*banned 4 MarkDown love* @design_RG@qoto.org

"The shock to the global economy from Covid-19 has been faster and more severe than the 2008 global financial crisisand even the Great Depression. In those two previous episodes, stock markets collapsed by 50% or more, credit markets froze up, massive bankruptcies followed, unemployment rates soared above 10% and GDP contracted at an annualised rate of 10% or more. But all of this took around three years to play out. In the current crisis, similarly dire macroeconomic and financial outcomes have materialised in three weeks."

Economic scenario outline by professor Noriel Roubini, who acurately forecasted the 2008 financial crisis (a year before it happened) is pretty bleak. I like reading his pieces, beware that this one is a bit bleak.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/25/coronavirus-pandemic-has-delivered-the-fastest-deepest-economic-shock-in-history

Might as well add a nice photo of Sao Pedro de Moel, which is a nice place to visit, and specially wonderful for touring cyclists. 😃

Video even? https://youtu.be/RFDEBHjmFyk

Found the correct location of the beach on the photo, it's not as I thought Sao Pedro de Moel, but the Praia do Carvoeiro, near Peniche, North of Lisbon in the portuguese coast.

"CARVOEIRO

Cabo Carvoeiro is located on the far western corner of the peninsular of Peniche, in a zone of great beauty due to the curious geological formations that have been sculpted by the sea over time, such as the Nau dos Corvos, a large boulder which resembles a giant, half-shipwrecked vessel.

This site offers spectacular views over the sea and the Berlenga islands, and is also an excellent spot for observing sea birds."

from : http://www.living-algarve.com/places-interest-algarve/

"Bacalhau a Lagareiro" is my favourite way of preparing Salted and dried Cod. This photo shows a nicely made portion on a plate.

A great recipe and nice photos is on Nelson Carvalheiro's website : https://nelsoncarvalheiro.com/bacalhau-recipe/

More recipes, videos, photos? https://www.bing.com/search?q=Bacalhau++a+lagareiro

Some beauty to cheer us all up.

I found this beautiful photo this morning, as a background image on a website. I think I have visited this location, and if I am right it would be Praia de Sao Pedro de Moel, in the center region of Portugal.

I stayed overnight in the nice campground, so a magnificent sunset into the Atlantic from the cliff top. Back in 2017, bicycle touring Portugal.

Some great photos of beaches in the Leiria region of Portugal in this page : https://countrytodiscover.wordpress.com/2018/04/02/beaches-in-leiria/

@zleap @schestowitz A good explanation on this site, I think: https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-respirator-and-vs-ventilator/

@Sphinx We had a good social group going here in December, January, but some have drifted away for various reasons. Now it's less connected, there are some different user groups posting, some active in conversations with people in other mastodon servers, colleagues from Twitter now migrated here.

But it's nice to see our friends posting, and it makes one feel like posting more once again. 😉

From The Guardian - these REpublicans are unblievable.

Another "Very Stable Genius" kind of guy.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/24/older-people-would-rather-die-than-let-covid-19-lockdown-harm-us-economy-texas-official-dan-patrick

@Sphinx Hi, I am ok, reading a lot and trying to keep up with the ongoings of the pandemic and the economic downturn that possibly could be quite large.

But personally I am well, trying to stay home as much as possible, live in a smaller city, so that helps too. Hope all is well with you, Sphinx!

Here's the pdf file with the patterns for the mask -- three sizes, small, medium, large.

They are available on her website but need some digging around to find. Hope this helps. 😄

PDF file at OneDrive : https://1drv.ms/b/s!AkeSSy1Q30XMhoEXdvndbnQ8m6CHyg?e=EJr2he

A public service announcement -- a friend sent me an email with the info on this blog page. Pattern and instructions for home making your own masks, it looks likely that this will be a major issue very soon.

NY Times article I read mentioned that doctors in a Brooklyn, NY hospital were already being forced to re-use their disposable masks, due to lack of replacements.

Another NYT article quoted state procurement personnel saying that masks that usually sold for $0.85 each (85 cents USD) are not costing them about 7 dollars EACH. Profiteering is rearing its ugly head.

Consider making your own.

https://jennifermaker.com/face-mask-patterns-cricut/

@lordalveric I was keeping about 70 to 80 open tabs in a recent active online phase. I installed an extension to keep track and back up the sessions automatically, since I didn't want to lose so many interesting pages.

Had been quieter, but the number of open tabs has been creeping up lately again.

@Full_marx
Hey!! 😃

Good to see you posting here again, Karl. I hope you enjoy your stay!

@realcaseyrollins

@realcaseyrollins It is a continuation and escallation of the now 60 year old Embargo against Cuba.

I found a quote from the article very relevant :

"When the US embargo on Cuba was introduced in the 1960s the goal, according to the US Department of State, was to “bring about hunger, desperation, and overthrow of the government”. "

😞

There's a link to another article with more details about the oil transportation sanctions : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/13/cuba-oil-sanctions-shortages

Due to American sanctions brought in by the Trump government against any oil tanker companies shipping crude oil (usually from Venezuela, to Cuba), Cuba has been operating with only about 30% of their usual crude oil supply.

There's no fuel for tractors, and people in the country side are back to plowing with oxen. Some don't even have that, and food production has been curtailed in the whole island.

This is the inhumanity of this cruel man at the helm, affecting a whole nation. A good article at the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/cuba-food-production-us-oil-sanctions

The Tourism sector which is the island's lifeline, is also hurting.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/21/havana-cubans-count-cost-as-tourists-stay-away-trump-sanctions

A very poignant article at Reuters I just read this morning.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-ethics-speci/special-report-all-is-well-in-italy-triage-and-lies-for-virus-patients-idUSKBN2133KG

@cats Gorgeous. thanks for all the nice pictures!

This has some background explanations that help understand the Fed's panicky emergency meeting and slashing of interest rates.

They are worried about a crisis of liquidity in the financial markets, similar to the one that started in 2008 and forced huge measures by central banks to avoid a seize up.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-markets-crisis-ana/the-plumbing-behind-worlds-financial-markets-is-creaking-loudly-idUSKBN2120NJ