Pre-Pandemic: Hollerbach’s

Posted on by Thor

Pam’s family was visiting from Iowa and to give then a taste of Central Florida we decided to go to Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café German Restaurant (205 E 1st St, Sanford, FL 32771). A large family sat eating at the table next to us and the place was packed for lunch. I miss sketching these types of crowded and festive scenes. An om-pah band was playing in the next room and a tone point everyone shouted, Ticky Tacky Ticky Tacky- Oh Oh Ohhh! Everyone shouted along and took a long drink of their steins of beer.

I know that the restaurant has recently expanded just in time for the pandemic. The Willow Tree German restaurant resumed standard hours as of May 4, 2020. The Magnolia Square Market German Deli has remained open throughout, and the Outfitters German folk clothing shop is open five days a week.

Willow Tree: Sun-Thu 11-9, Fri/Sat 11-10

Magnolia Square Market: Sun-Thu 10-7, Fri/Sat 10-8

Outfitters: Wed, Thu, Sun 12-5, Fri/Sat 12-7

Today June 14, 2020, dine-in capacity is limited to 25% for the safety of guests and staff. They have re-configured the table layout to reflect requirements of social distancing, and parties are limited to six guests per table – if there are more than six guests in a party, they will be kindly asked to sit at separate tables.

Take-out service is available 11am – 8pm at hollerbachs.com/ordernow or by calling 407.321.2204 option 3. Restaurant reservations are suspended until further notice in light of the limited seating capacity mandated by the State of Florida and by our concern for the well-being of our guests and staff, and to afford our staff time to adapt to the new re-opening circumstances. Restaurants can now seat people at bars with appropriate social distancing, while bars, pubs, bowling allies and concert venues must operate at 50% indoor capacity. Bar service will only be available to seated customers to discourage large standing crowds.

Jimmy and Eckhard will be returning to the Willow Tree stage Thursday, May 7th to resume their popular Schunkelabend German folk music show, with polka, yodeling, folk instruments, classic Oktoberfest songs, and much more – Thursday and Sunday 6-9 pm, Friday and Saturday 7-10 pm. A new rooftop beer garden is close  to being completed but not quite open yet.

Florida had 2851 new cases of Covid-19  on Saturday June 13, 2020. That is the largest daily increase in cases since the pandemic began. That is a 127% increase in new cases since the state re-opened. This is  the second week of phase 2 re-opening.

Terror in the Sky

Posted on by Thor

When will it be safe to fly? A health expert was saying that this is not the best time to be planning a vacation. With COVID-19 spreading around the world it is unlikely a safe location can be found for a get away. The situation is constantly changing. Because travel increases your chances of getting infected and spreading COVID-19, staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from getting sick.

My sister decided she had to get out of Florida with the COVID-19 case numbers sky rocketing. She decided she would stay with her son in Kentucky where case numbers are much lower for the next several months. She got up a 3:30am to get on a 6am flight. She described the flight as “Awful”. The airport was almost empty except for the flight she took. The pane was packed and behind her were two kids screamed the whole flight. She wore a mask and eye coverings. She also wore medical gloves but they were too hot and she had to take them off half way through the flight. Every passenger was given a mask and some sanitizer when they boarded but few wore the masks. After landing she is quarantining for two weeks.

Air travel requires spending time in security lines and airport terminals, which can bring you in close contact with other people and frequently touched surfaces. Social distancing is difficult on crowded flights, and you may have to sit near others (within 6 feet), sometimes for hours. This may increase your risk for exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19.

You should ask yourself, is COVID-19 where you plan to travel? If so then you might get the infection after you get there. Would your health insurance cover you if you had to be hospitalized in another country? Is CODID-19 spreading in your community? Even if you think you do not have the virus, you could be asymptomatic and spread the virus where you are going.

Will you have to be within six feet of other when you are traveling by plane? Being within six feet of others increases you chances of getting the virus. Think about friends and family, the ones you love before you expose yourself for a planned vacation. Some state require you to quarantine after traveling. If you get sick, keep in mind how long you might have to be away from work or school. Anyone infected must no longer be infectious before they can leave home.

Should you have to travel, then keep these things in mind:

  • Clean your hands often.
    • Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you have been in a public place, after touching surfaces frequently touched by others, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, and before touching your face or eating.
    • If soap and water are not available, bring and use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub your hands together until they feel dry.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
  • Avoid close contact with others.
    • Keep 6 feet of physical distance from others.
  • Wear a cloth face covering in public.
  • Cover coughs and sneezes.
  • Pick up food at drive-throughs, curbside restaurant service, or stores.

Elephant in the Room

Posted on by Thor

On day one at Elite Animation Academy Summer Camp, which this painting depicts, I had three students. I realized the tables were about six feet long so I got rid of all the extra chairs and had students sit at the end of the tables to maintain social distancing. I also made sure the tables were six feet apart. I carry a six foot stick each day to have a physical reminder of the six foot distance. I place it on the floor at my feet and it is amazing how often people trip over it. During the course of this class I realized that I could not see the drawings that students were doing from six feet away. So I encouraged them to draw darker and with more conviction.

I usually give students drawings which offer notes about how they might improve each sketch they had done. But then I realized that sheets of paper could carry the Covid-19 virus from person to person. I decided against giving students drawings. Any time I touched a pencil or pencil sharpener I disinfected my hands and I encouraged my students to do the same. I focused on safety first and art second. Creating a playful learning environment was a challenge on day one with my voice muffled by a mask and the elephant in the room.

Outside the entrance at Elite, I get my temperature taken each morning. Each day I have been layering on more PPE.  I started with a cloth mask and on day two upgraded to an N95 mask and a medical face shield. Between these two PPE items I was guaranteed to never touch my face.

My remaining student and I have worked out a unique and playful way of communicating. Hearing through the masks is difficult especially with the background sound of an area fan. We hold up our sketches from across the table like flash cards and I do sketch notes which I leave on the table for her to see from a distance but not touch. I also throw all my sketches on the floor. They create a six foot circle of sketches around me. Learning to maintain a six foot distance is a challenge. I tend to know more about this virus than most since I have been researching it for the past 3 months while in home isolation.  I am making sure my student is the safest person in the room. She forgot her mask on day two and I gave her one of my own.

On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health reported 5,511 coronavirus cases in one day which is an all time high. Each day the case counts keep rising by about a thousand cases making it clear the virus is flaring out of control. There is now wide spread transmission of Covid-19 in Florida.

An adult student of mine at Crealde had to get tested since she had been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. She was wearing a mask and met with my students but I was a no show that first class since I didn’t have a roster. She got back to me to let me know she tested negative and I let all the students know. Another close acquaintance tested positive. For now I am two degrees removed and only by being extremely careful can I hope to avoid the infection.

I have watched many videos of nurses describing the emotional toll of being a front line worker. Now, working 7 days a week, I am also feeling the strain. I am watching maps of how the virus spreads in enclosed spaces worried that any lax practices in one area would spread throughout the room. The spread in a call center is even more unnerving. I feel the need to stay vigilant. I am wearing my mask to protect the students and other instructors. I gave another instructor this larger class space shown in this painting, when I lost my two sister students so he could spread his students out more.

15 to 34 year olds in Florida are now getting infected the most. They are less likely to need hospitalization but can spread the virus to others. Younger people infected by Covid-19 often show no symptoms but can be infectious. A 17-year-old in Florida died from COVID-19 complications, making him the first person in the state under 18 confirmed to have died from the disease, according to Florida Department of Health records.

There is much that is unknown about the virus, so every precaution is needed if the state struggles to re-open safely.

First Day of Summer Camps Elite

Posted on by Thor

The first day of Elite Animation Academy summer camps began on Monday June 22, 2020. I had three students for a class that focuses on drawing people places and things. It is essentially an Urban Sketching Class with the glitch that I can not, in good conscience, take students out on locations like restaurants to sketch. I brought a six foot stick with me to class to keep a visual reminder of what six feet looks like so I could space out the students. I bring that stick everywhere I go now. It makes me feel a but like Moses parting the viral sea.

Two of my students were sisters. Everyone thankfully was wearing masks. I spoke about the pandemic to my students without focusing too much on the statistics and data of the past week.

Florida is quickly becoming the next epicenter for the spread of this virus. Florida was late to shut down and early to re-open. Governor Ron DeSantis ended all restrictions on youth activities across the state, including camps. “At the end of the day, we trust parents to be able to make decisions in conjunction with physicians.” he said. A 17 year old girl is the youngest to die from Covid-19 in Florida so far. Oh, wait, sorry, I got side tracked, I didn’t discuss any of that with my students. I kept that to myself.

I covered the basics of hand washing, social distancing and keeping the masks on. There was hand sanitizer on each table and disinfecting wipes. I advised students to wipe down every pencil or sharpener they used. My students were troopers keeping their masks on at all times. Talking through a mask was a challenge and I realized I couldn’t dash off quick sketch notes to hand off to each student. Each sketch would be contaminated in theory.

There were a few students taking a computer class and several taking a character design class and my three students. I managed to keep my students six feet apart by taking out all the chairs but four and pushing the two tables in the room to opposite walls. I then seated students at opposite ends of the tables. The tables are just short of six feet long. Most of the morning I was concerned with being sure my students were properly spaced and safe. They were troopers keeping their masks on for the whole class. I was wearing the cloth mask Pam created for me which has three layers of fabric. This was the first day I wore the mask all day and I got used to having it on. I find I breath best through my mouth and then exhale through my nose. It is surprising having to think about every breath.

Before lunch I decided to get the students out of the small classroom. It is safer to be outside rather than in enclosed spaces. We walked down to a small lake to draw. I gave then some basic composition tips with a horizon line and basic tips on how to draw trees and then let them go. I scheduled an hour for them to work but they really didn’t have the attention span yet to focus on the endless details that existed at the scene. One student delighted in drawing the ducks and a family that arrived to feed the ducks. She has the passion and it will be a joy to help her see better so she can get more on the page.

The next day the two sisters did not show up for class leaving me with one student. I may have discussed Covid-19 than was needed. So much of my attention was focused on student safety. The older sister would drop her pencil when done with a sketch as if dropping a mic. She had some talent. It is a shame she didn’t push herself. The phone for now is her world. The younger sister sneezed once. Three cheers for her mask, which did it’s job.

It is much easier to maintain six feet distance from one student rather than three.

Waiting Room

Posted on by Thor

Waiting rooms have become menacing places since the Covid-19 Pandemic began. It is estimated that there are 883.7 million ambulatory care visits a year in the U.S., with 54.5% of these visits going to primary care physicians. In the waiting room, there is ample time for the mingling of patients who have an acute infectious disease and those who do not. Studies have shown that airborne infections pose a particular threat to susceptible individuals whenever they are placed together with an infected individual in confined spaces like a healthcare facility waiting area.

According to the CDC, Covid-19 is spread mainly between people who are in close contact with one another (within about six feet) through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. A person can contract COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. These patterns of transmission raise the concern that healthcare facility waiting areas are environments in which there is risk of transmission of Covid-19 to high-risk uninfected patients.

It is also recommended that, where possible, the waiting room chairs are arranged in a manner that is conducive to patients maintaining at least six feet of distance from other patients. There have been some recommendations regarding the use of HEPA filters. Unfortunately, since the Covid-19 virus is very small (0.1 of a micron), it is likely not filtered by most commercially available HEPA filters, which are only able to filter particles as small as 0.3 microns.

Five precautions include,

  • Make hand sanitizer accessible in high-traffic areas
  • Offer an antiviral face mask to patients and healthcare workers
  • Use germ-killing wipes on high-contact surfaces
  • Review containment plans and keep patients with flu-like symptoms away from others
  • Follow hand hygiene compliance standards.

Anyone in Orange County, including within the city limits of Orlando, will be required to wear a face mask beginning this Saturday while out in public, under a new mandate by Mayor Jerry Demings. Under his order, “every person working, living, visiting or doing business in Orange County,” will be required to wear face coverings consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, while in any public space.

On my half hour drive to Crealde School of Art today on the second day of the mandate I saw 25 to 50 people and none had a mask. My students thankfully did have masks.
The latest numbers from the Florida Department of Health show that there have been 97,291 cases of COVID-19 statewide, resulting in 3,161 deaths. That is an increase of 3,494 cases since Saturday morning. There were also another 17 deaths reported.

Theaters Shuttered

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Local Theaters have been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Wade Hair the owner and artistic director of Breakthrough Theater (419 West Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park FL), announced via Facebook Live that they would not be reopening the theater due to complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The theater has been closed since March 13, 2020 and if they could open, they could only have 10 people per audience since the theater is so small. The theater had been in operation for 11 years. It was a magnificent mom and pop community theater that I loved. Friends and patrons have helped pay the bills up until now but with the Covid-19 case numbers rising, the theater owners just cant see themselves re-opening any time soon. They will have to leave the building by June 30, 2020.

Moonlight Players Theater (735 W Minneola Ave, Clermont, FL) is also closing. The Theaters 26th season closed with the pandemic closing much of the county and suspending all local theatre activity. Due to the timing of the pandemic-related closures, they had to make this bittersweet announcement that they will be vacating the Warehouse Theater home in historic downtown Clermont. They are having a closing sale June 20, 10:30am to 6:30pm. People are invited to fill up a bag or a box starting at $10. Many chairs and furniture pieces available as well. Only 10 people at a time will be allowed in the building, please wear a mask.

The New York Ballet has canceled its 2020 production of Nutcracker.  This will be the first time the company hasn’t presented the classic since the production premiered in 1954. The show is New York City Ballet’s most lucrative production, earning more than $15.3 million in ticket sales. Performed around 47 times each holiday season, The Nutcracker employed more than 150 dancers and musicians from the company, 40 stagehands, and more than 125 students from the School of American Ballet.

Again in NYC, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center canceled Fall performances. New York City has done an amazing job recovering from the huge spike in cases and has begin a phase opening watching the data closely. Here in Florida there has been a huge spike in new cases of Covid-19 over the past week. The number of cases has risen 254% since the state re-opened. Florida reported another 3,822 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday morning, breaking the one-day record of 3,207 set just 24 hours earlier.

The UK Government is going to issue a report on June 22, 2020. Andrew Loyd Webber  saw a preliminary report with government advice which included, musicals might return but without singing to stop the spread of the virus. He went on to say, “We in theater must be positive and use everything we can to demonstrate that we can open. If having done that we fail, at least we tried.”

AMC Movie Theaters announced a plan to re-open on July 15, 2020. AMC  reported that it lost more than $2 billion in the most recent quarter, when the pandemic essentially stopped theater going. Face masks will be required. AMC plans on opening 450 or so of its U.S. theaters on July 15, while all 600 should be open by July 24 in time for Disney’s Live Action Mulan and Warner Brothers’ Tenet. Now I worked on the original animated version of Mulan so I am very curious to see it. The opening of the live action remake was put off due to the pandemic but I can wait until it is available somewhere other than a crowded theater.

Orange County Mayor, Jerry Demings and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer have required residents to wear a mask in public places. Orange County is currently reporting the largest increase in positive cases since the pandemic began. We are seeing a significant rise in positive cases among those 20-40 years of age. We continue to see cases where those infected do not show any symptoms of having the virus. Because of this, we cannot be certain those around us have not been exposed. Each of us, no matter our age or how healthy we may be, must remain diligent in our fight against this pandemic.

Everyone must practice physical distancing and good personal hygiene. We must get tested for COVID-19 if we’re concerned we’ve been exposed.  We must continue to protect one another through simple, selfless actions.

COVID-19 is persists in Orlando. Remind every person in our community that our work to combat this virus is not done. Florida is showing signs of becoming the next epicenter of the Covid-19 virus outbreak.

Security

Posted on by Thor

In a news conference Tuesday June 16, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis said that 260 workers from the Orlando International Airport tested positive for Covid-19 after nearly 500 employees were tested. Airport Chief Executive Phil Brown had to correct the Governor’s statement. According Brown, of the 500 airport workers who were tested for Covid-19, only two had positive results. Those tests were done over a three day period.

Between mid-March and through June 6, there were 132 employees of all the airlines, rental car companies, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Aviation Authority that tested positive, according to the statement. Another 128 people who tested positive were not airport employees but were traceable connections to the workers who tested positive for Covid-19, according to the public health team. so, 132 plus 128 is, 260 people with some affiliation with the airport have tested positive for Covid-19. This shell game is rather funny as executives try to confuse and downplay the numbers.

Clearly the airport executive tried to downplay the number of workers affected but regardless, 260 people were infected by the virus. That left me wondering, what would it be like to try and get through security knowing the TSA agents might be infected with the virus. A pat town might not just be invasive but downright terrifying.

On Wednesday June 17, 2020, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority approved a new policy requiring all 22,000 airport employees to wear facial coverings in public areas of the airport. Employees will need to observe social distancing “to extent that they can.” I imagine social distancing goes out the widow as a TSA agent spears the virus all over your clothes as they pat you down.

Some people have felt they were sexually assaulted when they were patted down. a well-known CNN political commentator and analyst, Angela Rye was subjected to a humiliating vaginal pat-down before boarding a regular flight from Detroit to New York. In addition to being screened by the backscatter X-Ray machine, the female officer advised that she had to be patted down. It was only supposed to be “a backhanded pat around her upper thigh.” Instead, the female officer went down her leg, up her dress and her hand sideways touched Rye inappropriately. The same officer then faced Rye, and her sideways hand once again hit the middle of Rye’s genitals. Rye believed she was sexually assaulted. She filed a complaint.

OIA is stepping up its cleaning efforts in high traffic areas, and hand sanitizer stations have been added throughout the airport. And as reported earlier they are downplaying the tread of the virus.

I hear flights going into and out of OIA all day long. Airlines have to keep the flights on schedule even if they are empty because it is a requirement of the 25 billion dollars in government bail outs. Known as the CARES Act, airlines receiving aid are required to continue flying to every domestic destination they already serve, even with low passenger numbers. The requirement is designed to keep supply chains stable and transport essential personnel, like government and healthcare workers, as well as to maintain connectivity to smaller areas. While airlines collected 25 billion dollars small businesses are folding all over the county. So, ghost planes are flying all over the country literally empty except for plane crews and very few passengers.

We are living in the age of ghost planes and zombie molestation in the name of “security.”

Dueling Dashboards

Posted on by Thor

Florida now has Dueling Dashboards. Rebekah Jones was the former manager of Data and Surveillance for the Florida Department of Health Covid-19 Dashboard. She was removed from the state’s dashboard project after she questioned other officials’ commitment to accessibility and transparency. In April, she was working on the results that would specify which countries in Florida could open. Superiors told her they did not like the results. A report had been written on the criteria needed for a county to re-open. Many rural counties did not meet the standards needed to re-open. Some more populated counties at the time did meet the criteria. She was told, “We can’t tell Jackson and Franklin Counties that they can’t re-open but Broward and Maimi-Dade can.” They wanted to exempt counties with populations of less than 75,000 allowing them to re-open regardless of their status. She was asked to delete data and hide information making the information not publicly inaccessible. Basically they wanted justify the Governor’s desire to re-open regardless of the facts.

The reputation of the dashboard had been built on it’s transparency. The data was eventually put back, but now it is hard to know how reliable that data is. They have changed how the date is calculated and how it is recorded. Data continues to go missing since the dashboard keeps crashing.

The way percent positive cases were calculated was re-worked. As she put it, Lets say there are 100 apples and 50 are rotten. 50% of the apples are rotten. Now lets say 30 were rotten yesterday, 10 were rotten 2 days before and 5 are almost completely rotten but not quite, the rest of the non-rotten apples are diced into hundreds of pieces. No matter how you slice it 50% of the apples are rotten. The scenario is made more convoluted than it has to be.

Percent of positivity was one of the bench marks each county needed to meet to re-open. Positivity had to be below 10% and decreasing for two weeks. The way it was calculated was to divide the number of positive tests by the number of tests given. It was changed to the number of new cases per day divided by the number of negative tests per day. If someone gets tested multiple times it throws off the results. She refused to mislead the public during a health crisis and was fired.

Since leaving Rebekah decided to create her own Covid-19 Florida dashboard and she accomplished that in 3 days. Jones’s website floridacovidaction.com is paid for entirely by donations. Her dashboard reported about 77o2 more positive cases than the Florida Department of Health dashboard on March 1, 2020, because she bases her findings on science and data.

The new dashboard also shows report cards on where each county stands on reopening. Based on the facts she presents only one county is actually ready to open every other county included Orange County failed.

After being fired, Gov. Ron DuhSantis attacked Rebekah’s character but he can have no say on her new dashboard since the information is publicly accessible. He accused her of not being a scientist, and not having access to the date. Her new Dashboard clearly shows that she was the architect of the FDH dashboard and I for one will be consulting her new dashboard often since I tend to trust her results more that the FDH site.  She was able to quickly assemble the new and improved Covid-19 Dashboard since she knows exactly how to find and access the data. The dashboard she had created previously was praised by Deborah Burks a member of the White House Task Force and her credibility remains unquestioned.

Liberty County up tin the Florida panhandle is the only county that meets all the criteria of the Department of Health to re-open. Decrease in ER Visits for COVID-like illness: YES
Decrease in ER Visits for influenza-like illness: YES
Decrease in new cases by date: YES 

Orange County where I live, has not met the criteria to Re-open.

According to Department of Health, Orange County does NOT meet the criteria for the next phase of reopening.
Decrease in ER Visits for COVID-like illness: NO
Decrease in ER Visits for influenza-like illness: NO
Decrease in new cases by date: NO 

Social distancing grade for Orange County is:
F
Distance Grade: D
Encounters Grade: F
Visitation Grade:  F

Florida reported another 2,610 cases of COVID-19 on the morning  of Wednesday June 17, 2020, and saw its Covid-19 death toll rise to over 3,000. Those numbers come one day after the state set a record with 2,783 new cases. The rush to re-open has consequences. Wear masks, socially distance and stay home if you can. If 80% of people wore masks this virus could stop dead in its tracks.

Price of PPE

Posted on by Thor

Why are police officers around the country outfitted in high tech riot gear while nurses and doctors have to scramble for basic personal protective equipment? Back in April when New York City was first hit hard by the Covid-19 Pandemic some nurses and doctors had to improvise, using hefty garbage bags since Personal Protective equipment was in such short supply.  Now, with police hitting the streets with pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse protestors we can see that they are very well supplied with PPE.

I decided to host a fashion show with a nurse and an officer in riot gear. I am not great at knowing the costs of fashion items but I will try and research what each is wearing and how much it costs. I will limit myself to the items visible in my illustration.

The Nurse.

It should be noted that PPE costs increased 1000% during the Covid-19 pandemic. While nurses ran out of PPE, and had to re-use face masks, the President accused them of stealing their own supplies..

A basic Face Shield. She is sporting a fairly basic face shield. In May, Amazon began to mass produce face shields at coast for nurses and doctors. Prices are between $12 and $35.

Pro-Safe Skull Cap  $4.06

This nurse is not wearing an N-95 Surgical Mask. The Face Mask she is wearing is not designed to form a seal around the nose and mouth. A pack of 50 about 29.00 or $.59 cents each. Face masks can not be shared and should not be re-used.

Disposable Scrubs Top $4.99.

Disposable Scrubs Pants $4.99.

Disposable Vinyl Gloves $16.99 for 100 pairs or $.16 cents per pair.

She should be wearing Waterproof Boots (e.g. rubber or gum boots) $36.45. I have also seen photos of nurses putting hefty bags over their street shoes and duck taping them in place.  $9.99 for 40 bags. or $.49 for a pair. Duck tape is $4.99 for a roll which can go a long way.

Outer Protective Gown is a Hefty Bag with a hefty plastic tie for a belt. $.24 cents.

Any street clothing will not be counted. The total for the ensemble is about $27.52. Her wings are free. She has earned them.

The nurses had resorted to trash bags after the death of assistant nursing manager Kious Kelly, 48, who died of COVID-19 on March 24, 2020. Colleagues have blamed his death on the forced reusing of protective equipment.

Around April Fools Day, Nurses battling the Covid-19 pandemic at Mount Sinai West in New York City finally got more protective gear after The New York Post revealed a shortage so dire that some staffers resorted to wearing trash bags. Should we ant to thank essential workers, we should make sure they are included in city budgets.

Riot Gear Police.

Helmet Lancer Tactical Large – X-Large Industrial ABS Plastic Constructed Maritime Adjustable Crown with 20mm Side Rail Adapter Velcro Padding NVG Shroud Bungee Retention. $65.

Gas Mask is similar to the Evolution 5000 $229.50.

The Upper Body Protector Vest is about $71.42.

The department supplys ammunition. Collapsible batons, chemical spray, handcuffs — both metal and the plastic variety used in riot-type situations — and a leather utility belt to hold these items are other must-haves.

Minnesota officers receive an annual equipment allowance of $980 — rookie cops get three years, or $2,940, up front to start building their wardrobes. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges has pledged another $1.1 million for a department wide rollout of body cameras. LAPD officers are outfitted in riot gear that costs tax payers at least $470 per officer, not counting weapons.

I can’t identify the exact less lethal weapon this officer is holding but it is probably just short of $1000. Should anyone be able to identify it with a price, please let me know. The Sting Ball Grenade on his vest is $52.50. Who knows how much more ammo and grenades are in the bag he is holding.

The Body Cam on his vest is about $155.98.

This officer may have on a very nice Paul Newman Rolex Daytona watch.

So an exact pricing estimate seems difficult, but it is fair to say that there is a big difference between the $27.62 Nurse ensemble and the several thousand dollar plus riot police ensemble. By one estimate one officers riot gear could pay for the PPE for 33 nurses.

This leads to the idea of defunding the police to create balance in the community. Rather than investing billions in a culture of violence, we could invest some of that money in services that have a positive impact on the community like youth programs, counseling and affordable housing. The nation wide peaceful protests are helping inspire change.

What Point?

Posted on by Thor

The 1,107 graduating Cadets at West Point have been studying remotely since March 19, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The spring break was extended indefinitely due to the spread of the virus across America. By studying at home, cadets helped stop the spread of the disease. Despite these successful safety measures, President Donald Trump insisted that he wanted to give a commencement speech in front of all the cadets at West Point.

Every cadet had to return to West Point two weeks weeks early to self isolate so that the POTUS who never wears a mask in public and often does not social distance might be kept safe. “Trump’s reckless decision to gather 1,000 Cadets at West Point for a speech puts our future military leaders at increased risk – all to stroke his own ego,” Army veteran Senator Tammy Duckworth wrote in April.

“Because travel increases your chances of getting infected and spreading Covid-19, staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from getting sick,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote on it’s website. On top of this, New York State has had the highest number of cases of Covid-19 in America. West Point is just a 90 minute drive north of New York City which has been the epicenter of the outbreak of the virus.

Prior to the ceremony every cadet had to take Covid-19 tests to keep the POTUS safe. The ceremony flouted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s social distancing directives for graduations in the state to be limited to 150 people. Sixteen of the graduating class tested positive for the Covid-19 upon their return to campus. The 16 cadets are receiving treatment but are not showing symptoms of the disease, Lieutenant. General Darryl Williams, West Point’s superintendent, told USA Today. Other than the 16 cadets, 71 of the more than 5,000 faculty, staff and civilians at West Point have also tested positive for COVID-19 since March, USA Today reported. I am sure that Trumps SS would kept anyone who was infected far from the president.

A rift has become evident between the executive branch and the military. The government’s highest ranking military official, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley apologized for his role in Trump’s now infamous photo op in front of Saint John’s Church last Monday June 8, 2020, saying “I should not have been there.” Hundreds of West Point alumni, two days before Trump’s address, also called out the top Pentagon leaders, for failing to uphold the Constitution in their responses to nationwide protests.

Top Army leaders and Defense Secretary Mark Esper were “open” to the discussion about re-naming military bases that are named after Confederate generals who lost the civil war. The  GOP-led Senate Armed Services Committee approved a new amendment that would require military bases named after Confederate soldiers to change their names – setting senators on a collision course with the president. Trump tweeted that he “will not even consider” renaming military bases. The bases are located in  southern states that helped Trump secure his 2016 victory, and as Election Day approaches, he needs their support.

The class of 2020 West Point graduates entered their commencement ceremony on the Plain Parade Field wearing white face masks. Once they got to their socially distanced folding chairs they could remove their masks. There was no family of friends allowed. I imagined that if I was a graduate I would probably make a scarecrow to wear my hat. The POTUS probably wouldn’t notice the difference. The scarecrow could easily stand in for the military salute photo op.

The presidents speech was sleepy and insipid. I read his speech, but don’t pay attention to what he says anymore, I just watch what he does. He hobbled  off the stage after the cadets all threw their caps in the air. 16 0f those caps might have been carrying the Covid-19 virus.