Ventilators in Short Supply

Posted on by Thor

In severe cases of people infected by the Covid-19 virus the lungs fill with fluid and it becomes difficult to impossible to breath. Ventilators help patients breath by pumping oxygen directly into the lungs, while removing CO2. This machine makes the difference between life and death. In Italy, doctors had to make the gut wrenching decisions every day about who could go on a ventilator and live and who would die. The ventilator can keep someone alive long enough to fight off the virus.

In 2018 it was estimated that there were about 160,000 ventilators in the United States. Up until now that has been enough machines to serve anyone who needed one. The American Hospital Association estimated that up to 1 million Americans will need a ventilator due to Covid-19. Patients might need a ventilator for a matter of weeks before they recover.

So were will all the much needed ventilators come from? The machine can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Now with this virus affecting every nation, everyone it trying to buy ventilators all at once. They can not be found. The companies who make the ventilators are ramping up production.

Auto makers, Ford, General Motors and Tesla in the United States are offering to help with mass production. The problem is that it might take months for these companies to start producing ventilators. Chinese companies are also producing ventilators, but considering the trade war with the United States it is hard too imagine Trump bowing to get help form the East. He continues to go out of his way to blame the virus on China.

Dyson, a vacuum machine manufacturer in Britain signed a formal contract last week, when it announced an order for 10,000 of its CoVent prototype, which was designed in about a fortnight. CoVent is yet to secure final regulatory approval, and may not reach production for weeks.

Ventilator Challenge UK, a consortium of 14 firms including Airbus and
Rolls-Royce, is expected to say that it has secured a formal order for
two types of machines with twin code names of Project Oyster and Project Penguin. The goal is to produce 10,000 machines for England to help battle the virus. These design are more likely to get quickly approved because they incorporate two existing designs.

3D printers are being used to create ventilator parts, and engineers are designing open sourced DIY machines with 3D printed and of the shelf parts. They are envisioned to be used in a worst case scenario.  It is possible to intimate a patient and then manually pump air into their lings with a small hand held pump. This could be dangerous if done wrong. To much air can damage the lungs.

Public health expert have estimated that there are 12,000 ventilators in the national stockpile, which is far to few to the coming demand in about 14 days. New York Mayor Andrew Cuomo explained that in New York, they are trying to use one ventilator to treat two patients at once by splitting the tubes.

On Friday, March 27, 2020, President Donald Trump announced he was invoking the Defense Production Act to require GM to “accept, perform, and prioritize” federal contracts for ventilators.Switching from making cars to making ventilators however takes time. The machines sophisticated software and specialized parts, and companies that seek to
manufacture them face several hurdles, including intellectual property
rights, the need for specially trained workers, regulatory approvals
and safety considerations.For now the auto makers are teaming up with existing ventilator makers to help them ramp up production. New York Mayor Cuomo however said that getting ventilators in a month or two months will not help save lives since the virus apex is in just 14 days. The city hospitals are full and overflowing with patients.

There is no solver lining to this pandemic. America is unprepared and having leaders ignore the science has not helped. Calling the pandemic a hoax cost many their lives. Ignoring science is not the way to keep Americans safe. Things are getting very real in America’s hospitals right now.

As of this writing, there are 777,286 cases of Covid-19 in America with 37,140 deaths. The US has surpasses Spain and Italy for the most confirmed cases of the virus. I have been watching what has been happening in those countries hospitals closely online. Things are about to get very real and ugly here in America. There is no miracle cure and there is no wishing it away. Now Trump is spinning the ultimate Covid-19 death toll saying, “if the death toll stays at or below 100,000, “we all together have done a very good job.”

Stay home. Stay safe. Self isolate.

Easter Sunday

Posted on by Thor

The United States has now become the country with the most cases reported of Covid-19 in the World. At a rally Trump said that “You are going to get sick and tired of winning.” With over 100,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in America, we are indeed winning.

Now Donald Trump had decided that he would love to have the country back up and running by Easter,which is 16 days from now, as of this writing. He thinks “It would be a beautiful time.” Of course this defies all logic and science. If people crowd together in churches across the country 16 days from now, the virus will spread like wild fire. The danger is that Trump’s fervent supporters may buy into his insanity and indeed try and gather on the day Christ was known to have risen from the dead, risking their own and other’s lives. Is saving the stock market more important than people’s lives?

Rather than help his former home state of New York get ventilators, he instead picked a fight with Governor Andrew Cuomo, blaming him for the plight because the governor had ventilators stock piled. Of course the ventilators are stockpiled as they are collected, they will be distributed where needed as the hospitals reach a critical mass. The Governor is anticipating a peak in demand in two weeks for patients needing help to
breathe. The state will need at least 30,000 ventilators, he said, and
it so far had obtained 7,000. Cuomo told a reporter, that “The president was ignorant and grossly uninformed.” The governor said that the spread of the virus was like a freight train coming across the country, but now, we are looking at a bullet train because the numbers are going up that quickly.

The president’s only concern seems to be the economy rather than the health and well being of the American people. He continues to compare Covid-19 to the common flu. He doesn’t seem to have any grasp of the huge tsunami that is facing the nation. He waved his hands saying the numbers would go down, not up, and tried to convince Americans that the virus would miraculously disappear when it got warmer. The danger is that some listen to his statements and believe them. There is a level of faith in believing his statements that defies any reason.

The surgeon general, Dr. Gerome Adams warned Americans, “This week it is going to get bad, we really need to come together as a nation” The director of the World Health Organization said that the US could become the next epicenter for the spread of the virus.

Dr. Emily Landon ,a Chicago Doctor warned, That doctors are facing a brand new virus with not enough personal protection and constantly changing protocols. There are barely enough masks for the nurses that they have, This virus is unforgiving. The beginning of the 1918 pandemic was the last time America faced such a challenge. Two cities in America made different choices as to how to proceed while only a few patients were affected. St. Louis shut itself down, and sheltered in place, but Philadelphia went ahead with a huge parade celebrating those going off to war. A week later Philadelphia hospitals were over run, and thousands were dead. Many more than in St. Louis. This is a cautionary tale for our time. Stay home. Stay safe. Don’t go to church Easter Sunday.

“Not Practical to Lock Down State”

Posted on by Thor

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference from his office in Tallahassee, Florida. New York State issued a shelter in place order, but he feels that a Shelter in Place order for Florida would not be advisable or practical. He claims it would be a very blunt instrument. He is afraid of hundreds of thousands of Floridians loosing their jobs. My feeling is that everyone should be more concerned about loosing their lives.

DeSantis seems to feel that this virus is not something that is affecting every part of the state. He outlined some counties that have low cases of Covid-19 but the fact is, that without testing, no one knows how many cases are out there. He feels that a massive shutdown of the entire state would not work. The issue of non-compliance is a concern. He sees instances of people in NYC and California being non-complaint and thus he seems to think Floridians are incapable of practicing self isolation. He sees it as impractical for a State Governor to enforce a shelter in place order.

Like President Trump, he seemed concerned more about people’s mental health and suicide rates if they have to isolate to stay safe and alive. As Donald Trump said on Twitter, “We can not make the cure worse than the problem”. Or restated, “The benefit of keeping people alive is not worth the cost to the economy.” The problem however is a viral death rate with unimaginable numbers if the problem is ignored. This can not be overlooked. The skewed thinking on this issue amazes me. There is no option to go back to life as normal after 14 days. The United Kingdom ordered a country wide lock down for 3 weeks, which seems like a more sane approach to try and stop the spread of the virus. However, here in America, the President seems intent on ignoring science and getting the economy back up at any cost. His medical advisor, Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was absent at a White House press briefing today. He has been the one voice of reason on how to stop the spread of the virus but his blunt comments are rumored to have rubbed the president the wrong way since science doesn’t line up with the president’s lies.

DeSantis seems to follow the president’s mantra.  DeSantis said he will work with all the metro areas, but decisions about public health have to come from Municipal and County Governance. So the president passed the buck to state governors, and this state governor passed the buck to city mayors. Any benefit of a lock down might be overwhelmed by people coming to Florida. On the day of his address there were 190 direct flights from the New York area to Florida. Those people may be fleeing a shelter in place order issued in that state. Given the situation in New York, it is very possible that there is someone on every flight who has the Covid-19 virus. The Federal Government is doing nothing to restrict domestic flights. DeSantis insisted that anyone coming from New York or a similar hot spot must do a mandatory self isolation.

The bottom line is that Ron DeSantis feels it is impractical to lock down a state with no end in sight.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Local county and city officials in Central Florida were waiting for Governor DeSantis to issue
some kind of shelter in place order, and when they realized it was not
coming, they decided to protect their citizens with their own orders
and proclamations. Orlando City Mayor Buddy Dyer along with County Mayor Jerry Demings and the leaders from the municipalities in Orange
County have instated a “Stay at Home” order for all residents, and
all non-essential businesses will be closed, which includes most
retail, recreation, and entertainment businesses, starting this Thursday
March 26, 2020, at 11 p.m., and
continuing for two weeks through April 9, 2020.

“This means you should stay at home, unless it is
absolutely needed – like shopping at the grocery store, going to a
doctor’s appointment, providing necessary care for a family member,
visiting a restaurant for a takeout order or going
outside to exercise, all while keeping six feet between you and
others.

You should not go to work unless you are providing essential services that are defined in

this order. Visits to family members or friends should be limited to
those who need medical or other essential assistance, such as ensuring
an adequate supply of food or medicine.

We know that this order will impact the
livelihood of residents, our local businesses and our region’s economy.
But the health of our community is our top priority and we must do
everything that we can to protect the lives of our family
members, friends and neighbors.

It is our goal that through aggressive action we
will help minimize how many people in our community are impacted by
this virus, and then how quickly residents and businesses can recover
emotionally and financially.”

This is a challenge unlike any we’ve seen before, but I know that Orlando is up to it.

Stay home, stay safe.

Toilet Paper Temple

Posted on by Thor

In Lopburi, Thailand hundreds of monkeys who are usually fed by tourists swarmed the streets fighting for scraps of food following the Covid-19 Pandemic, which kept tourists away. On a normal day in the city, hundreds of tourists would feed the monkeys but after the outbreak of the virus, tourists have stayed away leaving the monkeys to fend for themselves. The virus outbreak had sparked a 44% decrease in tourism in the country.

In America, people have been swarming the supermarkets to hoard toilet paper and also getting in fights. In Central Florida, we are familiar with the human desire to hoard supplies before a natural disaster like a hurricane. There seems to be a special angst among humans about not having enough toilet paper. Toilet paper has a primal and infantile association for people. Some research has shown that the virus has been present in stool samples. It is therefore prudent to always wash your hands when leaving the bathroom.

For the first few months of the outbreak, President Donald Trump assured people that Covid-19 would pass by like a miracle with very few cases. Many were reassured by this gas lighting, while ignoring the scientific community who had a very different outlook. Suddenly the news changed and people were told to stock up in supplies for an unknown period of time. Just like mixed messages resulted in a rush at the airports, the mixed messages resulted in a rush on supermarkets. Because the administration dragged its feet on a response to the pandemic, people have no faith that supplies will be restocked. With no leadership, people are left to fend for themselves, and fear the worst because they hear only lies from the president.

As anxiety rises, gun sales are also skyrocketing. In the past few days, the number of background checks in Florida has
gone through the roof. The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a run on gun
shops. Saturday’s (March 14, 2020) total of more than 6,200 checks was 74 percent higher than
the average Saturday, and the single busiest March day since 2012,
according to the data provided. Ammunition is also becoming harder to find. When people get scared, they just want to feel the warm comfort of a gun in their hands.

Business as Usual: NO Weekend Top 6 Picks

Posted on by Thor

There are NO Weekend Top 6 Picks for March 21 and 22, 2020 due to Covid-19 Virus Pandemic. Stay home. Stay Safe.

The president recommended that gatherings of 10 people or more in the US be canceled or postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The nation’s top infectious disease official said he would like to see a 14-day national shutdown imposed, but it does not seem that President Donald Trump will order that. We need to change our routines for a threat we can not see. If we wait, many will die needlessly. The United States has some 45,000 Intensive Care Unit beds, and even in a moderate outbreak scenario, some 200,000 Americans will need intensive care.

Here are some of the the Florida attractions that remained open after the pandemic announcement, despite the CDC recommendation to close. All the large Orlando theme parks closed (Disney Theme Parks, Universal, Sea World, Lego Land) but some smaller venues ignored public safety concerns and remained open.  

Fun Spot Orlando was business as usual. They added some hand sanitizing stations and did some housekeeping measures. Riding a roller coaster might be as fun as riding a subway car in NYC next to a coughing passenger by your side.

The Pirates Dinner Adventure remained open during regular hours. Attendance is lower because of virus concerns. They hope to maintain six to eight foot distances between guests in the dining area. Other changes include that the servers will be wearing gloves, food will arrive covered, and hand
sanitizers are available. The trouble with this venue is that guests have to wait like cattle in a crowded common room before being allowed into the main staging area. The second show (8 p.m.) for Friday, March 20, has been cancelled.

Icon Park on International Drive, with the Wheel, the Starflyer (the world’s tallest swing ride) and the
restaurants remained open. The seats, the handles, anything that people
can come into contact with were constantly being wiped down. A networking event is scheduled to happen on March 24, 2020, at Icon Park. I will not be going to sketch and rub shoulders.

These venues are insane to remain open, they are ignoring the numbers and science, not caring that they are risking guests’ health by remaining open for business. Two Florida mobile hospitals are ready to deploy when needed. Public beaches in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale are closed.

A 34 year old man flew to Orlando on March 2, 2020 for a conference and decided to stay several more days to visit Walt Disney World and Universal. Before flying home, he developed a cough and started coughing up blood. Back in Pasadena California, he was diagnosed with symptoms of  pneumonia. He tested positive for Covid-19 on March 13, 2020 and died on March 19, 2020 . It is not yet known if the man caught the virus in Orlando, but he was certainly contagious while he visited here and was in the theme parks. The virus survives on cardboard and copper surfaces for 24 hours, and for 72 hours on stainless steel and plastics. Now think of all the surfaces that were touched while waiting in a long line. It becomes clear that many others were likely infected in the parks and on the airplane.

Disney’s college internship program has shut down and students are being told they must leave by 11 am Wednesday March 18, 2020. Disney World has donated its excess food to Central Florida food banks like Second Harvest Food Bank. Volunteers are needed at Second Harvest since there has been a surge in need since the public school closures mean that many students will go hungry. Summer BreakSpot locations are being set up where children can find healthy nutritious meals.

The National Guard Medical Technicians are being deployed in Broward County, which is now the hot spot of outbreak of the virus in Florida. They will be setting up drive-through test sites. Miami Mayor Francis X Suerez has tested positive for the virus. Stay home. Stay safe.

Post Script:

Fun Spot America will close all locations until further notice beginning Monday 3/23/2020, the company announced Sunday evening.

Flooding into the Country

Posted on by Thor

When President Donald Trump announced a travel ban on flights from international countries into the United States, Americans abroad panicked and rushed to get back into America before the deadline. More than 40,000 people flooded into US airports. These Americans were forced to wait in long lines in the airport, crowded together, which of course was an ideal place for the Covid-19 virus to spread. Some people had to wait 7 hours to get through customs and health screenings. People with symptoms were not separated from the crowd. Workers did not have protective gear. It is hard to imagine a better scenario for spreading the deadly virus all across America.



Walt Disney World made the right decision to close all its theme parks, but on Sunday, (3-15-2020) the final day Walt Disney World was open, they decided to go out with a bang by having the huge crowd press together for a fireworks show. Abigail Disney, the niece of Walt’s brother Roy Disney, saw a photo of the huge crowds and commented on twitter “Are you fucking kidding me?” Since that comment, Disney has taken down the photos from Twitter.

As I write this, there are 203,521 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the world. At 9 am today there are already 6,417 new cases of people infected with the virus. 8,205 people have died. President Trump announced that there are to be no gatherings of 10 people or more. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer suspended the sales of all alcohol at any bars, clubs, restaurants, and hotels, or other venues where alcohol is typically consumed.

The Democratic Primary voting went on as planned in Orlando. Five other states postponed voting, but Florida decided to proceed despite the pandemic. My polling place was in a Methodist Church. I parked near some headstones, but was afraid I might be in the wrong place, since there wasn’t a soul in sight. I noticed a woman walking past the cemetery to a building next door and decided to follow her. Sure enough this was the polling place. I approached the community room entrance with two very old gentlemen. One man looked like he might have crawled out of his death bed to get to the polling place, his eyes were so bloodshot. On a bench at the entrance someone joked that we looked criminal as we walked in. The one elderly man said he had done this many times in his life. He stressed that point several times as we walked down the hall. Yet, it was rather criminal to have the elderly going out to vote when the rest of the country was on lock down.

A line of chairs separated the community room in half with police tape tied along the line they created. Anyone on the West side of the main street the church was on, had to go to the reception tables to the left and anyone on the east side of that street were supposed to go to the other reception table to the right of the dividing line. As I stood in line I realized I was not giving myself a cushion of 6 feet behind the men I had entered with. To pick up my ballot I had to hand over my drivers license. There was some hand sanitizer on the table but the poll worker handled my card and handed it back without using it for herself. I squirted some sanitizer on my hands and rubbed it in, then put the license back in my wallet. Voting only took a second since there were really only 2 candidates. I didn’t stay to sketch, deciding to instead get back to the studio to self isolate, and finish the sketch above.

Governor DeSantis announced that the State Florida ordered an additional 2,500
test kits to supplement the resources already available to test
for COVID-19. These additional test kits will enable the Department of
Health, working with Florida health care providers, to test up to an
additional 625,000 individuals. Florida recently partnered with private laboratories around the state to expand COVID-19 laboratory testing capacity. To date there are 160 Covid-19 cases in Florida and 5 people have died. Those numbers will rise as testing begins. The Florida Department of Health reported 1,483 people have been tested for Covid-19 as of Monday (3-16-2020). To contrast that news, South Korea has been doing over 10,000 tests a day. The World Health Organization’s top official, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, criticized some nations for
not doing enough to detect and contain the deadly Covid-19. “We have a simple message for all countries: Test, test, test. Test
every suspected case. If they test positive, isolate them and find out
who they have been in contact with two days before they developed
symptoms and test those people, too,” Tedros said.

With little leadership coming from the President, I turn to Governors who are responsibly gearing up to the unimaginably large number of cases that are to come. New York Governor Cuomo pointed out that, “This in an extraordinary time in this nation’s history. It will go down in the history books as a moment of true crisis, confusion, and chaos. In a single moment your whole concept of life and society can be shaken. This is a character test for all of us. Life has been turned upside down. This is a hard time on every level.”

A CDC projection estimated that the U.S. Covid-19 pandemic could infect
between 160 million and 214 million Americans over a period of more than a
year, and kill anywhere from 200,000 to 1.7 million people in the United States. This is a worst case scenario if nothing is done to slow the curve of infections through social isolation and adequate testing and treatment. That higher CDC estimate is more dead than in WWI, WWII, and Vietnam combined. We are fighting a war for survival against an unseen enemy. Stay home. Stay safe. Be calm and caring.

“What did you do when all around you lost their head? – Rudyard Kipling

Democratic Debate Round 1

Posted on by Thor

Since Pam and I don’t have a TV, we decided to go out to a Democratic Debate Watch Party. I found one at the Barley and Vine but when we drove by, we found the place deserted. Instead we drove over to Thornton Park to watch at the Falcon Bar and Gallery (819 E Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801). Planned Parenthood was hosting the watch party which meant a slice of free pizza if we surrendered all our personal information. Heck, I have given away more than that for a slice of pizza.

A small baby Trump balloon was floating above the bar so I immediately started sketching. We had a solid 45 minutes to kill before the debate really got under way. A friendly wide eyed pug kept sniffing around and standing on his hind legs hoping to get some of our pizza. Once the debate started the place got really packed.

Half of the Democratic party contenders would face off during the debate. With 10 candidates behind the podiums I honestly only recognized Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar. Amy had worked the news stations as the Warren report went public and I respected her views. In the bar there was one guy that clapped for every candidate and their opinions. Beto O’Rourke responded to one of the initial questions in Spanish and the bar loved that the captions paused since there was no interpreter.

When candidates were asked, “What is the greatest threat to American security?”  The loud clapper in the bar shouted out, “Donald Trump!” Folks laughed and then moments later a candidate gave the same response. It was exciting to watch the debate with a crowd. The enthusiastic hope that something new might follow the controversies and wasted energy of politics these past two years was contagious. Beto O’Rourke said Congress should immediately begin impeachment
proceedings against President Donald Trump in response to special
counsel Robert Mueller’s findings. If congress doesn’t impeach then he would press charges after Trump leaves office. Bill De Blasio said that Russia is the biggest threat to America “because they are trying to undermine our Democracy and they have been doing a pretty damn good job.”

Amy Klobuchar took a strong stance against Trump saying, “This president is literally every single day 10 minutes away from going to war, one tweet away from going to war. I don’t think we should conduct foreign policy in our bathrobes at 5 in the morning.” The two baby Trump balloons floated face up to the bar ceiling looking very much like the drowned father and daughter photo that has been all over the news.

Trump Counter Protest

Posted on by Thor

With president Donald Trump invading Orlando to announce his run as the incumbent for President in 2020 locals decided to set up a counter protest for the rally set to happen at the Amway Center. The counter protest happened at Stonewall Bar several blocks West of the Amway Center.

The Baby Trump Balloon was brought to Orlando for the “Win with Love Rally.” The balloon first appeared in London during Trump’s visit there last month. It gained so much notice that money was raised to create six
clones in the U.S. A GoFundMe campaign was started last week to raise funds for the helium
needed to inflate the balloon in Orlando. The campaign was successful, going over its
$3,500 goal. In addition to the helium canisters needed to inflate it, the balloon also
came with more than a ton of gear and 12 volunteers, said activist Mark
Offerman. Protest organizer Ida Eskamani said that, because the event is within a
specific perimeter of the Trump event, the balloon would not be able to float but would have to stay on the ground. I don’t get why a helium balloon was needed if it wouldn’t be allowed to fly. Much smaller trump helium balloons were on sale for $10 each and these did often take flight.

When Pam and I arrived at the counter protest we noticed police moving towards the north. She suggested they must be going to some disturbance so we followed. About a dozen “Proud Boy” Trump supporters in red MAGA hats and bulletproof vests were standing off with police. The police presence was impressive with officers in full gear from multiple counties. When the Trump supporters turned away, I made my way over to sketch the baby Trump Balloon. The counter protest was crowded. I had to remove people from my sketch so I could see baby Trumps diaper and cell phone.

I could see the red hats making their way around the lake towards the southern roadblocked barricade to the counter protest. When they faced off a second time people in the protest faced them and raised their anti Trump signs. It gave the protestors a symbol of hate to confront. They shouted “Hey, hey, ho, ho. Donald Trump has got to go.”

After my sketch was done, Pam and I decided to make our way through the police lines to walk down to the Amway. At the same time  the “Proud Boy” thugs decided to follow us down. They were a bunch of bros bragging about their bravado and looking for a chance to get in front of cameras. Anyone wearing a bulletproof vest to a rally is looking for trouble. They paused at a club on Church street and I lost sight of them. Two men were arrested outside the Trump Rally for disorderly conduct. They have since been released on bond. At least at the counter protest, Hate was faced with peaceful protest and a message of love.

The grassy field outside the Arena was littered with garbage and lawn chairs. Some folks just left their tents crushed up on the sidewalks. There was no overflow crowd. Trumps claim that hundreds of thousands of people would be showing up to witness his bid for the candidacy proved false. He didn’t even fill the arena. All  that remained outside were vendors trying to sell $5 Red MAGA Caps.

Night before the Trump Rally

Posted on by Thor

The night before Trumps Orlando Rally to announce his candidacy for president, Pam Schwartz and I went down to the Amway Arena to see the Trump fans who were camping out to keep their place at the front of the line to get into the arena. Pam wanted to do some pop up oral histories and of course I wanted to get a sketch. We approached the arena from downtown and didn’t see any crow so we then circled the arena clockwise. We finally discovered people waiting on the North West corner  across the street from the Federal Courthouse.

Tents were set up on sidewalks. It had rained hard that afternoon so these rebid supporters had been well soaked. Pam had talked to one group who had walked down the street in Paramour and stripped in the street so they could dry their clothes in a launder-mat. Surviving the daily rain storms seemed to build a bond between the red hatted supporters.

TV News trucks also made sure they had parking close to the arena. Periodically someone would walk up and down the street with a banner of flag waving. These red white and blue displays resulted in whoops and hollers from the crowd who had been sitting in the heat and humidity all day. One banner read, “Hispanics for Trump” and of course “Trump 2020.” One supporter seemed to feel that the right leaning crowd was misunderstood. The liberals he pointed out where the one who would be throwing out F bombs when the debates got heated. He stressed that he firmly believed that Christian values were the building blocks on which this country was built. Fear of immigrants invading our country seemed to be on everyone’s mind. He felt that if folks just sat down and talked together then they might achieve something better than just shouting at each other. I agree that communication is key.

The group at the very front of the line was well lubricated with beer and pot. They were feeling no pain on their long vigil towards hearing the Donald speak in person. Abortion was on their minds. Children were being murdered. A woman needed to bring a child into this world no matter what. When asked about the possibility of rape or incest, the idea was dismissed. “That happens so rarely.” One guy however started to waver and his opinion softened a bit. A car honked in the background and supporters shouted.

I wondered how many people might end up in this line that was forming to get into the arena. Trump claimed that over 100,000 people wanted to get tickets, but the Arena only holds 20,000 people. A grassy field was set up beside the arena for any run over crowd. Jumbo trons were set up to broadcast the speech from inside the arena live to any overflow crowd. Trump has less than a 20% approval rating in Orlando, so I doubt many locals will be in that crowd.

Someone shouted my name as I was sketching. A husband and wife stopped
on their bicycles to greet me. I had sketched her years ago since she
was once a roller derby athlete. She said, “You are the only person I
could imagine who might be out here sketching the night before a Trump
Rally.”

Love Trumps Hate

Posted on by Thor

On June 12, 2019 families of the fallen, survivors and members of the community gathered at Pulse to remember the 49 lives lost in a horrific act of violence. It was a chance to honor loved ones, to show support for the survivors and to honor first responders. It was 195 days since Orlando as a city changed.Orlando as a community continues to rise.

The sun was setting as Pam Schwartz and I arrived at the memorial ceremony. She branched off to make sure families were seated and I began to document the evening with a sketch. I had my own art stool and I sat in among the families leaning back against a tree. Several of the Angel Action Wings were in the crowd.

Several rows ahead of me I could see the father of Cory James Connell with his baseball cap and number 7 jersey. Cory was shot and killed on June 12, 2016 at Pulse. Later that year the family was blessed with the birth of a baby boy who they decided to name Cory as well. I sketched young Cory several times when the family spoke about their journey after the loss of their son. Now young Cory was a young three year old with wild hair and plenty of attitude.

During one of the songs a mother cried inconsolably to my right. Around me people turned and pointed their cameras towards the horizon. A large rainbow had formed as if an sign of the love and acceptance being honored. Barbara Poma offered a few remarks as did Buddy Dyer and Jerry Demmings. A sign language interpreter signed every comment of love and acceptance.  Then the names of the 49 were read. Unfortunately a few names were mispronounced.

Heather Martin a survivor of the Columbine shooting spoke candidly of her long road to recovery following that shooting. She talked about how loud sounds like fireworks could act as triggers. As she was talking an ambulance rushed by with it’s siren blaring which is another sound that triggers memories of that night at Pulse. “This unfortunate bond of tragedy has born incredible friendships, friendships that have kept me going when I struggle.” she said. Sharing her battle, her struggle helps overshadow the dark times with hope and love.

Plans are in the works for a permanent memorial and museum on the Pulse Nightclub site. Architecture firms from all over the world will be submitting proposals for what should be on this site. Opinions about what should be on the site are varied.