Sunday, May 24, 2020

Self-isolation Day 68.


Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up 3 times during the night, finally waking at 5:30 and getting up at 6:15.

Basically I just vegged out all day.


I’m enjoying a new Netflix series The 100. I just finished season 1.

Teresa keeps beating me in parcheesi.


Teresa wanted a new pair of shoes to wear about the apt. Laura found a pair she could order online in Colombia. I texted her my debit card info, cedula number, and address and she tried to order them. I received an email from my bank that I’m to contact their fraud dept. I did and explained how today’s purchase was a special case. She allowed it but it had already been cancelled on the CO side. Laura tried again but it still didn’t work. I didn’t think it would be easy to order online with a foreign debit card.


The three days of no IVA tax are June 19, July 3 and 19. We had talked about getting a new refrigerator but Teresa decided against it. I told her that we could save 19% if we purchase one on one of those 3 days. She asked me what the saving would be on a 4,000,000 peso purchase and I said about 800,000 pesos. She considered we might buy it but suggested we keep it by the front door for the next 18 months until we move to a new apt. LOL.



Ann Coulter went on an early Sunday morning Twitter tear, calling President Donald Trump “the most disloyal actual retard that has ever set foot in the Oval Office.”

The far-right media pundit and former Trump defender was triggered by the president’s Friday tweet in which he called for Alabama voters to “not trust Jeff Sessions” and instead put their support behind Sessions’ Republican Senate seat challenger, football coach Tommy Tuberville.

“3 years ago, after Jeff Sessions recused himself, the Fraudulent Mueller Scam began. Alabama, do not trust Jeff Sessions. He let our Country down. That’s why I endorsed Coach Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville), the true supporter of our #MAGA agenda!,” Trump tweeted.

And that set off Coulter, who called Trump a “moron,” “retard” and “lout,” who was incapable of “pretending to be” a “decent, compassionate human being.”



Four months into one of the largest medical emergencies in United States history, President Donald Trump announced a goal named Operation Warp Speed to develop 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by January, enough to protect most Americans.

One of Donald Trump’s tweets from 2014 criticising his predecessor has come back to haunt him as the US president indulges in one of his favourite activities.

“President Obama has a major meeting on the N.Y.C. Ebola outbreak, with people flying in from all over the country, but decided to play golf! October 23, 2014.”

It’s been more than two months since President Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency, which led to most of America to shut down.

On Saturday, the president played golf for the first time since the declaration.

His return to the course was the latest sign that he wants the country back to pre-outbreak times, even as the US death toll from the virus nears 100,000, twice what he once predicted it would be.

Today's Sunday New York Times was praised as it had no image on the front page for the first time just a list of the names of COVID-19 fatalities. “U.S. deaths near 100,000, an incalculable loss,” the headline read above six columns of names. “They were not simply names on a list. They were us,” reads the subhead.



Minnesota health officials are reporting a record high for COVID-19 cases for the second straight day. Officials confirmed 847 new cases.



Two hair stylists at the same Great Clips Hair Salon in Springfield, Missouri have tested positive for COVID-19 exposing nearly 140 people.



The CDC says that 35% of all patients with the coronavirus show no symptoms. The CDC also estimated that 40% of all coronavirus transmissions—that is, the passing of the contagion from one person to another—happens from people who show no symptoms.



Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus task force response coordinator, reiterated the importance of wearing masks on Sunday while also suggesting that President Trump hasn't done so because he's able to socially distance in most situations.

She also said in an interview on FOX News Sunday that she’s “very concerned” about seeing people venturing out over the holiday weekend without maintaining social distancing.

More than 3,300 US stores are closing in 2020 as the retail apocalypse drags on.

Trump announced he's finished taking his regimen of hydroxychloroquine. (I think I read read somewhere that in his honor it was being renamed imbecillin.)



President Trump said in late March he didn’t think the economic devastation from stay-at-home orders was a good trade off for avoiding covid-19 deaths, tweeting, “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF.”


Economists at the University of Wyoming estimate the economic benefits from lives saved by efforts to “flatten the curve” outweigh the projected massive hit to the nation’s economy by a staggering $5.2 trillion. Another study by two University of Chicago economists estimated the savings from social distancing could be so huge, “it is difficult to think of any intervention with such large potential benefits to American citizens.”

And a Trump replay from February 19^th: “I think it’s going to work out fine. I think when we get into April, in the warmer weather, that has a very negative effect on that and that type of virus.”

The US has 1,582,042 ð 1,606,197 ð 1,640,913 coronavirus cases with 94,584 ð 95,883  ð 97,417 deaths.


Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of  18,330 ð 19,131 ð 21,175 cases with 727 deaths.  Medellin has 373 ð 385 ð 429 cases, an increase of 44 from May 22^nd to 23^rd. Looking at the 6-day averages provided by Medellin Guru, Colombia’s curve looks to be going up again. I think people in some areas of the country aren’t taking this virus seriously enough.



Joke of the day

Facebook post: Can’t wknds be longer?

Response: Yes, weekends.