Morning statistics – Eric Trump, naïf – Lori Lightfoot’s priorities – J. B. Pritzker restricts the movements of every family except his own – Hiking in Great Falls and Riverbend – The hurricanes begin – Nigerian reaction to air flight violation – Evening statistics
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 AM — # of cases worldwide: 4,744,867; # of deaths worldwide: 313,738; # of cases U.S.: 1,507,798; # of deaths U.S.: 90,113. Russia’s case count now exceeds that of Spain; it is second only to the U.S. at this point. China maintains that it has only 87 active cases, 10 of them severe; yet it has doubled the number of tests for the virus in Wuhan after it revealed that a new cluster of infections emerged after the release of its lockdown on April 8th.
Eric Trump has claimed that the coronavirus – which at this stage has killed well over 300,000 people and possibly many more not officially ascribed to it – is a ploy devised by the Democrats to discredit the administration and that it will “magically disappear” after Election Day in November. This statement brings up an interesting question: the familiar issue of nature vs. nurture, in fact. Has Eric Trump arrived at such conclusions because he is inherently credulous or because he has been taught by example and upbringing to believe whatever is most convenient for him, regardless of evidence? Either way, it shows that inanity is a family trait.
Lori Lightfoot appears to be light-hearted and even a bit light-headed in her attitudes towards homicide. Forty-six people were shot during the first weekend in May in Chicago, four of them fatally. During that same weekend, there were rumors of half-a-dozen parties being held without proper social distancing. It was these latter offenders whom Lightfoot scolded in her most recent press conference. “We will shut you down, we will cite you, and if we have to, we will arrest you,” the city mayor said. “Don’t make us treat you like a criminal, but if you act like a criminal and you violate the law and refuse to do what’s necessary to save lives in the middle of a pandemic, we will take you to jail, period.” The Cook County Jail has recently released over 1,300 inmates, several of them convicted rapists and murderers. Perhaps a slightly more effective way of saving lives, whether during a pandemic or not, would be to restrain people with a history of violence; but that aspect of the matter does not appear to have occurred to her. However, she doubtless will be able to obtain solace for the city’s loss of human life by means of another private haircut from her personal salon stylist.
In fairness to the mayor, she has the excuse that J. B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, has evidently decided that the stay-at-home order does not apply to him or his family, and has reinforced precept with example by sending his wife to Florida, in violation of the restrictions on travel that he has laid down for the entire state.
Today I went via the Cross-County Trail at Leigh Mill/Ramey Meadows along Difficult Run to the Great Falls National Park and to Riverbend State Park. The park entrances are closed but trails themselves are open. It was cloudy today but not wet and the temperature was agreeably cool. The falls are as glorious as ever, being especially full as a result of the recent rains. I have never seen spiderwort in such profusion and the mountain laurels, with their distinctive ten-sided blossoms and petals fused together, creamy white tinged with pink at the edges, are just beginning to open. Many birds were flying overhead, each species making its distinctive call. I saw one species of sparrow, with metallic green feathers covering its head and back, eating at one of the bird feeders in Riverbend. The hike was about 14 miles in all, with perhaps 1200 feet of elevation gain. My total mileage for this year is now over 800. I did just under 1750 miles last year, but this year I may reach as much as 2000. I went on this hike in part because BL was supposed to lead the Vigorous Hikers on a route in this area on the 26th. Since he has been ill, I agree to lead it instead, which is why I scouted it today. It appears that we can hike using the original route; we will merely be starting and ending at a different place.
The hurricane season has begun. Tropical Storm Arthur is evolving several miles ashore from the Southeastern states. It will be close to the North Carolina shoreline by Monday. It is not expected to do a great deal of wind damage, but it will end up by dumping a great deal of rain in the area. We may get as much as 3-4 inches of rain this coming week.
Nigeria has impounded a British airplane for breaking the coronavirus restrictions imposed by that nation. Passenger flights into the country, with the exception of ones to evacuate people or repatriate Nigerian citizens, have been banned for weeks. The ban will remain in place until at least June 4. Flights conducted for humanitarian purposes (shipment of medical supplies, for example) are permitted, but no others. Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika has said of the matter, “The craft is impounded, crew being interrogated. There shall be maximum penalty.” One hesitates to imagine what the maximum penalty can be. Nigerian law can be fairly severe. Terrorism-related offenses are among the crimes considered capital, and so is robbery; the crew will have to hope that they will not be charged with one or the other.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 4,798,952; # of deaths worldwide: 316,514; # of cases U.S.: 1,527,352; # of deaths U.S.: 90,973. Brazil’s official case count is just barely under that of the U.K. It’s still fifth on the list of nations with the highest count, but the real incidence is probably a great deal more. For instance, it possesses over 13 million people alone living in favelas, where accurate testing is virtually unobtainable. Sao Paulo’s hospital beds are already filled to 90% capacity. Cases in Mexico continue to spike, but its lockdown is ending tomorrow all the same. Even though the number of active cases in Spain is declining, its incidence rate is close to 0.6% of the population. Russia recently became second on the list of nations with the highest count, but Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, states openly that the actual infection rates are about three times higher than reported. He has made it clear that he has no intention of ending the lockdown in the capital. In comparison, Putin remains strangely passive, confining himself to his private residence and delegating the work of easing lockdown restrictions to the various regional governors. Some officials have announced that the impact of the virus there is stabilizing, but the validity of this claim remains to be seen.