Tuesday, September 8, 2020

 

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, got up once during the night, again at 4:30, finally fell back asleep, waking/getting up at 7:15.

Last night I played 4 games on Chess.com winning all 4. I think I was losing the first game but my opponent must have lost his internet connection because he didn’t finish the game. I also had White in 3 of the 4 games.

I left the apt at 8am in jeans and a t-shirt because Accuweather said the high today would only be 73 degrees. I had just ordered breakfast at Habia Una Vez when Jose showed up. He ordered the same. After a quick breakfast we went up to the food court and got the chess set set up. (“set set” sounds kind of redundant.) We were well into the first game when a security guard informed us if we weren’t eating we had to wear our facemasks. I had black and I had no plan in the middle game and he trapped my knight and it was downhill for me after that. For lunch I had the chicken nuggets as usual from Frisby and Jose had a big burger from Presto. In the 2^nd game I had white and I managed to grab a pawn but still had to fight for the advantage. We went into the endgame pretty even except his knight had no place to move. He offered me a draw after the 37^th move but I declined and he ended up resigning 10 moves later. That felt encouraging because I don’t often play well in the endgame.

Jose left and I went down to Todo Fresa where I had a café con leche and got caught up on the news.

I picked up a few things at Exito and was back at the apt by 5pm.

 

Nine vaccine makers (AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Moderna, Pfizer, Novavax, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Merck) say they have signed a joint pledge to uphold "high ethical standards," suggesting they won't seek premature government approval for any Covid-19 vaccines they develop.

 

AstraZeneca PLC said Tuesday it paused clinical trials of an experimental Covid-19 vaccine after a participant in a U.K. study had an unexplained illness.

The company, which licensed the vaccine from developers at the University of Oxford, said the voluntary pause was a routine action that would allow an independent committee to review safety data.

The halt is a setback for the vaccine effort, which has long been touted as one of the world’s most advanced candidates. The shot had quickly progressed to late-stage studies in various countries, with AstraZeneca already signing contracts that could result in the delivery of initial doses this fall.

 

Hours before President Trump arrived in Winston-Salem, N.C., for a campaign rally on Tuesday, the county’s top Republican official issued a warning: The president better be wearing a mask.

“It’s been ordered by the governor,” David Plyler, a Trump supporter and GOP chair of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, told the Winston-Salem Journal. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in North Carolina, do as the governor says.”

But when the president emerged Tuesday evening to address a cheering group of supporters, his face was fully exposed, a likely violation of the state’s coronavirus rules.

The same was true of many of the supporters behind his podium, especially those high up in the stands and out of view. And in fact, the whole event appears to have defied restrictions from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who has limited outdoor mass gatherings at 50 people under the state’s current phase of reopening.

 

A 13-year-old boy with autism was shot several times by police officers who responded to his home in Salt Lake City after his mother called for help.

 

The US has 6,291,045 ð 6,316,331 ð 6,344,725 coronavirus cases with 188,700+ ð 189,000+ ð 189,500+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 666,521 ð 671,848 ð 679,513 cases with 21,817 deaths.  Medellin has 51,618 ð 52,026 ð 52,430 cases, an increase of 312 from September 7^th to 8^th. Envigado has a total of 2,774 cases, an increase of 25 from September 7^th to 8^th.

 

Joke of the day

What’s the difference between a dead dog in the middle of the road and a dead lawyer in the middle of the road? There are skid marks in front of the dead dog.