Pre-Pandemic: The Escape

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The Escape near Göcek, Turkey was a luxury villa rental. The ground floor room had a patio over looking the pool and hot tub. The escape is situated in the mountain village of Belenpinar just a 5 minute drive down to the Göcek marina.

The owners first explored the area in 1995 when they escaped and hired a motorcycle, touring the Turquoise Coast as well as the inner villages of the region. They found the village, bought a field, and added their dream villa. They now share their vision with sophisticated world travelers.

The villa was custom built as a designer  summer house in the Roman style, where East meets West and the Mediterranean meets the Aegean. It is now available exclusively for group rental. Because it was previously run as a hotel and is also the winter home of the owners, there are a few rooms which are locked off, the office, bar, personal bedrooms. Groups of up to 14 people must stay for a minimum of 5 days.

Göcek is believed to be right around where Icarus fell when he flew too close to the sun in the famous Greek myth.

Pre-Pandemic: Spice Market Istanbul Turkey

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The Spice Market in Istanbul, Turkey is certainly an exciting subject to sketch. When I sketched, it was ahrd to find a spot to stay out of the way of the pressing crowds of shoppers. It is one of the largest bazaars in the city. Located in the Eminönü quarter of the Fatih district, it is the most famous covered shopping complex after the Grand Bazaar. It was built in 1455, two years after the Ottomans seized Istanbul – then known as Constantinople – from the Byzantines. It’s Turkish name,  Kapalıçarşı means covered market.

The building itself is part of the complex of the New Mosque. The revenues obtained from the rented shops inside the bazaar building were used for the up keeping of the mosque . Spice Bazaar has a total of 85 shops selling spices, Turkish delight and other sweets, jewellery, souvenirs, and dried fruits and nuts. In recent years shops of other types are gradually replacing the sellers of spices.

The market is usually visited by 150,000 people every day – and by 42 million people last year – while traders shout out deals in dozens of languages to lure tourists into their stores.

After Turkey announced its first confirmed case in mid-March, 2020 health scans were carried out on all the market’s traders. Seven were confirmed to have COVID-19. They could have been infected by the many tourists in the packed confines of the market.

The Spice Market was closed on March 23, 2020 as part of measures to stem the spread of the COVID-19, which has killed over 4,300 people in Turkey. The market employs more than 30,000 people.

On May 28, 2020 municipal workers in full protective gear on disinfected the Spice Bazaar against COVID-19 ahead of its reopening. The team used a specific disinfectant that has no harm to people’s and animals’ health, the Fatih Municipality said at a statement. The bazaar opened its doors on June 1, 2020 as part of normalization from COVID-19 restrictions in the country. The market had been closed for two months, the longest closure in its 550 year history.

Shoppers have their temperatures checked for fevers upon entry, and the number of people allowed in at one time will be restricted. Traders are worried that the bazaar is unlikely to see many tourists for some time. Namık, a trader said, “We are at a low ebb. How will we pay the rent?” He added. “My shop remains open, but there are no customers. There’s no business.”

 

Recovery

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Recovery is an interactive theatrical presentation of Phoenix Tear Productions. Zoom is the online platform where we got to meet the performers. Attendees were informed that they are new recruits in a firm called Posthumous whose job is to help the recently deceased find their way into an afterlife which is crafted by the company. Beatrice with her bright pink hair and round glasses was our guide, introducing us to the task at hand. Over the course of the evening it became clear that she was rather new to the job as well.

As I sketched, I was not sure if I was sketching audience members or one of the cast. The couple who had recently died were disoriented having lost many of their memories from their past life. They were referred to as “Blank Slates” and the audience could ask them questions and speak to them. We were split up into two online meeting groups and I was assigned to the group who got tot talk to the boyfriend. A partial memory played back with Melanie Leon defending her friend. If an audience member asked questions Melanie would think the question came from the boyfriend and she responded appropriately. This was a primary way to learn what had happened in the boyfriend’s life leading up to his death. Mel as the Memory  had known him since they were seven years old and she threatened consequences if his heart were broken.

The other group got to speak to the girlfriend, who apparently was a talented singer. I wish I had seen some of that performance. Slowly the truth unraveled with each question asked. Our primary goal however was to convince the boyfriend to be prepared for an eternal afterlife sponsored  by Posthumous. We kind of dropped the ball. I blame myself since I didn’t ask any questions since I was focused on sketching as fast as I could. Maybe I could have convinced the boyfriend that he deserved eternal happiness even if he didn’t find it before his death in this life.

This was a fun interactive experience and the talk back after the show was as fun as the performance. Audiences are limited to only 20 people so that each person can experience unique interactions with the performers. The show has multiple endings and different tracks to follow. Show tickets have been selling out and the run has been extended to September 6, 2020.

 

The Trump Virus

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2606 New Yorkers died on September 11, 2001 when the twin towers were attacked. 3352 Americans died during the Republican National Convention between August 24 – 27, 2020. About 1,500 largely mask-less people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House so President Donald Trump could accept his party’s nomination. Uncomfortable looking white folding chairs were placed inches apart from one another, with no room for social distancing, in violation of president’s own public health recommendations. Only people the White House expected to be in “close proximity” to the president and vice president were tested for COVID-19. Guidance sent to those invited to the event specified that masks would not be required on the South Lawn. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House Trump accepted the Republican nomination on the South Lawn.

Vice President Mike Pence gave a speech speech Wednesday August 26, 2020, delivered in front of about 100 mask-less people, including wounded veterans, at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Already 4 people who attended the vice presidents speech have been confirmed to have COVID-19. Pence was seen shaking hands, and exchanging fist bumps. No one appeared concerned about social distancing. An assassin would not need a gun, a simple hand shake could suffice.  Dozens of secret service officers have contracted COVID-19 in the struggle to keep the president and vice president safe.

The president pretends there is no virus in his struggle to get re-elected. People had to sit together for hours listening to Trump’s insanely boring speech which sounded like a Wikipedia summation of American history. It was hard to keep track of all the lies.

Hosting the campaign event from the White House South Lawn and the Rose Garden also violated federal ethics law called the Hatch Act which prohibits federal employees from engaging in most political activity inside federal buildings or while on duty. More important, to Trump, the TV ratings tanked. He was more concerned about the ratings numbers rather than the number of Americans that have died.

Fanning the Flames of Hate

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Democratic Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris gave a speech before the final night of the Republican National Convention. She said, “My message is simple, reject these voices, this president who has been fanning the flames Of hate.” On August 24, 2020 at the  Republican National Convention, the suburban Bonnie and Clyde, who threatened protestors marching past their Saint Louis mansion, were given a platform to sew seeds of fear in fellow Americans. The very fact that they were raised up by the reality TV president means that others will follow their lead and take to the streets brandishing their weapons. Vigilantes are being encouraged.

The couple is facing weapons charges for the June 28, 2020 incident. They each face a single felony count of unlawful use of a weapon. Charging documents say that pointing an AR-15 rifle at protesters and wielding a semiautomatic handgun, placing protesters in fear of injury. Saint Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner said, “It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest. Protesters said they were not on the home owner’s property. A group of neighborhood residents later condemned Bonnie and Clyde’s actions.

On August 23, 2020 a policeman shoot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man 4 times in the back. Seven shots were fired. Jacob is paralyzed from the waist down. He was shot as he opened the driver’s door to his SUV. His 3 sons were in the back seat. The police shooting was followed by Kenosha protests which included marches, property damage, and arson.

The day after Bonnie and Clyde spoke at the Republican National Convention, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17 year old self-described militia member from Illinois, borrowed friend’s a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and killed two Kenosha protestors named Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26.  Gaige Grosskreutz, 26 was injured. In my mind, Rittenhouse felt justified taking a long gun to the streets because Bonnie and Clyde had been praised at the Republican National Convention.

The shootings are documented on multiple cell phone videos. The exact order of the evenings horror are still being pieced together. Trump continues to bring chaos to the streets of America while encouraging armed vigilantes. His followers are legitimately a threat to this country and each other. Tucker Carlson of Fox News seemed to justify Rittenhouse’s vigilante shootings, “Are we really surprised that looting and arson accelerated to murder?” Carlson said during his show on Wednesday night August 26, 2020. “How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?” “Fire Tucker Carlson Now” was trending on Twitter following his comments.

More than 9000 Florida Children Infected

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The Daily News reported that more than 9000 Florida school aged children have tested positive for COVID-19 in the two weeks since schools opened. The Florida Department of Health reported 48,730 confirmed COVID-19 cases among children 17 years old or younger in new data released Tuesday. That’s 8,995 more cases than at the previous update, which ended on Aug. 9, 15 days earlier. More than 17,000 of those cases are in children ages 14 to 17, or high-school aged. About 13,000 patients are ages 5-10. More than 600 children have been hospitalized. Since Aug. 9, 2020 another child has also died, bringing the total to eight. The Florida union representing thousands of janitors, bus drivers and other front line workers at Florida schools suggests that schools reconsider opening in the fall.

Rebekah Jones who created The Covid Monitor which tracks cases in schools, reported that, Florida Governor DeSantis’ Department of Health claims that the number of COVID-19 cases in Florida schools is confidential. As she said,  “They publish the age, gender, county, symptom onset data, case date, travel info, and more.. but a count of cases by school- which they published then DELETED!!- is “confidential???” NO. OUR SCHOOLS. OUR KIDS. OUR DATA. DEMAND BETTER FROM YOUR GOV!!”

The Florida Education Association sued Governor Ron DeSantis who insisted that all children must return to school in person regardless of the risks associated with the pandemic. On Tuesday  August 25, 2020 Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson sided with the Florida Education Association and granted a temporary injunction against the state’s order that required brick-and-mortar schools to reopen. The mandate, Dodson wrote in his ruling, “arbitrarily disregards safety.” The state school board has filed an appeal.

On August 21, 2020 CNN reported that the White House officially declared teachers Essential Workers  as part of their efforts to encourage schools around the country to reopen for in-person learning. The guidance for essential workers states that they can continue to work even after exposure to a confirmed case of Covid-19, provided they remain asymptomatic.

On Monday, August 24, 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed the language on its website about who should get a COVID-19 test, a move that has baffled public health officials. “If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have symptoms, you do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials recommend you take one,” the guidelines now read, in contrast to the previous recommendation, which called for testing ALL close case contacts.

CNN broke the news that the decision to change the wording was made not by the CDC, but by top government officials from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and could even reach the White House, where President Donald Trump has made clear he believes the United States is doing too much testing for the COVID-19. The change, made without any rationale or explanation, further erodes the scientific community’s confidence in the CDC. For months, the story has been that more—not less—testing could only help control the world’s worst outbreak of the virus. Politics have infected the pandemic. It is what it is.

Sturgis Surge

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Sturgis, South Dakota was the site of a huge 10 day Biker rally. Over 460,000 bikes from all over the country roared into that town at the rally that ended August 16, 2020. Few bikers wore masks. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, has defied calls to cancel large gatherings and opposes requirements to wear masks. She welcomed the event.

COVID-19 spread in bars, tattoo parlors and at the crowded concerts. Now that the bikers are gone thee city of Sturgis is conducting tests for it’s 7,000 residents. Cell phone data from Camber Systems confirmed that bikers attended the event from 61% of all the counties in the nation. They returned home to share their experiences and the virus with friends and family.

Stephen Groves of AP reported that State health departments have reported 103 cases from people in South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Washington. Health officials in South Dakota have said they don’t know how many people were exposed and have issued public warnings of possible COVID-19 exposure at five businesses popular with bikers. Tracing every infection from the rally is virtually impossible. Every state has its own way of dealing with the virus, so contact tracing across state lines is a nightmare.

A tattoo artist from Asylum Tattoo Sturgis located inside One-Eyed Jack’s Saloon, tested positive for COVID-19. On five different shifts the tattoo artist could have spread the virus to clients in the shop. Health officials reported that the COVID-19 infection rate in South Dakota has been increasing. Kris Ehresmann, the Minnesota Department of Health’s infectious disease division director said, “We’re expecting that we’re going to see many more cases associated with Sturgis. Thousands of people attended that event, and so it’s very likely that we will see more transmission.” ABC News reported.

Posthumous Degree

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A new policy at Boston University now allows students who die while attending the school to receive posthumous degrees. Juan Garcia, a 21-year-old College of Earth and Mineral Sciences student from Allentown, died June 30 of respiratory failure and COVID-19. His death is the first known Penn State student death related to the COVID-19

A slow moving disaster is happening across the country as millions of college students are returning for on campus classes. Nearly 1,000 academic institutions are welcoming students and staff back to their campuses. With no national strategy on how to handle the situation in a pandemic, universities have to decide what to do on an ad hock basis. Some universities are testing students three times a week while others are welcoming limited numbers of students with a face mask stamped with the university’s mascot, a bottle of hand sanitizer and plans to test only a fraction of people on campus. The students are guinea pigs in a giant health experiment. Having so many students crush together for in person learning is particularly dangerous in the United States which United States, which has seen the largest number of deaths to COVID-19 of any country.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced on August 17, 2020 that, because of outbreaks of COVID-19 among students, it would shift all undergraduate classes online, a week after bringing students back to campus. The University of Notre Dame in Indiana reported that 304 students had tested positive. Notre Dame also turned to online learning.

College parties are pushing the rise in cases. Going off to college for many students is their first taste of freedom so this isn’t surprising. Students will rebel against any notion of isolation. The urge to party is too hard to resist. They have been fed the idea that they are not part of a high risk group. With that in mind, partying hard is not a risk. Some students even want to get sick, holding COVID parties and gambling on who gets sick first.

Each city and state is handling COVID-19 in different ways so it would be hard to get every student to embrace the same safety protocols. Outbreaks continue to spread on open campuses. Hundreds of colleges are having to reverse their re-opening plans. Codes of conduct are being instated at colleges with threats of expulsion but lets face it, they can not be enforced.

Though adults over 65 years of are are most at risk, COVID-19 has killed people in all age groups. People age 20 to 44 account for 20% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 12% of ICU admissions according to John’s Hopkins School of Public Health. People under age the age of 40 are developing severe breathing problems and blood clots related to Covid-19. The virus is in discriminant and thrives in crowded spaces.

Pandemic Pup

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that, “Some coronaviruses that infect animals can be spread to humans and then spread between people, but this is rare. This is what happened with the virus that caused the current outbreak of COVID-19, with the virus likely originating in bats. The first reported infections were linked to a live animal market, but the virus is now spreading from person to person.”

“At this time, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. Based on the limited information available to date, the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low. More studies are needed to understand if and how different animals could be affected by COVID-19.”

“Cats, dogs, and a few other types of animals can be infected with SARS-C. Animals infected include, dogs, cats, including a tiger and lion, and recently, minks.There have been reports of animals being infected with the virus worldwide.”

“CDC, USDA, and state public health and animal health officials are working in some states to conduct active surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in pets, including cats, dogs, and other small mammals, that had contact with a person with COVID-19. These animals are being tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection and also tested to see whether the pet develops antibodies to this virus. This work is being done to help better understand how common SARS-CoV-2 infection might be in pets as well as the possible role of pets in the spread of this virus.”

“Data from one study suggest some dogs can get infected but might not spread the virus to other dogs as easily compared to cats and ferrets, which can easily spread the virus to other animals of the same species. These findings were based on a small number of animals, and do not show whether animals can spread infection to people. More studies are needed to understand if and how different animals could be affected by COVID-19. Of the pets that have gotten sick, most only had mild illness and fully recovered.”

  • It appears that the virus that causes COVID-19 can spread from people to animals in some situations.
  • Treat pets as you would other human family members – do not let pets interact with people outside the household.
  • If a person inside the household becomes sick, isolate that person from everyone else, including pets.
  • Do not put a mask on pets. Masks could harm your pet.
  • Routine testing of animals for SARS-CoV-2 is not recommended.

Voter Suppression

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“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Across the county a record number of Americans plan to vote-by-mail amid the COVID-19 pandemic. USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was called before a Senate committee on August 21, 2020 to answer questions about how the US postal service has been dismantled leading up to the November election. DeJoy who has donated millions to the Donald Trump election campaign and he was put in position by Trump. The president has been falsely claiming that mail in voting is an invitation for voting fraud. He seems to think dogs will be given ballots and that the results will be contested for years. He slammed mail in voting as he signed his own mail in ballot for Florida.

Louis DeJoy confirmed that he will not restore mail collecting and processing capacity that the U.S Postal Service has lost in recent weeks, when pressed by U.S. Senator Tom Carper in a Senate Homeland Security Committee. Over the past few weeks Senator Carper has received hundred of complaints form his constituents about delayed paychecks and prescription drugs.

CNN reported that any Americans have since grown concerned over the USPS’ ability to handle the expected influx of ballots as more voters choose to vote by mail because of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Sorting machines and mailboxes that had been removed will not be put back in use. An e-mail instructed postal workers to not to reconnect any mail sorting machines that have previously been disconnected.

U.S. Senator Chris Coons was invited by anonymous USPS employees to see what they called “government destruction of property.” He found a dismantled mail sorting machine that he said was left out in the rain. The senator said employees told him the dismantling happened in a “late-night operation.”

Kevin Couch, a director of maintenance operations said, “We’ve got a president who doesn’t want to have vote-by-mail. We’ve got a president who would like to suppress the vote; we’ve got a president who would like to see the postal service not do well,” he said. “When I see what’s going on with the president who wants to degrade the postal service, wants to get rid of vote-by-mail, you shouldn’t be surprised that we’re alarmed that we’re seeing that kind of degraded service.

Trump told Sean Hannity, a Fox News host, that he also intends to have police officers and sheriff’s deputies patrol polling sites on Election Day. As Trump put it, “We’re gonna have everything. We’re gonna have sheriff’s and we’re gonna have law enforcement, and we’re going to have , hopefully, U.S. attorneys and we’re going to have everybody – and attorney generals.” This pronouncement implies that he plans to suppress voting in key states.

A 1982 Democratic National Committee lawsuit accused the Republican National Convention of trying to suppress votes in New Jersey by, among other things, posting armed, off-duty police officers at the polls in Black and Latino neighborhoods. The lawsuit decree expired in 2018, and this election marks the first presidential election since it expired.

Federal law prohibits intimidation at the polls and makes it illegal for any “civil” or “military” federal officer to order “troops or armed men” to polling places, unless needed to “repel armed enemies of the United States.”

Civilian Poll-watching is a common practice, and both parties use it. A top Trump aide, Justin Clark, said the campaign was working to recruit 50,000 poll-watchers.