Ripple

Posted on by Thor

Playwright Arthur Miller wrote a memoir called Timebends which recounted events in a non-linear fashion. I have decided I can do the same with sharing sketches.

This sketch dates back to 2009, the first year I started sharing a sketch every day online. For some reason I never posted it back then, perhaps because I didn’t feel it was good enough. However, looking back, I rather like the rushed direct ink line work. There is a real panic that the moment might be lost before the sketch was done.

This horse riding facility is called Freedom Ride (1905 Lee Rd, Orlando, FL).

Personally I never got on the backs of these beasts. I don’t trust them, but they are glorious to sketch. I used to sketch in the stables once a week. Returning to the same subject allowed me to refine what I wanted to put on the page.

Crealde COVID Classroom

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At my Crealde Urban Sketching Class I usually have one lesson inside while the other 5 lessons are outside.The goal of the one indoor class is to teach the students how to draw the classroom using one point or two point perspective. My sketch is done in two point perspective.

Before class I remove most of the tables and leave just one table for each student. My goal is to remove any chance of students sitting too close together. In the foreground of my sketch is the 6 foot long staff I bring to every class. I literally carry it around like Moses as a visual reminder that I need to keep 6 feet from students. Each table is 6 feet wide so that is another visual reminder. I sat more than six feet away by the open classroom door.

Next to the six foot staff is a rolled up drawing on brown paper that is a three dimensional map of the room with an orthographic view from above and orthographic views of the walls. When taped into a cube shape it is a decent representation of the room. The basic lesson is that an artist maps out his view of everyday places and events.

The next series of six Urban Sketching classes starts January 30, 2022.

Winter Olympic Bubble

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Can the Beijing Winter Olympics  bubble stop the highly transmissible Omicron variant? This will be the ultimate test of China’s zero-Covid strategy. China is where COVID-19 originated, yet, the Communist Party claims its handling of the virus is superior because of its authoritarian political system.

To limit the spread of infection, it is sealing the entire Games inside what authorities have called a “closed loop system” — a bubble completely cut off from the rest of the city.

The Beijing bubble is welcoming an estimated 11,000 people from around the world — and they will be shuttling through three competition zones up to 111 miles (180 kilometers) apart. The amount of security required to secure the bubble is staggering.

Daily COVID-19 infections among athletes and team officials at the Beijing Winter Olympics jumped to 19 on January 28, 2022 from two a day earlier, as Games organizers warned of more cases in coming days. Including the athletes and officials, 36 Games-related personnel were found to be infected — 29 when they arrived at the Beijing airport and seven already in the “closed loop” bubble that separates event personnel from the public, the organizing committee said in a statement on January 29, 2022.

Long COVID

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Though hospitalizations in America have peaked, hundreds of thousands of Americans are still testing positive every day. All people who had COVID-19 infections, whether they were hospitalized or only had slight symptoms, can experience long COVID.

Long Covid is a condition that arises after acute infection and often includes shortness of breath, fatigue, and “brain fog” but can also involve a wide range of debilitating problems in the heart, brain, lungs, gut, and other organs. These symptoms last for many months after the person initially recovers from the disease. Many doctors do not even acknowledge the existence of Long COVID, so those who suffer have no options for treatment.

The Omicron variant which is far more infectious that previous variants of COVID, seems to be causing similar symptoms as previous variants. It should not be treated as mild, and the long-term effects are still unknown. Research shows that even mild cases of COVID-19 can trigger long COVID.

Covid brain fog, is similar to “chemo brain,” which is a mind-numbing side effect that cancer patients endure when therapy to burn tumors away also inflames the brain. A person experiencing brain fog, has difficulty doing simple math, concentrating for more than a few minutes, or finding the right words.

A new study out of Israel which is not yet pier reviewed, has found that long COVID-19 symptoms are less likely in fully vaccinated people, according to Nature.

DeathSantis Puts All His Eggs in One Basket

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Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis has a one track mind. He has done little to encourage mask wearing or getting vaccinated, instead he put all his eggs in one basket by opening monoclonal Antibody treatment sites.

Monoclonal antibodies have helped in treating the Alpha and Delta variant of the virus if given early enough. But a far cheaper and simpler way would be to protect Floridians before they get infected with free masks and vaccines.

It turns out that the two widely used monoclonal antibody treatments from Regeneron and Eli Lilly, do nothing against the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Because of this the Biden administration stopped shipping the now useless treatments to Florida and other states. You don’t need to be a virologist to understand this simple idea. They DO NOT WORK against Omicron. Let me state this more simply, in a way that even a 2 year old could understand, Regeneron is USELESS against Omicron.

Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund, has $15.9 million in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc., according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has donated $10.75 million to a political committee that supports Ron DeathSantis.

Florida continues to do nothing to stop the spread of COVID-19 while continuing to spread doubt and misinformation about vaccines and masks. The state has deaths so far from COVID-19. When Ron DeathSantis was asked if he had gotten a booster of vaccine, he blubbered and evaded the question. When the aspiring Florida Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, of demon sperm fame, was asked if vaccines worked, he dodged, ducked denied and deflected from giving a simple yes or no answer. Democrats walked out of the confirmation hearing since they were getting no meaningful answers from the DeathSantis stooge.

Lake Baldwin Dog Park

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For the final class of my Crealde Urban Sketching Class, I met my students at the Lake Baldwin Dog Park.My goal was to get the students to think of the people and the dogs just as small elements to the overall composition.

We met at a gazebo for the lesson itself and then I set the students free to explore the area. One student even brought her dog for the experience. I did a series of sketches to explain dog anatomy so that students understood how to draw the three masses and the legs.

In my sketch you can see one of the students sitting in his artist stool over on screen left. The great thing about this park is that the dogs will come right up to you for pets and attention. I also think the dogs suspect that artist supply bags much contain treats.

I wore my mask the entire time but not a single dog owner wore any form of mask. I agree that virus particles can better dissipate outside, but some of these folks stood clustered in tight groups for long periods of time talking at each others faces. This class starts up again January 30, 2022 and it is close to being booked full.

Stealth Omicron BA.2

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A “stealth” version of Omicron cannot be distinguished from other variants using the PCR tests that public health officials deploy to judge its spread around the world. Stealth Omicron (BA.2) has many mutations in common with standard Omicron, but it lacks a particular genetic change that allows lab-based PCR tests to be used as a rough and ready means of flagging up probable cases.

Both FDA-approved lab-based and at-home tests should detect BA.2, as well as the other Omicron (sub-lineage), BA.1.

This variant has been reported to be 50% more transmissible than the original Omicron variant (BA.1) first found in South Africa which spread around the world in a matter of weeks.

BA.2 has already been detected in California, Washington, New York, Texas, Utah, New Mexico and other states. It will likely overtake Omicron as the dominant variant in America.

It’s too soon to know for sure, but there are concerns that the specific mutations identified with the BA.2 sub-type could make it more contagious or better able to evade vaccines.

Preliminary research in Denmark, where cases involving BA.2 are rising, suggest that the sub-variant may be more contagious than the original omicron strain, which was already the most transmissible known variant to date. The BA.2 sub-type accounted for 20 percent of Denmark’s Covid-19 cases at the end of December, and it jumped to 45 percent of reported cases by the second week of January. Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said this week that the BA.2 sub-variant is now dominant in the country.

So far, there is no evidence to suggest that the sub-variant causes more severe illness or symptoms, but it may be too soon to tell. More research is needed, but early reports show that vaccines are roughly as effective against BA.2 as they are against the original strain of omicron. Vaccines protect against serious illness and hospitalizations.

The United States has the highest levels of hospitalizations in the world right now partly because so many Americans chose not to get vaccinated. Hospitalizations have just peaked in America and are starting on the way down but once BA.2 spreads those numbers will likely again rise because so many people will be getting infected with the stealth Omicron variant.

No Vax No Heart

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A hospital patient with has not had the COVID vaccine and has no intention of getting vaccinated, was denied a heart transplant. The Boston hospital defended itself explaining that most hospitals around the country have similar vaccine requirements to improve the patients chance of survival.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital declined to comment on the patient’s case, citing patient privacy laws. But it pointed to a response that it posted on its website in which it said the Covid-19 vaccine is one of several immunizations required by most U.S. transplant programs, including a flu shot and hepatitis B vaccines.

The family of the patient is turning this into a political issue to raise money on GoFundMe. They have raised $77,000 as of January 27, 2022.

The hospital said research has shown that transplant recipients are at higher risk than non-transplant patients of dying from Covid-19, and that its policies are in line with the recommendations of the American Society of Transplantation and other health organizations. There is a scarcity of donor organs, so transplant centers only place patients on the waiting list whom they deem the most likely to survive with a new organ. “Given the shortage of available organs, we do everything we can to ensure that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the greatest chance of survival,” the hospital said.

Bail

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10,000 Americans died from COVID-19 last week. Over 860,000 Americans have died so far which is three times the number of casualties from World War II. 10000 deaths are like experiencing 3 to 4 devastating plane crashes every day, for the month, with about 90 people dying in each crash.

Despite this 25% of Americans refuse to get a life saving vaccine. Some journalist on the Bill Mayer show pronounced that she is done with COVID. She used to spray the Pringles cans, (who actually eats Pringles?) She stripped her clothes off fearing COVID might be on her clothes. She thought that when she got the vaccine life would return to normal. Now, she is over it.

She is of the new group of Americans that fit into the “Vaxed and Done” camp.” She is inconvenienced and only thinks of herself.  She really isn’t thinking about the true sacrifices of doctors and nurses all across America who are burnt out from having to watch so many people needlessly die.

Media like to point out that Omicron is less deadly than Delta. In the case of the original strain of COVID, if there are 10,ooo infections, and each patient then infects 1.1 other people, and of those 0.8% might result in death, in one months time you might expect 129 deaths. If the virus is more deadly like Delta then the number of deaths might rise to 193 in a month. If the virus is 50% more contagious like Omicron then in that case there would be 978 deaths.

The virus is controllable with simple masking, distancing and vaccines. However many Americans consider this an inconvenience. America has proven incapable of rationally responding as a society. 1 out of every 375 Americans has died from COVID and they continue to do so. a mask is 25 cents and the vaccine is free, yet that is a bride too far. Another 50,000 to 300,000 Americans will die from COVID by March 2023.

Doctors and nurses are trying to bail out the life boat while others not only refuse to bail but are actively trying to sink the boat.

William Cranshaw wrote in 1625, “Abhor more that poison wicked opinions that the pestilence us not infectious, that each can do whatever he wants, that avoiding persons and places, and diligent use of means for preservation, are needless and of no use…”

Supreme Court Wants Workers Dead

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On January 13, 2022 the Supreme Court blocked president Joe Biden  from enforcing a sweeping vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies. The mandate required that workers at businesses with 100 or more employees get vaccinated or submit a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. It also required unvaccinated workers to wear masks indoors at work

The rulings came three days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency measure for businesses started to take effect.

Liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing that the majority has usurped the power of Congress, the president and OSHA without legal basis. “In the face of a still-raging pandemic, this Court tells the agency charged with protecting worker safety that it may not do so in all the workplaces needed,” they said in their dissent. “As disease and death continue to mount, this Court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effective way possible. Without legal basis, the Court usurps a decision that rightfully belongs to others. It undercuts the capacity of the responsible federal officials, acting well within the scope of their authority, to protect American workers from grave danger,” they wrote.

President Joe Biden, in a statement, said the Supreme Court chose to block requirements that are life-saving for workers. Biden called on states and businesses to step up and voluntarily institute vaccination requirements to protect workers, customers and the broader community.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has decided it is time to get the hell out of dodge. He is retiring.