While many of us have been gaining weight in hibernation, the brown bears in Alaska‘s Katmai National Park & Preserve have taken it to a whole new level. After all, they do this every year.
Beginning September 30, we can all vote for our favorite fatty — which is sure to be far more entertaining than the US elections we’re dreading in November.
Photo by Vincent M.A. Janssen on Pexels.com
The Smithsonian Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture are tracking down important data about newly freed individuals who lived in the South after the Civil War.
The website reports that 90,000 pages of Freedmen’s Bureau images (including letters, marriage and birth records, and more) have already been transcribed by more than 9,000 volunteers, making it the largest crowdsourcing initiative ever sponsored by the Smithsonian.
With the help of people working from home — where most of us remain during these days of sheltering in place — they’ve unlocked a wealth of names and stories. If there are gaps in your own family tree, this is a great way to get involved!
Photo by 3Motional Studio on Pexels.com
Good News Monday: Only progressive thinking will solve our dire climate and intolerance issues.
The number of people that identify as conservative in the United States is decreasing and most adults under the age of 35 consider themselves to be liberals rather than conservatives.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/316094/conservatism-down-start-2020.aspx
Reprinted from today’s New York Times
Is herd immunity ahead of schedule? |
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Today, we’re turning this section over to our colleague Apoorva Mandavilli, who has been covering the pandemic for The Times’s Science desk.
The pandemic will end only when enough people are protected against the coronavirus, whether by a vaccine or by already having been infected. Reaching this threshold, known as herd immunity, doesn’t mean the virus will disappear. But with fewer hosts to infect, it will make its way through a community much more slowly.
In the early days of the crisis, scientists estimated that perhaps 70 percent of the population would need to be immune in this way to be free from large outbreaks. But over the past few weeks, more than a dozen scientists told me they now felt comfortable saying that herd immunity probably lies from 45 percent to 50 percent.
If they’re right, then we may be a lot closer to turning back this virus than we initially thought.
It may also mean that pockets of New York City, London, Mumbai and other cities may already have reached the threshold, and may be spared a devastating second wave.
The initial calculations into herd immunity assumed that everyone in a community was equally susceptible to the virus and mixed randomly with everyone else.
The new estimates are the product of more sophisticated statistical modeling. When scientists factor in variations in density, demographics and socialization patterns, the estimated threshold for herd immunity falls.
In some clinics in hard-hit Brooklyn neighborhoods, up to 80 percent of people who were tested at the beginning of the summer had antibodies for the virus. Over the past eight weeks, fewer than 1 percent of people tested at those same neighborhood clinics have had the virus.
Likewise in Mumbai, a randomized household survey found that about 57 percent of people who live in the poorest areas and share toilets had antibodies, compared with just 11 percent elsewhere in the city.
It’s too early to say with certainty that those communities have reached herd immunity. We don’t know, for example, how long someone who was infected stays protected from the coronavirus. But the data suggests that the virus may move more slowly in those areas the next time around.
So, How’s YOUR Day Going?
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Our little neighborhood in Oregon is a magnet for drama. To paraphrase the wonderful Alexander McCall Smith, “When people don’t have enough to do, they turn on their neighbors.”*
This community depends on its owners to run things, which might be ok if we weren’t a bunch of amateurs — some well-meaning; some self-serving. Many are retired executives who haven’t quite grasped that nobody here actually works for them. This leads to micromanagement, incompetence, and finger-pointing. Our motto should be “Once burned, twice shy” because we put a big bullseye on our backs the moment we volunteer. After doing your bit, who needs more aggravation unless you’re a certified martyr or control freak?
The problem is that we’re all part of an extended “family” living in close proximity but connected only by the circumstance of choosing to live in the same neighborhood and, otherwise, having little in common.
Were this a Regency play, the cast of characters might read as follows:
Sir Bluffalot: “Whenever I’m wrong, bullying has always worked for me.”
Mr. Bragalot: (Bluffalot’s illegitimate brother) The self-styled expert on everything, no matter how trivial.
Our Lady of Perpetual Discord: Creates conflict so she can swoop in to solve it, ignoring pesky facts that might contradict her cast-iron assumptions.
Saint Gossipus: Want everyone to know your dire financial situation? Tell Saint G.
Aunt Sweety: A beautiful soul who sees the good in everyone.
Cousin It’sTheirFault: She takes no responsibility for her part in events since it’s much easier to blame others.
Uncle High Dudgeon: No issue is too small to overreact.
Miss Representation: Loyal subject of Saint Gossipus, the truth is a pliable commodity.
The Twins, Pitiful Pearl and Timid Timmy: “Please, someone else, solve my problems for me.”
Lord Blinker: Storms into battle for the woman he loves, armed only with outrage.
Sister Sycophant: “I can’t be bothered to find out anything, so I’ll just mix up a big batch of Kool-Aid and pass out the straws.”
The Moral of the Story: Hire professional management. If that’s impossible, avoid all meetings, curl up with a good book, sleuth out some trustworthy friends, and enjoy a nice glass of wine.
Cheers!
Photo by Posawee Suwannaphati on Pexels.com
*”If you don’t have things to keep you busy, you end up starting fights with your neighbours.” — The Second-Worst Restaurant in France
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