4/3/2020

My dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

            Don’t you love it when math makes the front page of the news! I wish more folks in the USA could understand it, but we’re working on that. At least we will be when the schools open back up. School district administrators around here are still trying to negotiate with the teachers’ unions to get some clarity about what teachers are supposed to be doing. So, for the time being, very few kids in my region are doing any math.

Anyway, today’s NYT had some fascinating graphs with different ways of comparing the progress of the virus in various locations. It’s reassuring to see that Sacramento and San Francisco have very slow transmission rates thanks to our governor’s fast actions.

The WP has an article about the mystery around the CV models that Dr. Birx was talking about the other day. Do you understand where the prediction of between 100 and 200 thousand CV deaths came from? Can you clarify the time frame for those deaths? The Common Core Math Standards emphasize that “attention to precision” is one of our central math practices, & apparently, your team violated that one. You all will need to specify your assumptions so you can develop a strong long-term strategy. You are working on that, right?

I understand that you are convening a “round table” with energy sector CEOs today. I assume that’ll be a Zoom meeting. Will Duke Energy’s Lynn Good (LJG) be there? She can tell the other electricity providers about Duke’s efforts to accommodate the financial difficulties of their customers and employees. The folks in FL are going to need all the help they can get, so please thank LJG for what Duke Energy FL is doing to lend a hand.

HYITL,

RCA

PS –Please send a shout out to my mom & everyone else who are busy sewing masks on their home machines. Speaking of masks, it sounds 3M is doing the best they can. Let’s not create unnecessary animosity by bad mouthing them.