Hopes and Dreams - Stuck on AutoDrive

Last Night's Rioters Were From Out-Of-State
Or they weren't.
May 30, 2020

Support Minnesota. Be strong Minnesota.

St. Paul followed the curfew last night. It was quiet. According to St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter this morning, there were not many arrests for breaking curfew, but all of those arrests were people from out-of-state. But then, the numbers said 16 of the arrests were from Minnesota and two were from Texas.

People who have been organizing protests to overcome police brutality and the murder of African-Americans, do not know these nightly rioters, arsonists, and looters.

Support Minnesota. Be strong Minnesota.

If there are outside agitators, they should go home!

Music Association: Jojo - Leave, Get Out

Derek Chauvin Arrested
May 29, 2020

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been arrested, taken into custody, and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

It is the correct next step toward justice.

That just happened this afternoon. This morning was different from most here in the Twin Cities. Some people were an odd mix of defiance and fear. Others were an even odder mix of fear and helpful. One was arrogant and aloof. A few vehicles were being driven like it was the end of the world.

There were businesses boarded up due to connections to businesses destroyed in the past few nights, as if rioters would travel ten miles to burn down another AutoZone or another tobacco shop.

And there were businesses not very near to the main rioting locations with broken glass doors boarded with plywood.

Minnesota is nowhere near a hurricane zone, even if Trump is drawing the map. Plywood covered businesses is not normal here.

Responsibility and accountability could become the new normal. That could lead us to a single, unified America.

Music Association: The Beatles - Norwegian Wood

Hopes and Dreams

The Two Americas
Shock. Condemnation. Outrage.
May 28, 2020

George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died while in Minneapolis police custody Monday. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt for nearly 9 minutes on handcuffed Floyd’s neck as Floyd said repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. A video was widely circulated on social media. All four officers at the scene were fired. All four officers should be arrested.

Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on George Floyd - Monday, May 25, 2020 (DarnellaFrazier)

Minneapolis 3rd Precinct - May 29, 2020 - 11pm

There should be only one America with laws that apply to all. Laws apply to police officers. Laws apply to the president.

Music Association: Police - Don't Stand So Close

Hopes and Dreams

Reality TV
Trump's Golf
May 24, 2020

The United States had its 100,000th Covid-19 death this weekend. The cover of today's New York Times listed a thousand people killed by Covid-19, their names, ages, city, and sometimes something about them.

President Trump puttered around a golf course yesterday. A combination of Trump golfing and the Times list of the dead appeared on the web.

Trump golfs through the Covid-19 pandemic

Trump golfs through the Covid-19 pandemic

Music Association: Friends Of Distinction - Grazing In The Grass
That's me on the bongos.

Hopes and Dreams

Covid-19 Check-In
How Are You?
May 6, 2020

Americanized Covid-19, now spikier

The world is sick of Covid-19 and from Covid-19. The world has adapted to the virus, and the virus has adapted to the world, according to the Los Alamos National Laboratory's report, “Spike mutation pipeline reveals the emergence of a more transmissible form of SARS-CoV-2” (pdf).

What Los Alamos says is the Covid-19 virus spikes mutated in Europe to be spikier* than the original Wuhan, China virus. Spikier spikes increase the transmission, the contagiousness of the disease, and its severity. It strains me to tell you but this spikier strain (D614G) has dominated the United States. Comparing the pandemic in the United States to the one in China is an apples-to-watermelons comparison. Put another way, China has yet to experience the “new and improved Covid-19, now with spikier spikes!”

Say It, Don't Spray It

When you talk, tiny droplets of saliva spray into the air. When you cough or sneeze, more saliva and germs spray farther out into the air, about three feet. And when you cough and sneeze forcefully, your rain can hit me from six feet away.

This is you, but it falls on me.

You may not even have the symptoms of Covid-19 and thankfully sneezing isn't one of them, but you could be spraying your newfound virus all over everyone around you. The spray that floats in the air is called an aerosol. How long does your aerosol float around?

Shut The Trap, Shut It!

Virologists have assumed that Covid-19 particles cannot linger in the air for hours after somebody coughs. That assumption could be wrong. A Wuhan University study published in the journal Nature Research used aerosol traps within two hospitals in Wuhan, China. Researchers found bits of the Covid-19 virus’s genetic material floating around indoor toilets, as well as a room in the hospital where medical staff removed their masks, gowns, and gloves.

Could You Do That Outside?!?

The stay-at-home order in Minnesota has given the state time to gather resources and information but has been economically tough. Yesterday's interim state budget report figures a $2.4 billion deficit for this biennium instead of the $1.5 billion surplus Minnesota had. Nearly 594,000 Minnesota workers filed for unemployment by the end of April.

Dave Orrick of the Pioneer Press assessed of the accomplishments of 37 days of the March 25th stay-at-home order in Minnesota.

☆ Minnesotans heeded the stay-at-home order more closely than other Americans and more than many forecasters expected. We flattened the curve, creating a slower spread of the pandemic than most states.

☆ Prior to the stay-at-home order, Minnesota had about 1,200 intensive care beds. ICU beds, and ventilators to aid in breathing, are crucial to reduce the death toll of the virus, which usually kills by causing the lungs to fail. The state still has 1,244 ICU beds, but within 24 hours the number of beds can jump to 2,044. (Don't jump on the beds! When will this pandemic end?!?) Within three days, it can jump up to 2,588. Hundreds of beds are available for non-Covid-19 patients. The state now has 2,844 ventilators.

☆ Medical personal protective equipment (PPE) was in short supply a month ago. Minnesota now has 345,000 N95 respirators, 2 million surgical masks, 7.3 million gloves, 49,000 gowns, and 152,000 face shields, plus significant supplies our hospitals have obtained.

☆ Covid-19 swab tests averaged 1,720 per day in Minnesota in late March. Last week, the average had jumped to 3,006 with plans for 5,000 tests per day soon. The increase is good but not yet at a capacity that wouldenable testing everyone with disease symptoms.

☆ What we didn't get was immunity. People seem to be able to get sick and sick again. We didn't get a vaccine, obviously, not that a vaccine could be developed, tested, and manufactured in less than a year.

The New Normal

Other changes that didn't make the Orrick list can be seen and not seen all around. Tape marks on store floors remind shoppers of social distancing. Plexiglass shields have become the new Cone Of Silence. Eyes have become more expressive. Masks have become commonplace, not for the sake of the wearer but for everyone else. Office furniture companies have become virus distancing advisers. Planes usually in the air have been parked in Dallas, Houston, Pinal, and Tucson. Homes have become more heaven because of togetherness.

And for some people, due to Covid-19 illnesses or domestic abuse or just not in a loving place, it's hell.

How are you?

Music Association: Kansas - Dust In The Wind
* New word of the day: Spikier