Morning statistics – Trump vs. social media – Russian health care workers – Russian nursing homes – Who needs pants? – Racial relations unraveling – Will the handshake become obsolete? – Lightening of restrictions in Northern Virginia – Dinner at home – Ted Cruz defends his father’s defamer – Brett Crozier again – Evening statistics
Today’s statistics as of 9:00 AM — # of cases worldwide: 5,819,274; # of deaths worldwide: 358,017; # of cases U.S.: 1,746,335; # of deaths U.S.: 102,116.
I didn’t scan through the news yesterday and now that I’ve gone through it today I almost wish that I had remained in a state of happy ignorance. The more of it I read, the more depressed I get. President Trump has threatened to shut down various social media. Trump, as is very well-known, has been using Twitter continually, far more often than any other prominent politician. But Twitter has recently issued a fact-checker that appends labels for new tweets, which is considered to be exercising an editorial function. “The law still protects social media companies like @Twitter because they are considered forums not publishers,” said Mario Rubio, Trump’s staunch ally. “But if they have now decided to exercise an editorial role like a publisher then they should no longer be shielded from liability & treated as publishers under the law.” And what sort of forum did he use to issue this statement? Twitter, of course! Consistency, thou art a jewel; but thou are not likely to adorn Trump’s self-created tiara.
Russia health care workers are facing a challenge unknown to those in the U.S. In the U.S., the health care workers have generally been lauded as heroes during this crisis. In Russia they have been treated with fear and disdain; many see them as collaborators with the state in restricting their freedom. In the meantime thousands of Russian health care workers have contracted the virus. Official reports say that about 100 workers have died from the virus, but an unofficial tally compiled by the health care workers themselves concludes that over 300 have already succumbed.
The low death count from the virus in Russia is in part explained by the fact that Russia counts only those who died from the virus directly and not cases in which the virus accelerated other factors. This effect has been demonstrated by several nursing homes, where the virus has swept through and claimed hundreds of victims; but only a fraction of them are listed as having died from the virus. In addition, the nursing homes are under pressure to conceal their losses, out of fear of prosecution for negligence.
An odd item from Taneytown, MD: it seems that some residents have gone walked to their mailboxes and collected their mail without putting on their pants first. Indecent exposure, in Maryland, is defined as intentionally showing one’s genitals in public, so it is perhaps not surprising that this habit spurred the police to issue a public warning to citizens on its Facebook page. The good citizens of Taneytown did not respond with the gravity that the police appear to believe such an offense should warrant. Many posted replies containing facetious GIFs, such as the one showing Winnie the Pooh dancing, captioned “Life’s too short for pants.”
Protests have been disrupting Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd. He was arrested on a charge of fraud, but there was no sign of his resisting the arrest. Nonetheless one of the policeman put a choke-hold on him for more than seven minutes, ignoring his cries that he was unable to breathe. Afterwards a call was made for medical assistance, but Floyd eventually died on his way to the hospital. This comes after the Ahmaud Arbery murder: a black man jogging who was shot by Gregory and Travis McMichael, a father-and-son team, while a third man aided and abetted them by driving along and interposing his vehicle wherever Arbery turned to escape his hunters. William Bryan, the driver, was sadistic enough to videotape the encounter and idiotic enough to post his video to the public. The three were eventually arraigned, but it took more than two months for charges to be brought against them; the trial has not yet taken place.
The simple handshake may become a casualty of the virus. Dr. Fauci, for instance, has stated that we should forego this habit to prevent spreading not only the COVID-19 virus but other communicable diseases as well. Whether this is so or not, we undoubtedly are going to be more wary of touching one another, even after the pandemic is over.
It was wet this morning, but the rain cleared up by the early afternoon. It was a little humid but not oppressively so, and there were occasional breezes that prevented one from getting overly heated. I confined myself to walking locally. Most of Virginia has already undergone Phase One of the re-opening, but the counties within the Greater Metro area of DC have delayed matters slightly. Restrictions are starting to ease up now. There was a little more activity in the city today. Cafés and delis are open. They were not doing what I would call a thriving business but they did have some customers. A couple of them had tables for outside dining, and a few of these were occupied. People are gradually renewing their outside activities. Restaurants will be open tomorrow if they confine themselves to 50% seating capacity. The same is true of retail stores. Salons, barbershops, and spas will be available by appointment only, and both the employees and the customers must wear masks.
Today’s dinner, if I may so, was good: cioppino, with zucchini, rice, cherries, and bread, which I made from the sourdough starter. The bread came out quite well, but it did not have the distinctive sourdough taste. The starter is a couple of weeks old, so it should have developed that flavor by now. We will see if it develops the characteristic winy taste eventually.
Ted Cruz has gotten into trouble – or, more accurately, has stumbled into it – by trying to encourage a reporter to pursue Donald Trump’s far-fetched conspiracy theories about his predecessor, Barack Obama. Curiously, Trump had floated another conspiracy theory in 2016, when he and Ted Cruz were rivals for the Republican nomination, about Rafael Cruz being involved in the assassin of President Kennedy in 1963. Now Cruz has become Trump’s ardent partisan, even though the latter has attempted to defame Cruz’s own father. What love potion has Trump fed Cruz and his like to deprive them of their wits?
Admiral Mike Gilday, the chief admiral of the Navy, received a report from the internal investigation about the debacle of the USS Roosevelt. This report was demanded by James MacPherson, the acting Navy secretary, after receiving a recommendation that Crozier be restored to his command but who decreed that a report was necessary to address some unanswered questions. Now MacPherson himself is on the way out, being replaced by Kenneth Braithwaite. After the report is reviewed by Braithwaite he will send it on to Defense Secretary Mark Esper for yet another review.
It took only a day for an incompetent, corrupt, and foul-tongued bureaucrat to fire Crozier for taking his responsibility towards his crew seriously; and at this rate it will take months to restore him. If, indeed, that ever happens.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 5,900,627; # of deaths worldwide: 361,773; # of cases U.S.: 1,768,218; # of deaths U.S.: 103,329. Brazil’s case count and death toll are now both over one-quarter of that of the U.S. And that’s assuming that the figures are accurate, which almost certainly is not the case.