99 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1c8e1cd508bb4568b2e07988ab362324.pdf c17cc44d49abe3d4e3a960a83d666d29 PDF Text Text Day 371. by windoworks ‘Truth will out’ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Here are 5 gems which illustrate the above words, from Crooked Media: Vladimir Putin authorized an extensive operation to interfere in the 2020 election by laundering misinformation about Joe Biden through people close to Donald Trump, according to a newly released ODNI report. U.S. intelligence officials have found no evidence that any foreign actor had disrupted the actual voting process. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to answer longstanding questions about the FBI’s investigation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh (or lack thereof) during his confirmation hearing. A review of the CDC’s coronavirus guidance under the Trump administration found that some documents were not grounded in science, and three documents passed off as CDC guidance weren’t written by the CDC at all. An Arizona judge has ordered the Arizona GOP to shell out $18,000 for its baseless voter fraud lawsuit. One for the Consequences Scrapbook. Trump Tower in Chicago somehow vaccinated its staff without eligibility or the knowledge of city health department leaders. And there’s also this: Washington Post The Army initially pushed to reject the D.C. government’s request for a modest National Guard presence ahead of the Jan. 6 rally that led to the Capitol riot, underscoring the deep reluctance of some higher-ups at the Pentagon to involve the military in security arrangements that day. In an internal draft memo obtained by The Washington Post, the Army said the U.S. military shouldn’t be needed to help police with traffic and crowd management, as city officials had requested, unless more than 100,000 demonstrators were expected. The draft memo also said the request should be denied because a federal agency hadn’t been identified to run the preparations and on-the-day operations; the resources of other federal agencies hadn’t been exhausted; and law enforcement was “far better suited” for the task. The Army leadership made its position clear in deliberations at the Pentagon the weekend before the event, citing those reasons among others, according to four people familiar with the discussions, who like �others in this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal Defense Department matters. The Army ultimately relented after facing pressure from acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, and realizing that District officials weren’t going to turn to the Justice Department for help instead, as the Army had wanted, the people said. In other, other news: �The Vatican has decreed that it is wrong for priests to bless same sex unions. While Pope Francis hasn’t said its wrong to be gay he seems to support this idea that priests shouldn’t bless same sex unions. Any minute now he’ll get his feet stuck in the quagmire. I have never really understood the idea of religious celibacy. I just finished reading an historical novel about Queen Mary, Henry VIII’s daughter. After Henry broke with the Catholic Church and declared �himself Head of the Church in England, priests were allowed to marry and have children. When Henry’s son, Edward died, and the crown went to Mary, she began burning married priests as heretics. The population was horrified. This was something that happened in Spain under the Inquisition, and didn’t happen in England! It was a turbulent time for politics and religion. It may be another turbulent time now, especially for religion. NPR A member of the World Health Organization team tracing the source of the COVID-19 pandemic says wildlife farms in Southwest China are the likely culprit. The Chinese government shut down those farms — which breed exotic animals like porcupines, bamboo rats and racoon dogs — in Feb. 2020. I knew they’d find the probable source of this in the end. This is very embarrassing for the Chinese leaders as they strive for world dominance. At the same time 8 people (mostly Asian women) were shot dead at 3 spa venues in Atlanta, Georgia. Yet another thing Trump bears responsibility for after stubbornly promoting COVID-19 as the China virus. Years ago I watched the movie Contagion. In the story Patient Zero was a woman who made a business trip to Hong Kong and visited a farm or market (I forget). The global pandemic was mush worse and faster �spreading than Covid and frankly, the movie was terrifying. My daughter Zoe saw it at a movie theater and traveled home by bus afterwards. She said she sat isolated with her arms crossed, thinking ‘don’t breathe on me, don’t breathe on me’, all the way home. I hope there is nothing lurking in our future like that virus. �Excellent mask policy. And now for some cheering words from The Atlantic: If you find yourself out of sorts these days, know that you aren’t the only one. �1. It’s okay to feel burned out. “The mental pressure of living through a mass-casualty event would be enough to fry the most Zen of brains,” our staff writer Olga Khazan reminds us. Burnout, experts told her, is best addressed in the workplace. It’s really on your boss to fix it. 2. It’s okay to eat whenever you feel like it. “Splintering the three-meals-a-day norm might at first feel unnatural, but in the long arc of human history, that eating schedule is both extremely recent and born almost entirely of social convenience,” Amanda Mull explains in her piece on why your weird pandemic eating habits are probably fine. 3. It’s okay to forget things. We’re all walking around with some mild cognitive impairment,” one neuroscientist told our special-projects editor Ellen Cushing. “This is the fog of late pandemic, and it is brutal,” Ellen writes. 4. It’s okay to be a little vain. Americans are quietly doing their crunches. That includes our associate editor Saahil Desai, who picked up his workout pace last month in anticipation of being able to gather again soon. “I sure as hell want to look good when we do,” he writes. And a warning note from CNN: The US is facing a tough race between Covid-19 vaccines and variants. Vaccinations are quickly ramping up, and they have a great shot of winning out. But contagious variants are spreading across the country and could threaten another surge. The CDC says two coronavirus strains first detected in California are officially "variants of concern." The variants may be about 20% more transmissible, and there are concerns that some treatments won't be as effective against them. But the CDC hasn't said vaccines would stop working against them. Also complicating the situation: Some states are easing restrictions before the virus' spread is fully contained. Does anyone else feel like its three steps forward and two steps back? There’s been a lot of discussion about online teaching and the consequences for students and teachers, but it has brought about a significant change to teaching in general: Washington Post The coronavirus pandemic upended almost every aspect of school at once. It was not just the move from classrooms to computer screens. It tested basic ideas about instruction, attendance, testing, funding, the role of technology and the human connections that hold it all together. A year later, a rethinking is underway, with a growing sense that some changes may last. “There may be an opportunity to reimagine what schools will look like,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told The Washington Post. “It’s always important we continue to think about how to evolve schooling so the kids get the most out of it.” Others in education see a similar opening. The pandemic pointed anew to glaring inequities of race, disability and income. Learning loss is getting new attention. Schools with poor ventilation systems are being slotted for upgrades. Teachers who made it through a crash course in teaching virtually are finding lessons that endure. �“There are a lot of positives that will happen because we’ve been forced into this uncomfortable situation,” said Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, the school superintendents association. “The reality is that this is going to change education forever.” School systems in America are not done with remote learning. They want more of it. After a year when some systems did nothing but school by computer screen, it has become clear that learning virtually has a place in the nation’s schools, if simply as an option. It’s like a genie that is out of the bottle, and you can’t get it back in. In many respects, this is overdue. Few suggest that remote learning is for everyone. The pandemic showed, unmistakably, that most students learn best in person — in a three-dimensional world, led by a teacher, surrounded by classmates and activities. But school systems across the country are looking at remote learning as a way to meet diverse needs — for teenagers who have jobs, children with certain medical conditions, or kids who prefer learning virtually. It has also emerged as a way to expand access to less-common courses. If one high school offers a class in Portuguese, students at another school could join it remotely. Colorado’s second-largest school system, Jeffco Public Schools, recently announced a full-time remote learning program across grade levels. Students would regularly interact with teachers, have mostly live instruction, and stay connected to their neighborhood schools, meeting with a staff member at least once a week. To make it work, some of the system’s teachers would only be remote. Parent interest was one impetus for the program.”We’re taking all that we have learned from the pandemic — and others have learned — and going with it,” said Matt Walsh, a community superintendent, who estimated that 1,000 to 2,500 students will enroll during the first year, starting this fall. In the Washington region, suburban Montgomery County is exploring the creation of a virtual academy for full-time online instruction. Parents have advocated for a program for some time, said Gboyinde Onijala, a spokeswoman.“The pandemic has helped us see that it is possible and can be done well,” she said. So, the Mongolia travelogue depends on Craig and I selecting photos from my online albums and him then recounting information and adventures which I write down. Last night we both forgot. I’ll be better organized tomorrow. I offer 3 photos of Oliver in compensation. ���Remember: its not the After Times yet. � 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_2021-03-17_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-371 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 2021-03-17 Title A name given to the resource Day 371 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/b6f14dea94a0474a390332fde495acbb.pdf 5c817149ab24d7d405c983c18aa3ba4b PDF Text Text Day 372 by windoworks I keep imagining what the rooms in our house will look like without the furniture. Yesterday we received notification that the buyers will complete signing at 1pm on Monday April 5 - 18 days from now. It is such a weird feeling. In another effort to find a happy home for our beautiful 116 year old upright zebra cedar piano, an antique dealer came to see it yesterday. He probably won’t want it for his store - nobody wants pianos anymore. He’ll let us know today. I might have to move to plan D. And no, I can’t just leave it behind for the new owners, that wouldn’t be fair. �The Biden/Harris Administration continues to work hard to address the many issues Trump left behind. Most Republicans in the House and all the Republicans in the Senate continue to vote against proposals for no other reason than the Democrats proposed it - including the $1.9 trillion relief bill. It passed anyway, but remember as you reap some of the benefits from that bill - not one Republican voted for it. Keep that fact in mind when you’re next at the polls. As well as imagining the empty room in our house, I feel more and more like I have one foot lifting up from US soil and another suspended somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, but not quite on the ground in Australia. Added to that, it feels as though I am just waiting and waiting, and marking time. On Monday we will be fully vaccinated and on Thursday I will get my hair cut. I am so excited. My hair is so long it has began to curl along my neck. I have lived 71 years with dead straight hair - and now the pandemic has made it curl. There’s a joke in there somewhere. There has been great consternation about the Astra Zeneca vaccine and blood clots. Here’s the facts: �In Michigan, case numbers are rising alarmingly again. We have the second highest case numbers after Florida. It is the UK variant B117, which is more contagious. So, even if you’re fully vaccinated, keep wearing a mask, wash your hands and stay distanced. Yesterday this warning dropped into my inbox: The Weather Service has declared an exceptionally rare “high risk” of severe thunderstorms on Wednesday. The threat shifts into Southeast and southern Mid-Atlantic on Thursday. An extremely dangerous severe weather outbreak is expected Wednesday across a large swath of the South, with violent, long-track tornadoes, destructive winds and large, damaging hail. This threat will shift to the Southeast and southern Mid-Atlantic on Thursday. �The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has declared a very rare Level 5 out of 5 “high risk” of severe thunderstorms highlighting the exceptional intensity and widespread nature of the anticipated outbreak. “A Major Severe Weather Outbreak is Forecast,” says the headline on the center’s website. Over 40 million Americans from Texas to Georgia are at risk of severe weather on Wednesday, including nearly 1.5 million residing in the top-tier high-risk zone, which spans extreme northeast Louisiana, central Mississippi and western Alabama, and includes Birmingham, Ala., Jackson, Miss., and Tuscaloosa, Ala. It’s the first time since 2012 that a high risk of severe weather has been declared during March by the Storm Prediction Center. “A significant tornado outbreak, with long-track, intense tornadoes is expected to begin this afternoon across parts of Louisiana and Arkansas,” it writes, “and then spread eastward and peak this evening into tonight across Mississippi and Alabama.” Late Wednesday morning, the Storm Prediction Center issued a “particularly dangerous situation” tornado watchuntil 7 p.m. local time, the most severe kind, for western and central Alabama and central to eastern Mississippi. The watch described the potential for “numerous tornadoes” and the likelihood that a few would be intense. Radar indicated a strong tornado had formed in southeast Mississippi near the border of Alabama just after noon local time. The risk of severe weather shifts east on Thursday, when a level 4 out of 5 moderate risk of dangerous storms blankets the Carolinas and Georgia. The potential exists for more strong tornadoes. Areas threatened include Charlotte, Raleigh, N.C., and Savannah, Ga. Over 50 million residents face an elevated storm threat Thursday from Florida to Pennsylvania. That was yesterday morning. Here’s a photo from later that day: �A tornado touches down near Moundville in Hale County, Alabama, on March 17, 2021, causing damage to homes and downing trees. Today we are under a wind advisory from 8am this morning until 8pm tonight. As I write, I can see the trees starting to move in the wind. They are Northeast winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected. Ahhh Michigan! And yes, once in a blue moon we get a tornado touching down. This next piece says it all for me: ��In 2020, there were 838 active hate groups recorded in the US. I cannot find any statistics for hate crimes in 2020, but in 2019, the US reported 7, 314 hate crimes. Thats a staggering number. Yesterday I said the Atlanta spa shootings were motivated by racist motives. Then all the news sources came out and said the perpetrator had shot these women because of his sex addiction. Immediately, loud cries of dismay were heard as people worried this was a whitewash of the killer’s motives. I’m hoping the facts will come out. I’m very tired of whitewash (such a White Supremacy term, I think). But I do have to say that more lies are being refuted and many more factual accounts are being presented. Mongolia! Day 4 After the storm the group awoke to a beautiful sunrise in our Ger camp, before setting out to explore more sites. A traditional yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger (Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered with skins or felt and used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes of Central Asia. The structure consists of an angled assembly or latticework of wood or bamboo for walls, a door frame, ribs (poles, rafters), and a wheel (crown, compression ring) possibly steam-bent. The roof structure is often self-supporting, but large yurts may have interior posts supporting the crown. The top of the wall of selfsupporting yurts is prevented from spreading by means of a tension band which opposes the force of the roof ribs. Modern yurts may be permanently built on a wooden platform; they may �use modern materials such as steam-bent wooden framing or metal framing, canvas or tarpaulin, plexiglass dome, wire rope, or radiant insulation. Wikipedia There was a long drive to Jargalant, stopping for lunch in this valley on the way. Craig climbed up a hill to take this shot of the valley but was nearly eaten alive by the voracious horse flies. �In the afternoon the group visited the site of Ainhuree Buddhist Monastery that was �destroyed by the government during the communist anti religion period. Since then the locals have built a memorial made of branches where the monastery once stood. Some of the party, including Craig, climbed higher to get this panoramic view. �Late in the afternoon the group came upon this quintessential Mongolian scene- dzos (a type of yak) crossing the streams with the lake and mountains beyond. This scene sums up everything Craig loves about rural Mongolia. More tomorrow. Oliver. ���� 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_2021-03-18_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-372 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 2021-03-18 Title A name given to the resource Day 372 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/3574fdbb906ed6621c35336ebbae91af.pdf f5c96db6ea1325c448586de0ecc01908 PDF Text Text Day 373. by windoworks I am starting my post later today because I had to have an annual physical or my physician wouldn’t renew my prescriptions. When we drove home, we passed a clinic that sometimes has anti-abortion protesters outside. Today there had to be 20+ all clustered together and waving signs. So here’s my sign: Now, to the virus The Atlantic After weeks of falling down, down, down, coronavirus cases are snaking back up in Michigan. The surge there—along with some troubling signs in New York and New Jersey—serves as a reminder that, although �the long-term outlook is promising, this pandemic is not yet over. Our friends at the COVID Tracking Project offer a comprehensive analysis of the Michigan surge. Here are three important things to know, pulled from their reporting: 1. According to federal data, hospitalizations in Michigan are up 45 percent from their February low. 2. Although genomic data in the United States are limited, the preliminary findings suggest that the B.1.1.7 variant—also known as the U.K variant—is widespread in the state. 3. Overall, the state has doled out first vaccine doses to the majority of its residents who are 65 and older, which could help reduce deaths. But only 28 percent of Black residents in that age range have gotten their first shot. The pandemic is still with us. CNN:Europe missed its chance to stop a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic before it got out of control. Now, with new lockdowns being imposed across the continent, it's paying a high price. Some experts blame Europe's current problems on politicians being too quick to ease restrictions. American public health officials worry the US could be next. States are pushing ahead with rolling back restrictions on businesses and large gatherings. I am beginning to believe that this virus and its never ending variants will be with us for years. Will we always wear masks in stores and in other people’s houses? Perhaps. And I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear. Life will be different in the After Times. At the conclusion of my appointment this morning, the nurse asked me what was I going to do for the rest of the day - did I have anything exciting planned? For a moment I was speechless and I was a little embarrassed to say: no, just lunch and a walk. What I didn’t say was - are you crazy? Are we not in the middle of a 4th surge with Michigan leading every state with rising case numbers? No, I just mumbled awkwardly. And if you count walking outside in the sunshine exciting, then yes, I am. You know all the changes that have occurred over the past year? Here’s some positive things (I have shortened it considerably, but its still long - but worth the read): The Atlantic: ZEYNEP TUFEKCI is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and an associate professor at the University of North Carolina. She studies the interaction between digital technology, artificial intelligence, and society. 1. WE NOW KNOW HOW TO CODE FOR OUR VACCINES Perhaps the development that will have the most profound implications for future generations is the incredible advances in synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) biotechnologies. We got our vaccines very fast—the previous record for vaccine development was four years, �and that was set in the 1960s. This time, we developed multiple good COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year. Luck bought us some of that speed. For example, the HIV retrovirus is notoriously difficult to vaccinate against, and we still don’t have a vaccine for it. COVID-19 was much more susceptible, and billions of dollars in public money and a global sense of urgency pushed things along. Tragedy also sped things up: Because the pandemic was raging—more cases to test against—it was easier to get results from vaccine trials. This may allow us, finally, to transition from a broadcast-only model of medicine, wherein drugs are meant to be identical for everyone in a particular group, to targeted, individualized therapies. Plus, these technologies are suitable for small-scale but cheap-enough production: a development that can help us treat rare diseases that afflict only a few thousand people each year, and are thus usually ignored by massmarket-oriented medical technologies. It’s also no coincidence that these two mRNA vaccines were the fastest to market. They can be manufactured rapidly and, crucially, updated blazingly fast. Şahin, the BioNTech CEO, estimates that six weeks is enough time for the company to start producing new boosters for whenever a new COVID-19 variant emerges. Pfizer and Moderna are both already working on boosters that better target the new variants we’ve seen so far, and the FDA has said it can approve these tweaks quickly. 2. . WE ACTUALLY LEARNED HOW TO USE OUR DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE The internet, widespread digital connectivity, our many apps—it's easy to forget how new most of this is. Zoom, the ubiquitous video service that became synonymous with pandemic work, and that so many of us are understandably a little sick of, is less than 10 years old. Same with the kind of broadband access that allowed billions to stream entertainment at home and keep in touch with family members and colleagues. Internet connectivity is far from perfect or equally distributed, but it has gotten faster and more expansive over the past decade; without it, the pandemic would have been much more miserable and costly. Work, too, has been transformed. Suddenly, hundreds of millions of people around the world had to figure out how to get things done without going into the office. Many events have become a lot more inclusive too. Throughout the past year, I’ve been able to attend conferences and talks I’d otherwise have no chance to participate in without extensive time and travel costs. I’ve also given talks during which I’ve interacted with folks from around the world, who might never have been in that “room” otherwise. And I’ve noticed that a broader range of experts can appear on TV, now that we’ve normalized calling in from one’s home office, living room, or even bedroom. In a world divided by visas, income inequalities, time constraints, and opportunity, why didn’t we just incorporate videoconferencing into more of our events before? Why didn’t we take questions from the audience not in the room? We should keep doing that after the pandemic as well. �3. WE’VE UNLEASHED THE TRUE SPIRIT OF PEER REVIEW AND OPEN SCIENCE On January 10, 2020, an Australian virologist, Edward Holmes, published a modest tweet: “All, an initial genome sequence of the coronavirus associated with the Wuhan outbreak is now available at Virological.org here.” A microbiologist responded with “And so it begins!” and added a GIF of planes taking off. And so it did indeed begin: a remarkable year of open, rapid, collaborative, dynamic—and, yes, messy—scientific activity, which included ways of collaborating that would have been unthinkable even a few decades ago. When the pandemic hit, it simply wasn’t tenable to keep playing the old, slow, closed game, and the scientific community let loose. Peer review—the real thing, not just the formal version locked up by for-profit companies—broke out of its constraints. A good deal of the research community started publishing its findings as “preprints”—basically, papers before they get approved by formal publications—placing them in nonprofit scientific depositories that had no paywalls. The preprints were then fiercely and openly debated—often on social media, which is not necessarily the ideal place for it, but that’s what we had. Sometimes, the release of data was even faster: Some of the most important initial data about the immune response to the worrisome U.K. variant came from a Twitter thread by a tired but generous researcher in Texas. It showed true scientific spirit: The researcher’s lab was eschewing the prestige of being first to publish results in a manuscript by allowing others to get to work as fast as possible. The papers often also went through the formal peer review as well, eventually getting published in a journal, but the pandemic has forced many of these companies to drop their paywalls—besides, the preprints on which the final papers are based remain available to everyone. We should embrace the extraordinary and robust process of open science and more peer review, as well as its dynamism, even as we establish new guardrails to contain its energy. The pandemic happened at a moment of convergence for medical and digital technology and social dynamics, which revealed enormous positive potential for people. Nothing will erase the losses we experienced. But this awful year has nudged us toward dramatic improvements in human life, thanks to new biotechnologies, greater experience with the positive aspects of digital connectivity, and a more dynamic scientific process. Still, let’s never do it again. This is the other big story of the day: Washington Post: Without calling Donald Trump out by name, President Biden’s administration this week has blamed racist language he used about the coronavirus for a surge in violence against Asian Americans, connected his entourage to Russian election meddling and tied some of his supporters to a rise in domestic extremism. Hours after a 21-year-old man allegedly shot and killed eight people, including six �Asian women, in the Atlanta area, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said rhetoric of the sort Trump has frequently used fed a surge in hate crimes. So here we are. The FBI are warning that there may be more attacks and attempts at insurrection, fueled by the majority of Republican lawmakers, both federal and state. The Republicans in Congress continue to oppose all bills brought forward by the Democratic majority in the House. No Republican has ever given reason, valid or not, as to why they continue this behavior. It seems like schoolyard behavior to me: stand over tactics and bullying. What a depth the Republican Party has sunk to. Mongolia. Day 5. Early morning in Jargalant. Craig took a selfie with the river behind. �It was the first day of summer grazing and all the animals were being moved to high pasture. The air was full of incredible animal sounds of all types. �Another dzo crossing the river as we drove on. �The storm that knocked out power had also flooded the crater of a volcano that the road passed through. We all had to get out and walk (and some wading), while the crew managed to get the kitchen truck (below) and the 4 wheel drives through the flooded �roads. Isn’t Mongolia exciting? More tomorrow,. Oliver. This morning we watched a short video of Oliver dancing on the coffee table while singing ‘whale’ (I think). I have no idea how to include the clip, so here’s a photo instead. �Art is such serious business, yes? �� 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_2021-03-19_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-373 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 2021-03-19 Title A name given to the resource Day 373 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/abcb01f04d83f6a716ef633b036f5e9e.pdf 33414345532d9eb497c5f22df8f4491d PDF Text Text Day 374. Saturday March 20. by windoworks Yesterday the inspector came back and put the radon monitor back in our basement for the weekend. Hopefully it will register less than 4 which is the cutoff point for the EPA. I am very tired of miscellaneous people wandering through what is still my house, during a pandemic. Speaking of that, yesterday we received official notification of the time and place for the closing on the house and the dispersion of funds. Its 3pm on Monday April 5. After that we rent the house until we leave in early July. On a cheerful note, various Spring bulbs that Craig planted in the new meadow area in the back garden are pushing their leaves through the soil. The Hellebore (Winter Rose) flowers are also appearing. This weekend might be warm enough to sit on the front porch. But in news from far across the world: CNN: Australia's east coast was smashed by heavy rains on Saturday, sparking dangerous flash flooding that forced the evacuation of multiple regions as the fast-moving waters unmoored houses, engulfed roads, stranded towns and cut power lines. In Sydney, the country's biggest city, authorities pleaded for people to stay at home as a major dam overflowed and a mini-tornado tore through a western suburb. Most of the coast in the state of New South Wales (NSW), which is home to about a third of Australia's 25 million people, has already seen March rainfall records broken and authorities warned the downpour was likely to continue for several days. "I hate to say this again to all our citizens of the state, but it's not going to be an easy week for us," NSW �Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a televised briefing. "The rain may not stop till Thursday or Friday." Officials had issued nine evacuation orders for about 15 areas by Saturday afternoon. Television footage showed increasing damage across the state, with water engulfing houses up to the windows, people kayaking through the streets, and damaged roads. One video showed an entire house being swept away. Local media reported that the house owners had managed to evacuate. Warragamba Dam, a major water supply for Sydney, began overflowing on Saturday afternoon. Officials warned that the overflow would quickly add to swollen rivers, leading to flash flooding. A mini-tornado ripped through a suburb in the west of the city, causing damage to more than 30 homes, knocking down trees and cutting power, emergency services said. People were urged to stay at home and avoid any non-essential trips, with officials lambasting those who had needed help after venturing out into the stormy weather. Emergency crews responded to about 4,000 calls for help over the past two days, including 500 direct flood rescues, a level NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said was "just completely unacceptable." The message is clear: do not walk through or drive through floodwaters, do not drive over water that is covering a road," Elliott said. Today the heavy rain and wind is predicted to move inland to the Australian Capital Territory and Canberra, where Craig’s mother, his sister and family, all live. The rain has been particularly heavy in the Blue Mountains - our proposed future home. It has been so heavy we would have been marooned up there for at least one or two days. �Virus news: Many of our friends are fully vaccinated and many younger friends and neighbors have vaccination appointments lined up for April. The CDC has said that vaccinated people may meet one other unvaccinated family inside. The CDC didn’t say: rip off your masks and party hard in small, enclosed, loud and hot bars where you have to shout to be heard over the music. But many people heard a much different message than the one the CDC announced. So lets backtrack. You remember when you get your annual flu shot, the person administering it reminds you that this shot may not stop you from getting the flu? And remember how you nod and say okay and fervently hope that you don’t succumb to the flu this year? But even if you do, you know that the flu shot you received will make the virus load so much less than if you �hadn’t been vaccinated. You see where I’m going with this? That’s right. If you are fully vaccinated but you refuse to wear a mask and you begin socializing with large groups of unvaccinated and unmasked people in small confined spaces - you will probably catch COVID-19 variant B117. But because you are fully vaccinated you will probably have a very mild case. Can you then transmit the virus to someone else when you are sick? I’m fairly sure that answer is yes. So, fully vaccinated doesn’t mean pandemic over. Masking, distancing and hand washing are here to stay for now. And here’s a really big new development: The New Normal: Parents are excited to enroll their kids in a children's trial of the Moderna vaccine. Dr. Steve Plimpton, the principal investigator for the trial in Phoenix, says that vaccinating children is an important step toward achieving herd immunity. Children between six months and 12 years of age are participating in the Moderna trial. Pfizer is currently testing its vaccine on 12 to 15-year-olds. Have you been wondering how the 2020 Japanese Olympic Games could be safely held this year? Which the Japanese Olympic committee have been insisting will happen? Here’s how: Washington Post Tokyo Olympics organizers ban spectators from outside Japan in pandemic-control measure. The International Olympic Committee says vaccinations, while encouraged, are not mandatory for athletes and members of national teams. The Games were postponed for a year because of the pandemic and are scheduled to begin in July. Well I guess we’ll all watch it on TV. However, for the second year in a row, the North Sea Jazz Festival is canceled. In New South Wales, Australia, the annual Merimbula Jazz Festival, which Benjamin’s Big Band played at for some years and Rhythm Syndicate, Craig’s sisters choir sang at annually, has been canceled also for the second year in a row. But I see that Disneyland in Los Angeles is intending to reopen in April. Remember how the Venetian Senate established a new church in Venice after the plague? Il Redentore was built as a votive church in thanksgiving for deliverance from a major outbreak of the plague that decimated Venice between 1575 and 1576, in which some 46,000 people (25–30% of the population) died. Wikipedia I’m not entirely sure the Festival of the Redentore was held last year or if it will be held this year. I wonder if they’ll build a new church after this pandemic is over. When I think back, I realize that many familiar festivals and events were canceled last year, and many of them have had to radically rethink the staging of their event. Oh and I think the Iditarod was completely overhauled and didn’t end in Nome this year. Here in the US, following the Atlanta shootings: The New Normal: President Biden's and Vice President Kamala Harris’ tour across the country has taken a somber tone after eight people, including six Asian women, were killed in Atlanta on Tuesday. The two �have been on a victory lap to promote the passage of the latest coronavirus relief bill, but now will meet with state lawmakers and community leaders in the Georgia's capital to discuss the shootings. Biden has ordered that all U.S. flags on federal buildings be lowered to half-staff through Monday to honor the victims. Meanwhile, Asian American members of Congress are seeking federal action in response to the surge in anti-Asian attacks during the pandemic. The United States has a history of using public health concerns to camouflage racism and xenophobia. There are a lot of unknowns about the Atlanta mass shooting suspect’s motive, but the violence came amidst a wave of anti-Asian attacks this year by racists who blame Asians for the pandemic, leaving communities frightened and frustrated. In the Chinatown neighborhood of Oakland, Calif., the community is debating how to best keep themselves safe after a spate of violence against its senior residents. Some say that policing is necessary and makes them feel safe , while others argue that the community should focus on addressing poverty and other issues that cause crime. The divide is largely generational, with younger people supporting the latter argument. Now for Mongolia and Day 6: Craig took a selfie by the Orkhon River in Central Mongolia. Look at the rain!The Orkhon �Valley was the sacred heartland for all of the great empires of the Steppe, including the Turks and the Mongols. Horses grazing in front of our ger camp in the Orkhon valley. �This is Erdene Zuu, the oldest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. Abtai Sain Khan, ruler of the Khalkha Mongols and grandfather of Zanabazar, the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, ordered construction of the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585 after his meeting with the 3rd Dalai Lama and the declaration of Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion of Mongolia. Wikipedia. It was built on the site of the Mongol capital of Karakoram using stones from that ruined capital. It is still an active monastery complex. Inside the walls there are many monasteries and lodgings for monks but it is a shadow of its original size. �One of the active monasteries inside the walls of Erdene Zuu. Yes there is more Mongolian madness tomorrow. Yesterday I couldn’t post the video of Oliver singing and dancing on the coffee table but Zoe posted it in the comments under my post. Its on Facebook on my page, if you’re interested. Oliver: �Licking green and yellow uncooked rice off his fingers? �� 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_2021-03-20_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-374 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 2021-03-20 Title A name given to the resource Day 374 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/603b6e1de63473bdbdf218bc3641409a.pdf 93e8bd6905ab3398ba7fe571e0e53326 PDF Text Text Day 375 by windoworks It wasn’t until later in the day yesterday, that I looked at the calendar and realized it was the first day of Spring. It was a lovely day, warmer and sunny. Today promises to be even warmer and perhaps it is time to open the storm windows. It is strange to think that someone else will lower the storm windows into place when Fall arrives later this year. Tomorrow we are fully vaccinated. Are we almost fully vaccinated today with just one percent or more to go? And how long does this vaccination protection last? I know the scientists are researching as fast as they can and will have an answer sometime soon. I read this yesterday and I must admit it made me teary: The Atlantic editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. I visited our empty headquarters recently. The heat was off, light bulbs flickered, and desks were still covered in work we were doing on March 11, 2020. The cognitive dissonance was striking: In the weeks and months that followed our departure, The Atlantic’s virtual newsroom performed magnificently. In my opinion (and yes, please take into account the built-in biases of the editor in chief), our pandemic year may be recognized as the greatest sustained stretch of excellent journalism in our 164-year history. And my colleagues did everything on Zoom, in sweatpants, and with crying babies just off-camera, all while enduring grief, exhaustion, sickness, and loneliness. All of us have experienced loss in the past year. Some of you are mourning loved ones, and dear friends, lost in the pandemic. Many of you have experienced almost-unendurable periods of quarantine and burden and worry. This has been, in so many ways, a dreadful year, and our thoughts are with you. I feel as though, for all this time, I have been searching for that one word that so completely describes the past year and now 10 days more: dreadful. That one word encompasses so many feelings: past, present and ongoing. It covers the loss of freedom, the hours of boredom, the grieving for lost time spent with friends and neighbors, the loneliness and the mix of irritation and gratitude for Craig, my steadfast companion for these 375 days and for the next 106 days until we leave. May I add here that yesterday (and the day before), I was so overwhelmed and exhausted by this pandemic that I spent both days binge watching a series on TV. When you feel as though you just can’t cope anymore, TV is enormously comforting and relaxing. It seems a little more encouraging that the backlog of Australians desperate to return home has lessened as a lot more have successfully made it back. So we might get on the flight on July 5. Yesterday, against my wishes but with my reluctant approval, Craig climbed up our neighbors 40 foot ladder and sealed the edges of the front attic dormer windows. He had tried unsuccessfully to hire someone to do this - roofers �won’t do it and all possible handymen we called were too busy. It was the last job completed before closing. �Here is an inelegant photo of Craig climbing onto the roof. If you look carefully you can see �the ladder is tied to a hook under my closet oval window. The ladder was also staked in the grass to stop it from slipping. I refused to watch. Here’s something we should all know. I believe the House Democrats are formulating a way to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress altogether: MoveOn.org This is a list of Republicans in the Sedition Caucus who helped incite a white supremacist attack on the Capitol, don’t support the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, and continuously stand in the way of progress for our country. Ted Cruz (R-TX) Josh Hawley (R-MO) Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) Rick Scott (R-FL) Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) Lauren Boebert (R-CO) Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) Just sayin’ Difficult discussions are being had about police funding. Here’s a good piece from Washington Post: Since the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 unleashed what may have been the largest protest movement in U.S. history, the nation has been fiercely debating how to respond — to his horrifying �death, and to those of Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and so many other Black Americans at the hands of police. Some energy has been directed at accountability for specific acts, exemplified by the trial of the man charged in Floyd’s killing, former police officer Derek Chauvin, underway this month. Some has been directed at reforming police training, discipline and other policies. Several state legislatures have updated use-of-force policies and restricted or banned the use of chokeholds and neck restraints. Some departments now require police officers to intervene when they witness misconduct — a response to the other officers who watched Mr. Chauvin kneel on the neck of an unarmed man as he begged for his life. But the fiercest and potentially most consequential debate is over mounting a more fundamental response to these tragically familiar incidents. The discussion has been dominated by disagreements over the meaning and merit of “defunding the police.” Some interpretations of the provocative slogan are concerning, but as we wrote over the summer, the mantra is helpful as shorthand for an essential truth: We need to reimagine public safety. Today, community activists and law enforcement officers who see eye to eye on precious little agree on this: We rely too much on the police. From the proverbial cat stuck in a tree to an armed hostage crisis, police are the first port of call for a dizzying array of dilemmas. In the words of a former Dallas police chief, “Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve. Not enough mental health funding, let the cops handle it. … Here in Dallas we got a loose dog problem; let’s have the cops chase loose dogs. Schools fail, let’s give it to the cops. … That’s too much to ask. Policing was never meant to solve all those problems.” Over-reliance on police is preventing us from imagining and investing in other public safety tools — ones that could revitalize the struggling neighborhoods that experience the most crime. We should think about public safety the way we think about public health. No one would suggest that hospitals alone can keep a population healthy, no matter how well run they might be. A healthy community needs neighborhood clinics, health education, parks, environments free of toxins, government policies that protect the public during health emergencies, and so much more. Health isn’t just about hospitals; safety isn’t just about police. Virus statistics: in the US we have 29.8M confirmed cases. We know that the true number is probably close to 89.4M. We have 541,000 confirmed deaths. In Michigan we have a 7 day average of just over 3,000 new cases a day, bringing us to 619,000 confirmed cases. The true number is probably 1,857,000. Confirmed deaths are at 16,897. The case numbers are increasing sharply again here in Michigan. This is a 4th surge and FB is full of notices and warnings from the Health Department. Here’s what’s happening overseas: New York Times It is officially spring, but a season typically defined by renewal feels more like a season of worry. Coronavirus cases — significantly down since the U.S. peak in January — have plateaued this month at �about 55,000 new infections a day, a level public health officials say is still too high. But some governors are already starting to relax restrictions. “History has shown us that when you have that plateauing, that’s usually the forerunner of another surge — we’ve actually seen that in the European Union,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, adding, “the more people get vaccinated, the less likelihood that there is going to be a surge.” Large parts of France, above in Paris, as well as Italy, Poland and other regions are back in lockdown as they try to stop a third wave. The latest outbreaks are a stark reminder that not enough people have been inoculated to blunt the impact of a rush of new infections. Only about 13 percent of Europeans have received a first dose, compared with 23 percent in the U.S. and 40 percent in Britain. The slow rollout in Europe can be explained by a cascade of small decisions that have led to increasingly long delays. Remember, after April 5, everyone 16+ is eligible to be vaccinated and they are working on safe vaccinations for 6 months old to 15 years old. So Mongolia, day 7.We were still in the Orkhon Valley but on this day we did a long day trip to Tövkhön Monastery. It was first established in 1648 by the 14-year-old Zanabazar, the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu and spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism for the Khalkha in Outer Mongolia. He determined that the location on the Shireet Ulaan Uul mountain overlooking a hill at 2,600 meters above sea-level was an auspicious location. Wikipedia �We drove across endless grassy steppes past nomad families living in their ger camps with their animals grazing all around. Each family has up to 1500 animals: goats, sheep, cattle. dzos and horses. It was a rough 3 hour drive. �We met a wild horse catcher along the way, dresssed in traditional clothing. There are still many wild horses in Mongolia. He catches horses and sells them to the nomads. �Craig rode a horse up to the monastery. These are the same ponies Mongols used in ancient times to expand their huge empire. (Remember the Mongol Horde? They rode fast while firing arrows back over their shoulders. They were terrifying). It was up a muddy trail, and the horse flies were terrible. The small, sturdy horse made Craig feel too big. ��The monastery was spread out all across the top of the mountain. �There are many sacred stations – similar to Catholic Stations of the Cross. Some stations �require climbing up steep cliffs. And then it was a rough 3 hour drive back to our ger camp – altogether about a 10 hour day. And yes, there is still more Mongolia tomorrow Lastly, Oliver. ��� 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_2021-03-21_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-375 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 2021-03-21 Title A name given to the resource Day 375 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/618f0d8093e6daea155fe6be7c4e2b1e.pdf 34e66f383ced341249b5c3c2588333da PDF Text Text Day 376. 15 weeks until we fly out. by windoworks Today marks the day Craig and I are both classified as fully covered by the Pfizer vaccine. Today is also the day that people aged 16+ with certain conditions can be vaccinated, but in 2 more weeks, everyone who wants a vaccination in Michigan, can schedule one. Now its not quite that easy. In the house on one side of our house, one has been fully vaccinated for some time as a middle school teacher and her spouse has had his first dose. On the other side, one has had her first dose and is 2 weeks from the second dose but the spouse is struggling to get an appointment for his first dose. Its easy to talk about this as a fully vaccinated person, but getting that first appointment is not easy. Once you have the first dose they automatically schedule your second dose - all 4 weeks later. My unvaccinated friends wonder if it makes a difference to your life. For Craig and I, we are thinking that Friday this week might be our first foray into take out food at lunchtime. There’s also an Anselm Adams exhibition at a nearby art museum we’d like to see - but immediately after the museum opens in the morning, before the crowds build up. Its both a scary and an exciting thought. Meanwhile Spring Break happened, much as it always has, in Miami Florida - except maybe a little more frenetic this year. Here’s a photo from the Daily Beast: �BBC: A state of emergency has been declared in the US city of Miami Beach over concerns large crowds gathering for spring break pose a coronavirus risk. A 20:00-06:00 curfew has been announced in the island city that will remain in effect until at least 12 April. Traffic restrictions are in place during the curfew, while businesses in the busy South Beach area must close. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said thousands of tourists had brought "chaos and disorder" to the city. "It feels like a rock concert, wall-to-wall people over blocks and blocks," Mr Gelber told CNN. "If you're coming here to go crazy, go somewhere else." Spring break is a holiday period for schools and universities in the US that usually takes place in March or April. It attracts thousands of students to Florida and other warm-weather destinations around the country. Officials warned tourists to "vacation responsibly or be arrested" prior to the holiday period, and a countywide midnight coronavirus curfew was already in place due to the pandemic. But the Miami Beach area was thronged with revellers over the weekend, and many did not appear to be wearing masks or socially distancing. One city official described South Beach, which includes the world-famous Ocean Drive, as being "overwhelmed" by crowds on Saturday. "You couldn't see pavement and you couldn't see grass," city manager Raul Aguila said. He added that the emergency measures were "necessary not only to protect our residents but our visitors, including our spring breakers who we want to keep safe". �On Sunday, Miami Beach police told CNN they had arrested at least a dozen people after the curfew had come into force. The Miami Herald newspaper said police used pepper-spray balls to enforce the curfew. Until the measures are lifted, police will prevent pedestrians and vehicles from entering the South Beach area's main party strips. On Sunday, the Miami Beach city commission voted to extend the curfew and other measures for up to three more weeks. At an emergency meeting, Mayor Gelber told the commission South Beach had become "a tinder over the last couple of weeks". He said tourists had flooded into the city since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the state an "oasis of freedom" from coronavirus restrictions late last month. Florida continues to be a coronavirus hotspot in the US. The state has recorded nearly two million of the country's 29 million infections since the pandemic began. The latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows Florida has recorded about 4,300 new infections a day on average over the past week. And just when you think there’s light at the end of the tunnel: Bridge, Michigan: A greater portion of coronavirus tests are coming back positive across Michigan, with 8.5 percent of all tests reported Saturday confirming a new infection. That pushes the rate over the past week to 7.3 percent. It was 5.2 percent a week earlier. Those higher rates produced 2,660 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, pushing the seven-day average to 2,482 daily cases. Michigan now has the fourth-highest rate of new infections in the country. So, which part of - its not over yet - do some people not understand? In Australia and New Zealand the borders are closed to almost everyone except returning citizens. Once you fly in, you are escorted to a quarantine hotel, where you are locked in a hotel room for 2 weeks. You are tested for the virus about 3 times, with the last test administered 2 days before your quarantine ends. In New Zealand, once out of quarantine, you are instructed to isolate for a further 5 days. When outbreaks occur, genomic testing is used to discover the point of origin and some areas are sequestered and all residents tested. New Zealand is in the process of vaccinating border staff, medical staff, and essential workers. Australia has a similar plan to Michigan with categories 1a, 1b, 2a and 2b. 2b includes the balance of the unvaccinated population. In the latest news from the Australian government, the borders will remain closed to tourists until some time (as yet unspecified) in 2022. In two pieces of good news: one of Craig’s students is buying Craig’s father’s tenor saxophone and (and this is big news), a friend of ours will happily take our piano! For a while there I thought we would either have to put it outside for any interested passerby or, hide it somewhere in the depths of the basement for the new owners to discover - well not really, but the first idea was gaining traction. �Yesterday Craig opened the storm windows in some rooms as the current weather pattern is quite warm for late March. For today and tomorrow the high will be 67F (19.4C). The lowest temperature in the next 10 days is 41F (5C) on Friday. Having the bedroom windows open at night is a mixed blessing: the room is cooler and its easier to sleep, but you hear the trains go through the crossings and this morning we were woken up by the neighbor over the road’s dog barking. I could write about all the draconian measures State Republicans are trying to force through in order to keep racism and white supremacy alive. Yesterday I asked my oldest child to name a platform or policy being put forward in Congress by Republicans. He sat and thought for a moment after I said “I’ll wait”, and then he shook his head and said “Blocking anything the Democrats propose” - which is not actually a platform or proposal. We both laughed ruefully. The truth is, for me, that I can no longer expend my energy on this. I appreciate all the organizations that are working hard to make a change for the better, but more and more, my future lies in Australia, where plenty of issues deserve my attention and strength. This says it all for me too. I sometimes stumble going upstairs. It means nothing. �Oh, and in light of all the storms that Happened in Texas and the tornadoes last week in Alabama and Georgia, the Michigan government posted this on FB: Because you never know. So Mongolia, day 8. �Still in the Orkhon Valley, we visited Kharbalgas. Kharbalgas in Mongolian means "black city". It forms part of the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site. This was one of the cities built by the Uighur Empire which ruled much of Mongolia and Western China in the 8th & 9th centuries. In the center of the city was a fortress on top in which the Khan lived in a golden ger, that was visible for miles around. The group spent an hour or so exploring the ruins. �Craig with Kharbalgas on the hill behind him. �Next was a visit to a museum erected by the Turkish government to view the huge stone �stele of Bilge Khaghan, one of the rulers of the first Turkic Empire.This stone is inscribed with Turkic runes on one side and Chinese characters on the other and it recounts the Creation Myth of the Turks – whose original homeland was Mongolia. In the afternoon the group drove to the next ger camp at Ugii Lake. Craig photographed a family erecting a ger. �A beautiful sunset over the lake to end a memorable day. And Oliver, of course. �Blurry shot, but this balancing is serious business �� 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_2021-03-22_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-376 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 2021-03-22 Title A name given to the resource Day 376 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/355decad81f29634aa1b69835aa5ab70.pdf c3e904cc759e2986833cf7adc451fad4 PDF Text Text Day 377 by windoworks It is a gloomy, threatening day. The high today will be 70F (21C). I think today marks the last day of unusually high March temperatures. I have noticed some trees with leaf buds already - so Spring really is here. Although, this appeared in my FB feed yesterday: Well thats never happened before. The other day Craig was listening to NPR and the program was discussing Grand Rapid’s success with addressing storm water issues. Driving around Grand Rapids (as we have done for the past year) we noticed many preserved marsh areas. At the moment my favorite place to walk is Huff Park, a marsh area with boardwalks above the marsh and, depending on the weather, lots of �birds singing happily. Oh and on the topic of birds - if you put out bird seed, especially in the plastic holders, you must clean them between refills. Apparently birds are contracting diseases from the seed holders and it is endangering wildlife. This is the first year I won’t be putting out hummingbird feeders. Last year the hummingbirds drank the nectar almost faster than I could refill it. I did get a great deal of enjoyment watching all the birds that came to our feeding station - a real plus in the darkest days of the pandemic. Have you noticed friends and neighbors planning events for as soon as everyone is fully vaccinated? Its the new rule of thumb and it honestly gladdens my heart. There will still be masks and hand washing and some distancing. but what an encouraging development. However, in some parts of the world, things are not going so well: CNN In Brazil, hospitals are near collapse and the country reported spiking case numbers over the last week. No Brazilian states have ICU occupancy rates below 70%, and only two have occupancy below 80%. Thankfully, the first batch of coronavirus vaccines sent through the COVAX program arrived in Brazil yesterday. India is also seeing ominous numbers. Infections there have been increasing for almost a week, and the latest numbers mark the biggest case rise since November. And even though I said I didn’t have the energy to keep up with current events, here are some items worth noting: Washington Post:The Supreme Court will consider restoring the Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev carried out the deadly 2013 attack with his brother, Tamerlan, who was later killed in a shootout with police. An appeals court determined the judge in Tsarnaev’s trial did not adequately vet potential jurors for bias and ordered a new penalty-phase trial to determine whether Tsarnaev should be executed. Hmm. Well that’s interesting but wait! What about this? Its huge: Washington Post: Evanston, Ill., approves nation’s first government reparations program for African Americans. The $10 million program will acknowledge historic harm caused by discriminatory housing policies, practices and inaction going back more than a century. Homeownership and improvement grants as well as mortgage assistance will be offered to Black residents who can show they are direct descendants of individuals who lived in the city between 1919 and 1969. Other initiatives will follow as part of the 10year effort. Lets just think about that for a minute. What a giant step forward. �Now, as I was checking my emails yesterday, a story happening in real time popped up. I didn’t watch it, but here’s what is known, so far: CNN: Ten people, including a police officer, were killed yesterday afternoon after a gunman opened fire in a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. The attack unfolded just before 3 p.m. local time as customers in the King Soopers store waited in line for Covid-19 vaccines and shopped. Among those killed was 51-year-old Officer Eric Talley, who was the first police officer to respond. Police haven’t released details about the rest of the victims yet. A suspect is in custody, but so far police have declined to comment on his identity, a motive or the specific weapon. A senior law enforcement source said the shooter used an AR-15-style rifle. The shooting comes just days after another killing spree took the lives of eight people at spas around Atlanta. Together, these tragedies have renewed calls for stricter gun control legislation. I looked up the gun laws in Colorado and they seem fairly strict. There are further restrictions in cities such as Boulder and Vail. And yet, yesterday’s mass shooting occurred. On another topic entirely, the movement to make the District of Columbia a state is afoot. The proposed state would be known as the "State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth". There is Republican resistance (but of course) but it may end up passing. At the heart of all Republican resistance is the Filibuster. A filibuster is a political procedure where one or more members of Parliament or Congress debate over a proposed piece of legislation to delay or entirely prevent a decision being made on the proposal. Wikipedia Crooked Media: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this very good and popular proposal has little chance of making it through the Senate unless Democrats do something about the filibuster. At the risk of sounding like a broken record that nevertheless slaps, it seems like they just might! On Friday night, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) became the latest Democratic holdout to come out as reform-curious. Senate Disenfranchisement Leader Mitch McConnnell has published an op-ed in the Courier-Journal screeching that the filibuster is the last bulwark against socialism (while accidentally strengthening a pro-reform argument), evidently sensing that his filibustering days are numbered. Day 9: In the morning the group drove to the ruins of Harbuh. This was a fortress built by the Khitan in the 10th century. The Khitan established an enormous empire across the Northern Steppe and posed all sorts of problems for the Koreans and Chinese. Theirs was the last great empire of the Steppe before the Mongols. �The first visit was a tiny museum at the site. In this photograph Craig is holding Khitan �tools and weapons. It was a huge fortress. Only the walls are the original Khitan structure - other buildings date to the 16th century. The group spent half an hour walking around the walls. �In the afternoon, the group drove to the Hustai National Park to view the famous Przewalski horses. This was as close as the group was allowed to get. The Mongolian Government declared Hustai National Park as a Specially Protected Area in 1993, one year after the initiation of the reintroduction project of the Takhi (Przewalski's horse) to the Hustain Nuruu. The HNP extends through the Khentii Mountains and includes the western edge of the Mongolian steppe at the boundaries of Altanbulag, Argalant and Bayankhangai Soums of Töv Province. The park is about 100 km from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar to the west. Wikipedia Przewalski's horse also called the takhi, Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered horse originally native to the steppes of Central Asia. At one time extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat since the 1990s in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu National Park, Takhin Tal Nature Reserve, and Khomiin Tal, as well as several other locales in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.The taxonomic position is still debated, with some taxonomists treating Przewalski's horse as a species, E. przewalskii, others as a subspecies of wild horse (E. ferus przewalskii) or a feral variety of the domesticated horse (E. f. caballus). It is named after the Russian geographer and explorer Nikołaj Przewalski. Most "wild" horses today, such as the American mustang or the Australian brumby, are actually feral horses descended from domesticated animals that escaped and adapted to life in the wild. Przewalski's horse has long been considered the only remaining extant, non-domesticated wild horse. �However, a 2018 DNA study suggested that modern Przewalski's horses may descend from the domesticated horses of the Botai culture. Wikipedia Yes, Mongolia continues tomorrow, especially if I remind Craig to talk about his photos to me the day before. This morning I had to wait reading my book until he returned home from his early morning walk and then we conferred on his photographs. Oliver. �Listening to a boat story. �� 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_2021-03-23_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-377 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 2021-03-23 Title A name given to the resource Day 377 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/a9c700f9ccadd47bbfb93a52ab413e50.pdf 9bd4ed86c79803d1aadc4a2e86a9c2a8 PDF Text Text Day 378 by windoworks There is a huge ongoing discussion about honey bees being in danger of extinction. From what I’ve read, that’s an oversimplification. Because we love honey so much, we have overwhelmed other bee species with large numbers of hives. As you can see from the above, honey bees need to be more aggressive than other bees to gather enough pollen and nectar to produce honey. Now everyone is worried that without honey bees, crops such as corn etc., won’t be pollinated. But its not so much the ordinary (is that a word you can use with bees?) honey bee that pollinates crops - it is more likely to be the native honey bees. AGDaily: The truth is that there are eight species of bees that have been placed on the endangered list: different species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bees in 2016 and, more recently, the Rusty patched bumble bee. Honey bees, and other species, are not on this list, nor have they ever been. The causes for the loss of �the aforementioned endangered bee species are widely believed to be due to habitat loss, natural disasters, and invasive species. And from the EPA: Colony Collapse Disorder is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen. Once thought to pose a major long term threat to bees, reported cases of CCD have declined substantially over the last five years. This is a photo of a mini meadow - one that you could have in your back garden, Craig and I are quite keen on mini meadows - but they take quite a bit of hard work to establish. FYI, meadows are great for all bees and other wildlife. Craig faithfully followed the advice Monty Don gave us on last year’s Gardeners World, a British gardening show on Friday nights which helped to keep our spirits up through some of the worst days of the pandemic. Our meadow is still in its infant stage. Each week, Monty and his team would show us how to grow and maintain any size of garden, including windowsill pots. They asked people to send in clips of their gardening efforts and they were utterly overwhelmed with submissions, from all over Britain and all around the world. Each week they showed a number of submissions and we marveled at lush gardens in pots on thick concreted front yards; spectacular Asian delicacies grown in homemade glasshouses; children’s vegetable gardens; sustaining gardens on shed roofs and barges - the list goes on and on. Each week the presenters acknowledged the �pandemic but lifted us up with gardening possibilities. Presenters with extra time on their hands transformed their own gardens completely (and showed us step by step how to do it). We ached with sympathy when one of Monty’s beloved dogs, Nigel, died. Monty was inconsolable. Then Nell, his second Golden Retriever, had an accident fetching a stick and Monty thought he was going to lose her too. Thankfully Nell recovered and Monty got another dog, Patti, a dear little Yorkshire Terrier. The dogs follow him all around the huge garden and always feature heavily in each episode. I’m telling you this because last night Craig and I watched the first episode of Gardeners World for 2021. So many people took refuge in gardens and plants in 2020. Flowers, bees, birds and our own grown fruits and vegetables lifted our spirits in some of the darkest days. Last night Monty showed us how to plant chili seeds and will guide us through planting out and harvesting. He also showed us the best way to ensure an ongoing crop of broad beans and promised to guide us step by step, in successful potato growing in containers as well as garden beds. I am looking forward to another year of delights from Gardeners World. In news stories: the gun debate is once again on the table as is the Second Amendment which some gun owners say specifically allows every citizen to own any number of guns for no reason whatsoever. In the military coup in Myanmar, at least 275 people have been killed and up to 2,400 people have been jailed. The bias in news outlets in the US leans heavily towards negative, following the old adage ‘If it bleeds, it leads’. North Korea tested 2 short range missiles in an opening salvo to the Biden/Harris Administration. Finally, Sydney Powell’s defense in her pending lawsuit brought by Dominion (voting machines) is, and I quote: No reasonable person would conclude that the (my) statements were truly statements of fact’. Ladies and gentlemen, the defense rests. For more on gun control, here’s this from Crooked Media: We know stricter gun control would save lives, we know Americans overwhelmingly want it, and we know that while simply whispering the words “voter fraud” dishonestly into the wind is enough to launch hundreds of voter-suppression bills, no number of real mass shootings in a week will convince Republicans to take action. Until Democrats resolve to do so without them, we’re stuck with the national “normal” Barack Obama described: “We should be able to live our lives without wondering if the next trip outside our home could be our last. We should. But in America, we can’t.” And here’s another light at the end of the tunnel moment from Crooked Media: Oakland, CA has become the latest city to launch a universal basic income pilot program, which will allocate $500 per month to low-income families. �Bloomberg says that so far 128M doses have been administered in the US, at an average of 2.50M doses a day. Australia has 286K doses given, enough for 0.6% of the population. In New Zealand, 27K doses given, enough to cover 0.3% of the population. Hmmm. From the New York Times: Biden’s advisers are preparing a set of proposals intended to reshape the U.S. economy and other parts of American life. If they pass, they will almost certainly have a more lasting effect on people’s lives than the virus-relief bill that Biden signed two weeks ago. And while the proposals include measures on health care and taxes, they are broader — more diffuse, a critic might say — than the top priorities of other recent presidents. During last year’s campaign, Biden described the package with the phrase “build back better.” It is an attempt to create a more prosperous, equal and sustainable economy. It’s the Democratic Party’s answer to decades of rising inequality and growing damage from climate change. Infrastructure. The centerpiece of the package is a set of proposals to improve the country’s infrastructure, including money for roads, bridges, broadband access and energy-efficient houses and electric cars. Many of the infrastructure provisions are “directly related to the fight against climate change,” our colleague Jim Tankersley told us. “Administration officials essentially see those two goals — building out 21st century infrastructure and transitioning to a low-carbon future — as inseparable.” Education. Biden wants to expand public education on both ends of the age spectrum. His plan is likely to make pre-K universal for both 3- and 4-year-olds, through federal funding of local programs, and would increase funding for community colleges. The ultimate goal is to move the public-education system from its current K-12 system to something that starts at age 3 and extends through two years of college. Child payments and paid leave. The virus-relief bill included a few large items to help middle-class and poor families — but they all expire in the next year or so. This new package would extend a monthly child payment that starts at $250 per child for most families, as well as a big expansion of paid family leave. These provision would significantly reduce both economic and racial inequalities. Health care. Biden’s plan would expand Obamacare by extending several two-year provisions in the virusrelief bill, The Times’s Margot Sanger-Katz says. It would cut costs for nearly every family that receives coverage through the law and expand subsidies to some making more than $100,000 a year. �Back to Mongolia. Day 10 �Very early the next morning Craig climbed a high hill in the Hustai National Park. On the summit there was cairn with Buddhist prayer flags draped all over it . �Next the group started driving back towards Ulaanbaatar on the last day of this first road trip. There are very few roads in Mongolia and the drivers drove across grass steppe and arid plains in the 4 wheel drive vehicles. They drove very fast and Craig snapped this photo out of his car window. �A shot through the front windscreen �Just outside of the park there was a visit to a Turkic Memorial from about the 7th century. Here again are Balbals honoring slain enemies, stretching across the steppe. �On the way back to the hotel, the group visited the Hunnu Mall. Mongolia has one of the great dinosaur collections in the world which were mostly discovered in the Gobi region. Because the National History Museum was under renovation, many perfect dinosaur remains were housed in this mall. �The next two nights were spent resting and relaxing in Ulaanbaatar before heading to the Gobi. That first evening before dinner the group drove up Zaisan hill in the heart of the city to view the Soviet Era murals.The Zaisan Memorial is a memorial in the southern area of the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar that honors allied Mongolian and Soviet soldiers killed in World War II. Wikipedia More Mongolia tomorrow. Oliver ��And lastly (and I’m embarrassed by this) someone sent me a video of hummingbirds yesterday which came into my inbox when I was walking at Millenium Park - and I accidentally deleted it before I read it. If you are reading this and you sent it to me - could you please send it again and tag it with your name? Thanks. � 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_2021-03-24_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-378 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 2021-03-24 Title A name given to the resource Day 378 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/327a3e09d283f42bae05651908fa490c.pdf 4a49905bcaa1a4312935c38a506c594c PDF Text Text Day 379 by windoworks I’m running late with writing this morning because.... I went to the hairdresser after 6 months (!) and had my hair cut and highlighted!! Amazing how exciting that outing was. First up, crooked Media hitting the nail on the head, as always. As Republicans walk around screaming that the Biden administration inherited a perfect immigration system and created an appalling border crisis, here are a couple of key things to know: Firstly, the Biden transition team started sounding the alarm about the need for more shelter space for migrant kids back in early December, but the Trump administration did nothing about it until days before the Inauguration. Secondly, there’s…not actually a crisis. A Washington Post analysis of monthly CPB data going back to 2012 found that the current increase in apprehensions at the border fits a predictable pattern of more �border crossings at this time of year, combined with migrants who would have come earlier, but for the pandemic. Are kids being held for too long in unfit DHS facilities? Absolutely, and we shouldn’t look away until that problem is solved and a better long-term system is put in place. But it’s not a problem the Biden administration created, nor is it the result of a policy-driven surge. Here is some sobering news from far away: NPR: Days of torrential rain have spawned massive flooding in eastern Australia, forcing the evacuation of some 40,000 people. In the country's arid central section, it has sent waterfalls down the side of the country's majestic Uluru rocks. Barely a year after devastating bushfires burned through tens of millions of acres in Australia, the country is grappling with one of its worst-ever floods after weather systems converged over Queensland and New South Wales, dumping more than 20 inches of rain in a single day in one area north of Brisbane. Meanwhile, one area of New South Wales received nearly 40 inches in a week — which Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said had already exceeded the average autumn rainfall less than a month into the season. The floods, which have submerged houses, stranded cattle and cut off towns, have inundated vast areas along the east coast from roughly Mackay, located about 600 miles north of Brisbane in Queensland, to Bega in New South Wales, some 260 miles south of Sydney. The premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, said Wednesday that residents in Sydney's western regions are under new evacuation orders. �A local resident paddles along a flooded street in the Sydney suburb of McGraths Hill on Wednesday. What we still have to be aware of is the fact that thousands and thousands of people are still on evacuation warnings, that the rivers will continue to swell, that catchments will continue to experience flows of water not seen in 50 years and in some places 100 years," she told reporters in Sydney, Reuters reports. On Wednesday, the bodies of two men were recovered from flooded vehicles. One man, 25, died when his car was submerged in northwest Sydney. He reached an emergency operator and was on the line for 44 minutes until contact was lost, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. �Multiple waterfalls from heavy rains cascade over the rock formations at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory, Australia, earlier this week. Near Alice Springs in central Australia, tourists have flocked to Uluru, also known Ayers Rock, to catch a rare glimpse of cascading waterfalls at the reddish-orange rock formation. Park officials say 46 millimeters (1.8 inches) of rain fell there over the weekend – about a sixth of the average annual rainfall in the region. While the event isn't unprecedented, it is uncommon. "Rainwater on the rock's surface causes it to change colour. From dark burgundy to shining silver and even black, every side of Uluru takes a different shade, making this spectacle a photographer's delight. Following the rain, desert plants bloom and many animals emerge to mate and feed," staff at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park said on Facebook. The Warragamba Dam, located on the western outskirts of Sydney, has been spilling the equivalent of the city's famous harbor in water each day. It's expected to continue its overflow for at least another week, threatening highly populated areas, Morrison said. "We advise that the rain and flood situation does remain dynamic and extremely complex," he said. The gun debate is heating up again. From New York Times: More guns mean more deaths Republican members of Congress often claim otherwise. After the Boulder shootings, John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, dismissed calls for restricting gun availability, saying, “There’s not a big appetite among our members to do things that would appear to be addressing it, but actually don’t do anything to fix the problem.” But there is overwhelming evidence that this country has a �unique problem with gun violence, mostly because it has unique gun availability. It’s not just that every other high-income country in the world has many fewer guns and many fewer gun deaths. It’s also that U.S. states with fewer guns — like California, Illinois, Iowa and much of the Northeast — have fewer gun deaths. And when state or local governments have restricted gun access, deaths have often declined, Michael Siegel of Boston University’s School of Public Health says. ��And here’s an image that speaks louder than words: Heather Cox Richardson’s daily pieces are always worth reading. Here’s a little from yesterday’s post: After former President Donald Trump tweeted that his supporters should travel to Washington, D.C., on January 6 for a rally that “will be wild!,” Kelly Meggs, a member of the Oath Keepers, wrote on Facebook: “He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your s***!!” In a series of messages, Meggs went on to make plans with another individual for an attack on the process of counting the electoral votes. On December 25, Meggs told his correspondent that “Trumps staying in, he’s Gonna use the emergency �broadcast system on cell phones to broadcast to the American people. Then he will claim the insurrection act…. Then wait for the 6th when we are all in DC to insurrection.” And then..... In the 19 days after the election, Trump and the Republican National Committee took in more than $207 million, prompted mostly by their claims of election fraud. John Horgan, who runs the Violent Extremism Research Group at Georgia State University, told Smith that “Trump successfully convinced many of his followers that unless they acted, and acted fast, their very way of life was about to come to an end…. He presented a catastrophic scenario whereby if the election was — for him — lost, his followers would suffer as a result. He made action not just imperative, but urgent, convincing his followers that they needed to do everything they could now, rather than later, to prevent the ‘enemy’ from claiming victory.” And also.... On Monday, (Sydney) Powell argued that “no reasonable person would conclude” that her statements about a scheme to rig the election “were truly statements of fact.” Eric Wilson, a Republican political technologist, explained away the Big Lie to NBC News’s Smith: “[T]here are a lot of dumb people in the world…. And a lot of them stormed the Capitol on January 6th.” And yet, 147 Republicans—8 senators and 139 representatives—signed onto the Big Lie, voting to sustain objections to the counting of the electoral votes on January 6. Finally.... Rather than trying to pass popular measures to make up the ground they have lost, Republicans are trying to suppress voting. By mid-February, in 43 states, Republicans had introduced 253 bills to restrict voting. Today, Republicans in Michigan introduced 39 more such bills. In at least 8 states, Republicans are trying to gain control over elections, taking power from nonpartisan election boards, secretaries of state, and governors. Had their systems been in place in 2020, Republicans could have overturned the will of the voters. To stop these state laws, Democrats are trying to pass a sweeping federal voting rights bill, the For the People Act, which would protect voting, make it easier to vote, end gerrymandering, and get dark money out of politics. The bill has already passed the House, but Republicans in the Senate are fighting it with all they’ve got. And the final word goes to... Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told them: “This is infuriating. I would like to ask my Republican colleagues: Why are you so afraid of democracy? Why, instead of trying to win voters over that you lost in the last election, are you trying to prevent them from voting?” �Here’s great example of Republicans duty of care: To cheer you up: �Time for Day 11 in Mongolia �A new view from Craig’s new hotel room, looking in the other direction. Below you can see a wedding palace on the right, a monastery up and to the left and behind, a glimpse of Sukhbaatar Square – the center of Ulaanbaatar . �This temple is the Choijiin Lama temple, part of the Choijiin Buddhist Monastery that could be seen from Graig’s hotel room. The complex consists of six temples originally occupied by the brother of the ruler the Eighth Bogd Jetsun �Dampa Khan, Choijin Lama Luvsankhaidav, who was the state oracle and 'Precious Wisdom and Clear Devotion' Khutugtu at the time. The complex was begun in 1904 and completed in 1908, in honor of the State Oracle Lama Lubsanhaidub /Losang Kedrup/, brother of the eighth Bogd Khan.Wikipedia �Next the group visited the Gandan monastery- the most important Buddhist site in the country. It houses this giant golden Buddha statue, several stories high.The original statue, made of copper, was built after appeals to the �Mongolian public; its intent was to restore the sight of the 8th Jebtsundamba, also known as Bogd Khan), who had claimed the title of Emperor of Mongolia. The statue was built by Bogd Javzandamba's principal minister, Chin Wan Khanddorj. Russian troops dismantled the original statue in 1938.After the end of the Soviet era, the statue of Avalokiteśvara was rebuilt in 1996, funded by donations by the Mongolian people. It features 2,286 precious stones and is gilded with gold leaf.Wikipedia Tomorrow the group sets off for the next part of their road trip across Mongolia Oliver and his father, Christian. On Thursdays Zoe goes in to the office and then goes out for dinner with friends after work. So Christian picks Oliver up from daycare, brings him home to Zoe’s house, feds him, baths him, puts him to bed and babysits until Zoe comes home. ���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_2021-03-25_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-379 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 2021-03-25 Title A name given to the resource Day 379 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/7fc5fc663373bdae79d903f5fc981042.pdf ce0202ff21ad8f50c135d75f1cbfd182 PDF Text Text Day 380 by windoworks This was posted online yesterday morning: WASHINGTON POST An outbreak of severe weather, including the likelihood of strong tornadoes, is set to slam the South on Thursday after a barrage of roughly 50 tornadoes tore through the region last week. The National Weather Service has declared a rare level 5 out of 5 “high risk” of severe thunderstorms, highlighting a volatile atmospheric setup with the potential to yield widespread and destructive storms. The high-risk zone includes Huntsville, Ala., and Tupelo, Miss. It is surrounded by a larger zone, which includes Memphis, Nashville, and Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Ala., where the threat is rated at level 4 out of 5 and there is also a serious risk for severe weather. As if the pandemic wasn’t enough. �These are just two of the photos of destruction. I’m sure more will appear over the next couple of days. �Apparently extremely gullible. And here’s what happened in Georgia yesterday. Along with Texas, there’s a state I have no wish to ever visit again. • CNN: Republicans in Georgia have passed a sweeping elections bill that voting rights advocates say is a bald-faced attempt at voter suppression. The new law imposes new voter identification requirements for absentee ballots, empowers state officials to take over local elections boards, limits the use of ballot drop boxes and makes it a crime to approach voters in line to give them food and water. The law is seen as a win for former President Trump and his allies, who falsely claimed widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election. Trump himself pressured Georgia leaders to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the state. President Biden has called bills like this “sick” and “un-American.” Other Republican-led states are �considering similar voter suppression bills, sparking calls for federal legislation to set a national baseline for voting rules. I am astounded by these actions happening in 43 states. The Democrats, lawmakers and voters, worked so extraordinarily hard to win the last election and instead of saying (even ungraciously) okay - you won, the Republicans have lied, actively encouraged an insurrection, and continued to lie and sow dissention. And when that didn’t lead to them getting the upper hand, they have begun introducing and attempting to pass extremely rigid and unfair bills regarding voting rights and practices. All I can do is wring my hands and wail at this blatant grab for power. Trump’s legacy is a hideous one which will live on. Once Pandora’s Box is opened you can’t stuff those evils back inside. To explain: Pandora is a woman of Greek mythology. Its a long story, but here’s the nub - she had been given a vessel as a gift but instructed never to open it. So of course, eventually, she decided just to take a peek. Out flew all the evils in the world and she hastily shut the lid again - trapping hope inside. I think thats an apt parable for today, don’t you think? So here’s a story from New York Times thats causing a global catastrophe: This photo shows the manmade Suez Canal which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, dividing Africa and Asia. CAIRO — As tugboats strained against the weight of the mammoth ship and dredgers worked to clear sand and mud, a salvage company working on the operation warned on Thursday that releasing the �container vessel blocking traffic in the Suez Canal in Egypt could take days or even weeks. Dozens of ships laden with oil and goods destined for ports around the world are stranded in the canal, and with each passing hour, the economic cost of the disruption grows more consequential. The stuck ship, the Ever Given, has been wedged in the canal since running aground amid the heavy winds of a sandstorm on Tuesday. Its bow is lodged in the canal’s eastern bank and its stern in the western bank. As you can see from the photo above, the ship has effectively cut off all traffic in the Canal and the financial implications are enormous. Experts literally do not know how to set the ship free. It is another grey day with the promise of some sun this afternoon. This morning Craig and I are going on an excursion to Muskegon, to visit the Muskegon Art Museum. There is an Ansel Adams photography exhibition on at the moment. We are buying take out gluten free bagel sandwiches from Terra Bagels (our first take out in almost a year!) to eat for lunch after our museum visit. Its very exciting and just a little bit scary. We haven’t been inside anywhere apart from medical buildings and grocery stores for over a year! Oh, and this just in from Washington Post: Fox News has been sued by Dominion Voting for $1.6 billion over election fraud claims. It's the second voting-systems company to file suit against Fox over the bogus allegations aired by President Donald Trump's allies after the 2020 election. In the suit, filed in a Delaware court, Dominion argued that the Fox and several of its on-air personalities elevated conspiracy theories about the voting company rigging the 2020 election and allowed falsehoods by their guests to go unchecked, including a wild claim that the company’s machines were manufactured in “Venezuela to rig elections for the dictator Hugo Chávez” and that Dominion’s algorithm manipulated votes so that then-President Trump would lose. “Fox engaged in this knowing and reckless propagation of these enormous falsehoods in order to profit off these lies,” reads the lawsuit. “Fox wanted to continue to protect its broadcast ratings, catering to an audience deeply loyal to President Trump.” I wonder if Fox News has enough money to pay out these suits to stop them going to trial. Hmmm. So, Mongolia. Day 12. Very early the next morning (4am) our group flew for a couple of hours south to Dalandzagad in the Gobi. Gobi is a Mongol word for pastureland where the vegetation is so sparse it can only support Batrium camels. If the Gobi is overgrazed it turns into desert. �Our group had a different team of drivers but the same kitchen truck and cook. Here’s the group having lunch – pickled vegetables, salads, some meat, chocolate and a variety of teas. �Then everyone rode Bactrium camels across the Gobi for an hour. Here’s Craig on his camel.The Bactrian camel, also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dromedary camel. Wikipedia �After Craig’s ride he climbed a huge sand dune and took this photo of others in the party. �In the evening the group drove to the Flaming Cliffs. It was in these sandstone mountains that most of Mongolia’s dinosaur fossils have been found, perfectly preserved. After sunset the group drove back to their ger camp. Authors note: what purpose do camels humps serve? A camel's hump does not hold water at all – it actually stores fat. The camel uses it as nourishment when food is scarce. If a camel uses the fat inside the hump, the hump will become limp and droop down. … The hump is not used for water storage, but camels can go for long periods of time without water. So now you know. And time for Oliver: ��Stay safe. Numbers keep climbing in Michigan. Get tested and if you can, get vaccinated. Being fully vaccinated literally begins to open up your life in a safer way. 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_2021-03-26_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-380 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 2021-03-26 Title A name given to the resource Day 380 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/887bb82abf029e1e52af6beddf2f0c16.pdf d0d0b374be7bb7c2be2d2fdc20fc55ae PDF Text Text Day 381. Saturday March 27. by windoworks We’re almost at the end of March! Every day I catch myself thinking things like: what will our bedroom look like in July? What sort of porch furniture will the buyers have? I’m calling them the buyers because its just over a week until we close. Its a split closing. The buyers will close at 1pm on Monday April 5, somewhere in Detroit. We will close at 3pm somewhere in an office on Plainfield. There are so many details to think about. The house across the road from us was sold on Monday, 4 days after the showing. There’s a big SOLD sign on top of the For Sale sign - but surely the sale is still pending? It takes 4-6 weeks to close on a house, unless there were no inspections, no appraisal and the buyer paid in cash. I am watching in interest. From April 5 we are renting our house back from the buyers. How weird does that feel? Craig took out renters insurance for the 3 months, so we’re covered for any accidents etc. Yesterday, this popped up on my FB page from the City of Grand Rapids : This was forwarded on from the State of Michigan Health & Human Services. We do get tornadoes touching down in Michigan. Last year we had 3, but while there was damage it was nothing compared to the last 2 weeks in the southern states. Still, its good to be prepared. Our safe shelter is our basement and when the siren sounds we have to go down there and stay down there until the siren stops. They run a test on all the sirens across the state on the first Friday of the month at 12 noon precisely. The test runs for 2 minutes. Each siren which is situated at the top of a high pole rotates during the 2 minutes - which is why the sound alternates between louder and softer. �I remember the first time I heard a practice siren. It was really scary to my uneducated ears. Then, not long after we had moved into our house and on a day Craig was at school, there was a siren sounding on a day that wasn’t the first Friday and wasn’t at 12 noon. I remember standing on the back porch and shouting across to my neighbor John through his kitchen window: what is that? He told me to go inside because it was a tornado warning. The first time the sirens sounded in the middle of the night was in summer and we had the air conditioner going in our bedroom. I remember waking up and saying to Craig: turn off the a/c, I think I can hear a siren. Sure enough, the siren was sounding and outside the wind and rain were lashing the house. We got up and ran downstairs and Craig said: I’m just going outside to have a look. He wanted to sit on the porch and watch in case it came down our street but I made him come back inside. The next morning when we were talking about it with our neighbors they said: you did what?? And then pointed out that by the time you see the tornado coming, its too late to go to safety. A couple of years ago, there was another tornado siren before we went to bed, so Craig and I and the dog went down into the basement while the rain and wind lashed the house. Suddenly the siren stopped and so did the rain and wind. We went back upstairs and out onto the front porch. 30 seconds later, our neighbor John came out of hiss basement door, shone a bright flashlight at us and shouted: get back in the basement! It isn’t over yet! So down we went to the basement and the siren and the wind and rain started up again. When the siren stopped again, we went back upstairs and out on to the front porch and asked John, who was standing on his front porch: can we come out now and he said yes. It appears that when we came up the first time it was the eye of the storm. I must add that our dog Murphy was very unsettled by the whole experience and she never liked the basement anyway. Here’s a interesting thought and actually a few friends can attest to its truth: �Last night we were talking to my brother and his wife who live in Campbell River on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. They are getting the first Pfizer shot on Tuesday but won’t get the second shot for 2-3 months time. Canada is struggling to get sufficient vaccine supplies. My brother is almost 79 and I am so surprised that he hasn’t been fully vaccinated already. This is the one thing that the US is doing well. More and more of my friends are either fully vaccinated or in the process of being vaccinated. It does take perseverance to get that first shot though. My brother told us that British Columbia is struggling with increasing cases of both the UK variant and the Brazilian one. In Brazil, things have gone from worse to catastrophic and what anti vaxxers here in the US refuse to understand is that unvaccinated people greatly increase the risk of more surges because the virus has lots �of fresh meat to infect. Here’s what’s happening in Kent County, where yesterday Dr Adam London, the Chief Medical Officer told us to hunker down. Yesterday we had 298 new confirmed cases. These include patients who were taken to hospital. The true number for the day was probably closer to 900, many of whom are asymptomatic. When you look at the graphs for Kent County and Michigan, Kent is slowly rising but Michigan is sharply rising. The new cases are almost exclusively people aged between 30 and 50 years of age. For us aged 65+ there are very few new cases as those in this age group are getting vaccinated as soon as possible. And just to remind you of two things: initially Pfizer and Moderna thought they would be able to offer 50% protection from the virus. Imagine their astonishment when the results showed protection in the 90%s. Secondly, the 5% uncovered means you could still become infected BUT the resulting illness would be much milder and not result in hopsnitilation or death. Look at this new development - oh I so want one! NPR New Yorkers will become the first Americans to try out a new digital pass that shows their vaccination status and COVID-19 test results. It's an effort to help venues open up to larger groups, says New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo announced Friday that the state's health status certification, called the Excelsior Pass, will help New Yorkers voluntarily share vaccination and COVID-19 negative statuses with entertainment venues and other businesses to put the state's economy back on track. The state describes the pass this way: Businesses and venues can scan and validate your pass to ensure you meet any COVID-19 vaccination or testing requirements for entry. Along with your Pass, you'll be asked to show a photo ID that shows your name and birth date to verify that the Pass belongs to you. Adults may hold passes for accompanying minors. Once you and your party enter an establishment, you will still be asked to follow State and CDC guidance regarding social distancing, face coverings and hand hygiene. Participation in Excelsior Pass is voluntary. New Yorkers can always show alternate proof of vaccination or testing, like another mobile application or paper form, directly at a business or venue. And now, the second last day of Craig’s Mongolian adventure. To remind you: this was a gig for Craig. He lectured every day and in every place they visited. Day 13 �Craig went for a walk from their ger camp early in the morning at 6am and took this photo of the Gobi pastureland. There is such sparse grass that only camels can survive there. The little building shows the vastness of the Gobi. �After breakfast the group were driven to a deep gorge where nomadic armies used to hide �in and then successfully ambush Chinese armies. The gorge is so deep the sun doesn’t reach in, so ice remains right through the summer. �Gorge �selfie Petroglyphs carved on the side of a tall, rocky mountain . Hundreds of petroglyphs had been carved by nomadic groups over thousands of years. This scene shows Xiongnu horsemen with their double curved bows hunting wild animals. It dates from the first century. The Xiongnu were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BCE to the late 1st century CE. Chinese sources report that Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 BCE, founded the Xiongnu Empire. Wikipedia. �As you can see it was a long steep climb to get to the petroglyphs, which only a few of the group managed. Their inaccessibility has helped to preserve them. This is a view of the Gobi from the petroglyph mountain. One last day of Mongolia tomorrow. Are you wondering how our first excursion went? Very well. The museum was very safe and well organized and the exhibits were wonderful. Afterwards we drove to the downtown park to eat our first take out lunch in almost a year. It was such a glimpse of what life used to be and it was exhilarating and exhausting. Our daughter asked us what was our next excursion - we haven’t decided yet, but we’re thinking. Oliver. I have some wonderful videos of Oliver but I just can’t post them in this blog. �Reading a book with Great Aunt Bernie. �� 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_2021-03-27_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-381 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 2021-03-27 Title A name given to the resource Day 381 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/62be740c84e1523c500dbd277bb7bedc.pdf 0b4b9fcc60c4c581da91d8b5d391780b PDF Text Text Day 382 by windoworks First up, the Ever Given. From New York Times: The very big boat in the Suez Canal is still very much stuck. For days, an armada of tugboats with the power of tens of thousands of horses has been pushing and pulling at the Ever Given. Cranes have been scooping mounds of earth from the shallow areas around the ship’s bow and stern. The rudder has been freed, but the ship has not yet been refloated. Egyptian officials pointed to a combination of factors that were responsible for the Ever Given’s grounding on Tuesday, including weather and human error.Time is of the essence. Nearly 300 cargo ships are waiting to traverse the canal, one of the world’s most critical shipping arteries. Already, analysts estimate the traffic jam has held up nearly $10 billion in trade each day. I believe there is an astounding twitter storm from QAnon about the true cargo of this ship. According to made up sources, the Ever Given’s myriad containers are filled with children being taken to international pedophile rings. Here’s my question for those true believers - have you ever been inside a container? In ones without refrigeration facilities, there is no moving air, no food, no bathroom facilities. The Ever Given wouldn’t be transporting live children by the journeys end. Lets have a reality check here. One of the items that is onboard Ever Given is 100 containers of IKEA goods, and IKEA is not happy. The 400-meter-long and 224,000-tonne container ship Ever Given, is almost as long as the Empire State Building. In a setback for global trade, officials stopped all ships entering the Suez Canal channel on Thursday. The blockage has affected the daily movement of goods worth an estimated USD 9.6 billion, according to data from Lloyd's List. A number of ships have reversed out of the Suez Canal and are now sailing down the coast of Africa, an area famous for pirates. Some US Navy boats are accompanying them. This will take 41 days to sail via the Cape. Suez to Amsterdam at 12 knots is just over 13 days via the canal. �This gives you an idea of the long journey to reach the Mediterranean when the Suez Canal is out of commission. Next from NYT: Nearly a week after a man walked into a supermarket in Boulder, Colo., and killed 10 people, investigators say they are still searching to understand a motive. Ahmad Alissa, 21, who has been charged in the mass shooting, came from an immigrant family that had achieved many of the outward signs of success. But the family’s life was not without troubles in the two decades since leaving Syria for a new home in the Rocky Mountains. The Boulder attack was the second U.S. mass shooting in a week, once again leaving Democrats and Republicans in a stalemate over gun control measures. Public health experts say a new round of federal research could pave the way for gun policies that avoid partisan gridlock — and ultimately save thousands of lives. �Hmmm What else? Oh the virus. New York Times: More than one-third of U.S. adults — about 90 million people — have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine. Nearly every state has announced that it will meet President Joe Biden’s directive to make all adults eligible by May 1. Only two states — Arkansas and New York — have not laid out their timeline for universal eligibility. Wyoming has also not said when all adults will be able to get the shot, but 20 of the state’s 23 counties now allow them to. �The exact threshold for herd immunity for the coronavirus is unknown, but recent estimates range from 70 percent to 90 percent. If the U.S. can continue at the current rate of vaccination, about 2.68 million doses per day on average, that point could be reached by mid-July. Case numbers remain high — an average of 60,545 cases per day over the past week — so coronavirus testing remains essential. But things are really dreadful in Brazil: again from New York Times: Brazil is facing the most new Covid-19 cases and deaths in the world. Every hour, roughly 125 people there die from the virus. The virus has killed more than 300,000 people in the country, a crisis fueled by a highly contagious variant, political infighting and conspiracy theories. Hospitals are overwhelmed with a torrent of Covid-19 patients who are arriving younger and sicker. “We have never seen a failure of the health system of this magnitude,” the executive director of Doctors Without Borders in Brazil said. “And we don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.” Wow! So we’re doing okay then. And meanwhile, in Atlanta: NPR:An unusually furry NASCAR employee started work this past weekend. A black Lab named Dixie nosed her way along a line of people waiting to get into the garage ahead of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “She’s going to come by and sniff your left hand. If she licks it and you’re offended, there’s hand sanitizer up front,” a NASCAR staff member told people waiting in line, according to a video NASCAR sent WFAE. Dixie wore a bright orange collar, wagging her tail excitedly as her handler led her on a leash from person to person. Dixie stuck her snout against each person’s hand for 5 to 10 seconds and gave a few affectionate licks to those who scratched her head. Dixie is one of three COVID-sniffing dogs, trained by a collection of companies called 360 K9 Group, that screened about 1,000 NASCAR pit crew members and staff at the Atlanta race. She’s trained to “alert” or sit down when she detects the disease caused by the coronavirus. The dogs allow us to rapidly screen — and, essentially, test — that essential population before they go into the garage, in one location, in a very rapid amount of time,” said Tom Bryant, NASCAR’s managing director of racing operations, in an interview with WFAE in advance of Sunday’s race. Dogs are super sniffers with a sense of smell up to 100,000 times more acute than that of humans.“Their world, the primary input is through their nose,” said William Schneider, the chief scientific officer for F1K9, one of the organizations involved in training the dogs for NASCAR. Canines have been trained to find specific scents for a long time. Hunting dogs track certain animal smells. Bomb-sniffing dogs search for explosives. Drug-sniffing dogs can detect narcotics. Some dogs have even been trained to sniff out certain cancers or bacteria. �How cool is that? Maybe they should use these dogs at airports. This morning it is another grey day. Michigan is famous for grey days and grey days don’t help at all in a pandemic. Over the years, Craig has had quite a number of students suffering SAD (seasonal affective disorder). One solution is to purchase a daylight lamp which mimics sunshine. In winter and spring, cloudy days turn the whole world grey. When we first moved here, my sister-in-law in Canada advised me to buy a flowering plant and put it on the kitchen windowsill. I bought African Violets. Over the years the number of plants on my windowsill has ranged from 3 - 7 or 8, depending on their health state. Visitors have commented on the profusion of blooms in the kitchen and they have always raised my spirits. I have 4 at the moment and 3 have just blossomed after months of stagnation. I am coaxing the 4th into blooming. I am a great believer in talking lovingly and encouragingly to house plants - and even garden plants. Everything does better when they’re appreciated. In a few weeks I will give all my plants to neighbors and friends. Yet another step towards leaving the US. The last day in Mongolia. Day 14. �Gobi Dream Ger Camp from around 6am. The tracks in the dirt you can see are actually a major Gobi highway. That’s confronting. �Inside Craig’s ger. Surprisingly comfortable and this one even had its own private bathroom - shower, toilet and basin. Such luxury. �Visiting a nomad camp and learning about Mongolian cooking. The women were cooking a �noodle dish. �Next, there was a cultural show. This performer demonstrated Mongolian throat singing. In �Tuvan throat singing, the performer produces a fundamental pitch and—simultaneously— one or more pitches over that. The history of Tuvan throat singing reaches far back. Many male herders can throat sing, but women are beginning to practice the technique as well. The popularity of throat singing among Tuvans seems to have arisen as a result of geographic location and culture. The open landscape of Tuva allows for the sounds to carry a great distance. Often, singers travel far into the countryside looking for the right river, or go up to the steppes of the mountainside to create the proper environment for throatsinging. Wikipedia. Authors note: you can find examples of throat singing online. Children performing the camel dance. �These performers wore traditional Mongolian dress. The woman also sang. �Later that day the group flew back to Ulaanbaatar for one last night in a hotel. Craig flew home early the next morning. At the airport he saw a statue of an ancient Mongolian soldier. The airport was named Chinggis Khan International airport, of course. So ends the Mongolian adventure. �Sometimes �Oliver makes me laugh. Today we saw a wonderful video clip of Oliver playing a piano book. I’m sorry I can’t share it with you. Tomorrow is another day. � 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_2021-03-28_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-382 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 2021-03-28 Title A name given to the resource Day 382 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/12c9a6819f06a7da41014cd16405cdaa.pdf fbfda0dc3d6e37fc649700bab7472bfd PDF Text Text Day 383. 14 weeks. by windoworks Yorkshire holds its breath as main shipping route of flat caps, whippets and ale is blocked. Ernie Slatherswaite, Master of the vessel told us 'One minute we were fine then a small gust of wind took us. Yorkshire is set to lose upwards of £3.67 a day until the carnage is cleared, which according to Our Uncle Eric in the pub, could take weeks. And many thanks to my friend Merrilyn, who sent me this gem. In the latest news from the Suez Canal: CNN: The massive container ship blocking the Suez Canal and paralyzing global shipping routes has been partially freed after almost a week lodged in the narrow passage. The rear of the vessel was freed from one of the canal's banks, according to the Dutch company working on the refloating operation, but its bow is �still firmly stuck in the sandy clay. Egyptian officials claim crews will try to refloat the ship later today, but other sources warn what’s already been done -- some rotation and the freeing of the back end of the ship -- is the easiest part. Oil prices still dipped upon news of the partial refloating, signaling hope that the blockage, which is costing the canal millions in transit fees every day and holding up billions in cargo among about 350 waiting vessels, will soon be over. There are so many questions regarding how this enormous ship got itself stuck across the Suez Canal. Of course there will be an inquiry and the shipping line may be fined and the 25 person Indian crew may be �fired for incompetence. Its amazing when you think that ship is run by such a small crew, so they must rely on a sophisticated computer system - which begs the question: what massive computer failure caused this? This drama has helped to take our minds off the alarming rising numbers of Covid patients. In the US we have a recorded number of 30.3M cases and 549,000 deaths. Michigan is one of the hottest spots and Kent County is experiencing a lot more cases. Of course Spring Break didn’t help and Easter (this weekend coming) won’t help either. CNN: About 143 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the US, but states are still seeing worrying increases in cases. More than two dozen states are reporting at least a 10% case increase compared to the previous week, and it is likely due to lax safety measures and surges of spring break crowds. In a CNN documentary, Dr. Deborah Birx said after the first surge of coronavirus in the US, the following waves of deaths “could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.” Her admissions, and the observations of other prominent coronavirus authorities, cast a new harsh light on the Trump administration’s coronavirus response. Meanwhile, things are getting worse overseas. Hospitals in Paris are overtaxed as the city battles a new surge, the Philippines has ordered more than 25 million people into lockdown over the Easter holiday, and in Mexico, experts fear the coronavirus death toll could be 60% higher than reported. It is, as I suspected, far from over. In the US there is still a significant number of people who believe steadfastly that the virus is a hoax. They refuse to be vaccinated because they believe any number of truly silly things, such as ‘my DNA will be altered and I’ll turn into an alien’ or ‘you know its just a microchip so the government can control you’. When people have been indoctrinated for more than 4 years and believe that science is trickery, Democratic politicians lie, the virus isn’t real and all elections are rigged - I could go on and on - this proportion of the populace has no alternate firm ground to stand on. Instead they cling to that false firm ground as if their lives depend upon it. That’s a problem that’s literally too hard to solve. My daughter tells me that the Morrison government is hanging on by a thread and a pretty thin thread too. Here’s this snippet from the Guardian: I had only been a politician for a few weeks when I was approached in a Canberra bar and told, ‘The only thing anyone really wants to know about you, Kate, is how many blokes you had to fuck to get into this parliament.’ So goes the arresting opening line of a chapter in former Labor MP Kate Ellis’s book, arriving in bookstores this weekend with the sort of timing publicists dream of – a compendium of the shameful treatment of women in parliament released at a time when we can speak of nothing but. It was, Ellis writes, “the kind of run-of-the-mill sleaze and innuendo which is so common it is almost unremarkable in the culture of federal politics”. �Her book is: Sex, Lies and Question Time by Kate Ellis. I imagine its very interesting reading. I’m including this next piece from CNN, because we all need to be aware. Its part of the 3 steps forward, 2 steps back syndrome. Twenty-eight states are considering bills to restrict the rights of transgender youth, and the passage of such legislation in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas this month has LGTBQ advocates on edge. Last week, Tennessee and Arkansas passed laws restricting transgender participation in school sports, and Mississippi passed a similar law earlier this month. The issue of school sports is one of the common restrictions LGBTQ rights groups are seeing in the more than 60 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation on the table across the country. The other most common type of legislation restricts young trans peoples' access to gender-affirming health care. Years ago I was being interviewed for an article by a young male college student. The interview was scheduled for the end of summer. His professor called me to tell me that during the summer the young man had come out as a woman - would I still like to do the interview? I said yes, and 3 days later I opened the front door to admit a small thin woman in a skirt, tights and t-shirt and thick make up on her face. She had the shadow of a beard and was shy, nervous and very shaky. My overwhelming urge was to gather her up into my arms and tell her it will be all right in the end. I have often thought about her and how she is doing. I hope her life has not been too hard. So here’s the thing: I believe everyone should follow their own heart and instincts. I believe that every person has a right to live as they want and be the person they most want to be. There is one rule which we should all try to follow: first, do no harm. But always: to thine own self be true. I cannot imagine letting anyone else make a decision for me regarding my body and I admire people who make very hard decisions for themselves and their body. Once upon a time, my then hairdresser told me I dressed flamboyantly. I don’t think he meant it as a criticism, I hope he meant it admiringly. I am concerned that the pandemic took that aspect of me away, and with my new short haircut, I am reaching back for that flamboyant me. It makes me feel so much better than drab. Today’s adventure. We are going into a very large grocery store this morning. I’m nervous. There will be another travelogue soon. I’ll keep you posted. But lastly Oliver. �And I’ll leave you with 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_2021-03-29_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-383 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 2021-03-29 Title A name given to the resource Day 383 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/34feb6435a77826df8bf21b0c8259346.pdf 474faf1df65f90247971db94e6168fe7 PDF Text Text Day 384 by windoworks One week later, the Ever Given is freed from the sides of the canal. Apparently, the moon’s effect on the tide played a part in helping to free the ship. �SUEZ, Egypt (AP) — Salvage teams on Monday freed a colossal container ship stuck for nearly a week in the Suez Canal, ending a crisis that had clogged one of the world’s most vital waterways and halted billions of dollars a day in maritime commerce. Helped by the tides, a flotilla of tugboats wrenched the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal’s sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since March 23. The tugs blared their horns in jubilation as they guided the Ever Given through the water after days of futility that had captivated the world, drawing scrutiny and social media ridicule. Here’s the last word on this subject, although it could go on for longer. �Seriously, the traffic clog of ships waiting to sail through the Canal is large and this will take some time to sort out. The Suez Canal is operated by Egypt, through its state-owned Suez Canal Authority. Canal revenue for Egypt was $5.6 billion in 2020, according to Arab News. On average, about 50 ships pass through the canal daily. USA Today. Apparently that week of inaction has cost the Canal Authority a boatload (sorry) of money. �Meanwhile in Queensland, Australia, where there’s been a significant cluster: Queensland Health @qldhealthnews: Mask requirements across Queensland are coming into effect from 5pm today (Monday 29 March). You must carry a face mask with you at all times when you leave home, unless you have a lawful reason not to. ��Do you ever get the feeling that the virus acts like a Whack-a-Mole? You just get one outbreak under control and Bam! Another outbreaks pops up. In the ‘Truth Will Out’ section, here’s this: Washington Post Over the weekend, officials who served in the Trump administration opened up, admitting to making missteps and misleading statements. Brett Giroir, Trump's coronavirus testing czar, told CNN the administration boasted of tests that weren't actually available. The former White House coronavirus coordinator, Deborah Birx, said that a stronger response could have prevented deaths after last spring’s wave. �“There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge,” Birx told CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta. “All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.” Can I just point out that everyone possesses 20/20 hindsight. And this just confirms the fact that we knew the Trump Administration was lying. But here’s a update on the current state of the virus in the US. Crooked Media: CDC chief Rochelle Walensky warned on Monday that she felt a sense of “impending doom” about a potential fourth surge: “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now I’m scared.” Walensky was fighting back tears, which top health officials are only allowed to do by law when they are very distressed, because the U.S. coronavirus plateau has vanished: The seven-day average for new daily cases is now at nearly 60,000, up 10 percent from the previous week. Hospitalizations and deaths have begun to rise, too. Much of that reversal can be traced to governors rolling back safety restrictions prematurely as the more contagious coronavirus strains wreak havoc, and it’s not limited to GOP-led states (though Florida’s “win over the virus by inviting it to spring break” strategy is not going great). New York is back at the top of the infection-rate chart, six weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) reopened indoor dining in New York City. Michigan is seeing an alarming surgedriven largely by young people, with dozens of outbreaks reported in schools. But luckily, its not all doom and gloom. I often wonder when President Biden sleeps. He never seems to stop working. Here’s the latest, again from Crooked Media: Biden announced that at least 90 percent of U.S. adults will be eligible to get a vaccine by April 19. By that time, the federal government will have expanded the number of pharmacies receiving vaccine shipments from 17,000 to 40,000, meaning the vast majority of Americans will be able to access a vaccination site within five miles of their home. At least 31 states have already announced they’ll start jabbing everyone in sight in the coming days. In New York, anyone over age 30 will be eligible as of Tuesday. And this is HUGE: Crooked Media: Here’s the other good news: A new CDC study found the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be highly effective at preventing infections—both symptomatic and asymptomatic—under real-world conditions. The study looked at nearly 4,000 health-care workers, first responders, and others on the front lines between mid-December and mid-March. Even with the spooky new strains already circulating, the vaccines were 80 percent effective two weeks after the first dose, and up to 90 percent effective two weeks after the second dose. The outcry has begun over Georgia’s new voting law which is (I think) 29 pages long. You can look it up at Georgia Public Radio under, What Does Georgia's New Voting Law SB 202 Do? It is so detailed and specific that organizations are targeting their lawsuits on specific sections. The law is seen as a Jim Crow �law. Jim Crow laws were any state or local laws that enforced or legalized racial segregation. These laws lasted for almost 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until around 1968, and their main purpose was to legalize the marginalization of African Americans. Jim Crow is believed to come from the song Jump Jim Crow, a song performed in Cabaret with the singer a white man in black face, laughing at the simple mindedness of black people. Interestingly, the Jim Crow laws were put in place by the Democratic government. At that time it was the Republicans who were anti slavery. Here’s a piece from CNN: Georgia’s new controversial and restrictive voting law has faced swift backlash. Two federal lawsuits have been filed to challenge the law: one brought by a Democratic election attorney on behalf of racial justice groups, and another by a collective of several civil rights and voting rights groups. The lawsuits allege the new laws, which do things like limit ballot drop boxes and make it illegal to give water to those waiting in line to vote, are unconstitutional and violate the Voting Rights Act. Justice groups are urging sports organizations, like the PGA Tour and Major League Baseball, to reconsider holding upcoming major events in the state. �I have written that the Republican Party seems to have lost its way. Here’s just one example: �It seems that their platform is supporting The Big Lie (the election was stolen) and along with that, as many other smaller lies that deserve their support. They seem unaware that real facts with backup data can be provided to refute their statements but the response is always just to dig in deeper. Its is sometimes deeply discouraging. In an absolutely astonishing example of accountability and FairPlay, the Derek Chauvin trial is being livestreamed. Here’s what happened yesterday on the first day of the trial: Crooked Media: • Opening arguments and testimony began in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin on Monday, before a multiracial jury. The case will hinge on the cause of George Floyd’s death: Prosecutors played the harrowing video of Chauvin suffocating Floyd for jurors during their opening statements, saying that Chauvin used lethal force and Floyd died of oxygen deprivation as a result. The defense argued �that Floyd died as a result of an underlying heart condition, his use of fentanyl, and “the adrenaline flowing through his body.” (The Hennepin County medical examiner concluded that Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes 29 seconds was, in fact, a significant factor in his death.) The prosecution’s first witness was 911 dispatcher Jena Scurry, who said she had a gut feeling that “something wasn’t right” when she realized the camera on Floyd and Chauvin wasn’t frozen, and called a police sergeant. Later, a mixed martial arts fighter who had tried to intervene testified that he believed Chauvin was killing Floyd. The trial is being livestreamed, a first in Minnesota history. At the same time, a number of states seem to be proceeding with their laws to limit sport choices for transsexuals. I read this piece on FB the other day and I’ll try to reconstruct it. A daughter (I think aged 8) asked her father what did the letters LGBTQ stand for. Her grandmother standing nearby said: she doesn’t need to know that. The father got down on his knees and said to his daughter: L stands for Lesbian which is two women who love each other very much; G stands for Gay men which means these men love each other very much; B is for Bi-sexual which means someone who loves both men and women; Q is for Questioning which is someone who isn’t sure whether they love men or women best and T is for Transsexual which is someone who is in one body but feels like they belong in another body - a girl who feels she is really a boy for example. Daddy, said the girl, that’s lovely - all that love. I hope I got it right - I think I captured the essence of it. Oliver. �I think this is that part of Twinkle, twinkle little star, that says: up above the world so high. �Finally, I will leave you with this. It is a billboard on the highway by Holland Michigan which I think is a red (Republican) voting city, which is what makes this significant: � 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_2021-03-30_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-384 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 2021-03-30 Title A name given to the resource Day 384 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/558dd467c62e43e85f2e277a025c496a.pdf 0769f0edb76480981a3419daa0d860ce PDF Text Text Day 385 by windoworks This morning it is all about the virus. The numbers are increasing across the US but particularly in Michigan. Its not really what you want your state to be the best at - increasing infection numbers. Its the UK variant, B117 and its attacking younger people. This is partly because so many people 65+ have been fully vaccinated. Of course once you are vaccinated fully after the 2 week wait, then questions arise. What can I do safely? I love a good chart and here’s one that lets you know exactly what you can and can’t do: �So why is this 4th surge happening? here’s an explanation from the New York Times: Several factors are fueling the upturn, Apoorva Mandavilli, a Times science reporter, told us. A more contagious variant (the one first identified in Britain, called B.1.1.7) is spreading. Some mayors and governors have continued to lift restrictions and mask rules. Many Americans are behaving less cautiously. And vaccinations have not gotten the country near herd immunity. Many experts aren’t surprised. “For literally a month and a half, we’ve all been predicting that the second half of March is when B.1.1.7 would become the dominant variant in the United States,” says Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health. “And sure enough, here we are.” The increase is not distributed equally. “New York and New Jersey have been bad and are not getting better, and Michigan’s cases are rising at an explosive rate,” Mitch Smith, a Times reporter covering the �pandemic, said. Hospitalizations are also rising rapidly in Michigan, with Jackson, Detroit and Flint among the metro areas experiencing the highest rates of new cases in the country. On December 3, Michigan recorded 8,124 new cases (in a single day). Yesterday, Michigan recorded 6,257 new cases and the graph is showing that we might not have reached the peak yet. In Kent County we had 207 new cases yesterday, giving the county a total of 56,140 recorded cases. The new big question is: how long does the vaccination protection last? Washington Post: As with most aspects of the virus, the answer is not completely clear. Why? Because although we have been battling the pandemic for more than a year, the vaccines were granted emergency use authorization relatively recently. So experts have not had time to observe their long-term effectiveness. However, that research is underway, and in the meantime, experts say we can make an educated guess. Based on clinical trials, experts do know that vaccine-induced protection should last a minimum of about three months. That does not mean protective immunity will expire after 90 days; that was simply the time frame participants were studied in the initial Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson trials. As researchers continue to study the vaccines, that shelf life is expected to grow.In the real world, the protection should last quite a bit longer, though the length of time still needs to be determined with further studies, experts said. Looking at studies on natural immunity from the coronavirus, experts hypothesize that protective immunity from the vaccines will last at least six to eight months. And if immunity from SARS-CoV-2 ends up being similar to other seasonal coronaviruses, such as “common colds,” it is even possible the vaccines could provide protection for up to a year or two before requiring a booster, the experts said. Pfizer, Moderna and others are conducting clinical trials to determine how long a booster shot will extend protective immunity and to determine whether their vaccines can be tailored to combat new variants of the virus. And Johnson & Johnson is testing a two-dose version of its vaccine. So far, evidence suggests the available vaccines are still effective against most variants, but that could change if the virus continues to mutate. The more prevalent the virus and the longer it takes to vaccinate people against it, the higher the risk of developing mutations that will then make the vaccines less effective. That’s why it’s urgent to vaccinate as many people as fast as possible. We are running against time. Yesterday I read 4 posts on FB, all detailing how to get your vaccination process started in Michigan. My immediate neighbors on both sides have the parents vaccinated with at least their first shot and it is a matter of jubilation that we all share in, congratulating each other happily. We were walking in Huff Park yesterday, and 2 women and small children - all masked - passed us. We put our masks on when we saw them approaching and Craig said: we are fully vaccinated. One of the women said: isn’t it such a relief! �And it is such a relief. Recent studies of fully vaccinated medical staff, vaccinated in December, shows that their protection from infection stays at 90%. Woo hoo! In truly wonderful news, my 88 year old motherin-law who lives in Australia, is set to receive her first shot next Tuesday. We are all very excited for her. Australia was just vaccinating essential workers etc., but I am happy to see they are moving to the next category which includes retirement villages. In another exciting development, there is talk of vaccine passports. this is a topic dear to my heart. Remember I told you I emailed the Australian Health Department? They responded over the weekend and said: No, you’ll still have to quarantine. I wonder if an official vaccine passport would make a difference? Washington Post: The White House is moving to soothe privacy and equity concerns about the development and deployment of so-called “vaccine passports” that would enable the bearer to prove they’ve been inoculated against the coronavirus. And the administration is trying to strike a balance about the government’s role by declaring the private sector will lead the effort to design the certificates while also promising federal oversight to ensure citizens are treated fairly. “We recognize this is a tricky and important subject, but the core here is that Americans, like people around the world, who are vaccinated will want to be able to demonstrate that vaccination in various forms,” said Andy Slavitt, White House senior adviser on the pandemic response. The debate in the United States over whether and how to develop the “passports” — and to what extent states or businesses could require them — reflects the global disarray on the issue. The European Union is pushing ahead with its version (the “Digital Green Certificate”), Israel is struggling to implement its “Green Passport,” and Japan and China are deploying their own certificates. All I can say is: hurry up! Spring is here but the temperature is going up and down, day to day. Yesterday was almost hot but today is cold. The first flowers in Craig’s back garden meadow have appeared. Nope, no idea what they are. some sort of daffodil? �2018 was a big year for cruises. To finish the year out, on December 21 we flew to Bridgetown, Barbados to embark on a Christmas cruise to the Caribbean. Craig was the only lecturer on board and he lectured on the history of the Caribbean and the history of each place we docked at. �First lecture First up, Bequia. Bequia is the second-largest island in the Grenadines at 7 square miles (18 km2). It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the nation's capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent. Bequia means "island of the clouds" in the ancient Arawak. Bequia has a history of whaling which may have brought in by the Yankee whalers in the 19th century. Its people are only allowed to catch up to four humpback whales per year using traditional hunting methods, however these methods are regularly abused using harpoon guns and speedboats to surround the whales. The limit is rarely met, with no catch some years. Wikipedia. �Grenadines St Vincent and the �We decided to take a tour of the island on this truck. �The seats were hard, but our guide/driver was �great. As in all tropical areas, it suddenly poured with rain and although our guide/driver rolled down the plastic sides of the seating area, we still got wet. But it was so hot it didn’t really matter. �Fort and gun emplacement. Some historians believe that the famous pirate Edward Teach had his base in Bequia. The opening shot of the movie Blackbeard, Pirate of the Caribbean, made by the BBC, displays a replica of his first ship off the coast of Bequia in the St. Vincent passage. According to local legend, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was not only Teach's base, but also the place from which Sir Francis Drake planned his attacks on the Spanish admiralty in Don Blas de Lezo's Cartagena. Indeed, it is thought that Henry Morgan may also have anchored in Admiralty Bay, as it was then the safest natural harbour in the Eastern Caribbean during hurricane season. Bequia was used as a repair facility for ships. Beside Nelson's Dockyard on Antigua, and the Carlyle in Bridgetown, Barbados, there were no other drydocks or shipyards in the area. Wooden shipbuilding and ship-repair on Bequia was possible due to the presence of cedar trees on the island and a sufficiently deep and sheltered harbour. Wikipedia. �One of those islands in the distance is Mustique which is a private island. Princess Margaret owned property there. �A tropical beach. More Bequia tomorrow. Yesterday Oliver went to the New South Wales Public Museum to see the dinosaur exhibition. He was ecstatic and raced around shouting Wow! Dinosaur! At the top of his voice which echoed satisfyingly in the almost empty museum. ����Stay safe - we aren’t anywhere near herd immunity. Remember, we’re all in this together. � 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_2021-03-31_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-385 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 2021-03-31 Title A name given to the resource Day 385 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/3386d71866d01759059bee73ed9324de.pdf a120f3062fa32b95d530a798ba3dcdf9 PDF Text Text Day 386 by windoworks Tomorrow is Good Friday. In Australia, Easter is a 5 day holiday break. Easter Sunday is Egg Hunt Day and these are real chocolate eggs, not plastic ones. I remember finding smushed, disgusting chocolate eggs in our garden, months after Easter. These were the eggs that were apparently too well hidden for any small child to find. If you are a small child at Easter, the trick is to eat as many chocolate eggs as possible before a parent finds you. Every year the chocolate candy manufacturers put out bigger and better Easter treats. Those large chocolate bunnies are best filled with some sort of candy. Cadbury Cherry Ripe is a dark chocolate hollow rabbit filled with cherry coconut jelly pieces. I don’t care for Cherry Ripe but I would buy a rabbit filled with tiny Violet Crumble pieces. Actually, its been years since I even thought about eating that much chocolate. Because Michigan is at the top of the Leader Board in state candidates for the biggest 4th surge of the virus, I am posting more vaccine developments. First up: �CNN: Global leaders have called for an international “pandemic treaty” to help ensure the world is prepared for future crises. The leaders of France, the UK and Germany, and members of the World Health Organization are among those leading the call for increased vaccine equity and international cooperation. Countries and trade blocs have clashed over vaccine supplies, especially in Europe where the coronavirus variant first found in the UK is wreaking havoc on the region’s recovery plans. Experts are worried that if Americans don’t stick to safety measures, the variant could do similar damage in the US. Dangerous coronavirus variants are already leading to more hospitalizations and lockdowns in Canada. There is some surprise that Governor Whitmer has not asked the Michigan Health Department to institute some lockdown restrictions in light of our uncontrolled virus surge. (Remember, the State Republicans passed a law limiting her executive powers - when the attempt to kidnap , torture and kill her failed). But then, we all remember that now the State Republican lawmakers led by a low life man who called Governor Whitmer, Attorney-General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson the trio of witches from MacBeth. If this is a trio of witches then they must be Good Witches and they are doing their best under extraordinary circumstances. Instead of passing laws that help every Michigander lead a better life, these GOP lawmakers spend their time and money trying to overturn laws and recall Governor Whitmer. Also, a significant number of the January 6 insurrectionists call Michigan home. Okay, time for some good news. 1. Washington Post: The White House on Monday detailed an ambitious plan to expand wind farms along the East Coast and jump-start the country’s nascent offshore wind industry, saying it hoped to trigger a massive clean-energy effort in the fight against climate change. The plan would generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade — enough to power more than 10 million American homes and cut 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. To accomplish that, the Biden administration said, it would speed permitting for projects off the East Coast, invest in research and development, provide low-interest loans to industry and fund changes to U.S. ports. Its just a baby step, Greta - but we’re trying. 2. Washington Post: EPA purges 40 outside experts picked by Trump from advisory panels. EPA Administrator Michael Regan will dismiss outside experts appointed by President Donald Trump from two key advisory panels, a move he says will reduce the heavy influence of industry over the agency's environmental regulations. And, thats another baby step. 3. NPR: New clinical trials showed that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine elicits "100% efficacy and robust antibody responses" in adolescents from 12 to 15 years old, the drug company announced Wednesday. The �trial included 2,260 participants; the results are even better than earlier responses from participants ages 16 to 25. Pfizer and its vaccine partner BioNTech said they will submit the results "as soon as possible" to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, asking regulators to expand their authorizations for the vaccine's use in young people. Pfizer will submit the data "in the coming weeks," Pfizer CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla said in a news release about the trial. Calling the results encouraging, he added that the company is acting "with the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year." Thats awesome news. And lastly, from Crooked Media: 4. The Pentagon has scrapped the Trump administration’s restrictions on transgender troops, and will offer access to transition-related medical care. 5. Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) has signed a law banning the gay/trans panic defense in Virginia. Now for everyone (including me) who is unsure how the vaccine actually works, here’s a stunning article which explains that but offers much more: The Atlantic: Like so many breakthroughs, this apparent overnight success was many decades in the making. More than 40 years had passed between the 1970s, when a Hungarian scientist pioneered early mRNA research, and the day the first authorized mRNA vaccine was administered in the United States, on December 14, 2020. The dream of mRNA persevered in part because its core principle was tantalizingly simple, even beautiful: The world’s most powerful drug factory might be inside all of us. People rely on proteins for just about every bodily function; mRNA—which stands for messenger ribonucleic acid—tells our cells which proteins to make. With human-edited mRNA, we could theoretically commandeer our cellular machinery to make just about any protein under the sun. You could mass-produce molecules that occur naturally in the body to repair organs or improve blood flow. Or you could request our cells to cook up an off-menu protein, which our immune system would learn to identify as an invader and destroy. In the case of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, mRNA vaccines send detailed instructions to our cells to make its distinctive “spike protein.” Our immune system, seeing the foreign intruder, targets these proteins for destruction without disabling the mRNA. Later, if we confront the full virus, our bodies recognize the spike protein again and attack it with the precision of a well-trained military, reducing the risk of infection and blocking severe illness. But mRNA’s story likely will not end with COVID-19: Its potential stretches far beyond this pandemic. This year, a team at Yale patented a similar RNA-based technology to vaccinate against malaria, perhaps the world’s most devastating disease. Because mRNA is so easy to edit, Pfizer says that it is planning to use �it against seasonal flu, which mutates constantly and kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year. The company that partnered with Pfizer last year, BioNTech, is developing individualized therapies that would create on-demand proteins associated with specific tumors to teach the body to fight off advanced cancer. In mouse trials, synthetic-mRNA therapies have been shown to slow and reverse the effects of multiple sclerosis. “I’m fully convinced now even more than before that mRNA can be broadly transformational,” Özlem Türeci, BioNTech’s chief medical officer, told me. “In principle, everything you can do with protein can be substituted by mRNA.” I find this astounding. It really is ‘the sky’s the limit’ stuff. And remember yesterday when I posted that the experts weren’t sure how long the vaccine protection lasted? Woo hoo! Here’s this update from CNN: The ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine confirms its protection lasts at least six months after the second dose, the companies said Thursday. It's the first look at how long protection for a coronavirus vaccine lasts, and while six months is a modest target, it's longer than the 90 days of protection been the best estimate offered to date. The vaccine remains more than 91% effective against disease with any symptoms for six months, the companies said. And it appeared to be fully effective against the worrying B.1.351 variant of the virus, which is the dominant strain circulating in South Africa and which researchers feared had evolved to evade the protection of vaccines, the companies said. “The vaccine was 100% effective against severe disease as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and 95.3% effective against severe COVID-19 as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," Pfizer and BioNTech said in a joint statement. I found out yesterday that a vaccine opportunity presented at a nearby high school was a scam and my hairdresser was caught by it. But luckily, this week, Michigan opened up vaccines for all, at least a week ahead of schedule and she got her first shot on Tuesday. Many of Craig’s students are fully vaccinated and most others have had their first shot or have it scheduled. I cannot express my feelings sufficiently about being fully vaccinated. Yesterday Craig and I went into our local grocery store. I haven’t been inside it since last summer. And the most astounding thing is - I’m no longer terrified of catching the virus. I still wear a mask, I still wash my hands diligently and I still keep my distance, but I know I have a strong measure of protection. And yesterday’s bonus? I spoke to a really good friend, face to face, (at a distance), that I haven’t seen in MONTHS! Nearly normal. Still on Bequia . While I shopped a little, Craig explored the nearby area. �Our ship. �Someone’s house �A beautiful Caribbean swimming beach ��My only regret: I didn’t go swimming there. More Caribbean tomorrow. ��As Christian and Oliver say: Happy Easter to you all. � 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_2021-04-01_BenjaminPamelaPD-Day-386 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 2021-04-01 Title A name given to the resource Day 386 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/eb5556137fe0aad82e6515d58a29ace6.pdf c4812f285ef5c3f321c81773460b8330 PDF Text Text Day 387. by windoworks There are some days that it is almost too difficult to write this blogpost. Here is a good summary of what is happening here in Michigan. New York Times: DETROIT — In a rural stretch of Michigan along the shore of Lake Huron, coronavirus outbreaks are ripping through churches, schools and restaurants where the virus has infected line cooks and waitresses. For more than a week, ambulances have taken several hourlong trips each day to rush severely ill coronavirus patients to hospitals in Detroit, Saginaw or Port Huron, where beds in intensivecare units await. Even as the pandemic appears to be waning in some parts of the United States, Michigan is in the throes of a coronavirus outbreak that is one of the largest and most alarming in the country. Infection levels have exploded in recent weeks, in big cities and rural stretches alike. Ann Hepfer, a health officer for two counties, is racked by worries: about spring break trips that are underway, and about the Easter gatherings that will take place this weekend, when families are fresh off their travels out of state. Michigan has more recent cases per capita than any other state, and has seen them soar in recent weeks, to more than 5,600 cases a day from about 1,000 on Feb. 21. The nation’s top five metro areas in recent cases per capita are all in Michigan: Jackson, Detroit, Flint, Lansing and Monroe. Health officials partly attributed the rapid rise in cases to the B.1.1.7 variant that was originally identified in Britain and is widespread in Michigan. But they have also observed a broader return to prepandemic life seen in a relaxing of mask wearing, social distancing and other strategies meant to slow the spread of the virus — many weeks before a substantial portion of the population is vaccinated. On Thursday, Michigan officials announced that they had identified their first case of the P.1 variant, which has spread widely in Brazil and has now been found in more than 20 U.S. states. More than 2,300 coronavirus patients statewide are hospitalized, a figure that has more than doubled since the beginning of March. Five hospitals in the Henry Ford system in the Detroit area had a total of 75 coronavirus patients during the week of March 8; as of Tuesday, the hospitals were up to 267 patients. On Monday, the health system announced it would reinstate a policy limiting visitors at several hospitals, in response to the latest surge. Meanwhile, the Republican lawmakers across the US are doing their best to reinstate oppressive voting rights laws. This is because they haven’t got any sort of believable programs or campaign promises to offer except opposition to everything. Its appears that a large portion of Americans, Democratic and Republican alike really want the H.R.1 bill, the massive voting rights bill proposed by the Democrats in the House. Americans also want Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure bill. Speaking of this, some Republican politicians are so uninformed that they actually say things in public, on the record, as: what have bridges and lead pipes have to do with infrastructure? I continue to be astounded by the intelligence level of some �Republican lawmakers. I don’t think just wanting to be a Representative or a Senator is a sound reason for running for office - or for voters to vote for them. Surely, in light of the global pandemic, the portion of Americans whose disdain for well educated and qualified people running for office must be overruled. We had a poorly educated mafia type boss in charge for 4 years with all his cronies - and look where that got us. There isn’t enough time in a day for the Biden/Harris Administration to fix all the worst mistakes, although they’re certainly trying. Yesterday I went down to Woodland Mall for my appointment at the Apple store. We lined up outside, carefully spaced out and waited for the store to open. As we waited we saw many mall walkers - mostly our age, walking carefully masked around the mall, doing several laps. But amazingly, there were two older men, walking fast around the mall, talking non stop and completely unmasked! Now Craig and I are almost 2 weeks past our fully vaccinated date and we continue to wear masks and distance inside stores. Even fully vaccinated, you can’t throw your masks away. To get into the store we had to answer the usual questions (do you have a sore throat etc) and then have our temperatures taken. Our assistant took us to a table and sat safely distant across the other side. I am purchasing the largest IPad Pro with attachable keyboard. It will be delivered today to the house and I have another 10am appointment at the Apple store tomorrow to pick up the keyboard and trade in this old iPad. Exciting! Yesterday, Craig spent hours on hold with JAL trying to sort out a glitch in our travel plans. Originally we were flying from Chicago to Haneda Japan and then on to Sydney from there. Suddenly we were flying from Chicago to Narita but still flying out from Haneda, 90 minutes drive away. When he finally got to speak to someone, we couldn’t get to Haneda from Narita because ........... the Japanese borders are closed we can’t leave the airport. So by the end of the long conversation, we were rebooked from Chicago to L.A., then L.A. to Haneda and Haneda on to Sydney - except now, the Haneda to Sydney flight is a much smaller plane and our seats were changed. But wait. There’s more. When we woke up at 6am this morning, there was an email from JAL to all passengers saying all flights from Japan to Sydney had been canceled until October with some exclusions. After about 30 minutes panic (our house closes on Monday, our belongings leave on June 30 etc), panic, panic, we reread the email and are hoping (fingers and toes crossed) that our flight from Haneda to Sydney is one of the exclusions. We have the new email tickets but Craig will sit on the phone this morning at 11am (when the JAL American office opens in L.A) to make sure we are still flying on to Sydney from Japan. Just an observation here, the CDC continues to ask people to avoid travel overseas. You would think after all the trouble with the continuing global pandemic, the CDC would restrict people from traveling internationally. You would also think that the states surrounding Michigan would close their borders. You would think. And this is how I feel today: �Here’s what’s happening in other places: CNN: The World Health Organization harshly criticized Europe’s coronavirus response, calling the region’s vaccine rollout “unacceptably slow” as new variants threaten to wipe out progress. Many European nations have struggled to carry out effective vaccination programs as drug companies have repeatedly under-delivered on scheduled shipments. WHO says the region has vaccinated only 10% of its population with one shot in a two-dose regimen. In the US, health experts are pleading with people to wait until their second vaccine shot to resume normal activities. A fourth surge, concentrated among young people, could be on the horizon if people aren’t careful. And with surges come new restrictions, like in Ontario, where a jump in ICU admissions has forced the province to issue an “emergency brake” shutdown beginning this weekend. One tiny sliver of hope from Crooked Media: CDC data suggests that fully vaccinated people cannot transmit coronavirus! I am too tired and upset to continue writing today. 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_2021-04-02_BenjaminPamelaPD-Day-387 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 2021-04-02 Title A name given to the resource Day 387 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/49ee7fd5e161aa03d94d90b1ba2a8a57.pdf 14e4ce22ffa700a56b35235517ae9f0b PDF Text Text Day 388. Saturday April 3 by windoworks Perhaps a short post this morning because I am using my iPhone’s hotspot to access the internet. I have an appointment at the Apple store in Woodland Mall which I am not going to be able to keep as my new iPad Pro has not been delivered to my house yet. Thats frustrating. But the worst thing is that yesterday afternoon, while watching something on TV our 4 year old modem silently died. Completely. Today the technician will come between 12 - 4pm and install a new modem and new wiring etc. So the thing about no wifi connection and no ability to go anywhere else and piggyback on public wifi is, that you have simply hours to contemplate not only your own state but the state of the world as well. It occurred to me that if this pandemic had occurred during my twenties, I don’t think I would have managed it successfully. I might, like a small number of Craig’s first year Honors students, succumbed entirely and ended up in a facility similar to PineRest, our local hospital for emotionally distraught patients. (Mental hospital sounds both old fashioned and rude). This morning we (all of us in this together) stand at a disturbing point. As the Washington Post so aptly said, we stand at a point of both hope and dread. The vaccine introduces hope but in order to have hope, you have to be fully vaccinated first. The EU is not doing well in the vaccinations stakes. Germany is refusing to use Astra Zeneca which may have caused blood clots in a tiny percentage of those successfully vaccinated. Is this the right move in an unrelenting pandemic? I don’t know. Italy has shutdown with gatherings (and I assume Mass) banned for all of Easter - one of the most significant events in the Catholic year. The Pope will preach to an empty Vatican. Variants are spreading across the world. Brazil is in the midst of an apocalyptic health crisis brought on by the insanity of the Brazilian leader. Mumbai, India, is staggering under the huge surge in infections. Most countries borders are closed to all except perhaps repatriating citizens. I had decided to save this post essay for a future date but in light of the no wifi conditions, I decided to write it today. In looking back, I think the most shocking thing to happen was the gradual realization that no one knew when this pandemic would be over. At first we all imagined how dreadful it would be if it went on for maybe 3 months, and then okay, 6 months. Slowly we accepted the idea that it might last a whole year (!) and then, slowly but surely, we have come to the dreadful conclusion that no one, anywhere in the world, can accurately forecast when this will be over, and if not over, then at least manageable. Yesterday, before the wifi router/modem died, Craig spent almost an hour on hold waiting to talk to someone at the JAL office in Los Angeles. When he finally talked to the incredibly polite and helpful woman at the other end of the phone, she sounded exasperated. The email JAL sent out was so poorly worded that their office had been fielding calls from anxious and confused customers all morning. If the email had said: these are the flights still operating and these are the flights canceled, there would have �been half the number of highly distressed customers calling. It turned out that our flight is still going ahead on July 6 from Haneda to Sydney. So far, so good. We will relax as the plane takes off from Haneda bound to Sydney, as anything could happen in the meantime. Could we have imagined this scenario in January 2020? Probably not. And I continue to be absolutely amazed by the actions of some groups in a life threatening pandemic. To explain, here in Michigan (out of 50 states, Michigan is experiencing the worst surge of all - more about hat in a moment). Part of this surge is from high school and college sports teams spreading the B117 variant freely among their team mates. But this week, after some schools have closed for safety periods, a Michigan High School and College Sports association (no wifi, winging it here) has sued to have all sports to be allowed again. Right. There’s no rampant virus spread to worry about, is there? No wonder Michigan is ranking the highest in virus cases. And you know, the younger people aren’t just getting sick, numbers of them are getting severely ill and needing hospitalization and then some are needing to be transferred to the ICU. We all know the odds of recovering unscathed from a period spent on a ventilator. You know things are very bad when the head of the CDC and the Chief Medical Officer of most states are pleading, begging people to keep their guard up. Hey, I’m tired and fed up too, and I’m fully vaccinated but I have no desire to be the case which proves that fully vaccinated you can still catch the virus if you refuse to be careful and follow some basic rules. Yesterday Michigan had 6,066 new confirmed cases. Kent County had 351 confirmed new cases. The graph is going sharply up. Our positivity rate for Kent County is 15.6% and thats not the worst county positivity rate in Michigan. We’re in dire straits. My son said to me yesterday: it is a different world here Mum because Australia is an island state. We have managed to keep almost all infected people out of the country and we have excellent contact tracing and mitigation for outbreaks. Those who break the rules are easily found and punished. Its a different world. Why is it different? Yes, its an island state, similar to Japan and New Zealand etc. But that’s not all of it. A large part for New Zealand and Australia (I can’t speak for other island states) is that this virus control is seen as a team sport - everyone is playing on the same team, on the same side with the same goal in sight. They firmly adhere to the adage: united we rise, divided we fall. Success over the virus really does mean all working together. Each team member who decides to give up and go it alone, weakens the team effort. If you follow any type of team sport, you can understand the analogy. As the Beatles sang: all together now. Okay, I’ve forced my views down your throat and if you’ve lasted this long. you do deserve an Oliver photo or two. �I rule the galaxy but I need you to read me this �book. �Here I am, looking like I know what I’m doing on Mummy’s laptop keyboard. Authors note: its 1:57pm and we have a new router and the wifi is back up. Still absolutely no sign of my new iPad Pro however. I’ll leave you with 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_2021-04-03_BenjaminPamelaPD-Day-388 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 2021-04-03 Title A name given to the resource Day 388 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/ab6ad10b31264139ca3335435ba6c204.pdf 76e66c0db5e85a979598ad751e749d93 PDF Text Text Day 389. by windoworks Lea has scrawled her grandfather's name by one of the 25,000 white crosses that have appeared on Prague's Old Town Square. Devoid of tourists, the square is now an impromptu memorial to the dead. We tend not to think about the virus in other places such as Europe. Here’s a BBC roundup. First up, France where things are grim: France has entered its third national lockdown as it battles a surge in cases of Covid-19 that threatens to overwhelm the country's hospitals. All schools and non-essential shops will shut for four weeks, and a curfew will be in place from 19:00 to 06:00. On Friday, the number of seriously ill Covid patients in intensive care units (ICU) increased by 145 - the biggest jump in five months. President Emmanuel Macron has promised more hospital beds for Covid patients. France is currently battling a peak of about 5,000 Covid patients in ICUs. On Friday, the country recorded 46,677 new cases and 304 deaths. As well as the restrictions that came into force on Saturday, from Tuesday people will also need a valid reason to travel more than 10 km (six miles) from their homes. Next, Poland: Poland is struggling to cope with its highest number of new infections since the pandemic began - 60 times higher than at the start of the pandemic in spring last year - because of the rampant UK (Kent) variant of the virus. In the worst affected area of Silesia, patients are being airlifted to less burdened �hospitals in neighbouring provinces. The government is now trying to attract doctors from abroad. Poland avoided high numbers of infections and deaths when the pandemic began thanks to a strict lockdown, closing its borders and restricting people's movement, even for exercise. That wasn't sustainable and both movement and economic life resumed. Schools, shops and businesses are closed again but churches in this deeply Catholic country remain open for limited numbers of worshippers for Easter. Poles have been allowed to maintain their tradition of taking their wicker baskets of eggs and sausages to be blessed by the priests. Many here have been critical of the vaccine rollout, and the government was forced into a humiliating apology on 1 April when it suddenly changed its policy overnight and allowed anyone aged 40 to 60 to register for a jab. Demand was so high that the system crashed. Hungary: Hungary now has one of the highest Covid mortality rates in the world, with more than 21,000 coronavirus-related deaths and a third wave claiming hundreds of lives every day. And yet its speed of vaccination is among the highest in Europe. More than one in five Hungarians has had a first dose. So what is going wrong? Hungary has high rates of cancer and heart disease and a high fatality rate among people needing ventilation. Although the government bought an astonishing 16,000 ventilators last summer, there aren't enough people to operate them because of a 25% shortage of doctors and a 30% shortage of nurses, largely because of emigration. Another 5,500 doctors quit last month in a row over wage reform. The vaccination picture looks brighter. Prime Minister Viktor Orban gambled successfully on buying supplies of Russia's Sputnik V and then the Chinese Sinopharm vaccines - allowing Hungary to race ahead while many EU countries faced problems with vaccine supplies. And lastly, Ukraine: Some 400 people are currently dying every day in Ukraine's second Covid wave and it's proving more deadly than the first. It's far from clear that current lockdown measures are going to flatten the curve and relieve the mounting pressure on hospitals. The rules vary across Ukraine but in most of the west and in the capital Kyiv only shops selling "essentials" are open, schools are closed, and from this week access to public transport will be limited. Meanwhile, here in Michigan which continues to have the highest numbers of confirmed cases. Yesterday we recorded 9,113 new cases in a single day. A single day. Thats almost 1000 cases more than our previous worst day on December 3. Florida is close behind us where they are struggling to cope with the aftermath of Spring Break and now the influx of people for Easter. This is Michigan’s worst surge. �And in really cheering news (which I can’t find again) the CDC has said that those fully vaccinated do not carry the virus and can’t transmit it. YES! WOO HOO! I think I’ll have a sign made to hang around my neck. And another thing I saw on FB: apparently sunshine slows the virus down by 8 times. I’m not sure how that works. So Friday and Saturday were challenging, to say the least. I find I can cope with almost anything except no wifi. If this was the Before Times, I could manage without wifi - I could go out and socialize. But during a pandemic, wifi is essential to my wellbeing. A masked and booteed man called Dan came at 1:30 yesterday, tested our signal strength and then swapped out our dead router for a new one. The longest part of the process was the chatting while we all waited for the new router to boot up. When Dan left and my �iPad and my cell phone went back online, my anxiety level ratcheted down sharply and I had to fight an urge to sleep for about 3 days. Am I dependent on technology? Absolutely. Am I embarrassed by this dependency? Absolutely not. We each find our own way of coping with this pandemic. Here’s a little piece from The New York Times: One expert said that the pandemic could lead to anhedonia, or the loss of the ability to take pleasure in activities. Another said the pandemic’s longevity had contributed to the sense that time is moving differently and had dulled our ability to form meaningful new memories. Resilience seems in short supply. And from Washington Post: Now, as vaccinations ramp up to more than 3 million per day, the rest of us are facing the possibility of resuming something like normal life — and many of us are experiencing unexpectedly mixed emotions. As our columnist Alyssa Rosenberg wrote last week, “no inoculation, no matter how miraculous, can teach us how to live in the wider world again after spending so long in isolation.” So today, after Craig stains the front porch floor, we are driving out to Grand Haven. We will buy some take out lunch from a past favorite, Morning Star cafe, and drive to the lakeshore to eat it. Then we may drive on to Kirk Park for a walk through the woods. Yesterday, to cheer me up, Craig bought us lunch from Terra Bagels - gluten free breakfast bagels. Yum! Of course we ate them here at home but we’re doing it! Baby steps. Some words to live by: �For those wondering, no, we have not had my new iPad Pro delivered. We have called and texted everyone and it seems to be stuck somewhere between Indiana and Grand Rapids. Yesterday Craig discovered a small sentence tucked away on the FedEx site: these deliveries are only made on weekdays. Now if it was some English teabags or new underwear for me, I wouldn’t mind. But this is a piece of technology that we paid almost $1200 for on Thursday and it was not unreasonable to expect its prompt delivery. Also, I’m tired of staying home and waiting for it to be delivered. In exciting news, my friend Fred has had the old piano removed from his studio, Vinecroft, and is ready for the delivery of our beloved piano. In the Before Times, Fred held Tuesday night invitation only spaghetti dinners and potluck and when we could make it, Craig always played the piano and those so �minded sang along. It is very cheering to think a piece of us will be left at Vinecroft for people to enjoy for years to come. Tomorrow is a big day. At 3pm we sign the closing papers and then we are renting this house until we leave. It is such a strange feeling, to be renting the house you have lived in for 18+ years. This is such a warm and friendly house, even with half our belongings already packed away and out of sight. I shall miss this block and this city and all my friends. Sigh. So, the Caribbean. Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west. It's known for its beaches, resorts and golfing. Its terrain comprises rainforest, savannah and highlands, including Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain. Capital city Santo Domingo has Spanish landmarks like the Gothic Catedral Primada de America dating back 5 centuries in its Zona Colonial district. ― Google Caribbean Sea Craig and I had signed up for a tour that included a visit to a cocoa plantation. �The long jetty at Samana Bay. �Walking along the jetty to ur bus. �First stop at a beach and fishing village �The water was crystal clear. �The stones were hard to walk on but it was a beautiful day. More of our day trip tomorrow. Now for Oliver. �Obviously completely over his fear of the �water. �Obligatory Easter photo: what is this and what do I do with it? This morning a young friend posted on FB that she had Covid-19. Its still out there people. Stay safe: wear a mask, wash your hands and stay distanced. 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_2021-04-04_BenjaminPamelaPD-Day-389 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 2021-04-04 Title A name given to the resource Day 389 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/ee42e2bb9f088f80e90abb44987de156.pdf 2b04102a8060d176f853ccd982b90475 PDF Text Text Day 390. 13 weeks to go. by windoworks This is the first of the ‘no turning back days.’ At 3pm this afternoon, we officially sell our house. Both families will have signed all the relevant documents, monies will change hands and we will be renting this house by dinnertime. It has been a wonderful experience living here on this block and in this neighborhood and in this city. We knew nothing about Grand Rapids when we moved here. In 18 years it has grown and changed beyond our first impressions. It has become an interesting and vibrant city. Living here has taught me so much about myself and helped me discover abilities I didn’t know I had. I hope these abilities will help me navigate the huge change in front of me. It seems as though just yesterday we were telling neighbors and friends that we weren’t going anywhere for over 6 months and we all had time to get used to the idea. And here we are, 13 weeks out and time is starting to fly by. Yesterday we drove out along the back way to Grand Haven. About 10 minutes out, we pulled over and Craig called Morning Star and ordered some take out brunch for us. I waited in the parking lot while Craig went into the cafe to pick up our food. Of course my first question when he returned to the car was: how was it? Very careful, he replied. All staff masked and all diners carefully spaced out. As he left, a party of 6, 3 adults and 3 children, came in the door, all maskless. The hostess asked; where are you from? Arkansas, was the answer. As Craig closed the door, the hostess began to say: well, here are our rules .... We drove on to the lakeshore and sat looking at the water lapping the sand. No ice or snow to be seen anywhere. People were sitting on deck chairs on the sand and just enjoying the day. We ate our scrumptious lunch (every last bit - oh how delicious is food that you haven’t cooked yourself) and then drove on to Kirk Park. There were more cars there and everyone was walking down to the beach. But we walked over to the forest trail and walked all around the trail, the long way. What an outing! As a friend says: well, isn’t this nice! Take out lunches on two consecutive days! My, how adventurous we are! But of course, we wear our masks indoors, we wash our hands and we keep safely distant form others. But its not going well, here or overseas. Craig ( the historian) told me yesterday when I asked, historically most pandemic last 3+ years. Oh. So the end of 2023 maybe? here’s the state of play: CNN: Just like experts predicted, coronavirus cases are ticking back up around the world. India has recorded its highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began, with more than 100,000 confirmed infections yesterday. South Korea’s health leaders are warning of another surge after the country recorded more than 500 new cases for the fifth straight day. In Europe, a third wave of hospitalizations and deaths has already arrived. Covid-19 variants are mostly to blame for the new rises, but as US officials have warned, lax safety measures are giving these variants even more strength. Now, we have more to worry about, like how long coronavirus vaccines may actually protect people. Doctors are �worried that coronavirus may end up being like influenza, which requires a new vaccine every year because the strains mutate so quickly. This just in from CNN: The US has hit "category five hurricane status" with the pandemic as the Midwest approaches a fourth wave of cases, Michael Osterholm, University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy director, said Sunday. "Let me say that, at this time, we really are in a category five hurricane status with regard to the rest of the world," Osterholm said on NBC's Meet the Press. "At this point, we will see in the next two weeks the highest number of cases reported globally since the beginning of the pandemic. In terms of the United States, we're just at the beginning of this surge, we haven't even really begun to see it yet." Osterholm pointed to Michigan, which has recorded an alarming rise in infection in recent days. The state reported 8,413 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, its highest tally since December 7, according to health officials. Michigan also has the second highest number of cases of the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant, behind Florida. Osterholm's dire warning comes amid good news for the US vaccine rollout -- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a record number of shots over the weekend with more than 4 million doses administered in 24 hours. What’s it like living in a virus hotspot? Well, its scary but we’re fully vaccinated and we have to just keep going as we have done for over 12 months - but it is getting harder and harder to remember the Before Times. Yesterday I read a very interesting piece about those little white vaccination cards. It pretty much mirrors what my friend Margaret told me that she and her husband had done with theirs. Its important for us as we’re going to use them when we fly out (and perhaps when we land in Australia) CNN: Vaccine eligibility in the US is expanding quickly, and so is the popularity of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's little white card. While plans to establish standardized vaccination proof are still being developed, many are holding to their Covid-19 vaccine cards as a potential form of social currency. And companies, like Staples and Office Depot, are offering to help keep them safe with free lamination. While it may be tempting to get your vaccine card laminated as soon as possible, you should take your time and make sure you've considered a few things beforehand. Here's what you should know about laminating your coveted vaccine card. If you are getting a two-dose vaccine, make sure that you receive and document both doses on your card before laminating it. Double check all of your information -- including your name, date of birth, and the date and location of the vaccine -- for accuracy. You should definitely create a backup of your card before laminating it. Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University, �told CNN that she recommends taking a photo of the card after each dose. "Take a picture after getting the first shot, then after the second one too, in case you lose the physical card," she said. "Keep the picture on your phone, and email yourself a copy to be safe." Wen said she also recommends photocopying the card and keeping it in the same place as other important documents, like your birth certificate. After this, if you want to laminate your card, Wen says to "go for it." Proof is the most important thing -- laminated or not Some worry that getting their vaccine cards laminated will cause trouble in the future if Covid-19 vaccine booster shots are needed. Still, Wen says don't worry. "If you do end up getting a booster after, you can always get a different card," she said. "I wouldn't let that be a deterrent." Ultimately, the thing that trumps all is proof -- laminated or not. As long as you have your card, you're in a good place. Just remember not to share it on social media. So what else is happening? ��From CNN: Tensions between the GOP and Georgia businesses are growing over Georgia’s new restrictive voting law. Late last week, Major League Baseball decided to move the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta, which was set to host the popular annual event this summer. It’s a huge move with an estimated $100 million in lost state revenue. However, Georgia GOP legislators have stood firm in their defense of the law, and have shown they’re not afraid to fight against the giant corporate entities criticizing them. After the CEO of Delta criticized the voting law, Georgia's GOP-led House voted to revoke a jet-fuel tax break that benefited the company. The next battlefront for voter suppression could be Texas, where the state’s Senate recently passed a bill limiting poll times, banning drive-through voting and cutting voting accessibility. And, CNN: The Chauvin trial resumes. The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will resume today after last week's emotional testimony. An attorney for George Floyd's family says the trial has been painful to watch for them, a sentiment shared by scores of Black Americans. Personally, its hard for me to see how a jury could acquit Derek Chauvin after all the factual but emotional testimonies given last week. Well, back to the Caribbean. More on our day on Dominica. Our next stop was the cocoa plantation which was up the scariest and worst road ever. We visited the Bois Cotlette Estate. Now this was 3 years ago, so ’m not sure if the family running it are still there. Back story: after 9/11 a man and his wife from New York City visited Dominica on vacation. They visited the dilapidated Bois Cotlette estate which used to be a sugar plantation with slave workers. Over time, the market fell out of sugar in Dominica and the estate was left deserted. I’m not sure if the New Yorker bought the estate or contracted to run it but he and his family moved there and began to run it. They have made many improvements and at the end of our tour they offered us the most delectable cocoa truffles to try. A lot of their income comes from cruise ship tourists. �This was one of the original sugar plantation buildings. �This might have been the ruins of the slave quarters �The remains of the windmill where they used to crush and process the sugar cane �A cocoa pod with beans inside. At this point you suck the sweet mucus from around the �white beans, which are unbearably bitter. Walking on to look at the next stage: drying the beans. �Cocoa beans drying in the sun Yes there’s still more Dominica tomorrow. It was a long day. Oliver �Walking with Uncle �Asher Notice �the shark t-shirt he’s wearing? He asked to wear that t-shirt when Zoe was dressing him in the morning. He’s 20 months old and he’s already choosing his clothes! Stay safe. � 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_2021-04-05_BenjaminPamelaPD-Day-390 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 2021-04-05 Title A name given to the resource Day 390 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/5ae9cc7a5711d57278e11c0b777d9def.pdf 5040b176ed3d4c4d518c6ac2ed8e79f1 PDF Text Text Day 391. by windoworks We sold the house. It doesn’t feel any different because we are still living in it, just as we were yesterday morning, but it isn’t our own house anymore. Now I’m nervous that something will break and we’ll have to get permission from our landlord to fix it. Weird, weird, weird. And if signing the house over wasn’t enough for one day, we also had to retrieve my new expensive iPad. I bought it last Thursday and the assistant assured us it would be delivered the next day, Friday. Friday we got a notice that delivery was delayed. Here’s part of the reason why: my new iPad travelled from Pennsylvania to Indiana to Tennessee (?) to Grand Rapids. When I spoke to someone at FedEx yesterday (try finding that contact number and then insisting on speaking to A PERSON), she said I could drive over to the FedEx station nearby but not for 3-4 hours and they would call me to let me know when I could drive over to pick my iPad up. Because it wasn’t slated for delivery until the next day (!!!!) Dear Reader - what did I do? Did I wait 3-4 hours for a phone call? No, Craig looked up the location and we immediately got in the car and drove over there. A really nice young man behind the counter said after looking online: let me see if I can locate it. Less than 10 minutes later he reappeared with my new iPad! When we got home we unpacked it and there was just time for my old iPad to recognize my new iPad and begin the transfer of data. I watched the machines talk to each other. I can’t believe I just wrote that statement. It is a new (albeit somewhat scary) new day. The virus is out of control in Michigan. As my oldest son said: you live in a red zone. From CNN: The highly contagious Covid-19 variant first discovered in the UK has now spread to all 50 states. More than 15,000 such cases have been reported in the US, and while vaccines are highly effective against the variants, medical experts are worried we may not be vaccinating fast enough to prevent more major outbreaks. Remember, this mutation is dangerous because it’s more severe and easier to catch. Craig has a student who is struggling with headaches, fevers, body aches, loss of taste and smell etc and I have a friend who is somewhat recovering although her cough is dreadful. My neighbors on one side: she is almost fully vaccinated, her husband has his second shot in less than a week and their daughter got her first shot less than a week ago. On the other side, the wife has been vaccinated for weeks now, the husband gets his second shot on Monday and I don’t know about their son. More and more of my friends are fully vaccinated. �How to venture out? Here’s a piece from NPR: Zoom meetings. Virtual happy hours. Facetime dates. We've been living in a pandemic world for over a year now, and for better or worse, many of us are used to our new social routines. But as vaccinations ramp up and restrictions begin to loosen across the country, the new question is: Are we ready? After so much time apart, do we even know how to socialize in person anymore? We haven't returned to "normal" yet, but it feels like things are beginning to shift: We can almost hear the backyard barbecues; the cubicle-to-cubicle chatter; those awkward, horrible, adorable first date conversations over candlelit dinner. For many, just the thought is anxiety-inducing. We have been under such a cognitive load over the past year or so that there just may not be the space for two things in one �day. It's also possible the pandemic just revealed the real limits of your social capacity. Two years ago, you may have just not been aware of how exhausted you were. But even if you feel ready to jump back into the world with both feet, don't try to take on too much at once. The world's a changed place, and you've probably changed a bit, too. Set realistic boundaries, and pace yourself: that might mean setting a max number of activities for a weekend, having social "off-hours" or limiting how long houseguests can stay. Draw lines that serve you. Now more than ever, safety is going to look differently for different people, and it's important to respect the boundaries people create for themselves. For you, going mask-free indoors post-vaccination might be freeing and joyful, but for your neighbor, it could be panic-inducing. Ask ahead of time if you're unsure about mixed social situations. Don't impose your level of comfort on anyone else, and be honest (or opt out) if you feel unsafe — even when that might feel extra hard when friends and family are ready to spread hugs all around. My neighbors on both sides and ourselves are so cautious - baby steps. Craig and I are both experiencing a little reaction to food we didn’t cook ourselves - but we’re determined to keep going. We are slowly reemerging. More Dominica. After the plantation, we got back on the bus and traveled up to a look out over Rousseau and then back up into the mountains to visit the 65m-tall Trafalgar Falls inMorne Trois Pitons National Park. ��Looking down from the lookout - you can see our ship at the wharf. �Lush tropical �forest. It was a long steep climb to the waterfalls and I didn’t go. ��Craig took these photos. He has never found a climb or trek that he didn’t want to do. �Next port, Gustavia, tomorrow. Oliver: ��So with this blogpost we say goodbye to this iPad that has served me well over the past year especially. At 10am this morning, in the Apple store, I will delete all information on it and it will be taken to be broken down and used for parts in their recycling center. Tomorrow I will be learning to use my fabulous new iPad with its magnetic keyboard. Remember: we’re all in this together. � 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_2021-04-06_BenjaminPamelaPD-Day-391 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 2021-04-06 Title A name given to the resource Day 391 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/884aada6c4fd8bc3cf3a86e453f4b3df.pdf 0e69f73060493d55ab562844d8491730 PDF Text Text Day 392 by windoworks Its the first day of using my new iPad with its magnetic keyboard, and while I love it, it is going to take me some time to get used to this keyboard. Even returning to the store to trade in my old iPad and purchase the new keyboard was another exhausting experience. To celebrate I gave myself the afternoon off and watched a John Travolta movie on TV. He is a surprisingly good actor after all. �Yesterday the US recorded 62,004 new cases. In Michigan, our daily case average for the week is 6,689. We were driving down to Woodland Mall about 9:45am yesterday morning and there were few cars on the road. It seems that many people have gone to places such as Florida for Spring Break. If Michigan �continues to be the worst state for surging coronavirus cases, then Florida ranks as the second worst, immediately behind Michigan. Its not an honor any of us really want. Washington Post: Athletic activities, such as a youth volleyball tournament, have been linked to spreading the B.1.1.7 strain among young participants as well as referees and others nearby. Transmission may be happening at events like these, and less so in classrooms, as a result of the close contact required by some sports. Here’s some other snippets in no particular order. First up from Crooked Media, something to laugh at: A group stole a Confederate monument in Selma, AL, and will turn it into a toilet unless its demands are met. On Friday, The United Daughters of the Confederacy must hang up a banner bearing the quote, “The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives,” and leave it up for 24 hours, or it’s toilet time. Next, also from Crooked Media, something to make you say: oh, thats nice: The Atlanta-based organization Love Beyond Walls has installed portable sanitation units for people experiencing homelessness in 52 cities during the pandemic. And finally from the Derek Chauvin trial: Washington Post: Several police officers testified at Derek Chauvin's trial, casting him outside the blue wall of silence. For a week, civilians had offered tearful testimony in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, describing the horror they felt as George Floyd lay unresponsive with Chauvin’s knee pressed into his neck. In testimony this week, law enforcement officials spoke in unity and with a shared understanding of the challenges of their job — as well as the requirements of it. They made it plain that they believed Chauvin had failed to meet the demands. I have looked at news sources online, but there seems nothing truly uplifting or positive today. Outside the grass is growing and turning green and a few trees are displaying that faint green haze. Yesterday Craig put the furniture out on the front porch and the table, chairs, umbrella and grill out on the back deck. He also put fans in most of the rooms and last night we slept with the fan on in our bedroom. Today is forecast to be even warmer and then the temperatures slowly come down to a more reasonable 50F or so, which is standard for mid April. So, back to our first cruise in the Caribbean. Our next port was Gustavia which is the main town and capital of the island of Saint Barthélemy. Originally called Le Carénage, it was renamed in honor of King Gustav III of Sweden. Saint Barthélemy was first claimed by France in 1648. The island was given to Sweden in exchange for trade rights in Gothenburg in 1784 and Sweden founded the Swedish West India �Company. Prospering during the Napoleonic Wars, assets were low thereafter, and the island was sold back to France in 1878. Wikipedia As you can see, the town was decorated for Christmas �Big fancy boats �A pretty town �Showing the history of Swedish and French ownership �A very modest church being prepared for Christmas �services. A ships anchor. It makes me wonder how big our ships anchors are. �Back on the ship for a delicious Christmas Eve �dinner Complete with carol singing. And Oliver. ��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_2021-04-07_BenjaminPamelaPD-Day-392 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 2021-04-07 Title A name given to the resource Day 392 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/865fa9fdc1ab0a8d35f3c67b2529fff5.pdf b04e8a218895d0c17ffa0307621b8c32 PDF Text Text Day 393. by windoworks Yesterday the state of Michigan recorded 9,339 new cases. The head of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky, is worried the US is headed for another surge. Ive got news for Dr. Walensky - here in Michigan we are already in the middle of the 4th surge. This morning I read a depressing article from Bloomberg about the After Times. Well now I can’t find the article (of course) but what I think it said was: there are two paths. The first path leads to annual vaccinations in years to come. The second path leads to the virus being with us forever as the original virus gives way to ever increasing and more virulent variants. There are, as I am beginning to suspect, very different After Times waiting for us. Yesterday Zoe went to a live theater performance in Sydney, her first in over a year - and in the photo she posted, everyone attending was masked. Is this the New Normal? Is this what the After Times will look like? A friend of mine posted about her day on FB. She took her grandchildren to a country park to play - and in one of the photos, a child was fully masked, outside, on a slide. I have seen so many small children masked in public. They wear them as if this is everyday life. They may not remember a time without mask wearing in public. For Oliver in Australia, for the most part of his daycare life, both he and his mother’s temperature were taken at the door, Mummy wasn’t allowed in past the foyer or for the longest time, inside the building at all. Mummy had to wear a mask to pick Oliver up and drop him off. He sees nothing strange in that at all. Here’s a piece from Crooked Media, titled ‘The Young and the Maskless’: A more contagious variant has become the official face of Hip Young Coronavirus Outbreak 4.0, which features the slick new upgrade of “fewer people dying” and the problematic bug of “everything else you hate about coronavirus.” CDC chief Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday that B.1.1.7, the coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K., is now the dominant strain circulating in the U.S. That’s contributing to concerns about a potential fourth surge, as case numbers continue to climb. In a snapshot of how quickly this thing spreads, five states that make up just 22 percent of the country’s population—New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey—accounted for 43 percent of confirmed new infections over the last week. The less great news is, young people are the ones getting walloped this time around. Several states are seeing more hospitalized coronavirus patients in their 30s and 40s, and the problem is particularly bad in Michigan, where youth sports seem to be fueling the state’s surge: Michigan school outbreaks have jumped 23 percent in the past week. Part of the issue is that the youngs are letting their guard down—a recent Gallup poll found Americans across age groups have gotten significantly less worried about catching coronavirus as the vaccine rollout improves. �Can I just point out that you have to be fully vaccinated before you can be significantly less worried. And speaking of vaccinations, my mother-in-law got her first jab yesterday in Canberra, Australia, but won’t get her next jab until July (!!!). The new ongoing discussion is now centered around what worked and what didn’t work during the pandemic , and how to incorporate the things we want to keep and how to alter the things we don’t want to keep, to our emerging new reality. Masks that match your outfit perhaps? The story of out payout from the sale of the house is beginning to resemble the story of my new IPad’s tortuous journey to me. As my friend Wendy says: there’s always another thing. But yesterday was the day the first of our treasured houseplants left home. My counselor bagged it and yesterday she came over and Craig squeezed the plant into the footwell in her car and put the stand in the trunk. Suddenly our hallway looked shockingly bare. Soon we will be sitting on deck chairs in the living room and sleeping on an air bed . No just kidding but the dismantling of our lives here is beginning. Here’s a fond last photo of the plant: �You can see why the hall looks bare now. �Now this next thing is so interesting. Also from Crooked Media: A subatomic particle called a muon might break physics as we know it and revolutionize our understanding of the universe, which seems like a much-needed win for a particle that scientists also call a “fat electron.” What’s a Muon I hear you ask. Here’s the short version from Wikipedia: The muon (/ˈmjuːɒn/; from the Greek letter mu (μ) used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1 e and a spin of 12, but with a much greater mass. It is classified as a lepton. Right? No real idea. But this interesting to me because on the 2016 Big History Tour of Europe, our group visited the Large Hadron Collider which lies beneath the France - Switzerland border near Geneva. Looking inside the control room at the large Hadron Collider. �Hmmm. �As we stood and watched the people working in the control room, our guide told us about Muons which he said, were coming down from Space and traveling through us down into the earth and the same time, other Muons were traveling up through us up into Space. All the time. Everywhere. In 2016, although they had named this particle, they still really didn’t understand it. I felt really weird for a moment or two. Well now we have a laboratory just outside Chicago with this superconducting magnetic storage ring: First results from the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab have strengthened evidence of new physics. The centerpiece of the experiment is a 50-foot-diameter superconducting magnetic storage ring, which sits in its detector hall amidst electronics racks, the muon beamline, and other equipment. This impressive experiment operates at negative 450 degrees Fahrenheit and studies the precession (or wobble) of muons as they travel through the magnetic field. Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab So they’re studying Muons now. I obviously don’t have a true scientific mind as I find these ideas precessing (wobbling). I know this research is exciting and necessary and I’m glad there are people who can understand it and make new discoveries. Okay, that’s the Advanced Science lesson over for today. Okay. So the next day in the Caribbean was a stop at Granada. Grenada is a Caribbean country comprising a main island, also called Grenada, and smaller surrounding islands. Dubbed the “Spice Isle,” the hilly main island is home to numerous nutmeg plantations. It’s also the site of the capital, St. George’s, whose �colourful homes, Georgian buildings and early-18th-century Fort George overlook narrow Carenage Harbour. To the south is Grand Anse Beach, with resorts and bars. ― Google �The wharf at St �George �Our ship is the small one on the left. An egg bush - a joke. They put eggs on the sharp points of the leaves for protection. �Spice Plantation �Every spice you can think of. �The nut near the top is nutmeg and the red strands are �mace A nutmeg packing plant. More Grenada tomorrow. Oliver time. �When he arrived at daycare in the morning, he was wearing shoes and socks. Where did �they go? I’ll leave you with this which shows very clearly who owns Mitch McConnell. � 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_2021-04-08_BenjaminPamelaPD-Day-393 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 2021-04-08 Title A name given to the resource Day 393 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/a46f0b51f006c9b394e9d6564ae251c7.pdf 804fef541632259eb8a8fb42a0baf20b PDF Text Text Day 394 by windoworks As I thought about writing my blog this morning, a newsflash popped up on my iPad. The Guardian: The Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen’s “strength and stay” for 73 years, has died aged 99. Flags on landmark buildings in Britain were being lowered to half-mast as a period of mourning was announced. Years ago I went out a tour of Westminster Abbey. It was a fantastic tour, we got to see many things that the general public doesn’t see. Our guide talked about the preparations already in place for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. I imagine in the Before Times there would have been a comprehensive plan for Prince Phillip’s funeral too. Our guide told us that it takes weeks to set up the bleachers inside the church etc. I am not sure what the game plan will be for the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in the midst of a pandemic. Which leads me to the predominant, alarming topic of the day. Yesterday Michigan recorded 8,727 new cases. On April 7, 2020, when we thought the new cases per day were terrifying, we had 1,722 new cases for that day, at the top of the first surge. Of course many Michiganders threw all caution to the wind and have gone to mostly southern states for Spring Break. All the medical personnel in Grand Rapids are very nervous about next week when all those traveling may bring back more of the variants. Which leads me to this: Washington Post: Variants of the coronavirus are increasingly defining the next phase of the pandemic in the United States, taking hold in ever-greater numbers and eliciting pleas for a change in strategy against the outbreak, according to government officials and experts tracking developments. The highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the United Kingdom now accounts for 27 percent of all cases in this country. It is the most common variant in the United States, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday — a development that officials predicted months ago. Two other variants, which took root in South Africa and Brazil and also are more transmissible, are cropping up with increasing frequency in parts of the United States. ’These variants emerged because we continued to give the virus more chance to spread,” said David D. Ho, whose lab at Columbia University is leading the research on the P.1 variant first discovered in Brazil. “The sooner we vaccinate everyone, the faster we will contain the viral spread and reduce the chance for new variants to emerge.” In addition to those three variants, the CDC considers two in California “variants of concern” and is watching them closely. It is also monitoring a variant found in New York City. With most of the rest of the world far behind on immunizations, the virus will continue to spread and mutate, every copy with the potential to spark a variation that current vaccines will not be able to control. �The odds of that remain low, experts think, but they are not zero. “I fear there will be one terrible variant that will come out and take us back to square one,” Ho said. And before you say: but this is the United States, Pamela! Consider this also from Washington Post: Brazil, now fully in the grip of the P.1 variant, shows how quickly it can seize control when not taken seriously. In the Amazon rainforest, it quickly devastated the city that spawned it, then stormed south. It was soon prevalent all over the country — and its assault on Brazil, now in the midst of a nationwide medical failure, has been merciless ever since. Why am I emphasizing this last paragraph? Because of the phrase ‘not taken seriously’. Here, in the US, we are at a point where a swathe of the population are not taking this seriously. I looked up the countries which allow Americans to travel to them. Every single one (except Mexico, I think) stipulates conditions beginning with these words ‘as long as’. The next paragraph contains restrictions and requirements, including insurance cover for the coronavirus. Where does this lead? Firstly, some colleges are requiring all students to be fully vaccinated for the fall semester. Other colleges will soon follow suit. Will nightclubs, movie theaters and live theaters soon require proof of vaccination? Will restaurants and cafes ask for vaccination proof before allowing you and your guests to eat inside unmasked? But, most of all, will airlines require proof of vaccination beginning with international flights and then moving on to domestic flights? How will tourism resume? How will the world function? On Monday I have a follow up appointment with my eye doctor to check my cataract surgery. I really hope all staff are fully vaccinated. And here’s an ongoing discussion from the Washington Post: Soon to appear on your local horizon – if they're not already there – are vaccine passports, showing whether you've been immunized against the virus. New York is the first state to have released one. The website and app, named Excelsior Pass, is a voluntary system to display a person's vaccine status. Our Technology columnist enlisted a few New Yorkers to try it out. He found that the app could be cumbersome to set up, and that it didn't always work. I ‘ll look this up and see if Michigan is working on one - although in a state where a Senate Republican feels comfortable enough to publicly joke (without retraction) that the 3 Executive women (Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney-General) are witches and should be burned at the stake, I’m not confident of support for a vaccine passport. And this is depressing. Washington Post; Every four years, the National Intelligence Council releases a “Global Trends” report, which offers a forecast for the next two decades. The most recent outlook is troubling: It states the �pandemic is "the most significant, singular global disruption" since the Second World War and describes the coronavirus as a preview of crises to come. In its wake, climate change will be another significant and disruptive force, which will propel mass migration, the report notes. I believe our lifestyle has changed and will never return to those halcyon days of the Before Times. The After Times will be different - and we may all live waiting for the next big thing to come along. My neighbors daughter is a music major at a Michigan university. In a truly inventive style, she plays her flute in music class with a hole in her mask for breathing through into her flute, and a bag over the end of the flute to contain her breath but not contain the sound. And thats what we all will do going forward. We will innovate, adjust, invent and circumvent. It might be exciting as well as challenging. �This isn’t a painting. It is the most detailed image of a human cell to date, obtained by radiography, nuclear magnetic resonance and cryoelectron microscopy. How fascinating. And after all that depressing news, here’s something to make you laugh: �As I write this morning, the Great Houseplant Giveaway has been a huge success. I have one flowering African Violet and one stubbornly refusing to flower African Violet left. Most of the plants left the house yesterday when Craig was out running errands. He said he was sad he didn’t get to say goodbye. Hmmm. Oh, and before I continue with out day on Grenada, there is news in from Bequia. From The Times: The government of the Caribbean nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines has ordered a mandatory evacuation of thousands of residents from its main island amid signs of an imminent volcanic eruption. The dome of La Soufrière volcano, on the northern tip of the island of St Vincent, was spewing smoke and �glowing red yesterday after days of seismic activity which the local authorities said merited raising the risk level of an eruption to “red alert”. �I think this is a nutmeg �tree �I think this is a Jackfruit tree. �Cacao tree. The pods grow on the �trunk Mount St Catherine and rain forest �Grande Etaing - a perched lake located high in the mountains. A lot of Grenada’s fresh water comes from this lake. Perched lakes sit upon a layer of humus-impregnated sand or coffee rock formed from accumulating organic matter and sand cementing together into a largely impervious seal. Perched lakes are dependent on rainfall for the maintenance of water levels. �Joining in with the musicians. Me awkwardly attempting the maraca. More Grenada tomorrow. Oliver �Look �at the size of that bowl of food! Today I’ll leave you with this; Its a garden! � 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_2021-04-09_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-394 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 2021-04-09 Title A name given to the resource Day 394 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