JUST CALL IT THE “CUOMOVIRUS:” Travel From New York City Seeded Wave of U.S. Outbreaks: The coronavirus outbreak in New York City became the primary source of infections around the United States, researchers have found. “We now have enough data to feel pretty confident that New York was the primary gateway for the rest of the country.”
Archive for 2020
May 16, 2020
FASTER, PLEASE: After Devastating Economic Contraction, Glimmers of Growth Emerge: Daily and weekly data suggest a recovery might be brewing, though its strength is unclear. “For example, map requests on Apple Inc. devices fell 50% throughout the country between mid-January and the week ended April 9, but they have steadily climbed since then and are now down just 20%. While driving doesn’t necessarily equate to spending, retail visits show the same trend, according to Unacast, a mobility-data analytics company: off more than 50% in mid-April from a year earlier, but down just 32% this past week. Real-estate brokerage Redfin Corp. said home-buyer demand as measured by customers contacting affiliated agents, after plummeting by one-third, is now above prepandemic levels. Some companies also report a turning point. On May 7, Uber Technologies Inc. said rides had risen for three straight weeks, and were up more than 40% from the trough in large cities in Georgia and Texas, which are starting to reopen businesses shut down by the coronavirus pandemic. Fast-food chain Wendy’s Co. reported that same-store sales in the week ended May 3 were down just 2% from a year earlier. They were down 26% in the week ended April 5.”
I still think we can have a v-shaped recovery, so long as we don’t listen to Nancy Pelosi.
AT AMAZON, save in Camera and Photo.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: The Magnetic North Pole Is Rapidly Moving Because of Some Blobs.
Just the DEEP SEVENs up to something inscrutable.
SOME OF MY LIBERTARIAN FRIENDS ARE DISAPPOINTED, BUT I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF HIM AS A GRANDSTANDING LIGHTWEIGHT: Justin Amash Drops Out of Presidential Race. And while I had hopes for the Libertarian Party back in the prior millennium, those hopes were quickly dashed.
GOOD: T cells found in COVID-19 patients ‘bode well’ for long-term immunity. “Immune warriors known as T cells help us fight some viruses, but their importance for battling SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been unclear. Now, two studies reveal infected people harbor T cells that target the virus—and may help them recover. Both studies also found some people never infected with SARS-CoV-2 have these cellular defenses, most likely because they were previously infected with other coronaviruses.”
ALARMIST HEADLINE: Texas Cases of Covid 19 Increasing By Thousands Since Reopening.
But several paragraphs down in the story we learn it’s because of more testing:
Gov. Greg Abbott’s communications director John Wittman told ABC News that the amount of testing has doubled since reopening, contributing to the rise in cases.
“Since [COVID-19 testing] started, we did 330,000 tests in March and April. Since May 1, we have done over 330,000 — so in 16 days we have doubled our testing from the previous entire two months,” Wittman said.
“The governor has been clear that as the state of Texas conducts more tests, we will see the raw number of cases rise,” Wittman said. “However, the [rolling seven-day] average positivity rate has steadily declined from our high April 13 [of a bit more than 13%] to around 5% today. Our hospitalizations remain steady, and Texas has one of the lowest death rates per capita in the nation.”
To ABC’s credit, the headline was changed to read “Texas COVID-19 cases rise, governor’s office says more testing being done.” But the original headline is preserved in the URL, and lets you know the narrative they wanted to push.
2019 IN THE MOVIES: Replicants that can pass for humans on the run in Los Angeles.
2020 in real life: Roaming ‘robodog’ politely tells Singapore park goers to keep apart.
The 21st century is not turning out as I had hoped, to coin an Instaphrase.
JEREMY CORBYN’S BROTHER AMONG ARRESTS AT ANTI-LOCKDOWN PROTESTS:
Piers Corbyn was taken away after showing up with a megaphone and proclaiming 5G and the coronavirus pandemic were linked, calling it a “pack of lies to brainwash you and keep you in order”.
He also said “vaccination is not necessary” and that “5G towers will be installed everywhere”, adding: “5G enhances anyone who’s got illness from Covid, so they work together.”
“Piers Richard Corbyn (born 10 March 1947) is an English astrophysicist and weather forecaster who owns forecasting website WeatherAction,” Wikipedia notes.
In other news from Old Blighty, “Wanted for alleged sexual assault: Derbyshire police seek man who kissed women on the cheek for helping him move his stuck lorry.”
Oh to be in England, during the springtime pandemic.
AT AMAZON, Stetson Retro Panama Hat – Natural – L.
OUCH. AND THIS IS FROM PROPUBLICA, NOT SOMEBODY ON THE RIGHT: Two Coasts. One Virus. How New York Suffered Nearly 10 Times the Number of Deaths as California. “California’s governor and San Francisco’s mayor worked together to act early in confronting the COVID threat. For Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, it was a different story, and 27,000 New Yorkers have died so far.”
BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: Rep. Justin Amash says he won’t run for president.
A GREAT HOME-DEFENSE WEAPON, IF YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT TERMINATOR ROBOTS: First Look: Remington R2Mi Bolt-Action Rifle. And the way 2020 is going, those should be here by November.
RIP, LT. HOOKSTRATTEN: Fred Willard Dead: Fernwood 2 Night, Everybody Loves Raymond, Waiting for Huffman Actor Was 86.
WELL, I KNOW WHAT COLOR MY NEXT CAR WILL BE PAINTED IN: 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda Paint Sample Sheet Comes to Wild, Crazy Life.
MAYO CLINIC EXPECTS TO LOSE $900 MILLION IN REVENUE THIS YEAR: “With the novel coronavirus placing a hold on elective procedures and procedures deemed “nonessential”, the nation’s leading care clinic says they’re bleeding millions of dollars.”
THE EXPENSE ISN’T COMICAL: How NASA’s Comically Big Moon Rocket Is Coming Along.
Via Bob Zubrin:
Comparison of SSME [Space Shuttle Main Engine] and [SLS’s] RS-25:
SSME
Thrust: 512,000 lbf
Isp: 453 s
Reusable? Yes
Maker: Rocketdyne
Cost: $50 million
RS-25
Thrust: 512,000 lbf
Isp: 453 s
Reusable? No
Maker: Rocketdyne
Cost: $146 million
LEARN TO CODE: Coding that led to UK lockdown was ‘totally unreliable’ and a ‘buggy mess’, say experts.
The Covid-19 modelling that sent Britain into lockdown, shutting the economy and leaving millions unemployed, has been slammed by a series of experts.
Professor Neil Ferguson’s computer coding was derided as “totally unreliable” by leading figures, who warned it was “something you wouldn’t stake your life on”.
The model, credited with forcing the Government to make a U-turn and introduce a nationwide lockdown, is a “buggy mess that looks more like a bowl of angel hair pasta than a finely tuned piece of programming”, says David Richards, co-founder of British data technology company WANdisco.
“In our commercial reality, we would fire anyone for developing code like this and any business that relied on it to produce software for sale would likely go bust.”
Earlier: What Neil Ferguson’s Booty Call Tells Us About Modern Politics.
CAN I GET A HAIRCUT? “It is a small point, but every time you see a well-coiffed journalist or politician on television, you should ask: why is it that he can get a haircut, and I can’t? Nothing exposes the class divide like an ‘emergency.’”
I got my hair cut on Thursday at the Boardroom in Fort Worth. The stylists wear masks and gloves; masks are optional for customers, but the receptionist takes the temperature of each customer as he walks in with an electronic forehead thermometer, and then instructs him to wash his hands in the lobby restroom. The leather sofa in the lobby has a “Social Distancing: Please Do Not Sit Here” sign on the middle section. (I’m paraphrasing the text from memory.) One of the two leather wingback chairs on the opposite side of the lobby has the same message. Every other barber chair had the same sign as well. Driving through the streets of Fort Worth, I would say about forty percent of the people out and about were wearing masks.
UNDER PANDEMIC PRESSURE, Branson to sell Virgin Galactic shares. “Branson plans to sell up to 25 million shares, accounting for about 22 percent of his overall stake in the company. That sale would generate $485 million at the price of $19.40 per share at the close of trading May 11. Many of Branson’s businesses are being hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, which increases the need for Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit to begin commercial spaceflights soon.”