Cactus and the Virus

The bloom continues.  I'm not sure if these are a variation of prickly pears or if they're something else, but they're having a very good year.  They have many buds.

Cactus are tenacious.  This paddle has been detached from the main plant.  Possibly it was knocked off by an animal.  Anyway, he's doomed, but he is going to bloom no matter what.

The neighbor's tree is still putting out lemons.  We go pick them and line them up against the wall.  We're using one a day.  They're starting to drop on the ground, so a bunch of them will end up in the landfill.  Look at the one on the far right, it's bigger than our oranges.

I killed this yesterday with my rubber mallet.  The scorpions are interesting.  When you uncover their hiding place, they run a little and then stop and flex a little.  Given that they're stationary, they're easy to kill with one whack.  I'd very much like to know how they're getting in.  We've sprayed the perimeter of the house with bug poison, it's wreaking havoc on the beetles, but we have not seen one dead scorpion.  This may require a professional.

Now I will spend some time complaining about the perfidy and malfeasance of the administration.  This is from an article in the New York Intelligencer.  The federal government is still seizing PPE purchased by hospitals.  This article is based on an account published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which is a credible source.  Here is an excerpt.

Upon arrival, we were jubilant to see pallets of KN95 respirators and face masks being unloaded. We opened several boxes, examined their contents, and hoped that this random sample would be representative of the entire shipment. Before we could send the funds by wire transfer, two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived, showed their badges, and started questioning me. No, this shipment was not headed for resale or the black market. The agents checked my credentials, and I tried to convince them that the shipment of PPE was bound for hospitals. After receiving my assurances and hearing about our health system’s urgent needs, the agents let the boxes of equipment be released and loaded into the trucks. But I was soon shocked to learn that the Department of Homeland Security was still considering redirecting our PPE. Only some quick calls leading to intervention by our congressional representative prevented its seizure. I remained nervous and worried on the long drive back, feelings that did not abate until midnight, when I received the call that the PPE shipment was secured at our warehouse.

This is pathetic.  Not only has the administration abandoned their responsibilities for procuring PPE, they're actively working against the states.

Today we learned where the bulk of the Payroll Protection Program money went.  Chain restaurants like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and Steak Shack got it.  Ruth's Chris, who had profits of $42.2M last year, and $86M in cash reserves, received $20M.  Steak Shack got $10M.  Steak Shack was shamed to the point that they gave it back.  Small local restaurants lost out.

The right wingers and some gun nuts wearing AR15s have been out protesting that they want the lock downs to end.  I think we would all like that, but in light of the fact that there is virtually no testing, no contact tracing, no nothing; it might be a little premature to open the gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, and estheticians, like Governor Kemp is doing in Georgia at the end of this week despite the fact that their case numbers are not decreasing.  Anyway, Kentucky has seen a spike in new cases after protests there, with people not wearing masks and not distancing.  Denver had protests as well, however the strength of their convictions must be questioned since they would not get out of their cars.  Nurses from a near by hospital came out and stood to bear witness about what is happening with the virus.  You may have seen video of this woman hanging out of her car window, she's yelling at the nurse in front of her truck to go to China.  More words can be found here.

The thing that really pisses me off is that new spikes in cases will put all of those people into hospitals and endanger the lives of doctors and nurses.  Enough with the stupidity!

This is funny.  Spelling does not seem to be the strong suit of the angry.

So, there you go.  We're shifting to riding the mountain bikes on low risk trails and streets.  The rattlesnakes are out and I really do not want to set foot in a hospital for anti-venom.