Saturday - May 23, 2020
Ingenious But Morbid
Worried his country’s health system might at some point be over-taxed, Rodolfo Gomez, whose company ABC Displays usually produces marketing material, designed the cardboard bed-coffins.
“We saw what was happening in Ecuador, that people were taking dead family members out onto the streets...what’s happening also is that funeral services are collapsing with the pandemic,” said Gomez, 44. “So we started to develop a bed that could be converted into a coffin.”
The beds have metal railings, wheels with brakes and can be inclined up and down. They can support up to 150 kg. (330 lbs.). He said the biodegradable bed-coffins cost between $92 and $132.
Gomez hopes their low cost will mean local and provincial governments can outfit rural or under-funded hospitals cheaply. Converting them to coffins if a patient dies will also reduce possible contamination, he said.
Company manager Rodolfo Gómez said he was inspired to find a way to help after watching events unfold recently in nearby Ecuador.
Families in the coastal city of Guayaquil waited with dead loved ones in their homes for days last month as COVID-19 cases surged. Many could not find or were unable to afford a wood coffin, using donated cardboard ones instead.
“Poor families don’t have a way of paying for a coffin,” Gómez said.
...
At least one doctor was skeptical of how sturdy a cardboard bed might be. He also warned that any corpses should first be placed in a sealed bag before being put in a cardboard coffin to avoid potentially spreading the disease.
The plastic bag might be Ok for a funeral viewing, but after that ... cardboard burns quite well. Cremation is probably the best solution here.
The metal handles are probably the most expensive part of this creation. They work as bed rails, and also as coffin handles. Taking a really harsh and low-cost view, they could probably be cleaned and reused on the next bed-box.
on 05/23/2020 at 08:56 AM
International • Medical • Neat Inventions • pandemic and epidemic diseases • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Gee thanks Gov
NJ Governor Murphy (commie) has graciously allowed the beaches to open and groups of up to 25 people to congregate outdoors. Wearing masks of course. No more than 10 indoors. With social distancing, naturally.
Just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. And it’s been raining since yesterday, and will rain until Sunday.
But thanks, Your Worship, for granting us this one small taste of freedom.
Good thing we’re Americans.
on 05/23/2020 at 08:23 AM
FREEDOM • Pandemic Pandemonium • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Friday - May 22, 2020
Another Fatal Underlying Cause
Is TDS The Newest, Worst Co-Morbidity Of All??
As America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic splits along partisan lines, a Reuters analysis may help explain why: Death rates in Democratic areas are triple those in Republican ones.
By Wednesday, U.S. counties that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election reported 39 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 residents, according to an analysis of demographic and public health data.
In counties that voted for Republican Donald Trump, 13 of every 100,000 people had died from the virus.
The uneven impact reflects the disproportionate toll the infectious disease has taken in densely packed Democratic-voting cities like New York. Rural areas and far-flung suburbs that typically back Republicans have not seen as direct an impact.
The pattern holds beyond New York, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. Democratic counties in 36 of the 50 U.S. states collectively reported higher death rates than Republican counties.
In Maryland, where the disease has killed more than 2,000 people, the death rate in the Democratic suburbs of Washington is four times higher than in the conservative counties in the Appalachian panhandle.
In Kansas, which has reported 152 fatalities, the death rate is seven times higher in the two counties that backed Clinton than in the rest of the state.
As is almost always the case with statistics when the sample numbers are very small, Republican leaning counties with very below average numbers have sometimes had more cases than similar Democrat leaning areas. The outbreaks at the meatpacking plants skew the data, although large numbers of those sick workers are recent immigrants [ and illegals ] who may not be political. Also, the high number of infected people at LTC centers skew things the other way, towards worser Democrat numbers, perhaps simply because coastal blue states have larger populations than central red states, and thus have far more LTCs and people in them. Notwithstanding those two factors, the correlation seems to hold.
TDS is a co-morbidity. Perhaps it should be tabulated in the Intellectual Disability category.
Relative to the pandemic it was pre-existing, there’s no treatment or cure, and the infection easily and instantly mutates from one GOP president to the next. Reagan-a-phobia quickly became Daddy Bush hatred, then emerged even stronger as BDS when his son “ChimpyMcBusHitlerHalliburton” was around, which came around again (the dreaded “fourth wave” !!) as TDS.
on 05/22/2020 at 12:51 PM
pandemic and epidemic diseases • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Peiper, his wife, and Alderly
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
JRR Tolkien
Vilmar was kind enough to use some of his photographic skills to make good copies of the few pictures I got from their executor some time ago when he settled their estate. They’re gone a long time now, and probably so is the charming but decrepit little English bungalow they lived in on the outskirts of Winchester, out in the quiet farm lands. I always teased him that he was a hobbit living in the Shire, on a cowpath at the edge of the barrow downs. The house had no number, merely a name. Alderly. Their ancient [bronze age] gnarled and pollarded tree lined driveway-width street has been “discovered” and many of the old homes have been bought up and torn down to make way for modern McMansions. And so the past passes.
They never had chidren.
Peiper was my co-blogger here for years. We exchanged letters, emails, books, presents. We were both fascinated by tales of the old pirate days, and our friendship grew from there. We both loved to read, and the esoteric bits of history. I kept her well supplied with fancy chocolates and holiday goodies after he passed away, along with cards and letters on a regular basis.
I’m not sure of when this picture was from, one of their anniversaries I think, but it shows them both in good health and spirits. And that’s how I shall remember them. Peiper, JayD, Jay. His real name was Joel Diamond, and he and his wife Jennifer died a few years ago.
They were my best friends that I never met, and I only talked to her a few times. I don’t think I ever even talked to Jay, although I kept the phone message he left on our machine after hurricaine Sandy for many years. Digital brothers. She was the most charming woman I’ve ever spoken to. Ten minutes on the phone and it felt like we’d known each other our whole lives. I miss them both.
Click on the image of them for a larger version if you’d like.
UPDATE: Wardmama found a couple old emails they’d shared, and one had a picture of Peiper and “his” gold record. He was a country music DJ in Nashville for a good number of years.
It was the late Royce Kendall on the right, who made sure I was given a gold album (the record co. gave me a plaque for the single). It would never have occurred to me to think I had one coming, altho in all truth I was the one to get the ball rolling and was the first DJ to pull that song off the LP and play it as a single. Year is 76. Gosh.
Sure wish I could have my hair back if nothin’ else.
Peiper’s memory might be off a little bit. Looking into the discography of The Kendalls, a father and daughter singing duo, their big hit, was Heaven’s Just a Sin Away, gold record, Grammy winner, #1 on Billboard country tunes ... which came out in 1977.
on 05/22/2020 at 08:27 AM
Blog Stuff • Daily Life • Passing on, Death and Disaster • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
A Month Late And A Trillion Short
President Trump Orders US Flags To Half Mast For 3 Days For COVID Deaths
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he would order flags to fly at half-staff to memorialize Americans lost to the coronavirus.
“I will be lowering the flags on all Federal Buildings and National Monuments to half-staff over the next three days in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
The president announced his decision after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asked Trump to mark the day when America reached the milestone of 100,000 deaths from the virus.
Pelosi and Schumer wrote in a letter to President Trump:
We will always carry their memory in our hearts. As we pay our respects to them, sadly, our country mourns the deaths of nearly 100,000 Americans from COVID-19. Our hearts are broken over this great loss and our prayers are with their families.
Currently the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States stands at 94,591 according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University.
The president said that the flags would fly at half-staff on Memorial Day to honor Americans who died serving in the U.S. military.
“On Monday, the flags will be at half-staff in honor of the men and women in our Military who have made the Ultimate Sacrifice for our Nation,” he wrote.
On the one hand, this is a fine, temporary gesture, coming just before Memorial Day when all the flags would be dipped in remembrance anyway.
On the other hand, while it may appear that he is making a bi-partisan gesture, he is being manipulated by Pelosi and Schumer, essentially admitting defeat. That’s not what he’s doing, but that’s how the MSM and millions of people will see it.
On the third hand, this is all “a day late and a dollar short” to me, as all the states around me have been flying the flag low for so long now. For a day or two, it’s a fine thing. For more than a month, it’s defeatism. yes, there has been the days set aside for police memorial, but most of this has been for coronavirus deaths. And that bugs me. All the other deaths from all the other illnesses, accidents, old age, etc, far outstrip the somewhat nebulous numbers of “covid caused, covid related, covid suspected” victims. It begins to feel like a con. Defeatism. Keep the sheep sad and they stay in line longer. And I’m getting damn sick and tired of that.
[ May 15 ] In Connecticut, state and U.S. flags are half staff indefinitely in recognition of all those whose lives were lost or affected by COVID-19.
...
Illinois has joined the states who are lowering their flags for the victims of COVID-19.
...
In Massachusetts, flags at soldiers’ home facilities and veteran cemeteries began flying half-staff on April 19 until a date to be determined in respect of veterans and Soldiers’ Home residents who died from COVID-19.
...
In Michigan, state and U.S. flags are flying half staff indefinitely, according to a proclamation that went into place on April 10.
...
In New Jersey, all state flags and U.S. flags are being flown at half-staff indefinitely in memory of the people who have lost their lives to the coronavirus outbreak. The proclamation was placed by Gov. Philip D. Murphy on April 3 and is still ongoing
...
In New York, all flags on state government buildings will fly at half-staff indefinitely while the state is “on pause” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on April 8.
...
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered that all commonwealth flags on commonwealth facilities, public buildings, and public grounds fly at half staff indefinitely in honor of the victims of the 2019 novel coronavirus. The proclamation was put into place on April 8.
A gesture overused loses meaning, impact, and importance. This extended “act of mourning” is no more than empty virtue signalling. This offends me, as a significant tradition is being besmirched. Watered down to nothing. And every one of the states doing it is run by Democrats.
on 05/22/2020 at 07:54 AM
CULTURE IN DECLINE • Daily Life • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Passing on, Death and Disaster • Pandemic Pandemonium • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Thursday - May 21, 2020
John Bull Late To The Party Again
A week or three ago, Boris Johnson, the PM over there, was at death’s door with the COVID. Then he got a visit from 2 Americans from NIH. A few days later he was just fine, and released from hospital. He has not been forthcoming about his treatment.
The BS-MSM has it’s soggy panties in a twist this week because President Trump has admitted that he is taking HCQ as a prophylactic against COVID-19. For his sake, I hope he’s been on it for quite a bit longer than he’s admitting to.
I came this close to just walking away from blogging forever over this treatment plan and the media’s INSANE reaction to it, for no other reason than that President Trump said in mid-March that he had hopes for it, that it could be a game changer, or maybe not. It was already known then to be effective, and the pharms were donating tens of millions of pills and announcing ramped up production nearly every day.
And then the bullshit started. First in the media, excoriating Trump and pusing the shortage panic button to ensure that a shortage occurred. Then with Democrat state governors, then with the faggots in the academic and medical communities pushing foolish studies knowing full well that they would fail or have limited success. HCQ + Zn + Z-pack, and now, + vitamin D. It has been long known to be an effective phropylactic and an effective early treatment. Which is why every damn “official” study forced it to be used on super sick patients already at death’s door in hospitals. Because OrangeManBad, so let’s let people die to “prove” it.
This was a deliberate act to allow Americans to die, purely for political purposes. The lockdown and destruction of the largest and fastest growing economy in human history is/was for the same reason: get Trump, destroy freedom, grab power, grind the world under their Socialist heels.
But now, finally, TWO FULL MONTHS later, after having banned “off label” use of HCQ, the smarmy bastiges in England are now willing to use their own health workers as guinea pigs to see if this regime does any good. Follow this story closely, because if they do not specifically mention the use of Zinc and/or vitamin D, then it is yet another “test” that is planned to fail from the beginning. Oh, and those other clinical trials we heard about back then? Most of them haven’t even started yet. Isn’t that special?
a few things you should read, if you haven’t already:
• https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/media-lied-people-died-italian-study-finds-incredible-prophylaxis-results-patients-hydroxychloroquine/
• this will boil your blood: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/05/11/distributed-denial-of-hcq-to-covid-19-victims/
• https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/03/17/an-effective-treatment-for-coronavirus-covid-19-has-been-found-in-a-common-anti-malarial-drug/ (please read the update at the bottom too, and don’t forget that in late February the UK banned the export of all forms of chloroquine. Shortly thereafter, they banned the use of it for their own people with COVID )
this is the really short version of almost all of the above. But the details are staggering, so find a few minutes to read through them. Even if you don’t care don’t care don’t care don’t care. Is it worth reading about how the Dems and the MSM want you dead?
Barr noted the media efforts to criticize hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by Trump during appearances with the coronavirus task force.
“[I]t’s very disappointing because I think the president went out at the beginning of this thing and really was statesmanlike, trying to bring people together, working with all the governors, keeping his patience as he got these snarky gotcha questions from the White House media pool,” Barr said. “And the stridency of the partisan attacks on him has gotten higher and higher, and it’s really disappointing to see. And the politicization of decisions like hydroxychloroquine has been amazing to me.”
Ah yes, the “news” story, in all it’s Socialist glory. Finally!!
The study, involving at least 20 NHS hospitals, aims to establish whether the cheap anti-malarial drug can fend off the virus.
Oxford Radcliffe Hospital and Royal Sussex County hospital, in Brighton, are among the first hospitals involved in the global study, which will involve 40,000 health professionals from around the world. Researchers hope to have results by the end of this year.
So far, most clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine have focused on its use in treating Covid-19 patients and shown mixed results.
But UK researchers said they hope that the drug may be more effective if it is used preemptively to reduce the chance of catching the virus.
I want to take the giant Monty Python foot, label it NO SHITE YOU ARSEFACE and drop it on their heads. Where the feek have you scunners been???
Here’s the version from Breitbart:
The announcement may give satisfaction to President Trump, who was slammed by left-liberal politicians and commentators when he revealed that he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a possible preventative.
The American leader told reporters on Monday that they would “be surprised at how many people are taking [hydroxychloroquine], especially the frontline workers, before you catch it,” before revealing that he is taking the drug himself.
Chuck Schumer, who leads the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, branded the President “reckless” and claimed that “All the experts say at best it doesn’t help” following the revelation.
“I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group,” added Nancy Pelosi, Schumer’s 80-year-old counterpart in the House of Representatives — before going on to suggest the President should be extra cautious because he is “morbidly obese”.
Still being used as a weapon, still fear mongering, and NOT ONE DAMN WORD in either news article about zinc, z-pack, or vitamin D. Conclusion: Either A) deliberate dog-shit inept lazy reporting AND/OR B) Another BS study designed to fail, or at least to minimize success.
Plaquenil on it’s own might be enough to keep you from getting the -19. After all, “where malaria is, COVID-19 isn’t”, with a nearly 100% correlation worldwide. But add the zinc, add the vitamin D, add some Z-pack ( and maybe some chicken soup, it couldn’t hurt! ) and you get well, as well, if you came a bit late to the prophylactic game. Just ask Dr. Zelenko. But hurry, because he’s leaving, tired of the same shit storm. Doesn’t matter that he’s cured well over 1000 patients.
Remember: 65,000 lupus and RA patients in Italy, all taking HCQ, during the height of their infection, when Death stalked the land: 20 of them got COVID. No deaths, no hospitalizations.
Note: Now that Trump has mentioned HCQ again, the “second wave” of attacks are upon us (no, not the media forecast corona comeback if any areas dared to open up and embrace freedom again) - the MSM is beating their drum again as loud as they can. Look around, and you’ll see a few news reports about a lupus patient or two who caught the disease. Proof that Trump is wrong!!! Proof that HCQ doesn’t work!!!! Yeah, well read the WattsUp articles first ... because this drug builds up to a stable level in their bodies that lasts a month or more, the vast majority of lupus and RA patients are notorious, historically for decades, notoriously poor at actually taking the pills every day, or even filling their prescriptions. Not that one of them will admit to being lax. Especially if they’re libs. I’m waiting for the fishtank cleaner story to come up again ... you do know that that psycho Dem woman is being investigated for murdering her husband, which is what I said from the get-go?
So I’ll try to spread the word one last time.
on 05/21/2020 at 10:28 PM
Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Pandemic Pandemonium • UK • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Hope Or Hype?
Two more positive news items today about the COVID. Rays of sunshine or blowing smoke? It’s hard to tell.
California biopharmaceutical company claims coronavirus antibody breakthrough
A California-based biopharmaceutical company claims to have discovered an antibody that could shield the human body from the coronavirus and flush it out of a person’s system within four days, Fox News has exclusively learned.
Later Friday, Sorrento Therapeutics will announce their discovery of the STI-1499 antibody, which the San Diego company said can provide “100% inhibition” of COVID-19, adding that a treatment could be available months before a vaccine hits the market.
“We want to emphasize there is a cure. There is a solution that works 100 percent,” Dr. Henry Ji, founder and CEO of Sorrento Therapeutics, told Fox News. “If we have the neutralizing antibody in your body, you don’t need the social distancing. You can open up a society without fear.”
...
Through their studies, Sorrento screened and tested billions of antibodies they have collected over the past decade. They say this made it possible to identify hundreds of potential antibody candidates that could successfully bind themselves to the spike proteins of the coronavirus. They found that a dozen of these antibodies demonstrated the ability to block the spike proteins from attaching itself to the human enzyme ACE2, which is the receptor a virus normally uses to enter human cells.Through further testing, the researchers at Sorrento found that there was one particular antibody that showed to be 100 percent effective in blocking COVID-19 from infecting health cells — STI-1499.
...
Dr. Ji pointed out that the antibody can be used as preventative therapy since there are no side effects, and that it can be more effective than any vaccine that may be developed.“This is the best solution,” he said. “The point of making a vaccine is to generalize a neutralizing antibody. So, if you already have one, you don’t need to the body to generate one from a vaccine. You’ve already provided it. You’re cutting out the middleman.”
...
“As soon as it is infused, that patient is now immune to the disease,” Dr. Brunswick said to Fox News. “For the length of time, the antibody is in that system. So, if we were approved [by the FDA] today, everyone who gets that antibody can go back to work and have no fear of catching COVID-19.”
US: $1.2 For 300 Million COVID vaccinations from UK. If it works.
U.S. commits $1.2 billion to possible British COVID vaccine
U.S. secures 300 million doses, almost a third, of potential AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccineThe United States will pump up to $1.2 billion into developing AstraZeneca’s potential COVID-19 vaccine and said on Thursday it would order 300 million doses, as the White House seeks solutions to the coronavirus pandemic.
The commitment provides for a possible U.S.-based clinical trial this summer involving 30,000 volunteers and adds fuel to the British drugmaker’s efforts to develop a vaccine for the disease, one of around 100 which are under way worldwide.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he hoped the first doses of the vaccine, which is being developed with the University of Oxford in England, would be available by October, with the full order delivered by early in 2021.
However, AstraZeneca stressed that the vaccine may not work and that it was still waiting for results from an early stage trial in southern England, before any moves towards late stage testing.
The vaccine, previously known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and now as AZD1222, was developed by the University of Oxford and licensed to British drugmaker AstraZeneca. Immunity to the new coronavirus is uncertain and so the use of vaccines unclear.
The U.S. deal allows a late-stage – Phase III – clinical trial of the vaccine with 30,000 people in the United States.
Should this thing work, AstraZeneca is gearing up to crank out a billion doses.
So, we’ve got the HCQ - Zinc - Zpack - Vitamin D treatment, the blood plasma treatment, at least one antibody fix that may be only a temporary cure, and at least one vaccine that’s effective enough so far to go to human trials. That sounds hopeful to me. At one of the vaccine links I found, there’s a British doc in a video saying that the vaccine is easy to make and inexpensive. Sounds better than the $1000/pill for Remdesivir approach that might not work either.
I wonder what happened to that bunch down in Australia that said they had an antibody cure at least 12 weeks ago? Or the one from that research place up in Norway or Sweden? The truth is, most of these approaches will fail. But the other truth is, putting the word out that you’ve come up with something can make the money come pouring in and the stock shoot right up.
on 05/21/2020 at 07:00 PM
pandemic and epidemic diseases • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
getting geared up for the new reality
The doc I clean for is opening his offices Tuesday, so I’ve to go down and give both of them another super cleaning. Hey, it’s money.
Going forward they have to have a sanitizing process in place, and my part of that will be for the floors. To which end we’ve decided on a steam cleaner moppy thing. A moderate amount of research shows that the MC1375 model from McCullogh ought to do the job for a moderate price. Commerical kit costs thousands; too much. This one holds more water than others which means it runs longer, has a longer cord, and an adjustable higher pressure and temperature capacity. It also cleans showers, tile grout, BBQ grills and engine blocks. Which is a bit more than my intended use, but if it’s going to live in my garage I might have to try it out at home. Maybe blast the concrete patio clean or some such.
I just hope that the state hasn’t gone further off the deep end of reality and is demanding that this be done daily. In which case I just got a full time job, and it’s going to cost him plenty. The whole thing is pretty close to rediculous IMO, but you do what has to be done.
I also hope that the carpet can be steamed without soaking the rugs. Do I need a wet/dry vacuum now too? Yes, it’s getting crazy.
on 05/21/2020 at 12:49 PM
pandemic and epidemic diseases • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Wednesday - May 20, 2020
snagged another cute video
Got this one from the comments over at Stoaty’s, via Ace.
This is what a Scottish sports commentator does on his day off. He’s got several of these vids.
too true
snagged from Pappy’s Rants blog
One thing I’ve learned following all this COVID stuff is that any data you see is likely at least a week old. I don’t need to mention the media’s agenda and bias we’re all up against. And the Left’s. It’s ubiquitous and monumental.
on 05/20/2020 at 07:59 AM
Media-Bias • Pandemic Pandemonium • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Tuesday - May 19, 2020
More COVID Stuff: Trying To Fix The Numbers
Drewlock Holmes, COVID detective
Another Update: I’m sure it’s merely anecdotal coincidental, but NJ is suddenly listing LTC cases for both residents and staff. OTOH, those 80 missing LTC cases are still missing at the county level. Guess they’re under long term investigation.
I’m sure you’ve seen endless posts and news articles about the oddness involved in counting the cases and the deaths for this virus. Is it political, is it due to panic, profit, general ineptness, or what? I don’t want to speak to that today, but I am trying to do something to get my local numbers squared away.
New Jersey has a very well done COVID dashboard that is updated daily. My county of Hunterdon also has one. The numbers and graphs shown on these directly influence the governor’s willingness to re-open the state, so the more accurate those numbers are the better decisions he can make ... and that’s all I’m going to say about that commie Trump hating Leftist as well.
New Jersey is an odd place in many ways, and the political lines drawn on the maps for our concept of self-rule reflect that. We have counties, cities, towns, townships, and boroughs. Layers of layers. It can be a bit confusing, especially when there are also unicorporated areas. Pittstown is one of those areas, not really in any of the 3 townships that border it. But the county and state governments have to list Pittstown’s COVID numbers somewhere, although it seems some of them may have been lost. Which is typical of Pittstown:
Generally listed as being in Franklin Township, Pittstown sits astride Pittstown Road, by the intersection with Bloomsbury Road. Both roads are the borders between the three township lines that meet there; Union, Alexandria, and Franklin Townships. On the other side of the road from the barn pictured above is the Pittstown Inn, a colonial era place now called The Grill At Pittstown. 2 1/2 miles north up Pittsown Road there is a Long Term Care center, with 80 active cases for their 120 residents, on the west side of Pittstown Road, north of Bloomsbury Road. That means it is in Union Township. New Jersey lists the COVID LTC cases there as being part of Franklin Township. Which is convenient with accepted practice for PittstownI suppose.
The problem is, these 80 cases are not reflected in the county daily numbers for Union, Alexandria, or Franklin Townships. It may look like they are refeclected in the 181 cases here in Union Township, but know that 161 of those are at the growth center for the developmentally challenged. It certainly doesn’t show up in the 10 cases listed for Alexandria Township, nor the 13 cases listed for Franklin Township. Where’d they go?
And as far as I can tell, the state gets their numbers from the counties, who collect it all either from the township governments or directly from the sources. So how can the county and state numbers not jibe? Shennanigans or mere oversight?
I can’t do much of anything about pushing for honest numbers at the national or state level, other than some fiery posts here on this blog. But I’ve written my county health executive about this twice now, politely pointing out the anamoly and asking specifically which township gets the Pittstown numbers, while mentioning that NJ may have the wrong township associated with this facility. And that’s about the most a citizen can do. Hold their toes to the fire by asking polite questions in a civil manner. So far they haven’t answered me, or changed any of the data. But I’m trying.
Update: You Catch More Flies With Honey ...
I heard back from the county; they’re working on it ... sure they are ...
Hi Drew,
Thank you for sending us your question.
We noticed this error too, and have been working to correct it with the New Jersey Department of Health. Please keep in mind that sometimes cases get added and removed here and there as we conduct case investigations so that can also contribute to number discrepancies.Kind regards,
Janis R. Clark RN BSN
Hunterdon County Health Department
Preparedness Division Supervisor
Public Health Nurse
~~~~
Ms Clark
Thanks for your response. With so many data sources to collate, I’m sure that one or two will slip through the cracks once in a while. And I know that Pittstown is generally considered to be in Franklin Township even though parts of it are actually in all three townships.
The LTC situation is upsetting for me, even though I know noone in any of these places. I have no idea what can be done to help there short of absolute quarantine, and that would only help the rest of us. While the residents aren’t out in public, the staff is, and the infection rate at these centers is so severe I fear that it would be all too easy for them to become super spreaders. But forcing them to stay on site is akin to house arrest, approaching martial law. I can see “the needs of the many” but I also feel that we’ve lost far too many freedoms already because of this pandemic. Good luck with finding the right balance point in a solution.
I also realize that just suddenly tacking on an additional 80 cases to some township without explaination could scare the daylights out of people. This is why I feel that the daily numbers document from the county might be better if it had additional columns for LTC and Recovered, with a short sentance at the top that these are cumulative numbers, and perhaps a caveat about investigations and adjustments. OTOH, I may be the rare person who actually reads and studies that paper and then cross-references it against the state’s daily publications. Most of the people I’ve talked to are nearly oblivious to this whole situation, even though they’re severely impacted by it every day.
Drew
I think this is a much better approach than those nasty rabid comments so many people leave on the news sites and blog posts. She did respond to that last response of mine, but it was mostly pablum. “we’re isolating patients in wings, and not letting them comingle and they must wear masks and eat alone” kind of thing. Wonderful, because old granny in the home wants nothing more than to be isolated and alone AND sick 24-7.
I think we need to seriously re-think the entire nursing home thing all across the country. This is a horrible fiasco. Nearly half the COVID deaths in New Jersey are happening in LTC, along with 1/5 of the cases. From a miniscule slice of the population.
[ Pittstown is yet another place named in honor of Willaim Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. So is Chatham NJ, Pittsburgh PA, and any number of other places. He was a member of Parliament in the mid 1700’s who was very popular with the American colonists. He firmly believed in liberty, equality, self rule, fair tazes, representation, etc, and did everything he could to defuse the political situations that lead to the revolution. He was cherised over here, but not so popular over there. Until he was dead. He’s buried in Westminster Abbey. His son William followed his legacy and became one of the greatest Prime Ministers in British history. ]
on 05/19/2020 at 12:55 PM
pandemic and epidemic diseases • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Just loafing around again
I made another loaf of that bread I posted about the other day. I should have started it early in the morning, as sourdough takes a good long time to rise. Instead, I mixed it up in the middle of the afternoon, didn’t put it in the dough warmer, and by bedtime it was still just sitting there. So it went into the fridge overnight, and then I put it back out on the counter at 6am when I got up to feed the cats. Back to bed, slept to 10, sweet. Put the dough in a banneton and into the warmer for a bit. Got the oven and the Dutch oven heating, and by 11:30 the dough went in. It looked a little flat, so I jacked the heat up to 515 for the first 8 minutes to get the most oven spring I could. After that I put the heat back to the regular 500 for another 12, and then took it down to 450 when the lid came off and the cold iron griddle went in under the Dutch oven. That keeps the bottom of the loaf from scorching, in theory.
I should have pulled the bread out after 10-12 minutes at 450, as the first phase baking at 515 accelerated things. And the dough was a bit mature - over proofed - which may bake faster too.
Whatever. It came out a little dark, just slightly scorched around the gringes. It didn’t oven spring as much as I’d hoped, and the slashes didnt’ open much either; another two signs of over done dough. But the crumb was very nice; that’s the air bubbles inside.
And yet the bread tastes great. It’s a good recipe. Sourdough does allow you quite a bit of rising time flexibility. The previous loaf went in the oven less than 7 hours after it was mixed. This one went in 20 hours after. Probably 12 hours is the better limit, even with a partial retarded rise.
No pictures this time ... not that I’m embarassed by it, but it’s just another loaf of bread.
Bread is always a balancing act. Young dough will have a more pronounced yeasty taste, mature dough will have a stronger sourdough taste. Adjust the rise times to give you what you want, and don’t go too hot with the first part of the bake. 500 is more than hot enough; 475 or even 450 all the way through works just fine.
Monday - May 18, 2020
still here, still at sea metaphorically
Funny thing ... when she was working every day, I always found time to surf the net, follow the news, react to things and then blog about it.
Now that we’ve been shut in here for - is it 70 days at this point for the two of us? We did volutarily isolate for a week even before March 13 - somehow I’m not finding any time to be glued in front of the PC. Especially now that I actually have a functional PC again.
It’s not that I don’t feel the urge, it’s just that other things seem to fill every minute of my days, even though those things are often of little consequence. Maybe I’m not so alone anymore.
Her office is slowly re-opening, seeing a few patients and turning themselves inside out to create a germ-free minimal exposure environment. She’s getting about 8 hours a week. It’s going to be a very slow restart.
On the other hand, we’ve made a whole range of plans for fixing this place up, from the least to the most. Now all we have to do is choose one, and then wait until the builders are available to do the work. Which isn’t yet.
And we’ve also watched tons of television, more in the past 2+ months than I’ve watched in a year. We binged all of Manifest, then Penny Dreadful, then True Blood, and now we’re halfway through the 4th season of Outlander. She’s a better binger than I am, able to park a couple cats on her lap and zone into 10-12 hours of it per day. I top out after about 4.
So that’s my situation right now. I’ll try to get back in the swing.
Stay healthy.
Thursday - May 14, 2020
Cop Union Bullshit
Broward County Cop Unions Force Rehire of Parkland Cowards, With Full Back Pay
Fuck that!
Broward Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brian Miller was fired after hiding behind his car during the February 14, 2018, Parkland school shooting, but has now been rehired following union action on his behalf.
The Miami Herald reports that Miller “was one of the four deputies who were terminated because of a ‘neglect of duty’ in the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland shooting.” The other three terminated deputies were Edward Eason, Joshua Stambaugh, and Scot Peterson.
On June 4, 2019, Breitbart News reported that Scot Peterson not only lost his job but was actually “arrested for inaction” during the Parkland attack.
Peterson’s inaction centered on him standing outside the building in which the Parkland attack was occurring, instead of going inside to confront the shooter.
Miller, on the other hand, “lost his job after it was found he hid behind his car as the first shots rang out,” according to the Herald. But he challenged his termination “with union backing” and secured an “arbitration ruling” that says, “BSO violated [his] constitutional due process rights and improperly terminated him.”
Miller is being rehired and will receive back pay.
Not one goddam union for any government employee of any kind anywhere ever. They are anathema.
I hear they’re repainting all the Broward County cruisers. Now it says “To Serve And Protect ... Ourselves” on the doors.
How. Dare. They.
still not dead yet
I thought this was pretty good.
Other than that, I’m not getting much bloggy done lately. I can’t say if I’m burned out again, or if I’m sick and utterly lacking in energy, or if I’m just sick of the crap that passes for news. Politics is BS, covid is BS, there’s no sports, and Hollywood sucks hole. So what’s left, other than bread and turtle racing?
Nobody wants to hear about stupid COVID, that’s clear. I’ve tracked it locally every day I’ve had a functional computer, and at this point I’m even writing emails to my county health office. As far as I can tell (https://www.state.nj.us/health/healthfacilities/documents/LTC_Facilities_Outbreaks_List.pdf vs https://co.hunterdon.nj.us/Coronavirus/casecountbymunicipality.pdf) EVERY SINGLE CASE OF THE VIRUS IN MY TOWNSHIP IS AT THE COUNTY DEVELOPMENT CENTER around the corner. It’s where they house the mentally deficient. They do not go off the property, ever. 159 cases, 600 residents. A 25% infection rate, but nearly no deaths so far. My county reports 152 cases in our township, albeit that data is a day old. So AFAIK, there is not a single case of the shit out in public. And yet several businesses are closed, and no one can sit down at one of dozen restaurants. And all we get from our progressive governor is hemming an hawing, and a set of impossible re-opening conditions that can’t be met unless he can squeeze a few more billion out of Trump.
Oh, and the latest doc from Massachussetts is pretty illuminating too. I’m sure you’re all experts at reading between the lines with these kinds of reports by now.
I’m feeling very rebellious.
Oh joy, the tests are crap. Of course!!
And now we’ve got bunny virus? [ no, readers of Watership Down, this is not the White Blindness, myxomatosis. Is it from China too? Nobody knows yet. But it’s in California and the West Coast.
Tuesday - May 12, 2020
One of the best recipes so far
Yup, I made another loaf. After leaving the starter in the fridge for at least 3 weeks, I had to revitalize it a bit; it was pretty sharp. Two feeds of whole wheat in one day, another feed of AP the next day, and it was sweet and strong again. The starter was probably a bit wet, call it 120% hydration ... which means this is another No Knead dough, somewhere around 81% hydration overall. Doesn’t matter, I knead it in the mixer, half and hour in, an hour in, and when the dough has doubled. And then again, gently, with a bit of countertop flour - a good handful - before it goes into the banneton for about an hour. This brings the total hydration down to around 77%, which is plenty, and guarantees huge overn spring. After 4 hours rising at room temperature, I got impatient and put it in an 83° warmer for a couple hours. Once the dough was in the banneton I jacked the temp up to 87° for an hour, then let it come down to room temp while the oven and Dutch oven got hot.
I used a part = 40 grams, so my dough came out to exactly 700gm, which baked up to 612gm. That’s a nice size. a 22oz loaf.
1 part rye (40gm)
1 part whole wheat (40gm)
3 parts all purpose (120gm)
3 parts bread flour (Gold Medal this time) (120gm)
3 parts nicely fed starter (120gm)
2.5% salt (9gm kosher salt)
6 parts warm water (240gm @ 100°F) [ might need a bit more or less water, so don’t dump it all in at once. You want a very wet dough, but not runny as cake batter ]
1 tsp sugar or a small dollop of honey
Feed your room temperature starter 4 or so hours ahead of time. If it’s been in the fridge for weeks, take it out, let it warm up, and feed it several times over a day or two.
Whisk the flours and salt to blend. Dissolve starter and sugar or honey in the water in a small bowl.
Combine wet and dry, mix on slow, rest 15, knead on slow, knead on medium, get impatient and knead on high until all the dough comes off the bottom of the mixer bowl, then knead it another minute or two. Transfer to greased covered rising bucket. Let it go for at least 6 hours but less than 12. You can knead itt in the bucket a few times, but you really don’t have to.
When it’s time to bake, preheat oven and Dutch to 475. Put dough in on parchment, crank heat up to 500 for 20. High heat gives awesome oven spring, and those nice big air holes in the crumb.
Remove lid, lower temp to 450, bake another 20, with cold iron griddle under Dutch so the bottom doesn’t char. Turn off oven, open door, take bread out of Dutch, let everything cool 5 minutes, put bread back into cooling oven with door held open 1” with wooden spoon; allow to cure for 20 minutes.
This is one of the best bread recipes I’ve come up with so far. Not hard to make if you scale the ingredients. Yum!!!!
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