251 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bfe0254122c02a2fd4e3c99f89df3e6c.pdf 5f11ef4d4542edb1cd047b1bfc4b8dc9 PDF Text Text Day 232. 5, only 5 days out. by windoworks November 1st we set our clocks back. November 3rd we take our country back. Biden/Harris 2020 Crooked Media: As the fall coronavirus surge overshadows the final days of the election, President Trump has been campaigning as if the pandemic is over, in the very places now suffering their worst outbreaks since it began. Just in case that closing message was too subtle for anyone, he also went ahead and left his supporters out in the literal cold. Hundreds of Trump rally attendees in Omaha were stranded in the cold for hours after the event ended on Tuesday night, when the buses meant to take them back to their cars �failed to materialize. The crowd included many elderly people and children; 30 people needed medical attention at some point in the night, and seven had to be taken to the hospital. Totally unbelievable. Trump is now saying that if you vote for Biden there’ll be no school, no Thanksgiving, no Christmas, no weddings, no birthday parties. Where does he actually live? There’s none of those things now and he’s in charge. As for the pandemic, here’s todays stats: US: 81,181 new cases yesterday and 1,016 deaths - in one day! Michigan: 3,534 new cases yesterday and 21 deaths. Kent County: 361 new cases yesterday and 1 new death. Last night I watched a post from the President of Spectrum Health. He said, and I quote: ‘this is the second wave and many are hoping it is the peak. I believe we may at the base of the mountain looking up’. Frankly, this morning’s figures confirm this. So, across America, cases are rising alarmingly. People are still arguing against the masks and distancing although Ive never heard any complaints about hand washing. Here’s what I wonder. There is loads of footage of Trump supporters (if you want to watch) and they are all braying about what nonsense the virus is etc etc. But I am sure a number of them have contracted the virus and landed in hospital - and we never hear the ‘I was wrong’ speech from them. I think back to the summer and the Sturgis Rally and all those bikers who then traveled home and spread the virus to their near and dear. It just amazes me how selfish and arrogant people are. Last weekend, before she traveled to Canberra to visit her aunt and her 88 year old grandmother, Zoe took Oliver and herself to be tested for Covid as they both had a slight cold. She then waited for their results (thankfully negative) before packing her suitcase. Because thats how grown ups behave. I read an article about how Canada has dealt with the virus. The focal point of the article was this, from New York Times: Some of Canada’s success is probably cultural and would have been hard to replicate in the U.S., as Ian Austen, a Canadian who has covered the country for The Times for more than a decade, told me. “There is generally a lot of deference to authority in Canada,” Ian said. Deference to authority - hmm. Does that mean that some people such as scientists and doctors who have gone to college for at least 4 years and might actually know something that we (the general public) don’t know? So when they suggest that wearing a mask might cut back on the number of infections - they’re actually right? �And this I just had to share: Crooked Media.: CNN reported today that Jared Kushner boasted to Bob Woodward back in April about Trump “getting the country back from the doctors,” and said without a shred of irony that “the most dangerous people around the president are overconfident idiots.” Biden 2020: Look, Just, Everything Jared Kushner Said. �So far, over 75M American have voted. Yesterday I watched Governor Whitmer, Lieutenant-Governor Gilchrist, Attorney-General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson talk strongly and reassuringly about voting safely in Michigan and describing the counting process. Once again, the only person without a mask was the sign language interpreter. You can check online to see if your ballot has been received and both Craig’s and mine were received at the end of September. Governor Whitmer said that it might take 2-3 days to count all ballots and we shouldn’t expect a result on Tuesday night. Trump is ready to claim victory NO MATTER WHAT on Tuesday night. If he does, imagine all those angry voters who didn’t vote for him, me included. Ah, fun times. 5 days, 5 days, 5 days................ Oliver ��He loves daycare. Tomorrow is their virtual Halloween Parade and he has Batman pajamas for his costume. This takes me back! So 3 years passed before Craig was invited to be a speaker on a cruise again. This time it was a New York Times Cruise and was our first cruise with Maureen Dowd an op-ed writer for the Times and Carl Hulse, the Washington Bureau Chief for the Times. We embarked in Singapore and Craig and I had a day and a night to explore Singapore some more. �������From the top: a storm rolling in as we watched from our hotel room; exploring Singapore; Belitung shipwreck artifacts - The Belitung shipwreck(also called the Tang shipwreck or Batu Hitam shipwreck) is the wreck of an Arabian dhow which sank en route from Africa to China around 830 CE. The wreck has given archaeologists two major discoveries: the biggest single collection of Tang dynasty artefacts found in one location, the so-called "Tang Treasure"; and the Arabian dhow, which gives a new insight into the trade routes between China and the Middle East during that period. Wikipedia Craig was very excited to see the salvaged cargo from the ship as it was part of the Maritime Silk Roads. Next, Craig in front the Singapore Parliament site; the next morning while exploring before sailing, we saw a marathon being run; the Marina Bay Sands Casino Hotel at night. ��5 days. Numbers are climbing. Wear a mask. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-10-29_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-232 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-10-29 Title A name given to the resource Day 232 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a8101145f17a1ae29056f7423c4e9c6d.pdf 539ae4bf927caee11207468fc64ef7a1 PDF Text Text Day 233. 4 days out. 4 days out. 4 days out. by windoworks ��Its all about the virus . Yesterday, in the US, after several days of at least 70,000+ new cases a day, we surged to 90.446 cases IN ONE DAY! I guess Dr Micheal Osterholm was right - we’ll make 100,000 cases a day any day now. In Michigan we saw 4,108 new cases yesterday and 45 deaths and lastly, Kent County had an increase of 316 new cases and 3 deaths. Kent County’s positivity rate is over 7%. This email came from Spectrum Health: We are at a critical time as we are experiencing a big spike of COVID-19 cases in West Michigan. The number of patients and testing positivity rate is higher than anything we have seen since the pandemic began. And we are seeing COVID-19 significantly affecting the old and the young. This has the potential to challenge our region’s Intensive Care Units and hospitals. Although the numbers are climbing, we have proven that when we work together and each do our part, we can change those numbers and save lives. Here’s what you can do: Do your part. COVID-19 has been challenging in many ways. But we need everyone to keep doing preventative measures because they work. Limit gatherings, even small ones, as the research shows that most of the transmissions of the virus are happening in small groups. Continue to wash your hands, please wear a mask and social distance. Staying the course is our best chance at limiting the spread. Thank you for doing your part. Darryl Elmouchi MD And this is for all those who think they’re young, fit and healthy and will ‘get over the virus quickly’ . A cautionary tale: FB post In the past six months: I landed in the hospital because my chest pain was so bad that it required iV pain killers and my fever required iv fluids. I’ve had pneumonia twice. My lung capacity has been reduced because of lung fibrosis (damage) I’ve had pleurisy I’ve had inflammation of the cartilage in my rib cage I’ve had so much brain fog. I haven’t thought straight for 6 months. I constantly have to go back and do things twice. I can’t drink alcohol because my liver is inflamed and the alcohol makes me feel bad now. I have had chest pain and shortness of breath every single day. I can only walk for exercise. Anything more and I cannot breathe normally. Before March 16 I used to do spin classes 3/week. My resting heart rate is 101. It used to be 55. Today I just left the cardiologist because I’m going to have to have two different echocardiograms and a MRI to determine the severity of my heart damage. Covid is scary. Covid can cause an inflammatory response that doesn’t land you on a vent but can be life �changing. I would be characterized as having a “mild to moderate” case of coronavirus. My cardiologist is hopeful but doesn’t know what to do about me. It’s not in my head he says! I’m his tenth patient in September who has come to him with these long term symptoms. Average stats of “long haulers” as we are called is 44 (me!) a woman (me!) and previously fit/healthy and no preexisting conditions (me!) �And is kind. NPR Members of a Quaker congregation in Maryland are so concerned that President Trump will prematurely declare victory when states are still counting ballots — a process that could take days — that they are ready to take to the streets in nonviolent resistance. They say such a scenario would amount to a "coup" — even if it involves legal fights and not military action. With Election Day less than a week away, anxiety, distrust and suspicion are running high. Activists and extremists on both the right and left are worried the other side will somehow steal the election, and they're making plans for what to do if they believe that's happening. �Experts in global conflict warn that this is a toxic brew and that conditions are ripe for conflict and maybe even violence in the U.S. There's a good chance that no clear winner will emerge on election night, and experts are concerned about what will happen after that — especially if protesters and counterprotesters collide in the streets. Several human rights and conflict resolution groups that typically monitor elections abroad, mostly in fledgling democracies or places where sectarian violence could erupt, are now turning their attention to the United States for the first time. People on both sides of the political spectrum feel this rising tension, too. Global conflict experts say it's not inevitable that the election or its aftermath will devolve into chaos. But they say it's crucial for political leaders on all sides to deescalate tensions in case there's a long contested election. "Probably the biggest issue is the president of the United States right now, who has portrayed himself as somebody who, you know, is not necessarily interested in calming the waters," said Stephen Pomper, senior director for policy at the International Crisis Group. He added that Trump "might actually court unrest in order to serve his political and personal goals." Still, Balian at the Carter Center hopes it won't come to that. "We have become intolerant, we have started dehumanizing the other side," Balian said. "We are at the edge of an abyss, and we better see this and try to step back before it is too late." It appears that I am not neurotic and this is not all in my head. So far, more than 80M Americans have voted: Democrats, Republicans and Independents. There’s still 4 days before the end of voting. This may be the biggest turnout ever, and if every single vote is not correctly counted, there’s going to be millions of pissed off people. So this morning we got up early and went down to Trader Joe’s. We got there as they opened the store and when we went in, that made a total of 16 shoppers in the store. We bought enough supplies for the next 2 weeks. Partly in case there’s chaos after Election Day and partly because the case numbers are climbing and case studies suggest that 20% of grocery store workers are asymptomatic. Thats 1 in 5. Pay attention people - thats just grocery store workers. In Eastown, Harmony Brewing (and their sister premises, Harmony Hall on the west side) are closed due to a staff member testing positive. They are not sure how long they will be closed. And a successful gym in Eastown, Allegra Coaching is closing its doors at the end of the year. The virus has proved too much. Daylight saving ends on Sunday morning - a real sign that winter is upon us. �Halloween and Oliver (he has no idea). Don’t you just love that face? ��Not the batmobile but close enough. Our next port was in Phuket. ����Phuket is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands off its coast. It lies off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Phuket Island is connected by the Sarasin Bridge to Phang Nga Province to the north. Wikipedia Our day tour was by boat and our ship was anchored at sea. Our first stop was at a Buddhist shrine in a cave. I think we were warned not to touch or feed the monkeys. More Phuket adventures tomorrow. I wanted to say thank you to all the readers who have stayed with me for 233 days, or just over 34 weeks. I had no idea I would be writing every day for this long and at this moment, I can’t see an end point. Maybe March or April next year. So as ever, stay safe, stay well and keep your chin up. Here’s something to make you laugh: �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-10-30_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-233 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-10-30 Title A name given to the resource Day 233 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7a2217833ff76281d049f4c3c796e76b.pdf 59843b68759dbaacc3d446e3d11993cd PDF Text Text Day 17,459 – oh all right, Day 234. by windoworks ��What does this map mean, Pamela? It means this: • On Friday, Covid Act Now reports that Michigan is recording 25.7 new COVID-19 cases each day per every 100,000 residents -- a number that the research group considers “critical.” • Any number higher than 1 is considered “medium” and anything above 10 is considered “high.” A state has reached “critical” standing if it reports more than 25 daily new cases per every 100,000 residents, according to the group. • Michigan is not the only state experiencing an active or imminent COVID-19 outbreak -- in fact, most of the country is. All states, excluding Hawaii, are labeled at either high risk (orange) or critical risk (red) for a COVID-19 outbreak. Well thats a scary start to the day, isn’t it? And from Crooked Media - Donald Trump and his Large Adult Surrogates have three days left to convince voters that the virus sending their neighbors to the hospital doesn’t exist, and by golly, they’re gonna try. �A perfect weekend to hold 17 rallies! President Trump kicked off his Campaign of Death Farewell Tour with a stop in Michigan, where he ran through a litany of his favorite coronavirus lies, including the baseless conspiracy theory that doctors are fraudulently inflating the number of COVID deaths for cash. Meanwhile Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) is now in quarantine after appearing alongside COVID-positive Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA) at a rally that violated Georgia state limits on public gatherings, and will have to do the rest of his voter suppression over Zoom. After all, if coronavirus denial doesn’t pan out, there’s always pretending the voters don’t exist. �And if that didn’t bother you - in a 3am tweet (because Trump never sleeps) he said: “If Sleepy Joe Biden is actually elected President, the 4 Justices (plus1) that helped make such a ridiculous win possible would be relegated to sitting on not only a heavily PACKED COURT, but probably a REVOLVING COURT as well.” Because, as we all know, he believes he owns the Supreme Court. They are there to do his bidding, Here’s what the Constitution of the United States says: The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. It doesn’t say anywhere: the Supreme Court of the United States shall do the President’s bidding. In fact it only mentions Congress as controlling the appointment of courts. There is increasing discussion of the Trump stench - an odor not unlike that of skunks - a strong, nose wrinkling smell that is almost impossible to wash off with ordinary soap. Here’s some thoughts from the New Yorker: The right-wing intelligentsia has formed three broad categories of response to Trump. The most enthusiastic, on the right, have defended the president unreservedly. The most disgusted (“Never Trumpers”) have denounced him, and often his enablers as well. In the broad middle of conservatism is a third category of conservative. These are the conservatives who will occasionally acknowledge Trump’s flaws even while supporting him broadly. They will ruefully and sarcastically bemoan his childishness, egotism, and self-destructive habits without ever urging a course of action that might stop him (Democratic control of Congress, enforcement of congressional oversight, impeachment, voting for Joe Biden). The conservatives could make a case for supporting Trump despite his racial politics. Instead they present his racial politics as a point in his favor. One day, after Trump is gone, they will make it out that they never liked the racism. But the stink will cling to them nevertheless �This is a photo of the line up in El Paso Texas. These are people waiting to be tested for Covid-19. In Utah, the numbers of people needing hospitalization is so high that in less than a. weeks time, they will have to start making war zone decisions - which patient can we do nothing more for which will free up a ventilator for someone we might be able to save. Locally, Blodgett Hospital has opened up a 3rd covid ward as the first two are full. And here’s a chart from CNN which shows the increasing speed of the virus: Here's a look at the progression of cases: • Johns Hopkins recorded the first case of coronavirus in the United States on Jan. 21. • 98 days later, on April 28, the US hit 1 million cases • 44 days later, on June 11, the US hit 2 million cases • 27 days later, on July 8, the US hit 3 million cases • 15 days later, on July 23, the US hit 4 million cases • 17 days later, on Aug. 9, the US hit 5 million cases • 22 days later, on Aug. 31, the US hit 6 million cases • 25 days later, on Sept. 25, the US hit 7 million cases • 21 days later on Oct. 16, the US hit 8 million cases • 14 days later, today, the US hit 9 million cases �But what are the stats for today, I hear you ask. Here they are, but remember, I just report them. US: 98,959 new cases overnight and 971 deaths. The US total cases stand at 9.12M and the total deaths so far are 230K. Michigan: 3,234 new cases overnight and 13 deaths. Michigan total cases stand at 193K and total deaths so far are 7,664. Kent County: 418 new cases overnight and 0 deaths. Total cases stand at 15,528 and total deaths so far are 186. Here are the top 10 ways to reduce your COVID-19 risk, according to infectious disease specialists at Spectrum Health: 1. Wear a face mask in public and in groups—always. 2. Wash your hands as frequently as possible—use soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer. 3. Try not to touch your face. 4. Avoid crowds. Stay at least 6 feet from anyone not in your household. 5. Avoid contact with frequently touched surfaces and objects. 6. Restrict gatherings to less than 10 people. (This may seem extreme, but as we go indoors more, it’s even more important.) 7. Skip the potlucks. Bring your own food and drinks to a gathering, and have just one person serve all shareable food. 8. Avoid contact with anyone who is sick—and stay home if you feel sick. 9. Avoid indoor visits to bars and restaurants. Order take-out instead. 10. Skip the carpool and ride separately. And if you do ride in a vehicle with someone outside of your household, wear a mask. �And after all that, a photo of Oliver to cheer you up: ��Caption: Oliver in the bath, with ducks. After our visit to the Buddhist Grotto, we climbed back on our boat and went to a floating village. ����It really was a floating village and in the photo of us together I think we’re standing on the football pitch. The scenery was spectacular. It was such a different way of life. �Here we are then. 3 days out. Who will win the election? How long will it take to count the votes? Will the case count reach 100,000 a day tomorrow? Will the pandemic ever go away? 3 days out. What insanity will I report on tomorrow? Who knows? 3 days out. 3 days. Please stay safe today and forget about the candy -its not worth getting sick for. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-10-31_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-234 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-10-31 Title A name given to the resource Day 234 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d3e440487ea5f740e84ff34e70162f4a.pdf 11b88f0021ec05572ca68ef8d19c01d5 PDF Text Text Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Stuff Day 235. 2 days. Terra Incognita by windoworks Last night we watched the last Gardeners World for the year. Monty Don and his dogs and his stunningly beautiful garden, Longmeadow, have been a Friday night balm since April. At first he used handheld cameras and his family to film, and then in summer, the BBC laid miles of cables across the garden and installed remote cameras so that he could talk and demonstrate gardening techniques entirely on is own. At the beginning of April, he asked people across the world to send in videos of their gardens and 80,000 people did. Each episode featured several home gardens and many featured young children learning to garden. Monty and his team entertained us, educated us, comforted us and all the while acknowledged what a dreadful year this was. The phrase ‘if you look after your garden, it will look after you’ rang true, week after week. And Monty didn’t care if you lived in an estate or a tiny one bedroom apartment with only windowsills to put your garden on. Even the tiniest collection of potted plants could bring comfort and joy. Winter is almost upon us and I will miss Monty’s kind, smiling face until March or April next year. And yes, I’m crying as I type this. �The Atlantic America’s political schisms are so profound that we risk a repeat of the 1850s, when the country was on the precipice of the Civil War. Two Atlantic writers warn that the 2020s could mark another dangerous decade for the American experiment. This time, the split is between those who embrace the country’s diverse future and those who fear it. Should Donald Trump win, America will enter an 1850s-style death spiral. On the left and right, “extremism will spread, mutate into new forms, and gradually become entrenched in more areas of American life,” Anne Applebaum argues. A Joe Biden victory wouldn't necessarily soothe the nation's wounds. Especially if the GOP deepens “its reliance on the most racially resentful white voters,” Ronald Brownstein writes. So here we are. 2 days out. Here’s what Trump has done: Washington Post An analysis by The Washington Post found that nearly three out of four opinions issued in federal votingrelated cases by judges picked by President Trump were in favor of maintaining limits on voting rules in the 2020 campaign. The pattern shows how Trump’s success installing a record number of judges in his four years in office has played a critical role in determining how people can vote this year and which ballots will be counted. There are many articles predicting chaos after Election Day and a local friend sent me this last night: �Have you heard? Millions of people are planning to protest in the streets if Trump loses the election and refuses to leave office – it's called Protect the Results. This is a coalition of more than 100 organizations that are committed to protecting our democracy if Trump throws our country into a manufactured constitutional crisis. Here's the plan: we will hit the streets in our communities and demand that every vote be counted, even if it takes days or weeks to get an accurate count from critical states, especially given the expansion of mailin and absentee voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to ensure that the loser of the election concedes and that Congress, the Electoral College, and state officials honor the accurate, final vote count. And all the while, the virus is spiraling out of control here in the US. Washington Post President Trump’s repeated assertions the United States is “rounding the turn” on the novel coronavirus have increasingly alarmed the government's top health experts, who say the country is heading into a long and potentially deadly winter with an unprepared government unwilling to make tough choices. “We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, said in a wide-ranging interview late Friday. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.” Fauci, a leading member of the government’s coronavirus response, said the United States needed to make an “abrupt change” in public health practices and behaviors. He said the country could surpass 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day and predicted rising deaths in the coming weeks. He spoke as the nation set a new daily record Friday with more than 98,000 cases. As hospitalizations increase, deaths are also ticking up, with more than 1,000 reported Wednesday and Thursday, bringing the total to more than 230,000 since the start of the pandemic, according to health data analyzed by The Washington Post This morning I watched an earnest plea online from the CEO of Spectrum Health here in West Michigan, asking us to mask up, maintain physical distance and wash our hands. Yesterday Kent County recorded 424 new cases and 1 new death. The graph is going steeply upward to the point it is almost vertical. And here’s what scares me: New York Times Gone are the days when Americans could easily understand the virus by tracking rising case numbers back to discrete sources — the crowded factory, the troubled nursing home, the rowdy bar. Now, there are so many cases, in so many places, that many people are coming to a frightening conclusion: They have no �idea where the virus is spreading. “It’s just kind of everywhere,” said Crystal Watson, a senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who estimated that tracing coronavirus cases becomes difficult once the virus spreads to more than 10 cases per 100,000 people. In some of the hardest-hit spots in the United States, the virus is spreading at 10 to 20 times that rate, and even health officials have all but given up trying to figure out who is giving the virus to whom. Yesterday was Halloween and some houses in Eastown gave out candy in very inventive, safe ways: �����I feel as though we have reached the edge of the known world. In 2 days we will enter uncharted waters and Terra Incognita (unknown lands) lie ahead. I am tired and scared and too mistrustful to really be hopeful. Last night there was another shooting in Grand Rapids. I’ll leave you with this because, somehow, it seems appropriate. I'll send an SOS to the world I'll send an SOS to the world I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle, yeah Message in a bottle. HELP. �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-01_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-235 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-01 Title A name given to the resource Day 235 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a9fdf2a51a5ac0dd82e3bac8b820d11d.pdf 76ee46dbce91ffcb3cb3698c5e283635 PDF Text Text Day 236. The election eve. by windoworks ��It has arrived. Tomorrow the United States decides who will be our president for the next 4 years and who will hold the balance of power in the House and Senate. There are mad scrambles by the Republican Party to find Republican judges in various states to overturn thousands of mail in ballots. In Texas a judge threw this case out, so today the party has asked another more sympathetic judge to hear their case. Here’s an opinion piece from Washing Post about covertigo which resonated with me. Every day is Blursday. While we’ve been struggling through the pandemic, another malady has swooped down on us. It has no official name — so let’s just call it covertigo. It feels like a loss of balance in a world spinning out of control. Years from now, psychologists will surely have a better name for this collective fog. In some cases, it can be serious. There are clear indications that rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness, unmanageable anger and the threat of self-harm are on the uptick. We are feeling wobbly and off balance in part because norms have been shattered and far too many lives have been lost. Even friends who are still with us are lost to us in other ways if they root for the wrong team. Covertigo is not just an outgrowth of our politics. It’s an outgrowth of the current brand of politics practiced by the man who lives in the White House. When constant lying becomes part of the daily discourse, it’s no wonder that our sense of reality is distorted. In the last days of campaigning to hold on to an office he does not deserve, the president is claiming that hospitals earn more money when patients die of covid-19 — a reprehensible lie. He is still claiming that the United States has rounded a corner even as infection rates are surging in nearly all 50 states. And he is continuing to hold massive rallies in defiance of common sense and best practices. Covid-19 has spiked in several townships and cities following Trump rallies. This is a man who is not interested in stability, and his rhetoric and actions show he is not tethered to reality. �I think I passed overwhelming some weeks ago. Sometimes as I research and cut and paste words into my fact file (it has stopped being big and fat), I have an out of body experience. I feel as though this is a tale I am somehow caught up in - like those mazes where you cannot find the way out. Hampton Court in England has a maze and it features a panic button. You press the button and a doorway opens to let you out of the maze. But there is no way out of our situation. We are stuck waiting for tomorrow to dawn and hoping - when the votes are all counted, it might be over. I cannot explain how high my anxiety level is. I am not a weak woman, I have striven to be strong all my life, but nothing has challenged me like this. On FaceBook I cannot look at friends posts where they have their faces pressed together (friends and relatives) and are smiling at the camera. I know they are smiling because they’re not wearing masks. I ask myself - are all those 20 or so people in the same bubble? Are they safe or are they at risk? And then the answer comes to me and this I know to be shamefully true: I don’t care. I have the capacity to care about Craig and myself (and Murphy our dog, I guess) and to strive to keep the two of us safe. We have been here, in our house, since March 11. This has been our choice. The thought of one of us catching the virus, going to hospital and perhaps dying alone while the other one stays trapped inside our house, is dreadful. I can hear you saying: oh Pamela, that’s a bit over dramatic! No its not. There’s only the �2 of us here in the US. All our family live far away, mostly in countries that handled the virus aggressively, and are maintaining careful contract tracing. Did you know that the US has pretty much given up on contact tracing as the case numbers are so massive, no one has the capacity to trace contacts any more. Instead, virus sufferers are asked to notify their own contacts. I have no stats today as none are ever gathered over the weekend. Don’t ask me, I don’t know. You would think that in this country with all its assets and capabilities, they would be able to tabulate the virus over the weekend. On Friday Kent County had over 400 new cases. There is no end in sight and oh, here’s a really cheering tidbit: New York Times Trump suggested at a rally that he might fire Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, after Election Day. Fauci had told The Washington Post that the U.S. “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” heading into the winter. �And here’s the thing that bothers me. After the election is over, if Trump loses, he will have approximately 2 months to do whatever he likes before Inauguration Day on January 20. �Here’s this from NPR: Americans have cast a record-breaking 93 million early ballots as of Sunday afternoon, putting the 2020 election on track for historic levels of voter turnout. That's almost twice as many pre-election votes as were cast in the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Elections Project, a turnout-tracking database run by University of Florida professor Michael McDonald. McDonald calculates that nationally, voters have cast nearly 68% of the total votes counted in the 2016 election. And if Trump wins (by fair means or foul), I cannot imagine what life will be like. And that’s the point. No one is prepared to believe the polls or the predictions. And all the while, Trump fans continue to intimidate and harass voters. People have had lawn signs stolen or desecrated, online posts have been trolled, Biden car rallies have been threatened by Trumpers. There is such ugliness all around. On Sunday, while the wind howled (really) and the light snow fell all around, we drove out to Lake Michigan to take a break and look at the waves, while we ate our morning tea. Craig got bravely out of the warm car to take these photos: ���Its hard to tell from this perspective but the waves were huge and they were undercutting the beach in front of us. The temperature was right on freezing. We sat and gazed at the waves and the sand blowing hard along the beach, and we thought of nothing at all. It was wonderful. Tomorrow is an unknown country. Who knows what will happen? �Maybe. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-02_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-236 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-02 Title A name given to the resource Day 236 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/01979a79443ae1498576da047a1d5ec0.pdf 77ac7a840229d436616a537d996c5ed6 PDF Text Text Day 237. Election Day. by windoworks Well here it is. Apparently Trump held his final rally at the Gerald R Ford Airport in Grand Rapids last night around 10:30pm. Earlier in the evening a police car with lights flashing and siren blaring came racing down our block and almost hit Craig as he was turning the car into our driveway. It didn’t take �long to find out why there were so many sirens - a drive by shooting outside Wealthy Market. The victim sustained a head injury and was in critical condition in hospital last night. My neighbors remember a time when you automatically locked your car doors when driving down Wealthy, but in 17 years, I’ve never felt the need. Yesterday my neighbor was picking up some supplies at a hardware store and 2 men with long beards walked through the store, maskless, and glowering at everyone. In the afternoon we went to the grocery store to buy bread for the freezer, and the customers were buying cartloads of groceries. I have never heard the term ‘hunker down’ used so frequently before. So, just because its 2020, I had to go to the dermatologist’s office yesterday. To back up: about a year ago I noticed a small hard object on the edge of my groin. My dermatologist said: its nothing, just a cyst - and its common among athletes (Flattering but no). If it changes, call me. Well, 10 days ago, it changed. It got much bigger, inflamed and sore. I was supposed to see the doctor on Friday but the appointment was mysteriously postponed to yesterday. Then yesterday the appointment was moved to later in the afternoon and with my doctors PA (Physicians Assistant). This rescheduling all came about because some of the staff at the practice tested positive. So, nervously double masked (damn, its harder to breathe with 2 masks on), in I went. Many small injections of painkiller and 20 minutes of the PA carefully removing all traces of the cyst etc, etc. she then packed the wound with a string soaked in antibiotic and iodine. I must point out that she and her assisting nurse had on double masks and she had a disposable jacket on, gloves and a face shield as well. When the painkillers wore off, OUCH, and it is painful this morning. At lunchtime I go back to the practice and she will remove the string (Eeeeww). Then a last visit on Friday to make sure all is going well. In the meantime I’m taking more antibiotics and with these ones you can’t lie down for an hour after taking, and no dairy foods for 2 hours afterwards. Lovely. �The polls opened at 7am and people were already lined up. I have gotten a number of posts saying ‘If you are in line at 8pm and the polls close, STAY IN LINE. You can still vote’. And here’s a handy voter protection chart. �My newsfeed is full of predictions and warnings. Here’s this: Washington Post: President Trump is signaling that Election Day could be followed by a stretch of uncertainty and chaos as a purge of top officials, legal challenges to election results and potential �resistance to a normal transition cloud the prospects for an orderly post-election period no matter who wins. Among the possible scenarios is a quick effort to fire or sideline Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, whose prominence and increasingly pointed criticism of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic have angered the president. Trump, speaking at a rally in Ohio recently, openly suggested that he might throw a wrench in the transition process if Biden prevails, making unfounded claims that his own transition was undermined. “They ask me, ‘If you lose, will there be a friendly transition?’ Well, when I won, did they give me a friendly transition?” Trump said. “They spied on my campaign. They did all this stuff. That was not a friendly transition.” Trump has also complained about mail-in voting, erroneously casting much of it as fraudulent and falsely claiming that it is unusual or dangerous to continue counting ballots after Election Day. That has prompted a frustrated reaction from Biden. “What country are we in?” he said when Trump declined to commit to a peaceful transition. “Look, he says the most irrational things. I don’t know what to say.” Biden’s team is preparing for the possibility that Trump, should he lose, would block hundreds of Biden officials from gaining access to government resources as required by law. Top Biden transition members have discussed potential legal responses and are eyeing other ways, should Biden win the election, to begin what could be one of the most volatile transfers of power in American history, occurring at a moment when the economy is in shambles, coronavirus cases are on the rise and emotions are raw after a divisive election. More than 100M Americans have already voted. That is a staggering number. Does it foretell a change? Who can say. �Meanwhile, in ongoing senseless acts of desecration, this happened at a local Jewish cemetary: �Who knows what will happen today, or tonight, or in the days to come. There is fear and uncertainty all around. And all the while, the pandemic surges ahead, sweeping everything aside in its path. Remember I said no statistics on Sunday? Michigan had 6,634 new cases by yesterday and Kent County had 720 new cases bringing us to a total of 15,715 cases. I am beginning to hear about people I know who are sick. Crooked Media President Trump suggested at one of his superspreading rallies that he might fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election, after Fauci told the Washington Post that the U.S. “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” for the fall and winter. Here’s just a glimpse of what Trump has personally contributed to that poor positioning: A Stanford University study estimated that Trump’s rallies were directly linked to at least 30,000 infections and 700 deaths—and that’s before Trump went into campaign overdrive during the �last few weeks of accelerating outbreaks. In the great tradition of ending one’s campaign by killing a few more people closer to home, Trump reportedly plans to hold an indoor election-night party at the White House, with some 400 guests. Apropos of nothing, this is a great article on how Trump set the stage for a catastrophic White House outbreak (from the reporter who made that outbreak public), and this is another on how we might still learn more about the White House cluster through genetic sequencing. And from Washington Post: A top White House coronavirus adviser sounded alarms Monday about a new and deadly phase in the health crisis, pleading with top administration officials for “much more aggressive action,” even as President Trump continues to assure rallygoers the nation is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic. “We are entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic … leading to increasing mortality,” said the Nov. 2 report from Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force. “This is not about lockdowns — It hasn’t been about lockdowns since March or April. It’s about an aggressive balanced approach that is not being implemented.” Birx’s internal report, shared with top White House and agency officials, contradicts Trump on numerous points: While the president holds large campaign events with hundreds of attendees, most without masks, she explicitly warns against them. While the president blames rising cases on more testing, she says testing is “flat or declining” in many areas where cases are rising. And while Trump says the country is “rounding the turn,” Birx notes the country is entering its most dangerous period yet and will see more than 100,000 new cases a day this week. Does anyone else keep thinking about Nero fiddling while Rome burned? Like a light burning brightly in the darkness, here comes Oliver to lighten up your day - because who can resist this cutie? ����We’re on the razor’s edge and peering into the Great Unknown. Wherever you are, stay safe and hold fast! Tomorrow then. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-03_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-237 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-03 Title A name given to the resource Day 237 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a154c8f9b78d814ae40e3c7333091aaf.pdf 0b21c4937c5a9388e52eb3afac7a183c PDF Text Text Day 238 by windoworks ��That says it all really. I think I had 12 stories from the Washington Post in my inbox this morning. I didn’t read them. But here’s what I think. The fact that it is so close is enormously disturbing to me. Almost half of all voters voted for Trump. Yesterday the BBC interviewed 2 women waiting in line to vote in Detroit. They happily told the interviewer that they were voting for Trump because they just loved him. They had no idea of his policies (slash and burn, I think), but they just loved him and said every time he talks he speaks straight to me. And that’s the most heartbreakingly depressing thought to me. I ask myself - what has happened to America? But I know the answer. Trump leads half of America to believe that he will take them back to that magical time of the 1950s. That time when immigrants and colored people knew their place - well and truly at the bottom. That magical time when every sitcom was about a middle class middle American white family. Where women knew their place - barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. Where the biggest goal in any woman’s life was to find a good husband who provided well. And where every ugly thing was hidden, swept under the carpet and never acknowledged. Where the rich got richer and the poor struggled on with the Republicans calling them lazy and ignorant. So here we are, and it isn’t over yet. New York Times has Biden just ahead and Trump starting to call fraud. The number of yet to be counted absentee ballots in the 8 uncalled states is enormous and anything could happen. But my heart has gone out of the race. Think of every negative human belief and trait and then think that almost half or more Americans ascribe to that. Yesterday I FaceTimed with my brotherin-law in Sydney Australia. He expressed what the rest of the world must be thinking: isn’t the US such a joke now? My oldest son in New Zealand said it was like a real life comedy show that New Zealanders are thoroughly enjoying as they read the latest news from the States. �I cannot sufficiently express my disappointment. Shame on all the people who voted for Trump and his acolytes. Mitch McConnell easily (easily) won his seat. Its a wonder anyone can find him in his D.C. office, the pile of unseen House bills not brought before the Senate must reach to the ceiling by now. And thats a really sore point for me - I have been on a number of boards and there have been occasions when a board member has presented a proposal that few board members supported, but at least it was presented to the whole board for voting. It would be fair if all those House bills had been presented to the Senate but not supported - thats how a government is supposed to work. �This morning Canada has announced that they are looking for 400,000 immigrants per year for the next 3 years - so there’s that light at the end of the tunnel. And Canada has managed the virus MUCH better than here. Ahhh, the virus. So half America believes (a) that we’re rounding a corner and (b) if you get it, it’ll be just some sniffles, nothing more. In our conversation yesterday, my brother in law asked if Trump really had Covid. At this point, I’m pretty sure he didn’t. I think of that episode as Trump theater. Unfortunately Walter Reed Hospital is the loser in this event - I wouldn’t go there for treatment if I was bleeding out on the sidewalk outside. And lets be real - if Chris Christie (similar weight and health issues) got the virus at the same time and from the same event and ended up in hospital for a week on oxygen and is still convalescing at home - then Trump didn’t have a 3 day episode of Covid. He had pretend Covid. But, how is real America doing? Stats: in a very scary week the US has swung between 91,000+ - 99,000+ cases a day. In Michigan we had 3,664 new cases yesterday and Kent County had 361 new cases, continuing its 300 - 400+ daily average. Kent County also had 4 deaths yesterday which I believe is the most number of deaths in a single day since March. Grand Valley State University raised its alert level to High, one step below critical. In Craig’s online classes yesterday, 4 students have been quarantined. In Kent County, the percentage of positive cases reached 15.2% yesterday - higher than any other Michigan County. The virus is creeping closer to us, house by house. The internet and the telephone remain my only contacts. I am truly at a loss for words. As I write this, this came into my newsfeed: Washington Post: For four years, President Trump has sought to undermine the institutions of a democratic society, but never so blatantly as in the early morning hours of Wednesday. His attempt to falsely claim victory and to subvert the election itself by calling for a halt to vote-counting represents the gravest of threats to the stability of the country. Millions of votes remain to be counted, votes cast legally under the laws of the states. Until they are all counted, the outcome of the election remains in doubt. Either he or former vice president Joe Biden could win an electoral college majority, but neither has yet done so, no matter what he says. Those are the facts, for which the president shows no respect. A president who respected the Constitution would let things play out. But Trump has shown once again he cares not about the Constitution or the stability and well-being of the country or anything like that. He cares only about himself and retaining the powers he now holds. And so he cries “fraud” when there is no evidence whatsoever of any such thing. And yes, this brings the tears to my eyes. The United States of America is no longer a beacon of hope to the world. Some other country will have to assume that mantle. No words. No words. No words. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-04_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-238 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-04 Title A name given to the resource Day 238 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ffda4ce6b9e5c347b23deeed83304466.pdf fe06468e50adcd09882c1b8bfe4d0fa6 PDF Text Text Day 239 by windoworks New York Times This is a dark and dangerous moment for American democracy. A sitting president has spent months telling lies about non-existent voter fraud. Now that his re-election bid is in deep trouble — but with the outcome still uncertain — he has unleashed a new torrent of falsehoods claiming that the other side cheated. He has demanded the Supreme Court intervene to decide the election in his favor. His supporters are staging protests in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania meant to interfere with legitimate vote counting. In Phoenix, some have showed up at the State Capitol with guns (as you can see in this short video taken by my colleague Simon Romero). The worst democratic outcome — in which judges appointed by the president’s political party intervene to overrule the apparent will of voters — seems likely to be avoided. The Supreme Court has shown no signs of halting vote counts, and Joe Biden’s leads in the decisive states may end up being large enough to avoid the election hinging on the sort of ballot-counting minutiae (like hanging chads) that decided the 2000 result in Florida. �But President Trump’s actions are still causing significant damage. They undermine his supporters’ faith in the country’s government. They also undermine the credibility of the United States around the world. And they force election officials, journalists and social-media platforms to choose between telling the truth and sounding nonpartisan; it is impossible to do both about Trump’s election claims. In the simplest terms, the president of the United States is attacking American democracy in an effort to remain in office. And with that, my (renamed) fact file is empty. This is the state of play. In Michigan and Arizona, Trump supporters have surrounded the vote counting centers with guns (of course) and are shouting ‘stop counting votes’ because, as we all know, if you don’t count them, you won’t hear the will of the people. �Yesterday I watched Joe Biden speak, calmly and quietly. He emphasized several times that elections are by We the People. Presidents are chosen by We the People. Governments govern by the will of We the People. At the same time, Democratic supporters have mounted demonstrations and are shouting ‘Keep counting’. This has become a deeply divided country. There is talk resurfacing of letting the civil war play out as apparently the outcome was never resolved. There is also talk of dividing this country formally into Blue States of America and Red States of America. There is a lot of talk about let’s try to understand the other side. Let’s talk to each other. Be kind. I would just like to say that I have striven all my life to be kind and I hope I have achieved some measure of it. But now I am asked to be kind to people who refuse to wear a mask and consider me a sheepie for doing as I was asked. To make overtures to people who decided that �the best thing for Michigan in an uncontrolled pandemic was to take away our Governor’s executive powers because closing the state down in a perilous situation where doing so might mitigate the rising virus numbers - was a gross overreach of her authority. Because their right to absolute freedom far outweighed my right to stay healthy and safe. Lets see how close Trumpers are prepared to come to meet us. Compromise only works when both sides meet in the middle. I believe that this is how life works - try to meet in the imperfect but livable middle. But of course Trump has taught his followers well. Their rights are always paramount and greed is good. I have often wondered how the religious right equate Trump beliefs with those of Jesus, who is always held up to their congregations as the gold standard of Christianity . Maybe they’ve erased those portions of the Bible which show him as a compassionate man. But, religion is a discussion for another day. And all the while, the virus keeps creeping, sliding into every careless and unguarded nook and cranny. Tell us the stats for today, Pamela, I hear you ask. Well okay, but I think you better sit down first. Yesterday the US recorded 107,771 new cases. 107,771. The US case total is now 9.58M. Deaths recorded yesterday: 1,616. The total deaths from Covid-19 in the US now number 234K. Lets visualize 234,000 small heart flags in a lawn, one for each death. How far would those flags reach if they were 12 inches apart? We are reaching that moment when the numbers become unimaginable, simply too big to grasp properly. In Michigan there were 4,327 new cases recorded yesterday and 25 new deaths. In Kent County (where Craig and I live) there were 463 new cases and 3 new deaths. So here we are. In some states they are again utilizing freezer trucks to contain the bodies as morgues are once more overwhelmed. Hospitals have begun converting surgical wards into Covid wards in an attempt to manage the influx of positive patients. Scientists are researching and discussing long term effects such heart problems, fatigue etc. And there is a disturbing theory emerging that one of the long term effects may be the development of Parkinson’s Disease. The virus has become this unseen enemy, lurking around every corner. My friends and I are all sequestered inside our houses, communicating online or by phone. This is the tenuous thread that holds us all together. So here is Oliver, come to cheer us all up. ��Every morning I wonder what I will have to write about and every morning, somehow, I write. This is always as true an account of the day as I can find. Stay well, stay safe and always, stay kind. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-05_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-239 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-05 Title A name given to the resource Day 239 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6bbd3a4421fa20df6fb6b643bcb0524e.pdf 8fff3c7da1d65630fd9f3a5cc16d2096 PDF Text Text Day 240 by windoworks Every morning , after breakfast, Craig takes the dog out for a long walk and I sit in bed and write this post. And each morning it is harder to write than the day before. I persevere though, because months and months ago, I applied to have this blog saved in the Pandemic Archive at Grand Valley State University and it was accepted. Every week, Craig forwards on a weeks worth of the blog and every so often we hear back from the woman collating. She always says thank you and keep them coming (although in more academic terms than that). And that keeps me writing. First because it allows me to shout my feelings (fears and hopes) into the great internet void to be picked up and read by interested browsers; and secondly, because one day, far, far into the future and some researcher is wondering what it was like to live through the 2020-2022 pandemic, there will be my blog to consult. Last night, the supposed leader of the free world, lurched into the press room at the White House and spewed spurious lies and fantasy for 15 minutes. Apparently, the larger proportion of news channels cut away from this event fairly quickly. What a momentous occasion. Whatever happens now, the sitting President is becoming an also-ran, that ranter to whom we all say: yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all before. How dismissive is that? �Yesterday I read a post that began with this: From a friend: An anguished question from a Trump supporter: ‘Why do liberals think Trump supporters are stupid?’ The writer listed 24 egregious actions/words of President Trump, each followed by his supporters acceptance/approval and then the writer ended the post thus: What you don't get, Trump supporters, is that our succumbing to frustration and shaking our heads, thinking of you as stupid, may very well be wrong and unhelpful, but it's also…hear me…charitable. Because if you're NOT stupid, we must turn to other explanations, and most of them are less flattering. I am so tired of all the vitriol. I watched Stephen Colbert do last night’s opening, standing, and dressed entirely in black. He was visibly upset about the White House press room episode, at one point he took several seconds to get his emotions under control. One of his angriest points was that no Republican had said anything and silence means agreement. I have never seen him do a cold, angry, distressed opening before. Joe Biden spoke again yesterday afternoon and said again - this is a democracy. The people will decide who wins the presidency. As I write this, this morning, there are 3 states still in flux. If Biden wins one of them, he wins the presidency. �It has been a long four years. It has been especially hard because Barack Obama was such a decent man. But that is when the divide in the country began to show itself. One half of the country loved and admired Obama, and the other half of the country were speechless that a black man - a black man! should have the audacity to run for the highest office in the land - and succeed! And then along came Donald - and you know the rest. And right in the middle of the pandemic, he is quietly taking away civil service rights and protections, which will allow him to fire Dr Fauci; he’s stripped away protections from Alaska’s Tonga’s National Forest - one of the world’s largest intact temperate rain forests. But here’s the thing: the logging industry in Alaska has now declined almost completely - and no company is really eager to start logging again, as far as I can tell. Now to the virus. Its not just on the increase in the US but all over Europe. However, the US is in a terrible position. Here are the stats for today, and once again, I suggest you sit down. The US recorded 121,504 new cases yesterday. Thats a staggering number. And thats only the people who were tested. The real figure might be ten times that number. We added 1,108 deaths in the US yesterday. Just so we all understand - that’s 1,108 people who probably died on a ventilator in a hospital room, perhaps totally alone or perhaps with a nurse who was covered in so much PPE, they had to have a photo of themselves on their chest so patients could tell if it was a man or a woman. And then their body was probably placed in a refrigerated truck until the overwhelmed undertakers could collect it and give it some sort of burial or cremation. As Anna Navarro said on The View: a relative drops their loved one off at the ER - and never sees them again. In Michigan, our governor has asked the predominantly Republican legislature to help write a state mandate for the wearing of masks outside the home. If they won’t work with her, she will have to enlist the help of the Michigan State Health Department. They have the ability to issue such an order - but it would hold a lot more clout if it came from the State. In Michigan we had 6,010 new cases yesterday and 50 more deaths. Remember how the experts said the deaths would begin to increase after a week or so? And lastly, here is Kent County (and I almost can’t type this) we had 633 new cases and 5 more deaths yesterday. In one day. The hospitals are either full or almost full and they are discussing setting up a field hospital in one of the large empty venues downtown. The Michigan Health Department had issued an order asking all restaurants and cafes to have their patrons sign in to facilitate contact tracing, but apparently that was either too hard, or a violation of a customers rights. Aaaaaagggghhhh! And to demonstrate just how hard this is for brew pubs, restaurants and cafes, a week ago, on the day that Harmony Hall was to reopen after months of being closed, a staff member tested positive. So both Harmony Hall and Harmony Brewing closed. Yesterday Harmony Brewing was able to open again but another staff member at Harmony Hall tested positive, so that venue remains closed. �If you were wondering, I have visited my dermatologists so frequently that even the receptionist knows me by name. The wound is slowly improving and just as I became adept at sponge baths, I am now allowed to shower again. Yippee! And here is Oliver at daycare, reading a book. ���Before I leave you today, I’ll remind you that no matter what Trump says, the virus is not rounding a corner, and if it is, its rounding a corner and increasing exponentially. So mask up! Wash you hands! Stay far, far apart from others outside. ��� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-06_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-240 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-06 Title A name given to the resource Day 240 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6847dfcdfaee2974115ccf768acb9aa1.pdf ca87af5d26027549e7001c4312a94fa3 PDF Text Text Day 241. Saturday November 7 ……and they’re still counting by windoworks All indications are that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be our next President and Vice President. In Trump World, people have begun to resign, saying falsely “Its been my privilege, yada, yada, yada”, while other people say: who cares - and who are you? Biden is already ramping up his transmission team while being entirely surrounded by a ramped up 24 hour security team. In an unsurprising development, Mark Meadows, Trump’s Chief of Staff, has tested positive for Covid-19. Because the administration and the White House learnt absolutely nothing from the Rose Garden superspreader event. To at least half of all Americans, news/confabulation from the current White House has reached that - Really? But how’s the vote count going? moment. Sadly, with the avid Trumpers, their anger, rampant racism (and every other negative thing you can think of) are becoming more and more obvious and blatant. You know, soon this will be over and all indications are that Biden/Harris will be �declared winners. And then all those with opposing yard signs and flags living right next door to each other, will have to find a way to live together again, on the same street. Will this happen? I don’t know. My family in Australia have wondered why Joe Biden was chosen as the Democratic candidate. Surely there was someone younger and more charismatic they asked. Trump was initially thought of as charismatic and look how well that turned out. I believe Joe Biden is the steady hand on the tiller, the kind, compassionate man who listens to both sides and tries to get the opposing sides to find a middle ground that all can live with. Someone who thinks before he speaks and sleeps at night, rather than twitterstorming arrant and destructive nonsense all night long. As a friend said; I want a president that I don’t have to think about every moment of every single day. I want a president who will let me get on with my life. Hear! Hear! Thats what I want too. In ever frightening daily virus news, the US recorded 132,797 new cases yesterday. I have heard predictions that that number may double going forward. Here in Kent County and adjacent Ottawa County, numbers are beginning to spiral upwards. The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (close to Detroit) has asked all students to return home at Thanksgiving (Thursday November 26) and not return to the campus. I think they are planning all online classes for the winter semester. At GVSU, half of one of Craig’s classes have tested positive. GVSU will close at Thanksgiving and most students will return home to stay until the end of the winter semester in April. There are still some international students who have been living at GVSU since March and they are still unable to return to their homes. The state of Michigan recorded 4,287 new cases yesterday and 50 deaths. Kent County - 388 new cases and 8 new deaths, Ottawa County (where GVSU is located) recorded 225 new cases yesterday - at least double the usual daily numbers. At a Thursday afternoon briefing alongside the governor, Michigan’s chief medical executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said she was “very concerned” about the state of the outbreak. “We are really at a tipping point right now when it comes to COVID-19 in the state,” she said. “Our rates are rising exponentially and we have general community spread.” She said the state’s numbers of new cases daily are now five times higher than in early September. While every region of the state is seeing more cases, the worst figures are in Southwest Michigan, West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. The percentage of positive tests each day has been rising for five weeks, with the seven-day average now above 8%. Public health officials say a rate below 3% shows community spread is controlled. Khaldun said in about half the cases investigated, the patients have no idea where they picked up the virus. And one of Craig’s students tested positive and she has no idea where she picked up the virus. But she and her 3 housemates now have to isolate. �People are beginning to wonder what the world will look like after the pandemic subsides. Here’s 8 predictions from Columbia Threadneedle Investments: PEAK GLOBALIZATION Companies will start to think more about where stuff comes from — both in terms of consumption and supply chains. They will question over-reliance on certain countries. Diversification of manufacturing could mean changes in manufacturers’ capital spending. CASH TO CARD ACCELERATES The use of credit cards could grow as people are forced to shift from offline to online shopping and as many physical stores no longer accept cash for hygiene purposes. HEALTH AND HYGIENE Rules and regulations will step up, particularly in China where pressure will grow to regulate its food industry given the source of the virus outbreaks. We’re also likely to see more telehealth, including mental health coaching and video-based medical consultations. Issues like antibiotic resistance and other global health challenges could get more attention now that the world understands the economic impact of health crises. WORKING FROM HOME BECOMES MORE ACCEPTED Companies are now forced to enable working from home, and it could become a more acceptable way of working. This has implications for computer equipment and cloud computing investment, as well as commercial real estate and travel, as companies evaluate their need for office space and business trips. PERCEPTIONS THAT TECH AND PHARMA ARE SHIFTING We’ve all relied heavily on technology platforms, including social media, during the isolation period. In the longer term, tech firms will benefit from stronger user growth and rising engagement, while privacy concerns and government attacks may diminish. Pharmaceutical companies may also see a less adversarial environment as they work to develop drugs and therapies to address COVID-19. ONLINE CONSUMPTION GROWS Online consumption is rising, especially for groceries, education and broader retail. What started out of necessity for many may perhaps become the norm. This is likely to accelerate certain trends already occurring within retail (e.g., fewer physical locations) and online grocery delivery (which was already growing 100% year-over-year for some retailers).1 The set of online experiences is also likely to grow — many gyms are switching to streaming exercise classes, and many schools and universities have shifted to online courses. It’s possible that these changes could become permanent. RISE OF THE GREEN AGENDA Countries are now seeing the benefits of cleaner air and waterways, and they may try to find ways to �maintain these positive changes post-outbreak. Boosted by fiscal stimulus, we might see a greater push for the green agenda and rising investment in things like renewable energy and electric vehicle infrastructure. THE RISE OF MORAL CAPITALISM Companies may have a fundamental reset and look more toward their purpose like their impact on the environment, their customers, community, employees and the supply chain. Corporate scrutiny may also accelerate in a post-COVID-19 world. So there we are. Lots to think about. Is it Oliver time yet? ��His sleeves are rolled up because the cars are sitting in pink goop. Don’t ask me, I’m only the grandmother. A word from the scientists (you know, those highly educated people who know stuff and update their knowledge every single day) don’t line your nostrils with hand sanitizer it will not stop you breathing in the virus droplets. Don’t spray sanitizer in the air over your dinner party food. It won’t help and it will make the turkey taste funny. And hopefully, this: �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-07_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-241 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-07 Title A name given to the resource Day 241 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1a8117a3eaa9450e6dc2cf8594139b63.pdf 69764e2e576350796fd9cd4e21b1ac42 PDF Text Text Day 242: oh happy day! by windoworks And this is the way it ends. Not with a bang but with a WI/MI/PA. My fellow Americans, the people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory. A victory for “We the People.” We have won with the most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket in the history of this nation -- 74 million. I am humbled by the trust and confidence you have placed in me. I pledge to be a President who seeks not to divide, but to unify. Who doesn’t see Red and Blue states, but a United States. And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people. For that is what America is about: The people. And that is what our Administration will be about. Joe Biden President-Elect of the United States of America And just like that, Trump begins to fade into the background. I am sure he will try to say the results are rigged and he actually won - but no he didn’t. Joe Biden has won 290 electoral college votes - 20 more than he needed. All across the country people celebrated by dancing in the streets and making a joyful noise. I was watching the news feed on my phone and suddenly the Associated Press called it. Craig and I �danced together on our front porch under our rainbow flag. My niece Elle danced in the dark and the rain with a lantern in Cornwall, England. And then we all cried. We all cried for a promise of sanity and reason, for an end to trampling all over proper rules and restrictions. Cried for an end to abolishing carefully thought out procedures and regulations to such things as clean air etc. And lastly, we cried for the 238K Americans - mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, sons, daughters, cousins and friends who have died, alone and struggling to breathe, because the President of the United States didn’t know how to do his job. In the Truman library there is a sign which President Truman kept on his desk during his presidency. It reads: The buck stops here. It means that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions. Just in case anyone forgot, here are some of Trumps most famous quotes when speaking of the virus “It is what it is”; Its rounding a corner”; “Its just going to fade away”; “I lied about how bad it was because I didn’t want people to panic”. I think the buck slipped off his slimy shoulders and landed on the floor. NBC News LONDON — Sighs of relief rippled through the capitals of the United States' traditional allies Saturday after Joe Biden became president-elect. Many leaders have been battered by four years of the convention-smashing President Donald Trump, and see in Biden a counterpart who will try and return America onto a path of multilateralism and international cooperation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had a fraught relationship with Trump, was among the first world leaders to issue a statement congratulating Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. “Our two countries are close friends, partners, and allies. We share a relationship that’s unique on the world stage," Trudeau wrote. "I’m really looking forward to working together and building on that with you both.” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo was less diplomatic. "Welcome back America!" she wrote on Twitter. "Congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for their election!" German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas welcomed the "clear figures" that propelled Biden to victory. “We look forward to working with the next U.S. government. We want to invest in our cooperation for a new transatlantic beginning, a new deal," he wrote on Twitter. Relations with NATO, and in particular Germany, were strained under Trump, so a new U.S. leader will be greeted warmly by many in the military alliance. From a friend on FaceBook: �I hear that Trump's legal squad has tried to spin up some lawsuits claiming voter fraud, and that courts have been throwing the cases out due to lack of evidence. I think it's adorable that Trump honestly thinks he can just claim something and we're all just supposed to go along with it. I wish I could be in the room when someone has to sit down the current US President and explain to him how "evidence" and "burden of proof" works. And, �Last night, having discovered that my streaming TV allows me to watch news in real time, Craig and I watched Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris and President-Elect Joe Biden speak on an outdoor stage in Wilmington, Delaware. People sat on the tops of their cars before the stage and cheered and waved flags and even though you couldn’t see their smiles through their masks - their eyes said it all. Kamala Harris came onstage entirely dressed in white in a nod to the suffragettes who fought so tenaciously for the right to vote. I know you all know she is the first Black Indian woman to be elected to the office of the vice presidency. Here’s something she said that resonated with women across America: �This morning Joe and Kamala are beginning to work. Sadly Joe cannot enact any orders or programs until January 20, but he is already putting together a task force of (gasp!) scientists and experts to work on a virus strategy. As he has said (and Dr Fauci): we have to work on getting the virus under control to allow us to work on the economy. And speaking of the virus: yesterday the US recorded 12,156 new cases bringing the case numbers to a total of 9,96M - and that’s just up to yesterday. There were 1,013 new deaths bringing the total number of deaths to 238K. �In Michigan, there were 6,283 new cases yesterday, bringing the total case numbers to 229K. There were 60 new deaths bringing that total to 7,943. In Kent County there were 447 new cases bringing the total number of cases to 18,993. There were 2 new deaths bringing that total to 209 deaths altogether. I’m starting to wonder if it is just spreading through the air. Two days ago in Denmark, the authorities ordered the slaughter of all farmed minks, (17 million) as they had detected a mutant form of coronavirus in the minks which was transmittable to humans. The more troubling question here, is what does this mean for vaccine efficacy? And this: �So Oliver has found his voice and he never stops “talking”. I have an adorable video of him walking across the grass to 2 ducks, shouting “duck, duck, duck” all the way - but its too big to attach. So you’ll have to make do with this instead. ��To finish, here is the happiest news of all: See you tomorrow - and be careful out there. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-08_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-242 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-08 Title A name given to the resource Day 242 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e592cd5e187b073ef1b6b1009645d919.pdf fdc65009c5abf87fa904cac9bfc5294d PDF Text Text Day 243. by windoworks Because apparently thats Trump’s game plan. Yesterday was the best day. It was sunny and warm and we drove to the Muskegon State Park and drank coffee and looked at the wide, sparkling expanse of Lake Michigan. There were a few other cars in the parking lot and we all smiled at each other. After we had finished our coffee, Craig went for a walk along the shoreline and found this: �Then we came home and our neighbors were doing chores in the sunshine and chatting and joking over the side fences. We talked to Zoe and Oliver via FaceTime, and then I FaceTimed Zar. Zar said it was the happiest he’d seen me look in months. All in all, a good day, the sort of day that I remember from before the pandemic. And then this morning the news feeds are full of Trump’s Last Stand. His maliciousness is brimming over and we in the country; Democrats, Republicans and Independents are prisoner to his rage. Here’s this: �I wish this was how he was, but that’s a visual of Anderson Cooper’s words. Instead, Trump is planning to hold rallies across the country and mount even more lawsuits, seeing his first 10 were quickly laughed out of court. What bothers me most is that only 2 prominent sitting Republicans have said anything at all supporting Biden’s conclusive win. New York Times: Only two Republican senators — Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have acknowledged Biden’s win. “At some point, truth, freedom and democracy have to ascend,” Romney said, “and you step aside.” All the rest of the Republicans are under the thumb of Godfather Trump who is vowing to run the Republican Party forever. Here’s a really distressing example of what might unfold over the next 72 days until Biden and Harris are formally sworn in. Washington Post: A Trump administration appointee is refusing to sign a letter allowing President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to formally begin its work this week, in another sign the incumbent president has not acknowledged Biden’s victory and could disrupt the transfer of power. �The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as give access to government officials, office space in agencies and equipment authorized for the taxpayer-funded transition teams of the winner. It amounts to a formal declaration by the federal government, outside of the media, of the winner of the presidential race. But by Sunday evening, almost 36 hours after media outlets projected Biden as the winner, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy had written no such letter. And the Trump administration, in keeping with the president’s failure to concede the election, has no immediate plans to sign one. This could lead to the first transition delay in modern history, except in 2000, when the Supreme Court decided a recount dispute between Al Gore and George W. Bush in December. Because we did! Craig and I and Elle my niece and Zar, my son. And hundreds more, all across America and the rest of the world - I’ve seen the video clips, I’ve heard the cheering. I’ve watched the video of the Native American man who got out of his car in a busy street somewhere in New Mexico and performed a celebration dance while all the cars and people around him whistled, cheered and honked their horns. Remember when Trump was elected and after the horror and shock wore off, we all hoped that he would rise to the occasion and become a reasonable, responsible man, using his enormous power wisely? So why should we imagine he would be gracious or even compliant in defeat. Last week he said this: �But of course that’s just another lie, one of 22,247 lies in 1,316 days - and that figure was from August 27. Since then he hasaveraged 50 more lies a day. �Ah, the virus. Yesterday’s count is not up (because Sunday) but CNN has recorded 105, 927 new cases and with that, the US tips over 10M cases. Doctors and researchers are saying they cannot understand why people are failing to understand the importance of mask wearing, physical distance and hand washing. They also cannot understand why people who have been alerted by contact tracers and advised of their close contact with a person who has tested positive and is displaying covid symptoms - they cannot understand why these people won’t isolate for 14 days but go happily back out into society and possibly spread the virus further. They are now saying that sociologists will have to explain it. Well, why are they surprised when Trump re entered society, maskless, after 3 days. I’m going to stop there as I can feel the steam coming out my ears. �And here’s a piece from NPR: "To build an effective government ready to address the urgent needs of our great country, the new president will have to recruit 4,000 political appointees, including 1,250 who require Senate confirmation; prepare a $4.7 trillion budget; implement a strong policy agenda; and assume leadership of a workforce of 2 million civilian employees and 2 million active duty and reserve troops," said the leaders of the bipartisan Center for Presidential Transition in a statement on Sunday. A daunting task in the best of circumstances. CNN Health: With 42 states reporting at least 10% more new Covid-19 cases this past week, according to JHU, an emergency physician at Brown University warns that the United States is "heading into the very worst of this pandemic." "We're about to see all of these little epidemics across the country, crossed and mixed, and it's going to be an awful lot like pouring gasoline on a fire," Dr. Megan Ranney told CNN's Fredricka Whitfield Sunday. And also from CNN Health: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris say they will move the US Covid-19 pandemic response in a dramatically different direction. “The pandemic is getting significantly more worrisome all across the country," Biden said on Friday. "I want everyone to know on day one, we're going to put our plan to control this virus into action." There were dauntingly high new case numbers last week, and by the time Biden takes office January 20, the influential University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation model projects there will be more than 372,000 Covid-19 deaths -- that's 135,000 more than the current total. So here we are. A despotic, insane fat man with delusions of grandeur is refusing to even acknowledge his loss and that his time is over; a capable, honest team ready to try and address the hundreds of egregious actions taken by the Orange Buffoon; the world leaders across the world willing and eager to work with sane US leaders again; and an unknown rabid Trump supporter in a little known government position, refusing to write the transition letter which unlocks the funding for a smooth transition - which apparently Trump has to sign. Good luck with that. 72 days. In the words of Bette Davis in All about Eve. Fasten your seat belts. Its gonna be a bumpy ride. ���Everyone - put your hands in the air, like you just don’t care. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-09_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-243 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-09 Title A name given to the resource Day 243 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dc837541c22695fc6fbb564c411ad949.pdf bc39ebd4bf65f93ea8c5437b83e821f6 PDF Text Text Day 244. 8 months exactly since we began sheltering in place. by windoworks Every morning Craig asks me: what are you going to write about today? And the truth is - I never know until I begin to write. Some days there are so many saved quotes and memes that some things just never make the cut. On other days the fact file is thin and then the blog becomes more personal. Today it is mostly about the virus. This morning we were talking about the beginning of the virus. I often forget that Craig is an historian and this colors his thinking. I am not an historian much the same as I am not a musician like Craig (although I cannot count the number of times I have been asked both those questions). So, for me and my friends, the realization of the possible length of the virus and its consequences dawned on us slowly. I remember telling my daughter in March (I think) that I would not be able to visit her at that time. Then we all realized that the family vacation we had all planned for Christmas, traveling in the South Island of New Zealand, was not going to happen either. After that we have become much more cautious in our planning. Of course Craig realized the probable length of the pandemic, because of his research on ancient pandemics and the 1918 flu pandemic. Now we all understand the probable length and outcome, but even so, the new daily numbers are harder and harder to digest. Washington Post: It took only 10 days for the country to move from 9 million cases to what is expected to be its 10 millionth case Monday. By comparison, it took more than three months for the country to go from no cases to 1 million in late April. As I write this, I note we have moved over 10M cases and are on our way to 10.5M cases. Also from Washington Post: Public health officials issued dire warnings: “Down this current path lies [a] continued rapid rise in cases,” Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, wrote in a Twitter thread. “More people on ventilators. Higher numbers of people dying. More survivors with long term consequences. Hospitals under pressure until they can’t provide care for everyone anymore.” Yesterday President-Elect Joe Biden issued this plea: Please wear a mask. For yourself and for your neighbor. At least half of America isn’t listening. And just in case you were ignoring the news, here’s these tidbits: • Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) declared a state of emergency and announced a statewide mask mandate on Sunday night after months of resistance. “Our hospitals are full,” he said. “We cannot afford to debate this issue any longer.” (Antonia Farzan) • Nursing home covid-19 cases rose four-fold in surge states. (AP) • For the second weekend in a row, St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center, one of Idaho’s largest hospitals, was unable to admit any new patients because its staff was overwhelmed with a high volume of �cases. (Farzan) • Cruise ships will not return to U.S. waters with passengers onboard until 2021. (Shannon McMahon) • Thousands of screaming, cheering college students stormed the field after Notre Dame defeated topranked Clemson in football on Saturday night, a jubilant moment that soon drew criticism in light of the campus’s recent surge in cases. (Farzan) There is news of a successful vaccine trial by Pfizer, but before you rip off your mask and dance in the streets - it still needs more trials and ratification and then sorting out distribution (looks like UPS and FedEx at this point). And then who gets it first? �So now we’ve got that straight, here’s the respected doctors and scientists already working on PresidentElect Biden’s Covid-19 Advisory Board: 1. Luciana Borio was director for medical and biodefense preparedness on Trump’s National Security Council until she left last year before the pandemic. She is now vice president of the technical staff at In-Q-Tel, the Central Intelligence Agency’s investment arm, and a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. 2. Rick Bright, an immunologist and vaccine researcher, who was ousted by Trump political appointees in April as the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. 3. David Kessler, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who served as commissioner of the FDA from 1990 to 1997, under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton 4. Vivek Murthy, who as surgeon general during the final three years of Barack Obama’s administration commanded 6,600 public health officers during the Ebola and Zika outbreaks 5. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the associate dean for Health Equity Research at Yale medical school. Murthy and Kessler have been regularly advising Biden for months. 6. Zeke Emanuel, an oncologist, chairs the medical ethics department and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, where he’s also vice provost. 7. Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, teaches at Harvard’s medical school. The prolific author founded Ariadne Labs, a health systems innovation center between the hospital where he practices and Harvard’s School of Public Health 8. Celine Gounder cares for patients at Bellevue Hospital Center and teaches at New York University’s medical school. While on the faculty at Johns Hopkins, she directed delivery efforts for the Gates Foundation-funded Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/TB Epidemic. 9. Michael Osterholm directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, where he chairs the Department of Public Health. 10. Julie Morita, who served as the city of Chicago’s health commissioner for two decades, is executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 11. Loyce Pace is executive director and president of the Global Health Council. She has worked with Physicians for Human Rights and Catholic Relief Services. 12. Robert Rodriguez is a professor of emergency medicine at UCSF medical school, where he practices in the emergency department and intensive care unit of two major trauma centers in the Bay Area. The Harvard medical school graduate has authored papers on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of frontline providers. In July, he volunteered to help with a critical surge of coronavirus patients in the ICU in his hometown of Brownsville, Tex. �13. Eric Goosby, also a professor at UCSF medical school, was the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator during the Obama administration. Later, he was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General as a special envoy for TB. During the Clinton administration, he was founding director of the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest federally funded HIV-AIDS program, and the interim Director of the White House’s Office of National AIDS Policy. Rebecca Katz, the director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center, and Beth Cameron, director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council during the Obama administration, are serving as advisers to the transition task force. And in more from Washington Post: Biden plans to call Republican and Democratic governors to ask for their help in developing a consistent message from federal and state leaders,” Yasmeen Abutaleb reports. “He will urge governors to adopt statewide mask mandates and to provide clear public health guidance to their constituents, including about social distancing and limiting large gatherings. It’s Tuesday and the stats are in. In the US we had 130,553 new cases on Monday. And we had 745 deaths. In Michigan we had 9,051 new cases (there is no indication that this is anything else except a one day count). Michigan’s deaths have now reached 8,008. And here in Kent County (and this is for Sunday and �Monday) 985 new cases - almost 500 new cases a day. We had 10 new deaths. Total cases: 19,978 and total deaths: 219. If you look at the curve for Kent County, its pointing between 12:30 and 1pm. Kent County’s positivity rate seems to be at about 15%. I can remember Dr London (Chief Medical Officer for Kent County Health Dept) saying a few weeks ago, we don’t want our positivity rate to go over 4%. From New York Times: Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s public health school: “We are entering the hardest days of the pandemic”. In the meantime, insanity (and another virus outbreak) reigns at the White House. The Guardian The Republicans might need him for the January run-offs in Georgia, but he could be considered a liability. If he’s acting like a crazy person, senators are going to keep their distance. People will move away from him if there’s nothing in it for them any more. It’s not like he has any friends, anyway. It’s grim for him. Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric also know their relationship with their father is both conditional and transactional. I have been saying since 2016 that I was going to have to change my name. I think they’re going to have to change theirs. As for saying he’ll run in 2024, that’s just a face-saving exercise. It’s a way of distracting him from the fact that he’s probably going to prison. But the worst thing Donald’s looking at isn’t financial difficulties or the prospect of jail. It’s becoming irrelevant. I don’t think he would ever recover from that. Mary Trump is a psychologist and author of Too Much and Never Enough Authors note: Mary Trump is Donald Trump’s niece. I think her most telling sentence is - people will move away from him if there’s nothing in it for them anymore. But just to make you laugh in these fraught days: �And �I like this next one a lot. �So here we are. 8 months later, a sitting President and his henchmen refusing to acknowledge the election is over and Donald lost (Jim Carey as Biden and the Loser joke - will I ever stop laughing?). As the days pass the focus has shifted to the President-Elect and his Vice President-Elect as they begin appointing their teams and start to outline the first priorities on Day One. And just in case you’ve forgotten - Donald didn’t have any priorities EVER that were proactive. His priorities have always been destruction coupled with ‘what’s in it for me?’ Today I’ll end with Oliver who always looks at me as I answer FaceTime smiles and says either ‘car,car’ or ‘birdie bird’. He never stops talking. He’s obviously in the right family. If you’re not paying attention, he raises his voice to be heard. Definitely a Benjamin. ��Its NAIDOC week in Australia. National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance. It was initially a day celebrated in July, but is now extended to a week and was moved to November during the pandemic. Its a fuzzy photo but at daycare the carer painted the soles of his feet yellow, black and red and he’s ‘painting’ the paper with his feet. Stay vigilant, stay careful, stayed masked and stay far far away. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-10_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-244 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-10 Title A name given to the resource Day 244 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/11cbe6e892f5dca8737bd25be0952d48.pdf 3df763f6479c63956d6245bb6695ec48 PDF Text Text Day 245 by windoworks We'll meet again Don't know where Don't know when But I know we'll meet again some sunny day Keep smiling through Just like you always do Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away Smiling through. Hmmm. Here’s where we are: in limbo. Because Trump refuses to concede the election, President-Elect Biden doesn’t have access to the daily security briefings that the incoming President should be having, and at the same time, rumor has it that Trump doesn’t attend briefings and doesn’t care. So who’s in charge of the country Pamela? I hear you ask. No bloody idea. This is what Catastrophic looks like. This is the chickens coming home to roost moment. If more reasonable people had bothered to vote in 2016, Hillary Clinton would have won the electoral college vote as well as the overwhelming number of popular votes. At this moment in time, the United States would have had a proactive leader guiding us all through the pandemic. We would (of course) be wearing masks, carefully distancing, washing our hands and doing our best to help bring the numbers down. Two very applicable sayings: careful what you wish for, and may you live in interesting times. The second one is a Chinese curse. Well this is as interesting a time as I never wanted to live in. This morning I gave up on eating my breakfast. My stomach simply refused to accept the food. My wonderful, calm, pragmatic husband admitted to feeling sick every morning this week listening to NPR as he prepared breakfast. And he’s angry. Craig doesn’t really do angry, unlike me. I seem to live in a cocktail of anger and despair. I read your messages of love and hope from countries far away and I smile but I know they have no place here. Joe Biden is continuing on as if the transition of power is a normal one, and every little bit of me hopes that somehow it will be all right in the end - it just isn’t the end yet. You know that is the hardest part. After all the responsible (and irresponsible - think Fox News) news outlets called the election for Joe Biden on Saturday, we enjoyed one day, Sunday, of burgeoning hope. And then Monday dawned and all that hope drained away. This morning I watched a video of Senator Chris Murphy (D - Connecticut) speaking on the Senate floor. He described in accurate terms what Trump and the Republican Party are trying to do - completely destroy both the �United States of America and democracy itself. They are doing it by constantly lying to the American people. In this election where the votes are still being counted, Trump and his despicable enablers are telling the American public that the steadily increasing numbers of votes for Joe Biden are a fraud. They are illegal. Donald Trump won this election and anything else is a lie. From NBC News: Neither the Constitution nor federal law requires losing candidates to concede presidential elections. So why, besides civility, does this matter? Although not legally necessary for a new president to take power, a concession remains useful for two main reasons: It begins a smooth transition of power across the executive branch, and it makes it clear that losing candidates won't encourage their followers to seek to achieve through violence what they couldn't achieve at the polls. And if you’re wondering. Here’s this: ��And there it is. In the middle of a catastrophic pandemic completely out of control. The graph I use is showing Michigan has a total of 245K cases. Yesterday’s increase was 6,869. In Kent County we had 912 new cases, and 12 new deaths. Soon we’ll be at 1,000 cases a day just in Kent County, and Governor Whitmer will introduce a second lockdown - of wait, that’s right, the State republicans got the Michigan Supreme Court to take away her executive shutdown powers. At the same time, Republican lawyers across the country are mounting lawsuits to overturn the election results - BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT THE RESULTS THEY WANTED. There is no other reason. Equity, reason, kindness, understanding, compromise, unity, have all disappeared, incinerated on the bonfire of Trump’s vanities. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — Look, I didn’t write this stuff - its in the opening Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America: the rules by which this country is governed. Now you may not agree with all of the rules and amendments, but these are the only rules we have. We have to follow them, especially at this moment. These rules can be changed by popular vote but not in the middle of a life threatening pandemic. At this moment it needs all hands onboard to get this pandemic under control and Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board is the best first step. With Trump it really will be herd immunity. And just so you know, herd immunity means the larger percentage of the population (I’ve heard the figure 75-80%) need to have contracted the virus in order for natural herd immunity to occur. The US has an approximate population of 350M. If I have done the numbers correctly, in order to achieve natural herd immunity 280M Americans would have to catch the virus. At this moment in time, 10.3M virus cases have been confirmed, over 8 months. Do the rest of the calculations for yourself. I can’t write anymore today. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband, a sweet dog, a beautiful, comfortable, warm house and so on. I also have at least a season and a half of a compelling fantasy series to watch, which every afternoon takes me far far away from all this. Oh its a Vera Lynn song from the Second World War. It seemed appropriate. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-11_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-245 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-11 Title A name given to the resource Day 245 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/313efa070f6e3daf6486a6400c2de76c.pdf 6cdf408b0e6290278f8842eca920a843 PDF Text Text Day 246. by windoworks I don’t know what to say. Never for one moment did I think I would be living in a country where the defeated President would not only refuse to concede but would begin a series of assaults and attacks on the country’s democracy. Crooked Media A full week after Election Day, the Trump administration has continued to flip the bird at a peaceful transfer of power, top Republicans are hoping to ride that delusion to a Senate majority, and the jaws of a nation have reluctantly re-clenched. It was nice while it lasted! On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked whether he would cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, and smirkingly replied, “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.” A casual declaration of a coup? A lighthearted fascism goof, in complete alignment with what Trump has been saying in earnest? Each interpretation is more delightful than the last! At the same time, the White House has told agencies across the government to obstruct the transition (with potentially harmful national security implications), and to proceed with Trump’s budget plan for the 2022 fiscal year. If Republicans were willing to follow Trump to the brink of institutional collapse to install some rightwing judges, they’re certainly willing to go a step further to maintain their vulnerable Senate majority. Trump has even used it as a cudgel against Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA), by pressuring them to call for the resignation of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and help him undermine the state’s election, lest he fuck them over in their January runoffs. Perdue’s spokesman denied that either campaign had any contact with the White House, if the word of a couple of senators who did coronavirus-related insider trading means anything to you. �And there it is. Its not about what happens now - its about the precedent that is being set. During his run for President in 2016, Trump said, and I more or less quote: you know I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and they (his followers) would still love me. Was I the only person the world who thought, at that moment - this is not Presidential material? It is a terrible thing to see democracy being destroyed for one individual’s base needs. He wants to stay in the White House, because where else will he go? �And to look at these events from a different perspective: New York Times The political scientist Brendan Nyhan has often responded to events during the Trump presidency by asking a question: What would you say if you saw it in another country? Let’s try that exercise now. Imagine that a president of another country lost an election and refused to concede defeat. Instead, he lied about the vote count. He then filed lawsuits to have ballots thrown out, put pressure on other officials to back him up and used the power of government to prevent a transition of power from starting. How would you describe this behavior? It’s certainly anti-democratic. It is an attempt to overrule the will �of the people, ignore a country’s laws and illegitimately grab political power. President Trump’s efforts will probably fail, but they are unlike anything that living Americans have experienced. “What we have seen in the last week from the president more closely resembles the tactics of the kind of authoritarian leaders we follow,” Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House, which tracks democracy, told The Times. “I never would have imagined seeing something like this in America.”It is “one of the gravest threats to democracy” the country has faced, Ryan Enos, a Harvard social scientist, wrote yesterday. He added in an email, “The result is crystal clear and, yet, the incumbent is creating ambiguity by baseless claims.” Years ago, Craig and I visited the town of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria , to see the mountain top resort of Kehlsteinhaus or Eagles Nest, which was built as a birthday present for Adolf Hitler. This was our first visit and at that time, the parking lot (you have to ascend in a bus to the elevator which takes you to the top) was not well signposted and we had to ask a woman working in a cafe nearby. She regarded us with great suspicion and asked why we wanted to visit it. After we explained we were tourists, she gave us directions. On our second visit some years later, the directions were clear and the bus driver told us as we drove past vacant lots further up from the town, that this had been where all Hitler’s top aides had had their holiday houses - but all destroyed and no trace left. The Germans wanted no shrines built to Hitler, Himmler and the others. Why am I telling you this? Well, I want all Trump Towers renamed and Mar-A-Lago destroyed. No shrines to Trump or his family. This has (and continues to be) a shameful period in American History. And history will not be kind to Trump and his followers. His entire career will be laid bare with every little crime and misdemeanor there for future generations to see. It will be a black period in our history. At this point I’m not sure our democracy will survive it. Remember that virus that was just going to disappear because we were rounding the corner? Here’s the Stats (read them and weep). US: 142,856 new cases yesterday. Case total stands at 10.5M. Weren’t we under 10M a week ago? Deaths now number 242K with 1,431 new deaths yesterday. Are the deaths increasing faster or is it just me? Here in Michigan: 6,494 new cases to bring our total to 251K. Deaths now number 8,137 with 42 new deaths yesterday. And this is not just happening around Detroit on the east side of the state, no, part of it is here in Kent County: 429 new cases yesterday to bring the total to 21,219 cases. Total deaths are 228 with 1 new death yesterday. Washington Post A spike in coronavirus patients in some states is straining hospital resources ― not just beds and protective equipment, but now staff members who are coming down with covid-19 themselves after catching it in their communities. �In a step that illustrates how dire the staffing situation has become, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) announced Monday that health-care workers who have asymptomatic cases can stay on duty. And in Ohio, hospital executives said they will need to at least delay some care if staffing shortages continue and possibly turn people away. Officials urged the public to wear masks and distance themselves to control the outbreaks in their states. Andy Thomas, chief clinical officer at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, noted that he was concerned about people who need non-covid care ― those who get into car accidents or have heart attacks ― for whom they might not have capacity in the coming weeks if current trends continue. “We do need to make sure people are aware of how serious this is,” Thomas said. Some Governors are desperately issuing statewide mask mandates. Some are shutting sections of their state down. And some are hoping for herd immunity and that when their next reelection comes around, their constituents (those still standing) will either have forgotten or forgiven. Meanwhile, there’s this to consider: Washington Post A new study based on data from millions of Americans’ habits amid the pandemic shows that restaurants, places of worship, gyms and coffee shops rank high among the places where the virus is most likely to spread. The study didn't account for things like whether the space has good ventilation, or whether people are distancing and wearing masks, but it's a clear indication that a lot of the transmission outside homes is happening within a small category of venues. But in heartening news this morning the CDC says that research has proved that wearing a mask to stop yourself from infecting others, has the double advantage of protecting you from being infected! Is there any good news? You anxiously ask. There’s this: �And of course, we always have Oliver. ��To explain: Oliver has seen the crocodile in the Spot book and he is saying Gah! As he snaps his hands together, because that’s the noise the crocodile makes as he snaps his jaws shut. And: ��On tippy toes to reach the green ball. And all the while, President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris keep working and getting ready for the White House. My favorite moment for Joe Biden - when asked a difficult question recently, he replied: how can I answer that tactfully? Let me think. Remember tact? How nice to see it again. Well, wear your damn mask and stay far, far away from me. Thank you. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-12_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-246 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-12 Title A name given to the resource Day 246 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/309cc13f2aa4918d53f319d96ed3ea81.pdf 1d695494139cdf36089ff6c00b3d4562 PDF Text Text Day 247 by windoworks As of this morning, President-Elect Joe Biden has 290 Electoral College votes and Donald Trump has 217. Biden needed 270 votes to take the presidency. Anyway you look at this, Trump has lost. �Crooked Media. Five days after news networks called the election for Biden, some Republicans have begun to come around to the possibility that perhaps, and this is still just a theory, Biden may have won the election. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said that he would “step in” if Biden didn’t start receiving intelligence briefings by the end of the week. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and John Thune (R-SD) have agreed that Biden should have access to classified briefings, just in case President Trump’s very valid and reasonable fraud lawsuits don’t pan out. Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) went so far as to call Biden the president-elect. �• Trump’s ongoing Coup Lite aside, all it would take for the transition to proceed normally is for one lady at the General Services Administration to sign a piece of paper. Democrats in Congress wrote this lady a letter demanding an explanation for why she hadn’t done so, to be received by Wednesday. An answer, shockingly, never came. Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA) has said Democrats will now consider “next steps” to ramp up the pressure. Those steps could and should include hearings and subpoenas. While Republicans maintain their blind obedience to Trump, world leaders have begun reaching out to President-Elect Biden. Weekly update from a FB newsletter • Sighs of relief rippled through capitals of longtime U.S. allies around the world after Joe Biden became president-elect on Saturday. • Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven congratulated Biden and mentioned the need for "multilateralism" �— something the Trump administration has explicitly shunned.”My warmest congratulations to @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Looking forward to strengthening excellent US-Swedish relations and to work jointly for multilateralism, democracy and global security. Together, we can lead a green transition creating jobs for the future”. • New Zealand Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern — lauded for her response to the coronavirus pandemic and the March 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 people — celebrated Biden's victory before saying there were "so many issues facing the international community." • French President Emmanuel Macron also noted the international challenges piling up on the presidentelect's desk.”The Americans have chosen their President. Congratulations Joe Biden and Kamala Harris! We have a lot to do to overcome today’s challenges. Let's work together!” • German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom Trump has publicly criticized, congratulated Biden after he was named president-elect Saturday. On Monday, she spoke warmly of the former vice president in a speech. "I sincerely congratulate Joe Biden to his election as the 46th President of the United States of America. Joe Biden brings the experience of decades in domestic and foreign policy with him. He knows Germany and Europe well. I fondly remember meetings and conversations with him," she said. • Ireland's prime minister, Micheál Martin, offered his congratulations via Twitter. “Biden is one of the 30 million Americans who identify as Irish — his great-great grandfather emigrated from County Mayo to the U.S. in 1850. I want to congratulate the new President Elect of the USA Joe Biden has been a true friend of this nation throughout his life and I look forward to working with him in the years ahead. I also look forward to welcoming him back home when the circumstances allow!” • On the other side of the globe, Australia, an important U.S. ally and a partner in managing its relations with China, welcomed Biden's win."I particularly look forward to this with President-elect Biden because he comes to this relationship with a deep experience and a deep history," Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters Sunday. And: "I know Joe Biden as a strong supporter of our alliance," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote. "A strong NATO is good for both North America and Europe." And now for something completely different: Crooked Media: Five passengers on the first cruise in the Caribbean since March have tested positive for coronavirus. At least absolutely no one could have seen this coming, or warned vehemently against it. So, the virus. Yesterday Governor Whitmer, Dr Joneigh Khaldun and another Chief Medical Officer for Lansing, spoke to Michiganders at great length about the escalating virus. They asked us to not hold any Thanksgiving dinners unless all parties attending quarantine for 14 beforehand, starting yesterday. This is not a concern for Craig and I as we will be celebrating by ourselves. They also asked us to send just one �person to the grocery store, so our designated shopper is Craig. Our grocery store of choice is Trader Joe’s. This is because 1) you have to line up 6 feet apart outside (whatever the weather). 2)They wipe down the carts thoroughly as each cart returns. 3) They only allow 1 person in as 1 person exits. 4) You must wear a mask and 5) There is a limit of 25 shoppers in the store at one time. If we shop together, we can be in and out in 15 minutes, which is the maximum time recommended inside a busy building. If Craig shops on his own, he can do it in 10 minutes. Obviously Trader Joe’s does not have all the items we need - but those I can buy in bulk online and they are delivered to the door. Here are the 6 mistakes that Michiganders are making with the virus: Attending small gatherings (its the small lunches and dinner parties that are the culprit); Not quarantining for 14 days after exposure; Getting tested too soon after exposure (you would have to check this with your doctor); Assuming that because something is allowed, it’s safe; Assuming taking one precaution will keep you safe (all three needed - hand washing, distancing and masks); and, Assuming friends and family are as careful as you are. Something to think about - make no assumptions. Yesterday, as instructed, I downloaded MI Covid Alert app. It will notify me if I have been in contact with anyone who has tested positive. So far I have not been exposed. I know my children have similar apps on their phones in Australia and New Zealand. Our app is free and protects your privacy. Check it out. There might be an app in your state or country. I thought the virus figures I told you yesterday were alarming. Its like watching a burning building - you don’t want to look and yet you can’t tear your eyes away. US: yesterday there were 163,405 new cases and 1,171 new deaths. US totals: 10.6M cases and 243K deaths. Closer to home, Michigan had 7,474 new cases and 50 new deaths. Michigan totals: 259K cases and 8,187 deaths. And at home, Kent County had 725 new cases and 2 new deaths. Kent County totals: 22,024 cases and 230 deaths. I can’t imagine what the numbers will look like tomorrow. Now I know this is happening right across the world. The Canadian and Mexican borders are closed. Many European countries have closed their borders. Australia may not allow overseas travel for Australians until the end of 2021. New Zealand has much the same restrictions. A safe travel bubble has opened up between New Zealand and Australia, but not to all Australian states and I think New Zealanders have to quarantine when they return home. At this point both New Zealanders and Australians can only fly home from other countries by repatriation. I believe there is a backlog of people overseas all waiting to be allowed to fly. The restriction is due to the limit of quarantine facilities. And the flights are 6x the normal price for economy. Way to recoup your losses, airlines! So, to help alleviate your anxious mood, here’s Oliver. ���Is that walking like a duck? And in the Is That Hope category, from Washington Post: Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), a moderate Republican who won a tough reelection bid last week, said Biden needs to be briefed on classified intelligence — calling that process the “most important part of the transition” and one that can take place even as Trump contests the results in court. “Like any apparent winner, he should have access to office space, federal employees, materials, supplies, whatever, but the standard assistance that the apparent winner receives,” Collins told reporters on Thursday. “That doesn’t in any way preclude President Trump from pursuing his legal remedies if he believes there are irregularities, but it should not delay the transition, because we want the president-elect — assuming he prevails — to be ready on day one.” Remember; no assumptions; all 3 safety measures all the time; plan a Zoom Thanksgiving meal and watch entertaining TV - something that doesn’t need you to think. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-13_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-247 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-13 Title A name given to the resource Day 247 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ebb410f97c1d73cbc64bcbfac6b2959f.pdf 06197856f1237b87cf73012d03aaf747 PDF Text Text Day 248. Saturday November 14. by windoworks 9 months. We’ve been doing this for 9 months. I cannot see how much longer this will continue. There is at least one vaccine in the end trials and all the experts keep saying it will be available and there will be enough to get everyone vaccinated and then life will resume some form of normalcy. It sounds a bit pie in the sky to me - you can see it, but its just out of reach. You can tell I’m a bit overwhelmed this morning. It has been a couple of unrelenting days. The numbers are horrific and increasingly hard to comprehend. Here they are for today: US - 181,194 new cases and 1,389 new deaths. Michigan - 9,099 new cases and 125 new deaths. Kent County - 896 new cases and 13 new deaths. And no, I don’t think we’ve reached the peak. There are 12 days until Thanksgiving and everyone, doctors, chief medical officers, governors, mayors etc., are pleading with Americans to have a carefully controlled Thanksgiving. If you plan to gather with family, you should have been quarantining for 2 days already. Its too late to start now. Here’s the situation in West Michigan. West Michigan’s hospitals are once again being forced to postpone surgeries and other inpatient medical procedures as the number of people infected with the coronavirus continues to skyrocket in the region. Spectrum Health, the largest health care system in the region, also will no longer allow visitors in its hospitals and will only administer COVID-19 tests to people who show symptoms of the virus. They are running out of PPE, ventilators and test kits, but more alarmingly, staff. Even if they established a field hospital in DeVos Convention Center, they wouldn’t have the capacity to staff it. And unlike March/April, the staff shortage is right across the States. The ONLY preventative we have is masks. Physical distancing, avoidance of crowds and hand washing all help, but masks are essential for containing the spread. �I cannot truly express my anger at Donald Trump. Not only did he politicize the extent of the virus, he ridiculed mask wearing. Even now his followers don’t believe in the virus. I read an account from a nurse at a hospital in mid Michigan. She said that often, moments before they ventilate a patient, the person will say: I didn’t believe the virus was real and so I didn’t wear a mask. I wish I had. I have absolutely no words. Here’s an edited account of our situation: Dr. Sanjay Gupta: The pandemic has become a humanitarian disaster in the United States 12:49 PM EST November 13, 2020 In my 20 years as a journalist, I've experienced crises and devastation around the world first-hand. As this pandemic unfolds in the United States, I now count it among the worst humanitarian disasters I've �covered. I don't say this lightly. Having spent two decades traveling to the most devastated places on the planet, I have seen the awful ingredients of a humanitarian crisis: a singular event or a series of events that overwhelms the medical resources leading to unimaginable death, many of which are preventable. This week, our country passed the 10 million mark for Covid-19 cases. Nearly 250,000 Americans have died so far. A quarter million. More than all the wars, since Vietnam. It is the equivalent of 625 planes crashing this year -- nearly two every single day so far. It is friends of mine who have died, and the tearsoaked conversations I have late at night with their spouses and children. They counted on me as their friend, the doctor -- Mr Fix It -- and my stomach aches because I can't help but feel like I failed them. In my memory, they live among the 220,000 killed in the Haiti earthquake and its aftermath; among the 228,000 dead from the tsunami; among the 260,000 who perished during the Somali famine. On Thursday, the United States had a record breaking 153,496 new cases, with more than 67,000 people currently hospitalized. Hospitals all over the US are starting to be overwhelmed again, with cases rising as fast as we've seen since March. ICU capacity is shrinking in many states and staffing shortages are adding to the strain. By the beginning of next year, the number of people hospitalized, struggling to breathe, isolated from their loved ones is expected to double. There are no corners that we are rounding, we are just riding a rocket ship pointed at the stars. By March 1, 439,000 lives could be lost, according to a forecast from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine. And that, of course, is only a piece of the humanitarian disaster of Covid-19. The economic toll exacted on our society -- in jobs lost, in households pushed beyond their limits, in the shrinkage and decimation of complete sectors of our economy, in mental health deterioration, in educational losses among our school children -- has yet to play itself out, let alone be calculated and addressed. According to the United Nations, a humanitarian disaster is defined as "a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope with using its own resources." The pandemic and its impact on the US so far fits the bill. Again, forecast models predict that if we don't change our behavior, by the end of the year, we're going to have more than 300,000 people becoming infected every day. And total hospitalizations could hit 128,000 -- almost double what we have now -- by mid-January. Michael Osterholm said earlier this week on CNBC "What America has to understand is we are about to enter Covid hell. It is happening," �We've been living like the fabled frog in a pot of tepid water. At first it doesn't feel the heat, doesn't perceive the danger. But gradually the temperature goes up until the water is close to boiling, and by then, for the frog, it's too late. And all the while, Trump and his devoted followers and dazzled politicians continue to call fraud in the election. There are absolutely no cases of fraud, this was one of the most well run election processes and even now as the last votes are counted, Biden is still conclusively ahead and still the incoming president. As I write this, Biden has 306 electoral college votes to Trumps 232. Biden has 36 more votes than he needed to win. There is another scandal to follow the 2 outbreaks at the White House after 2 ill advised and poorly judged maskless, crowded events. This time it is the more than 130 Secret Service officers who protect both the White House and the president when he travels - remember the frenetic pace of campaign rallies in the last days before the election? I’m beginning to think Trump may actually be a version of Typhoid Mary, shedding the virus wherever he goes. I am sorry my blogpost has turned into a litany of disasters. It is my continuing chronicle of life in the worsening pandemic. For a while I stopped adding a flashback at the end as I felt it was too frivolous at this time. Now I think we need all the frivolity we can get, or we’ll sink under the onslaught of despair. So first, Oliver. Yesterday Oliver showed Zoe that he had caught the gastro virus plaguing daycare. At 5:30am he stood up in his cot and projectile vomited all over the room and his mother. Oh, I remember those occasions - and if you’re a mother reading this, I can see you nodding your head in sympathy. Luckily, Drew and Bernie drove over the bridge to Balmain, and suddenly there were 2 extra hands helping with the cleanup and with Oliver. Later he slept for 3 hours straight (most unusual) and then had a quiet, low energy day watching family movies on TV. ��When in doubt, pop in a pacifier. Its such a comfort. Flashback: So to refresh your memory, we were traveling towards Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, our next stop. ��Sailing across the ocean. ������Second and third photos: the amazing central market -really fragrant with all the spices for sale. The fourth photo - the busy streets of downtown Colombo. The fifth photo - a striped mosque next door to a Christian church. And the last photo - Craig lecturing onboard the ship. Our next stop is Cochin in southern India. Today, I’ll leave you with this. It captures all the anger I’m feeling. This is the fence surrounding the White House. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-14_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-248 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-14 Title A name given to the resource Day 248 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/493b252eaa87c4729e0d3b6d1182e44e.pdf 266dd72c6c45503ac0bc7209ae331366 PDF Text Text New post on Stuff Day 249. by windoworks It’s Sunday. Craig has gone out early to Trader Joe’s to be among the first in line when the store opens. Remember? He’s our designated shopper. There are 66 painful days left until the Inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden. I say painful because at a very fraught moment in the history of the United States, we have a competent man twiddling his thumbs waiting to start the smooth transition between one president and the next. Meanwhile, that dangerous fool in the White House has amused himself by playing golf endlessly and stirring up his base. Yesterday there was a demonstration in Washington D.C. which featured MAGA believers, Proud Boys, Antifa, and others. Of course, eventually it went from hurling insults to hurling actual objects, and then people got injured and some were arrested. Trump stoked the fires by driving through the demonstration, because thats what losers do. �Aaah the virus. If we had a national emergency siren it would be blaring ‘Danger! Danger! Danger!’ Right across America, everyone who has decided that they want to be with their family and friends for Thanksgiving are trying desperately to get tested for the virus. Testing posts, laboratories and contact tracers are utterly overwhelmed. Results are taking 3 - 5 days or longer. And then (and pay attention to this), that hoped for negative result is only good for that hour and that day. Experts are predicting a massive surge in cases after Thanksgiving. As we can see how well it is working out for the hospitals right now, I can’t imagine what a new surge will look like. NPR news Here are some of the big takeaways from the week in COVID-19: 1. Hospitals have never been so full 2. Parts of Midwest and the West are 'at the breaking point' 3. States tiptoe toward new restrictions, but gaping holes remain 4. New mask mandates — kinda? 5. After a long plateau, deaths are now going up 6. Even East and West coast states, that had kept cases low, are heading into trouble 7. Rural and suburban counties outpace metro counties in per capita infections 8. Long-term care facilities are getting hammered again �Apparently people in my age group are much more resilient - that is we behave ourselves, stay home when asked, distance ourselves from others, wash our hands and wear a mask. Here’s something that says it all: Craig’s students are struggling. Some have given up and moved home and are logging into lectures etc from there. Some can’t go home for Thanksgiving because they have Covid, or they’re quarantining and waiting for their test results, or their family has Covid cases and they don’t. Everyone in 2 of his classes either knows someone who is sick, is sick or is waiting to find out if they’re about to be sick. Craig spends a lot of the class time listening and reassuring and out of class time, the stream of emails from students is never ending. �On our block we are all hunkering down. We are sustained by memories of Thanksgivings past. Here are some words to live by: NPR We may not be able to defeat, overwhelm, or kick the coronavirus in the backside - more metaphors that now fall flat. But each day, we can help each other, and rise above fatigue and despair. We can wear masks, stay a social distance apart, avoid big gatherings, look for chances to make each other laugh, and help each other keep going, until that time when the masks we wear today can become souvenirs, instead of survival gear. Here’s the daily Oliver ��Helping to make damper. Damper is a traditional Australian soda bread, historically prepared by early Australians, swagmen, drovers, stockmen and other travellers. … Damper is a dough of wheat-flour-based bread and water, with some butter if available, lightly kneaded and baked in the coals of a campfire in a camp oven. Wikipedia Our next stop was Cochin (Kochi). Called the "Queen of the Arabian Sea", Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the west coast of India from the 14th century onward, and maintained a trade network with Arab merchants from the pre-Islamic era. Occupied by the Portuguese in 1503, Kochi was the first of the European colonies in colonial India. It remained the main seat of Portuguese India until 1530, when Goa was chosen instead. The city was later occupied by the Dutch and the British, with the Kingdom of Cochin becoming a princely state. Kochi ranks first in the total number of international and domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala. ��The market on the wharf. ��A stop for shopping and sightseeing Fishing nets - unique design. �The Jewish Quarter. ���A beautifully decorated Catholic Church. Here’s this to make you laugh: You know the drill. See you tomorrow. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-15_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-249 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-15 Title A name given to the resource Day 249 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/83c106b5240194b199e5ea8208bb2173.pdf 29a36802d0f4abe3e8dad0de749412af PDF Text Text Day 250 – even I’m surprised by that number of posts. by windoworks Here is the day’s first breaking news: CNN The US surpassed 11 million coronavirus infections over the weekend, and states are rushing to set up restrictions as hospitalizations grow. Just six days ago, there were 10 million cases nationwide. I want to emphasize: 6 days between 10M cases and 11M cases. What will the next 6 days or less bring? This has reached unimaginable numbers. To give perspective: New York City currently has 18.8M residents, so 11M cases is more than half the population of New York. Meanwhile, CNN: Health experts are calling the pandemic a "humanitarian" crisis and pleading with President Trump to allow transition talks between his health officials and aides of President-elect Joe Biden. The incoming White House chief of staff said their team has not talked to current top health officials about the pandemic because of Trump's refusal to trigger ascertainment — the formal process of opening a transition to a new administration. Instead, Biden's team is getting up to speed on the pandemic response by back-channeling with governors, members of the private sector and the medical community. I want to add here that Trump hasn’t attended a Coronavirus Task Force meeting in 5 months. 5 months! Can you feel the anger building across the US? I can. Trump lost the election and I can’t understand why someone doesn’t march in and physically remove him from the White House. Pence is just as weird really, you’re the Vice President of the United States and you can’t be alone in a restaurant or meeting with any other woman except your wife? And 71% of voting Americans voted for this pair. I can’t wait to see what happens on Jan 20. And all the while Mitch McConnell is aiding and abetting Trump. Can we indict him too? Do any of these people think about their future generations - not the public - their grandchildren and great grandchildren - and the legacy they will leave behind? The taint that will be attached to their family name. Imagine, in years to come: ‘oh McConnell. Any relation to that Mitch McConnell?’ Yesterday at 6pm, Governor Whitmer addressed the state. I knew this would not be good. She talked about how we crushed the curve in summer and then she said that they had warned us for some time that this fall/winter would be hard. Then she handed off to Dr Khaldun, our Chief Medical Officer for the �state. Dr J began by telling us that she was an Emergency Room Physician and that in her work, her face was often that last one Covid patients saw as she put them on a respirator. Her face was often the last one they saw before they died. After that sobering news, she then explained the restrictions the Michigan State Health Department were putting in place, beginning at midnight on Wednesday November 18 - 2 days from today. Then the Director of Health and Human Services spoke and talked in hard terms about selfishness. He said: ‘think how guilty you would feel for the rest of your life, if your selfish attitude led to the death of a family member or friend’. Even before Governor Whitmer had finished speaking, the State Republicans members were tweeting that it was another overstep by the governor. But if they actually watched the whole event, they would know (and I’m sure they do) that the Health Department is issuing these restrictions. Dear God, will it ever stop? Here are the restrictions for the state of Michigan for the next 3 weeks: ��This is the clearest and most disturbing diagram of contagion. You think you have a bubble of 4 persons, while in fact, you have a bubble of at least 31 - and uh oh, one or more of those 31 persons are contagious. �Well that says it all, doesn’t it? We are 10 days out from Thanksgiving. People take this virus so lightly it is unbelievable. One parent told their child after visiting the grandmother: ‘oh I forgot to tell you. I tested positive’. Way to go, Mom. �So here we are. These restrictions will stay in effect until December 9 and you know they’re going to extend them over Christmas. Christmas is another worrying opportunity for mass infection. Meanwhile, Trump is blocking Biden’s path to the presidency for as long as he can. Mitch McConnell is refusing to discuss another emergency funding round for Americans and Trump is fleecing his rabid supporters of even more money - to pay off some of his massive debt, of course. They, in turn, are continuing to threaten Biden supporters lives and spew vitriol and hate at every opportunity. I think the name should be the Ununited States of America - oh I think I heard that someone in Mississippi was talking about seseeding (I think they meant seceding: withdraw formally from membership of a federal union, an alliance.). Just a word here, to secede from a country, you need to have a solid source of income for your state to survive. The main source of incoming for Mississippi is agriculture. I’m not sure they’d financially survive. �Sorry this is such a gloomy post. In good news, there’s another company who’s close to vaccine production: Washington Post: Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine found to be nearly 95 percent effective in early analysis. The biotechnology firm announced Monday that in addition to the high rate of disease prevention overall, the shot reduced severe cases of illness — a striking initial result. The finding comes a week after Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, reported their coronavirus vaccine was more than 90 percent effective and means the United States could have two vaccines available on a limited basis by the end of this year. In Michigan the Health Department is already planning distribution. So that’s some good news. It must be time for Oliver. ��Now if that doesn’t make you smile - nothing will. Flashback: our next stop was Goa. Panaji is the state's capital, while Vasco da Gama is its largest city. The historic city of Margao still exhibits the cultural influence of the Portuguese, who first landed in the early 16th century as merchants and conquered it soon thereafter. Goa was a former state of the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese overseas territory of Portuguese India existed for about 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961.Its majority and official language is Konkani. Goa is visited by large numbers of international and domestic tourists each year for its white sand beaches, nightlife, places of worship and World Heritage-listed architecture. It has rich flora and fauna, owing to its location on the Western Ghats range, a biodiversity hotspot. ������From the top: our welcome at the wharf; first stop, a Durga temple complex (Durga is depicted in the Hindu pantheon as a goddess riding a lion or tiger, with many arms each carrying a weapon, often defeating Mahishasura (lit. buffalo demon). The three principal forms of Durga worshipped are Maha Durga, Chandika and Aparajita. Wikipedia); walking from the bus to our next stop, a Spice Farm; walking across the wetlands entrance; ants dueling on a log. The Spice Farm was fantastic. We toured the grounds first and saw every spice you could think of, growing in their natural state. Then we went back to the main pavilion and ate a wonderful Indian lunch of several curries, both meat and vegetarian, ranging from sort of mild to extremely hot. Delicious! There was time to buy some spices before returning to the ship. ��Say it with me: I promise to wear my mask outside the house, wash my hands, don’t touch my face and remember to safely distance from everyone. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-16_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-250 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-16 Title A name given to the resource Day 250 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ea034d6dfe605cd416ae8332f32c717c.pdf 8d4170c26e04539dbe80f205a0937ea4 PDF Text Text Day 251 by windoworks I literally don’t know where to start. Senator Lindsey Graham (R) called Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Secretary of State who is in charge of the hand recount in Georgia and ‘suggested’ if there was one incorrect ballot in a county’s ballot total - throw the whole county’s ballots out. Of course he later denied it. Raffensperger and his family have 24 hour security because of the death threats they have received, eg. If you don’t declare Georgia a win for President Trump, we are coming to kill you and your family. Yesterday Dr Atlas, a neuroradiologist - a what Pamela? Neuroradiology is the medical subspecialty that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of brain, spinal cord, head and neck, and vascular lesions using xrays, magnetic fields, radio waves, and ultrasound. Anyway , in the tradition of appointing totally inept and unqualified people to really important positions within the White House and beyond, Trump appointed Dr Atlas as the White House advisor to the Covid Task Force, because as we all know, a man who studies X-rays, CAT scans and MRIs knows exactly how Covid works and what is the best prevention method going forward. I doubt he’s even set foot inside an ER at this time. So yesterday he told Michiganders to ‘rise up’ and refuse to follow the restrictions mandated by the Michigan State Health Department because we all need to gather with friends and family for Thanksgiving, which may possibly be the last one every family is present at. Washington Post The governors of Michigan and Washington appealed to the federal government to step in with more help for struggling businesses in light of the new restrictions. In response, White House coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas urged people to reject their states’ public health guidelines. “The only way this stops is if people rise up,” Atlas said in a tweet Sunday night. A wide array of groups from the retail, tourism and hospitality industries are trying to battle new restrictions to preserve their ability to continue to operate. At the same time, some major retailers are buckling down with precautions that echo those they took early in the pandemic. Kroger has temporarily reverted to limiting purchases on items such as hand sanitizer, toilet paper and disinfecting wipes. Walmart stores are metering customers by only allowing a certain number inside at a time. Now I’m assuming that if you are reading this blog, that you believe in Science and indisputable facts and figures. That you understand that it takes an average of 12 years and thousands of dollars in student debt to become a doctor of medicine. That each doctor is asked to take a Hippocratic Oath. This is quite a long and detailed oath which is mainly saying the patients needs outweigh everything and in one section says “and I will do no harm or injustice to them”. Them being the patients. New York Times “With the level of community spread we have in Michigan and that many other states are now facing, the �only way to bring Covid down is state action — or a terrible loss of life,” Robert Gordon, the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said yesterday. The Trumpers Over 70M Americans believe the twaddle perpetrated by Trump implicitly. So much so, that stories are now surfacing from states such as Montana where the seriously ill nonbelievers are screaming (yes, screaming) at the nursing staff. They are demanding the special drug that Trump got and they are raging at the staff for wearing layers of PPE. They only stop screaming when the ventilator tube is inserted down their throats and some die still believing this is a hoax. You know I just wrote that paragraph and even I feel it is just too hard to believe. If this was a movie I would say: ‘Oh I’m not watching this. Its too fantastic. This would never happen’. And yet it is. Day after f****** day. Because Trump persists in fostering a belief that the election was rigged and he truly won it, and because he won it, the incoming President-Elect and his team are denied access to daily security briefings (you know, the ones which inform the President of the threats facing America etc - which Trump never attends anyway). Biden’s team is managing to establish their White House team through back channels, because no one on Trump’s side will begin the transition process. �So here we are. Living in a country where the virus is raging with no way of containing it and experts are predicting 400,000 American deaths by the new year. Vaccines are in development and doing well, but even with the best planning, it will take months to vaccinate all those willing to be vaccinated. Two days ago Trump wanted to bomb Iran because it seemed like a good day to bomb something. Someone talked him out of it. (Thank you, whoever you are). The joint chiefs of staff have tried to stand apart from this insanity because any action they take would be construed as a coup. Trump tweets all night long (definitely imbibing some sort of amphetamines) and then plays golf every day! Biden and his team are in the dark, so I ask myself (in a quavering voice) who is actually in charge here? Yesterday, my neighbor TJ, who is a gifted builder, found out that his scheduled hip replacement operation was postponed indefinitely because although they had the bed and the operating theater, they didn’t have the nursing staff or anesthesiologist because they’ve either been exposed to the virus or they’ve tested positive. He is self employed and in terrible pain every day. He had quarantined in preparation for his surgery and now he doesn’t know what to do. And this is the same for every state. In Ohio, the hospital system is down 1000 staff members, again, either infected or quarantined. The day before yesterday, South Australia, a state in Australia, discovered 1 positive case. The next day, alarmingly to them, there were 17 more people who tested positive through community spread. The state health department swung into immediate action. All the systems they put in place are working like a well oiled machine. 17 cases. Guess how many we had here over Sunday and Monday in Kent County? 1,365 new cases. Craig receives and average of 6 emails a day from students, each one more upsetting than the last. Last night a young, sensible man informed Craig he had checked himself into an emergency mental �care facility as he couldn’t get his anxiety levels under control. Craig was gobsmacked. He worries about his 59 students daily. Sometimes I think he is their only rock to hold on to. ��Here is Oliver, pacifier in his mouth, playing with water. He is reluctant to give up the pacifier during the day. I think the gastro virus hit him hard. Here’s another handy chart about pods: Yesterday this was posted on FB and I think we’re all going to participate. Perhaps you might too, wherever you live. Pot and pans work if you haven’t got a bell and it really doesn’t matter if you celebrate Christmas or not. �Imagine someone reading this blog in 2120. Would they believe it? I don’t think I would. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-17_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-251 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-17 Title A name given to the resource Day 251 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a1b5bd45b83234cbdf698407d8c8305f.pdf f6d0b4c92611cdb2f3e77008ac97dc0e PDF Text Text Day 252 by windoworks A friend of Craig’s has just driven across the country from Long Beach California to pick up his daughter who is now on a break from her studies until January. He decided driving was a safer choice than flying. But he was astonished and dismayed by the crowded restaurants he saw in states like Texas, Arizona and Missouri, as he drove through. I guess we all know what the people of those states will be doing for Thanksgiving. And just in case you still weren’t sure about that traditional extended family dinner: �From a post by a doctor on FaceBook: FB This has been a tough week. Covid cases are exponentially increasing and stressing our community and our hospital systems. Almost every night that I have been on call I had to have a very difficult conversation with a family about a dying Covid-19 patient. Last night I had two Covid deaths. For those of you who think that this is not real or it’s just the “flu” or it’s a political ploy, wake up! The decision to wear a mask is not a personal choice or a “freedom”, it is a necessity to protect one another. How many more deaths is it going to take before Covid non-believers accept this grim reality. Our national response to this crisis has been extremely inadequate and politicized . It’s not about politics, it’s about frank incompetence. Many more people are going to die before this over. Many more health care workers will also be stricken while we risk our lives serving our communities. I know that this post will only reach a �minuscule amount of people but if we all rally together and practice the CDC guidelines maybe we have a chance. Sorry for the rant, but I’m truly scared. Last night, the hospitals in Grand Rapids (and perhaps all of West Michigan) announced that they would be full with no more available beds by this weekend. That’s 3 days away. And to confirm that, here’s this: The Atlantic More than 1,000 American hospitals report that they don’t have enough staff to manage the influx of coronavirus patients. That’s 22 percent of hospitals in the U.S.. This frightening statistic, courtesy of my colleague Alexis C. Madrigal, is a quantitative summary of the horror story already unfolding. Nationwide, beds are filling. So are body bags. Health-care workers are scared. “It keeps rising and rising, and we’re all running on fear,” one told Ed Yong. A change is coming; vaccines look promising. But relief appears to be at least another season away. In the meantime, our writers have some practical advice for Americans. • Lock yourself down now. “It’s time to buckle up and lock ourselves down again, and to do so with fresh vigilance,” Zeynep Tufekci writes. • Cancel Thanksgiving. “Telling people not to gather for a holiday is, of course, an unpopular message,” James Hamblin writes. “So I’m doing it.” • The golden rule of pandemic winter safety is simple, Rachel Gutman explains: Don’t spend time indoors with people outside your household. Two vaccines are barreling towards the finish line - which is fantastic - but the distribution to communities may take months. So remember the simple rule: mask up! The Atlantic One question, answered: First Pfizer. Now Moderna. Should news of a second company's promising vaccine-trial data change our expectations? I asked our staff writer Sarah Zhang, who covers vaccines, to put this latest development in context: It’s more good news! Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines work in very similar ways, so it’s not surprising that they are similarly effective. I’m also relieved because Moderna’s vaccine does not require ultracold storage like Pfizer’s, meaning it will be a lot easier to distribute in rural communities. Both companies are manufacturing vaccines as we speak, and this second success means more doses to go around in the initial scarcity phase. We just have to wait and get through this winter. Washington Post: �While the coronavirus pandemic is positively exploding across the country — we’re now averaging more than 150,000 new cases and a thousand deaths per day — Trump’s administration has stopped even pretending it cares. At the current pace, by the time Trump leaves office, more than 300,000 Americans will have died of covid-19. And even after he departs, every day more will die because Trump politicized simple public health measures, convincing his supporters that refusing to wear a mask to protect yourself and those around you is a great way to own the libs. Yesterday Governor Whitmer sent out a video with Governor Andy Beshaer (Kentucky), Governor Mike DeWine (Ohio), Governor Tony Evers (Wisconsin), Governor Eric Holcomb (Indiana), Governor JB Pritzker (Illinois), and Governor Tim Waltz (Minnesota), called Mask Up. Its a great video to watch, all the governors were asking the citizens of their states to Mask Up. In the comments under Governor Whitmer’s post there were the usual cries of impeachment and other derogatory words. I can only suppose �these citizens of Michigan didn’t actually watch the video in which the other governors spoke just as much as Gretchen. I grieve for my state of Michigan. Such hatred. Such selfishness. And such despair. In other embarrassing national (and possibly international) news, two Republicans initially refused to certify the results of the election in Michigan, because - and this is an educated guess here - the results confirmed Joe Biden winning the state. After a slew of breaking news stories, the two abruptly reversed and voted to confirm the results. This and other well broadcast egregious actions gives the saying ‘Only in Michigan’, a truly embarrassing meaning. And this says it all for me: �On to the other topic of the day - Trump’s refusal to concede or at least agree to a smooth transition. Here’s what Barack Obama had to say: �The Atlantic 1. On Donald Trump as a phenomenon: I will say that I’m not surprised that somebody like Trump could get traction in our political life. He’s a symptom as much as an accelerant. But if we were going to have a right-wing populist in this country, I would have expected somebody a little more appealing. 2. On Republicans refusing to stand up to him: Donald Trump’s character and behavior haven’t surprised me … I didn’t expect him to significantly change. 3. I did not believe how easily the Republican establishment, people who had been in Washington for a long time and had professed a belief in certain institutional values and norms, would just cave. 4. On misinformation: If we do not have the capacity to distinguish what’s true from what’s false, then by definition the marketplace of ideas doesn’t work. And by definition our democracy doesn’t work. We are entering into an epistemological crisis. ��Here’s Oliver! Is he about to bite the lemon? I can’t be sure. ��US coronavirus: yesterday there were 159, 508 new cases. We are racing upwards with a new total of 11.4M cases. There were another 1,583 deaths to bring the total to 248K. In Kent County we had 709 new cases which gives us a new total of 25,703 cases altogether. We had 3 new deaths making the total of deaths 257. Remember, these numbers are just from yesterday. ��Here is a sunrise taken from my birthday twin, Mary Alice’s balcony, looking across Reeds Lake. She sent it to me this morning to lift my spirits on my birthday, so I’m sharing it with you. Whatever else happens, a new day always dawns. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-18_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-252 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-18 Title A name given to the resource Day 252 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d501f8fa266a40b35e6cf7fadb982bfb.pdf e1eaa0ef2da54c461257f3ec5df74b04 PDF Text Text Day 253 by windoworks The more things change, the more they stay the same. Yesterday, the total of cases in the US reached 11.6M as we are adding at least 1,500 new cases per day. Soon we may be adding 2,000 cases a day. And as predicted, yesterday we reached 250K deaths. the prediction that we may have 400,000 deaths by January/February is beginning to look all too likely. I look at the daily increases in Kent County and I find them distressing to read. They are predicting 1,000 new �cases a day by Christmas. And you know your county is in trouble when they post under: We need your help. Home Health Department COVID-19 URGENT - We Need Your Help This Holiday Season At a time when we would typically gather with loved ones to celebrate the holidays, COVID-19 cases are spiking in Kent County. The extremely high infection rate is threatening the ability of our local health department and hospitals to provide services essential for the health of our community. We need your help to get things under control. Here’s what you can do to help keep your family and friends healthy this holiday season: • Avoid gathering in-person with people from outside your household • If you do get together with family or friends from outside your household: o Keep gatherings small – 10 people or fewer o Wear a mask and distance when gathering indoors, even with a small group o Wash hands frequently; keep hand sanitizer readily available and don’t share towels o Designate one person to serve the food; that person should wear a mask and wash their hands before and after serving o Bundle up and gather outdoors if possible; wear a mask if you can’t consistently keep 6 feet apart Do not host or attend in-person holiday gatherings if you or anyone in your household: • Has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and has not met the criteria for when it is safe to be around others • Has symptoms of COVID-19 • Is waiting for COVID-19 test results • May have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days • Is at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19 The risk of COVID-19 spreading at your holiday gathering increases as follows: LOWEST RISK Gather in-person only with members of your own household. Celebrate “virtually” with extended family and friends using videoconferencing or a group phone call. MORE RISK Smaller (under 10) outdoor and in-person gatherings in which individuals from different households remain spaced at least 6 feet apart, wear masks, do not share objects, and come from the same local area (e.g., community, town, city, or county). Drop off a holiday meal at the home of your loved ones – designate a time and drop the meal at the front door; do a brief “driveway visit,” wear masks and stay 6 feet apart; wash your hands before and after delivery. HIGHER RISK Medium-sized in-person gatherings that are adapted to allow individuals to remain spaced at least 6 feet apart and with attendees coming from outside the local area. �HIGHEST RISK Large in-person gatherings where it is difficult for individuals to remain spaced at least 6 feet apart and attendees travel from outside the local area. And after all this time, I can’t believe this is still happening: Washington Post: A newly married Ohio couple said nearly three dozen people at their wedding, including three of their grandparents, now have the coronavirus. Which part of highly contagious, especially inside crowded inside spaces with singing, dancing and eating, did you not understand? Here’s the latest map of the US showing Covid infections: Michigan is in the highest number of cases category. And yet we are contending with a State House and Senate who can’t seem to grasp the severity of the virus spread. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The head of Trinity Health Michigan says frustration prompted a Twitter response to Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, garnering a lot of attention online. “Mike, as a member of the medical community you claim you are working with, we don’t see you. One phone call with our CMOs does not constitute working with us. We have told you we are in trouble, but you decided that the pandemic was a good time to take a vacation,” Trinity Health Michigan President �and CEO Rob Casalou replied to Shirkey’s statement on new MDHHS restrictions that take effect Wednesday. The health system leader followed that up with, “We need leadership and there appears to be only one leader in Lansing willing to deal with the reality of this public health crisis. The leaders of our state Senate and state House have decided that a recess was more important and then choose to criticize from the sidelines.” Casalou’s posts refer to the GOP-led legislature going on a break that typically covers the start of firearm hunting season and Thanksgiving each year. One glaring difference being that previous November breaks didn’t align with surging cases of a deadly virus.“When I saw the reply from the Senate Majority Leader, I just hit a point of frustration that I no longer could accept the fact we’d allow politics to continue to exist in the single largest public health crisis of our lifetime,” Casalou told News 8 Monday afternoon. �Crooked Media Eleven days after the election ended in decisive victory for Joe Biden, Republicans’ continued performance of uncertainty about the outcome is as appalling and dangerous as it is unrelentingly embarrassing. On Tuesday, the two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers briefly refused to certify the election results in Michigan’s largest county, for a very valid reason that definitely wasn’t “Detroit has a lot of Black voters and we don’t think their votes should count.” (Against all odds, a white man in a polo shirt summed up this stunt best.) The Republicans reversed course on Tuesday night, for a very badass reason that definitely wasn’t “reporters started finding all the racist memes on our Facebook pages.” As a cherry on top, Donald Trump missed the memo and congratulated his would-be coup enablers on their courage, after they had agreed to certify the results. So there we have it. One week exactly to Thanksgiving and people are still trying to tweak the rules to accommodate the 20+ people they want to have at their Thanksgiving table, all sharing food, stories, laughter etc. and of course, sharing the virus. It will just be Craig and I with Murphy at my feet at the dinner table. Yesterday we drove out to Grand Haven and sat in the car while we ate our lunch and watched the wind swirl up the sand and the waves. Afterwards we drove to Kirk Park and walked the circuit through the woods. It was a chilly but sunny day. �I am beginning to see the world through different eyes. Yesterday, when we came home, I posted on FB that after Craig retires on May 4 2021, we are returning to Australia to live. The pull of family and our grandchild is just too strong. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that family matters. Don’t panic, I will keep writing the blog even after we return to Australia. It might be interesting to follow our adventures as we pack up, sell the house and leave. Time for Oliver. �Bottle time at daycare. �Today, I’ll leave you with this: Tomorrow then. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-19_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-253 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-19 Title A name given to the resource Day 253 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7578166c1777faddf031e8580aee41d7.pdf 9e909a5f3750d9923e70debbfb56a5f9 PDF Text Text Day 254 by windoworks We begin this morning with this: a line for covid testing in one of the middle states. Every news venue has been sounding the alarm about gathering for Thanksgiving, but no one can tell if the majority of people are listening. Washington Post: Roughly one in 100 Americans are contagious with covid-19 at this moment, a level not seen since the the U.S. outbreak's deadliest period this spring, according to estimates by separate research teams at Columbia University and the University of Washington. Using different methods, both groups calculated that more than 3 million Americans have active infections — far more than the official counts record. “It is about equal to the number of public school teachers in the entire country, or the number of truck drivers,” our Health desk wrote. “If the University of Michigan’s football stadium were packed with a random selection of Americans, about a thousand of them would be contagious right now.” The University of Washington model estimates that another 245,000 people will be infected by the end of today. �About 40 percent of Americans plan to attend a large Thanksgiving gathering, despite the coronavirus’ rampant spread and warnings from public health officials. I continue to watch interviews with nurses and doctors who are not only dealing with extremely ill patients, but patients who believe literally to their dying breath, that they don’t have Covid. As the nurse or doctor shows them their vitals and test results, and ask if they would like to FaceTime or call their loved ones - time after time these patients insist that they’ll be fine - its just bronchitis or pneumonia, or maybe lung cancer. Some of these patients die still adamant that it isn’t the virus. Now I could go on a long rant here about Trump and the destruction and mayhem he leaves in his wake. He has convinced at least 71M Americans that the virus is a hoax and that even if you succumb, its just like a cold and man up, you’ll get over it. I am sitting here, shut in my house since March, not going out except for drives, short walks in safe places, doctors appointments and trips to the grocery store. The virus is now beyond anyone’s control. No borders between the states are closed and every state is taking action in a piecemeal way. There never has been even the briefest action taken by the Trump administration to assist states in any way. Any action taken by a Democratic governor of their state has incurred ridicule, calls to overturn any restrictions and a slew of threats. The White House has had at least 2 outbreaks that we know of, and most of the infected staffers are never heard of again. Remember Hope Hicks the superspreader of the first cluster? Did she recover? Did she die? Who knows? And I am absolutely sure that Trump staged his ‘bout’ of Covid. �And this arrived in my inbox yesterday from Tina Freese Decker, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Health: To our patients and community, We have stood strong, together, tackling the many challenges of these past months with commitment and hope. Last spring, we came together as a community and flattened the curve of COVID-19. I’m reaching out to you today because things have changed drastically. COVID-19 is now surging like never before in our communities, and we need your help. • Of the thousands of tests we conduct every day, more than 18% of people tested are positive. • Hospitalizations have quadrupled in the last four weeks — now five times higher than our peak in the spring. �• People are coming to us very, very sick. And one in 10 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are dying. This virus is affecting all groups, young and old, across all populations. • Because hospitals throughout our state and nation are experiencing the surge at the same time, there is very limited opportunity to share staff and transfer patients. Our teams of doctors, nurses, caregivers and support staff are working tirelessly to do everything possible to battle this virus. But — we cannot do it without your help. We know what works to slow the spread of this deadly virus. Wear a mask; they do protect you and others. Wash your hands often. Stay socially distant. Avoid all gatherings. I know this is hard, but the sacrifices you are making now truly will save lives. I and all of our team members at Spectrum Health remain so grateful for our community standing strong with us. Thank you. And just to keep you up to date: US - 187, 396 new cases yesterday. Total cases: 11.8M. Yesterday’s deaths: 1,962. Total deaths: 252K. Keep breathing. Michigan - 7,855 new cases yesterday. Total cases: 310K. Yesterday’s deaths: 141. Total deaths: 8,717. Breathe in, breathe out. Kent County - 742 new cases yesterday. Total cases: 27,055. Yesterday’s deaths: 10. Total deaths: 277. At some point these figures become meaningless. We are so inundated with ‘breaking news’ etc., that the numbers sit on the page and we say oh well. But 252,000 people have died across this country. 252,000, and each person meant something. These are the numbers for yesterday only. Today’s numbers will be bigger. We will reach 300,000 deaths soon and then 400,000 as they are predicting. AND ALL THESE DEATHS, ALL OF THEM, CAN BE LAID AT DONALD TRUMP’S FEET. Or wrapped around his shoulders so that the weight of them crushes him completely. That’s what I hope, but he will never be held accountable. None of them will be. Instead we will all be asked to forgive and move on. There isn’t enough forgiveness in the world for what he has managed to do. I much prefer ‘an eye for an eye’. The one light at the end of the dark tunnel is this: Washington Post. Pfizer, BioNTech say they will file today for emergency clearance of coronavirus vaccine, which could make doses ready in December The companies announced they plan to file Friday for regulatory approval of their coronavirus vaccine, a landmark moment and a signal that a powerful tool to help control the pandemic could begin to be available within weeks. Once the companies file their application, those findings will be scrutinized by regulators, potentially paving the way for limited doses of the vaccine to be available in December. So at least the frontline workers like nurses, doctors etc will be vaccinated by early next year. It will take months for the larger population to begin to be vaccinated. So we should be excited but patient. �And all the while, Trump is sowing as much dissent and chaos as possible. Crooked Media Donald Trump is actively and personally attempting to overturn the results of an election he lost by nearly six million votes (updated to at least 8 million), and the fact that it won’t work this time is limited comfort. Republicans at every level have shown a willingness—or even eagerness—to destroy democracy when they have no chance of success; how many of them would behave better in the coming years if overturning a future election required stealing only one state? �Joe Biden has mentioned that Trump and his family/minions will be ‘assisted‘ from the White House, if necessary. This is diverting television for everyone who doesn’t live in the US, but it is horrifying in its long term implications and a dreadful experience for those of us living here.Trump has turned the United States of America into a low grade reality show for the world. And once a precedent is set such as he is doing by refusing to accept his loss, it is almost as if it is set in stone. I just cannot imagine how long it will take until some sort of calm is established. I’m not even sure the current democracy will survive. �An unexpected feel good moment: this morning Craig received an email from a woman in Canada. Her father (in his 90s) is an Emeritus Professor and suffers from macular degeneration. This is a eye disease �that causes loss in the center of the field of vision. (Dame Judi Dench has it). Anyway, the family live scattered across Canada and in normal circumstances would meet up several times a year. However, the virus has stopped this, and the father is finding life difficult. So the daughter set up video sessions twice a week during which the father, mother and daughter watch an episode of Craig’s Great Courses ‘Big History’ lectures. These have so reenergized her father, that he is now going for long walks outside and discussing each episode at length with her mother. The daughter wrote to thank Craig for such a wonderful course and asked if he would Skype with her father if she set it up. Of course Craig will say yes when he responds. Oliver �Clapping his hands. Very pleased with himself. �So that’s it. We are beginning the looong task of thinking about what to take and what to leave behind. Its a big task thinking about moving countries, especially as you are not quite as young as you used to be. On my birthday, TJ my neighbor asked me - 39 again, Pamela? Yes, I replied. Oh mum, said Asher when I told him, you can’t be - I’m 39! Twins! I wanted to say. The virus is lurking outside your front door. Be very, very careful. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-20_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-254 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-20 Title A name given to the resource Day 254 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a16c47fb77b90243cc361e8fd1635bed.pdf 5b4795d7749adb59c36c824f30462a90 PDF Text Text Day 255 by windoworks This morning I introduce Tracey Dale. Once upon a time Tracey was a high school senior who babysat my children, with two other school friends on a rotation, once or twice a week after school. I was teaching elementary school and the three girls took it in turns to babysit until 5pm, when I would take over and prepare dinner. Over the years we lost touch with the two other girls, but our connection with Tracey was reestablished through the television, as she won the Miss New South Wales title and then, with Craig and I glued to the TV, she won Miss Australia! To cut a long story short, she had a wonderful year as Miss Australia, and during that year she met Alan Dale, an actor who was starring in one of Australia’s favorite soap operas and they got married and eventually moved to Los Angeles. Fast forward to 2020. Tracey lives in Los Angeles, she has two talented sons and her husband continues in his acting career. We last met up in 2017, when Craig and I were in L.A. on our way to Australia, and had a great lunch together. I asked Tracey if she would contribute to “The View from Far Away”, and she agreed. Here it is. Enjoy. I Face-timed my 79 year old mother last week. When she answered, she sounded out of breath and immediately pointed the phone at the ceiling. “Hang on, I’ll just get some clothes on.” I calculated that it was midday on Monday in Australia. “What have you been doing?” I teased. She giggled, but when she finally aimed the phone at her face her explanation was far more outrageous than what I’d been imagining. She was choosing which dress to wear to a party at the golf club she and my dad belong to. “You’re going to a party?” I asked. “It’s a dinner really,” she said. “And the tables are spaced apart.” “But it’s indoors.” “Oh, yes.” We caught up on each other’s news and then she revealed that she was meeting some of her oldest friends for lunch at a cafe the following day. This group has known each other for more than 70 years. In fact their mothers had been friends and used to meet once a month to play cards. How is my mother having such a vibrant and happy social life when I’ve been a shut-in for nine months? She never missed a hair cut, and the golf club was only closed for a week or two at the beginning of the pandemic. Meanwhile, my last haircut was ten months ago. My once cropped blond hair is now long and dark brown with streaks of silver. I haven’t eaten at a restaurant or been inside a friend’s home in all that time. And I haven’t seen my oldest son — the longest we’ve ever been apart. The contrast is stark. �Was the Australian government daring, brilliant and clever in its dealings with the pandemic? Not really, mistakes were made — a cruise-ship allowed Covid positive passengers to disembark in Sydney and mingle with the greater population. Its shutdown wasn’t particularly militant: hairdressers never closed and schools were only shuttered for a relatively short time. What it did do was try. The Federal and State governments closed state borders and prioritized safeguards: there was enough PPE for health care workers, enough testing for everyone who needed it, plus they were serious about contact tracing. An app was developed to track any clusters, and they mandated name and address logs for everyone eating inside restaurants, clubs and hotels. They also took rapid action whenever there was an outbreak, in one case closing down a whole state for more than a month when positive cases spiked. And when the rules were broken, police laid charges. The other part of this equation was that, for the most part, the Aussies got on board with whatever their leadership requested of them. Not like sheep, like a football team, all working together for a win. And win they have. There is now virtually no community transmission and an economy and a population that’s recovering quickly. While I sit inside my Los Angeles home — aware that my family here has been luckier than most — and figure out what Netflix show to watch next (thank god for The Crown), my mum is choosing what to wear to her next holiday party. �Old friends get together for lunch once a month in Sydney, Australia Makes you think, doesn’t it? Meanwhile, in Trump’s America - I'm furious, team. Three weeks ago, President Trump held a superspreader rally in Muskegon, Michigan, just 20 minutes away from the hospital where I've been serving patients as an Emergency Physician for two decades. Now, in the wake of this rally, Muskegon is dealing with a tsunami of new COVID-19 cases. Hospitals are again filling up at an alarming pace. Refrigerator trucks are being driven in because morgues are overflowing. We have test positive rates of nearly 20%. Every shift I show up, we don't have beds. We're calling five, six, or seven hospitals around us just to find a couple of beds for sick patients. This is the reality that Donald Trump has put us in through his incompetence, his recklessness, and his unwillingness to cooperate with President-elect Biden's COVID19 Team — which only serves to slow down our country's ability to stop this virus. At this very moment, Trump is STILL trying to fight the election results and refuses to grant Joe Biden's COVID Team access to classified briefings or top public health experts. He's endangering our democratic process and American �lives. Dr. Rob Davidson Emergency Physician Executive Director Committee to Protect Medicare This dropped into my inbox yesterday: Kent County is now in the highest risk level for COVID-19. With this in consideration, the Kent County Health Department is issuing a Public Health Warning with comprehensive guidance on how residents can best protects themselves. With a community-wide positivity rate of more than 15% in Kent County, the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic is severely impacting the ability of public health officials to conduct case investigations and has threatened our local hospital systems. This Public Health Warning will likely continue through January 15, 2021 at the earliest. The cooperation of all residents with these recommendations will help our community reach a downward trend as quickly as possible. This is a Public Health Warning, not a Public Health Order. Note that this is a Health Warning, not a Health Order. This is because the Republican majority in both the State House and Senate have hamstrung Governor Whitmer and the Michigan State Health Department. No one is allowed to place an Executive Order or a Public Health Order. Apparently a minority of freedom fighters overtakes my right to be protected. And just to emphasize the scope of neglect, this morning the US reached just under 200,000 new cases (12M total) and just under 2,000 new deaths (254K total). Here is a way to visualize the death count: Washington Post Here's another way to think about it, from our Graphics team: If all 250,000 victims had come from the U.S. heartland, a region roughly the size of South Dakota would now be devoid of human life. How many more empty states will we have to visualize before this is over? �I love Crooked Media. They put their stories in terms I can relate to. Here’s yesterday’s excerpt: Their frivolous-lawsuit-based strategy to steal the election has run aground. Their even cruder “bribe Republican officials”-based strategy to steal the election has run into the brick wall of Republican opposition. We now await the thrilling climax of the failed Trump-Giuliani heist: like Thelma & Louise, but with globs of hair dye and spray tan trailing the convertible as it plummets earthward. • President Trump’s pseudo-legal effort to overthrow the election and end American democracy has reached such heights of absurdity that even the Trumpy-as-hell propaganda website Powerline noticed: Trump’s lawyers submitted an affidavit to a federal court alleging voting irregularities in Michigan, based �on data from townships in Minnesota, which, if we remember American geography correctly, is a different state (though in fairness to Trump’s lawyers, they both start with “Mi”). • Indeed, “lying about fraud” to “steal the election” is now the official position of the national GOP. On Thursday, the RNC twitter account quoted barking-mad Trump lawyer Sidney Powell claiming, “President Trump won by a landslide” (fact check: He lost, bigly). The GOP-endorsed Powell would later appear on Fox to assert, "the entire election, frankly, in all the swing states should be overturned and the legislatures should make sure that the electors are selected for Trump." Meanwhile, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) said“Rudy [Giuliani] and his buddies should not pressure electors to ignore their certification obligations.” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said, “it’s difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American President,” and Georgia has certified Biden’s victory. By early next week, enough swing states will have certified their results to guarantee Biden more than 270 electoral votes. �The top two GOP Michigan members were invited to Washington to meet with Trump. Before they left, honorable people everywhere overloaded the email accounts and message banks on both men. Then we all waited with baited breath to see what they would do (having reminded them that their careers were on the line). Then, this appeared: �So that email and message onslaught worked, hey? I bet they still won’t cooperate with Governor Whitmer. And by the way, the trip to Washington cut into their ‘hunting’ break. Now Trump’s moving on to another swing state. As Jim Carey so eloquently said: LLLLL Loser! I’m beginning to think Trump must enjoy losing, he keeps repeating it so often. Oh and this just in - Donald Trump Jr has the virus. We are asked to send thoughts and prayers. Well, I’m sending thoughts..... Well thats it for another day. Still hunkering down. 5 days until Thanksgiving. Do NOT be the person who infects your family this Thursday. Be thankful you’re alive and eating a good dinner, even if its by yourself. Remember, as Tracey said: not sheep but a football team. We can do this. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-11-21_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-255 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-11-21 Title A name given to the resource Day 255 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng