I just feel like I have to write something about this, since it's obviously a big deal. I wrote a little blurb in the "Hot Takes" post below (note: the title of that post has since been changed), but I felt I was too....flippant, I guess...in that small blurb.. I know people read this blog, so I felt i should pass on what I know, and some opinions. Maybe a reader will find some info useful and be able to pass it on. That's what's important right now: getting CORRECT information out there to as many people as possible.
First, I definitely want to say I'm not a medical scientist or a health care professional. We should all be wary of considering ourselves "experts" on something we're just learning about. Right now, the medical scientists and health care professionals around the world are the ONLY ONES we should be listening to. They are the ONLY ONES who fully understand what's going on. THEY are the only experts, and even they're still learning about this.
First, and most important, these are the people you should be getting your info and advice from:
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention link www.cdc.gov
World Health Organization: www.who.int
Your state (and most likely county and/or city) will have a health administration site where you can get information and advice specific to your area.
For Oregon : https://www.oregon.gov/oha/pages/index.aspx
For Benton County: https://www.co.benton.or.us/health
Corvallis falls under "Benton county", with no city specific site..
To find your local health service department, type in the name of your state, county, or city, followed by "health department" into your browsers search engine.
Always be sure the link you're following belongs to either a government-run department of health, or a hospital (e.g.; Mayo Clinic, Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis (or whatever your local hospital may be called)).
To be perfectly honest, I'm uncomfortable in suggesting you get any information or advice from a media outlet. The only advice they should be giving you is "Stay informed with these sources", and then refer you to the sources I posted above.
The 24-hour news cycle and social media are great, but too often opinion and politics gets mixed in in heavy doses. We shouldn't be worried about which 70+ year old white man is going to be the president in 2020. We shouldn't be arguing about whether or not the 45th President is doing a good job handling this or not. If you (like me) don't think he's doing a good job of telling us the truth about this, fuck him. Ignore him and his theatrics. Go to the above sites, and follow what the real experts are saying, and tell your people (friends, family, neighbours...whomever)
For stats, I'm personally using this site: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
They seem to be doing a good job of aggregating stats from health organizations around the world..
I think we also need to take care not to panic. It's ok to be anxious or worried or scared. But don't let yourself fall prey to panic, or enable others to fall prey to panic.
-Don't hoard. Things like food, water, toilet paper...don' hoard them.
When you horde food, someone (or someoneS, plural) goes without food. This means they aren't getting proper nourishment, which will eventually lead to a weakening immune system, which makes them more susceptible to catching the virus (and thus spreading it more). Being malnourished also means they're more likely to get the worst of the effects of the virus, which makes them more susceptible to...well, to put it bluntly...death.
The same goes for things like sanitary items (hand sanitizer, soap, toilet paper). If people horde sanitary items, there's inevitably going to be people forced to live in an unsanitary way. Being unsanitary makes it easier to catch the virus, and... (etc., etc.).
Also: please remember the production and distribution of goods is not being halted. Your local store/chain is still going to be getting shipments of all the goods you're going to need. There's no need to hoard things, since all the stuff you need is still going to be shipped at the same rate it was before this health crisis. Buy what you need for a week or two, and you'll be fine.
-Practice social distancing, even if you're young. I know it's hard. Well...actually I don't know...I already live a fairly solitary life, and it's not terribly difficult for me...but anyway.... So uhhh...I know by observing others that social distancing can be hard.
This is where your social media and email and facetime and whatever can be of positive use. Use that to have the level of conversation you'd normally have. If you and your friends normally get together for Saturday lunch at a restaurant, do a video group chat and just talk about the same stuff you would at lunch. Or make jokes about how weird it feels to be having lunch together via video. I don't know.. If you're feeling serious, go through the websites I listed above together, and talk to each other about your plans. Talk about your feelings and worries/anxieties if you're feeling upset. Talking through it can help you avoid feeling panic.
Also: DON'T TROLL.!!! DON"T SPREAD FALSE INFORMATION!! If you're feeling all edgelord-with-a- Joker-avatar-ish, keep it in 99-chan or whatever internet cesspool you reside in. If you're a normal, well balanced human who doesn't want to deal with morons who want to "watch the world burn" or whatever, consider making your social media private. Or make one private account and one public account and use the one you feel most comfortable with at any given time. Good mental health will keep you more emotionally balanced, and less prone to panic. Keeping in regular contact with people who make you comfortable will do the same.
Fighting with trolls and bots and professional panic-mongers and such...that just leads to stress, which can make you more susceptible to panic.
-Don't listen to conspiracy theories! At this point, it really doesn't matter where it started, or how it started, or any of that, None of that matters. It's here, so we deal with it. If, after the threat has passed, people want to start playing "blame game"...do it then. But while the threat is still real...avoid listening to anyone saying "Oh, the Chinese engineered it", or "Oh, the U.S. Army introduced it into Asia" or "Oh, they've got a cure AND a preventative, but they're just hiding it from us" or any crap like that. It doesn't matter right now..
-Use your common sense and be reasonable. Be human and compassionate. Don't physically fight each other over things like a 12-pack of toilet paper. Talk to the store manager and find a way that you can split it by paying half, with each person getting 6 rolls (assuming it's just two people fighting). The in-store fights and all that...that's the type of thing fear-mongers love to put on the airwaves and social media feeds and such. And if you start to see enough of these videos, you start to...wait for it...panic. Avoid watching that kind of content, and avoid being the person involved in that kind of content.
Under the "be compassionate" subject: Don't evict tenants who lost their job (permanently or temporarily) due to this virus. Homelessness makes people more susceptible to disease, AND you're raising the number of homeless, AND you're probably going to end up on some national news cycle as "scumbag of the year", which will probably ruin you. Not a good look. We obviously weren't prepared for this (on a lot of levels), but you're only making matter worse if you basically punish people for losing a job due to a global pandemic.
Follow similar lines of logic if you're a business owner. If you're a business owner who has to make temporary lay-offs, at least reassure you're staff that they'll get their jobs back when this is over. If you can afford to pay them some extra cash to tide them over, that's even better. It's about giving the maximum amount of comfort to your employees/tenants/whatever if for no other reason than to keep us from breaking out into mass panic.
-Remember that viruses come and go. Like other viruses, this one will have it's season* where it peaks, for sure. But like other viruses, it will eventually subside. We have fantastic medical scientists and health care professionals in every country, and they're all working to find cures and preventatives for this virus. This one is everyone's problem, and I think it's safe to say that everyone is putting their best people to the task. But we have to listen and learn and adapt ourselves and our behaviours to make this subside as quickly as possible. Being adaptable, and being willing to being adaptable, is crucial.
*I want to be clear, by "season" I don't mean "Oh, it will last through Spring". I'm using season more in terms of "general period of time". The "season" for this virus could be a year or longer for all we know. Hopefully it doesn't last that long. But just to clarify.... I'm NOT saying "This will definitely be over with in a few weeks or 2 months tops!". It's a new virus and we just don't know WHAT to expect.
As a species, humanity will survive this, and we'll be more successful in said survival if we use the common sense, intelligence, and compassion that I personally believe every human possesses.
Stay smart and stay safe, everyone.
Update (18 March): I have to admit something. I'm currently hoarding Golden Krust Spicy Beef Pattiies from the dollar store. I dug deep, pulled out 3 $5 bills, and stocked up. I apologize to all of my fellow Golden Krust fiends in the area....which is probably...ummmm.... just me. I was just eating two of them (with a delicious spring-mix/carrot/radish/goat cheese/ dried cranberry salad on the side) and thinking "OMG, I'm such a hypocrite!"
Ok...I'm obviously joking. The Dollar Stores in the area are in no danger of running out any of the delicious flavours of Golden Krust patties. A lot of times, when I'm buying my GK patties, the check out people are like "What are these?" or "This is from our store?" or "I've never seen these before.". I'm 99% confident no one in Corvallis will be inconvenienced by me stockpiling 15 spicy Jamaican beef patties.. There's still like 4 boxes of various flavours at the particular store I bought from.
BUT: I think it's important to make the distinction between "stocking up" and "hoarding" right now. Buying, say, 12 extra pounds of "emergency" chicken of fish for your family of 3 isn't "hoarding", it's "stocking up". But maybe don't buy 45 pounds all at once for a family of 3. That's "hoarding". Basically, there's a difference between making sure you have a little extra to last you longer and buying enough to last for 3 months on one or two grocery trips. As I said in the pre-update part of this post, production and distribution of necessities (AND luxuries, most likely) has not halted. Everything you need (and don't need) is going to be back in stock next week, and the week after, and the week after. You're good. Buy enough to minimize the amount of times you need to be in crowds to shop, but don't so much that others can't do the same. Use your common sense.. Use your sense basic human decency. Communicate with the employees of the store so you can be sure you're not single-handedly depleting their stock. They should have a good idea of quantities that would be considered hoarder level for one person or one family of X amount of people.
For myself, I'm trying to stay inside as much as possible. To occupy myself I've been cleaning the apartment, studying math, watching movies, and playing games on my 8-bit Nintendo.
Here's a list of some of the movies/series I have been (or will be) been watching (noting I like horror films and might have a dark sense of humour sometimes...I think it's called "gallows humour"):
-Quarantine
-28 Days Later
-As Above, So Below
-Infection (Japanese language)
-10 Cloverfield Lane
-The Wicker Man (the original, starring Christopher Lee)
-Silence of the Lambs
-City of God
-Panic Room
-Annihilation
-The Shining
-King of New York
-The Sickhouse
-I'll probably end up watching either seasons 1-3 of Lucifer or seasons 1-3 of Arrested Development eventually.
(more to come)
Games I'm playing
-Online Mancala (link: https://mancala.playdrift.com/)
-Wiley and Light No Rockboard Now That's What I Call Paradise! (a weird MegaMan/Monopoly hybrid on the NES)
-Oregon Trail (link:https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990)
-Castylvania (NES original)
-Rainbow Islands (NES game...spin-off of Bubble Bobble games)
Playlist (I like music when I'm cleaning about the apartment)
(I deleted this... my playlist is definitely NOT "all ages". Lots of "bad words" and such. But, basically, lots of Rihanna, dancehall, old-head hip hop, r&b..... If you're really curious, it wouldn't be difficult for you to find my playlist with some low-effort web browsing. But definitely be warned it's not for everybody.There's definitely some "gangster" songs. I tried to weed out misogynistic content or homophobic content, but I can't promise I was 100% successful in that. That's my disclaimer.)
(Also, there's definitely some songs in the "freaky/nasty" sub-genre, but I tried to at least choose songs from different perspectives. For every "Welcome to Barbados" by Brutal Crankstar there's a "Hot Girl Summer" by Megan thee Stallion. I think the song I might most regret adding was Max B's "City with no h--s", but I just love the combination of the beat and his flow. But lyrically, I totally acknowledge that it's a super ignorant song.)
(Also... there's some songs that have religious themes. I'm still an ardent atheist. It's just an (unfortunate, to me) fact that lots of dancehall/reggae songs end up having religious themes or undertones.)
(Basically, my playlist doesn't (necessarily) reflect my personal beliefs,. It's just a collection of songs I like. There's some songs with messages I agree with, and some I don't. I like the messages of social justice, 5%er philosophy, positive non-religious themes, and the fact that Rihanna is the baddest)
Update 23 Sept: My playlist is at about 11,500 views, so SOMEONE(S) aside from me is going through the list... hope you (singular or plural) are enjoying the ever-growing list (the list is currently just shy of 700 songs).
I'm also trying to experiment with new recipes (and try new twists on old recipes). I'm currently marinating some oxtails so I can enjoy some oxtails with rice and peas (aka kidney beans). (Update:23 March...my oxtails were amazing. I'm talking "falling off the tail-bone" amazing.)
Update 23 Sept: I've also made Jamaican beef patties (JBP's) twice. I'm still perfecting my recipe (which is based on from Helen Willinsky's recipe from her book "Jerk From Jamaica", but with my own twists & additions). They turned out pretty good both times I've made them. Making JBP's is... a journey. I do everything by hand, from mincing onions to making the pastry, so...yeah... it's involved. But the finished product is well worth the effort. I love the Golden Krust junk food JBP's, but nothing beats fresh, home-made JBP's.
Anyway, I'm trying to have as much fun/anti-stress as possible while "self-imposed lockdown" is the recommended course of action.
(Also, I recognize I'm pretty lucky to live in a rural area right now. Even luckier to be in an area with nice weather. So I can go for hikes and exercise even though gyms are closed. I guess I'm just saying, if you have a way to get some exercise in, do it. I also suggest cutting down on the amount you eat if you're forced to be more and more sedentary. You don't need to eat as much food if you're just sitting in your house/apartment. Eat enough to be healthy, but adjust to your current level of activity. . I mean, a little over-indulgence once or twice a week is ok, but be reasonable.. For myself, I'm cutting my portions to about 1/2 to 3/4 of their normal size (depending on my level of activity). Also, I have to give a special shoutout here to the owners of the gym I go to for letting me borrow some free-weights while they're closed. It's much appreciated. Working out helps me stay grounded.)
Update 19 March:
I hope any relief bills actually benefit the people who need them most. For example, a displaced restaurant worker making less than $20,000 a year who may not have a job after this is more vulnerable than an office worker making $50,000 a year who will definitely be getting their job back. And both of them are more vulnerable than someone who's making $100,00 a year programming websites and isn't even temporarily jobless.
People should be taken care of.
At the same time, I've seen some of the more...wacky...suggestions like "people should be getting their student loans forgiven because of coronavirus!". America's government is basically paid for by pay-go from top to bottom (especially in a crisis, where funds are diverted from one sub-system to another). You can't just all of a sudden cut off billions of dollars from your governments coffers AND expect that government to some how spend (exponentially) more than normal on disaster relief. It doesn't work that way. Especially when there's basically no one to borrow from right now.
People just have to be realistic.
The most realistic "wage relief" would be to pay an amount determined by the following (minimal) criteria:
-Location (it's more expensive to live in New York or San Francisco than it is to live in than Madras, OR or Benton Harbour, MI)
-Number of family members in the wage earners household (a family of 4 needs more than a single person)
-Type of job (discussed earlier)
If I can think of other criteria, I'll post more. But it's 3am, and I just want to go to bed.
Update 24 March:
It's very disheartening (to me, anyway) to see how partisanship has really slowed our response, even at the most basic level, to this pandemic. I personally feel like our president has put so much stake into economic success that it's blinded him (and his rank and file in the government) to anything but.
At the same time, I feel like the Democrats are trying to do too much, and promise too much, in terms of economic relief and health care. availability with respect to our actual ability to carry such a large influx of patients without neglecting other serious medical conditions.
Neither side has been treating this like the balancing act it is and has to be treated as.
I feel like both sides are trying to toss up as many quick fix miracle hail mary's as possible, in the hopes that one of them sticks and they can declare themselves saviours of the U.S. and get all the votes for their side in the 2020 elections.
I think it's really unfortunate that this had to happen in an election year, but you don't exactly get to pick and choose when these things happen.
I just want to reiterate that we should be listening to qualified medical scientists and health care professionals for ALL advice on how to best get through this with minimal casualties. The economy will recover quickly enough when this is all over with. There's a difference between a monetary collapse (like the Great Depression) and an event-prompted dip. As steep as the current dip has been, it's a) starting from a high point, so it's not as devastating as it appears to be, b) probably very temporary, since it's more about a pause in production rather than a true monetary or "lack of faith" catastrophe. Things probably won't recover to the high point we were previously at right away, but I think over time the economy will begin to right itself as soon as the pandemic subsides. But trying to force the economy to work can lead to a worse outcome. For example, if you're overproducing cars when travel is all but banned for no other reason than to attempt to make the economy stronger...you're going to make things worse in the end. You'll end up spending far more than you could ever hope to make back. People will end up losing jobs permanently, as opposed to temporarily. Lack of faith in your ability to make a profit will send stock prices plummeting. Etc, etc, etc. Then we WILL be in a depression/recession.
It's better, right now anyway, to roll with the punch (economically speaking and otherwise) until this pandemic is dealt with.
For now, keep people housed and fed (and thus healthy), let major corporations take a reasonable hit, and prepare for the possibility that it could get worse (while hoping for the best). And by "reasonable hit", I mean the executives and such can take some temporary pay cuts to put money back into their companies for the sake of their employees. But at the same time, you can't let major corporations go belly up, because (by and large) they are MAJOR sources of employment.
Again, this is a balancing act. Here, it's balancing the need for security for individuals with the need for security for vital cogs in the great American economic machine. So, by "reasonable", I truly do mean "reasonable"I am most definitely not trying to imply any kind of unreasonable "bleed the corporations dry!" rhetoric.
Update 26 March: I've temporarily started a twitter where I live tweet while I watch youtube videos of old(er) math talks from past conferences/colloquia/symposia. It's sort of a "trial basis" thing, so I don't know how long I'll keep that page up. And I don't know how active it will be with the new term starting up. But anyway, it exists. Most of the videos will probably be related to symplectic geometry/topology, but I might mix a few other subjects in there, too. Feel free to join me for the live tweets if you're so inclined. Or don't. Whatev's. It's just something to do during the lock-in. I pretty much just type about how I don't know 75% of the stuff being presented, followed by my typing about how I 100% want to learn more.
I also use the twitter to get in on the "Rihanna is Jamaican" meme (link here), even if I am like 6 months too late on that.
Update 27 March: I see 3 basic social responses to this whole situation:
1)Overreacting. This is observed in people who are hoarding items and generally taking a "Wild West" approach to "Life Under CoVID-19", A lot of people in this group seem to like to spread their over-reactions to others I also include in this group people who sell conspiracy theory-type claptrap like "XYZ politician is going to KILL MILLIONS!".
2)Under-reacting. Basically, people who aren't taking this seriously at all. Extreme examples are those kids licking toilet seats, or people crowding beaches, or that pastor who had everyone in their congregation shake hands to...prove a point?
3) Respecting the virus. I think most people fall in to this group. This group practices social distancing as much as possible, basically follows the evolving rules of life under CoVID-19, and stays informed by valid sources as much as possible. Most of us are vigilant without being paranoid to the extreme.
I keep saying this, but don't fail prey to panic/fear mongering. Don't listen to irresponsible voices from groups 1 or 2. Be a group 3 person. Listen to group 3 people (and experts, who I imagine are mostly group 3 people themselves).
Update 2 April: So we finally crossed the "1 million cases worldwide" threshold, which is...disturbing, but expected. I want to say this: I see a lot of takes blaming governments and politicians for not telling us to stay at home and minimize contact with others. While governments and politicians do have a duty to lead us on the proper, prudent path during this time...at the end of the day the onus is on us as individuals. It's our job, as individuals, to practice personal responsibility and do the right thing. Again, as I've been saying over and over, it's up to us, as individuals, to listen to the health care professionals and medical scientists and take their advice. It's up to us, as individuals, to take responsibility as free people living in a free country, to do right by our fellow citizens. In this time, we're going to see peoples' true colours, and show our own.
I also want to say, again, that this isn't the time to play politics. I get that a lot of people think this is the time to prove they're right about a need for universal healthcare, for instance. But all of the free healthcare in the world isn't going to do anything right now. Look at countries with free/universal healthcare (e.g.; Italy, France, Spain), and then check the stats of "cases per 1 million" and "deaths per 1 millioon" at https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ and note this virus is just as bad in the countries with free/universal healthcare. The fact is, there is no cure or preventative treatment yet. I'm just saying, healthcare/insurance is great, but it's not going to save you if you catch this. The things you need and can actually helps you, if you have a non-mild case, like ventilators for example...they're filled, with a long back-up of patients who need them. This isn't the time to get into political grand standing for healthcare. Right now, social distancing and other lifestyle adjustments recommended by the professionals is far more effective than healthcare in terms of combating this virus. If a cure/preventative becomes available, it should be available to all. Until then, we have to practice personal responsibility, not political grandstanding.
Update 7 April: Related to the above with regards to health care...what I'm saying is this isn't the time for people (in government or otherwise) to go on a "free &/or universal health care system" tour. Overhauling the health care system during a crisis will just make the actual health care system slow down and potentially grind to a halt. .I think a good compromise is something like this:
For hospitals that charge interest on unpaid bills...that interest gets cancelled. For everyone with outstanding bills (with or without interest), there should be no "pay-by" date restrictions on re-payment. Bills should never exceed $50/month (but with the option to pay more if you choose to). Failure to comply with such a (in my opinion) generous package would lead to government confiscation of the amount owed from the billing date to that date, or (in more extreme cases) jail time. I'm against unnecessary jailing, but this is serious. If you haven't paid $50 after a year, you're doing it wrong. The cost of this crisis to the U..S. and it's healthcare system is going to be...astronomical. Ridiculously astronomical. Something has to be put back in to keep the system from going completely bankrupt. The AOC's and the TheBerns to the way left want free everything, and the Trumps and the truly greedy want absolutely nothing to be free, and the Not-Crazy people (the rest of us) just want piece of mind and a sense of security...that things can only get better from here, even if that requires some hard work and sacrifice for everybody. You need a compromise that's fair to everyone. I think, all in all, some package like the one suggested above is fair, and a good compromise for all sides involved.
Update (13 April): I just want to say I appreciate the job Dr. Fauci is doing as the public face of the public health response to this virus. He's been a rock. I know there were some people who were upset by his phraseology when he addressed the way this virus has hit the African-American community as a significantly higher rate in some places. I'd give him a pass on that. He wasn't trying to be racist. Also, I get that some people were upset that he didn't get into the socio-economic aspects of why the virus has hit the African-American community in this way. I think a lot of people forget that he's a specialist in immunology, not sociology or economics, or politics, or law (etc.). That's not his job. I feel he gets a pass on this one, too. Just like I wouldn't want a historian or a sociologist or an economist giving me serious medical advice, I don't exactly want an immunologist giving me history lessons on racial inequality in America. Especially not during a pandemic.
That said, there's obviously racial (and class) disparities when it comes to health and health care. And I think that that's something that does need to be addressed. When this pandemic passes, I think we need to do a lot of re-evaluating of our system in America, and we need to start making some structural changes. One of the things I personally think we need to re-evaluate is the way we condense populations into large cities, and how we manage the populations (and their housing) in large cities. Dense populations, especially in neighbourhoods/buildings with poor living conditions, are breeding grounds for disease. I think we need to come up with a plan to start dispersing the population a bit more, and to start improving the conditions of neihgbourhoods/buildings that house our more impoverished fellow citizens without displacing them. And I do think, when this passes, we need to take a long, hard look at how we can right the inequalities (race-based, gender-based, etc.) in our socio-economic machinery here in America and do something about it.
Update 18 April: Now is NOT the time to lift "stay at home"/social distancing protocols. You do that once the virus' impact is lessening, not when it's leveling off. If you look at the stats, we are seemingly hitting a peak...the "leveling off"point we hear so much about. But that's not the same as "we're in the clear". We're only "in the clear" once we start seeing a significant drop in the curve; when deaths per day are dropping and when new cases per day are significantly dropping. Ending "stay at home" orders prematurely will cause both those rates to swing upwards dramatically. I get that people are getting cabin fever and feeling restless, but we're just going to have to do all of this over again if we prematurely end this effort. This is all really difficult...for everyone...but we have to be strong and hold out until the right time to resume normal life, and the right time is NOT now.
Update 27 April: I was incredibly disappoiinted in all those...well...idiots who were protesting the life-saving measures such as "stay at home" orders. You're only making things worse for everyone. Potentially dying for the freedom to get a Fuddrucker's burger or whatever... I'm not a small business owner. I can't imagine the stress people who are small business owners are under. I'm sure a fair share of them were already under stress before all of this. But falling in line with the idiots wearing Joker masks and carrying assault weapons isn't going to make anything better. (In fact, if you get doxxed it's probably going to make your life MUCH worse. I don't endorse or support doxxing, but I also acknowledge that it's a very real thing.) Just be smarter than these idiots taking things too far.
Also: I still don't understand how a whole angry armed militia just shows up at a state capital, and there's no call to the National Guard. I mean, I know why the National Guard wasn't called (unlike in times/places like, say, Charlotte during the 2016 street protests over the shooting of Kieth Scott)....I just don't understand.
On another subject, I think it's great that some of these big businesses that were getting the relief checks are sending them back.. If you don't need it, don't take it. I applaud the people/businesses who are giving back what they don't need. They're shining examples of honesty in the face of adversety.
Update 17 May: I know people have been cooped up for about 2 months now, and places/things are reopening....but this pandemic isn't over. Numbers are dropping specifically because, for 2 months, we've been strictly following stay at home orders and practicing social distancing. I have a bad feeling that, if people all of a sudden decide to go back to congregating in large groups (e.g.; crowding bars, having big gatherings, going to sports events)this thing is going to rebound and we're going to be worse off than we were even a month ago. Just be smart. Don't think that this thing is over just because some restrictions were lifted. We're not out of the woods yet, and we need to make sure things get better, not worse. The numbers for new cases and deaths have only been steady, they haven't really dropped. I'm just saying....be vigilant. Be smart. One week of "social freedom" isn't going to feel as amazing if we have to do another 2 months of shelter in place and shutdowns because people want to act like this thing is over.
Update 3 June: So America is at almost 110,000 deaths from COVID-19 as of right now. With all of the protests going on, I fear those numbers will jump; that we're sort of pushing the timetable forward on a second wave that is already being predicted for the autumn. I know the protests are important, and I'm not advocating for them to stop, but it's just a fear I have...that a lot of people are going to inadvertently get infected. I really, really hope my fears are wrong, and everything will be fine. It looks like a lot of protesters are wearing masks, at least. But social distancing is all but impossible when you're marching an protesting in numbers like these. Again, I just hope everyone out there fighting the good fight keeps in good health during and after these protests.
Update 26 June: I'm with Dr. Fauci 100% on this (and a lot of other things): (article link www.cbsnews.com/news/anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-americans-ignoring-science/ )
Watching people ignore science is frustrating as...fudge (I'm trying to clean up my language on here...bear with me). People are living longer and healthier lives than previous generations, specifically because science (be it medical, biological, chemical, etc.) has been so successful in identifying and tackling so many health issues we have as humans. But as soon as science tells you to stay indoors and wear a mask, people are like "Nah...science doesn't know what it's talking about". Which is insane to me. Anyway, to bang this particular drum one more time: LISTEN TO THE MEDICAL SCIENTISTS ADVISING US ON HOW TO MINIMIZE THE THREATS POSED BY THIS PANDEMIC!!! THEY KNOW BEST!!
Update 4 July: I think we're definitely in need of a new round of economic relief/stimulus, what with the fact that we're obviously not ready to reopen the country/economy yet. The "second wave" we hear about may just end up being a part of the first wave if we don't do a better job of being vigilant against spreading this virus. But that means we absolutely need to provide for the American people. And it will require some big sacrifices from some people with some big bucks. That's just the way it has to be. But, to ease the minds of the super-rich, I do think we have to ensure that any emergency relief plan we enact does NOT become a permanent economic structure in our...well, economy.
I've long said that the New Deal should have had an "expire by" date. It never adjusted to changing times, but we've pretty much left the New Deal economic structure untouched. We've made minor adjustments here and there, but it's (IMO) a very archaic system. Economies have to be fluid...adaptable to changes in all of its aspects. You can't have a system that was built in a global economic crisis in the late 1930's to work in 2020.
So, with that in mind, I think you have to say..."Ok, we need to think ahead this time, and keep in mind that times will change. Let's make sure we make a system that can change as changes are needed".
Some day (probably sooner than later), we'll see a drastic shift much like the (drastic) shift from the factory/production economy of the 1930's to the digital economy of the 21st century. It might be in terms of energy sources. A move from fossil fuels to renewable energy would radically shift economies world-wide. When you acknowledge that inevitability, you have to prepare for it.
Anyway... I just think we have to get some new relief/stimulus packages through. We have to do it quick. But we have to be smart, careful, and with an eye to the fact that this crisis won't last forever, but it might not end as soon as we'd like either. Adaptability (and, of course, honesty) is key here. We don't need to doom ourselves in trying to save ourselves.
Update 8 July: I think it's incredibly idiotic for the current administration to demand schools reopen (under the threat of losing their funding) despite warnings from the CDC and others that opening schools is a bad idea. I also find the administration's stance on foreign students at universities doing online-only classes to be reprehensible. This is both anti-education and anti-health. We will do irreparable harm to our education system if we enact these measures. America does not want to be the least healthy AND least educated country in the world. But the current administration seems hell-bent on making this happen. I personally feel this is the most anti-American administration we've ever had. As an aside, I also think the recent Supreme Court ruling on birth control is preposterous. The last thing we need right now is unwanted births. The current administration seems to have no foresight. All of these things will contribute to America becoming a true welfare state, which we canNOT afford (financially or otherwise).
(add-on 12 July: I think this administration's stance on foreign students is harmful to more than just universities who need the funds foreign students bring via tuition and such. You're talking about possible economic collapse for whole towns. Take, for example, a town like Corvallis. Oregon State University has a fairly large student population, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. These students (and their tuition) definitely help keep OSU well-funded. They also help tons of businesses in Corvallis stay funded. They also rent apartments, and keep landlords funded. If OSU is forced to stay in an online-only format come Autumn Term 2020, and this administration has it's way and all foreign students have to leave...both OSU and the town of Corvallis are screwed. This current administration can't seem to see beyond their own noses. It's pathetic, really.)
Update (30 August): I saw a lot of rumblings about a CDC report saying only 6% of people who died solely from COVID-19, while 94% dies from COVID-19 in the presence of one or more other ailments. Some people seem to think this implies that COVD-19 itself isn't dangerous. But that ignores the fact that it's possible none of those 94% of people may have died from their other ailments if they hadn't been infected with COVID-19. Basically, it's very likely that COVID-19 was the final push that tipped the glass, so to speak. COVID-19 is still a problem. It's still necessary to protect vulnerable citizens. There are people with existing ailments that can be pushed past that tipping point if you're not careful and if you're not obeying the protocols the CDC and others are asking us to follow. Comorbidity or no, fi someone dies with a COVID-19 infection because of you, that's on you. Stop looking for excuses to ignore this problem, and just deal with it. Again, this isn't about your political party, or your religion, or any of that. This is about pulling together for mutual survival. Don't fuck it up for those of us who are trying to beat this thing because you want to "own the libs" or "fight the power" or whatever.
Also...you know what other virus has a 100% co-morbidity death rate? Fucking AIDS. That's what AIDS/HIV is...it's a virus that makes you more susceptible to other viruses/diseases. But no one says "Don't take AIDS serious...people don't even die from AIDS, they die from other things!".
Update 23 Sept: We're at almost a quarter of a million Americans dead from COVID-19....and there are less than a million total deaths globally.... that means over 20% of all COVID-19 deaths in the world are Americans. Let that sink in. More than 1 out of every 5 COVID-19 deaths is an American. We really messed this one up, and we are continuing to mess this up. TAKE THIS VIRUS SERIOUSLY!
Update 14 Nov.: I'm sort of confused by Gov. Kate Brown's new 2-week closure plan (see: https://www.opb.org/article/2020/11/13/oregon-governor-kate-brown-covid-19-restrictions/). It seems sort of....well... half-assed. Like, why close gyms and dine-in eating if you're just going to keep salons and massage parlours open, and also allow sports teams to travel (sometimes between states) and play their sports? I don't get the need for continuing sports. I REALLY don't understand the justification of keeping salons and such open based on the flawed logic that they provide mental and physical health benefits. Somehow the justification here is that getting your hair cut is healthier than working out? I don't understand that at all. Most grocery stores were already keeping to the practice of 75% capacity, so that's nothing new. And I understand going back to pick-up only for restaurants. But outright closure of gyms? It doesn't make sense, since gyms do...ummm.. you know....keep people's physical and mental health up in a more tangible way than getting your hair cut or getting a facial and a shoulder rub. I think this is especially true as the daylight is decreasing and it's harder to get in exercise outside (most parks close at sunset, for example). I don't know...at the gym I go to, there's never more than 10 people inside at any given time, and everyone keeps their mask on and keeps distance and wipes down their machines before and after use. Basically, we're all responsible and we all look out for each other. I guess I just don't understand why she's not going all the way with this for 2 weeks if the goal is to get cases to drop.. Personally, I'll just start going for multiple power walks with a 30-ish pound backpack for cardio, and doing push ups and sit ups at home, all while drastically limiting my calorie intake (and cutting out saturated fats, gluten, and added sugars from my diet). But for older and/or disabled people, or people who don't feel comfortable being out and exercising alone in the dark?...I dunno... Like I said, this just seems really half-assed. If you're going to do a 2 week lockdown, go all the way with it. This just doesn't seem well thought-out at all, and I'll be surprised if there's really a dramatic drop in cases under this order. Personally, I'd be more inclined to prioritize neighbourhood sweeps to ensure there's no large, irresponsible social gatherings. I realize that sounds a bit...Draconian...but Gov. Brown herself said the main cause of this recent spike is social gathering in an irresponsible fashion (think college-kid keggers and such).
It's also worth noting that this spike is coming off the heels of the presidential election, and all of the idiots mass gathering to sing and dance in the streets in large numbers, or to protest the results in large numbers. If you look at the maps of new cases in Oregon, they're almost all concentrated in the Portland and Salem areas, where all of the singing and dancing and protesting was concentrated. Personally, I think this spike is more due to idiots on both sides of the political spectrum gathering in large groups to celebrate and/or protest. I feel it's best to keep those celebrations/protests under tight wraps for 2 weeks.
Anyway, I'm not against a 2 week (or longer) lockdown. I just question the strategy here, and I question how and where it's being applied. It doesn't feel well-thought out at all. It feels very short-sighted and reactionary.
So, just to be clear, I'm not against a new lockdown order, and I'm not going to go do protest pushups in front of City Hall or the State Capitol Building in an attempt to get gyms to reopen. What I am against is poor planning and implementing half-assed protocols. I would absolutely be ok with a 2 week closure of EVERYTHING, because that makes sense, and it would actually be effective.
Also: I'm REALLY glad that I stocked up on tons of canned food and items that I can freeze (mostly white meat chicken) over the last few weeks. I feel like the panic buying will probably hit again, even if it's on a smaller scale. I could easily live off of what I have stocked in my pantry and freezer for a month or longer. The 50%-off rack at the grocery store has been my friend (for example, I bought a ton of canned tuna for about 23 cents a can. It's not the most exciting meal, but it's healthy, nutritious, filling, and actually tastes pretty good if you season it right. I personally enjoy a can of tuna seasoned with scotch bonnet flakes or a Cajun seasoning mix Plus it lasts for years. The cans I bought expire in like 2023.). Really, outside of fresh fruit/veggies, I'm all set.
PS- It might sound like my exercise/diet regime is....extreme. The thing is, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic about 6 years ago.. I already keep my added-sugar and saturated fat intake really low by necessity, but even then I like to make sure I burn it off quick with some moderate-to-high intensity cardio and/or lifting. That intensity-level of exercise is also a MUCH healthier way of dealing with my PTSD than, say, drinking booze. With gyms closed, and people crowding trails, I find it best to adjust my food intake to accommodate the inevitable decline in the intensity of my work outs. While I do feel I'm in better shape than I've ever been in my life right now, the diet/exercise thing isn't a vanity thing. I just don't want to go full-blown diabetic, and I also need to keep my mental health in the good place. I've made a lot of progress in living with PTSD, and I really don't want to mess that up.
Update 27 Nov: Ummm...I really don't understand the logic behind the updated restrictions for Oregon being implemented after the 8th of December. Restrictions are going to be loosened everywhere except gyms? I guess I fail to see how allowing restaurants to go to 50% dine-inside capacity will abate COVID spread when.... you literally can't eat or drink with a mask on. So eating out inside of a restaurant around people not wearing masks will stop COVID from spreading... BUT....working out inside of a gym with a mask on will somehow spread COVID? I really don't get this as all. It's going to be wild when both obesity rates AND COVID rates all sky rocket in the next month or so.
Also, though I don't celebrate holidays at all (and that includes my birthday!)*, I did make a nice meal for the 26th of November. Here's the recipe:
Shrimp and Beans in a Thai Peanut Sauce
Ingredients (quantities are up to you...I made mine for one person)
La Preferida 16 Bean Soup Mix
Annie Chungs Thai-style Peanut Sauce
Red Bell Pepper
Carrots
Crushed Red Pepper (to tatse)
Cayenne pepper (to tatse)
Oregano (to taste)
Cooking Instructions
Boil quinoa (with cayenne pepper and oregano to taste) as per instructions, but take off the stove before all water is soaked in. Quinoa is usually 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water.
In a non-stick pan, sauté pre-cooked shrimp, pre-soaked beans (I soaked mine for about 8 hours), red bell pepper, carrots and crushed red pepper in peanut sauce (don’t over-do the peanut sauce!). Cook over medium heat.
When peanut sauce starts to congeal, add quinoa (with the little bit of unabsorbed water) to stir fry. Stir frequently, until peanut sauce re-congeals. Serve.
Notes
If you want to go full vegetarian, omit shrimp. I’ve done this recipe with the bean mix and no shrimp, and also with shrimp and no beans. Both variations are good (and all 3 variations are very low calorie/low fat!). Chicken is a good protein source for this dish, too. You can also roast the bell peppers if you want. I chose to sauté the peppers and carrots raw. I like adding the beans because the mix is really colourful. Plus, a little dietary fiber never hurt anyone!
I personally like the way the spiciness of the cayenne and crushed red pepper compliments the peanut sauce, but I also know many people don't like spicy things, which is why I noted "to taste".
I bought the beans and quinoa at 50% off and the shrimp at 30% off, and the peanut sauce was about $2 off regular price, so it was a pretty inexpensive meal. At full-price, it can get kind of spendy (the high cost comes mostly form the quinoa and the peanut sauce. The beans at regular price are only about $1.50 a pound... pretty affordable).
Adding crushed, unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts to the sauté is also good, but it definitely adds calories and fat.
Enjoy!
*I realize that when I say that I don't celebrate holidays or my birthday, that might sound depressing to some. I personally don't find it depressing. I'm actually happier not celebrating these things than I was back when I did celebrate these things. I just personally think holidays are dumb, and I as for my birthday.... as I see it, it's just the day I got pushed out. I don't feel any particular need or desire to celebrate that. I don't think life is any more or less worthy of celebration on any particular day just because that day happens to be the one I got pushed out on. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm pretty happy most days, and I celebrate life and good things every day by doing things I love, like math or hiking or...blogging, I guess. I don't need "special" dates on the calendar to justify doing that. And since I don't have family or friends, I don't need special dates to co-ordinate those celebrations with others. (And, no, the absence of friends and family in my life isn't particularly depressing for me. My experience with supposed family and supposed friends has pretty much always been negative, though, so I guess it's a case of addition of happiness by subtraction of shitty people from my life. In general, I'm a pretty happy guy. I'm doing things I love, and I live over 1500 miles from people I despise.... so yeah, things are good on a daily basis, and that's worth celebrating on a daily basis. )
Update: 4 December: I applaud Oregon for adjusting our restrictions to be more...restrictive...than the first 2 week freeze. As you can read above in the previous Update, I was kind of flabbergasted by the loosening of restrictions in the face of increasing COVID19 cases. Anyway, it was good to see that the state decided to get tougher, not more lax, on the restrictions. I hope this new 2-week plan does the trick, and we can get back to "pre-freeze" life, and (eventually) pre-COVID19 life. But, yeah... I was happy to see the revised plan. It's the smart move.
Update 8 December: I've been doing really good on my exercise/eating regimen, but today I saw a box of Dare brand Pumpkin Spice Creme cookies for half off the regular price and gave in to temptation. I definitely ate the whole box in like 2 hours time. I'm pretty sure that's like 9,000% of my daily sugar allowance and 20billion % of my daily saturated fat allowance, , Was it totally worth it, even if I develop irreversible diabetes over night? Probably. Do I feel bad about ingesting a whole box of 15 cookies in 2 hours ? Sort of. Now I have to work off all of this sugar. But they're soooo good. If you can find a box (and have someone(s) to share them with, so you don't eat the whole box by yourself), I highly recommend them. I only see them around this time of the year, so that's fortunate for my blood-sugar.
Update 17 December: I've seen a lot of conspiracy theories regarding the safety of the COVID19 vaccine. I, personally, believe none of them. Take the freaking vaccine. When my turn comes to get it, I'll gladly roll up my sleeve. There's no conspiracy. You won't be injected with an Illuminati666NWO microchip personally hand-made by Communist Satan or whatever.. It's just a vaccine, like a normal flu vaccine, or a Measles vaccine. It's for our benefit, not to wipe us out. It's ok to trust scientists. Take the vaccine if/when it becomes available to take it. I most definitely will.
Update 2 March 2021: I just want to say "Avoid Texas and Mississippi at all costs". Lifting mask mandates and allowing businesses to operate at 100% capacity is mind-bogging stupid, especially with vaccine distribution ramping up. I hope the other 48 states and all territories continue to follow the CDC's guidance.
Update 6 March 2021: Glad to see the newest relief bill got passed. I'm also glad the $15 min wage aspect was removed. Even if you agree with a nationwide $15 min wage (I personally don't agree with it), this is NOT the time to double the minimum wage. You have to wait until the economy levels out more. Unemployment is already too high. Raising the minimum wage to $15/hr in an economic crisis is a HORRIBLE idea. It would only increase unemployment and probably cause more businesses to close permanently. Even if you're a die-hard $15/hr advocate...this isn't the time.