I believe it was Monday that America hit the 80,000 Covid death threshold. Today the American death toll has reached 88,000. And the Memorial Day long weekend arrives in a week. Here, in blue, are the states re-opening for the holiday weekend.
Well, at parks and bars and malls across the United States of America, they'll be "shedding" the virus like there's no tomorrow and for some, maybe a lot, their tomorrows will be numbered.
As Fintan O'Toole wrote in the Irish Times: “Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger. But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the US until now: pity.”
Were I religious, which I am not, I would say ;Let God have mercy on their souls!
ReplyDeleteAs I am not i do say.
Keep them out, keep them out.
Other than that F**k them they are well past their 'best by' date.
I will miss my annual crabbing trip to Oregon.
TB
Fintan also has a line in reviewing books for the New York Review of Books. The Irish Times puts his stuff behind a paywall.
ReplyDeleteYup. Trump basically said today America is going to open up and bugger the consequences. The whole beat your chest in patriotic fervour, you can be anyhing you want to be in America BS, I'm all right Jack bugger you, America is paradise on earth, we're the only free nation in the whole world self-hypnotized self-delusional population now faces a huge problem. Death. Well, they were warned by some voices.
Let's crowd fund and send J Todd Ring-a-Ding for a vacation to the US where he can field test his flu versus Covid-19 convictions this summer by writing moronic philosophical dissertations at an all-you-can eat buffet and beer garden rest-o-raunt.
BM
Pity for the children, those who didn't vote for the orange maggot and those who will get the virus because others didn't follow the game rules. the rest are getting what the wanted, freedom. now with that 'freedom" there is also a good chance they will also get death, but they also believed in that line about give me liberty or give me death. they're getting what they asked for. Just so long as they keep it in their own country, a lot of them are getting what they deserved. Lets remember the biggest poltical party in the u.s.a is those who do not vote.
ReplyDelete.. I'm a big fan of anecdotes ..
ReplyDeleteThey're not really 'news'.. and ideally are 'fact based'.. though we would not have legends if a little mood, flavour, spice was not considered permissable in 'the telling' .. Another aspect I always try to 'add' is that my tellings are those of a very lucky man.. who was a very lucky kid (punk)
Recently, early March.. a really good friend passed away.. lung cancer.. then shockingly, his eldest sister who cared for him passed away quite suddenly several weeks ago. But Mike had requested I pull together a magnificent slide show.. just for him and that it be made available for 'later'.. for friends and family. I gathered about 250 color photos - slides only (no prints or negatives) plus a portable light box & magnifying glass so he and his sisters and brother could choose their fave shots. Basically I put together slides of Mike & family, his close friends & associates over the years. I had to do this 'remotely'. I had a mysterious influenza bug.. a sort of extended 'walking pneumonia' that just would not quit completely. The Boss & my family were impervious.. but Mike had been hospitalized several times with pneumonia.. thus there was no way I could risk exposing him.. we were all dedicated to helping him.. not killing him. He fought on over this past year, the slide show was a huge hit & I had recovered 100 per.
Two months later, his sister had a fall at home while in isolation, and while at Mt Sinai got a staph infection and was gone n less than a week !
Mike and I had a clear understanding - rock solid.. As long as my on/off illness persisted there was not a chance I would drop by or visit. We would remain isolated from each other.. but we talked or texted, emailed daily.. plotting the slide show and related workflow for a CD, DVD.. and we pulled her off big time. Lotta fun, fab memories, the gang was wowed because they were all in the show too ! Its really just a fluke that I'm a guy with a camera attached to one arm.. but its also a fluke that I know far too much about hospitals, infection, transmission.
I think back now of how careful we were .. and for such important reasons.. and I wonder how careless others may be with this quite odd, unusual & dangerous coronavirus.. & the potential disastrous chains of transmission. I also think and wonder 'what are they not telling us ?' .. I recognize and respect that the Healthcare Community are extremely careful.. very protocol driven.. adamant about being 'real' and also not spreading panic. So when I say .. or see.. such careful respect from them re a new infection.. I really truly pay attention. The downside is avoidable.. just as it was with Mike.. and much as it would have been great to 'party' with a great friend.. it could not be. The 'boundaries' are critical - painful.. but they work..
BM, I share your views on J.T.R. He's an inveterate anti-vaxxer. He urges people to pay no heed to the medical profession but, instead, consult the web site of a fellow traveller for all their medical questions. That guy, in turn, dispenses no end of medical wisdom even though his medical background is limited to a BA in philosophy.
ReplyDeletee.a.f. Five crew from the USS Roosevelt who tested positive for Covid-19, underwent quarantine, tested negative, returned to duty, have tested positive again and been returned to quarantine. Their ship, meanwhile, remains docked at an isolation station in Guam. I expect most of the crew is locked down. The locals are already upset with the idea that the USN brought a plague ship to their island.
ReplyDeleteHospitals aren't perfect, Sal. They're not fun places and they're full of an entire cross-section of society who introduce some degree of their lifestyles that put everyone on edge.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't many experiences as pleasant as being discharged from hospital. Even if there's residual pain, getting home feels so, so comforting.
I'm sure you did an exceptional tribute to your friend. Family and close friends are very grateful when someone puts in the effort to do that. It helps them get through the difficult process.