Heck Is (Maybe) Other People, Definitely Children

Speaking of foreigner co-worker, we had a bit of a philosophical debate as to the best quarantine scenario -- alone or with a partner?

He's newly married, and seemingly very happy, and he waxed rhapsodic about how happy they were in their love nest together.  (No, I didn't ask about the sex.  I'll remind you I'm a classy boy.)

I'm weird and single and found myself, all things considered, pretty damn happy for the month of March doing what I normally do -- reading, watching movies, taking walks.  If it isn't clear by now, I was leaving my apartment daily but not doing my usual stuff like movie-theater movies or sporting events or hanging out in cafes downtown or museums.

And of course, what about kids?  I know my sister is happily ensconced with my nephew, who is truly mature and thoughtful for his age.  They also live in an nice big house.  But I shudder to think what it would be like in a small apartment with multiple rug rats.

Obviously, types are drawn to types.  But I vote for alone.  Even with a loving partner, you're one argument or stomach flu away from disaster.

Tele-Teaching

It's been a day.

Me and foreign co-worker got a crash course in distance learning.  My college has gotten what seems to be a pretty stable and decent on-line program going, and for the next few weeks (at least two) we'll be voice recording our lectures and putting them up with small quizzes for the students to, ahem, enjoy.

I have my doubts, especially for a beginner level language course.  I always do.  But it's nice to feel a little bit useful after an unexpected month off.

I'm just trying to stay positive about everything.  I found out that a church choir about 20 minutes south from where my Dad lives got rocked with the coronavirus, including multiple deaths.

Stay home as much as possible.  Wash those hands.  No trips to make-out city for you.

I'm strangely exhausted, considering I didn't do that much other than listen to my boss.  But being taken out of my teaching comfort-zone probably has something to do with it.

"safer here than anywhere else"

It's a bit of a joke among long-term Korean ex-pats that the writing abilities of many of us are, ahem, limited, when it comes to commenting on Korea and (ugh) Korean culture.  So here's your unicorn -- a very thoughtful piece on living through the corona pandemic as an English teacher in Seoul:

"Even with the amount of cases in Korea ballooning at the time, I felt I would be safer here than anywhere else. The reality is that my job provides me with housing and national health care. If I were to return to America, I’d be unemployed and uninsured. How would I get by if I actually did contract the virus? I also didn’t want to risk bringing the virus back with me, especially since my mom is older and has health conditions that compromise her immune system. The choice seemed clear.

Some of my fellow teachers pulled what we call 'midnight-runs' (leaving Korea unannounced) and fleeing to their home countries, out of fear of the virus compounded in part with the financial stress of possibly losing their jobs if schools remained closed. At first, I wondered if I should have done the same. But my faith in the South Korean government's ability to handle this pandemic has proven to hold true, because it feels like the situation is improving here with each passing day. The amount of new infections has significantly decreased, from thousands each week to fewer than a hundred per day."

Short of a family member having an emergency there's no way in hell I'd consider leaving Korea right now or for the foreseeable future.

"be sure to get the dark chocolate peanut butter cups"

As far as click-bait goes, it doesn't get better thank ranking all of Werner Herzog's documentaries / non-fiction films.

"If the dead just go on living / Well there's nothing left to fear"

Waxahatchee, "St. Cloud"

A beautiful song no doubt, but that album cover is also lit.

The start of the semester has been pushed back to six weeks now, April 13.  I'm not the only one thinking we might just have to scrap the whole semester at this point.  My boss is having a meeting with us foreigner teachers Monday to discuss "distance learning" options.  Thing is, we're totally not equipped for that sort of thing.

If there's an upside, it's that my school focuses on health sciences.  English is not a major, but only an elective.  (A mandatory elective.  It's Korea.  It's complicated.)

Anyhow I'm wondering if we might expand out "Global Zone" program in lieu of actual classes.  This is something we've been doing for about five years.  At a desk in the library students can drop in for "free talking," to basically practice their spoken English.  We have a computer opened up to Google translate to facilitate things.

Who knows.  I guess I'll find out Monday.

What's a weekend mean, anyways?

Sorry Grandma, But We Can't Allow Shares of General Electric To Fall Any Further

beginning to think when Republicans dream at night there are no human beings, just the NYSE growing higher and higher and higher forever amen...#TrumpVirus

— 2020 Is Already Bullshit, James (@wetcasements) March 24, 2020

"inferior care individually though better outcomes for the community at large"

There are many dynamics to think about these days regarding the coronavirus.  Over here in South Korea, it's been interesting to see how the western media has shifted from a position of "OMG those heathen Chinee and their dirty filthy habits!" to a grudging admission that China, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore have, to relative degrees, shown the world how the disease can be managed.  (Trump is still pushing the racism shit, of course, because that's who he is and always has been.)

The country hid hardest as of now is Italy, and it's hard to believe the rest of Europe isn't in deep trouble what with the ease of travel between the EU and England.

Anyhow, a group of Italian doctors is going as far as to suggest that the real problem could be hospitals themselves:

"What does this mean? Concretely it means that hospitals themselves may be a big part of the problem. When lots of COVID-19 patients rush into the hospitals, clinicians are then spreading it within the hospitals. Key quote: 'We are learning that hospitals might be the main Covid-19 carriers, as they are rapidly populated by infected patients, facilitating transmission to uninfected patients. Patients are transported by our regional system, which also contributes to spreading the disease as its ambulances and personnel rapidly become vectors.'

The authors argue that doctors should be treating many patients at home, both via telemedicine and house calls. The implications of this are stark and sobering. They grant that for some patients this will mean inferior care individually though better outcomes for the community at large. Again, these are trade-offs and logics American medicine and society are really not prepared to confront. But obviously we’re also not prepared to confront denying potentially life-saving care to all but those with the best chance to survive."

Basically, when hospitals become breeding grounds for the virus we really need to re-think just about everything regarding modern civilization.

Overdetermined

Something something atheists in foxholes something something Libertarians in a global pandemic.

R.I.P. Kenny

Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, "Islands In The Stream" live

I didn't grow up in a musical household by any means, but one constant of my childhood in Silver Spring, Maryland was our huge, late 70's turntable / stereo console (a piece of furniture, basically) and my Dad's copy of Kenny Rogers' greatest hits.

I mean, I'd love to say my parents raised me on Sex Pistols and Fela Kuti but no, lots of Sunday steak dinners listening to "The Gambler" or my Dad's favorite, "You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me Lucille."

I also had a really great first date at the Mt. Vernon (Mt. Vermin) Ohio Kenny Rogers Restaurant back in college.  Those biscuits were lit.

"The Gambler" on The Muppet Show

How could I forget this bizarro-world 80's childhood gem?

Dying To Own

A bit from Talking Points Memo about how Republicans would literally prefer getting / transmitting the coronavirus to one another if it means OWNING THE LIBS:

"In a Fox News interview on Sunday, for example, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) encouraged people to crowd restaurants.

'It’s a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant,' he said. 'Likely you can get in easily. Let’s not hurt the working people in this country that are relying on wages and tips to keep their small business going.'

The governor of Oklahoma struck a similar tone Saturday, posting a (since-deleted) picture of himself and his kids at a local restaurant. 'It’s packed tonight!' Gov. Kevin Stitt wrote, along with the hashtags '#supportlocal,' and '#OklaProud.'  (He declared a state of emergency the following day and encouraged Oklahomans to follow the CDC’s guidance.)

For some, maintaining a presence in crowded public spaces was open trolling, an effort to solicit a reaction and score political points."

I guess the Zen question is something like -- "Is a political party that exists solely to troll their opponents, and whose only policy suggestion is tax cuts for the ultra-rich, still actually a political party or rather a cult, and a pretty dangerous one at that?"

"Will you be the fire or the wind?"

Dogleg, "Kawasaki Backflip"

The Daegu social distancing routine continues.  I've been going out once a day for food, and sometimes stopping into my office.  (The building is almost completely empty except for the occasional security guard.)

Anyhow, even before listening to a note from these Michigan rockers they had me at the song title "Kawasaki Backflip."

USA! USA! USA!

Stephen Miller, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump created *precisely* the infectious disease Petri dish they claimed to be avoiding. Unreal. https://t.co/fIfnYPRoCr

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 15, 2020

Documenting The Atrocities

David Wallace-Wells gets to the point as to how fucked America, and the world, truly are with Trump:

"Barely more than two decades ago, the United States saw itself as a kind of eternal and all-powerful empire — the indispensable nation. It would have seemed laughable, then, to be told that China would have produced a far better and more comprehensive pandemic response — a shamefully superior response. But today, distressingly, we take that relative failure for granted, and don’t expect to outperform the Chinese on matters like these, let alone South Korea or Singapore. What feels new is that we are doing worse even than Italy, where in the past few days hundreds have died and where they are now rationing critical-care devices between patients who need them — deciding, between two people who will die without support, which one has a better chance of surviving with the machine and giving it to them. We are well behind Italy and seem somewhat closer in the effectiveness and coordination of our response to Iran, where it’s estimated millions may be infected, including many senior figures in government. When countries like these are desperate, they now turn to China, which is sending a huge supply of necessary equipment and human resources to Italy. The United States used to play that role not that long ago. Now, in this crisis and future ones, who will help us?"

Trump is literally incapable of viewing this as a public health crisis that is killing people as we speak.  And the Republican Party is more than complicit in his madness.

How Are You Spending the Apocalypse, James?

Ugly Delicious season two is even better than the first, which was truly good stuff.

I mean, let's state the obvious -- it's really not about food at all, but family and culture.

Just Asking

So I get that touching my face is bad, but what about punching vigorously?#coronavirus#health#fitness#wellbeing

— 2020 Is Already Bullshit, James (@wetcasements) March 7, 2020

You're Only Un-Electable or Un-Likable Until You Get Elected.

It's no secret my top two choices for the Democratic nominee were Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris.  Megan Garber unpacks exactly how the fraudulent "electability" or "likability" arguments get weaponized, over and over and over, against women like them but not so much the dudes:

"And, still, you won’t be able to prove it. The thing about internalized misogyny is that it is internal. 'Likability' is in a very broad sense a foundational requirement of any candidate. So is that other deeply subjective data point, 'authenticity.' The plausible deniability is baked into the logic of campaigning. Sexism, like racism, is both exhausting and exhaust-like: It is so common that people sometimes forget to be indignant about its presence. 'Electability' finds refuge in the fog. Instead of a woman, just not that woman, its explanation of things is I’m not sexist; other people are. Did they not vote for the woman because they have low opinions of women, or because they assume that other people do? You can litigate the question endlessly. That is, in some sense, the point.

In late 2008, the researchers David Paul and Jessi L. Smith published an article examining what happens when women run against men for the presidency. 'Although some polls indicate that 81 percent of Americans would personally vote for a qualified woman candidate from their party,' they wrote, 'other [2005] polls imply that nearly one‐third of Americans believe their "neighbors" are unwilling to vote for a woman.' And in a poll conducted in June and published in The Daily Beast, 74 percent of independents and Democrats claimed to be personally comfortable with the notion of a female president. Only 33 percent thought their neighbors would be similarly open-minded. In a New York Times article last summer, a voter said about Warren, 'I love her enthusiasm. She’s smart, she’s very smart. I think she would make an amazing president.' The voter added: 'I’m worried about whether she can win.'”

I like the specific focus on language here -- electability and likability really are incredibly vague concepts that masquerade as objective currency stamped by Chuck Todd or Chris Matthews' (RIP) omniscient political instincts.

"I don't think he / she is electable / likable" is literally just a statement of opinion.  It's just that David Brooks gets paid millions for saying it, and you don't.

Donald Trump was un-electable (pussy grabber, obvious racist, charlatan).  So was Barack Obama (too young, too black).

But somehow history will look at them as long-shots who got lucky.  (True!)  But somehow Warren and Harris (and Hillary four years earlier) will be remembered as too ambitious and too cold and let's be honest, too damn bitchy and uppity.

It's as if internalized misogyny in America is as terrible as internalized racism, if not worse!

(Also fuck Chuck Todd forever.)

To Think I Give This Kind of Wisdom Out for Free

Just here in my office thinking lovely thoughts such as, if the coronavirus lasts past summer (not likely but this is 2020 we're talking about) how much will it take for Trump to suspend the November national elections for "security" reasons?

Answer: not much, give or take a slight-to-major Joe Biden polling lead.

My Favorite Things

John Coltrane Quartet, "Alabama"

R.I.P. McCoy Tyner.  For my money, his approach to chord structure was the perfect match for Coltrane's improvisation.  The opening of "My Favorite Things" still gives me chills.

2020 can go fuck itself right off.

Big Brother Is Watching

Is there a lighter side to the coronavirus outbreak?  In South Korea, sort of:

"Health authorities and district offices across the country are sending 'safety guidance texts' from early morning to late at night, reminding people to wash their hands thoroughly and not to touch their faces with unwashed hands.

But for many people, the texts – while intended as a public health service – are fuelling social stigma and in some cases, leading to speculation over extra-marital affairs.

Much of the criticism centres on messages that trace the movements of people who have recently been diagnosed with the virus.

'A woman in her 60s has just tested positive,' reads a typical text, 'Click on the link for the places she visited before she was hospitalised,' it adds. Clicking on the link takes the user to the website of a district office that lists the places the patient had visited before testing positive.

This avalanche of information has included some embarrassing revelations."

I'm getting about five of these messages every day, which is a testament to how organized the response here has been.

Still, not the best time to be having an affair or visiting massage parlors.

Balance

To make up for all this hygienic hand-washing I've been doing I've been peeing extra hard in the shower.#Daegu#coronavirus#health#winning

— 2020 Is Already Bullshit, James (@wetcasements) March 3, 2020

Daegu Is Very Quiet

There's not a whole lot to report from lurvely Daegu.  The number of cases is still growing, and most of them are centered around the Christian cult church known as "Shin-cheon-ji" ("New Heaven And Earth Church").  (Their wiki is pure nightmare fuel.)  The government has set up "drive through" testing facilities, which is pretty amazing, but there is also a shortage of hospital space.  People with flu symptoms are being told to "self quarantine" at home, which isn't a terrible idea either if it means less stress on the medical system as a whole.  It's scary though, for obvious reasons.  I can't imagine having a sick kid right now and basically being told to stay home -- it is regular flu and cold season, after all.

This latest article from Joong-Ang is interesting:

"On Sunday South Gyeongsang Governor Kim Kyoung-soo said he would take legal action against the sect for violating laws on infectious disease prevention, adding that there was a discrepancy of 540 people between official and submitted records. Gwangju’s metropolitan government also warned that it would file a police complaint if the sect did not immediately submit a complete membership list.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon took the toughest stance, calling on state prosecutors Sunday to arrest Shincheonji’s leader, Lee Man-hee, on a charge of manslaughter.

Lee, the 88-year-old whose followers regard as a physically immortal messiah figure, will be tested for the coronavirus in the near future, Shincheonji representatives said Sunday. Lee has not made a public appearance since his church emerged as the nexus of the virus outbreak last month and is believed to be lying low in a residence somewhere in northern Gyeonggi.

Prosecutors are already in the midst of an investigation into Lee and church leaders for violating health laws, after a civic group opposed to the church filed a complaint on Thursday."

Like anti-vaxxers in America, by all means lock these apocalyptic fuckers up as soon as possible.  Their martyrdom is well deserved.  They are a public health threat, above all else.

The city is just very, very quiet.  I'm running out of movies to watch.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Flavor Flav being kicked out of Public Enemy for not supporting Bernie is pretty much the hellscape decade laying before us.

— 2020 Is Already Bullshit, James (@wetcasements) March 2, 2020