Friday, March 20, 2020

SARS-Cov-2 - the dreaded Corona Virus




I have posted about the Corona Virus several times - you will find links to my previous posts further down. I have been in Self-Quarantine since last Tuesday, leaving my apartment only a few times for grocery shopping (just across the street from my place). The last time I was further away was at my studio across town on Monday, March 9th. Everything seemed still normal at that time. But since then measures had been introduced that severely restricted peoples movements. Watching the news mainly on my laptop, I seen reports with photos and videos of near empty streets downtown Vienna, where normally large crowds (mostly tourists) are mingling, sidewalk cafes and restaurants filled with people. But now, everything is closed except essentials: grocery stores, pharmacies and "Trafik" (tobacco shops) - right, smoking seems to be essential; and booze you can get at the grocery store. So we are all set, yahoo!
But the images and videos of near empty streets and plazas reminded me of surrealist views, such as Giorgio de Chirico, or the artist that had a great influence on me, Max Ernst.
This sort of depressing, near deserted scenery I painted on many occasions, ruins of civilizations, a unreal nightmare of a dystopian future. It was to be a excursion into my inner universe, a sort of catharsis to paint my deep-seated fears away. In those days when these works were created, I did not imagine that I would actually ever live in such a reality. Nobody I know and had talked to in these past days and weeks has ever experienced anything like that. I grew up in the post-WWII streets of Vienna among ruins, and I was in Canada when SARS broke out 2002-2003, but I cannot remember anything like what we experience now.
Here are two of such paintings from the depths of my imagination
BOGOMILS TEMPLE.jpg
BOGOMIL'S TEMPLE - no date (around 2000) - acrylic on paper
BOGOMIL'S TEMPLE (detail)
Otto Scanned Paintings, Surrealism 023ps2nobrdrWEB.jpg
BOGOMIL'S LOST CITY
BOGOMILS LOST CITY 1200.jpg
acrylic on canvas . 51cm x 76cm - 1976

Before I go any further, here are links to previous blogs about the subject of SARS-Cov-2 - called Coronavirus. The first one began as a spoof when I found some silly postings concerning the Mexican Corona Beer, but while writing (and updating) it, I became more serious and included a lot of useful information.
Drinkers are confusing Corona Beer with the Corona Virus
on this post, I included a link to my Blogger which initially just mirrored the Steemit post, but later on,
I kept updating the blogger with additional information.
18 days ago, I posted a update (using a Bosch painting as the lead image):
CORONA VIRUS - UPDATES
I refrained in that one to joke about it, I was all serious for a change
A week or so ago, I posted this in the Austrian Community - it is in German only, so you might want to use Google Translate:
Angst und Schrecken - das Coronavirus geht um - und somit auch die Volksverdummung
Finally, again in the Austrian Community I could not help myself and put up a spoofy post in reaction to the announcement of our Government that put in severe restrictions:
WARNUNG - SARS-Cov-2 - CORONAVIRUS
in German again, but on this one I included a English translation on the bottom.

Before I get to the vital information, I want you to be aware that there is a lot of misinformation going on - up to the point of total stupidity and even frightening radical theories so far removed from sanity and reality you'd wonder who could believe this - but from the messages I receive, and postings I see on social media, I am beginning to question the sanity of some (or even a large number of) people. Even some people I know and never before suspected that they might be mental!
Hysteria, Conspiracy Theories and Fake News
First of, the nastiest and scariest one:
Far-right QAnon nutcases see Tom Hanks' coronavirus diagnosis
as sure sign of looming mass arrests


Getty images via Daily Kos
There are many more, but let it be at that. There are quacks around, and they are well known to most but there are also a lot of people that eat out of their hands and believe anything they say (or peddle):
NY Attorney General Orders Alex Jones To Stop Peddling Fake Coronavirus Treatments

Getty Images via Forbes
A Televangelist Peddling Silver As A Fake Cure For Coronavirus
Has Been Warned By Officials To Stop


Facebook / Vital Silver Wellness via Buzzfeed News

This was just a small sampling of what crazy shit is out there. Now lets get to the serious stuff that is of interest.
For those of you who want PROPER Information - but it may be a bit hard to follow, since it is geared toward medical professionals and medicine students.
Roger Seheult, MD
here is his YouTube channel MedCram - Medical Lectures Explained CLEARLY
particularly one video I found very interesting (not the latest one):
Coronavirus Pandemic Update 37: The ACE-2 Receptor
The Doorway to COVID-19 (ACE Inhibitors & ARBs)


there is a whole series on the Coronavirus Pandemic, so check the Playlist
by the time you did, you would be ready to write your medical exam!


You could also compare what is in this video about ACE Receptors to this information from Belgum (in German) about research into Antibodies against Covid 19:
Gute Nachricht: Belgische Forscher finden Antikörper gegen Covid-19

Image: Das VIB-Gent hat einen Erfolg im Kampf gegen das neuartige Coronavirus verbucht. | Foto: belga
Coronavirus myths and misinformation, debunked
(CNN) As the novel coronavirus -- and panic about the coronavirus -- continues to spread around the world, so too are bogus claims, conspiracy theories and misinformation about the disease.
There's so much inaccurate information floating around out there that the World Health Organization is calling it an "infodemic." In perhaps the clearest sign of the times, WHO has joined TikTok to help set the record straight.
Links in this quote: coronaviruscontinues to spread and infodemic - read the entire article and watch the CNN video HERE
In all this bleak scenario, there are some glimmers of hope:
Interview

Corona Is Slowing Down, Humanity Will Survive, Says Biophysicist Michael Levitt

Michael Levitt. Photo: Reuters
Coronavirus: Five Reasons for Optimism

A bus in Israel getting disinfected. Photo: Motti Kimchi
The Single Most Important Lesson From the 1918 Influenza

St. Louis Red Cross Motor Corps workers and ambulances waiting to receive influenza patients in 1918.Credit...via Library of Congress, via Associated Press

Update - Important Link

COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Saturday, February 29, 2020

TROLLS AND BULLIES ON THE STEEMIT PLATFORM


A RATHER WEIRD EXCHANGE ON STEEMIT  
THIS IS JUST A PORTION OF THE TREAD I AM TRYING TO PRESERVE BY COPY/PASTE 

because I suspect that since ones comments are editable, the remarks made could well be changed, but here I want to preserve EXACTLY what was written at the time.

The time copied is 4 PM Central European Time on February 29th 2020

To see the entire post and additional related comments, please go to

ABOUT MY WORK - Cross-post in the OnChainArt Community on Steemit














You are viewing a single comment's thread from:

RE: About my Work



in OnChainArt • 4 hours ago
whom are you talking to? are you talking to me or @midlet in the tread with @guiltyparties ? and who do you assume you are - WE ? Now you pretend to be Anonymous? You are not a jaguar either, more like a sailcat (look it up, since you are so good at research).
OCA Bad Cop - lmao - you are so pretentious!






 1 hour ago (edited)
whom are you talking to?
When I issue a comment in reply to another comment, Im (obviously) talking to the person who made that comment, in this case you, its not quantum physics....
OCA Bad Cop - lmao - you are so pretentious!
If you don't like the name of the role you can talk to the person who created it you fucking imbecile, which is (again, obviously) the founder of the community.
Have a wonderful day.








So what about the Anonymous quote in your comment (without attribution)
"We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."
- are you not plagiarizing?

Source
So now you are resorting to cheap insults - again, are you talking about the founder of the community @midlet ? or maybe you should clear with @guiltyparties if your conduct and language is acceptable to use when you (pretend?) to speak for @steamcleaners
If you don't like the name of the role you can talk to the person who created it you fucking imbecile, which is (again, obviously) the founder of the community.


 39 minutes ago (edited)
are you not plagiarizing?
When something is within quotes that implies that the person quoting it did not create the text, Mr. imbecile.
are you talking about the founder of the community midlet ?
Yes Mr. imbecile, obviously the name of the roles in a community are set by the community admins,
who did you think set the names of the roles? The users? the pope? your mom? Britney Spears or who?

 thermoplastic (65) 30 minutes ago (edited)
When something is within quotes that implies that the person quoting it did not create the text, Mr. imbecile.
you know everyone can see who and what kind of infantile troll you are. So if you put something into quotation marks it is OK to use and not considered plagiarizing? Now you really lost it, but if true, then I could just put entire scraped posts within quotation marks and @steemcleaners would have to accept that? You obviously totally lost your marbles. Have a nice day, and don't put yourself deeper into the hole by commenting further.


I also posted a separate blog on Steemit that talks about this:

Selfie as Mr. Hyde 👹




Quoting some of the text - for the entire post, click the image above ▲

At one time, after having one account locked by Facebook (long story, check it out HERE) I opened a second account in order to be able to administrate my commercial pages, using this as my avatar (at first, I changed it since then). I described my profile as such:
Mr. Hyde - the evil twin


 READ MORE - THE REST OF THE STORY IS HERE



Addendum March 2020:
Who cares now - I moved to HIVE

hopefully won't have to deal with such miscreants there. 

Monday, February 24, 2020

🥵 Drinkers Are Confusing Corona Beer With the Coronavirus? 🍺

Googling to find out the latest about the Corona Virus, I keep running into results having to do with Corona Beer, so I targeted the search to find out why.  The best answer I found on Nasdaq. See the Quote below this image.


😱

No, the popular Mexican beer Corona is not affiliated with the deadly coronavirus that's spreading around the world, and Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), which owns the Corona brand in the U.S., told Business Insider "We believe, by and large, that consumers understand there's no linkage between the virus and our business." But Google search terms would beg to disagree. Since the virus began to take on global proportions in the middle of January, online searches for the phrase " beer coronavirus" surged over 3,200% globally while "corona beer virus" rocketed 2,300%. Similar terms that seemingly link the beer brand and the virus have also risen by hundreds of percent since.

I couldn't make this up, it is REAL, not FAKE NEWS - check it out here:
Drinkers Are Confusing Corona Beer With the Coronavirus

Source: Getty Images via Nasdaq

 Read more: Guilt by association 

THE REALITY IS NO JOKE





In the meantime, back in the *REAL WORLD* this happened:
CDC didn’t want 14 coronavirus patients flown to US—it was overruled
 Jumbo jets arrived to evacuate US citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, at the Haneda airport in Tokyo on February 16, 2020. - The number of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus on a quarantined ship off Japan's coast has risen to 355, the country's health minister said. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP) (Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)


which made its rounds on Twitter, such as a post by Bette Midler

Nothing to joke about - in the meantime I read this, which sort of hits close to my home (I live in Austria):

Coronavirus: Venice Carnival closes as Italy imposes lockdown
In neighbouring Austria, a train from Venice was stopped at the Austrian border after it emerged that two passengers had fever symptoms. Austria's Interior Minister Karl Nehammer later confirmed to the BBC that the pair tested negative for coronavirus.
"All authorities have acted quickly and with great caution in this case," said Mr Nehammer in a statement. "The reporting chain worked without delay."
The BBC's Mark Lowen described the situation just outside the zone. 

I tried earlier today to post this on Steemit, but for some reason the hamster wheel  kept running but nothing happened. So you see it here first - on my reliable Blogger.

UPDATE: 

I did eventually manage to post it on Steemit 

Additional information:
Updates to this article are posted HERE


🥵
CORONAVIRUS MAP
this is a map published by The Guardian that is being updated regularly.
also, you find updated News from The Guardian:

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Opening of the MAGICAL DREAMS V EXHIBITION - WARSAW, POLAND

Opening of the 

MAGICAL DREAMS V EXHIBITION 

WARSAW, POLAND

Photo credit: Katarzyna Bator, Gallery Bator
find more installation photos further down on this post.

Vernissage January 9th, 2020 at 7 PM.

ul. Podskarbińska 2, 03-833 Grochów, Warszawa, Poland
9-30 January 2020
from 11: 00-19: 00
free admission
Culture Promotion Center in the Praga-Południe District of the Capital City Warszawy invites you to the exhibition "Magical Dreams V".
The exhibition will be on until January 30, 2020.
Exhibition under the patronage of Tomasz Kucharski, Mayor of the Praga-Południe District of the Capital City of Warsaw.

Video from the opening of the exhibition 
"Magical Dreams V" in Warsaw

Here are the installation shots, just prior to the opening
photos are courtesy of Katarzyna Bator, Gallery Bator:


PREVIOUSLY POSTED ABOUT MAGICAL DREAMS V:




prior to this, on Flickr, the opening of the show
at the Bator Gallery September 7th 2019


Opening of the Magical Dreams V exhibition
at Gallery Bator in Szczyrk, Poland
and some photos from the next day.

Otto Rapp talks about his experience 
from his first stay in Poland... 
and our gallery. 

I remember being interviewed by Karolina Hajok at the opening of Magical Dreams V at the Bator Gallery in Szczyrk, Poland on September 7th 2019 but only found this clip now. Great memories, it was a super show!
I had previously blogged about my painting Yggdrasil:





 First exhibited at