There is no vaccine or cure for willful ignorance and stupidity

The New York Times has published a map based on cell phone tracking data that shows how different regions compare in terms of the daily distance traveled during this period of people being asked to stay at home as much as possible. The overall average has dropped from five miles per day to less than a mile a day, which is a huge drop. But the drop has not been uniform. At a casual glance it looks like the southern regions have people traveling more.
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Zoom bombing: Another example of why we cannot have nice things

The use of Zoom videoconferencing technology has exploded now that people have to stay at home but still need to communicate with people as part of their work or to stay connected with friends and family. Educational institutions especially have begun to use Zoom extensively to teach online. But along with that new popularity, Zoom has also become the target of hackers who are exploiting its security flaws and taken up the practice now being called ‘Zoom bombing’.
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Life in China during the quarantine

Peter Hessler is an American with a wife and two young children who has been living in China for a few decades as a college teacher of English. In a very long article in The New Yorker, he describes his experience with how the Chinese authorities reacted after realizing the danger of what was going on, and what measures were put in place during 45 days of the lockdown that is still in place, though it is being relaxed. It was a massive operation that depended on many people implementing and monitoring the measures as well as a high level of compliance by the general public.
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Signs of social tension

One of the things about national or even global crises is that initially there is an upsurge of individualistic thinking by some people as they rush out and hoard vast quantities of stuff, thus denying them to others, even to those in greater need. Then we have the backlash with appeals for solidarity and sharing, that we are all in this together and that we need to be kind to others and cooperate. But as the crisis drags on, people’s patience and sense of good will may tend to wear thin and they start looking out again for just themselves or their immediate community.
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Debunking the myth of Wall Street’s importance

The stock market has been on a roller coaster ride these last few weeks as downward pressure due to fears of the negative global impact of the pandemic competes with governmental policies to boost the economy, with the former seeming to be winning, resulting in a net steep plunge since mid-February as the reality of the situation sank in.

Back on March 18, Jon Schwarz speculated as to whether the economic crisis might finally rid us of the fantasy that the stock market tells us something real and useful about the nature of the economy.
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Just what we need, religious crackpots influencing coronavirus policy

The presence and influence of religious nutcases at the highest levels of government is reaching alarming levels. Lee Fang writes about a minister who has the ear of top government officials.

RALPH DROLLINGER, a minister who leads a weekly Bible study group for President Donald Trump’s cabinet, released a new interpretation of the coronavirus pandemic this week, arguing that the crisis represents an act of God’s judgment.

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The Drollinger-led Bible study meets every Wednesday morning with members of Trump’s cabinet, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Health Secretary Alex Azar. Carson and Azar, notably, are members of the coronavirus task force guiding the federal government response to the pandemic.
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At least 52 GOP lawmakers also participate in a Capitol Hill version of Drollinger’s Bible study, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sponsors of the event include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the second-ranking GOP lawmaker in the Senate.

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Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (2007)

The schedule of operas being streamed by the New York Metropolitan Opera company for the coming two weeks has been published. Yesterday I saw the 2007 production of The Barber of Seville. In the story of this opera, the title role is not that of the male romantic lead but rather of his wing man Figaro, who helps Count Almaviva win the heart of Rosina and help her escape the clutches of her much older guardian Dr. Bartolo who seeks to marry her.
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