Wicked Hahvahd Smart

April 24, 2020

Fair warning: this is a rather long email. So feel free to revisit this edition later this weekend if you don’t finish reading through it all at first. We provide this warning because we do get feedback occasionally that the newsletter is too long.

“Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can.”

“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

― Bruce Lee

Stefani Reynolds via Getty Images

We Have Nothing To Fear But The Complete Lack Of Fear Itself

Less than six months ago Kentucky’s Democratic governor Andy Beshear won the general election against his opponent, Republican Matt Bevin, by just over 5,000 votes.

On March 6 Beshear became one of America’s first governors to treat the coronavirus pandemic seriously when he declared a state of emergency; within five days he was holding daily press briefings and considering closing schools. Kentucky had only a handful of cases at the time, but Beshear told Kentuckians the actions they took over the next month would determine how the state fared in the pandemic.

Bevin’s response was a tweet: “BREAKING NEWS: Chicken Little has just confirmed that the sky IS indeed falling… take cover immediately and bring lots of toilet paper ….”

HHS Secretary Alex Azar declared a nationwide public health emergency on January 31, but on March 2 President Trump declared the pandemic no worse than the flu. Trump hosted a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on March 7 for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his entourage, 24 members of which returned home with the virus.

March 10 Trump told Americans: “Just stay calm. [The virus] will go away.” Tennessee’s Republican governor Bill Lee followed Trump’s lead, telling his state’s residents no emergency declaration was needed. Lee changed course March 12, citing new information.

By March 22 Kentucky’s bars, restaurants and non-essential businesses were shut down, and mass gatherings banned. Tennessee’s lockdown order was issued April 2; it expires April 30. In three days Tennessee begins reopening businesses; medical experts warn that easing lockdown measures too soon will lead to a big spike in new cases.

As of April 22 Tennessee had reported almost two and a third times the number of Covid-19 cases as had Kentucky: 7,842 to 3,373.

Damed If You Do, Damned If You Don’t

After a decade of contentious negotiations between the Nile Basin countries, Ethiopia is due to begin filling the 19.5 trillion gallon reservoir of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam (GERD) later this year. The $4.5 billion mega-project is on the Blue Nile river that runs from Lake Tana in Ethiopia to meet the White Nile in Khartoum, flowing north into Egypt.
The dam project will affect water levels downstream, depending on how fast Ethiopia fills its reservoir. Both Ethiopia and Sudan say the dam’s hydropower is essential for their countries’ future development. While the project will potentially provide much needed cheap electricity in the future, it will also deplete Sudan’s water from the Blue Nile.
Egypt is further downstream, and has long seen the GERD as an existential threat that could deprive its 100 million people of the water they need to survive in a changing climate. Some Egyptian officials have even discussed bombing the dam.
A prominent human rights lawyer and water expert is so angry with the decision to build the dam he quit the Sudanese delegation negotiating Nile water issues with Egypt and Ethiopia. Mufti emphatically believes the controversial dam will cause a water war. “If not under this government then under another, as no population will see itself dying of thirst when they know that there is water very close by,” he said, adding “This dam is endangering rights — the right to life and the right to work.” (Guardian)

What Do We Want? Change! When Do We Want It? …We’ll Get Back To You On That Part!

Another side effect of the pandemic has been to quiet global anti-establishment protests that began last year. Hong Kong demonstrators were among the first to feel the chilling effects of the virus, beginning in January.
In Algeria, the year-long twice-weekly protests dried up in March. Opponents of an anti-Muslim law in India who said they would defy lockdown restrictions and continue demonstrating were criticized by their supporters for being reckless. Months of marches, rallies and riots came to a sudden halt as millions of demonstrators hunkered down at home.
The daily burden of acquiring face masks or food overshadowed debates about corruption and abuse of power, leaving organizers to wonder whether the interruption represented a fleeting pause, or an unceremonious end for some of the most widespread mass mobilizations in recent history.
Many governments imposing restrictions on gatherings and movement have used the outbreak to consolidate power or arrest opponents. But the pandemic’s economic toll, and the crises of trust it’s inspired in many governments, could fuel fresh outrage. People worldwide have already begun defying lockdown measures they say threaten their jobs, housing and food supplies. (NYT)
Additional paintings: https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/plague-in-art-10-paintings-coronavirus/, and to prove our bona fides when it comes to knowing art, here’s a personal favorite given it merges some interests that chart in some ways my personal interests, and travels (neoclassicism, military history with a focus on Napoleon, and plagues): Bonaparte Visiting the Plague Victims of Jaffa by Antoine-Jean Gros. One of the best things about being stationed in Europe with the U.S. Army was the ability to visit some of the world’s finest museums including of course going to the Louvre where we saw this painting.
This is unfortunate and this is easily one of the top ten if not top five museums in the world: N.Y.’s Met Museum Projects $150 Million Shortfall, Lays Off 81 Employees (NPR)

Additional World News

Insect numbers down 25% since 1990, global study finds (Guardian)
Iran Guard commander threatens US Navy after Trump tweet (AP News)
U.S. warship sails through Taiwan Strait, second time in a month (Reuters)
Ramadan, A Month About Community For Many Muslims, Goes Virtual (NPR)

Covid-19

Covid-19 & Money

Stock futures point to opening dip following Wall Street’s roller-coaster session (CNBC)
The House just passed another $480 billion in coronavirus relief aimed at small businesses (Vox)
When one of the world’s largest company that drives almost all of its revenue from advertising is cutting its advertising, then you know the economy is facing some serious headwinds: Google to cut marketing budgets by as much as half, directors warned of hiring freezes (CNBC). Don’t forget that Google is a “tech” company but even more than that it is an advertising company, and makes its money by ensuring more people use their service so they can display even more advertising.
Jobless Numbers Are ‘Eye-Watering’ but Understate the Crisis (NYT, $)

People With No Water Aren’t Keeping Their Anger Bottled Up

Most bottled water sold in the US comes from the same municipal sources that supply tap water. (Daily Pnut thinks the mass consumption of bottled water in the USA and countries with effective water treatment as one of the most foolish things given how bad it is for the environment.)
Coca-Cola makes Dasani at the company’s Detroit plant by purchasing, treating and bottling municipal water before selling it at a significant mark-up to consumers. Pepsi bottles its Aquafina water brand in Detroit the same way.
But a Consumer Reports investigation reveals huge differences in the way bottlers and consumers are treated by water utilities. Detroit’s policy before the coronavirus crisis called for shutting off water to residents if they fall $150 behind in their water bills. An estimated 2,800 homes were without running water at the start of the pandemic, creating a real health issue.
However bottlers like Coke and Pepsi have been allowed continued access to municipal water despite owing tens of thousands of dollars in past due water bills that have gone unpaid for months. Consumer advocates say because bottlers rely on the taxpayer-funded water supply, including the processing and infrastructure, to make products they sell at a profit, the public is effectively subsidizing the companies’ business.
The coronavirus pandemic has underscored just how problematic water shutoffs can be, as utilities servicing nearly 40 percent of the US population still have not committed to suspending water shutoffs. (Guardian)
Additional song: Bottle Up And Explode! By Elliott Smith (an amazing musician who left us too early, he’s best known for all of his songs in Good Will Hunting. What can propel a pretty good to great movie to a classic is having a fantastic soundtrack: Say Yes – Elliott Smith).
Pnut is quite mentally peripatetic so please indulge us as we go off on another tangent. Good Will Hunting has some great scenes, this is one of them that sets up the famous later scene of “How you like them apples”: ‘My Boy’s Wicked Smart’ (HD) – Matt Damon, Ben Affleck.
The original Daily Pnut founders were Hahvahd educated and wicked smart. They have very wrinkly and well developed prefrontal cortexes. We thank them for starting this publication. We recently found out one of them is expecting a child.
Harvard And Other Universities Turn Down Relief Funds Amid Swell Of Criticism (NPR)

Next To Vaccines, Social Distancing, Face Masks, Staying Inside, And Medicine – Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Laughter is one of the main coping mechanisms during periods of sickness, death and anxiety. Translation: Don’t feel guilty about laughing at coronavirus jokes.
Since the pandemic took hold the internet has been awash with coronavirus-centric joke memes, Twitter wisecracks and self-produced comedy sketches shot with smartphones in shelter-in-place settings. Who or what is an appropriate target for satire during a pandemic, you ask? Not individuals who are sick or dying, except in general.
One recent meme illustrates: “A year from now, you’ll all be laughing about this virus. Not all of you, obviously.” The virus itself is perfectly game for scorn and mockery. “I love being outdoors, crowded places and food markets,” read a fake Tinder profile for “Coronavirus, 29.”
Quarantine humor tends to revolve around overeating, marital bickering, sex (too much or too little) and binge drinking. “Your quarantine alcoholic name is your first name followed by your last name,” read one meme recently posted to a private Facebook group hosted by a psychologist.
Baby boomers and Gen-Xers seem to gravitate toward the ‘we’re all in this together’ observational humor: “Anyone else starting to get a tan from the light in your refrigerator?”
Some Generation Z types on TikTok seem to relate to more nihilistic content — disgust, resignation, frustration, despair — perhaps a response to the discovery that members of that generation are coming of age in a world that suddenly seems even more messed up than they already thought. (NYT)
We promise we wish this was a scene from Dumb and Dumber or Zoolander but it’s not. Nonetheless, we hope this still makes you laugh (instead of crying): Coronavirus: Outcry after Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment (BBC).