WWEssential

Posted on by Thor

While Legitimate sports franchises are closing stadiums for at least a year, a Florida Man who struggled to put on a single blue medical glove declares the WWE an essential business.

On April 1, 2020 Blue Glove (DeSantis) issued a Stay At Home Order due to the thread of Covid-19 and wrestling was not listed as an essential business.  On April 9, 2020 he issued an amended executive order that says “employees at a professional sports and media production
with a national audience are exempt from a stay-at-home order as long
as the location is closed to the general public.”  On that same day, April 9, The America First Action Committee chaired by the WWE owner Vince McMahon‘s
wife Linda, a former member of Donald Trump’s cabinet,  donated 18.5
million dollars in television ad spending in Orlando and Tampa for
Trumps political campaign. This glut of political ads will appear
between Labor Day and Election day. The McMahon’s are among the Trump’s
top political donors, so it was little wonder that wrestling was
suddenly considered an essential business by Florida Governor Blue
Glove.

At a press conference, Blue Glove tried to justify his decision, saying, “Obviously, WWE, there’s no crowd of anything, so it’s a very small amount of people,”  He went on, “I think people are chomping at the bit. I mean, if you think
about it, we’ve never had a period like this in modern American history
where you’ve had such little new content, particularly in the sporting
realm. I mean, people are watching, we’re watching, like, reruns from
the early 2000s, watching Tom Brady do the Super Bowl then, which is
neat because he’s gonna be in Tampa and I think they have a chance to
win a Super Bowl this year. But I think people, to be able to have some
light at the tunnel, see that things may get back on a better course. I
think from just a psychological perspective I think is a good thing.”

On Monday April 13, 2020 WWE began broadcasting live in the midst of the pandemic.

Two of WWE’s Orlando staff tested positive for Covid-19. In a statement, WWE said, “We believe this matter is
low risk to WWE talent and staff, as the individual and a roommate
became symptomatic in the days following exposure to two people working
in acute health care on the evening of March 26, after WWE’s TV
production on a closed set was already complete.”

Like the staff at the meat packing plants in the Midwest, it seems more important to keep the wrestling live rather than to consider staff health in the face of a pandemic. Taping sessions are at Full Sail University, which is where I used to teach animation. It would be a real travesty if the virus were allowed to spread among the student population.

The 74-year-old billionaire and WWE circus ring leader Vince McMahon seems only concerned with the bottom line when it comes to his organization which is reported to have 500 million in its reserve and stands to make a sizable profit this year. He needed to maintain live programing to get paid in lucrative contracts with USA and Fox networks.

What happens in the ring is scripted and false, but the threat of the virus is very real. McMahon’s concern over staff health has been dicey through the years with deaths of performers due to drugs, murder, suicide, and one in-ring disaster involving a wrestler falling 78 feet during his staged entrance to the ring.

On April 15, 2020 to further pad the bottom line, the organization is firing on air staff even though the taping continues. The reductions include:

  • Reducing executive and board member compensation,
  • Decreasing operating expenses,
  • Cutting talent expenses, third party staffing and consulting,
  • Deferring spending on the build-out of the Company’s new headquarters for at least six months.

“Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Company also identified headcount reductions and made the decision to furlough a portion of its workforce effective immediately,” according to a WWE statement.

Little known fact, I used to art direct a Wrestling Magazine when I was going to school in New York City.  That job helped put me through college. I used to love designing those loud boisterous spreads but seeing how this business is run today, I look back with dread at the idea that I helped promote this circus that does not value human life.

This is a clear and simple case of Quid Quo Pro. “You can have 18.5 million in ads, but I’d like you to do me a favor though.” It is business as usual in Central Florida. Add to this the caveat that Vince McMahon has been appointed to the council that will decide when it is safe to reopen the economy. He hardly seems an expert on what is safe.

Pre-Pandemic Significant Trees of Orlando

Posted on by Thor

Before the Pandemic, I was doing a series of sketches of the significant trees of Orlando. The City of Orlando Parks department published a map of 7 locations in Orlando with Significant Trees. These live oak trees line the south side of Lake Eola on Central Avenue. The huge lower branches reach out an some touch the ground before reaching back up to the sky. These huge trees provide plenty of shade for people walking around the park.

It was rush hour while I sketched. Someone wanted to park in the spot next to where I was sitting. He asked it the meters were running after pm and I told him I think the meters are off after 6pm. I can;t be quoted on that however. I tend to park out in the suburbs and walk into downtown when needed for a sketch.

This series of sketches of Orlando trees were the final outdoor sketching project I was working on as the looming pandemic squeezed in on Orlando. As of today April 11, 2020 there were 923 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Orange County and 12 deaths. Central Florida has 2,300 cases. The number of cases in Florida has topped 18,400. I had to stop sketching trees on location when people started coming up to me to see what I was sketching. Adulation is fine, unless it might cause death. The latest projections show Florida may see 1,218 to 10,293 fatalities
by June 21, with the median projection at 3,999 deaths, according to the
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation out of the University of
Washington.The lower numbers of the projection assume everyone honors the stay at home at home order. Publix Supermarket, across the street from these live oak trees I sketched has made all of it’s aisles one way to be sure people shopping can maintain a six foot distance from each other.

Orlando area patients at Orlando Health are starting to get treated for COVID-19 with the blood of patients who have recovered. Convalescent plasma has shown promise as an early treatment for SARS, MERS and EBOLA before a vaccine could be developed.

#Stay Home, #Stay Safe, #Save a Life.

Where’s the Bacon?

Posted on by Thor

Smithfield Foods the world’s largest pork production facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is now the largest Covid-19 hot spot in the United States. Nine state governors have not issued stay at home orders, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. The governors, all
Republican, have often defended their actions out of a belief in smaller
government, despite many calls from within their own states to do so.  

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, for instance, told reporters
earlier this week that “the people themselves are primarily responsible
for their safety” and that state and national constitutions “prevent us
from taking draconian measures much like the Chinese government has
done.” She also added, “South Dakota is not New York City.”

Eighty of South Dakota’s 180 new COVID-19 cases are employees of the
Smithfield Foods meat-processing company, bringing the total to 600 Smithfield Foods
employees who have tested positive. There are also now 135 total cases
of non-employees that became infected when they came into contact with a
Smithfield employee, according to the South Dakota Department of
Health. 

Augustín Rodriguez, 64, showed up for every one of his
shifts at Smithfield Foods, where he worked for nearly two decades.
Augustín kept going to work even after he began experiencing COVID-19
symptoms like fever and cough because he needed to work. He kept working until a sharp pain in his side kept him from going to work. Three days later he was hospitalized and tested positive for Covid-19. He was placed on a ventilator and died two weeks later. His death is presumed to be the first connected to a COVID-19 outbreak at Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls. His wife, Angelita, believes he was worked to death.

Smithfield announced Sunday April 12, 2020 that it would be closing its Sioux Falls
plant indefinitely Wednesday. The plant has 3,700 employees.  The company is closing its meat processing plants in other states as well. The number of South Dakota residents who have tested positive for Covid-19 has surpassed 1,100, and more than half of those cases have
some connection to the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls. 

Kristi Noem a staunch Trump supporter seems to think that her rural state is safe from the virus or she is choosing to ignore the reality. Despite the numbers, Noem said she would not issue a stay-at-home order
for Minnehaha and nearby Lincoln Counties, as Sioux Falls Mayor Paul
Ten Haken requested. Noem said a stay-at-home order wouldn’t have made a
difference in Sioux Falls because the plant would have remained open as
part of a critical infrastructure business.

Noem also said her state will begin trying Hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug pushed by President Donald Trump in treating COVID-19. On the same say she made that announcement scientists in Brazil said they stopped part of their study, after heart rhythm problems developed in one-quarter of people
who were given a higher dose of the drug. Tom Hanks wife, Rita Wilson, developed “Extreme side effects” when she was given the drug in Australia. Noem received 1.2 million doses of the drug from the Federal government. Her constituents will be the guinea pigs. Senator Elizabeth Warren, said: “The governor just lets this problem get bigger and bigger and bigger.”

The Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls used represents about 4% to 5% of
U.S. pork production, or about 18 million servings per day. The pork industry could see 5 billion dollars in losses due to the pandemic. Consumers are likely to be meat shortages due to the plant closings.

Police Find 17 Bodies in a Small Retirement Home Morgue

Posted on by Thor

Nursing homes are being hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of deaths in long term care health facilities has doubled since last week. Nation wide so far 35,000 seniors and staff have tested positive for Civid-19 and 5700 have died. Nursing homes have been closed to visitors for over a month now because of the pandemic.

After an anonymous tip by a staff member, reporting that a body had been stored in a shed, police found 17 bodies in the morgue for New Jersey’s largest nursing home,  Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation I and II Long-term Care Facility. The small morgue was meant to handle four bodies at a time. I probably depicted the morgue too large imagining it able to handle 3 autopsies.  68 people from the nursing home as well as 2 staff members have died in recent weeks. 26 tested positive for Covid-19. This is a 700 bed facility and privately owned. Owners of the private facility were not answering calls.

Local Mayor Michael Lensak said on April 16, 2020, “According to the county there were only 10 dead in the home, but that was updated to 22 deaths in the morning, and now reports are of 68. It is very disconcerting to not have the proper information coming out of a facility.” Families who lost loved ones say they received form letters telling them
their loved ones were sick, and in at least one case, the letter
arrived after the patient died. The outbreak, and problems with how bodies are handled, prompted the New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to order an investigation.

More than 180 other residents and staff are showing respiratory or flu-like symptoms. Andover Subacute has only a one-star rating on Medicare.gov – or “much below average” – with deficiencies found in health inspections and staff assessments.

There have been rumors that FEMA and the National Guard might be called in to lend medical assistance. Arrangements are being made to try and get personal protective equipment to staff. Officials arranged for a refrigerated truck to be brought to the nursing facility to be used as an overflow morgue. It is a fluid hanging situation that is a hint at what is happening across the country.

New Jersey now has more than 75,000 Covid-19 cases with 3518 total deaths and on April 16, 2020 362 new deaths were reported; of that number, 54
people had been living in long-term care facilities.

Winter Party Festival Covid-19 Infections

Posted on by Thor

The Winter Party Festival took place in Miami Beach March 4 – 10, 2020. More than 10,000 men gathered to party for the week despite the Center for Disease Control’s recommendation at that time that gatherings should be limited to no more than 250 people. Now, two people have died, and at least 38 others have
tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. Once the party was over, people
flew home to all corners of the country, possibly spreading the virus far and
wide. Some people chose not to attend the event although event
organizers were not offering them refunds. Precautions at the Winter Party included “educational posters”
that were posted at venues and 10,000 bottles of hand sanitizer placed throughout.

On March 1, 2020, Florida became the third state in the United States with a documented Covid-19 case.
On March 9, 2020, Donald Trump tweeted that the Fake News Media and the
Democratic Party were inflaming the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond
what the facts would
warrant.  Governor Ron DeSantis was dragging his feet about closing Florida beaches as spring breakers descended on the state. The Mayor of Miami had already contracted the virus. A week after the festival was over, Miami Beach announced they were finally closing the beaches.

On March 15, a Boston doctor who had attended the Winter Party tested positive for the virus after returning home. Thousands of e-mails were sent out to attendees to let people know of the spread of the virus. It is impossible to prove that the people infected caught the virus at the festival. With the long incubation period, they might have caught it on the plane or elsewhere, but were most certainly contagious carriers at party time.

Israel Carrera, a 40 year old from North Miami, was the first to die of the virus after attending the Winter Party. The second was Ron Rich, a 65 year old volunteer who did not attend the main party which counted 3,000 in attendance.

Davie Police Chief, Dale Engle, was placed on administrative leave
after officers at his Florida station filed a union complaint alleging
that he dismissed their concerns about Covid-19 protection measures
and that he blamed the Covid-19 fatality of a Broward County Deputy Sheriff, Shannon Bennett, on his sexuality. He claimed that Bennett died because he was a “homosexual who attended homosexual events.” The National Fraternal Order of Police tweeted that, if Engle’s “disgusting” alleged remarks are true, he should be fired.

On March 4, 2020, I was at a press event at the Rep Theater about the future onePULSE Memorial and Museum. It wasn’t an overly crowded event, but I was still going to theaters and sketching. On March 10, 2020, I was sketching at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s sold-out 12th Annual John R. Hamilton Mock Trial. I therefore can confirm that public events were still being staged in the Sunshine State. Though concerned, I felt it was impotent to keep documenting the arts. Information about the virus and circumstances were changing rapidly by the hour at the time. Hindsight might make it easy to judge, but I was still sketching in crowds despite concerns and the conflicting information from officials.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Trump used a prime-time oval office address to announce a ban on travel for non-Americans from most of Europe. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finally instated stricter social distancing on March 12, 2020, which was two days after the Winter Party Festival was over.

It is unknown exactly how many people might have contracted the Covid-19 virus at the Winter Party Festival. Rea Carey, the Executive Director of the LGBT Task Force, which organized the Festival said on Instagram, “I am deeply saddened by the death of Israel Carrera. I
extend my care and condolences to his loved ones, his friends and
family. He was so clearly loved by many. The particular cruelty of this
virus, this pandemic, is our inability to be together in grief, to hold
each other and to care for each other. We hold Israel and everyone being
affected by COVID-19 in our hearts.”

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article241133076.html#storylink=cpy

Hart Island Mass Grave

Posted on by Thor

New York City announced that Hart Island would be used as a mass burial site for unclaimed victims during the Covid-19 pandemic. A drone launched by the Hart Island Project took video footage of the football field long trench where the dead are buried in simple pine boxes, three deep. A fork lift is used to bring the boxes into the trench and then workers stack the boxes three deep and re-enforce them with plywood before covering them with a layer of dirt.

The island has a long history of being the final resting place for the homeless and indigent. An estimated twenty-five people used to be buried each month, but now over 25 people are buried each day. The bodies arrive by ferry from City Island in the Bronx.

Melinda Hunt of the Hart Island Project said on Twitter, “Hart Island burials are not disrespectful. There is not enough testing to know how many people buried died
of complications from COVID-19. Many families have no choice.” She said, “Hart Island is the most democratic place. Everybody is
handled the same. There is a beauty to that.”

The city purchased Hart Island in 1868 and turned it into a public cemetery. Over 150 years, the island has served as burial ground to victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic and the AIDS crisis in the 1980. It is the largest national cemetery in the United States, but has been largely inaccessible to the public. The island also was a prison workhouse, a Civil war Union solider training site,
and prisoner of war camp for Confederate fighters. It once harbored
yellow fever and tuberculosis victims. More than a million New Yorkers have been laid to rest on the small
strip of land off the coast of the Bronx, soldiers, the poor and the
unclaimed, the homeless and stillborn babies.

The city is transferring unclaimed bodies to the 101-acre island to make
way for Covid-19 victims whose bodies are claimed. New rules will require remains to be taken to the island if
they go unclaimed for two weeks. The city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner will hold an individual for 14 days during the pandemic, after that, they are taken to the island. Burials are done with ledgers and a grid system so that the bodies can be located and disinterred should a family come forward to claim them and wish to rebury them. Families would have to hire a funeral home to pick up the remains. There is no charge for disinterment.

Hunt said. “This is where the majority of Covid-19 victims are going to
be buried. It disproportionately affects the low income community who
can’t really isolate and avoid using the subways. By the same token
those same people can’t afford a funeral.”

Covid-19 Pandemic Funerals

Posted on by Thor

The  United States is now the epicenter of the Covid-19 Pandemic and New York City is being hit the hardest. In New York City, funeral homes are having trouble keeping up with the demands of collecting bodies from the hospital morgues or truck refrigeration units and burying them. In the past funeral directors would go straight to the morgue to pick up the body, but now each hospital had multiple layers of security to be sure the funeral staff are not carrying the virus. A funeral director in Brooklyn had 15 Covid-19 victims to bury less than a month ago but by April 6, there were 300 victims to bury. No funeral home is able to handle such volumes.

Many death certificates listed Pneumonia as the cause of death but the medical examiner has to update the death certificate if the cause of death is in question. While this is being done the bodies sit in cold storage. Death certificates can take up to 3 days to be fixed. Now a person dies in New York City about every 10 minutes, so the morgues are overcrowded. Make shift morgues are being set up with white tents and refrigerated tractor trailers.

If a funeral is held, then the body must be embalmed. Only 10 people are allowed people gather at the funeral home and people must stand 6 feet apart. If someone were to cough, then the virus is airborne and can infect beyond the 6 foot perimeters. After any wake in the funeral home, every surface must be disinfected and the city has stated that only 3 funerals can be allowed on any given day. With such a high case load that means other options are needed for burials. Cremation is the most common funeral service but even they can not keep up with the demands. Cemeteries or crematories because they can only handle a certain number each day.

In California mourners could drive to the cemetery but they had to remain in their cars while the body was lowered into the ground. Grieving families can not hug each other or cry on each others shoulders. If you die from Covid-19 you will likely die alone.

Funeral home staff also are out of personal protective gear like face masks and gloves. Hospital staff get the first pick of protective gear and funeral staff must risk their lives by reusing what gear they have on hand.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo mourned the 799 lives that ere lost in just 1 day in NYC. He wants to bring into New York funeral directors and staff from out of state to help with burring all the bodies. 9-11 he the Twin Towers were attacked, was supposed to be the darkest day in New York City with 2753 lives lost. To date New York City has lost 7067 live to the Covid-19 virus.

Stay Home. Stop the Spread. Save Lives.

Unemployment Line

Posted on by Thor

Hundreds of people risked exposure to the Covid-19 virus to stand in line in Hialeah, Florida on Tuesday April 7, 2020. The line was for people who don’t have internet access or printers, so they could pick up unemployment forms in person.The line snaked outside of the John F. Kennedy Library, and around the block, before it opened at 11
a.m. Social isolation to lower  cases of COVID-19, prompted an unemployment crisis
that the state government was not prepared for. Some people had been out of work for a whole month.

Many are still having issues submitting
applications for benefits after having lost their jobs through no fault
of their own. Applicants who had access to the Internet were dealing with error
messages and hours of waiting on the phone while calling a helpline that
was of no help. People started lining up as early as 6-7 a.m. The online servers could not handle the sudden influx of people seeking claims. The online server had to be taken down overnight Sunday April 5, 2020 into Monday. From about 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., the Florida Department of Economic
Opportunity will not be accepting reemployment benefit applications
online. The agency had received 1.5 million calls in the past week.

By the end of the week, there will 82 new servers to increase connectivity. Last week, DEO had nearly 200 staff working on the claims. There are now
579 additional employees and more than 2,300 state employees. In the past two weeks, the department has spent $25 million on
improvements to the computer and phone systems it uses to collect
unemployment benefits applications.

The Department of Labor reported Thursday that 227,000 Floridians
initiated unemployment claims the week prior, up from 74,313 the
previous week. Another 56,000 were expected last week as Governor Ron
DeSantis issued a statewide stay-at-home order that took effect on
Friday.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as
the CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, expands benefits. DEO
is working to incorporate the new provisions of the CARES Act to ensure
all Floridians who are eligible get their full amount of Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Assistance
as it becomes available. Benefits will be paid from the date they became
eligible under the CARES Act. 

It was horrifying to watch people standing in line with no social distancing. Tempers flared as people stood in the oppressive Florida heat. If any one person was infected their could be a flair up of infections and deaths.

__________________________________________________________________________________

In an equally callous and short sighted instance, Michigan held it’s primary voting in the midst of the Pandemic. Voters had to chose between their health and their civic duty. Wisconsin Republicans, the state’s conservative supreme court risked voters’ lives by sending them to polls. People will die.

Viral Healing Touch

Posted on by Thor

On Palm Sunday (April 5, 2020) Pastor Rich Vera preached to a crowd gathered at The Center Arena on South Hiawassee Road in Orlando. After weeks of resisting a stay at home order, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a state wide stay at home order but then issued a second order that exempted religious services. His order specifically stated that only 10 people can congregate. DeSantis said in a news conference Thursday, “I don’t think government
has the authority to close churches, and I’m certainly not going to do
that.” He added Florida religious leaders he’d spoken with “almost 100%
agree” with mandating social distancing policies. Orlando had a stay at home order issued by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings that would not allow a church gathering of more than 10 people. The State governor’s second order over rules the county order making religion an essential service. This piece meal approach to public safety will cost lives.

The horrific thing about Vera’s service is that he touches the faithful to heal them. This is certainly a breach of any form of social distancing.  Concern over the worship service prompted a call to the Orange County
Sheriff’s Office. The agency said a deputy responded to the church but
did not write a report. Noting the negative comments on social media, Vera responded during his sermon – “mind your own business.”

On the Rich Vera web page, one parishioner said, “This is regarding your comment in the most recent news story related to
holding services during the corona virus outbreak where you said others
should mind their own business.
If your service; involves more than 10 people, they are not keeping a
distance of 6 feet apart, if they are touching the same surfaces without
disinfecting them between touches, then it is everyone’s business. You
mentioned that you regularly touch your parishioners which means you are
violating the 6 ft distance requirement. The reasons it is everyone’s
business should be obvious. You and your parishioners may already
have the virus and not know it. Some may even have had it and recovered
without knowing it but still be contagious. You are taking unnecessary
chances that you won’t pass the virus within your congregation and then
to others outside your congregation. You may end up being responsible
for propagating the virus to far more people than you can imagine. Do
you want to be responsible for others suffering because your actions
indicate you either do or simply don’t care.”  

Nature Art Show opening in a Pandemic

Posted on by Thor

This sketch may seem innocuous. It is the usual art show opening scene I might depict on any given day. I had two pieces accepted into this art show and the opening was slated for March 14, 2020 which also happened to be Saint Patrick’s day. Since my art was in the show there was an expectation that I would show up to the opening. One drink was on the house at the paid bar. The two paintings I submitted were, I thought, Pandemic appropriate. The theme of the show was “Nature”. Rather that submit beautiful landscapes I submitted two painting of mean and dying gnarly and decomposing trees.

The day before the opening, the Covid-19 Pandemic was officially announced by the World Health Organization. The situation was fluid with new announcements every few yours. On March 14, 2020, there were 156,000 cases of Covid-19 in America with 5,819 deaths. Despite these facts the art opening was still scheduled to happen. Pam Schwartz joined me and together we quickly looked at the art on the wall and then I settled in to self isolate on a couch and sketch.

People at the opening definitely did not stand six feet apart. People hugged and kissed and sipped drinks while telling stories just inches apart. It was terrifying. I listened for every cough and watched as someone touched their face and then shook hands. The second my sketch was done, Pam and I made a quick exit. On March 21, 2020, The Barefoot Spa closed in the best interest of everyone’s health. All the art work is still hanging, but the space is empty so the work will not be seen. Artists were told they might be able to pick up their work at the end of April but that might change depending on the state of the pandemic at that time. This is the last sketch I did at a public event. After this opening, I committed myself to self isolation in the studio. My work has become darker and more focused on the short-sighted politics that allowed the virus to spread so rapidly in America, though it could have been stopped in its tracks.