Anatolian Houses Hotel in Görome Turkey.

Posted on June 3, 2020February 6, 2022 by Thor

I stopped at the Anatolian Houses Hotel (Cevizler Sk, 50180 Göreme Belediyesi/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Turkey) two years ago on a trip. The rooms were carved into the limestone cliffs with stone rooms as additions. This stone living room where my X slept on the red couch, was connected via arched doorways into a bedroom that was carved into the cliff. The bathroom, also deep inside the cliff was a few steps up from the bedroom and had a large tub and plenty of pockets in the limestone walls to store towels and toiletries. Tiny windows carved in the walls overlooked the village below.

Another bathroom had deep holes in the floor covered in glass that fell away into the depths of the rock. The arched doorways between rooms had a definite disadvantage in that they were carved by someone who is less than 5 feet tall. I banged my head really hard one time as I was rushing to get out for a day of frantic sight seeing.

Flight to DC then Turkey.

Posted on June 2, 2020February 6, 2022 by Thor

A couple of years ago, my X and I went to Turkey to visit her niece Allison Brown
who works for the United States foreign service. At the time we visited
Allison, she said that her job might get very complicated if there was
politically charged dissent in the country. Her hotel had metal posts at
a guard booth that were intended to stop any terrorist threat of, let’s
say, a bomb filled truck. Luckily, she is now working in Washington
D.C.during the time of the present civil unrest.

Turkey has been in the news recently with a huge “March for Justice” that ended in Istanbul. Hundreds of thousands of people joined the rally in Istanbul following the 25 day long march to protest the government of president Recip Tayyip Erdogen. The government has been cracking down against any perceived threats after a failed coup last summer. The president was granted sweeping new powers after a controversial referendum in April. Erdogen claims to be cracking down on those who support militant organizations, but the government definition of what constituted backing terrorism is so broad that it has led to the arrest of thousands of civil servants, journalists, campaigners and other workers. Protesters demanded “Rights, Laws, Justice.” Also since this trip, Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Turkish Consulate. What seemed like a gorgeous country to visit turned out to be dangerous.

The trip began with a flight to Washington D.C. where we would transfer to the international flight to Istanbul. I can never sleep on a plane, so the sketch pad invariably comes out.

It is a chance for me to check for the closest emergency exits and observe my fellow passengers.

Of course the flight from Orlando to D.C. wasn’t too long, but the flight to Istanbul was eternal. I watched plenty of movies and the progress map to pass the time after the sketch was done. Sketching on a plane is a thing that can only amuse me once a day. I don’t tend to like sitting in an audience staring at the back of heads and that is the only view available on an airplane. I can also easily pass the time watching the clouds which make amazing patterns, but this was an overnight flight which meant it was pitch black outside and everyone had their blinds down.

Badge of Honor

Posted on May 22, 2020May 23, 2020 by admin

94,936 Americans have died from Covid-19 as of this writing. Imagine 155 passengers crowded onto a Boeing 737. Now imagine one Boeing 737 crashing EVERY DAY for the last year and seven months. That would be close to an approximation of the devastation that has ravaged this country.

When asked about the large number of dead, Trump said “I view it as a badge of honor,” he continued, “When we have a lot of cases,” Trump continued, “I don’t look at that as a bad thing. I look at that as, in a certain respect, as being a good thing, because it means our testing is much better.” Trump seems to also think that testing and tracing is a bad idea since when tests are done you find that some people are infected. He would much prefer to live in his magical world where the numbers remain low with few tests as he sends people to their deaths. He has pushed the notion that Americans are “warriors” as they rush to re-open in the midst of the pandemic. Had there been more testing from the start there wouldn’t need to be prolonged social isolation.

The CDC quietly issued a report about how to safely open the country. Of course Trump is not one to listen to science or reason. He wants the state governors to re-open even if they have no plan in place. Today all 50 states are in some stage of re-opening. Control of the epidemic requires action at the individual, community, and population levels. The report offers extensive detailed guidance on contact tracing, infection control, and a wide range of other prevention and control topics. It is fair to assume that the president will never read the 60 page report.

The Trump administration is ignoring many of a CDC report’s recommendations on reopening the US in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. The report gives community leaders detailed instructions for how to reopen than were ultimately released. The measures are meant to be a starting point that could be adapted to any given area. Hopefully Sate Governors and local mayors will read the report since Trump has given them total control over how they plan to re-open safely. I plan to read the report so I know how to keep myself safe moving forward. The CDC launched a new website that tracks cases, deaths and tests done. The CDC findings often contradict what states are reporting. In the case of Florida the state dashboard is now reporting fewer deaths than the CDC. The Georgia Department of Public Health’s website posted a bar graph with the dates out of order, suggesting cases were declining over time. It was clearly misleading.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo had his daughter organize a video promotional campaign for wearing masks. The finalist results are inspired. Many consider wearing a mask to be patriotic. While others following Trump’s example feel it is patriotic to refuse to wear masks, feeling they are sheep if they care about the people around them.

…

CDC Bound and Gagged

Posted on May 21, 2020May 20, 2020 by admin

Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are concerned that the Covid-19 pandemic is being driven by politics rather than the data and science needed to combat it. The decisions made by government officials rather than scientists have made the devastating reach of the pandemic worse. President Donald Trump was quoted as saying that having over 90,000 dead is a badge of honor rather than a horrific national tragedy. Staff inside the CDC have said the White house has stifled the agencies response to the virus. The white house is also limiting the agencies ability to provide health information to the public. A CDC official put it bluntly, “We’ve been muzzled.”

The work the agency is doing is filtered through a political lens. On March 2, 2020 a CDC internal report found that the virus was being spread locally in 29 countries. Two days later the number jumped to 85 countries. On March 5, 2020 three of the countries affected were in Europe. The CDC was preparing to issue a global travel alert to try and keep the virus from spreading to America. The alert would have urged precautions on all international travel. It was to be posted on the evening of March 5, 2020. The alert was delayed for unexplained reasons. When the White house was told about the spread of the virus in Europe they only wanted to focus on China and not anger Europe.

The CDC alert would not post until March 11, 2020 when Trump announced his restrictions on travel from Europe. Those 6 days were critical in bringing Covid-19 exposure to the east coast of the United States as Europeans flew in to New York. While passengers coming from China were checked, those coming from Europe went unchecked spreading the virus freely.

If the CDC had testing in place they could have found that there were likely cases to be found in America as early as January 2020. Had testing been wide spread at the time, they could have caught the infected people flooding in from Europe.

It would be nice if scientists from the CDC could have daily briefings to keep the Americans informed, but instead we have a president who used the briefings to spew his ideas of injecting light into bodies and taking disinfectants to handle the virus. He has to be corrected at every turn and it would be nice if he just let the experts speak. In the past, the CDC provided important information at briefings to help keep the public safe. During an e coli outbreak in 2018 their investigators got to the root of the problem and offered solid, meaningful and blunt guidance on how to keep it from happening again. However the CDC is not offering the same blunt guidance today in the face of a pandemic.

The virus is spreading like wild fire in retirement homes, veterans hospitals, prisons, and meat packing plants. On May 14, 2020 it was reported that counties with or near meatpacking plants have almost twice the rate of known Covid-19 infections as the national average. Tyson Fresh Meats processing plant in Dakota City, Nebraska had a surge in Covid-19 infections among its 4300 workers. Local mayors were unable to get any answers as to how many cases of the virus are in the meat plant. Workers were not being tested. It was assumed that everyone was infected. Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska never issued stay at home orders.

The CDC did do an investigation at one of the first meat plant outbreaks in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. However the report isn’t as authoritative as past reports. Instead they offered recommendations that are not required or mandated by the organization. There were loose suggestions that the meat plant could implement if they “if they wanted.” Face masks were recommended but not required. The meat packing plant can easy decide that any CDC suggestions are “not feasible.” The president is of course insisting that all meat packing plants should remain open. So it would seem the CDC has softened its stance. As the “suggestions” are ignored, workers will die.

The White House needs to place blame for over 90,000 deaths. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro publicly blamed the CDC for the testing failures in the United States. Navarro argued that the top health agency, under Dr. Robert Redfield, “let the country down” on testing. President Trump privately threw the CDC under the bus to Republican senators during a lunch on Capitol Hill. He praised his son in law, while blaming the CDC for botched testing. A senior CDC official said, “I would urge the President to understand that to prevent spread we must focus on containment and mitigation. He wants to focus on criticism. We will focus on the science, as we have done from the beginning.”

As of May 20, 2020 the CDC is reporting that 12,601,143 tests have been done with 1,699,375 positive tests reported. 93,533 Americans have died and the nations top Disease Control agency is being sidelined. As I write this, the World Health Organization reported106,000 new cases worldwide. This is the most cases in a single day since the pandemic began.

Give Me Drink or Give Me Death

Posted on May 19, 2020May 19, 2020 by admin

For weeks in multiple states, armed protestors, encouraged by Donald Trump have been demanding the freedom to get back to work. Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin wanted to move slower than the president in re-opening his state during the pandemic. Conservative justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court overruled the governors stay at home order leaving the state with no public health restrictions or any plan on a re-opening safely. Wisconsin is now the only state in the nation without a single protective measure in place to combat Codid-19. The judges made this ruling from the safety of a video conference.

Across the lake in Michigan, armed protestors entered the state capitol and stood in the upper gallery above law makers prompting at least one lawmaker to put on a bullet proof vest. Protestors chanted: “Our House” and “Let Us In”. Despite this, Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended the stay at home order to May 28, 2020. She has issued over 75 executive orders in an attempt to keep her constituents safe. Law makers have been arguing about weather to ban guns in the capitol. One argument is that State Police should arrest anyone entering the building with a weapon. A 32 years old man was arrested on counts of terrorism for making death threats against Governor Whitmer. Joe Biden is considering Whitmer as a possible running mate.

After the Wisconsin “Safer at Home” order was overruled, nurse Katie Koutsky, decided to help her sister re-open her bar. She was filmed by a local news station in the crowded bar not wearing a mask. She said, “I don’t think the risk presents any higher than me going to a grocery store.” She later walked back that statement saying, “I’d like to express my regret for not wearing a mask or practicing social distancing while there,” she said in a statement released by Advocate Aurora Health. She is quarantining herself for the next seven days.

Health care workers are usually seen as the heroes fighting against the virus putting themselves in harms way. They sacrifice for the greater good. Her flippant disregard for public safety put her in the camp of the protestors, who demand and threaten without concern for others. Protestors wanted the liberty to rush and crowd back into bars. Drunks are not great at social distancing.

The Orlando Weekly reported that several downtown bars have not been following Phase 1 rules about re-opening. If a business earns more than half its income from the sale of alcohol it is supposed to remain closed. On May 4, the OPD found four Orlando bars operating despite the Ron DeSantis Phase 1 executive order which states that a bar should not be open for on-premise consumption of alcohol. Officers advised the owners on the guidelines. Despite this, two bars continues serving drinks for consumption. The Dapper Duck and Downtown Pourhouse continued serving drinks. Since they saw no penalty to not do so. No one has been reprimanded or fined. Three days later the bars still were not complying. Bars being closed are a flashpoint for many. Some would kill for a drink.

Are you helping or complaining?

Phase 1

Posted on May 16, 2020May 15, 2020 by admin

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida will go into a Full Phase One Opening on Monday May 18, 2020. Gyms throughout the state will reopen along with restaurants and retail stores, which so far have been allowed to reopen at 25 percent capacity. They can now serve patrons at 50 percent capacity. Theme parks will remain closed for now. Movie theaters throughout the state will also remain closed. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said during a virtual town hall Friday that fitness centers and gyms in Miami-Dade County will remain closed for the time being.

Over 40 states are at some stage of re-opening at the height of the pandemic. Public health experts warn that this increased activity is likely to cause a surge of new infections. Most states are seeing a plateau, with neither a significant rise nor fall in reported daily cases. Far fewer states are seeing a sustained decline – or a “downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period” as recommended by the White House reopening guidelines.

“There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control” by reopening too quickly, said infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci in Senate testimony May 12, 2020 “leading to some suffering and death that could be avoided.”

Dr. Rick Bright the ousted director of a key federal office charged with developing medical countermeasures, testified before the senate om May 14, 2020. He said, “Our window of opportunity is closing. 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.”

Experts at Harvard University have said 900,000 tests a day are needed in the US to reopen the economy. That’s about 275 tests per 100,000 people per day – only nine states are around this level of testing currently. Many other states which have already begun to reopen fall below that benchmark, such as Georgia, Florida and Colorado. Trump seems to think testing is overrated.

Pre-Pandemic: Hotto Potto

Posted on May 15, 2020February 7, 2022 by Thor

Hotto Potto (3090 Aloma Ave. Winter Park, FL 407-951-8028) is a Chinese eatery and dim sum spot specializing in hot pots served table side with house made sauces. You get a soup stock base and add any ingredients you want to your soup and then you cook it at your table. On top of that a cart is rolled up to the table offering jars and jars of delicious sauces to add to the dim sum, Pam and I tried everything. Yummm.

Stock Base

per person: choose from:

Meat Stock

$3.50

mild, med or numb Spice

Vegetarian

$3.50

mild, med or numb Spicy

Tom Yum, Miso Soup, or Tofo Tomato Soup

$4.50

$3.50

Marble Pork

Market Price

Lamb Slices

Market Price

Wagyu

Market Price

$12.90

Blue Crab

Market Price

Fresh Oyster

Market Price

Fresh Clams

Market Price

Razor Clams

Market Price

Abalone

Market Price

Sea Cucumber

Market Price

Live Shrimp

Market Price

Live Lobster

Market Price

Noodles & Such

Fried Gluten

$2.95

Now during the pandemic Hotto Potto only offers take out.

Pre-Pandemic: Dickson Azalia Park

Posted on May 3, 2020February 6, 2022 by Thor

Prior to the Pandemic I was doing a series of sketches of Orlando’s Significant Trees. This was the final series f sketches I was doing before the sate wide lock down. Dickson Azalea Park (100 Rose Garden Drive) is a rare gem in Orlando. Of note in this scene are the Long Leaf Pine trees which are about 100 years old. They are extremely tall because they had to compete for light against the Oak trees which grow along the upper edge of the ravine.

The paths in this park follow a stream and the entire park is sunk because of erosion, sort of like a mini grand canyon only less orange. I have become infatuated with the pattern that tree branches make against the sky. Working with the complexity of natural forms I also have an excuse to just play with the paint, sometimes just splattering the page for pattern.

I have just 3 of these locations yet to visit, but I stopped after the stay at home order. I have no need to have my work labeled #floridamoron because I risk my life for the sake of any one painting. Instead, I stay in and paint the nightmare that is modern politics that first didn’t recognize the problem and then does as little as possible to resolve it.

On March 3, 2020 the day this sketch was done, California Governor Gavin Newsom released millions of N-95 face masks to be used in low emergency health settings. That state was mobilizing every level of government to address the impending threat of the virus. On March 3, the third case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in Florida. One was a 29-year-old Hillsborough County woman who had recently traveled
to Italy and the second was a 63-year-old Manatee County man who had
contact with someone who tested positive. The third patient, was a 22-year-old California woman, who was the sister of the
29-year-old Hillsborough County woman who was diagnosed after traveling
to Italy. On this day the Florida Department of Health first set up a Covid-19 hotline. On the day after this sketch was done Florida Governor Ron DeSantis informed Orlando residents, “that the risk of contracting the coronavirus is low for Floridians.” He was clearly WRONG, and should have been preparing for what was to come.

A few people have complained about my dark pandemic illustration series, so periodically I will just post a pretty tree for contrast with the harsh realities we face. There is good reason to someday, somehow return to a new normal. But this can not happen until our country gets serious about testing and tracing to isolate those that are infected. People are protesting the stay at home orders, but they are risking their own lives and the lives of others because anyone carrying a picket sign could be infected.

Today over 27,000 people are infected in Florida and 800 have died. The numbers don’t begin to hint at the precious lives lost and the creative potential of every person who died needlessly. One of my favorite artists, Egon Schile died in the pandemic of 1918. Who knows what he might have created had he survived.

Florida Restaurants Re-Open

Posted on May 2, 2020February 7, 2022 by Thor

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had issued an order allowing restaurants to re-open in Florida. Phase one of the re-opening plan allows restaurants and retail stores to reopen Monday, May 4, 2020.

Restaurants will be able to use outdoor seating if they have a permit. Inside, they’ll be able
in the first phase of the state’s plan to use just 25% of their seating
capacity. Violation of 25% capacity limits and
other restrictions remain a second-degree misdemeanor with a fine up to
$500. Regulated businesses may face enforcement action for violations
from their regulatory agency.

A statewide shelter-in-place order expires Thursday May 30, 2020, but DeSantis says
people should continue to practice social distancing and not socialize
in groups larger than 10. He’s also asked those who are medically
vulnerable and the elderly to remain at home as much as possible. Officials said the 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in Orange County will remain
through next week and then county leaders will reassess.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said, “We don’t want it to open too quickly without a plan in place.” “In order for people to have ample time to prepare to get their workers
back to work and get all the equipment they need, it takes some
planning,” He said.

AdventHealth’s Dr. Scott Brady brought a list of six guidelines he recommends for all businesses.

Those guidelines include:

Universal masking of all employees and guests
Continue keeping people six feet apart
Quickly sending symptomatic people for testing and treatment
Make sure employees practice aggressive hand hygiene
Sanitize work surfaces after contact with employees and guests
Temperature checks for all employees and guests

Many
of the business owners within the task force expressed concerns with
requiring businesses to give temperature checks to all customers too. Chuck Whitall, President of
Unicorp National Development, a title which clearly makes him a self proclaimed medical expert, said, “I don’t think it’s
practical to do this to customers,” Brady stood by his recommendations with a stern warning for the group. “Just
breathing with a fever spreads this virus,” Brady said. “There is more a
chance that this virus spreads and we have to shut everything down,
there is more of a chance than less of a chance. I just want to caution
you to be very, very careful.”

Demings was not ready to give an exact date for reopening in
Orange County yet but, he noted that any plan
would need to include a phased approach. He said having the economy back
in its pre-Covid-19 swing by May 11, 2020 was not “very realistic.” “Our work isn’t over and while these plans will provide a path to
gradually and safely restart our economy, they must not lure us into
thinking that we’re going to go back into business as normal because the
virus is still going to be here and life is not normal,” Orlando Mayor
Buddy Dyer said. “The hard truth is that we are building a new normal
and it will be a different way of life for everyone and a different way
of doing things to keep us all safe.”

A new study of a Covid-19 outbreak tied to a restaurant in China is re-igniting questions about how far the novel Covid-19 could spread in the air and how airflow through ventilators or air conditioners, and the air quality itself, could play a role.
The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention have long maintained that the virus is spread primarily
through droplets in person-to-person contact and in some cases from
contaminated surfaces, and rarely travels more than
six feet in the air. However, the recent study, conducted by the Guangzhou Center for Disease
Control, suggests that the virus not only passes through
person-to-person spread at close range, but can travel farther with help
from air currents blowing from ventilation systems. The study concluded that crowded gatherings and “poor ventilation” with little
outside air brought into the room created an isolated loop, allowing
virus particles to be transferred from table to table.

A map of the restaurant showed how one infected individual infected 9 others. An air conditioner and exhaust fan were the sources of circulation in the room. The main point is that the virus can travel much further than 6 feet. The conclusions are worrisome and worthy of further investigation as
American restaurants and other buildings look to re-open their doors. The data suggests that it’s crowded, poorly ventilated places where there have been outbreaks. The Covid-19 is “not behaving like an airborne virus, but that
doesn’t rule out the possibility of airborne transmission in certain
circumstances,” Dr. Todd Ellerin, the director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health in Massachusetts said.

A small sandwich shop owner in Windermere said on Twitter, “Not sure about you, but we are over this.” The owner said she will re-open on May 1, 2020 despite orders from the county and state. In a tik tok video the owner mocked the Covid-19 virus by feigning to cough outside the establishment. Seeing a restaurant owner mocking public health is NOT appetizing. There was a huge backlash of people complaining about her disregard for public safely and the offending posts by the restaurant owner were removed. The owner claimed her life had been threatened but she did not report the offenses to police. The place did not open on May 1, but will open on May 4 when the DeSantis First Phase kicks in. I don’t expect any honest attempts at maintaining public safety from this place. I will never dine there.

Miami Cranes

Posted on May 1, 2020February 6, 2022 by Thor

In a press briefing on April 29, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke about Miami-Dade which has to remain under lock down as he opens up the state… “Before this “Dade Broward and Palm Beach we’re all doing so well… You drive in Miami, you couldn’t move 10′ without seeing a crane somewhere.” He was referring to the building boom in downtown Miami, but with fewer people and cars on the streets, wildlife is finding its way back. An image search on google images shows an amazing array of wildlife reclaiming cities around the world.

Phase one of the Governors plan to re-open Florida includes:

Schools must keep distance learning
Visits to senior living facilities are prohibited
Elective surgeries can resume
Restaurants may offer outdoor seating with six feet of space between tables
Indoor seating at restaurants must be at 25% capacity
No change for bars, gyms and personal services, like hair dressers
Vulnerable individuals should avoid close contact with people outside the home
Everyone should maximize physical distance from others while in public
Avoid socializing in groups of more than 10 people in circumstances that do not “readily allow for physical distancing”
Face masks are recommended for those in face-to-face interactions and where you can’t social distance.

The Governor’s reopening plan applies for all Florida counties except Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Governor DeSantis said. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said it could be a while longer before
businesses begin reopening in his county because they will need more
time to prepare for the new guidelines. Central Florida has seen the most cases of Covid-19. A curfew remains for all of Orange County from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily.
The mayor said he has no plans to lift that anytime soon. Demings didn’t give an exact date for when businesses would reopen but
said he doesn’t want to rush it and risk seeing a spike in Covid-19
cases.

The mayor said under the
governor’s order restaurants and retail shops can reopen in the county
if they are able to comply with the guidelines, including 6-feet between
customers and maintaining a 25% occupancy. “In the
absence of recommendations from our task force that they can get to me
in a timely manner, those entities will be able to reopen on Monday as
long as they do so in compliance with the governor’s order.” Demings
said. There is a nationwide shortage on personal protective equipment as well
as hand sanitizer, two requirements of the governor’s mandate.

The Guidelines for Reopening Businesses Group is expected to
put out a finalized list of guidelines businesses would have to follow,
both recommendations and mandates. The group, which included major
theme parks and business leaders, met Wednesday morning, turning to
health care officials with both Orlando Health and AdventHealth for
guidance on what those guidelines could look like.

The group is expected to meet again Thursday and Friday to continue developing a plan to safely reopen the county.

At last check, there were more than 33,690 confirmed cases in Florida with 1,268 deaths. There were 1,339 confirmed cases in Orange C0unty with 30 deaths. Florida Medical Examiners Commission chairman Dr. Stephen Nelson said that state officials asked them to withhold Covid-19 death figures. The pause in reporting, has been occurring for nine days. The blackout comes as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis contemplates how Florida will begin to reopen amid the pandemic.