Hope and Comfort

The sight of the Navy hospital ship Comfort's arrival in New York provided a real morale boost during a time when good news is hard to come by.

CNN Corona Coverage

I can take coronavirus news only in small doses, but CNN's coverage has been very informative, especially their Fact and Fears global town halls.

Their headline today is right to the point: "Coronavirus pandemic alters life as we know it."  Sadly, maybe it should say "life as we knew it."

Soap: The Ultimate Virus Annihilator

Watch this excellent video showing how vital soap is in destroying viruses. And it's cheap and easy, too!

This ought to be shown on TV every night to get the point across.

Lots 'o Links

Today I saw this wise message from Firefox: "The World Health Organization has a recommendation for mental health: only check the news once or twice a day."  Once is better.

And there's actually some good news about COVID-19, per the Harvard Health Blog.
 
Remember to visit Liz Sheld's Morning Greatness, Larwyn's Linx, Maggie's Farm, and Stephen Kruiser's Morning Briefing!

For lots of interesting items, you can''t go wrong with Mental Floss.

Stop Using The Word "Prank" To Excuse the Inexcusable!

Reading stories  like this infuriates me: A grocery store threw out $35,000 in food that a woman intentionally coughed on, sparking  coronavirus fears, police said.

$35,000 in food that could have gone to feed hungry Americans.

They should have named this creature and shown her picture.

While we're dealing with a catastrophic pandemic of unimaginable proportions, and while people are sick, dying, jobless, hungry and desperate, you have an increasing number of maniacs like this are desperate for attention and don't care about anyone but themselves.  Meanwhile, the rest of us are working exhaustingly hard every day, following the rules, and being responsible citizens while they are wreaking havoc and making everyone more fearful.

Domestic terrorists like her should be harshly prosecuted and made an example of -- right now.

War Effort

Here are two World War 2 posters that seem relevant today as we fight a new enemy. I'd love to see production of face masks and other medical equipment, as well as the medications we need, made right here at home. And if you can't use large shifts of people, how about using robotics on the production line?

Lots 'o Links: Regular Edition

I heard this on the classical station today" "Primavera" by  Ludovico Einaudi

Take a look at this week's news at Maggie's Farm, Larwyn's Linx, and  Stephen Kruiser's Morning Briefing.

Visit Argus Hamilton's latest column, which include such topical items as this one: "San Francisco's Board of Health decided to permit marijuana shops to remain open so locals can go to the grocery store for food, the liquor store for booze and the pot store for marijuana. Corona Virus just made spring break last all year. Why isn't Corona making this a beer commercial?"

Lots 'o Links: Coronavirus Deathwish Edition

Reckless and irresponsible Coronavirus deniers who don't care about anyone but themselves should be ostracized and shamed. 

Item: "A Kentucky man who tested positive for the new coronavirus is being guarded by a police officer after he refused to quarantine...  "It's a step I hoped I'd never have to take, but we can't allow one person who we know has the virus to refuse to protect their neighbors," Beshear said."

Item: "The young idiots on spring break who just want to get drunk and debauched are defying orders to social distance and stay inside to avoid the latest plague China has unleashed on the world. They don't care if they make this outbreak thousands of times worse, they worked hard in their college classes, where they learned about how to hate white people and stuff. Considering most of these buffoons are white, I'm starting to hate them too. Whoever raised these morons should go collect them and then put a padlock on their bedroom doors."

Item: "The college student who licked an airplane toilet seat for the 'coronavirus challenge' isn't sorry and says 'Darwinism is doing its job' by 'knocking' out boomers."

A "coronavirus challenge"? When people are dying?

NOW Can We Close Our Border With Mexico??

What are we waiting for? We're closing businesses and restricting social interaction to slow down the progress of COVID-19. So why are we still allowing thousands of people to stream into this country?

Corona Comments

The coronavirus COVID-19 is like a terrorist attack without the terrorists.

VOX has nine charts that explain the pandemic.

All doctors, nurses, members of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, pharmacists, scientists, our military, store managers, teachers, and the many others involved deserve our most heartfelt thanks when this siege finally comes to an end. They are the unsung heroes.

Lots 'o Links

There's a great deal of coronavirus and non-coronavirus reading to do at Liz Sheld's Morning Greatness; Larwyn's Linx; Maggie's Farm; and Stephen Kruiser's Morning Briefing.

At Harold Ticktin's Yiddish Vinkl, the definition of the word vikuekh is debate, as in "The Great Debate (Di Groyse Vikuekh), begun in 1946 at University of Chicago’s Hillel House as a gathering to argue the greatness of either the latke or hamantashchen, has now grown to include colleges, synagogues and Jewish centers nationwide. (bit.ly/2TdHh6R)".

(The Bruce Beattie cartoon above was seen at Maggie's Farm.)

The Politically Correct Virus

It's amazing to me that political correctness continues to rear its ugly head even in the middle of deadly life-altering events, such as the September 11 terrorist attacks and now the coronavirus pandemic

The Washington Post actually asked, "Is it racist to call coronavirus the 'Wuhan Virus'? GOP congressman’s self-quarantine tweet sparks a debate."

Racist? Give it a rest, you fools! This virus originated in Wuhan. Whose feelings are you afraid of hurting this time, those of the live animals in the Wuhan markets? Evidently it's better for everyone that you refer to it as the Trump Virus.

Don't Touch Your Face!

Keep washing your hands, and don't touch your face.  

Here's another guide to the coronavirus.

What's happening with the panic and the uncertainty of the coronavirus reminds me of the days after the September 11 attacks.  We were shocked and frightened by the enormity of what had happened,  which was  unprecedented in our lives.  The stock market fell, people were afraid to fly or travel, and we didn't know how we would get through the next days and weeks. And yet we did get through them, and we will get through this, too.

Dogs and Music

Just what I needed today, Something Wonderful from American Digest!

Another Great Jobs Report

From CNBC:"Job growth smashes expectations for February as unemployment falls back to 3.5%." . Some 273,000 jobs were created as opposed to the 175,000 expected.

Why would you ever want to trade this for Biden or Sanders?

Lots 'o Links

It's almost Friday, so end your week with all thew great writing at Liz Sheld's Morning Greatness;
Larwyn's Linx; Maggie's Farm; and Stephen Kruiser's Morning Briefing.

The subject of Harold Ticktin''s Yiddish Vinkl is the word shund, meaning trash or low culture: "The shund or shmate genre has been translated into English as ‘trash’ novels but is relatively comparable to pulp fiction." See more here.

I got a kick out of this story. At least someone is finding some humor in this crisis: "Amid coronavirus panic, Australian newspaper prints extra pages because of toilet paper shortage". Don't people ever have toilet paper, milk and bread in their house on days when it's not about to snow or there's a virus? The New York Post blames the hoarding on "fear of missing out." Can these people please grow up? If nothing else, at least those who are usually slobs will hopefully practice better hygiene from now on.

A Nostalgic & Touching 1957 Memento

Here's a lovely break from all the shouting and panic:

"The discovery of a red purse has offered a look into what everyday life was like for a teenager in 1950s Ohio. In 2019, a custodian at the North Canton Middle School was repairing lockers when he discovered a bag wedged behind a piece of detachable metal. Although dusty and dirty, the contents of the purse were well preserved. They belonged to Patti Rumfola who lost the purse in 1957 when she was a teenager attending what was then Hoover High School."

"'Patti’s five children were together for a family gathering in the fall where they opened the purse to have a glimpse into their mother’s life as a teenager at Hoover High School,' the North Canton Middle School wrote on Facebook. 'Each of her five children kept one of the wheat pennies as a token of remembrance of their mom.'"

(As seen today at My Modern Met via American Digest.)

Pandering to Ignorance

Hearing the coronavirus referred to as the "Trump Virus" made me ill.  Gail Collins wrote in the NY Times, "Let’s Call It Trumpvirus. If you’re feeling awful, you know who to blame."  Even if you hate the President, why would you say a thing like that in public, where ignorant people would believe it?

Funny, but I don't remember the swine flu ever being called the Obama Virus.