Daily corona round-up

Cobra Kai Edition

I’m just going to take a moment here to geek out on “Cobra Kai,” a Netflix show I actually finished last week, but which I cannot seem to get out of my mind.

They’re all karate kids! Don’t you get it?!

It’s a piece of content made specifically for my generation — the one that got HBO some time around 1983, when The Karate Kid basically played on a loop, along with Beastmaster and “Fraggle Rock.” Not only have I seen this movie — I have internalized it.

So when the show makes nods to the old movie — movies, actually, because there were five of them, including the 2010 remake, and kids’ TV cartoon in 1989 — I just about lose it with delight: Macchio going through the katas; the mini-golf course; the 18 and Under All-Valley Karate Championship. It’s too damn much.

I understand if no one else cares. I’m Generation X — we are used to the world ignoring or belittling the things that are important to us.

Some news

  • Police are arresting protesters in Louisville, where a grand jury handed down a lone indictment in the Breonna Taylor shooting: a single charge of “wanton endangerment,” which applies to bystanders hurt during police actions. It is a felony charge, and the officer upon whom it is levied did not actually shoot Taylor — his bullets went through the apartment wall and endangered the neighbors and their baby.
  • The state DHHS has released a new contact-tracing app, available at the iTunes Store and Google Play store. It monitors your travels and will alert you if you have come into contact with someone who has tested positive.
  • NC State wants to reopen residence halls and classrooms int he spring — the school has been holding online classes for most of this semester.

The numbers

  • In North Carolina, 952 new cases. I’ll take it! 196,501 total. Let’s see if we can put off 200K until next week, folks.
    • We have 3,321 deaths — just six new ones.
    • Positive test rate drops to 5.3 percent.
  • Forsyth County has 36 new cases (6,886), one new death (96) and 6,315 recoveries (91.71 percent).
  • Guilford County has 80 new cases (8,339), three new deaths (171) and 4,896 recoveries (58.71 percent).
    • Our counties are almost identical in population, demographic make-up and other vital statistics. Why such different outcomes when it comes to COVID-19?

A diversion

You know I wouldn’t have teased “The Karate Kid” TV show from 1989 if I couldn’t deliver. Here’s Episode 3, “Homecoming,” in which Daniel-san’s search for the Shrine brings him back to New Jersey… to do some karate, presumably.

Program notes

  • For tonight’s featured image, we’ve got “On to Liberty,” by Theodor Kaufmann, a former Union soldier, who re-created a scene where retreating Confederate soldiers took the enslaved men and left the women and children behind. From 1867. Taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s public-domain collection. And hey: The Met is now open on Fifth Avenue in NYC, if you’re in town.
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