A month or two ago such numbers seemed wildly unlikely.
Now? Not so much.
As confirmed cases keep multiplying - South Africa heads towards 100,000, Brazil 1.1 million, and the US 2.3 million – we humans adjust, albeit reluctantly. Some adjust by increasing their humanity to fellow humans. Others adjust by increasing their net worth.
Back in 1981, Pink Floyd’s music alluded to the power of money over the human psyche:
Money, it's a gas/ Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash…(Listen to “Money” - 6:29 mins)
Money, get back/ I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack
Money, it's a hit/ Don't give me that do goody good bullshit
Maybe I’m full of “that do goody good bullshit” but… I’m still shocked by revelations that nursing homes are evicting frail, poor/low income elderly humans in favor of elderly humans who bring in more … money.
… in America, nursing homes have come to symbolize the deadly destruction of the coronavirus crisis. More than 51,000 residents and employees of nursing homes and long-term care facilities have died, representing more than 40 percent of the total death toll in the United States.
But even as they have been ravaged, nursing homes … are taking on coronavirus-stricken patients to ease the burden on overwhelmed hospitals — and, at times, to bolster their bottom lines.
… They are kicking out old and disabled residents — among the people most susceptible to the coronavirus — and shunting them into homeless shelters, rundown motels, and other unsafe facilities…
Many of the evictions, known as involuntary discharges, appear to violate federal rules that require nursing homes to place residents in safe locations and to provide them with at least 30 days’ notice before forcing them to leave.
… Medicare often pays for short-term rehabilitation stints; Medicaid covers longer-term stays for poor people.
Nursing homes have long had a financial incentive to evict Medicaid patients in favor of those who pay through private insurance or Medicare, which reimburses nursing homes at a much higher rate than Medicaid.
RC Kendrick, an 88-year-old with dementia, was living at Lakeview Terrace [where his] family had placed him there to make sure he got round-the-clock care after his condition deteriorated and he began disappearing for days at a time.
But on April 6, the nursing home deposited Mr. Kendrick at an unregulated boardinghouse — without bothering to inform his family. Less than 24 hours later, Mr. Kendrick was wandering the city alone.
… According to three Lakeview employees, Mr. Kendrick’s ouster came as the nursing home was telling staff members to try to clear out less-profitable residents to make room for a new class of customers who would generate more revenue: patients with Covid-19.
News blues…
Trump held a re-election campaign rally – and nobody came!Trump claimed a million people would show up at the venue that has a capacity of 19,000. Only 6,200 showed up.
Naturally, he and his team blame the media, “thugs” aka protesters, this, that, and the next thing.
Turns out, he was punked by savvy teenagers.
The Lincoln Project quickly responded to the failed rally:
Donald Trump kicked off his re-launch in Tulsa. And, like the man himself, it was a disaster, and much smaller than he promised.Watch the ad, Shrinking (0:45 mins)
But, as soon as he started talking, he did exactly what we thought he would do: lie, praise the Confederacy, and then lie some more.
Every time Trump opens his mouth, we need to be there to hit back with the truth.
What a failure.
He's losing.
We can see it in the polls, and now Donald Trump can see it in his own crowds: His numbers are shrinking.
He can’t deliver on COVID-19 testing. And now he can’t even deliver crowds.
Millions are turning away from Trump….
I admit that I am not only not a Trump fan but I am the opposite of a fan, something Merriam Webster defines “nonadmirer”, “belittler”, “carper”, “critic”, and “detractor.”
I’d accept “nonadmirer” and “critic” but my lack of fan-dom is more complicated than simply pasting the correct term on my feelings.
I also harbor a smidgen of compassion for The Donald.
His narcissism combined with his craving to be loved means he’s both where he wants to be – the center of attention – and where he hates to be – publicly lampooned around the world.
For a world class narcissist, this is psychological torment.
I agree with Trump’s former friend, Howard Stern, SiriusXM radio host, who claimed during an interview with Steven Colbert, that Donald Trump didn’t really want to be president.
“I firmly believe that Donald did not want to run for president, I don’t think it was serious…. I knew him. He had a great life at Mar-a-Lago. He was running around town. He played golf. He had a good time.”Ouch. Instead of The Apprentice and a hefty raise, Trump’s known as Ass, Buffoon, Bully, Bunker Boy, Clown - and at least 25 other names.
Stern said Trump was trying to negotiate more money from NBC for “The Apprentice” and ran for president as a tactic to get a raise.
I’ve a solution: Trump should feign a heart attack and give up the presidency – out of the goodness of his heart, of course.
A fake/ faux heart attack would earn him sympathy rather than antipathy. From his palatial sick bed he could Tweet how it’s not his fault that he can no longer carry the world upon his shoulders, how unfair it is that the American People are deprived of his bigly deal-making skills, how he’ll MAGA from the 100th floor of Trump Tower or his Mar-a-Largo suite….
A faux heart attack would solve Trump’s president problem – and the world’s Trump problem.
It’s a win/win for the world and a zero/sum game for Trump.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
My soft spot for vervet monkeys comes from a childhood with a young male vervet as a pet. Jacko went everywhere with me and my brothers – for long hikes and horse rides in the veldt (grasslands), swimming, bathing, sleeping….The closest I come to befriending the monkeys in this neighborhood is admiring them and talking to them as they pass.
Once largely considered vermin in South Africa, vervets are protected by national and provincial conservation legislation and national animal protection legislation. They’ve been on the Cites (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species) list since 1974 although were only declared "protected" in September 2004.
Injuring or killing vervet monkeys is a jail-able offence. That does not mean, unfortunately, that people do not harm them. (This 3-egged monkey lost a hind leg to accident, trap, or injury)
A troop of at least 37 vervet monkeys visited the garden today, in dribs and drabs – some raided the avocado tree and some the bird feeder while others dashed to-and-fro along the aerial electrical cable (amazing how they use their tails to balance on the narrow cable).
Winter is in full swing and monkeys are hungry. Feeding them is not an option: they become more dependent, more of a nuisance, more likely to become aggressive towards other species and humans, and more likely to be injured or killed by irate humans.
Moreover, wild monkeys are highly susceptible to diseases from human hands and can die from bacteria transferred from a human hand that has no ill effect on the human.
Feeding creates a dangerous dependency on humans that diminishes the monkeys’ survival abilities.
Contrary to the stereotype, bananas are not the preferred food of monkeys in the wild. Bananas, especially those containing pesticides, can be upsetting to the monkeys’ delicate digestive system and cause serious dental problems that can lead to eventual death.
Feeding interferes with the monkeys’ natural habits and upsets the balance of lives centered on eating wild fruits, seeds, small animals, and insects.
Most interestingly, monkeys need to travel an average of 17 kilometers each day to be in good physical condition. If they know that food is available in a particular location, they will not leave that area.
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