The Gadget

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The “Gadget” was the plutonium device detonated at the Trinity Test site in July 1945. Manhattan Project scientists had to overcome difficult scientific and engineering challenges to design and build the Gadget. Trinity was the code name of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. It was conducted by the United States Army at 5:29 a.m. on July 16, 1945, as part of the Manhattan Project.

The Gadget was much larger than the COVID-19 virus but its deadly impact has been very much the same. Over 5 million people have died fro COVID-19 world wide and America leads the world in the number of deaths with over 800,000.

Between Hiroshima and Nagasaki about 199,000 died. A 2016 study concluded that, in the United States’ nuclear weapons plants since 1945, some 107,394 American workers contracted cancer and other serious diseases, and 33,480 of these workers have died as a result. People continue to die from something that they can not see and therefor do not believe.

Omicron is spreading as fast as a nuclear explosion. Omicron variant multiplies about 70 times faster inside human respiratory tract tissue than the delta variant. This means the infected person can breath out the virus much easier than if it settled deep inn the lungs. That allows that person to infect many others while perhaps being asymptomatic. “Strikingly, Omicron was 4-fold more infectious than wild type [the original version of the virus] and 2-fold more infectious than Delta,” Garcia-Beltran and colleagues wrote in their study.

In one case two fully vaccinated people were isolating in a hotel across the hall from each other. Each tested negative prior to isolation. Neither person left their room and yet they both became infected with Omicron. It is believed that the brief moment hotel staff opened one door and then the other to deliver food was when the virus spread from one person to the other across the hall. It may take less of the airborne partials to start an infection. It is more important than ever to wear a well fit KN-95 mask and to stay further than six feet from others indoors and out. January will result in an amazing nuclear wave of infection.

Crealde Thumbnails

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These are examples of the quick little thumbnail notes I jot down for students taking my Crealde Urban Sketching class. We work outdoors documenting the Crealde Campus. The notes usually apply directly to the sketch that the student is working on and I offer a quick simplification of the process.

My next series of Urban Sketching classes start January 30, 2022. They are every Sunday from 9:30Am to 12;30PM.

Learn to sketch from subject to the environment. Classroom sessions will focus on sketching clothed models and progress towards sketching the model and classroom environment. Learn how to incorporate storytelling into your sketches in our location sessions. These trips to local venues will challenge you to use your sketchbook the way a photojournalist uses a camera. The six-week goal is to produce finished sketches using pencil, pen, and watercolor within two hours. Skill level: Intermediate

Required Supplies

#2 pencil with an eraser, 05 and 08 micron pens, Stillman and Birn 9 x 12 inch spiral bound sketchbook (Alpha or Epsion series), Travel sized watercolor pallet (mine is a Windsor Newton with 14 color pans), Pentel water brush (water goes in the handle), Black Prismacolor pencil, Compact artist stool

I am always pleased by the wide variety of artists who take the class. My goal isn’t to get each artist to draw exactly like me but to encourage them to express themselves in their own unique style. If Artists start carrying sketchbook where ever they go, the world will have so much more to see than iPhone photos.

Crealde Urban Sketch Class

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Each Sunday I teach an Urban Sketching class at Crealde School of Art. We sketch outdoors on the campus and lately the weather has been gorgeous. I appreciate the class because it gets me out of my socially isolated studio where I focus on the horrors of the pandemic every other day of the week.

This sketchbook is over 35 years old and  I am intent on filling it up. The pages are tissue thin so the pages curl up when I apply watercolor. Partly because I know this will look like a throw away sketch, I can be looser and more spontaneous. I also work faster so i can walk around and give notes to each student.

I always wear my mask, even outdoors while teaching since I never know when a student might approach with a question. One of my student is a serious about staying masked as I am, which I appreciate.

We just finished the series of classes and the next series will begin, January 30, 2022.

COVID Christmas

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More than 2000 flights were canceled prior to Christmas Eve. Operational snags at airlines are coming as millions are attempting to fly in spite of rising coronavirus cases. The TSA says it screened 2.19 million people at airports across the country on December 23, 2021, the highest figure since the uptick in holiday travel started a week ago.

Just last week executives from airlines were testifying in front of a congressional committee and said that being inside an airplane is one of the safest places to be. One of those executives was diagnosed with COVID-19 the next day. You have to admit this virus has a sense of humor.

Later Thursday night, Delta Air Lines also canceled flights. The airline has canceled 130 Christmas Eve flights, according to FlightAware. Delta said the cancellations are due to multiple issues including the Omicron variant. It has to be a bit of a sigma to be an airline that shares the name of one of the deadliest of the COVID variants.

In the blink of an eye Omicron now accounts for 75% of most COVID cases in America. We will all be exposes in short order. Each American has to chose for themselves what risk s are worth taking to celebrate the holiday season. Do I plan to attend a company Christmas party? No. Any plans for flying to visit family were abandoned weeks ago since not everyone in the family is vaccinated. If you judge by the long lines of people waiting for tests in New York City it is clear that what most people want for Christmas is a COVID test. President Joe Biden is planning to offer at home tests for free, but those will not be available until after this tsunami has blown through.

Merry Christmas folks. Stay safe.

Fighting the COVID Ghost

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Falcons owner Arthur Blank said, “At some point you feel like you are fighting a ghost, you don’t know where to swing.”

Giants co-owner John Mara seemed equally resigned to the situation. “It seems like it’s never going away,” he said.

That’s why the National Football League (NFL) needs to devise protocols that acknowledge the fact that the pandemic has become endemic. It’s here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. It’s not a one- or two-year thing. The league needs to figure out how to better manage things. The protocols need to reflect more common sense, more of the knowledge that has been developed over the past two years.

The NFL also needs to give a crap about the protocols it adopts. If a quarterback isn’t vaccinated, he can’t be allowed to ignore the rules, as Aaron Rodgers was.

Much of the 2021 protocols seemed to be about P.R. and politics. The goal needs to be finding a way to minimize the spread and to get players who catch COVID back in the game safely. Players who ignore the protocols need to be let go. It is looking like those that get infected with Omicron are showing less serious symptoms this could be a good since idiots like Aaron Rogers will likely get infected and this milder variant will give immunity. It will not however make him or the league any smarter.

Common COVID

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Everyone will likely be exposed to the Omicron variant in the coming weeks. If Omicron is far less deadly than Delta then that could be good news in this ongoing pandemic.The good news is that it will boost the immunity of anyone infected. The bad news is that we don’t know if long COVID symptoms will effect those vaccinated.

It can infect people who are vaccinated and even some who have been boosted. We are not sure yet how it affects the unvaccinated. Many hospitals in America are already full due to Delta.

A Cambridge, Massachusetts based data analytics firm nference conducted a study, yet to be peer-reviewed, that said the variant likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a bit of genetic information from another virus, possibly one that causes the common cold. This does not mean the Omicron variant has “mutated into the common cold,” as some are claiming online. The Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant is significantly distinct from seasonal coronaviruses (HCoV) that cause the common cold.

Vaccinated people infected so far seem to have milder symptoms, based on reports from South Africa. Even of it is lets say 60% milder, and it is 300 % more infectious, it could still create more severe cases. Fully vaccinated people infected with the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus could end up with super immunity to the coronavirus, according to new research from Oregon Health & Science University. The research — published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association — found that breakthrough infections create “a robust immune response against the delta variant.” Researchers said the findings indicate that “the immune response is likely to be highly effective against other variants as the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to mutate.”

It does seem that COVID is here to stay and the world will have to continue to face ongoing waves as lone as people refuse to get vaccinated.

Santa Shortage

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Have you been desperate to have your child photographed with Santa this year? Well CNN reported that Santa is fully booked through the Omicron season. The number of trained and available Santas has gone down, which is  another disruption in the supply chain caused by the pandemic.

There are 10% fewer Santas available this year while requests for Santas have more than doubled when compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The problem is that Santa schools are seeing less enrollment. Santa trainees don’t want to travel to the indoor school settings or sit in crowded Santa conferences. Just like health care workers around the country, experienced long time Santas are retiring their red coats. 18% are taking 2021 off.

Being over weight and over 60 years old, Santa is at a high risk category when it comes to getting COVID-19. More than 335 Santa’s have died this year from coronavirus and other ailments, according to Mitch Allen of Hire Santa. Santas these days must show proof of vaccination, and he must take coronavirus rapid test twice a week. Some Santas are fearful of the potentially infested children. With the Omicron variant more children are being infected and requiring hospitalization.

The obvious solution is to have Krampus sit in. He might bite, scratch and breath COVID on your scamp but think of the photo opportunity. Krampus doesn’t give a crap about his own health or anyone else’s health. If your child has not been good, Krampus had the solution.

COVID Stole Christmas

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COVID-19 stole Christmas. Cases are surging from both the Deta Variant and now Omicron which is 70% more transmissible. Omicron has now been confirmed in 46 states and is likely in all 50. 38% of Americans are still not fully vaccinated leaving plenty of fuel for the virus to burn through.

Royal Caribbean cruise line has just reported 48 cases of COVID-19 on a ship docked in Miami. The Rockettes in New York City have canceled their season spectacular show due to infections among the cast. Sports teams are being forced to cancel games. It is feeling like March of 2020 all over again. You might thing the earth had stood still.

In Florida cases are doubling every 36 hours. Despite this massive crush of infections many Americans are on the move returning to families where the virus can spread. Only 8 states have indoor mask mandates. Holiday travel will result in more cases and deaths. Patients in hospitals are still dying alone as they gasp for their last breaths.

The Netherlands on December 19, 2021 began an “unavoidable” lockdown that will last through Christmas to help tackle a COVID-19 surge caused by the emergence of the Omicron variant. It is closing most schools and daycare facilities. Spectators are banned from sporting events. Only 2 guests are allowed at any holiday gathering. Italy is planning to make masks mandatory outdoors. Germany has locked down its borders. Denmark, where cases are doubling every two days, is shutting down theaters and museums. Bars are closing early. That is how you know it has gotten bad.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering urging the public to limit household mixing at Christmas, the Telegraph reported on December 19, 2021. He is however wavering and will likely wait until after Christmas because he fears the reaction of his countrymen. In December 2020 he instated lockdowns so strict in parts of England that indoor meetings with people from other households were forbidden. Back then few dozen of the prime minister’s staffers reportedly hosted a festive gathering at 10 Downing Street. This has undermined anyone taking any lockdown he considers as two faced. Britain’s health secretary, Sajid Javid,  has refused to rule out imposing tougher COVID-19 restrictions before Christmas amid the rapid rise of infections and continuing uncertainty about the omicron variant.

On December 21, 2021 President Joe Biden will address the thread of Omicron in a public address. For now however, most Americans going about life as if the pandemic were a thing of the past.

Bronchial Battle

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Omicron is here. It has been found in 100 % of the waste water samples in Orlando Florida.The only reason it isn’t being reported officially is because it is not being sequenced in labs.

Omicron is in a battle against the already raging Delta Variant in America.  In South Africa Omicron completely overwhelmed and replaced Delta in a matter of weeks. In that case however Delta was already on the downswing. It is hard to know exactly how two variants battling against each other for human fuel will play out. The unvaccinated will all face this threat. Even the vaccinated could be re-innfected but cases should be more mild.

In New York City the Rockettes canceled its run because of infections among the cast. Hamilton, Mrs Doubtfire and other Broadway shows are shutting down. The NFL is canceling games because too many players are infected. In a struggle for normalcy players can get back on the field after just 1 negative test.  School children are much he same they do not need to isolate as long as they do not test positive. Asymptomatic spread is being ignored. More than 60 fully vaccinated people tested positive for Omicron after an office holiday party in Norway, and all had gotten negative rapid-test results just a day earlier.

A case study in Japan found that Omicron is much better at infecting Bronchial tissue. The brochus are the tubed that lead down to the lungs. They found that it infects bronchus tissues 70% more than Delta. That means there is plenty of viral partials expelled when any infected person breaths, or speaks. Another finding was that Omicron infects actual lung tissue 10% less than Delta. That means there might be less need for supplemental oxygen or intubation. With milder symptoms an infected person might feel free to go out and infect many more people.

The Omicron variant is incredible transmissible. Super spreading events are happening daily since everyone has let their guard down. To stay safe the rules remain the same, social distance, wear a quality N95 mask and wash your hands often. Vaccinate, get boosted and stay vigilant. This holiday season is going to be a viral battle ground.

Omicron Blizzard

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Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota,  told CNN on December 16, 2021 that the U.S. is facing an imminent COVID-19 “viral blizzard.” “In the next three to eight weeks, we’re going to see millions of Americans are going to be infected with this virus, and that will be overlaid on top of Delta,” said Osterholm.

New York City, America’s original pandemic epicenter, is displaying warning signs of yet another drastic surge of the virus, this time likely driven by the Omicron variant.

A new study showed that having had COVID-19 offers little protection against the Omicron variant, Bloomberg reported. Booster shoots could bring up protection to 90%. President Biden warned unvaccinated Americans that the Omicron variant will start to spread more rapidly in the U.S. if they do not receive their shots soon.

In a mater of a few weeks Omicron has already circumvented the world. It is everywhere. The surge is happening quickly in a matter of weeks rather than over months. At Cornell University here in the U.S. 900 cases were detected among the students. Many of those Omicron infections were among fully vaccinated students. Some even had booster doses. Vaccines can blunt the serious illness associated with infection. There have been no reports of severe infections requiring hospitalization. The school shut down its campus and lessons are being taught online.

A study not yet pier reviewed showed that Omicron replicates 70% faster that the original COVID-19 virus and the Delta variant in the bronchus or airways to the lungs. This can explain why people are so infectious. They also found that Omicron does replicated 10 times slower in the lungs which could be good news meaning there might be far less serious infection requiring oxygen and incubation. Only time will tell how this Blizzard of infection will effect America’s unvaccinated population. I am keeping my eyes on England which is several weeks ahead of us in this global wave of infection.