From Worldometer (new COVID-19 deaths yesterday):
DAY USA WORLD Brazil India South Africa
June 9 1093 4732 1185 246 82
July 22 1205 7128 1293 1120 572
Aug 12 1504 6556 1242 835 130
Sept 9 1208 6222 1136 1168 82
Oct 21 1225 6849 571 703 85
Nov 25 2304 12025 620 518 118
Dec 30 3880 14748 1224 299 465
Jan 14 4142 15512 1151 189 712
20 4385 17350 1382 152 566
28 3908 16388 1439 162 555
Feb 1 1904 9265 609 94 235
2 3632 14673 1240 113 547
3 4005 14265 1209 107 398
4 3523 14287 1291 120 261
Summary:
- As expected, U.S. new deaths/day is decreasing.
- We still had the most deaths, 3523, with Mexico #2 at 1707.
- We also had the most new cases, 121,627, compared to #2 Brazil with 57,848.
- A bit worrisome are Indonesia with 11,434 new cases/day, and Malaysia with 4,571.
- China had 30 new cases and no new deaths.
- Japan is improving, but struggling, with 2593 new cases and 108 new deaths.
- However, California, with 88 million people (126 million for Japan), had 12,238 new cases and 501 new deaths. Texas, with a population of 29 million, had 13,885 new cases and 412 new deaths. Hawaii (1.4 million) had 106 new cases and 2 new deaths.
The Biden administration appears to be facing an actual issue. He promised to open up schools, but nothing much is happening.
- Teachers are saying we won't teach until we have been vaccinated. The problem is that there are not enough vaccines to go around.
- Even if priorities are re-adjusted, it takes almost two months to work through the immune cycle. If you start on March 1, the spring semester will be close to over. Maybe the Johnson&Johnson vaccine might hasten the process, by why even bother trying to save this current school year?
- The CDC can clear this up by reporting that schools should re-open in the Fall, and that the priority of teachers will be upgraded so that they can all receive their first vaccine by mid-summer.
- College professors should also be included.
- What a simple solution. Don't know why they don't just do this, now.
Which brings up this related matter. Biden said last month he would invoke the Defense Production Act to produce more masks.
- This is hardly necessary, as anyone can get as many masks as needed today, anywhere.
- Sure, this move emphasizes the need to wear masks, which is really the purpose of this action.
- But it is mostly those Trump-types who continue to have the wrong attitude.
- Why not just make it mandatory, as 50 countries already did in August.
- Fines? Why not? He won't, although this could be financially beneficial, and most of those penalized would be Trump followers. I'm kidding, but only barely.
- Connecticut did do this in September, $100!
- Not too many Republican governors will take this step.
- UK: $131.
- Spain: $115.
- Singapore: $720.
- Hong Kong: $645.
- India: $6.70 to $135.
- Brazil: $500.
- In Italy, from $470 in Catania to $600 in Lombardy.
- Los Angeles depends on where you live, but typically, $400 for the first violation, going up to $2000 for the third.
- I did not know that Hawaii has a fine of up to $5000 and one year in jail. I'm sure this has not ever been applied at the max. I don't know anyone who has even been fined. In fact, I also don't personally know anyone who even caught COVID-19, so I also don't know anyone who has died from this virus.
- Actually, I don't think Biden has actually done this mask thing yet.
- However, it certainly would make more sense to use the DPA to maximize vaccine production, something he also talked about, but has not done.
- Again such a simple solution.
Oh, took my second Moderna shot yesterday. I'll still need to be careful for three weeks:
The American sports world this week will be focused on the city of Tampa, for not only will it host the Super Bowl, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play at home (first ever in the history of this game) with QB Tom Brady against Pat Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Incredibly, from out of nowhere, Tampa is today the sports champion town of the USA. Their major league baseball team, the Rays, won the American League championship, and lost in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Their Lightning, defeated the Dallas Stars last year to win hockey's Stanley Cup. The Rowdies made the United Soccer League Championship Final this past year, which was cancelled due to the pandemic.
I've been to Tampa a number of times, but my first in 1969 was particularly memorable, for one of our Florida stops included seeing Apollo 11 on the pad at the Kennedy Space Center. This is the one that took Neil Armstrong to the Moon.
But about the city itself, I recall having dinner at Columbia Restaurant at the original in Ybor City. Amazing place:
- Oldest (1905) Spanish restaurant in the U.S.
- Can seat 1700 patrons.
- 1,056 wines with an inventory of 50,000 bottles.
- The house Sangria is mixed at table side.
- This the most memorable part. Remember ,this was more than half a century ago. As we were seating, staff took off the shoes of the two females in our group and placed pillows below their feet.
- There was flamenco dancing.
So much for a memory. Let me start with Florida and a quick summary:
- Population of 21.5 million, #3 in the nation, just a bit more than New York.
- If a country, #16th-largest world economy.
Native Americans had been there for 12,000 years, but the first European contact was Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. He was on Christopher Columbus' second voyage in 1493, and was pushed out of what is now Puerto Rico by Columbus' son. The story is that King Ferdinand had just married a woman 35 years his junior, and told Ponce to keep an eye out for a fountain of youth. He really came for dominance over the locals for gold and such, plus to spread Christianity, and the history is not clear if he first landed in St. Augustine or Melbourne Beach, but he named it La Florida.
In 1763 Spain traded Florida to Great Britain for control of Havana, Cuba, one reason why Florida was not represented in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. When the Revolutionary War was won by Americans, Spain regained control of Florida, but in 1821 ceded the territory to the U.S.
The dominant Indian tribe was the Seminole, which represented a coalition of native tribes. Stanford became the Cardinal, Florida State is taking a course to better appreciate the meaning of being a Seminole.- Became the 27th state in 1845 and was one of the seven original Confederate States.
Around 1860 the population was 140,424, with 44% being slaves.- Population rose to 528,542 in 1900, with 20% being black. Today it is 17%.
- Two migrations occurred, one from Cuba due to Castro, and a more recent one from Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria in 2017.
- A decade ago one in six was Hispanic. Today, it is closer to 1 in 4, and around 1 in 4 of them of Cuban origin. In the 2020 presidential election, the Cuban and Puerto Rican percentages were both around 30%. There is an equal % of Hispanic Democrats and Republicans, but one third are Independent, and this is the group that seemed to have supported Donald Trump.
Has the highest percentage of people over 65, 17%. Two-thirds were born in another state. Undocumented immigrants around 6%.- Has 4,510 islands ten acres and larger.
- Much of the state is at sea level, making it vulnerable to sea level rise. The highest point is Britton Hill at 345 feet. Florida is the flattest state in the country.
- The weather is similar to Hawaii, but my sense is that ventilation is poor, affecting comfort in the summer.
- The highest temperature of 109 F occurred in 1931 in Monticello. Coldest, -2 F in 1899 near Tallahassee. Snowfall has been measured and agriculture is regularly challenged by freezes.
- It is the lightning capital of the nation and more tornadoes when including waterspouts.
- Most hurricane prone state. 114 hurricanes from 1851 to 2006.
- English became the official language in 1988. You smirk, but apparently only 13 other states, too.
- This will shock you, but only 32% of Floridians believe that human evolution was a natural process. The shock is not that, but this:
- Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi: 18%
- Hawaii: 39%
- Vermont: 55%
- Dominantly Christian.
- Tourism shot past 100 million in 2015, and was up to 126 million in 2018. Why? Weather and amusement parks. Just Disney Resort entertains 58 million annually.
- Most of the citrus in the nation still come from Florida, like 74% of oranges, mostly in the form of juice.
- Noted for Art Deco architecture, especially in the Miami area.
- University of Central Florida with 71,458 students is the largest in the country. Florida has four in the top ten. I remember when UCF was smaller than the University of Hawaii.
- Professional sports is in paradise here.
- The state animal is the Florida panther, which is close to extinction.
- The state flower is the orange blossom.
- Tampa Bay covers over 400 square miles, but is only 12 feet deep, of fresh and salt water.
- General population of around 4 million.
- Largest port in the state, but remember, only 12 feet deep.
- Number one export is phosphate.
- Six bridges, which have made the five airports a bit redundant.
- The city of Tampa has a population of 300,000, and is located 23 miles east from Clearwater and St. Petersburg, and 82 miles west of Orlando.
- Name comes from "sticks of fire," because of nasty lightnings during summer.
- The temperature has never reached 100 F, but air conditioning was invented here.
- Ybor City (the Ybor came from cigar manufacturer Vicente Martinez-Ybor), known for cigars and Columbia Restaurant, is supposedly haunted, and there are ghost tours.
- Known for:
- Cuban cigars, which became famous from here before Cuba. Is known as the Cigar City.
- Jose Marti Park officially belongs to Cuba.
- The Cuban sandwich was invented in Tampa. Just ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and salami, on Cuban bread, similar to baguette French and Italian breads.
- Original home of Jack Kerouac and Stephen King.
- Since 1904, during Gasparilla, pirate ships attack the bay.
- Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders sailed from Tampa to fight in the Spanish-American War.
- Bayshore Boulevard has the world's longest continuous sidewalk, 4.5 miles long.
- Home of the first scheduled commercial flight, in 1914.
- Two Henrys, Plant and Flagler, built the first railways and hotels.
- Salvador Dali Museum is in St. Petersburg.
- Now famous for sports, and also where Babe Ruth hit his longest home run: 587 feet.
Tomorrow, all about the Super Bowl.
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