"Dorothy Allison treated the participants of the 2011 Summer Workshop to a spirited discussion of how characters should speak on the page. Not only 'he said, she said, none of them said a thing,' but a whole range of language issues—what is said and not said, dialect and rhythm, pacing, patterns in speech, and most importantly, the language of gesture and avoidance." Tin House is apparently going to release more of these talks. (Grokked from Kelly Link)
Story is powerful. "On functional MRI scans, many different areas of the brain light up when someone is listening to a narrative, Neeley says — not only the networks involved in language processing, but other neural circuits, too. One study of listeners found that the brain networks that process emotions arising from sounds — along with areas involved in movement — were activated, especially during the emotional parts of the story."
"A spacecraft bound for Mercury beamed home stunning views of Earth during a crucial flyby conducted early today (April 10)."
"The number of deaths caused by the coronavirus surged past the 100,000 mark on Friday, doubling in nearly a week as the pandemic continues to spread across the globe, according to data from Johns Hopkins University."
"South Korean officials on Friday reported 91 patients thought cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a briefing that the virus may have been 'reactivated' rather than the patients being re-infected." While it still could be explained by testing irregularities, it's starting to look like either reactivation/re-infection or (whispers here) the test isn't very accurate and might have larger false-negative instance than believed.
"Antibody tests that would verify whether a person recently had the novel coronavirus could be available within a week, according to the nation's top infectious disease expert." Yeah, call me when we have one in hand. Although I believe Fauci more than I believe any of those others at the podium.
"But VA health workers say they need help. At least seven VA staff have died from the virus, and NPR has seen internal emails telling VA staff to use the same surgical mask for up to a week." We literally have a new masking policy every day at the hospital I work at. And different departments have different policies on PPE. Whispers, and none of this is based on medical efficacy, but instead on economic necessity.
"Gilead Sciences is reporting some preliminary results from the use of its antiviral drug remdesivir in treating patients with COVID-19… Thirty-six showed clinical improvement, while eight got worse. Patients who were not on a ventilator tended to do better than those who were. Seven of the 53 died… All were in serious condition and needed some kind of oxygen support, including mechanical ventilation." That is not promising.
"Concern is mounting after a doctor at a Texas nursing home started giving the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to dozens of elderly patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and tracking the outcomes in what he's calling an 'observational study.'" This is malpractice. "(The doctor doing this), who is a prominent GOP activist, called Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. He says Patrick reached out to Texas State Sen. Bryan Hughes, also a Republican, who knew someone on the board of the New Jersey-based company Amneal Pharmaceuticals… Two days later, Armstrong had received more than enough medication to begin giving it to patients." That is malfeasance.
"In the brutal months since France reported Europe's first coronavirus cases in January and then, in February, the first death on the continent, the scourge has infected so many thousands of doctors, nurses and other health workers in Europe that some have now recovered and are going from their sick beds back to the front lines." This has been a discussion among us at the hospital, from what will happen now to "remember when we were all sick back in November and nobody knew what it was?" conversations. Many people at the hospital had a "really bad flu" at the start of the season, knocking a few people out for weeks. We're now wondering if that wasn't the first wave. This year's flu was pretty bad, but there have been cases where people have had flu symptoms, but tested negative on the rapid A/B test. And now I'm waiting to see the new protocols update where they reassign workers who may have had COVID-19 to work with PUI (patients under investigation) and C-19 positive patients with reduced PPE (personal protective equipment).
"China took new measures on Wednesday to try to prevent asymptomatic 'silent carriers' of the new coronavirus from causing a second wave of infections, as the country reported another modest rise in confirmed cases."
"A 99-year-old World War II veteran who survived the coronavirus has been given a guard of honor by nurses as he was discharged from hospital."
"A handful of holdout U.S. churches plan to hold in-person services on Easter Sunday, saying their right to worship in person outweighs public health officials’ warnings against holding large gatherings during the coronavirus outbreak." Tie up the camel, then trust in God.
"Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear implored residents to avoid gathering this weekend for the Easter holiday, warning that anyone who violates the state's stay-at-home order will be subject to a 14-day mandatory self-quarantine… Beshear said the state will record license plate information of people seen attending mass gatherings and turn that information over to local public health officials. Quarantine notices will then be delivered in person."
"Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has announced she is extending the 'Stay Home, Stay Safe' executive order through to April 30… The executive order limits gatherings and travel and requires all workers who are not necessary to sustain or protect life to stay home. It also imposes more stringent limitations on stores to reduce foot traffic to help slow the spread of coronavirus."
Who we count is becoming an issue. "NBC News tallied 2,246 deaths associated with long-term care facilities, based on responses from 24 states. This, too, is an undercount; about half of all states said they could not provide data on nursing home deaths, or declined to do so. Some states said they do not track these deaths at all."
"Aerial images captured on Thursday showed 40 caskets lined up for burial at Hart Island — the same day New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported 799 new deaths across the state. Normally, about 25 bodies a week are interred there, mostly for people whose families can't afford a funeral, or who go unclaimed by relatives." Oddly enough, Fox News has the article with the least sensationalism in it.
"Rene Roach fired off a quick email in late March for an update on a colorectal cancer clinical trial for which she hoped to qualify… Worried about the coronavirus, she asked, almost as an afterthought, whether the study had been put on hold because of the pandemic.The answer crushed her: It had been."
"Low stocks of opioids in coronavirus hot spots — which have become dire enough for doctors to request that states divert death row supplies to hospitals instead — are compounded by the looming shortages of a range of other drugs, from antibiotics to inhalers, as hospitals struggle to cope with a massive wave of coronavirus patients." Just like the coronavirus panic exposed the fractures in the economy, it is now exposing the fractures in our market-based systems of "supply-sided" economics.
Related, "The coronavirus lockdown has been especially tough for people in recovery from addiction because support meetings have been cancelled."
"Word just reaching our news centre from multiple sources familiar with the issue, is that yesterday, Thursday, April 9, 2020, United States Customs and Border Protection seized some medical items, including masks, gloves, medication and other COVID-19 related supplies, ordered by the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA)." (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
"Firms partnering on the Airbridge flights tell NPR that under their agreement with the White House and FEMA, roughly half the medical equipment in those deliveries is theirs to sell however they like. The other half will be shipped to COVID-19 hotspots but not necessarily to the worst-hit hospitals. Once again, supplies go to existing customers."
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is 'able to do short walks' after he was moved out of intensive care at a London hospital where he has been receiving treatment for the coronavirus, a spokesman said Friday."
"Even before the novel coronavirus brought the country to an economic standstill, family farmers were struggling. In 2019, Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies increased nearly 20% over 2018, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Wisconsin saw the highest number of family farms filing for bankruptcy, yet dairy farmers in the state known as 'America's dairyland' were hopeful that 2020 would bring sunnier weather."
"A severe weather outbreak, including the threat of widespread damaging winds, large hail and potentially strong tornadoes, is likely this weekend for portions of the South. The storms come as coronavirus concerns have prompted the shuttering of many community storm shelters, since some public officials fear the repercussions of prioritizing tornado safety over social distancing."
"'Severe weather season, flooding — those things don't stop because we're responding to COVID-19,' says Joyce Flinn, director of the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management."
"Thousands of vehicles lined up before dawn Thursday to seek aid from the San Antonio Food Bank… The agency fed about 10,000 households at a South Side flea market amid the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic."
"The ozone hole covers an area roughly three times the size of Greenland, scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a statement, and could expose people living at far northern latitudes to high levels of ultraviolet radiation if it grows much larger. Fortunately, the hole looks likely to close on its own in the next few weeks, the ESA researchers said."
"Austad spoke with Invisibilia's Lulu Miller to discuss what science has uncovered about animal aging processes, and how researchers might be able to use what they've learned to extend human lifespans. There's no immortality on the horizon — or anything close to it — but it's likely science can eventually lengthen our lives by at least a little, Austad says."
"Six tips for looking great in a Zoom meeting." Also, trim your nose hairs and wear pants.
Conservative ideology… "New White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is working with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to see how to reduce wage rates for foreign guest workers on American farms, in order to help U.S. farmers struggling during the coronavirus, according to U.S. officials and sources familiar with the plans."
"That absolutely nails what's gone wrong with these daily briefings. What began -- roughly a month ago -- as a useful way to inform a public desperate for facts and information in the face of the surging pandemic has turned into the Trump Show." It's what narcissists do, they always make it about them.
"Less attention gets paid to the photojournalists moving around the narrow, 49-seat chamber that has roared back to life thanks to Trump’s madcap performances at the lectern. Their work has its own intricacies and can be every bit as piercing as a killer question from the assembled reporters. They have a different medium with which to document the colorful and combative figure at the front of the room." On photographic the briefings.
"Americans eligible for the coronavirus economic stimulus package have started seeing payments arrive in their accounts. The one-time payment from the U.S. Treasury looks to help ease the pressure from the huge economic downturn as a result of the coronavirus outbreak."
"As abortion providers were scrambling to schedule procedures in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic, a federal appeals court has effectively reinstated a ban on most abortions in Texas… Friday's 2-1 decision includes a narrow exception allowing abortions for pregnancies approaching the state's 22-week cutoff."
"With an election year pandemic, mail-in ballots may become an increasingly popular way to vote, especially in states like Florida that allow any voter to use them… While those ballots accounted for nearly 1 in 4 of all ballots cast in 2018, President Trump this week said he wasn't in favor of expanding the practice during present health crisis, even as he used one himself when he voted (presumably for himself) in Florida's presidential primary last month." I'm old enough to remember when getting a mail-in-ballot was extremely hard and required extra documentation.
"But terribly is really too kind a word to describe it. A week of complete chaos, aided by Republican obstruction and conservative court interventions, led to an Election Day where many voters were forced to sacrifice their health to vote during a pandemic and others were told their vote wouldn't even count. The lesson from Wisconsin was simple: This can never happen again. Come November, every voter should be able to vote by mail in the federal election."
"President Donald Trump will watch Easter come and go this weekend without the nation 'raring to go' as a new debate buds over whether May 1 is now the target date of revival." This is an attention grabbing tactic intended to make you codependent. It's a classic abuser move. Hell, the 24/7 news channels are back to showing empty podiums while stating, "we're waiting for the president to appear…". Fuck that.
"On Fox News Thursday in discussion with Sean Hannity, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made an extraordinary statement: That he wants the United States to 'cancel' some of the national debt held by the Chinese government as punishment for allowing the coronavirus to spread beyond its borders." In other news, conservatives continue their path of being self-serving idiots.
"In a Thursday interview with Politico, when asked if she was worried about Trump moving to reopen the country too early, (Speaker of the House Nancy) Pelosi said, 'I would hope that the scientific community would weigh in and say, "You can’t do this, it is only going to make matters worse if you go out too soon."'" Cough, they already have.
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