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

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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.”

Pre-Pandemic: Love Fest

Posted on by Thor

Love Fest was an outdoor festival held on Sunday March 8, 2020 outside the Quantum Leap Winery (1312 Wilfred Drive Orlando, FL 32803). There is a magnificent grassy knoll at this spot filled with Live Oak trees whose branches cut up the sky in a pattern of light and dark.

What is Love Fest?
The word says it all. A festival all about love.
Love for each other.
Love for the universe.
Love for food, music and art.
So come feel the love!

Love of self – Fitness instructors, yoga, self-awareness, body products, clothes, jewelry, etc.
Love of others – Jewelry, flowers, gifts, couples massages, oils, wedding planners, Dating websites, hotels, travel companies, etc.
Love of Community – Non-profits, organic gardening, Mills 50, volunteering, etc.
Love of Music – Local Bands – All genres
Love of Art – Local Artists – All types
Love of Food – Food trucks, vendors – Chocolates, pastries, anything goes
Love of Beer – Great craft beers
Love of Spirits – Lots of spirits
Love of the World – Recycling, pedestrian-ism, bike enthusiasts.

Pam Schwartz and I sat on the curb and I sketched the collection of tents under the gnarly branches. Pam got us both drinks and I sipped as I sketched. Actually, I forgot about the drink and glugged it down when the sketch was done. A little girl checked back on me multiple times as I worked on the sketch. She is an artist and wanted to see the progress. On tree I drew had a strange growth pattern. One branch shot off to the right and another looped down and off to the left. The little girl pointed out that it looks a bit like an elephant. A bull dog had the longest tongue I have ever seen and he panted in the heat.

On March 8, 2020, the day this sketch was done, the CDC recommended avoiding travel on cruise ships  worldwide for those with underlying health conditions and for persons over 65 years old. From February to March 2020, Covid-19 outbreaks associated with three cruise ship voyages had caused more than 800 laboratory-confirmed cases among passengers and crew, including 10 deaths. Transmission occurred across multiple voyages of several ships. On March 8, 2020 there were 219 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the United States.

3000 Attend Street Party in Deland Fl

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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.

Badge of Honor

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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

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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.

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.

Give Me Drink or Give Me Death

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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?

Love Speaks

Posted on by Thor

An exhibit at the Orange County Regional History Center marked 3 years since the Pulse Massacre which took 49 lives. Three years after the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016, this remembrance exhibition shared artwork from across the nation created in the wake of this senseless act of violence. These diverse works – from paintings to basketry to graphic novels – both pay tribute to those who were taken and also inspire a better tomorrow for those who remain.

Since we are all isolated at home, there is a 3D virtual walk through of the exhibit online should you like to experience it for yourself. Orlando responded to this horrific event with love and compassion while the nation elected Donald Trump who lead the country towards hate and divisiveness.

As of May 9, 2020 Orange County has tested 1% of its population for Covid-19. There are 1339 confirmed cases and 30 dead. Since at least April 20, the Florida Department of Health has blocked the Medical Examiners Commission from releasing their own detailed spreadsheet of the COVID-19 deaths. On Wednesday, the state released the medical examiners’ spreadsheet but redacted the narratives and cause of death entries making the spreadsheets useless.

Before the DOH clamped down, Florida Todayobtained an unredacted version of the spreadsheet from April 15, which recorded the first 601 Florida deaths attributed to COVID-19.
Of the 601 deaths reported on April 15, 62 happened in Central Florida:
  • 5 deaths in Brevard County
  • 1 death in Flagler County
  • 8 deaths in Lake County
  • 4 deaths in Marion County
  • 23 deaths in Orange County
  • 6 deaths in Osceola County
  • 6 deaths in Polk County
  • 1 death in Seminole County
  • 1 death in Sumter County
  • 7 deaths in Volusia County
Though not fully standardized, the data provides grim insight into the early failures of state officials and the medical system to contain and respond to the virus. It tells a story of patients denied testing until their second or third hospital visit, and reveals deadly clusters of infection at nursing homes and cruise ships.
The detective work in the medical examiner reports expose the missteps of the haphazard response to the Covid-19 pandemic well over a month into the crisis. This is what the State of Florida doesn’t want you to see. Moving forward we only see the rosy facts that state government officials want us to see as they open up the state. With government clamping down on the facts it is hard to believe the numbers reported moving forward.

Pre-Pandemic: Steve’s Murder Mystery

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Steve’s Murder Mystery was performed at The Mezz (100 S Eola Dr #200, Orlando, FL) back in 2019. This musical read through was free to the public as part of the Orlando Monthly New Works Series.   Steve’s Murder Mystery was by Alex Mrazek and Justin Scarlat.

The show offers the audience options to choose their own adventure musical. The show follows Steve and his best friend Blue as they navigate the underworld of Anyville to catch the “Bloody Hand-print Killer.”

There was a talk back after the reading. With plenty of constructive notes from the audience. The music was fun and there were plenty of solid voices among the cast. At the end the audience had to vote on who the killer might be. Because I was sketching my attention was fractured and I had no idea. Hercule Poirot I am not. Pam also guessed wrong. I miss these kind of pop up cultural events.