COVID-19: So You Think You've had a Tough Life?

From Worldometer,  COVID-19 new deaths:

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil   India   South Africa

May     21    1418     4934         1188     150         30

            22    1293     5252           966     142         28
            23    1036     4183           965     142         10
            24      617     2826           703     156         22
            25      505     3096           806     148         52
            26      774     4048         1027     172         43
            27    1535     5283         1148     190         28
            28    1223     4612         1067     177         25
            29    1212     4873         1180     269         34
            30    1015     4084           890     205         32
June      1      638     3189          480      223         40
              2      730     3053          732      200         22
              3    1134    4669         1232      221          50

Summary:

• Terrible day on Planet Earth, as new deaths went up for all.
• South/Central America has become the new hotspot.

One of the signs of racial progress I've been mentioning the past few days is black and female political leadership.  Yesterday:

Ella Jones became the first African-American and the first woman elected mayor in Ferguson, Mo., where the 2014 killing of Michael Brown helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement.

I composed this post last week, but with COVID-19 and the George Floyd affair taking commanding attention, had to wait until today.  I had just picked up the June issue of National Geographic, and did something I almost never do, watch all two hours of America's Got Talent, commercials included.

Let me introduce you to 57-year old Archie Williams from Louisiana.  At the age of 20 he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to 80 years for the rape and murder of a white woman, and sent to the bloodiest prison in the nation, Angola.  

I lived in Baton Rouge for 3.5 years, close to Angola.  Last year a DNA test exonerated him of this crime and he was released.  He said he was locked up for 37 years, but never let his mind go, and you can see that he retained a sense of obvious dignity and humility.  Singing gave him peace in prison.  He sang Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me.  You'll shed a few tears.  On the other hand, life can come back to bite you.

Three NG articles caught my attention.  First, the latest on Alzheimer's, where a new and surprising cause was added.  AIR POLLUTION.  I'll report on this presentation soon.

The second was on the toll of war.  You want to keep the graphics and maps because they are so well made.  Already 0.4 million have died from COVID-19, or 0.005% of the World population.  Wars?

• World War II (1939-1945):  66 million--3% of the world population.
• Genghis Khan (1206 to 1277):  40 million--10% died.
• Mao Zedong (1949-1976):  40 million--1.6 %.
• Fall of Roman Empire (395-496):  7 million--3.5%.
• Xin Dynasty (9-24):  10 million--3.3% (note that the population of the world at 0 AD was 300 million, while around 400 AD it was only 200 million).
• Spanish Flu (1918-20): estimates ranged from 17 million to 100 million--0.94% to 5.6%.

The third article was on Hiroshima and the Atomic Bomb.  

• Shoso Kawamoto was 11 when the bomb fell.  He lost his family except for an older sister, who later died of leukemia.  
• Shoso had nowhere to go and lived as an orphan until Rikizo Kawanaka, owner of a soy sauce business, took him in and made an offer.  If the boy agreed to work for 12 years without a salary, he would give him a house.  For all those years he toiled from 2AM to 4PM without pay.  

• At the age of 20 he fell in love with Motoko.  Three years later Mr. Kawanaka kept his promise and built him a small home.  Shoso was ready to marry, but Motoko's father forbade the union.  His reason?  Their children could be born deformed because of Hibikusha status, those who survived the bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Half a million of them survived the bomb, but nevertheless largely lost their lives.  In most ways their story is a lot more tragic than those who died.

• Shoso was shattered, became part of the Yakuza, but felt he had to leave Hiroshima, where he contemplated suicide.  He remembered his mothers words about him and eventually found work in a noodle shop.  He actually prospered and had a company of 50 people. 
• At the age of 70 he returned to Hiroshima.
• Now 85, he makes origami planes and cranes and gives them to children who visit the Hiroshima Peace Museum.  Printed on the planes' wings are the words, Hope for Peace.
• You can watch his story.

Time marches on and I continue on to the year 2002:

• The Euro is officially introduced,
• Mount Nyiragong erupts in the Congo, displacing 400,000 people.
• 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, headed by Mitt Romney.
• Switzerland become 190th member of the United Nations.
• SARS pandemic.

The top 25 hits of 2002 in 6 minutes.  On other end of the music spectrum, how to fall in love with the cello.  There is something about this string instrument that resonates in my chest, expanding the audio pleasure throughout the body.

To close, here are two startling animal clips sent to me by my constant provider, ending with something a lot more affectionate.

-