Morning statistics – President Bolonsaro in Byronic mold – The Republican Convention – Inexplicable behavior of a Fox News commentator – Ebola in the Congo – Evening statistics
Today’s statistics as of 9:00 AM — # of cases worldwide: 6,483,896; # of deaths worldwide: 383,105; # of cases U.S.: 1,882,148; # of deaths U.S.: 108,104.
“I regret every death but that’s everyone’s destiny.” Ah, President Jair Bolsonaro, that Byronic figure! Specifically, he seems a male counterpart of Donna Inez in Byron’s Don Juan:
And then this best and meekest woman bore With such serenity her husband’s woes, Just as Spartan ladies did of yore, Who saw their spouses killed, and nobly chose Never to say a word about them more – Calmly she heard each calumny that rose, And saw his agonies with such sublimity, That all the world exclaimed, “What magnaminity!”
Donald Trump has withdrawn the Republican convention from Charlotte, NC, after Roy Cooper, the state governor, insisted on maintaining the option of size restrictions for the number of people occupying the Spectrum Arena. Cooper has not budged on his conditions and is probably relieved rather than otherwise at the prospect of Trump holding the convention elsewhere. Trump claims that the convention would have brought wealth and jobs to the state, but he is, I should imagine, likely to prove to be a very troublesome guest. He is now searching for another state willing to host the convention on his terms: no limits on crowd size, no face masks. And even if he finds one there is the matter of organization; normally these conventions take many months to plan in advance. Nonetheless there are several states vying for this dubious honor: Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona have all expressed interest. The case of Georgia is especially significant; Governor Kemp evidently has no resentment for the manner in which Trump abruptly let him down in late April. That is how Trump operates: he deliberately injures people, and they respond by apologizing for having been wronged.
The moon must have been aligned with Jupiter or some other rare astronomical event must have occurred recently, for yesterday we were treated to the astounding spectacle of a Fox News commentator being scathingly critical of Donald Trump – specifically, of his response to the recent protests. Tucker Carlson, who normally is as obedient to Trump as any owner of a pet poodle could desire, lambasted the president for failing to protect citizens from the rioters and even delivered a boutade* to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, that outstanding possessor of high connections without any corresponding merit or ability.
There is an outbreak of Ebola in Mbandaka, a city in the western part of the DRC. Ebola is much less contagious then COVID-19 and is therefore easier to contain, but occasional outbreaks have continued to plague the Congo from time to time. The last one occurred in 2018 and there were some fears that it could spread to Kinshasa, which has a population of over ten million. But it was contained in time. Still, as the WHO points out, this outbreak is a reminder that there are numerous other health threats diseases besides COVID-19.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 6,562,481; # of deaths worldwide: 386,784; # of cases U.S.: 1,901,702; # of deaths U.S.: 109,140. Peru’s case count has just surpassed Turkey’s, making it ninth of the list of nations with the highest counts. Mexico’s death toll today is the highest it has experienced so far. The following countries, including the microstates, have incidence rates of more than 0.5% (one in two hundred): Qatar, San Marino, Andorra, Bahrain, Mayotte, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Singapore, Spain, Chile, U.S., Peru, Iceland, Gibralter, Iceland, and Belgium.
*I am at a loss to find an English equivalent of this energetic French word, which signifies a sudden jerking or kicking from a horse.