Magazine Posts

* "How Private Equity Is Ruining American Health Care || Bloomberg Businessweek"

* Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes || Kaiser Health News

Where will I go,
after you're gone?
A memory care unit,
awaits for thee.
A very nice setting
with river and tree.
You'll be cared for;
something I can
no longer do,
but while you're gone,
I will be missing you.

Smoking a cigarette,
I took a long drag.
It's the inhaling
that hurts you,
putting you in a bag.
Smoke, smoke, one more puff,
until your wasted lungs,
tell you, that's enough.

Hello my child,
come sit on my knee,
was a phrase,
that used to be.
No longer appropriate,
in this day or time,
for "Social Distancing"
is now by design.
No longer the hugs,
that meant much to me,
now a "Social Distance"
is what the rules, be.

Difficult times can bring out the best in people—and as the coronavirus spreads across the nation, an epidemic of kindness has followed in its wake. Despite the challenge of social distancing, people are finding creative ways to stand by each other, even while standing apart.

Shortly after the “stay home” order, Kristan McCary of Ajax Café sprang into action. Her Port Hadlock restaurant announced free meals for curbside pickup on social media: “For as long as we are able, the Ajax will be serving no cost meals for those in need.” Soon thereafter, she offered free delivery to the housebound.

Maryland teenagers Matt Casertano and Dhruv Pai organized a grocery delivery service for senior citizens. After volunteering to shop for their own elderly neighbors, they realized they could help on a larger scale. Now seniors in their community can email shopping lists, and a nearby volunteer gets the groceries and leaves them at the front door.

Citizens nationwide have stepped up to feed our frontline healthcare providers. In D.C., Elena Tompkins and Sarah Cannova collect donations to buy meals for delivery to hospital workers, which also helps struggling restaurants. In Bremerton, Ed Van Gil started making large batches of home-cooked meals and personally delivering them to healthcare facilities—and when word of his good deed spread, a group of community volunteers joined in.

Many people also rely on spiritual sustenance, and churches have adapted by holding services inspired by drive-in theatres. The congregation assembles in cars, and the sermon—often delivered from “pulpits” designed for maximum visibility—is broadcast to their radios. In Ohio, Pastor Frank Carl stands 25 feet high in a scissor lift, while in Wisconsin, Pastor John Hanson preaches from atop a dump truck.

As countless celebrations for graduations, weddings, and birthdays have been cancelled, drive-by parades of family and friends have become the new norm. New Jersey native Charles Swody’s 100th birthday was no exception. The World War II veteran and retired local Fire Chief was honored with a festive motorcade through his neighborhood, complete with a fire engine in the lead—and his wife of 78 years at his side.

Such is the generosity and resilience of the human spirit. We’ve learned how to stay close, even from a safe distance. We’ve learned to spread love, not fear. And we’ve learned that no matter how far apart we are, we’re all in this together.

The Sickness in Our Food Supply

Why We Need Postal Democracy

How To Make Sense of All The COVID-19 Projections? A New Model Combines Them

It is not often I get tripped up with math, but this one got me.
The reproduction rate of influenza: R naught = 1.3
The reproduction rate of COVID-19: R naught = 3
Not much difference, right? It’s just the flu, right?
So if I have the flu, I pass it on to 1.3 people on average, those) infected people pass it on to 1.3 people. After 10 steps of
human transmission, my flu has infected 14 people.
So if I have COVID-19. After 10 reproductive steps, my infection has infected 59,000 people.

This is not the flu......

Many thoughts, all meshed
into one,
when will this "Lock up"
ever be done?
It might be for the
older ones,
to remain sequestered until
the virus is done.

I wring my hands,
not to break
but to relieve them
when they always ache,
in a battle to
relieve the pain,
so I will wring
them once again.

Go to sleep, my darling.
Go to sleep once more;
All the illness will be over
and we'll be ready for more.

I'm at a loss of what to do
if I can no longer care for you.

Through the smudged window,
past the looking glass,
that this current situation,
it too will soon pass.