That didn't take as long as I thought.
"Here’s what I’m going to tell you about making art in these difficult times: it’s okay if you don’t. It’s okay if you don’t have the energy. It’s okay if you can’t think of good ideas. It’s okay if you can’t string words together. It’s okay if you feel bad about your work right now." DongWon Song on making art in a crisis. I tried to kick out a design for a t-shirt the other day. My brain simply wouldn't work past a superficial level. (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
"As writers, teachers, publishers, and booksellers in our local, national, and international communities grapple with how to proceed in their creative, financial, professional, and personal lives during this time of uncertainty, we are compiling a list of resources we hope you will find useful. We will be updating this list as we learn of new resources and opportunities." (Grokked from Deborah Beal)
"Last week, when the Internet Archive announced its 'National Emergency Library,' expanding access to more than a million digitized works, the group explained the move as a goodwill gesture in the time of coronavirus… But there's one major issue that several media outlets, including NPR, failed to mention in covering the decision: Many writers and publishers say the website, even before the creation of this National Emergency Library, has been sharing full digital copies of their books without their permission."
"A painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh was stolen in an overnight smash-and-grab raid on a museum that was closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, police and the museum said Monday."
"The Orville - Interactive Fan Experience" (Grokked from John)
"Large crowds of people gathered despite social distancing guidelines to greet the USNS Comfort Navy ship as it arrived in New York City on Monday morning to help hospitals that are overwhelmed with coronavirus patients."
"On Monday, General Electric factory workers launched two separate protests demanding that the company convert its jet engine factories to make ventilators. At GE's Lynn, Massachusetts aviation facility, workers held a silent protest, standing six feet apart. Union members at the company’s Boston headquarters also marched six feet apart, calling on the company to use its factories to help the country close its ventilator shortage amid the coronavirus pandemic." Solidarity forever, sisters and brothers. (Grokked from Kelly Link)
"'We're looking at the Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System that we've developed to be able to decontaminate PPE for health care workers on the front-line,' says Will Richter, a researcher at the Columbus, Ohio-based company." Whispers, most PPE weren't made to be reused. They aren't structurally sound enough. Part of the removal protocol damages the PPE, but keeps the worker safe.
"The USNS Comfort, one of the Navy's hospital ships that has often been called on to deliver humanitarian aid, has arrived in New York City to help ease the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ship entered New York Harbor on Monday morning, passing the Statue of Liberty on its way to Pier 88 in Manhattan."
"The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, decades-old malaria drugs championed by President Donald Trump for coronavirus treatment despite scant evidence." I'm sure this is totally safe and won't cause any problems at all.
"As of Monday morning, (models) estimates that more than 2,000 people could die each day in the United States in mid-April, when the virus is predicted to hit the country hardest. The model, which is updated regularly, predicts that 224,000 hospital beds -- 61,000 more than we'll have -- will be needed on April 15, when the US is estimated to reach 'peak resource use.'" Which means that about 82,000 will be dead by August. Again, don't count chickens before they're hatched.
"State leaders and doctors are cautiously optimistic that the Bay Area's early moves to lock down residents two weeks ago have prevented surges of coronavirus patients from overwhelming the region's health care capacity thus far… Six Bay Area counties were first in the country to adopt aggressive tactics with an enforceable March 16 order requiring residents to stay at home. Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly followed with a statewide order three days later restricting the state's 40 million residents from all but essential activities."
"By the end of that day, one corrections officer and one person jailed on Rikers had tested positive for Covid-19. Ten days later, the number of those infected in New York’s jails had risen to 104 staff and 132 incarcerated people."
"An Australian astrophysicist has been admitted to hospital after getting four magnets stuck up his nose in an attempt to invent a device that stops people touching their faces during the coronavirus outbreak." You know, we usually only see kids with this kind of issue. Don't stick things up your nose, people. (Grokked from John)
"Citing the coronavirus pandemic's 'heavy toll' on its business, Macy's said it's furloughing the majority of its nearly 130,000 employees. Workers will continue to receive health benefits through May."
"Amazon has terminated an employee based in the company's Staten Island, New York, warehouse after he participated in a worker walkout protesting the company's response to the novel coronavirus." Sure it was because he was supposed to be quarantining himself. Sure.
"Hungary's parliament has voted to allow Prime Minister Viktor Orban to rule by decree indefinitely, in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic, giving the populist leader extra powers to unilaterally enact a series of sweeping measures." Wow, he didn't even have to burn down parliament first. I'm sure he totally won't abuse this authority (until after lunch).
"Saudi Arabia appears to be exploiting weaknesses in the global mobile telecoms network to track its citizens as they travel around the US, according to a whistleblower who has shown the Guardian millions of alleged secret tracking requests… Data revealed by the whistleblower, who is seeking to expose vulnerabilities in a global messaging system called SS7, appears to suggest a systematic spying campaign by the kingdom, according to experts." (Grokked from Dan)
"Now, as it struggles to repair the damage from the coronavirus epidemic, it's getting ready to spend trillions more, pushing up this year's deficit above $3 trillion… 'It's mind-boggling. I never contemplated this,' says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, who headed the Congressional Budget Office under President George W. Bush." How's those tax breaks trickling down for everyone? "Today, the total amount owed by the federal government is about to top $25 trillion, and McConnell barely talks about it." In fact, many of the people who screamed about it in 2009-2010 are fairly silent now.
"President Trump revealed he'll be speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday about, among other things, oil prices… In an interview with Fox and Friends on Monday morning, Trump expressed concern that the recent price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia was endangering the oil industry." How'd that talk go, Sparky?
"On Sunday afternoon, President Donald Trump quoted snippets from a New York Times article by Michael Grynbaum headlined: 'Trump's Briefings Are a Ratings Hit. Should Networks Cover Them Live?'… The essence of the piece dealt with the delicate journalistic question of what responsibility TV networks owe to their viewers to broadcast the President discussing the ongoing coronavirus epidemic given that these near-daily briefings have now turned into Trump spouting mistruths and settling scores with journalists." Remember, Trump calls it the "dying NY Times" and says they're "fake news", but if it's good for him he's all about quoting the Gray Lady.
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