I went to the Minneapolis Farmers Market today for the first time in far too long. On the downside, it being a weekday, there were far fewer farmers present than on weekends. On the upside, parking was not a problem, which it often is on weekends. Arrows on the ground pointing which one-way direction to walk, not many people seemed to be paying attention to them. We got potatoes, strawberries, dill, basil, nectarines, cucumbers, rambutan, and onions. Had a damn fine pork burger with cottage bacon at the TFP stand.
On the home front, we’re putting in a DIY retaining wall. My wife is doing the bulk of the work, particularly anything that requires finesse, subtlety, or talent. I get the call when there’s brute force needed for digging or moving heavy containers filled with rocks and paver base:
Coronavirus News and Analysis:
Texas pauses reopening plan and elective surgeries as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations rise
Coronavirus stimulus checks went to 1.1M dead people
The payments to nearly 1.1 million people totaled $1.4 billion, the Government Accountability Office revealed Thursday.
Treasury Department officials said that the late March CARES Act mandated that they distribute the money as “rapidly as possible,” the report says.
Truth be told, I’m having a hard time caring about this particular example of government waste and mismanagement. Once the decision had been made to send out checks, doing so as fast as possible and getting them out as fast as to people who had rent to pay and other expenses had to take priority. In the great scheme of things, $1.4 billion is a rounding error when you’ve got a national debt of $26 trillion.
Let’s just declare victory and be done with it? Trump administration has considered ending coronavirus emergency, even as cases surge
The Trump administration, eager to claim victory over the coronavirus, has been considering scaling back the national emergency declared earlier this year to control the pandemic.
“It was very much under discussion,” said one industry official, who asked not to be identified to avoid jeopardizing relationships with the administration.
The COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index
Explore the interactive map to see the data at a county level. Click on the vulnerability category in the legend to see all counties that fall under that bracket. Mouse over to see the county level data.
Spam Sales Are Booming With Consumers Seeking Out Comfort
At first, people were loading up on pantry staples with a long shelf life during lockdown conditions. Then, shortages of some fresh meat supplies, especially in the U.S., also helped to drive sales. Now, the economic downturn is underpinning demand.
Red-state reopening has been a disaster — and Republican hopes for a comeback are collapsing
Scientists just beginning to understand the many health problems caused by COVID-19
“We thought this was only a respiratory virus. Turns out, it goes after the pancreas. It goes after the heart. It goes after the liver, the brain, the kidney and other organs. We didn’t appreciate that in the beginning,” said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.
It’s based on a small sample size, but this is not encouraging: Antibody levels in recovered COVID-19 patients decline quickly
Chris Martenson’s latest:
