Florida's reopening is officially a disaster

Just a few short weeks after bars and restaurants in Florida were allowed to reopen for business, new cases of coronavirus have utterly shattered all previous records.

Undaunted, the governor has refused to back down, causing many observers to audibly wonder: "What the hell?"

Here in Jacksonville, coronavirus hotspots have been identified at just about every single bar or restaurant that opened back up at the beaches. Lynch’s Irish Pub, The Wreck Tiki Lounge, and The Tavern have all temporarily shuttered for deep cleaning since after reopening. Why? Because customers and employees are getting sick from the highly contagious and deadly virus that everyone has been trying to warn us about for almost half a year now.

The mayor of Jacksonville is also doubling down his bet on Trump's RNC convention speech. Up to 15,000 individuals will be packs in to the Veteran's Memorial Arena in late August, and they're likely to refuse to wear any kind of masks or take any kinds of precautions against the illness. Despite overwhelming public opinion against this event, it continues to move ahead at full speed. In fact, the best hope we have in Jacksonville right now is that the speech will be as much of a bust as the recent Tulsa rally.

Long term consequences coming in to focus

When this outbreak started, there was good reason to be concerned for a short term disruption in business and economic activity.

As the outbreak drags on and spreads without resistance throughout the United States, we should probably start to worry about larger and more long term economic damage.

The world can no longer look toward the United States for leadership in a crisis. We no longer demonstrate characteristics that people want to emulate, and we no longer look like a safe destination for skilled immigrants or investment funds.

Instead of leading the world toward a new era of cooperation, we find ourselves increasingly isolated - cut off from travel to more and more destinations across the globe. Europe doesn't want visitors from the U.S., and China doesn't want to import our chickens or other agricultural products.

Simply put, the world sees any physical interaction with an American as a growing and needless risk.

Can you blame them?

COVID cases rise as Florida attempts reopening

June 6th, marked the 4th consecutive day of 1,000 or more positive coronavirus diagnoses in Florida. That's about two weeks from Memorial Day, and that's the turnaround time we should expect from the time of infection to the positive diagnosis.

One June 16th, we hit a new record: 2783 cases confirmed in a single day.

While we did manage to "bend the curve" we never did stamp the virus out. All of the efforts we put in from March to June merely stabilized the rate of spread. Without those actions, the number of new cases per day would continue to grow until approximately 60 to 70% of the population has been infected.

So why are we declaring victory? The risk today is just as real as it was in March when we tried to bend that curve flatter.

Frankly, the economy (and maybe the fragile American psyche) just can't handle that much effort for someone else's benefit. This impatience and self-centered attitude has been multiplied by incompetent leadership that has not been able to leverage our efforts at a higher level with things like:

• Case tracing
• Quarantine
• Masks
• Avoiding indoor spaces

So don't get too excited about the economy and world going back to normal. We still have work to do before we can declare victory - and the people in charge show no interest in getting started, so we're going to be here for a while.

Trump's Jacksonville speech - economic opportunity or disaster?

Do you own a hotel? A bar? No? Then let's cut to the chase: it's going to be a disaster.

Mayor Curry and the Republican party are hailing Trump's late August visit as a great economic opportunity, but it's more like a worst case scenario for most Jacksonville residents.

Not only does Donald Trump have a long and verified record of not paying his bills for rallies like this one, Mayor Curry didn't even bother to get any sort of agreement in writing. To avoid mandatory reporting of public records under the state's Sunshine Laws, all discussions and deals were made in person or over the phone. This will only make it easier for Trump to avoid paying for any costs associated with his Jacksonville event.

Beyond that, coronavirus rates are already rising rapidly - not just in Jacksonville, but nationwide. One of Trump's biggest demands for this rally was that he be able to fill up an indoor arena without any of the "pesky" markers of pandemic, like masks.

So what happens when you take people from around the country and put them in one arena with no social distancing or personal protective equipment? The virus spreads. Not only will it spread throughout the event, it will also spread to the hotels and restaurants that visitors are coming to eat at. Two weeks after the rally, Jacksonville is likely to look like ground zero for new infections.

The final piece of this disaster that Curry seems to be ignoring is the inevitable protest. The city is already on edge from the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, and yet Trump is going ahead with a major event on the anniversary of an infamous white riot. That's right: Trump's visit coincides with Ax Handle Saturday - a dark day in Jacksonville history marked by Klansmen violently rioting downtown.

What's the upside? Well, a handful of hotels might have one good night of business. There may even be a bar or restaurant that's still open to enjoy two nights of good sales.

Their staffs will be directly exposed to the risk of illness, and the resulting fear of the virus will probably do more damage to their earnings in the long run than the short term boost provides.

Why video matters

Police brutality is not a new problem, but many Americans - especially white ones - are experiencing it for the first time this week.

Many police departments and local news outlets are still trying to deny such a thing exists, but public opinion is rapidly shifting.

Why? Because video can capture a perspective that people might not otherwise see.

This lawyer from North Carolina has been compiling evidence of police misconduct on Twitter, and it gives us some insight as to how changing media environments can also change the societies they operate in.

For the first time in human history, almost every person has a camera and video recorder in their pocket. In a matter of moments, these videos and pictures can be transferred wirelessly to web servers and distributed to viewers across the globe.

By the time officers and PR managers have cooked up a story, the truth has already been documented for the public to see.

So keep those cameras rolling, you never know when video content might just change the world.