Yesterday

BUENOS DÍAS good Friday morning.

Weekend Edition, 1023 words, a 5-minute read.

I am usually better with long-term memories than the short-term kind. Mention sports, and I will deliver the time in 1971 I attended the Major-League All-Star game in Detroit, in the fifth inning the outfield for the National League was Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron. What a thrill.

Lately, I am dwelling on lesser things from the fairly recent past. Sheltered in a pandemic, new memories seem distant, and mundane. I remember the last meal I ate in a restaurant, my last haircut, the last time I washed Big Red (my car), pretty boring.

Emotionally charged events are easier to remember than neutral ones. Something as simple as a haircut (June 12) now qualifies as an emotional benchmark, because I have no idea when I will again feel safe visiting my barber.

Research has shown that the act of remembering is frequently enhanced by forgetting. We clear space in our minds by replacing older memories with more recent occurrences. Right now there is a lot that I look forward to forgetting.

My short-term memory does seem to have improved during the pandemic. Mention a date, any date, since mid-March, and I will be able to tell you the color of my boxer shorts I wore, when I took out the garbage, and what I saw on my walk around the neighborhood.

Memories like these are easier to preserve when nothing changes.

 

COVID-19 NOTES - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday released updated guidance on Covid-19 testing for higher-education administrators. One highlight: The CDC isn't recommending that colleges test all students, faculty, and staff as they return to campus, given that it's unclear whether entry testing actually reduces the virus's spread. Institutions that are planning a test-on-arrival approach, the CDC cautions, should be aware of the limited utility of testing people at a single point in time. And residential, isolated campuses, the organization points out, might have less potential exposure to Covid-19 than do those with many commuter students or those whose students live in the local community.

 

Here are 10 signs you may have Covid-19:

▪︎ Shortness of breath

▪︎ Fever

▪︎ Dry cough

▪︎ Chills & body aches

▪︎ Sudden confusion

▪︎ Digestive issues

▪︎ Pink eye

▪︎ Loss of smell & taste

▪︎ Fatigue

▪︎ Headache, sore throat, congestion

 

BAD NEWS FOR LATIN AMERICA — Latin America, which is home to less than 10 percent of the world’s population, is now accounting for about half of coronavirus-related deaths in the world.

The largest numbers are in Brazil, but Mexico, the second most populous country in the region, is also in bad shape: It’s the country with the fifth-highest number of deaths — more than 32,000 — due to coronavirus and more than 275,000 confirmed cases. It’s on track to soon surpass Italy in the number of deaths from Covid.

 

MARKET WEEK - Disney World will begin opening in phases starting Thursday. Brooks Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, while Bed Bath & Beyond said it would permanently close roughly 200 stores.

The federal Paycheck Protection Program was designed to keep businesses and employees from going under because of the coronavirus pandemic. The businesses and nonprofit organizations that applied could get money to cover up to eight weeks of salaries, as well as “interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.” The goal of the program was to prevent layoffs. So why were colleges that faced certain closure among the beneficiaries?

A RR analysis found that several colleges facing closure or ceasing usual operations received Paycheck Protection funds. Other colleges that announced plans to close or merge this year also got money from the program.

 

TAX TIME? - IT’S ALMOST JULY 15 - It’s certainly understandable why state and local governments wouldn’t want to deal with another delay in federal tax deadlines.

States and localities are already on pins and needles waiting to see what kind of extra financial assistance — if any — Congress might offer in a next Covid-19 relief package, especially given the timing of when that measure might come together keeps slipping. So with most states about to spill over into a new fiscal year, state budget and tax officials just want to collect the revenue owed for 2019 and move on.

 

TOP THREE PRO GOLF WINNERS - Sam Snead (82 wins, 7 majors)

Tiger Woods (81 wins, 15 majors)

Jack Nicklaus (73 wins, 18 majors)

 

MLB FACT – The Detroit Tigers are tied for the best record in the MLB with 60 games to play.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY – Yousef Daneshbod …”the man” for Mathematics, Cheryl Ladd (69), Roger McGuinn (78), Linda Ronstadt (74), Donald Sutherland (85).

 

POISON IVY - The Ivy League announced Wednesday that it will cancel all fall sports due to COVID-19 and will not consider resuming sports until at least Jan. 1, 2021.

The eight-member conference was the first to cancel spring sports, calling off its basketball tournaments on March 10. Now, it's the first D-I conference to cancel football.

While Power 5 conferences could ultimately follow the Ivy League's lead, no decisions will be made until late July.

It's also worth noting that Power 5 schools and Ivy League schools are dealing with different numbers. The former generates significant football revenue through TV contracts and ticket sales, while the Ivy League does not.

The Ivy League generated roughly $30 million in football revenue in 2019, while the Big Ten generated $1 billion.

 

THE SWAMI’S WEEKEND PICK – F1 Styrian Grand Prix, Austria: 7/11, 9:05 am (EDT), ESPN: The second F1 race of the post pandemic, we like Mr. Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton to win. Mr. Hamilton leads in the 2020 driver standings.

2020 Season to Date (8-7).

 

Next Blog: Dear Rink Rats and Word of the Month

Until Monday July 20, 2020 Adios.

Claremont, California

July 10, 2020

#XI-7-413

 

CARTOON OF THE WEEKEND – New York, Rothstein

 

 

RINK RATS POLL – Do you think schools should open in the fall?

___ Yes

___ No

___ Not sure yet

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND – “...I have done more than any President in history in first 3 1/2 years!"

—    President Donald Trump

 

 

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Posted at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published – May 3, 2010

Our Eleventh Year.

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