How a virus changes the world.

This short video was produced in 2012 and added to a DVD of the movie Contagion. At You Tube, the comments from 2012 are interesting in comparison to those posted after covid 19.

Remember when the movie, Contagion, was only sci fi and not reality?

I wonder how many people who saw it before covid 19 thought that it was just a scary movie and unlikely that such a deadly pandemic would ever really happen again in the world like the 1918 flu and the Medieval Plague. After all, we know so much more today about sanitation, the spread of disease, treatments, vaccine development, etc. Wouldn't happen in our life time, right?

I had not seen Contagion before covid, so I ordered it on DVD during the Delta wave and compared it to what was happening in real life with covid. It was pretty accurate in some ways, like the closed schools and businesses, the need to isolate and wear masks before there was a vaccine, the refusal by some people to follow safe protocols, the fake cure huckster, the objections that the vaccine was too rushed and not as safe as the huckster cures. The worst part of the real life similarity is that the huckster promoting the fake cures was our own president! And it was his followers who refused to accept the vaccine!

Other parts of Contagion were not so accurate. I don't remember hearing of any one being kidnapped to ensure that a particular region got the vaccine once it was developed. Also, even though our shelves got pretty bare of some items, there was not such a food shortage that the government was issuing MREs to the general population.

My DVD of Contagion has this cartoon video about viruses in the "extras" or "special effects" section. Remember, the cartoon video was prior to covid 19, too. The comments section of this vodeo on you tube shows the difference in people's reactions t0 the video in 2012 versus the comments made after covid.

Remember this talking cats oldie from You Tube?

Another thread of talking parrots reminded me of these adorable cats having a chat together.

417 interconnected Mayan cities discovered in Guatemala dating back to around 1000 BC.

Researchers from a joint US-Guatamalan archaeological expedition revealed in an interview with the Washington Post that they had uncovered 417 cities connected by a network of highways dating back approximately 3000 years.

According to the Washington Post, the discovery of a road and city network, hydraulic systems, and agricultural infrastructure indicates that the communities in Central America were more advanced than previously thought.

https://www.dailysabah.com/life/history/scientists-discover-417-mayan-cities-in-guatemalas-forested-area

Archaeologists discover Mayan board game

The article discusses the uses of board games in various societies and what can be learned from this Mayan board game.

https://phys.org/news/2023-05-archaeologists-ancient-mayan-board-gamehere.html

300,000 year old footprints of human ancestors in Germany.

Creepy experience with a MAGA store owner today.

There is a small store near me that I often pass on my way to other places in the neighborhood. It sells t-shirts, odds and ends, and scented wax warmers. So I wanted to ask about the wax warmers which were in a window display and marked 20% off.

I continue to wear a mask due to underlying health issues. I barely stepped inside the door when a loud voice from the back yelled at me that masks are not permitted in the store. It was the owner, who then ordered me to remove the mask or leave.

I wish that I could say that I handled it with finesse and a clever comeback, like congratulating him for such a successful business that he could afford to turn customers away. The store rarely has people inside and I do wonder how he stays in business.

Instead, I was so startled by the abrupt, loud voice and craziness of being barred for wearing an N95 that I got angry and dropped a few curse words at him while flipping him off. I left and turned the corner to head for a convenience store.

I have a hiatal hernia which causes acid reflux into my mouth sometimes. I also have asthma which means that in anxious, emotional situations, my bronchial tubes spasm and cause me to cough, bringing up clear fluid and acid reflux into my mouth. When that happens outdoors, I turn my head to the side, and bend out to spit away from my body to avoid "blowback" onto me. When I did that, I was on the side of that store and a couple drops hit the exterior of the MAGAt's store window. It was clear, like drops of water.

Suddenly he was outdoors screaming at me that I had just spit on his window and that he caught it on camera. He said that he was going inside to report me for vandalism. I asked what his problem was with the fact that I need a mask and he screamed back at me that he did not have to answer that question.

I went on to the convenience store and then to a branch of the local library which was just a couple blocks away. When I returned, two guys who live in my apt. complex were outdoors. They are both RWers so I never mention politics to them and have kept a superficially friendly passing acquaintance with them. I asked them if they knew the name of the guy who owns the store on the corner. They not only knew his name, but said that they personally know him. Then, without me mentioning it, they brought up the mask issue and told me that it's the owner's prerogative to ban masks in his store. I said yes, it is, but he's still a wacko for doing it. I also said that it was political fanaticism and that I considered myself lucky that he didn't come after me with a gun.

That store owner must have a closer relationship with my 2 neighbors than I realized. (Same RW organizations?) He must have told them about the mask incident after I left.

Time to look for a saner neighborhoid.

Sunday, May 14, is the one year anniversary of the racist mass murder in a Buffalo supermarket.

Buffalo media are covering the anniversary.

My church has been engaged in an anti racism action and discussion series for the past several weeks. Sunday's service is dedicated to the victims of the mass murder, not only the people who died or were physically wounded, but also their family, friends, the community, and all who are affected by this country's pervasive racism.

We are all responsible for ending racism and violence.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Buffalo_shooting

Steve Schmidt in Frontline interview

Schmidt discusses the rise of Trump, the dangers Trump poses to democracy, and Schmidt's own views about the two parties today. I strongly disagree with his assessment of Democrats, particularly his claim that Bill Clinton set the stage for Trump. Steve says that Clinton made it possible for Americans to say, "Well, Bill did it," when Trump came along. He totally ignores the Republican propaganda and false claims and vilification of the Clintons. He does some bothsiderism even while he denounces Trump and the current Republican Party.

But, since Steve Schmidt is so often interviewed or quoted as an anti Trumpist, I thought it was worth posting the interview here for people to see where Schmidt stands politically. He's an ally as an opponent to Trump, but not on anything else.

I am also allergic to aspirin.

Not a common allergy. You are the first person that I've come across who is also allergic to it.