Monday, December 21, 2020
This weekend marked our 8th weekend of unpacking at the new house. Similar to the Mexican political party named after the notion of institutionalized revolution (the PRI), it certainly feels like we are in a state of permanent change. We are fixing things, selling or giving away items that do not fit, and living the endless churn of opening and breaking down boxes. I had no idea our furniture was oriented toward a house with taller ceilings and few windows until we bought a house with low ceilings and more windows. Unfortunately, unlike your tech-naive relative shooting video in portrait mode, you cannot merely rotate things 90 degrees. And there is a pandemic.
-----Latest Data---
New cases have leveled off over the end of the last week, but don't be fooled. That is the post-Thanksgiving rise. Deaths continue to climb. The New York Times map is a sea of dark red and red.
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=cases
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The U.S. Regionally - N.Y. Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
-----
The COVID tracking project blog is an excellent place to start reviewing data.
https://covidtracking.com/blog/vaccine-arrives-deaths-rise-dec-17
Many voices debated vaccine allocation and prioritization this past weekend. Here is a brief round-up of discussion I found:
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/18/948176807/stanford-apologizes-after-vaccine-allocation-leaves-out-nearly-all-medical-resid
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/us/politics/politicians-covid-vaccine.html
The FDA authorized Moderna's mRNA vaccine for emergency use on Friday. Vaccine started shipping Sunday. To be clear, this is the same regulatory approval path the Pfizer vaccine took ~ 1.5 weeks ago.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/531067-first-shipments-of-moderna-vaccine-roll-out-after-fda-approval
Here is a STAT News side-by-side comparison I found:
https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/19/a-side-by-side-comparison-of-the-pfizer-biontech-and-moderna-vaccines/
Florian Krammer, the virologist, offered a thoughtful Twitter discussion on the new SARS-CoV-2 mutation found in the U.K. (and elsewhere)
https://twitter.com/florian_krammer/status/1340937664699232257?s=10
based on data in this article
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/mutant-coronavirus-united-kingdom-sets-alarms-its-importance-remains-unclear
Bottom line - lots of unknowns.
Finally, it is not too late to reconsider planned travel for this week.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/19/a-side-by-side-comparison-of-the-pfizer-biontech-and-moderna-vaccines/
Infographic of the day (sort of)
https://wronghands1.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/new-conspiracy-theories.jpg
and
https://wronghands1.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/monet-manet-manatee.jpg
Cartoons can be informative too.
----Bonus Round - Not My Holiday?
I have distinct sentimental memories of the book "What do they do when it Rains" by Norman Bridwell. The 1972 children's book highlights how rain interrupts many professions. As a young child, this book helped me recognize the importance of seeing the world from others' perspectives. With Christmas this week, I think a variation on this theme is worthy of exploration - What do they do on Christmas?
https://www.amazon.com/What-Do-They-When-Rains/dp/0590087681
Let's start with this entertaining "fish out of water" observational thread from a Canadian Muslim, Mohammad Hussain.
https://twitter.com/mohammadhussain/status/1340439172687998981?s=10
Now what I know best - my family typically marks Christmas day with Chinese food and the movies (or I worked at the hospital). The (amusingly URL'ed) JewFaq.org offers a good range of discussion about what Jews do on Christmas.
https://www.jewfaq.org/xmas.htm
Venturing way out of my knowledge base, here is a round-up of seemingly credible sources from other perspectives. Interestingly, U.K. newspapers have many articles on this topic, year after year.
Muslims
I found this letter to the editor to be thoughtful: https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/readers-respond/bs-ed-rr-muslim-christmas-letter-20191219-emfe3tf6ibaezlj4p3uel7zswu-story.html
Hindus
It seems there is a wide range of practices, variable by the degree of adherence to tradition combined with local and family norms. I am sure some of my readers will help me better understand variations on this theme. However, I found this article helpful:
https://browngirlmagazine.com/2018/12/why-i-celebrate-christmas-as-a-hindu/
Sikhs
More variations on the "mark the day, but not the religious bits" theme.
https://metro.co.uk/2017/12/23/what-its-like-to-be-sikh-at-christmas-7171972/
I am sure I am leaving out a whole bunch of other beliefs and details. Any editorial bias is more practical (time and energy) than purposeful. My apologies for any oversights. Here is one last brief article on the pre-Christian origins of Christmas.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-unexpected-pagan-origins-of-popular-christmas-traditions/
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
This weekend marked our 8th weekend of unpacking at the new house. Similar to the Mexican political party named after the notion of institutionalized revolution (the PRI), it certainly feels like we are in a state of permanent change. We are fixing things, selling or giving away items that do not fit, and living the endless churn of opening and breaking down boxes. I had no idea our furniture was oriented toward a house with taller ceilings and few windows until we bought a house with low ceilings and more windows. Unfortunately, unlike your tech-naive relative shooting video in portrait mode, you cannot merely rotate things 90 degrees. And there is a pandemic.
-----Latest Data---
New cases have leveled off over the end of the last week, but don't be fooled. That is the post-Thanksgiving rise. Deaths continue to climb. The New York Times map is a sea of dark red and red.
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=cases
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The U.S. Regionally - N.Y. Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
-----
The COVID tracking project blog is an excellent place to start reviewing data.
https://covidtracking.com/blog/vaccine-arrives-deaths-rise-dec-17
Many voices debated vaccine allocation and prioritization this past weekend. Here is a brief round-up of discussion I found:
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/18/948176807/stanford-apologizes-after-vaccine-allocation-leaves-out-nearly-all-medical-resid
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/us/politics/politicians-covid-vaccine.html
The FDA authorized Moderna's mRNA vaccine for emergency use on Friday. Vaccine started shipping Sunday. To be clear, this is the same regulatory approval path the Pfizer vaccine took ~ 1.5 weeks ago.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/531067-first-shipments-of-moderna-vaccine-roll-out-after-fda-approval
Here is a STAT News side-by-side comparison I found:
https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/19/a-side-by-side-comparison-of-the-pfizer-biontech-and-moderna-vaccines/
Florian Krammer, the virologist, offered a thoughtful Twitter discussion on the new SARS-CoV-2 mutation found in the U.K. (and elsewhere)
https://twitter.com/florian_krammer/status/1340937664699232257?s=10
based on data in this article
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/mutant-coronavirus-united-kingdom-sets-alarms-its-importance-remains-unclear
Bottom line - lots of unknowns.
Finally, it is not too late to reconsider planned travel for this week.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/19/a-side-by-side-comparison-of-the-pfizer-biontech-and-moderna-vaccines/
Infographic of the day (sort of)
https://wronghands1.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/new-conspiracy-theories.jpg
and
https://wronghands1.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/monet-manet-manatee.jpg
Cartoons can be informative too.
----Bonus Round - Not My Holiday?
I have distinct sentimental memories of the book "What do they do when it Rains" by Norman Bridwell. The 1972 children's book highlights how rain interrupts many professions. As a young child, this book helped me recognize the importance of seeing the world from others' perspectives. With Christmas this week, I think a variation on this theme is worthy of exploration - What do they do on Christmas?
https://www.amazon.com/What-Do-They-When-Rains/dp/0590087681
Let's start with this entertaining "fish out of water" observational thread from a Canadian Muslim, Mohammad Hussain.
https://twitter.com/mohammadhussain/status/1340439172687998981?s=10
Now what I know best - my family typically marks Christmas day with Chinese food and the movies (or I worked at the hospital). The (amusingly URL'ed) JewFaq.org offers a good range of discussion about what Jews do on Christmas.
https://www.jewfaq.org/xmas.htm
Venturing way out of my knowledge base, here is a round-up of seemingly credible sources from other perspectives. Interestingly, U.K. newspapers have many articles on this topic, year after year.
Muslims
I found this letter to the editor to be thoughtful: https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/readers-respond/bs-ed-rr-muslim-christmas-letter-20191219-emfe3tf6ibaezlj4p3uel7zswu-story.html
Hindus
It seems there is a wide range of practices, variable by the degree of adherence to tradition combined with local and family norms. I am sure some of my readers will help me better understand variations on this theme. However, I found this article helpful:
https://browngirlmagazine.com/2018/12/why-i-celebrate-christmas-as-a-hindu/
Sikhs
More variations on the "mark the day, but not the religious bits" theme.
https://metro.co.uk/2017/12/23/what-its-like-to-be-sikh-at-christmas-7171972/
I am sure I am leaving out a whole bunch of other beliefs and details. Any editorial bias is more practical (time and energy) than purposeful. My apologies for any oversights. Here is one last brief article on the pre-Christian origins of Christmas.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-unexpected-pagan-origins-of-popular-christmas-traditions/
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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