🍀 Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Gnusies! 🍀
What a year this week has been so far, huh?
I cannot tell you a lie, I had a struggle to get this GNR up and rolling yesterday. There is so much horrendous news right now, it’s almost impossible to absorb. My state is shutting down bit by bit (thanks for your leadership, Gov. Pritzker) and people are outwardly calm but still clearing the grocery shelves of oddly specific items. I hear this from my daughter. I am self-isolating due to low white blood cell count (still recovering from cancer treatment) and tbh all I wanted to do yesterday was snuggle with the curlygirly. I was desultorily surfing the web when I came across this:
Well, shit. Molly is right and lying around in a funk is not helping anyone or anything! So, I decided to look around to see how people who are self-isolated can usefully spend the enforced downtime. And for those who are going to be working at regular jobs from home, or caring for children and/or elders, some of these suggestions might be helpful for whenever you are able to eke out some down time.
The number one thing to do is — if you can manage it at all — stay home as much as possible. If you are of working age, and can work from home, hooray! Do it! If you have a job that must be done at a work site, then practice physical distance with your co-workers, clients, etc. Wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your face and make it a point to go straight home after work. No restaurants, pubs or gyms, sorry. It stinks, but it’s important. I understand that walks in fresh air (while keeping physical distance from other people — so not walking on a crowded downtown street) such as a walk in a park or in a quiet neighborhood is OK and will definitely boost your spirits.
The curlygirl and I have taken a walk each day since I started curtailing my activities and I keep to the quieter streets, avoid the park and try to get a mile or two in. Normally we would walk closer to 4 miles per day and spend a half hour at the dog park having a brisk fetch session, but that is out for at least another couple of weeks. The dog park is small and often crowded. This will be super hard on my girl, as she has a stupendous prey drive which she needs to express through fetch. We are making it up by playing a little in the hallway outside my apartment.
Anyway, I am grateful because I have a place to live and I have water, food and entertainment, plus books. I know how lucky I am. And I am thankful that Democrats in congress are working hard to pass a bill to provide relief to millions of Americans who are going to be hit hard by this crisis.
Meanwhile, everyone is going to feel the weight of the anxiety and weariness of enduring such leaderless chaos. Our mental health is as important as our physical health, so I’m going to open with some expert advice on how to manage the situation and in particular if you have to self-isolate. Then, I found a bunch of good news about free and very cool things to do! After we sort all of that out, I’ve got other newsy good news for you, so grab a beverage and settle in. 😊
The best thing everyday Americans can do to fight coronavirus? #StayHome, save lives, 16 National Health Care Leaders, USA Today, March 15, 2020.
STAY AT HOME as much as possible. It may be in your community now or it may be soon. Until you hear otherwise from health care officials, even if you have no symptoms. That means avoiding play dates, sleepovers, bars, restaurants, parties or houses of worship. Avoid all crowds.’
What can you do instead?
You can still take walks outside, shop for essentials and enjoy your online community of friends.
Stay connected in other ways. Check in on your loved ones and friends frequently.
Keep informed about what is happening in your neighborhood.
Give to people in need in your community: supplies for food pantries, financial donations, personal hygiene items.
Buy online gift certificates to your favorite local stores and restaurants — and use them when this is over.
Be a neat freak. Keep everything as clean as possible.
Wash your hands. Early, often, thoroughly.
If you’re going to spread anything, spread help, compassion and humor.
Above all, do not panic. Remember: Like all outbreaks, this too will eventually end.
If you’ve been infected and recovered already, you are highly likely to be immune. If so, you can serve your community in public spaces where others can’t.
Maintaining Mental health
The coronavirus-required quarantines and social distancing aren't easy when you live alone, F. DIane Barth, NBC Opinion/Think, March 15, 2020.
In their book "Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives," scientists Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler share research about the power of social connections to affect how we feel, think and act. When we’re forced to be away from the important — albeit perhaps unrecognized — social interactions at work, it’s crucial to find other ways to fill the need for connection.
For example, though it's all but gone out of fashion, talking to other people, whether on the telephone or via video conferencing, can both fill in for normal social interactions and break the cycle of focusing on the bad news, while using the same technology that connects you to colleagues and work.
Further, you can use the need for social distancing as an opportunity to reach out to people you have wanted to get to know better, either socially and/or for business. Many people are going to be in the same boat as you, looking for positive ways to connect to people while limiting physical contact; you can look into newly virtual classes, online movie- or television-watching parties or, like the Italians, try to organize or participate in a "Sound Flashmob" of music lovers.
Similarly, research has shown that exercise is effective in lowering stress, in part because it both lowers stress hormones and raises the endorphins or “feel good” chemicals in your body. And, it has also long been a way of connecting. A client, for instance, told me that she was staying away from her yoga studio, but that she desperately missed the few minutes of social contact before and after class. She decided to solve the problem by doing online yoga with a buddy. “We’re at our own homes, but we open up the app and start the class at the same time; and then we talk for a few minutes when it’s over, just like we would do when we were at a class.”
Catch up on some glorious opera (did you see this, pr0gressivist?)
I adore these Met HD performances and have seen several in local theaters over the years. You don’t just see the opera (and like a movie with different camera angles and close ups, so you can really see everything) but also backstage as they get the sets ready and interviews with the performers and conductors and others, too! It’s really fun and interesting even if you’re not a big fan (yet! 😏). It sounds like they are going to show many (all ?) from the archive in a nightly series! See them here!
Last night’s performance was Carmen (I’ve included a sizzling clip below) and it will continue to be available until 3:30 ET today. I took my (then teenaged) boys to see this Carmen in HD in 2010 and believe it or not, I actually had a moment or two wondering if it was too steamy for their impressionable eyes! 😂 Tonight, the performance being streamed will be La Boheme, which is also outstanding.
Take a FREE Ivy League college course! Really!
This is so cool! And it’s not limited to just during the current crisis!
Here are 450 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free, Dhawal Shah, freecodecamp.org, January 2020.
These Ivy League schools are also highly selective and extremely hard to get into. But the good news is that all these universities now offer free online courses across multiple online course platforms.
So far, they’ve created over 500 courses, of which around 450 are still active. Class Central has made a collection of all these, which you can explore below. I’ve split these courses into the following categories:
- Computer Science
- Data Science
- Programming
- Humanities
- Business
- Art & Design
- Science
- Social Sciences
- Health & Medicine
- Engineering
- Mathematics
- Education & Teaching
- and Personal Development
🎶 Date Night Opera 🎶
Speaking of the Met HD shows. Check out this little number from their 2010 series. If you thought opera was maybe stuffy or — gasp! — unrelatable, this Carmen might make you think twice!
A Global Effort to Fight the Pandemic
There’s some good news about the effort to fight the new coronavirus:
🇺🇸 Seattle WA, USA 🇺🇸
US begins first human trial of coronavirus vaccine, Issam Ahmed, AFP via Yahoo News, March 16, 2020.
Washington (AFP) - The first human trial to evaluate a candidate vaccine against the new coronavirus has begun in Seattle, US health officials said Monday, raising hopes in the global fight against the disease.
But it may be another year to 18 months before it becomes available, once it has passed more trial phases to prove it works and is safe.
The vaccine is called mRNA-1273 and was developed by US National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and collaborators at biotechnology company Moderna, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"The open-label trial will enroll 45 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55 years over approximately 6 weeks," the NIH said. "The first participant received the investigational vaccine today."
🇮🇹 Italy 🇮🇹
In other very good news, the emergency is forcing people to think outside the box because as always necessity is the mother of invention. (I can’t help myself, sorry. It was a twofer!) In this case, shortages of valves for ventilators in Italy necessitated a search for new solutions — particularly as the manufacturer refused to produce more and threatened the hospital if they tried to get them elsewhere! — and resourceful people came up with one. Not only do they have a working valve ready to test, but they designed and produced it within 6 hours and at a fraction of the cost of the old ones! Check out this poorly-translated article:
Coronavirus, a valve for resuscitators is missing in Brescia: engineers and physicists print it in 3D in six hours, Andrea Sparachiari, Business Insider (Italy), March 14, 2020.
« He and his collaborators went to the hospital in Chiari yesterday morning (Friday, ed) and after asking the manufacturer for the 3D files to print them and having received a negative remarry - indeed they also received threats of complaint for patent infringement - the piece was measured, dimensioned, redesigned, then 3D printed with three techniques (FDM, SLS; SLA). At this moment the valve is in the testing phase. They are all very optimistic and hope to give good news within the day ... », Temporelli explains to Business Insider Italia.
From when Temporelli received the call from the reporter to when the piece was ready, just over six hours had passed . A science fiction thing in an Italy blocked by quarantine.
« Of course we are now in the testing phase », underlines Temporelli, « and surely it is an uncertified piece, but we had no alternative! The emergency was buffered thanks to technology and on Monday we will know if the new valve works perfectly ". The oreover, he adds, "the cost of the part is about 1 euro, compared to the original that costs $ 10,000, which is still not available ."
To make it even more extraordinary, the fact that if the new valve proves to be fully functional, given the impossibility of finding the spare part on the market, « we could spread the file in the network of labs around Italy and solve any problems similar that are imposing themselves in other hospitals », Temporelli says.
Another silver lining that may come out of this crisis is that there will be another opportunity to realign our priorities as a society, not only about providing health care for everyone as a basic human right, but also regarding allowing medical care and the manufacturing of medically necessary products to be treated like any other consumer product, ie. as a for profit “business”.
The underpinning argument of “free markets” presumes that there is freedom on both sides of the supply and demand equation: freedom of suppliers to set prices and/or limit supply to exert pressure to benefit themselves and freedom of consumers to take demand elsewhere (competition/”free” market) or simply withhold demand to exert pressure to benefit themselves. This is, of course, a flawed theory when it comes to several basic needs of humans, and medical care is one. People can’t withhold demand for medical care or shop around when they land in an ER with acute Covid-19. Health care is in no way a “free market” scenario and this pandemic will make that crystal clear to the conservative holdouts. Hopefully, this crisis will spark a wave of improvements across the board. I am hopeful.
💵 Economic Good News 💵
Believe it or not, there is some good news even in the midst of this economic shitshow. Utility companies around the country are not going to shut off utilities like electricity, gas and water for failure to pay during the ongoing crisis. Several credit cards, cell phone and internet providers are likewise offering customers some breaks:
Corporate America steps up to help with missed payments, late fees and disconnections, Leticia Miranda, NBC News, March 16, 2020.
More than 100 municipal water and utility companies across 34 states said they won't shut off water service for late payments in response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to data collected by Food & Water Action, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Utility companies from Duke Energy in North Carolina to regional utility companies in California have all suspended shut-offs for nonpayment as the virus continues to disrupt daily life. New York's Con Edison said it will forgo shut-offs "involving customers having payment difficulties" as the state faces "the enormous challenges presented by the coronavirus."
Locally, our natural gas provider, Nicor, is also stepping up:
Nicor Gas Provides Energy Assistance Resources, March 14, 2020:
In recognition that the evolving landscape surrounding the new coronavirus (COVID-19) may cause financial hardship for its customers impacted by employment changes or business slowdown, Nicor Gas voluntarily has suspended service disconnections for non-payment, effective immediately for both residential and commercial customers through May 1.
“As our communities face increasing challenges caused by the fallout of COVID-19, we know they will need our support,” said Melvin D. Williams, president of Nicor Gas. “We’re going to do our part by ensuring that every family and company in our community has the fuel they need to continue heating their homes, cooking their food, taking warm showers and running their businesses.”
Nicor Gas also wants to remind customers of energy assistance options available to support those impacted by the COVID-19 emergency.
And weirdly enough, there will be some new jobs to offset some of the lost ones:
Amazon to hire 100,000 people to handle coronavirus-induced online shopping, CBS News, March 16, 2020.
Amazon is looking to hire 100,000 people across the U.S. to keep up with a crush of online orders as the coronavirus spreads and keeps more people at home, shopping online.
The online retailer said it will also temporarily raise pay by $2 an hour through the end of April for hourly employees, who work at its warehouses, delivery centers and Whole Foods grocery stores. Hourly workers in the United Kingdom and other European countries will get a similar raise.
🌍 Other World News 🌎
Israel: Good-bye Bibi, hello Benny? As the Knesset considered three bills targeting Benjamin Netanyahu today, secret meetings between Likud and Blue and White resulted in Benny Gantz receiving official invitation to form the new Israeli government, not Bibi. This is bad news for Netanyahu and good news for those who want to see him prosecuted for his crimes and corruption. It’s not a done deal, as Gantz must still succeed in forming a government and of course there are other corrupt people in the government allied with Bibi, but the meetings Monday are a very hopeful sign!
Secret Likud, Blue and White meeting raises unity hopes, Gil Hoffman, Jerusalem Post, March 16, 2020.
Negotiations between Likud and Blue and White on a national-unity government began in earnest on Monday with a secret meeting that raised optimism an agreement between the two sides could be reached to end the political stalemate.
The meeting took place in the morning before Blue and White leader Benny Gantz officially received the mandate to form a government from President Reuven Rivlin at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. That the meeting was not publicized and there were no briefings afterward was seen as a sign of progress. ✄
In accepting the mandate, Gantz vowed that within a few days he would "do everything to form a patriotic national government that would be as broad as possible – in a matter of days, as few days as possible." He said the government would serve people who voted for Blue and White, people who voted for Likud and people who voted for every other party, both Right and Left."
Gantz promised to "protect the interests of the people of Judea and Samaria, along with the interests of Israel’s Arab citizens, of the people of Israel’s social and geographic periphery and the people of central Israel."
🎶 More Carmen? Yah, sure! 😉 🎶
I first heard this about 30 years ago and it still cracks me up! Enjoy!
👺 Narcissist’s Gonna Narc 👺
As the pressure increases, and his utter failure in every way becomes increasingly discussed in public, Dumpy the malignant narcissist is not going to react well. As I wrote last year, people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder do not care about any other people and as hard as it is for most people to believe, that includes his own relatives including his children. Jared Kushner’s appeal to Dumpy was simply that he saw him as a fellow con artist. However, as the re-election prospects dim, Dumpy will never accept responsibility for his own failures; he will seek scapegoats. First it was various administration sycophants and now it is Jared. Mark my words, he will throw even his own kids, including Ivanka, under the bus. Funny thing is, he might need to watch out, because a few of them (ahem JK and IT) seem to be as psychopathic as Dumpy, just without the pathetic narcissistic need for approval and adulation. In other words, one or two of them might throw him under the bus.
None of that is good, but there is good news in here if you think about it. Dumpy raging at Jared means that the inner circle is beginning to wobble. Most Narcissists have self-sabotaged well before they reach Dumpy’s age, but in certain circumstances (enormous privilege and unearned wealth to bail him out of his constant failures), they can avoid it for longer. Ultimately, though, a malignant narcissist destroys everyone around him because he not only does not care one iota for any other living being, but his disorder makes him incapable to resisting his various pathological behaviors, even if to do so would be to his benefit.
The wheels are coming off the trump train and that is good news:
Trump is livid at Jared Kushner over the ‘inept and flat-footed’ coronavirus response: report, Bob Brigham, Raw Story, March 16, 2020.
President Donald Trump has lost faith in his son-and-law and senior advisor, according to a bombshell new report by Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair.
“With the markets in free fall despite emergency action by the Fed over the weekend, Trump is waking up to the reality that’s been clear to everyone: Coronavirus poses a once-in-a-hundred-years threat to the country,” Vanity Fair reported. “As Trump processes the stakes facing the country—and his presidency—he’s also lashing out at advisers, whom he blames for the White House’s inept and flat-footed response. Sources say a principal target of his anger is Jared Kushner.”
I think I know why 45 Finally Woke up to the covid-19 reality
Yes, you know what’s coming. Naturally, he only changed his tune when the outbreak affected him personally:
Trump's Mar-a-Lago club closed for deep cleaning after coronavirus cases confirmed among visitors, Matthew Rozsa, Salon, March 16, 2020.
Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's Florida resort, closed for a deep cleaning Monday after multiple cases of coronavirus were confirmed among individuals who recently visited the Palm Beach club.
With the exception of its beach club, the entire "Winter White House" closed so the cleaning could be performed, according to CNN. The extreme measure was taken after a number of people who visited the president's club tested positive for COVID-19, including the press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's chargé d'affaires in Washington and one of the 900 people who attended a Trump Victory fundraiser brunch March 8. The president gave a speech and participated in a photo line with roughly 70 to 100 people during that event.
💚 Regular People Being Great 💚
Coronavirus: Kind Canadians start 'caremongering' trend, Tom Gerken, BBC, March 16, 2020.
Just a few days ago, the word "caremongering" did not exist. Yet just three days later what started as a way to help vulnerable people in Toronto has turned into a movement spreading fast across Canada.
More than 35 Facebook groups have been set up in 72 hours to serve communities in places including Ottawa, Halifax and Annapolis County in Nova Scotia, with more than 30,000 members between them. ✄
The first "caremongering" group was set up by Mita Hans with the help of Valentina Harper and others. Valentina explained the meaning behind the name.
"Scaremongering is a big problem," she tells the BBC. "We wanted to switch that around and get people to connect on a positive level, to connect with each other.
"It's spread the opposite of panic in people, brought out community and camaraderie, and allowed us to tackle the needs of those who are at-risk all the time - now more than ever." ✄
Paul Viennau, who joined the caremongering group in Halifax, said that the help he received through the trend felt "like a hug".
"There's a lot of negative things about social media," he tells the BBC. "It's a place that can make you feel isolated normally. This is an opportunity to people to reach out and help each other.
And I am so glad this went viral. This guy gets it — and we all need to remember who really keeps our communities running:
⚡️ Lightning Roundup ⚡️
|
⚡️ Yer weekly: Wonkette Recommendations For STAY THE F*CK AT HOME, Starting With STAY THE F*CK AT HOME! Evan Hurst, Wonkette, March 16, 2020.
⚡️ Mail-In ballots: Here’s how to guarantee coronavirus won’t disrupt our elections, Amy Klobachar and Ron Wyden, Washington Post Opinion, March 16, 2020.
⚡️ Reupping this from Goody’s Saturday GNR: The Trump Presidency Is Over, Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, March 13, 2020.
⚡️ Truly helpful tips here: 8 Tips To Make Working From Home, Work For You, Yuki Noguchi, NPR, March 15, 2020.
⚡️ Also helpful: The New Coronavirus Can Live On Surfaces For 2-3 Days — Here's How To Clean Them, Allison Aubrey, NPR, March 14, 2020.
⚡️ Useful, easy to understand explainer: Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to “flatten the curve”, Harry Stevens, Washington Post, March 14, 2020.
⚡️ Humans are resilient and fun! No-Touch Greetings Take Off: People Are Getting Creative About Saying 'Hi', Allison Aubrey, NPR, March 15, 2020.
⚡️H/T to jessiestaf; this is savage and true: We need to quarantine Donald Trump: He's confused, ignorant and afraid, Lucian K. Truscott lV, Salon, March 14, 2020.
⚡️ Sober but necessary look at how we got here: Panic, Pandemic, and the Body Politic, Laurie Penny, Wired Ideas, March 14, 2020.
🔗 Helpful Links 🔗
Here’s a bunch of links to help you stay involved at home:
Act Blue — fundraising for Democratic candidates in one easy site.
Vote Forward — currently organizing an effort to encourage voter registration, including providing addressees with voter registration forms! This is one of several “do it at home” projects through which many of us can really make a difference. Voter to voter initiatives have a track record of increasing voter turnout. The Vote Forward letter system is ideal for those who want to contribute but can’t write too much. The letter templates are provided and all you do is put in a line or two of your own and make sure the letters get to the voters on your list!
Postcards to Voters — Our own gnusie, Progressive Muse posts most days with information about PtV and updates on current campaigns and progress. This is the ideal “do it at home” contribution especially suited to those who enjoy getting a little creative and connecting with fellow voters around the country.
Fair Fight — Stacey Abrams’ initiative which has already made a difference in several elections! Find out how you can help out at this link.
Spread the Vote — wonderful organization which works hard to help eligible voters obtain valid ID so they can register and vote.
From Kat at Spread the Vote:
There are a few ways you can help from home (please stay home!!!!!):
- Buy an item or two from our AMAZON WISH LIST. These items are going to our partners on the ground (shelters, food banks, etc.) who are still serving our clients and communities.
- Donate to Spread The Vote so that we can keep working today and, most importantly, have the funds we need to hit the ground running when this crisis is over.
- If you live in one of our 12 states, sign up to volunteer! We’ll be hosting regular training sessions and we’re moving up our bi-annual Volunteer Virtual Summit so that everyone is ready to go on day one.
- If you don’t live in one of our states, follow us at @spreadthevoteus on all of the social media channels and help spread the word about how this pandemic is affecting the most vulnerable people in the country.
I can’t thank you enough for always standing by us and I really really beg you to please stay home, #flattenthecurve, and watch as much Netflix as humanly possible. We will get through this together.
You can still help save the world in self-isolation!
And finally, for one-stop all-purpose voter information:
Everything you need to know to vote — This site covers everything any eligible voter needs to know, from how to register, how to check that you are still registered, how to obtain an absentee ballot and what to do if your right to vote is challenged or you are stopped from voting.
🎶 That’s Why They Called Him the King of the High C’s 🎶
I leave you with this exuberant and joyous performance by Luciano Pavarotti singing Ah! Mes Amis (from La Fille du Régiment, G. Donizetti):
🍀 Happy Tuesday and Happy St. Patrick’s Day, mes amis! 🍀