Cosmic

This is how it is.

This Is The Summer Columbia River Gorge

                                                           

Vague Promises of Future Cat Pay Off

As academics and serious amateurs have noted, this blog hasn't focused on traditional pets such as cats and dogs.

Fancy rats have enjoyed keynote status, but generally for most of the child-rearin' we have not been a pet family. Much of the reason this is so is because a few of us have pet allergies. 

When queried about the pet policy my stock answer has been, "When you have your own place you can have as many pets as you want."

So when I spoke to the daughter a few days ago she pointedly wanted to say the words, "I'm eighteen, have my own place, so I got a cat."

Success and happiness! Stoke!

                                                           

Today's Data

These graphs are from NYT.com 

Every day I look at the statistics and hope for good news. Overall in the US COVID cases are on the rise. In Oregon cases are on the rise. 

Still, in Oregon the number of cases in proportion to the population is low.

I don't delude myself. This is a pandemic which means the virus travels, the people travel. I've reviewed a number of interactive maps which uses cell phone data to show how people moved around even when their state was in quarantine. 

It doesn't mean much if the number of COVID cases is low in Oregon but high in California.

We've still got a long way to go before this thing is over. 

 

 

Interesting COVID Data

Today I was reading a news story and I noted the data came from Google’s COVID-19 Community Mobility Report The data sets were organized by geographic location and showed the percent change in visits to places like grocery stores and parks. I downloaded the data for Oregon and referenced Multnomah County.

About the data:

These reports show how visits and length of stay at different places change compared to a baseline. We calculate these changes using the same kind of aggregated and anonymized data used to show popular times for places in Google Maps.

Changes for each day are compared to a baseline value for that day of the week:

The baseline is the median value, for the corresponding day of the week, during the 5-week period Jan 3–Feb 6, 2020.

The reports show trends over several weeks with the most recent data representing approximately 2-3 days ago—this is how long it takes to produce the reports.

Note: If the baseline was established in January-February -- a time of cold, wet winter weather in Oregon -- the above graph may represent seasonal visits of parks more than a reaction to COVID.

Bare Feet Covered In Black Columbia Basalt Sand

Nothing feels like summer more than enjoying the waters of the Columbia River. The coarse black sand found on many of the beaches always reminds me of good times and the specialness of the region.

   

Zombies and Annexation of the West Bank

In 2018 at a public AIPAC event I asked IDF Brigadier General Nitzan Nuriel about the likelihood of West Bank annexation. He snorted and said it was a political pipe dream. Realists, like him, didn’t waste time on the idea. I’m still not sure if his answer was ill-informed or just designed to quickly placate those who doubted Israel’s resolve to end the occupation.

Zombie ideas refuse to die no matter how mutated and distant they are from their original concept. We think the zombie dead, but then it springs back to life even after a thorough debunking.

Check out the rest of the piece.

These Still Exist

I've been using a credit card to pay for parking for close to a decade. So when I find a coin-operated parking meter it's a trip down memory lane!

The Downtown's New Look

Another Covid Haircut

The governor declined to approve Multnomah County for Phase I easing of quarantine restrictions. I planned ahead by have the wife give me a haircut.

Portland and Covid

The graphics and most of the text come from a NYT article.  From above, "The simplest way to track the progress of an outbreak is by seeing how many new cases and deaths are reported in a given area each day."  

"The virus has begun cropping up in new places as it spreads across the country. To identify places that could flare up next, it’s helpful to look not just at the number of cases but how fast they are rising."

Boarded Up Apple Shop Canvas For Protest Art

The First Apartment