Saturday, October 10, 2020

Today is National Chess Day.

Last night I went to bed at 10:45pm, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

Last night I played 2 games on Chess.com, losing both. I had opportunities in both games for a win but missed them both. My rating is now down to 1490.

We hadn’t discussed it all week when I asked Teresa what time she wanted to go for dinner at Tony Roma’s in the Dann Carlton. She told me she didn’t want to have to go to the beauty shop and she didn’t like the food anyway. Instead she wants to have a nice lunch in Mayorca mall later.

I left the apt at 9am and took a bus to Poblado. I visited my favorite ATM hoping for a lot of 20s but not only didn’t I get them I didn’t even get 50s as the machine was working at all. I took a bus back to Envigado and got off at the Pasteur pharmacy. I bought some cream for Teresa for 90mil. I walked around to the other side of the block where I had a café con leche in Parva. There were a few other people there but I couldn’t say it was crowded. I returned to the apt at 11am.

Teresa informed me that Alex died of appendicitis.

Teresa and I left at noon for Mayorca mall. First we had lunch at J&C Delicias. She spent a few hours shopping, finally settling on a shirt (for me) and a blouse (for her) for 259,800 ($68) at ProChampions. Then she bought a purse for 174,900 ($45) at Mayorca Outlet. Of course everything she bought was on sale. We had coffee at a café for the last hour or so. Just before my cellphone battery died I received a text from Glenn that he adopted a dog today. He can’t leave it alone for a few days so he won’t be meeting James and I tomorrow for breakfast. Teresa and I were back at the apt by 6pm.

 

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Friday during a candidate forum that Black Americans are safe in the state as long as they're conservative.

 "If you're a young African American, an immigrant, you can go anywhere in this state. You just need to be conservative, not liberal," Graham said.

The Republican senator also said he believes in some elements of police reform such as mandating the use of body cameras and de-escalation trainings but sympathized with police officers.

 

On CNN Saturday, Republican strategist and frequent Trump defender Alice Stewart criticized the president for planning a rally from the White House balcony, despite his unclear COVID-19 test status.

“Dr. Fauci says that the last large gathering at the White House was a superspreader event, and that was just a couple hundred people max,” said anchor Victor Blackwell. “Why does it make sense to bring 2,000 people to the White House today?”

 

Obese Americans are more likely to become dangerously ill if they are infected with the new coronavirus. Now public health officials are warning that a much broader segment of the population also may be at risk: even moderately excess weight may increase the odds of severe disease.

The warning, reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, may have serious implications for Americans. While about 40 percent of U.S. adults are obese, another 32 percent are simply overweight, among the highest rates of obesity and overweight in the world.

By the new calculus, nearly three-quarters of Americans may be at increased risk of severe Covid-19 if infected with the coronavirus.

 

Europe’s second wave of coronavirus infections has struck well before flu season even started, with intensive care wards filling up again and bars shutting down. Making matters worse, authorities say, is a widespread case of “COVID-fatigue.”

Record high daily infections in several eastern European countries and sharp rebounds in the hard-hit west have made clear that Europe never really crushed the COVID-19 curve as hoped, after springtime lockdowns.

Spain this week declared a state of emergency for Madrid amid increasing tensions between local and national authorities over virus containment measures. Germany offered up soldiers to help with contact tracing in newly flaring hotspots. Italy mandated masks outdoors and warned that for the first time since the country became the European epicenter of the pandemic, the health system was facing “significant critical issues” as hospitals fill up.

The Czech Republic’s “Farewell Covid” party in June, when thousands of Prague residents dined outdoors at a 500-meter (yard) long table across the Charles Bridge to celebrate their victory over the virus, seems painfully naive now that the country has the highest per-capita infection rate on the continent, at 398 per 100,000 residents.

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,742 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, in the largest single-day increase since April 10, as most states across the Northeast are now dealing with their biggest sustained case spike since the spring—with no signs of slowing down.

 

Friday, in Sierra Club v. Trump, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that President Trump's effort to divert military construction funds is illegal. 

 

Politicians, public health officials, and commentators are lambasting the White House's failure to provide adequate contact tracing and guidance for thousands of people whose well-being was jeopardized last week after President Donald Trumptraveled to multiple events around the country, at least one of which he participated in even after knowing that he had been exposed to the coronavirus. 

 

TULSA, Oklahoma area pediatricians are warning parents to be vigilant after they say they are already treating children with the flu this year.

 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he was released from the hospital after being treated for the coronavirus.

 

Teresa informed me that Alex died of ischemia of the stomach.

 

The US has 7,623,808 ð 7,693,736 ð 7,746,441 coronavirus cases with 212,400+ ð 213,500+ ð 214,100+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 886,179 ð 894,300 ð 902,747 cases with 27,660 deaths.  Medellin has 71,902 ð 73,244 ð 74,922 cases, an increase of 1,672 from October 9^th to 10^th. Envigado has a total of 4,735 cases, an increase of 165 from October 9^th to 10^th. With the increase in infections I wouldn’t be surprised if the mayor of Medellin installed new limitations on movement.

 

Joke of the day

A teacher asks a student: "What kind of woman would you like to be with when you're all grown up?"

"A woman like the moon!" Answers the kid.

"That's beautiful," breathes the teacher, "what a choice! Is it because you'd like her to be beautiful and as radiant as the moon?"

"No, I'd like her to appear at night and disappear come morning!"