Philadephia: a retrospective – The rally in Omaha – Evening statistics – The second wave in Europe
In Philadelphia rioting and looting has been ongoing for the second consecutive day following the shooting death of Walter Wallace, policemen have sustained numerous injuries, and residents have been placed under curfew – but I am neglecting my responsibilities. I should be concentrating on new developments and not dwelling upon such trite tales. To say that the residents of Philadelphia skulk about in fear and trepidation is like saying that grass is green and that rain is wet; they’ve been doing nothing else for years. I mention the circumstance for old acquaintance sake, having had the misfortune to live in that gloomy, unwelcoming, violence-plagued, inhospitable city when I was a graduate student. My movements during that period had to be very circumscribed indeed, not only on account of the hostility (none the less acute for being quite impersonal, being generated out of a love of malice for its own sake) that greeted me whenever I ventured on foot into any neighborhood, black or white, outside of the university campus, but also on account the drivers’ attitudes towards pedestrians, by far the worst of any city I have visited, including Beijing and Rome. The Boston drivers, who have a reputation of making life miserable for those who walk the streets of their city, are models of courtesy in comparison. Then there was the matter of the football games; whether the Eagles were victorious or defeated for the day, any game they played was a guarantee of a sleepless night, on account of the enthusiastic expressions of glee or disappointment on the part of their dedicated fanbase on the neighborhood streets, lasting well after 4:00 AM. So great was my resentment at being forced to restrict my movements on a daily basis and so great was the loathing that I developed for the place, that it reached a point when I began to wonder whether, if I were to hear of a catastrophe that wreaked destruction upon the entire city, I would be able to display the proper amount of grief. This animus has modified somewhat over the years. The city is said to have improved since the time I resided there and on the brief visits that I have made on occasion I have seen for myself that the area around the university is much pleasanter than it was in former days – but the city appears to be regressing yet again, and on the whole I would be just as well satisfied not to see it any more.
The rally for Trump in Nebraska was not without interest. It took place at the Eppley Airfield in Omaha, with temperatures in the 30s. Several were taken to the hospital after the event as a result of standing for hours in the freezing cold and some had to walk three miles to the shuttle buses after Trump ended his speech and departed. This image of Trump’s supporters being left out in the cold is no very inapt emblem of his administrative approach in general, as Biden (among others) was swift to point out.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 44,738,099; # of deaths worldwide: 1,178,513; # of cases U.S.: 9,117,931; # of deaths U.S.: 233,123. We have sustained nearly 80,000 new cases today, the highest daily total to date, and over 1,000 deaths; of the daily increase in deaths worldwide, we account for 14/6% of the total.
Ours is not the only nation undergoing difficulties, of course. Germany has now imposed a new lockdown that will last at least four weeks. Restaurants, bars, cinemas, theaters and other leisure facilities have been shut down, although restaurants may provide takeout for their customers. The country had nearly 15,000 new cases today and many more are predicted. France is also imposing a lockdown; more than half of its intensive care units are occupied by COVID patients. Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Britain and the Czech Republic have all seen a surge of new cases in the past 14 days. The European region in general (which as defined by the WHO includes Russia, Turkey, Israel and Central Asia) is entrenched in the so-called “second wave”; it accounts for nearly half of the new COVID virus cases this week.