COVID Dystopia: Enough is Enough

Posted on by Thor

Tomorrow I am flying to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival. I will spend a day watching short films and then attend the awards ceremony in the evening. I know that I will be the only one masked on a plane full of mouth breathing zombies. Even a mild case of COVID, fuses and destroys brain neurons. No wonder zombies eat brains in movies, they are trying to get back what they have lost due to COVID.

The height of the 9th wave of COVID infections was in August of this year and Florida is now in the trough with cases just beginning to rise again. New Mexico is the one state that is on fire right now. Though I keep track of the rising and falling cases, I just keep the same simple precautions, I mask indoors. Masking isn’t perfect. I can’t be 100 percent sure the seal on my KN-95 mask is tight. Masking and HEPA filtration has kept me COVID free so far, even when the virus attacked a former roommate and her niece.

Repeat COVID infections destroy the immune system similar to the how HIV attacks the immune system. It is a vascular disease effecting every organ in the body. Once infected, people become vulnerable to every known pathogen. When out in public sketching there is always someone coughing up a lung.

Traveling to promote COVID Dystopia is probably the most dangerous thing I do each month, but it is my way to convince people that was and is dangerous. Politicians always downplay the effects of the virus because claiming victory is the only way to get elected. In Trumps first term over 200,000 Americans died from COVID. Over 700,000 Americans died under Biden’s time in office. It is hard to pick a side when both parties promote mass infection as a way out of an ongoing pandemic.

COVID Dystopia: Security

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The barefoot woman in this scene remains perfectly still while the horde of zombies shuffle through the security checkpoint without bothering to take off their shoes. The security guard gently feels between the woman’s breasts to check for any hidden virus.

I am traveling quite a bit to Film Festivals across the country promoting COVID Dystopia. Having to remove the mask for security is probably the most dangerous thing I need to do other than crowding into a sardine can with recirculated air. After a long flight it is a relief to step outside and remove the mask for a deep breath of air. I have had a  cough for over a month. I have checked for COVID and it is not that, but even if is only the remnants of a cold, I don’t think it is wise to spread it around.

COVID Dystopia is available to be seen at the Virtual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival happening now through November 24, 2024. COVID Dystopia can be seen in the Eventive – Chiller Theater Block 2 – Shorts online. It can be seen anywhere in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. After you start watching the films, you have 48 hours to complete watching them. Tickets are $18.

 

COVID Dystopia: Racoon Dog Theory

Posted on by Thor

Genetic material collected at the Wuhan Chinese Market where the first human cases of COVID-19 were identified, show raccoon dog DNA commingled with COVID-19. Some scientists believe COVID most likely jumped from animals to people, others believe the virus could have been leaked from one of the several Wuhan coronavirus research facilities. The genetic material collected does not prove that a racoon dog stated the pandemic. Human DNA was also found in the sample. A human may have infected the animal, or the animal may have never harbored the virus. People search for blame. The final answer as to how the pandemic began has yet to be definitively proven.

COVID Dystopia is available to be seen at the Virtual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival happening now through November 24, 2024. COVID Dystopia can be seen in the Eventive – Chiller Theater Block 2 – Shorts online. It can be seen anywhere in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. After you start watching the films, you have 48 hours to complete watching them. Tickets are $18.

5 States: 44% of Cases

Posted on by Thor

CNN reported that five states account for 44% of the COVID-19 cases in the past week according to data from Johns Hopkins University. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey had more than 196,400 of the country’s 453,360 cases reported in the last week, according to data available the morning of April 7. 2021.

Michigan has been hit especially hard with 6,600 cases a day over a week as opposed to 1,350 daily cases five weeks ago. The highly contagious and deadly B.1.1.7 variant of the COVID virus has helped cause the spike in cases. People are also experiencing pandemic fatigue and are taking fewer precautions giving the virus plenty of opportunity to spread.

The B.1.1.7, first identified in the UK, is now the most common strain of coronavirus in the United States, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said April 7, 2021.

With more-transmissible variants adding up, surges like Michigan’s may soon be seen more widely, even though vaccination rates have increased nationally, epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm said. The CDC says more than 16,200 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been confirmed in surveillance testing in the US, and B.1.1.7 has been found in every state. This number does not represent the total number of such cases circulating in the United States, but rather only those found by analyzing samples. Florida has more that 3000 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, more than any other state.

The US has averaged 774 Covid-19 deaths a day over the last week. According to the latest CDC data, 19.4% of the total US population was fully vaccinated as of the morning of April 7, 2021; and 57.4% of people age 65 and older are fully vaccinated. But the US has a long way to go before reaching herd immunity. Dr. Anthony Fauci has estimated 70%-85% of the population needs to become immune.

Grey Towers – Milford PA

Posted on by Thor

James Pinchot bought several thousand acres of land in York County Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. He then proceeded to denude the entire property of all its trees. He later regretted that decision and suggested his son, Gifford, become a forester. Gifford pursued that ambition with a vengeance and over time the property was restored. Pinchot bought ideas from Europe back to America to help restore some of Americas stripped forests.
Grey Towers is styled after a French Chateau. Much of its charm came from the influence of Gifford’s wife Cornelia who he married in 1914. When she first came to the property she found the place rather dreary with the house sitting on top of a barren landscape. She added gardens and a really unique feature called a water table. This large table is located outside and is under a beautiful wisteria which it trellised with an intricate wooden dome. One bright spot of light is left open at the top of the dome much like the Parthenon. The table is built up of stone and cement and it is essentially a large bathtub the height of a table. Chairs are placed around the table and the pool of water is used to float wooden bowls full of fruit and vegetables. When someone wants something a guest simply and delicately pushes the bowl across the watery divide.
This was the last day of my aimless wanderings around the north east. With only an hour to go I had a choice to sketch the Chateau or wander down into town to see a “Wood Festival”. Since I only had an hour I chose to sketch the Chateau. Later Terry informed me that I might have enjoyed sketching “The Chainsaw Chicks.” I was devastated, but I am still happy I took the time to document this bucolic setting.