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shadowkatGloomy with periods of passing blue skies, but not a lot of hope on the horizon.
Mother and I are both depressed. She cries every day on the phone now. Usually about how much she misses my father, and how she wishes she could bring him home. Every day - "I want to bring your father home". Mother is holding desperately onto that hope. But I don't see how she possibly can, and I fear for her if she does. The latest separation - due to the COVID outbreaks in South Carolina (because of stupid-ass entitled anti-vaxxers) - is hard on my parents. My father's facility has been locked down for 14 days with no outside visitations, so mother can just call him. And it's hard to talk on the phone with someone struggling with dementia.
There's an article in the Times that I read over the weekend stating that we should feel empathy and compassion for the anti-vaxxers. I am sorry I can't feel anything but disdain for them. I don't know if that makes me a horrible person or merely human? Since I can't feel compassion for them, I avoid them.
Work...gives me something useful to do and focus on. Back in the office again tomorrow. At least no head-ache today.
***
[That's a picture of a wooden statue in an art museum in San Jose, Costa Rica. It gets across how I'm feeling at the moment. ]
* Today, according to the NY Times Morning Briefing, The Secretary of State, New York, resigned. This is Melissa Da Rosa, Cuomo's righthand woman, who was with him on all those news briefings. She handed him her resignation on Sunday. She'd been his staunchest defender. Apparently she finally got fed up - being attacked by the press, etc. He kind of pulled her down with him. She's 38, and had gotten to a high position in NY, where she was able to effect sizable change. According to the article - Charlotte Bennett's account visibly upset her. She didn't believe Boylan's, but Bennett's she didn't know about. And while in the governor's motorcade, she confronted him on it, then got out of the car at a traffic stop, enraged.
I think the Governor's days are numbered. He'll be out by the end of this year, is my guess, if not before. I don't know how that will affect crazy workplace. Except that I doubt the Lt. Governor will be quite as hands on in regards to infrastructure and development. Cuomo has a huge ego and invested a lot of it in what Crazy Org was doing, his Lt, I think, has different priorities.
I also suspect the new Mayor of NYC will find it easier with Cuomo out.
But really, who knows? I find it hard to care either way.
* Cases are raising in the US. Austin, Texas - hospitals are overrun now, as are many Florida hospitals. Florida is now at the epi-center of the pandemic in the US. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Rand Paul is stating that schools should open without any restrictions or masks. Can everyone sue Rand Paul if their kids die of COVID? Honestly do a class-action law suit against Rand Paul and sue him for 15 billion dollars, bankrupt the bastard.
And bankrupt his donors. Sue him and everyone who donated money to his campaign. I'd like to have DeSantis, Governor of Florida sued also for $50 billion, and the Governor of Texas, and the Governor of Arizona, and the Governor of Lousiana...
Our leadership is failing us, folks. They are killing people. They've not handled the pandemic well at all.
I'm sorry the leadership of the US gets a solid F in pandemic management.
* Ah, the Governor's emails are back - after being on hiatus the previous week. Whomever is doing them chose to get back at it, I guess. The Governor may be a sleaze, but hey at least he's still providing intel on the virus. I don't think they are lying about the virus data - there's no reason to. Also if they wanted to lie, the information would be better.
COVID hospitalizations are at 1,225. Of the 108,965 tests reported yesterday, 3,615, or 3.32 percent, were positive. The 7-day positivity average was 2.96 percent. There were 246 patients in ICU yesterday, up seven from the previous day. Of them, 95 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 12 New Yorkers to the virus.
2. As of 11am this morning, 76.6 CDC. Over the past 24 hours, 31,562 total doses have been administered. To date, New York has administered 22,623,028 total doses with 69.3 percent of adult New Yorkers completing their vaccine series. See additional data on the State's Vaccine Tracker. [Well, we're doing better on vaccinations at least.]
3. We announced Excelsior Pass Plus to support the safe, secure return of tourism and business travel. To date, over 3 million regular Excelsior Passes have been retrieved and this new expansion will allow New Yorkers to display their Excelsior Pass Plus at hundreds of businesses and locations that require proof of vaccination. The Passes can also be used when traveling to entities where SMART Health Cards are accepted. [I have it, but have yet to use. Will let you know when I do.]
4. The mass vaccination site at Rochester's Dome Arena will relocate on August 16. The site will relocate to SUNY Rochester Educational Opportunity Center, as part of the ongoing efforts to right-size the State's mass vaccination site operations and target areas of need, with the last day of operations on Sunday, August 15. Second dose appointment information with details on the new site for individuals who received their first dose at the Dome Arena will be texted and emailed to the contact information on file for all individuals.
If I'm depressed, you should be too...
* The U.S. is averaging more than 100,000 new cases a day, the most since February.
* France began requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter restaurants, bars and long-distance trains.
* Canada reopened its border to U.S. travelers more than a year after sealing it. [I don't know why - I'd have kept it closed, we're still idiots. That's not changed. But then so are the Canadians.]
* The Pentagon will seek to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for the country’s 1.3 million active-duty troops “no later” than next month, the Biden administration announced today. [I'd have thought they would have done that by now?]
* Health authorities in Germany said vaccines prevented more than 38,300 deaths over the pandemic’s third wave in the spring. [Don't be a dingbat, get vaccinated!]
* China is punishing local officials over a growing outbreak fueled by the Delta variant.
*A federal judge temporarily allowed Norwegian Cruise Line to require proof of vaccination, despite a Florida ban. [Thank god, someone has some sense down there.]
* Iceland has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, but the Delta variant is still causing breakthrough infections, Quartz reports. [Guessing tourists who didn't get vaccinated?]
* Washington State set a vaccine mandate for state and health care workers. [Everyone should do that. If they'd done that in South Carolina - my parents could still see each other.]
* Thailand, Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines are facing their biggest coronavirus waves in months.
* Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, a Republican, said that a state law he signed banning mask mandates was a mistake.
* More than one million children who had been expected to enroll in public schools in the U.S. last year did not show up — either in person or online — including 340,000 kindergarten students. [Who can blame them?]
* Chinese authorities are planning elaborate precautions for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which is just six months away. [ Wouldn't it make sense to delay it a year? I mean come on...]
* The Washington Post profiled a woman who lost her husband to Covid-19, and then — without his salary — lost her house. [That's just nasty.]
* The Wall Street Journal explored vaccine hesitancy in an Arkansas town. One nurse lost both of her unvaccinated parents to the disease, but still won’t get a shot.[I don't know about anyone else, but I am kind of paralyzed with not caring all that much.]
***
Climate change has resulted in the devastating Dixie Fire in California, which is the second largest wildfire in California history. It devastated the small California Mountain Town of Greenville to rubble. This is a historic California Gold Rush Town. That town no longer exists.
On Instagram - James Marsters, who was born and raised in Greenville, requested people give what they can to the poor people displaced by the fire.
***
The above photo is of Mt. Rainer in Washington State circa 2018.
Some potential good news, unless you are a Greedy Fiscal Conservative and if so, scroll on by. Democrats unveiled a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint that would boost spending on health care, child and elder care, education and climate change.
If the party and its two independent allies can hold together, that measure could pass the Senate without a Republican vote. A separate $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill will likely clear the Senate tomorrow.
The nonbinding blueprint calls for an expansion of Medicare to include dental, hearing and vision benefits, the formation of a Civilian Climate Corps, and funding to establish universal pre-K and grant free community college tuition for two years. The spending would be fully paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy, large inheritances and corporations.
The rest of the news is depressing. I'm just glad I don't have kids. I fear for my poor niece though.
Mother and I are both depressed. She cries every day on the phone now. Usually about how much she misses my father, and how she wishes she could bring him home. Every day - "I want to bring your father home". Mother is holding desperately onto that hope. But I don't see how she possibly can, and I fear for her if she does. The latest separation - due to the COVID outbreaks in South Carolina (because of stupid-ass entitled anti-vaxxers) - is hard on my parents. My father's facility has been locked down for 14 days with no outside visitations, so mother can just call him. And it's hard to talk on the phone with someone struggling with dementia.
There's an article in the Times that I read over the weekend stating that we should feel empathy and compassion for the anti-vaxxers. I am sorry I can't feel anything but disdain for them. I don't know if that makes me a horrible person or merely human? Since I can't feel compassion for them, I avoid them.
Work...gives me something useful to do and focus on. Back in the office again tomorrow. At least no head-ache today.
***
[That's a picture of a wooden statue in an art museum in San Jose, Costa Rica. It gets across how I'm feeling at the moment. ]
* Today, according to the NY Times Morning Briefing, The Secretary of State, New York, resigned. This is Melissa Da Rosa, Cuomo's righthand woman, who was with him on all those news briefings. She handed him her resignation on Sunday. She'd been his staunchest defender. Apparently she finally got fed up - being attacked by the press, etc. He kind of pulled her down with him. She's 38, and had gotten to a high position in NY, where she was able to effect sizable change. According to the article - Charlotte Bennett's account visibly upset her. She didn't believe Boylan's, but Bennett's she didn't know about. And while in the governor's motorcade, she confronted him on it, then got out of the car at a traffic stop, enraged.
I think the Governor's days are numbered. He'll be out by the end of this year, is my guess, if not before. I don't know how that will affect crazy workplace. Except that I doubt the Lt. Governor will be quite as hands on in regards to infrastructure and development. Cuomo has a huge ego and invested a lot of it in what Crazy Org was doing, his Lt, I think, has different priorities.
I also suspect the new Mayor of NYC will find it easier with Cuomo out.
But really, who knows? I find it hard to care either way.
* Cases are raising in the US. Austin, Texas - hospitals are overrun now, as are many Florida hospitals. Florida is now at the epi-center of the pandemic in the US. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Rand Paul is stating that schools should open without any restrictions or masks. Can everyone sue Rand Paul if their kids die of COVID? Honestly do a class-action law suit against Rand Paul and sue him for 15 billion dollars, bankrupt the bastard.
And bankrupt his donors. Sue him and everyone who donated money to his campaign. I'd like to have DeSantis, Governor of Florida sued also for $50 billion, and the Governor of Texas, and the Governor of Arizona, and the Governor of Lousiana...
Our leadership is failing us, folks. They are killing people. They've not handled the pandemic well at all.
I'm sorry the leadership of the US gets a solid F in pandemic management.
* Ah, the Governor's emails are back - after being on hiatus the previous week. Whomever is doing them chose to get back at it, I guess. The Governor may be a sleaze, but hey at least he's still providing intel on the virus. I don't think they are lying about the virus data - there's no reason to. Also if they wanted to lie, the information would be better.
COVID hospitalizations are at 1,225. Of the 108,965 tests reported yesterday, 3,615, or 3.32 percent, were positive. The 7-day positivity average was 2.96 percent. There were 246 patients in ICU yesterday, up seven from the previous day. Of them, 95 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 12 New Yorkers to the virus.
2. As of 11am this morning, 76.6 CDC. Over the past 24 hours, 31,562 total doses have been administered. To date, New York has administered 22,623,028 total doses with 69.3 percent of adult New Yorkers completing their vaccine series. See additional data on the State's Vaccine Tracker. [Well, we're doing better on vaccinations at least.]
3. We announced Excelsior Pass Plus to support the safe, secure return of tourism and business travel. To date, over 3 million regular Excelsior Passes have been retrieved and this new expansion will allow New Yorkers to display their Excelsior Pass Plus at hundreds of businesses and locations that require proof of vaccination. The Passes can also be used when traveling to entities where SMART Health Cards are accepted. [I have it, but have yet to use. Will let you know when I do.]
4. The mass vaccination site at Rochester's Dome Arena will relocate on August 16. The site will relocate to SUNY Rochester Educational Opportunity Center, as part of the ongoing efforts to right-size the State's mass vaccination site operations and target areas of need, with the last day of operations on Sunday, August 15. Second dose appointment information with details on the new site for individuals who received their first dose at the Dome Arena will be texted and emailed to the contact information on file for all individuals.
If I'm depressed, you should be too...
* The U.S. is averaging more than 100,000 new cases a day, the most since February.
* France began requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter restaurants, bars and long-distance trains.
* Canada reopened its border to U.S. travelers more than a year after sealing it. [I don't know why - I'd have kept it closed, we're still idiots. That's not changed. But then so are the Canadians.]
* The Pentagon will seek to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for the country’s 1.3 million active-duty troops “no later” than next month, the Biden administration announced today. [I'd have thought they would have done that by now?]
* Health authorities in Germany said vaccines prevented more than 38,300 deaths over the pandemic’s third wave in the spring. [Don't be a dingbat, get vaccinated!]
* China is punishing local officials over a growing outbreak fueled by the Delta variant.
*A federal judge temporarily allowed Norwegian Cruise Line to require proof of vaccination, despite a Florida ban. [Thank god, someone has some sense down there.]
* Iceland has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, but the Delta variant is still causing breakthrough infections, Quartz reports. [Guessing tourists who didn't get vaccinated?]
* Washington State set a vaccine mandate for state and health care workers. [Everyone should do that. If they'd done that in South Carolina - my parents could still see each other.]
* Thailand, Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines are facing their biggest coronavirus waves in months.
* Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, a Republican, said that a state law he signed banning mask mandates was a mistake.
* More than one million children who had been expected to enroll in public schools in the U.S. last year did not show up — either in person or online — including 340,000 kindergarten students. [Who can blame them?]
* Chinese authorities are planning elaborate precautions for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which is just six months away. [ Wouldn't it make sense to delay it a year? I mean come on...]
* The Washington Post profiled a woman who lost her husband to Covid-19, and then — without his salary — lost her house. [That's just nasty.]
* The Wall Street Journal explored vaccine hesitancy in an Arkansas town. One nurse lost both of her unvaccinated parents to the disease, but still won’t get a shot.[I don't know about anyone else, but I am kind of paralyzed with not caring all that much.]
***
Climate change has resulted in the devastating Dixie Fire in California, which is the second largest wildfire in California history. It devastated the small California Mountain Town of Greenville to rubble. This is a historic California Gold Rush Town. That town no longer exists.
On Instagram - James Marsters, who was born and raised in Greenville, requested people give what they can to the poor people displaced by the fire.
***
The above photo is of Mt. Rainer in Washington State circa 2018.
Some potential good news, unless you are a Greedy Fiscal Conservative and if so, scroll on by. Democrats unveiled a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint that would boost spending on health care, child and elder care, education and climate change.
If the party and its two independent allies can hold together, that measure could pass the Senate without a Republican vote. A separate $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill will likely clear the Senate tomorrow.
The nonbinding blueprint calls for an expansion of Medicare to include dental, hearing and vision benefits, the formation of a Civilian Climate Corps, and funding to establish universal pre-K and grant free community college tuition for two years. The spending would be fully paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy, large inheritances and corporations.
The rest of the news is depressing. I'm just glad I don't have kids. I fear for my poor niece though.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 12:42 am (UTC)In NYC the small art museums are more pretentious and more expensive.