#newsamehope / 4.11.20

What is new in the last 48 hours?

• Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is one of three senators leading an effort to address anti-Asian incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• A federal judge ordered testing measures at Cook County Jail, but rejected a request to order immediate releases.

• A new study at Rush Medical Center will have coronavirus patients lie facedown with oxygen to see if it saves them from having to go on ventilators.

What is the same?

• There’s always more to learn about meteorology. There was some flaky soft hail the other day, and it turns out that there’s a name for it: graupel. 

• Cut flowers do look nice inside, but they last longer if you leave them alone outside. Sorry to shorten your life span, daffodils.

• I don’t like sleeping any later than 7:30, even if I need the sleep.

What is the hope?

• Activism is taking on new shapes. Car caravans are temporarily stepping in for traditional in-person protests. Masks can now be made and sent to carceral facilities, making the act of sewing a new form of activism.

• The world is asking us to acquire new knowledge. I’m now following @sylvanaquafarms on Instagram and learning about supply chains for ranchers and farmers. So many of us are learning about Zoom and other modes of virtual communication, and we’re effectively whittling down ableist arguments that remote learning and working from home are impossible for certain jobs. Our imagination is being tested, and that’s when it works the best.

Photo: Somewhere out west. May 2018.