Monday, August 23, Delray Beach, Florida


Worth Considering

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Back from the sunny beaches of Rancho Santana on the Pacific Ocean to my house on the equally sunny beaches of the Atlantic Ocean in Delray Beach, I was only dimly aware that the Delta variant of the coronavirus was skyrocketing. You couldn’t tell from the airport or by looking at people on the streets or at Boheme Bistro, where we dined that first night. Unlike New York and California, Florida has maintained a policy of minimum mandates during the entire pandemic. We were in lockdown for some number of weeks when there was a legitimate fear that hospitals would be overwhelmed. That didn’t happen, and the lockdown was relaxed. Since virtually no businesses were shut down, Florida’s economy stayed strong these past 18 months and is now enjoying the benefit of a flood of people buying up houses and condos to move into or use as second homes.

Freedom is never free. There is always a cost. Sometimes it is paid in labor. Sometimes in risk. Sometimes in blood. I decided to check the data to see how my home state is doing compared to similarly large states that imposed (and still are imposing) severe sanctions.

Here are the scores so far:

Contracted COVID Cases (per 100,000) 

New York: 11,500

New Jersey: 12,000

California: 10,600

Florida: 14,300

Deaths (per 100,000) 

New York: 278

New Jersey: 300

California: 165

Florida: 190

 

What does that mean?

All three large-population states with the toughest lockdown requirements have done better than Florida, with about 30% fewer cases. But in terms of what really matters – deaths – New York and New Jersey did considerably worse than Florida with about 50% higher mortalities. California did somewhat better at 165/100,000 vs. 190/100,000 – about 16% less.

My prediction is that after all is said and done, including vaccinations, the difference in mortality between high-mandate and low-mandate states will be about the same. And if that turns out to be true, the only valid conclusion we will be able to draw is that mandates and lockdowns were not effective in reducing deaths. What will have been effective is simply distancing: Rural (less populated) states and countries will end up with fewer deaths per population.

You can check these data out yourself here.

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Notes From My Journal

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Introducing: Mr. Doodle

I want to introduce you to someone I’ve been following lately.

Sam Cox is only 23, but he’s fast becoming the new Keith Haring among contemporary art collectors in England. That’s in part because of his distinctive doodle-styled illustrations, but it’s also because of the self-deprecating persona he employs to promote his work.

Over the years, Cox has built an A-List of corporate clients, including MTV, Adidas, and Cass Art.

He’s not breaking new ground. He comes from a line of graffiti and street-art creators. And there’s no denying that he steals a lot from the legendary Haring, who died, at age 31, in 1990.

Like Haring, Cox’s illustrations are hieroglyphics comprised of personal symbols – repeated patterns that include shapes and squiggles, numbers and letters, forms and scribbling, and cartoons. His art draws from a social consciousness, but it is not dogmatic. The bulk of it is a lighthearted take on popular images, like this one:

Some is innocent, even juvenile or downright puerile, like this self-portrait:

But I have to say, my favorites have an edgy, ominous quality, with what seems to be a bit of social messaging, like this one:

I also like his doodle interpretations of iconic works of art, like this:

And this:

Cox began his career very recently, in 2017, by posting his doodles online. His rise to fame since then has been meteoric, as have the prices of some of his work. (One of his pieces, a large one, sold for $1.02 million at the Tokyo Chuo Auction.)

His installations are designed to give the viewer the feeling of walking into a shop and being assaulted by a thousand products lined up from floor to ceiling. He says he doesn’t care if people take his work seriously, since much of it isn’t serious, or even understand it. “I just want people to spend time looking at it,” he says.

You can watch him at work here.

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Postscript

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In the mood to watch a beat-down? Here’s what happens when a bully with a big head walks into a boxing gym.

I saw a similar thing happen when two toughs came into my dojo and challenged Renato, one of my BJJ teachers, to a grappling match.

I like stories like this. I wish they would happen more often.

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