Items
Date is exactly
2020-07-09
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2020-07-09
Back to School
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2020-07-09
The true virus
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2020-07-09
Back in combat boots
I retired from the Army in September 2019 after serving for 26 years. My wife and I moved to South Texas to finally settle down, and in January of 2020 we bought our forever home out in the country near Lake Corpus Christi. Clearing the land and unpacking boxes that had been sealed for what seems like an eternity took about three months. Around late March/early April I started applying for jobs at colleges in the area, just as the pandemic was gaining national attention. As a result, no one was conducting interviews or hiring. I did not need to work, I just wanted something to keep me busy. Out of the blue, I was contacted by the U.S. Army Human Resources command to ask if I would volunteer to return to Active Duty for a year to help with the pandemic. After discussing it with my wife, I replied back that I would volunteer and provide whatever assistance I could. In June I received orders to report to Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in early July. The orders also stated that I was to report in my uniform. I had kept my old uniform from when I retired, but it took a bit of digging around to find everything. Putting my uniform and boots on after almost two years of retirement felt strange yet familiar. I had to get to used to the feeling of wearing combat boots again instead of regular shoes. For the next year I was assigned to U.S. Army North at Fort Sam Houston, where we coordinated Department of Defense civil support operations all over America. I also helped with the planning, organization, and execution for a large vaccination site on the installation. I was not the only veteran that returned to active duty. Like me, others volunteered to do what we could to help get through this pandemic. I enjoyed the time I spent back in the Army, and felt like I made a positive contribution to the country. The only thing that took time to get used to was the feeling of combat boots on my feet again. -
2020-07-09
Navigating Postpartum Depression During COVID-19
A blog post from Banner Health about post-partum depression during Covid-19. -
2020-07-09
The Unkempt Lockdown Beard
Over the past year, I found myself for the first time extremely isolated from most of the outside world. As opposed to my entire life previously, where I was always around other people and tried to make my appearance presentable, I no longer had to worry about what I looked like. As a result, I stopped shaving and let my beard grow for weeks and months on end. I will never forget the strange feelings associated with the different stages of my beard. Running my fingers across my face and feeling the sharp pricks from the stubble of a short beard, or the fuzzy and puffy feelings from touching my medium-sized beard, or straitening out the matted hair of my longish beard. As I had never tried to grow a beard before, these feelings were new to me and something I will not forget. The picture I uploaded was shortly after I had shaved my cheeks and left the rest of the hair on my face and neck, which felt stubbly and sharp on the sides but more silky and smooth in other areas. This is something I would have never done if I had to be around people. The isolation I experienced during the lockdown allowed me to grow this strange beard and experience the feelings that came with it. This is representative of the experiences of so many people who all of a sudden found themselves in a new situation of solitude as a result of the Covid lockdowns. For once in a lifetime, your appearance didn't have an effect on your professional life and you could just let things like beard growth go completely uncared for. As I will probably never experience this kind of isolation again, I will probably never experience the feelings of running my fingers across and through an unkempt beard as I did during the Covid-19 pandemic. -
2020-07-09
“And 12 civilized people said that was OK. That was OK.”
“He was murdered right here in this area, this nice, little area here where all the white folks say they got the best police department in the city,” Valerie Castile, mother of Philando Castile told the crowd. “ ‘Our police department is the best in the city!’ I say, ‘For who? For who?’ You don’t have to worry about driving down Larpenteur after it gets dark. “That man (St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez), shot my baby five times,” she continued. “Not once, not twice — he shot him five times. While he was seat-belted in his car. Can you, just for a moment, think about how Philando felt, starting down the barrel of a gun? Them bullets just ricocheted off every bone, every organ, just tore his body up inside. “And 12 civilized people said that was OK. That was OK.” -
2020-07-09
Covid-19, Education and Making Choices
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced almost everyone to make decisions, some small and some drastic. The following is a reflection of how my studies as an international student at the University of Melbourne, Australia were affected by the pandemic. The date is 9 July 2020. Covid-19 cases have been on the rise in Melbourne in the past two weeks. This trend seems specific to Melbourne as the rest of Australia seems to have the situation under control. I receive an email from the University. The email announces that the studies for the second semester (July to November 2020) will take place entirely online. The majority of semester 1 (March to June) had also taken place online. But students were hopeful that a return to face-to-face teaching would be possible given the relatively low number of cases of Australia up to late June 2020 (when the second wave started). As an international student, I must make a choice. To stay in Melbourne or to fly home. I need to do so quickly, since incoming flights to Melbourne had already been suspended, and there is no guarantee that the same might not happen to outgoing flight. In my case, returning home seemed the obvious choice. I would rather have stayed in Melbourne (a city I love!), but alas at least to return means to be closer to friends and family during these times. I write this in October 2020, the semester is almost over, and the number of daily cases in Melbourne has now dropped significantly (to single digits), after months of strict measures. For much of the rest of the world however, there does not seem to be an end in sight. Submitted as part of the HIST30060 Making History subject at the University of Melbourne. -
2020-07-09
Covid Crisis at San Quentin
This Tweet highlights the activism around releasing incarcerated people to prevent the spread of covid and any sentence from turning into a death sentence. -
2020-07-09
New Car!
Throughout the pandemic, I needed assistance. I had to rely on other people for the things that I needed. Through God's grace, savings, and unemployment assistance, I got my new car! I would've never imagines i qould get my car during a global pandemic, but i am so grateful! -
2020-07-09
Geezer's Diary Part 42 - Cardboard fan
Chris Bateman is back with more musings during the pandemic. In this 'diary entry', he discusses his purchase of a cardboard cutout version of him to sit in the stadium in his stead. He details his pros and cons for this purchase, and the thoughts of his friends and colleagues on the matter. It seems like a fun, if expensive, way to remain involved in sports even while COVID-19 has eliminated the possibility of normal sporting events. As a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan, it's hard to get behind his choice in team, but I appreciate his dedication. -
2020-07-09
"Julius', NYC's Oldest Gay Bar, Launches GoFundMe to Avoid Closure"
From the article: "The oldest surviving gay bar in New York City is asking for the LGBTQ+ community's help in staying afloat." -
2020-07-09
"Before Getting COVID, Brazilian President Said Masks 'Are for Fairies'"
From the article: "Brazil’s homophobic President Jair Bolsonaro, who has tested positive for COVID-19 after downplaying the pandemic, told aides that masks are 'for fairies,' according to a major Brazilian newspaper." -
2020-07-09
Northeastern University Update on Housing, Hybrid NUflex, and Fall Reopening
Email from Northeastern University, detailing reopening plans for the Fall 2020 semester -
2020-07-09
US prison inmates among those hit hard with COVID-19
Due to the architecture and structure of prison life, covid-19, once it sets into a correctional facility, runs rampant. This article explains the higher percentage of cases within the prison system in the U.S. -
2020-07-09
Wichita's Healthcare Heroes
This banner honors the work performed by the doctors, nurses, and staff of the west Wichita Wesley Medical Center Emergency Room at 13th and Tyler Road. Signs like these proved fairly common across the city, therefore adding to the wide variety of expressions of gratitude displayed across the world for those in the medical professions who have dealt with COVID-19's harsh reality. Nonetheless, at the time this photograph was taken, Sedgwick County announced that its hospital space and ICU availability was beginning to encounter greater stress. After a hasty re-opening and a lack of political will to enforce and maintain mitigation measures, COVID-19 cases surged across the state, with patients from the county and surrounding rural areas lacking direct access to medical facilities being brought to Wichita-area hospitals for treatment. -
2020-07-09
Jon Mitchell Tweets about arts and culture institutions reopening
Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford joins arts and culture institutions from across New Bedford at the New Bedford Whaling Museum to announce that museums, arts and culture organizations will reopen on July 9 as part of Phase 3. -
2020-07-09
She was watching another racist incident on a Vancouver bus. And then, something different happened
"As she boarded a bus Monday after a morning of classes at a downtown Vancouver campus, Tina Hoang was pleased to see that most passengers were physically distancing. "She sat down at an empty area near the middle of the bus. "But soon, a white man got on board and walked by a row of people who were all wearing masks, who all happened to be people of colour. "'Jesus Christ! Everyone is wearing a mask. It’s the f---ing Chinese virus,' he ranted loudly. "Hoang, who is 21, said she snapped at that moment after enduring months of dirty looks from people in Vancouver, which she attributed to scapegoating for the coronavirus outbreak." -
2020-07-09
As pandemic rages, farmworkers say employers are 'prioritizing production over...lives’
by Jessica Myers| Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-07-09
Arizona dairy farms pivot from restaurants to food banks as COVID-19 shifts demand
By Sarandon Raboin | Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-07-09
Lock down libraries in remote Peru
I saw this tweet about a rural library fund, and thought it was really interesting that there is a charity providing access to books for people in remote Andean communities in Peru. I watched some of the Zoom recording to learn about it, and it seems really encouraging that this type of charity work is continuing despite COVID-19. Providing physical books to students in remote areas is such a worthy cause, and one that can really fracture along class lines due to cost and accessibility. -
2020-07-09
ICA Boston Reopening Policies
Reopening policies of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, including their new practices for the museum, the store, and tickets. The document also covers additional safety measures undertaken by staff. As reopening has continued in Boston despite rising cases throughout the country, museums and cultural heritage institutions are publishing plans that highlight their safety measures and how they're protecting staff and visitors. This document highlights several of the policies that many museums are employing.