Over the past two weeks, hundreds of movie theaters in the country had begun to reopen. No reason for the policy reversal was given, but insiders believe the government is worried about a potential second wave of coronavirus infections. read more
Gary Vura has been wiping down counters and cooking for himself in his Carnegie Hill apartment since his wife and daughters decamped for his sister-in-law's house in Massachusetts. "I haven't quite figured out how to use the vacuum cleaner yet, but that should happen," said Vura, ....
"I'm probably doing more of that than I used to. ...
At Jeeves New York on East 65th Street, its laundering and dry cleaning business is down 77% as clients have fled ....
Still, the store picked up 10 bags of bed sheets Monday it normally wouldn't have. "Because their house staff isn't coming in, they don't know what to do with their sheets," said the owner. The service, which includes quarantining the laundry for 24 hours, isn't cheap: $42 a sheet, $85 for a duvet cover and as much as $16 for pillow cases. ...
"It is exorbitant, but the types of sheets that we're getting -- you're looking at $3,000-$4,000 for set," Pozniak said. "A lot of places do it on automated machinery. ..."
More than a million dancing, singing, bead-catching celebrants packed the streets of the French Quarter and other venues across this city in the weeks leading up to the sprawling open-air party that is Mardi Gras. There was little worry during the February festivities about the new virus that had infected a few dozen people in other parts of the country.
The city's top health official believed the flu "is far more dangerous right now than the coronavirus," she told the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate newspaper....
"It seems the virus was there when crowds were around for Mardi Gras and it may have turned into a super-spreader event," he said. "You can see what's happening in Italy and Spain, and there is every reason to think the same events are going to happen here."
General Motors Co. and ventilator maker Ventec Life Systems Inc. had much of what they needed in place to ramp up production of breathing machines that would help coronavirus patients survive and recover.
They were just waiting on the Trump administration to place orders and cut checks.
And then, just as frustration was mounting within the largest U.S. carmaker and its partner over the federal government finalizing the details, President Donald Trump went on the attack Friday. He accused the company of moving too slowly and charging too much, specifically criticizing Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra....
The Twitter missives are a remarkable turnabout from the night before, when Trump told Fox News he wasn't invoking the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to compel manufacturers to make ventilators because companies including GM had already stepped up.
The coronavirus is taking a growing toll on the U.S. military, and commanders and senior officials are bracing for worse. From nuclear missile fields at home to war zones abroad, from flight lines to ships at sea, the Pentagon is striving to shield vital missions even as it faces urgent calls for help on the civilian front.
Training exercises big and small, including one of the largest in Europe since the end of the Cold War, have been curtailed. Army recruiting stations have closed. Troops around the globe are hunkering down to confront an enemy unlike anything the world's most lethal armed forces have encountered before.
"It's unprecedented in my lifetime," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said, adding that he believes that "in a period of months" the worst will be over and the force will once again be "fully mission capable."
@#66 ... Of course the commercial genre is as broad as rock now. ...
Yeah, this was passed off as rap back in the day...
The Nails - 88 Lines About 44 Women
www.youtube.com
@#60 ... I'll see you and raise you one ...
Well, I was going towards the absurd, and you went towards something good.
I liked that.
Back to the absurd...
The Fools - Psycho Chicken
www.youtube.com
(I am reluctant to admit that I have that album.)
(I've been digitizing my vinyl of late, and I have been wondering far too often, ~what was I thinking when I bought that?~)
And now for something completely different...
Haysi Fantayzee - John Wayne Is Big Leggy
www.youtube.com
@#56
Ah yes, Come Together. Memories of rush season. One of the Frats had Abbey Road on continuous replay during a rush party.
The first rap song? While I'm not convinced of that, I won't dismiss it. Your insight came in from left field (no pun intended) so I'll have to ponder it for a bit.
Another song from that era...
Jefferson Airplane - We Can Be Together
www.youtube.com
(the version you won't hear on the radio...)
This from the usually staid NPR reporting...
U.S. Tops 100,000 Coronavirus Cases, Testing Kits, Equipment Still In Short Supply
www.npr.org
...The United States on Friday surpassed more than 100,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, doubling the number of known infections counted just three days ago.
Data from Johns Hopkins University, which has been tracking the global spread of the disease, shows 101,657 people have been diagnosed in the U.S. as of Friday evening. More than 1,560 people have died.
The troubling milestone comes a day after the U.S. infection toll rose above that of Italy and China, where the virus was first detected.
It also comes amid warnings from health officials that the pandemic will continue to accelerate in coming weeks.
During the Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Friday, Vice President Pence said more than 685,000 tests for the virus had been performed as of earlier in the day.
He also addressed the cry for more testing kits, ventilators and personal protective gear from health care workers and state leaders, saying there would be an airlift of supplies from around the world.
FEMA administrator Pete Gaynor will also be speaking to all state emergency administrators to advise them to have a plan to use the National Guard to move equipment from stockpiles to hospitals....
"...doubling the number of known infections counted just three days ago..."
@#26 ... OK, that's deep. ..
Wanna take a deep dive with Pink Floyd, try this song (20+ minutes)
Pink Floyd - Echoes
www.youtube.com
Sample lyrics:
...
Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you
And what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can?
...
Speaking of old Pink Floyd... a tone poem extraordinaire...
Pink Floyd - Grantchester Meadows
www.youtube.com
@#34 ... President Trump asked Alex Rodriguez for advice on fighting coronavirus ...
Oh, dear God, please tell me that did not happen.
(aside to some: this comment of mine is not glee. It is a statement of stunning amazement at the stupidity that seems to reside in the White House.)