100,000 Shoes

Posted on by Thor

I am writing this on Memorial Day. The death toll for Covid-19 is about to surpass 100,000 and Donald Trump was seen golfing on Saturday May 23, and Sunday May 24, at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia in the midst of the pandemic. According to CNN, Trump visited Trump-owned golf courses 92 times between becoming president in January 2017 and January 3, 2018. Trump’s last golf outing was on March 8, 2020 when he visited the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. He wouldn’t dare golf there now, since Palm Beach has been a hot spot for the Covid-19 virus. As of Memorial day there were 16,522 cases of the virus in Miami Dade County with 614 death. By comparison Laudon County Virginia has 1195 cases of Covid-19 and 30 deaths, which is a far safer bet for the president who refuses to wear a face mask.

I began to wonder, how do you visualize 100000 lives lost? 100,000 people with dreams and aspirations. The New York Times listed 1000 obits of people lost to the virus on it’s front page. It is a sobering reminder of loss that the president would rather we did not remember as he rushes to get the economy back up and running at any cost.

If one shoe were added to a pile on a golf course for every American lost, how big would that mountain of shoes become? I remembered seeing a mountain of shoes of victims of the holocaust at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. In the Holocaust about 11 million lives were lost to man’s inhumanity to man. Today lives are being lost to indifference and incompetence. Besides golfing, Trump also fired off angry and hateful tweets. I have stopped paying attention to those rants.

Researchers at Columbia University this week estimated about 36,000 lives in the United States could have been saved from the Covid-19 had social distancing and other restrictions been put in place earlier in March. The researchers determined that if the measures had begun two weeks earlier, then 82.7% of deaths and 84% of infections — or about 53,990 deaths and 960,937 cases, could have been prevented nationwide. The study has not yet undergone the typical scientific peer review process, and all models are merely estimates, subject to change with new information.

The former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Rick Bright said, “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities …Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history.”

According to CNN, a leading infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota estimates that there could be as many as 800,000 Covid-19 deaths in the United States over the next 18 months. To date only about 3% of the population has been tested for the virus. Meaning the economy is being opened up blindly. Anyone you meet could be asymptomatic and spread the disease.

It amazes me that so many seem to be rushing out to gather in large groups this holiday weekend because Trump said the worst is behind us. As an artist I can not keep up with so many cases of absolute stupidity.

Pre-Pandemic: Pirate’s Dinner Theater

Posted on by Thor

Pam’s parents were in Orlando with her niece and nephew. They wanted to see pirates so we headed to International Drive. Before being let in the theater, guest have to wait in a crowded waiting area. A fringe performer had injured himself at one of these shows since he does some of the more daring acrobatics. I can see how that might happen ad pirates swung down on to the stage for upper platforms. I couldn’t see the food that was served. The story line was built around the premise that a princess was kidnapped. It was definitely set up for the kids entertainment.

The World Health Organization announced the Covid-19 Pandemic on March 12, 2020. I was shocked that Pirates stayed open until March 20, 2020. This is definately not the place I would want to eat dinner during a pandemic.

The Pirates website says, “At Pirates Dinner Adventure we care deeply about the health and well-being of our team members and our guests. Like many of you we are closely monitoring the impact of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 and are committed to keeping you and our team safe.

Our shows have temporarily been suspended in Orlando, FL, in accordance with local official advisements.

Covid-19 Refunds

As a standard industry policy due to Covid-19; the reservations that booked a showtime while we are closed from March 20, 2020 – May 31, 2020 we’re offering two (2) options:

  1. Reschedule for a future date to be used within a year
  2. Issue a gift card at the same value of the original booking to be used for tickets at Teatro Martini or Pirates Dinner Adventure Orlando, FL, within a year.

Being that our sales policy is “all sales are final” and “no refunds” we wanted offer options during this difficult time. We have not addressed any reservations beyond May 31, 2020. Should we continue to stay closed we will update this page with the options we will offer.

Please continue to check back here for dinner show information and updates that may take place.”

3000 Attend Street Party in Deland Fl

Posted on by admin

3000 people gathered in the Spring Hill neighborhood, Deland, Florida for a late night block party. Cars were parked in the grass on either side of the road and the drinking commenced in the street. It appeared to be an impromptu car show. Cars were parked on multiple streets wrapping around the block. The gathering was reported to be a memorial for Kenya Alexander, a DeLand man who was murdered in 2008.

The block party eventually led to a visitor being shot in the foot and a rifle being pointed at a Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy, according to authorities. The violent resistance to police also included another deputy being struck with a bar stool, a third deputy suffering a leg injury, and a DeLand officer being hit in the head with a bottle. The Sheriff’s Office arrested seven people at the party, including three felons found with firearms. No one was wearing masks.

The aerial views of the crowd look like they could be be thermal imaging. With a thermal image heat generated is what is seen. Heat would be the  brightest thing seen which would be really convenient if you wanted to check an entire crowd to see who has a fever. With the Covid-19 pandemic of course there should not be any crowds over 50 people. Folks at this block party were certainly not social distancing and therefor the virus could spread easily among them and then they in turn, could pass the virus on to relatives and friends. Though I like the idea of thermal imaging, the police images are likely taken with night vision goggles.

Spring Hill has been a designated Covid-19 hot spot by the local the health department and testing will start Thursday May 21, 2020. People found out about the event through a flyer and social media.  The City of DeLand and Volusia County both confirmed earlier this week that they issued no permits for the block party.

Most in the crowd were black, and some made accusations that breaking up the crowd was racially play out until 10pm but it kept going past midnight. In a statement released alongside body camera footage from May 16, 2020 Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the police action taken that night was not in response to race but instead was for public safety.

“Not only was this a public safety issue, but it was a matter of public health,” Chief Umberger said, “no one should be getting together in large groups of 50 or more as of today under any circumstances in accordance with the order by Governor Ron DeSantis. While we may be reopening different parts of the city, county and state, no one should be having any large gatherings until the governor says it’s safe to do so.” Umberger added.

“It’s a personal responsibility (social distancing), it’s not law enforcement’s job to enforce quote unquote social distancing,” Chitwood responded during a news conference.

Hydroxidistraction

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President Donald Trump likes to grab headlines with distracting insane baubles for the media to run with. His latest rant is that he has been taking Hydroxychloroquine for the past week. I personally don’t think he has been taking the unapproved drug as a prophylactic against Covid-19. He doesn’t have the balls. He knows the dangerous side effects, and that there is no evidence to support the idea that it helps in any way against the virus. The FDA warned that the drug can cause serious side effects and even death. I will need to see a video of him actually taking the drug and then having a health professional check under his tongue like they do in psychiatric hospitals before I believe he is taking the drug.  This is a lie intended to make him appear macho for his base. They already believe his Hydroxi claims. Science be damned. It is also a distraction to keep reporters from asking about why there is not adequate testing and tracking as the country prepares to open.t of the pandemic Trump has decided to cut funding the the World Health Organization. This is like closing the fire department as your house burns.

Rick Bright, who filed a whistleblower complaint after being removed from his position as head of the agency in charge of pandemic response, testified for just under four hours Thursday May 14, 2020 before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s health subcommittee. Bright said.  “The Trump administration rushed out recommendations about the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus.” Bright’s whistleblower complaint alleged he was removed from his post in retaliation for opposing the broad use of hydroxychloroquine.

More important for us in Central Florida is the fact that Rebekah Jones the architect of Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard was fired on May 5, 2020 for failing to manipulate covid-19 data which might possibly contradict the states narrative that it is safe to open up the economy. What we need moving forward is not some magic pill but cold hard facts. Independent researchers are worried that this is government censorship. Since Rebekah was fired, the site has “crashed” and gone offline and data has gone missing without explanation while access to the underlying data sheets has become increasingly difficult. The site was created by a team of Florida Department of Health data scientists and public health officers headed by Rebekah Jones.

She single-handedly created two applications in two languages, four dashboards, six unique maps with layers of data functionality for 32 variables covering a half a million lines of data. Her objective was to create a way for Floridians and researchers to see what the Covid-19 situation was in real time.

“I worked on it alone, sixteen hours a day for two months, most of which I was never paid for, and now that this has happened I’ll probably never get paid for,” she wrote in an email, confirming that she had not just been reassigned on May 5, but fired from her job as Geographic Information Systems manager for the Florida Department of Health.  

In her farewell letter she wrote, “I understand, appreciate, and even share your concern about all the dramatic changes that have occurred and those that are yet to come. As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months. After all, my commitment to both is largely (arguably entirely) the reason I am no longer managing it.” She signed off, “It was great working with you guys. Good luck, and stay safe.” Governor Ron DeSantis implied that Rebekah just needed a vacation and then he abruptly walked out of the press conference to avoid further questioning by reporters.

Restricting the data, is the equivalent of cutting off hurricane forecasts as a storm approaches. When requesting the previously available underlying data, Department of Health officials said that because the data is “provisional” no such requests would be considered until May 2021. Racial and ethnic data and cause of death have been consistently excluded from Florida’s line listing of cases. Such data was reported by medical examiners, but that data table has also been censored by the Department of Health making it virtually useless. 

Asal M. Johnson, an assistant Professor of Public Health at Stetson University, has also been frustrated with decreasing data access.  “They are pretending that public health is what has damaged (the) economy. They are getting it wrong; the economy is damaged because we ignored evidence to protect public health,” she wrote, adding  “They think they can save their own political interest by restricting information.”

Even children learn that by closing your eyes, the problem does not go away. The virus does not care if the numbers are hidden.

The Goat Herd

Posted on by admin

In California, a large herd of goats escaped into the suburbs. They of course have no concept of what social distancing might mean as they bumped shoulders and ate flowers from people’s front years. Watching the hilarious video it is easy to see that herding goats is much like herding cats. They go wherever they want. This is America after all.

Disney Springs will be opening May 20, 2020 in phases. I should imaging that people who have been couped up inside for months will of course want to go there to shop and try the restaurants. Someone on twitter made the analogy that the herd of goats reminded him of a herd of tourists being unleashed into Disney Springs. Re-opening has its complications because it’s not simply a matter of reopening the doors and greeting guests once again. Many venues laid off employees, who are possibly now collecting unemployment if they made their way through the difficult to navigate online and phone system. Restaurants will need to scramble for supplies, and work on implementing whatever safety changes are necessary. Many will probably take a wait and see approach, keeping a close watch on other restaurants to see how things go. Only select third parties are reopening during the initial phase.

Venues opening include, 4 Rivers Cantina Food Truck, Polite Pig, STK, Wine Bar George, Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill, Chicken Guy, Blaze Pizza, Erin McKenna’s Bakery, Frontera Cocina, Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Kiosk, Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company, Sunshine Churros, YeSake Kiosk.

I saw pictures of Shanghai Disney‘s opening day and large bowed were painted on pavement in the lines. The boxes showed a pair of feet surrounded with a red circle with a line through the feet. This was clearly and attempt to maintain some social distancing. However many stood IN the boxes, right behind the people in front of them. Everyone was required to wear face masks. In the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic, not wearing a mask was illegal. That pandemic killed over 250,000 people in America. More died from the virus than in WWI. Yet today, the POTUS refuses to wear a mask himself. I choose to wear one when I go out, because I care about the people around me.