solid ice surfaces might not in fact support the weight of an automobile. The ice broke and the car began to sink. As various onlookers frantically sent out a kayak and ropes to rescue her, she managed to climb onto the top of the submerging vehicle, whereupon she proceeded to – take a selfie on her cell phone. One might have thought that she would take the trouble to bestow a glance or two upon the local residents striving to pull her out of the ice-cold water before she sank in and succumbed to hypothermia; but no, her main concern was to secure an exciting photo that she could post on Twitter. She has been charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle under the Criminal Code of Canada.
Indonesia is making plans to establish a new capital city. Jakarta, which contains over 10 million people, is, unsurprisingly, extremely congested. It is also flooded with alarming frequency and, what is worse, is rapidly sinking on account of over-extraction of ground water. Parts of north Jakarta are falling at an estimated 25 centimeters (10 inches) a year, due to subsidence – including even the seawall designed as a buffer for communities. Under the project, Jakarta will remain the country’s commercial and financial center, but government administrative functions will move to Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo, accounting for about three-quarters of its area), approximately 1,250 miles north-east of Jakarta. The Indonesian administration has an additional motive for relocating the capital: redistribution of wealth. Java, the island on which Jakarta is located, is home to 60% of the country’s population and more than half of its economic activity, even though Kalimantan is almost four times its size.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 334,920,607; # of deaths worldwide: 5,563,112; # of cases U.S.: 67,494,969; # of deaths; U.S.: 874,213. At this point over 1 in 5 Americans have been afflicted with the virus, over and above those who have died from it.