COVID: "States and cities need to watch the data and design circuit breakers that prompt new restrictions if infections start snowballing."

Yes, the key word is "if."

Last week was the first in Indiana for reopened restaurants. We'll all be looking at the trends after the coming week. After that, we'll see.

Following is the newsletter synopsis, so click the link to read the complete article.

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For reopening states, circuit breakers are needed, by Max Nisen (Bloomberg)

As even hard-hit states begin to reopen, the last thing anyone wants to hear about is the possibility of closing back down. Unfortunately, it’s something governors need to consider.

As rules are relaxed, more new infections are inevitable. Given Covid-19’s ability to spread undetected and America's limited ability to test, isolate and trace contacts of infected individuals, there will be opportunities for those infections to multiply into fresh outbreaks. The risk of deadly surges will grow as people grow more comfortable, and activity expands.

States and cities need to watch the data and design circuit breakers that prompt new restrictions if infections start snowballing.

Other countries have set a precedent. China has imposed new lockdowns and dramatic testing efforts in several regions in response to relatively few untraced cases. Singapore managed to control an early outbreak with intensive testing and tracing efforts. Still, it tripped a circuit breaker and imposed significant new restrictions in April after a rash migrant worker infections. It recently extended many of those measures into June.

Germany, as it reopens, is watching to see whether any region exceeds 50 new infections per 100,000 residents over seven days; if so, limits on movement and behavior will be reinstated there.

America is in a more precarious state without a consistent plan. Several states reopened quite broadly without meeting the Trump administration’s guidelines like a 14-day downward trajectory in new cases or positive test rates. Contact tracing programs are forming amid widespread community transmission that’s well above Germany’s line for further restrictions.

America’s high rate of infections only amplifies its need to draw lines. States and cities need circuit breakers in place well before autumn, when a possible surge in Covid-19 could combine with an emerging flu season to produce especially dangerous new outbreaks.

An outbreak large enough to threaten hospital capacity is the worst-case scenario, but states shouldn’t wait until then to act. Rapidly escalating spread should also trigger targeted restrictions, giving hospitals and contact tracers a chance to catch up. As New York City and other profoundly affected areas have demonstrated, hospitals take longer to empty than they do to fill, and a great deal of suffering occurs long before all the beds are full.

Any renewed restrictions are likely to be both disruptive and divisive. But early, targeted, and data-driven closures are likely to be far more popular than the broader shutdowns that may be required if severe new outbreaks aren't successfully interrupted.

BOOKS OF MY LIFE: Elizabeth David's "An Omelette and a Glass of Wine."

My belated column this week was devoted to explaining why I dislike the term "foodie."

ON THE AVENUES: Food is my friend, but please, I'm no foodie.

In the increasingly remote days of my youth, certain of the elderly wits around town used to say “I don’t eat to live – I live to eat,” and while this statement encapsulates my own point of view, chronologically as well as measured by a current poundage in the neighborhood of 265, the word “foodie” has never seemed proper as a descriptor.

The column was late because there's a lot on my plate, pun intended.

In my capacity as Digital Editor at Food & Dining Magazine, I've inaugurated posts on Sunday morning, something we hadn't been doing previously.

Overall, with prospects for a Summer 2020 print edition fairly chancy owing to the COVID food and drink disruptions, we've shifted emphasis to the web site. It's ambitious, at least for us, and the jury's out. But I'm having fun.

Consequently, today's post over there is an example of writing I once would have done right here.

Edibles & Potables: Elizabeth David and the noble art of food writing

An Omelette and a Glass of Wine is a collection of articles and ephemera by the British food writer Elizabeth David (1913 – 1992). To tell the absolute truth, I hadn’t the first idea who she was. Now, after reading the book, I’m horribly chagrined at my ignorance and correspondingly eager to delve into her other works, like Italian Food and French Provincial Cooking.

If you have a few minutes, hop over to F&D, read the piece and tell me what you think.

ON THE AVENUES: Food is my friend, but please, I'm no foodie.

What is a “foodie,” anyway, other than a concept I’ve never thought applied to me in the slightest?

According to Merriam-Webster, a foodie is “a person having an avid interest in the latest food fads.”

Cambridge Dictionary describes a foodie as “a person who loves food and is very interested in different types of food.”

And, at Wikipedia, it’s “a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food and who eats food not only out of hunger but due to their interest or hobby.”

These definitions surely cover the waterfront, which by no great coincidence tends to be the place closest to the boats, and consequently where the freshest fish are to be found. Of course, as the late Anthony Bourdain taught us so many years ago, there are enduringly solid reasons for avoiding theoretically fresh seafood in restaurants in Keokuk on Monday.

Why? Read his book Kitchen Confidential and find out, but just because I remember this passage after two decades, it doesn’t necessarily make me a “foodie.”

In the increasingly remote days of my youth, certain of the elderly wits around town used to say “I don’t eat to live – I live to eat,” and while this statement encapsulates my own point of view, chronologically as well as measured by a current poundage in the neighborhood of 265, the word “foodie” has never seemed proper as a descriptor.

Where did this whole foodie business start, anyway? I turn to The Guardian for answers.

People with an overweening interest in food have been calling themselves "foodies" since a Harper's & Queen article entitled "Cuisine Poseur" in 1982, one of whose editors then co-wrote the semi-satirical The Official Foodie Handbook of 1984. The OED's very first citation of "foodie" is from 1980, an oozing New York magazine celebration of the mistress of a Parisian restaurant and her "devotees, serious foodies".

"Foodie" has now pretty much everywhere replaced "gourmet", perhaps because the latter more strongly evokes privilege and a snobbish claim to uncommon sensory discrimination – even though those qualities are rampant among the "foodies" themselves. The word "foodie", it is true, lays claim to a kind of cloying, infantile cuteness which is in a way appropriate to its subject; but one should not allow them the rhetorical claim of harmless innocence implied. The Official Foodie Handbook spoke of the "foodism" worldview; I propose to call its adherents foodists.

The term "foodist" is actually much older, used from the late 19th century for hucksters selling fad diets (which is quite apt); and as late as 1987 one New York Times writer proposed it semi-seriously as a positive description, to replace the unlovely "gastronaut": "In the tradition of nudist, philanthropist and Buddhist, may I suggest 'foodist', one who is enthusiastic about good eating?" The writer's joking offer of "nudist" as an analogy is telling. I like "foodist" precisely for its taint of an -ism. Like a racist or a sexist, a foodist operates under the prejudices of a governing ideology, viewing the whole world through the grease-smeared lenses of a militant eater.

Foodie, foodist; gourmets, gourmands and gastronauts. Epicures. It all reeks of self-satire. Can’t we just be eaters? After all, when it comes to drinking beer, the simplest and least annoying term of reference remains “beer drinker.”

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Granted, some people insist on calling me a beer “expert,” but I’m painfully aware of how much I don’t know about the topic in spite of reveling in it for the past 40 years.

The term “beer geek” is too pimply adolescent for me (that “cloying, infantile cuteness” again), and “beer snob” frankly sounds like a pejorative. “Connoisseur” and “aficionado” both strike me as pretentious.

Before the television series Seinfeld became a stale and anachronistic cobwebbed cultural artifact, there were utter morons who preferred the term “beer Nazi.” I’m down with gazpacho, but the comedian’s “soup Nazi” humor didn’t improve a gutter word, one already objectionable by its own considerable historical demerits.

But yes, when I’m not drinking lots of beer, I’m probably eating all sorts of food. True, I’ve been in the food service business for the better part of 30 years. Indisputably, I’m currently being paid to write about food.

So, what the hell am I, apart from consistently hungry?

My personal preference remains “trencherman,” or one possessing a hearty appetite and a disdain for portion control. My pal Graham tagged me a “trencherman” when we road-tripped to the Pacific Coast in 2006 and I kept finishing his leftovers after polishing off my own platters.

Trencherman? I resemble that remark.

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Happily, and quite apart from restaurant meals, cooking appeals to me. I listened just enough to the lessons of my high school home economics teacher (her name was “mom” and she taught at home, too) to feel comfortable enough in the kitchen.

There’s nothing intuitive about it. I follow recipes, measure everything and seldom improvise, although since the advent of COVID-19, having prepared more home-cooked meals during the past two months than ever before, I’m getting better using the ingredients I have available, and making substitutions when necessary.

Victory gardening doesn’t interest me much, although I’ve planted tomatoes out in the yard the past few years. It isn’t clear whether any of them will get in the ground in 2020, because I don’t feel much like going out and battling the unmasked covidiocracy at the nursery in order to buy tomato plants.

Trencherman and amateur cook? Sure, just leave “foodie” out of it.

Perhaps my biggest beef with the word “foodie” is that it always sounds faddish to me, and as a contrarian, chasing trends is a form of exercise that always alarms and perturbs.

Granted, self-identification as a “foodie” can be good-natured and self-deprecatory, but just as often, out there in Narcissism Land, it devolves into a secret club with self-contained language, passwords, knowing winks and nods, and various efforts to impress.

Allow me to shrug. I’ve never watched the Food Network, and shows like Top Chef, Chopped, Bizarre Foods or anything with some guy called Fieri aren’t going to be streaming from my device any time soon.

Food interests me; very much, in fact.

Sensationalizing and trivializing it, not so much. As with beer and pubs, all of my interests collide during a meal: history, sociology, geography and the culture of it.

Whatever latent interests about food and cooking were lurking inside me during  the early 1980s became overt following my first trip to Europe. Once I’d traveled overseas, there was a problem; I’d become enamored of menu items from the various cuisines, and Louisville had far fewer ethnic eateries then as now. The only solution was to learn how to replicate them as best I could with my own kitchen as base.

Hence one of the most influential books of my life, Betty Crocker’s International Cookbook (1980 edition). My friend Bob discovered it. I had found a few Greek and Russian recipes at the library prior to the trip in 1985, learning that venison was a fine stand-in for lamb in moussaka, and borscht wasn’t necessarily thin or cold; make it Ukrainian and it could feed legions.

It was a start.

The photocopied recipes accumulated: Segedínský guláš (pork and sauerkraut goulash), pasta puttanesca, herring salad, paella, steak and kidney pie, gołąbki (stuffed cabbage rolls), colcannon, cassoulet, risotto – and the list goes on and on. Each trip yielded a new eating experience, to be attempted once I was back home.

In Europe, these foods generally had been consumed in small family restaurants (and the occasional huge beer hall), and accompanied by local beer, wine and slivovitz. Those beverages weren’t common back then, but they or their stylistic equivalents could be found with a little effort. I never mastered any of it, just improved sufficiently to mark time, keeping alive the dream of the next journey.

And here’s the rub: The majority of European meals and libations were nothing fancy. They were cooked by ordinary people, for ordinary people, and derived from regional ingredients. To my mind, these recipes were synonymous with national and ethnic heritages, nourishing me and also mirroring all the things I was trying to learn by traveling in Europe to begin with. They were inexorably tied together, bound into an immersive experience.

(There are few extant photos of food from my early European trips. Believe it or not, there was a time when folks were regarded as absolutely crazy for photographing their meals in public. The peer pressure got to me, although I wish it hadn’t. I regret this.)

Just tonight, that dog-eared international cookbook once again came off the shelf. On hand were a half-bag of noodles, onions, eggs, and some ham in the fridge that was about to go south. I remembered an Austrian recipe for ham and noodle casserole (Schinkennudeln) – with sour cream, butter, caraway seeds, black pepper and a pinch of smoked paprika.

We had a bag of frozen peas and a bottle of Italian white table wine. All that was missing was a nice crusty loaf, but you can’t always have everything.

I’m no foodie. It was a wonderful meal.

To be honest, I’d have preferred being in Salzburg. Sadly, there'll be many more such meals prepared at home before Europe comes around again. All I can do is keep eating.

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Recent columns:

May 7: ON THE AVENUES: COVID tolls for thee -- whatever, so hurry and get your ass back into this seat.

April 30: ON THE AVENUES: A week that was wooden like Pinocchio and dry as an unused water park or an unfilled glass.

April 23: ON THE AVENUES: Hemingway in a time of mercifully silent thunder.

April 16: ON THE AVENUES: Bunker mentalities, bunker abnormalities; bunker dreams, bunker screams.

Boris Johnson is standing by as COVID exploits the cracks in the increasingly Disunited Kingdom.

COVID exaggerates and exacerbates pre-existing conditions. The angry white males are angrier, and the cautious more hesitant. There is an inevitable bullying effect to all this. As noted on a deleted Facebook thread earlier this week, the sentence "capitalism is narcissistic" is an example of unnecessary redundancy.

Conservatism? Yeah, that too.

Boris Johnson looks increasingly like the prime minister of England alone, by Martin Kettle (The Guardian)

There have been cracks in the United Kingdom for many years. Coronavirus has prised them wide open

As Boris Johnson finished his televised address on Sunday evening, many viewers were confused by what he had just said. One thing about his message, though, had been strikingly clear. To the surprise of many of those watching, and perhaps even to Johnson himself, it turned out that the coronavirus outbreak has changed the prime minister of the United Kingdom into the prime minister of England.

Over the past two months we have all become familiar with the fact that Covid-19 wreaks its most powerful effects on those individuals who are said to suffer from “serious underlying conditions”. What is only just becoming clear is that the virus can have a similarly destructive effect on nation states and societies which suffer from their own serious underlying conditions too.

snip

When health policy was devolved in 1999, few anticipated an effect like the one that became clear this week, as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all decided to maintain the lockdown strategy that Johnson started to loosen in England. As long as differences in health policy were confined – as they have been for the past 20 or so years – to approaches to issues such as spending, prescription charges and social care, the differences between the nations, although significant, remained politically manageable at the UK level.

But when, as this week, it became effectively illegal for English people to cross the Scottish or Welsh borders to do what they are now permitted – wrongly, in my view – to do in England a significant political line has been crossed. It would be interesting to see if historians can identify the last time that English people were barred from Scotland or Wales. But we must be talking centuries. In such circumstances, it is harder than ever to know what “one nation” Conservatism now means. Which nation? And what United Kingdom?

snip

As the lifting of the lockdown loomed, the pandemic’s effect has become increasingly centrifugal. Johnson’s wish, partly under pressure from the Tory party’s right wing, to encourage renewed economic activity in spite of the continuing pandemic, has encouraged the devolved nations to move more cautiously and to differentiate themselves more sharply from Johnson and from England. But it is not all Johnson’s fault ...

Kremlinology, gremlinology: It's the GREEN MOUSE with NAWBANY WEEK IN REVIEW for 15 May.

With a nod from infectious disease experts, who say it’s more difficult to contract COVID-19 in outdoor spaces (with proper social distancing) than inside, the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania concluded that his city should become one “big open air café,” and early results are promising.

Even Greg Fischer is paying attention as he flees responsibility for the latest instance of LMPD misbehavior.

Many of us can see the merit in similar notions, molded to the peculiarities of New Gahania, where we don't have an open container law and the Indiana ATC is showing unprecedented signs of tolerance about altering floor plans to include outdoor seating.

A friend observed: "Why not close downtown streets to vehicular traffic every evening Tuesday through Friday and all day Saturday to allow for outdoor dining and farmers market activity, which would also support retail?"

The devil consistently resides in the details, but there would be definite possibilities of this sort ... alas, if not for the stupefyingly predictable automobile-centrism of Jeff Gahan's motorheaded City Hall.

As when Dear Leader nods dully, eyes vacantly staring into space, while the state of Indiana doubles down on the Sherman Minton Bridge repair work, then wobbles off to supervise the painting of gigantic automobile murals on the parking garage.

It simply has to be a variety of sexual fetish, this need to chop down trees and breathe exhaust fumes.

But maybe Mayor Gahan is in need of an intervention. He seemed even more morose in this week's ceremonial ProMedia video. Is he okay?

Depression is a very real consequence of crises like ours, and with Indiana's GOP leadership okaying an aggressive economic reopening program, Gahan is even more isolated than before, unable to get past creatively remixed gurgling sounds in response. He might have applied his own timetable, although this would require having one.

Earlier this week City Hall pulled the plug on its reimbursement-for-restaurant-employee meal plan. It probably helped a little bit, but Holcomb's timetable removed the need for Gahan to cling to his self-congratulatory $30k symbolism.

Expect the nickel-and-dime chicanery to continue as the pandemic's implications for the city's budget grow ever more obvious, not to mention incapable of being explained away via by-the-numbers propaganda videos.

Hilariously, the Democratic majority on New Albany's city council has decided to suppress transparency even further with a proposal to limit council meetings to a single monthly session (thanks Diane for the visuals).

And just look who is introducing this measure to reduce the council's work load at precisely the same rate of pay as before.

Allow me to repeat: for so long as Gahan's jury-rigged budget was copacetic, those were HIS numbers, but when the feces hits the fan, these five DemoDisneyDixiecratic city council members will learn that it's THEIR budget, and they'll be sacrificed faster than Donald Trump can wolf down a Whopper.

One meeting a month?

Yawn. Can you let me know when our bootlicking council Gahanites decide to give back half their pay packets?

Speaking of selfless altruism (or mental masturbation; I have SO much trouble telling them apart), Squire Adam earnestly endorsed the school corporation's safety referendum on behalf of DemoDisneyDixecrats in a stirring, purely politicized letter to the local chain newspaper.

The Floyd County Democratic Party announced last month it was endorsing the New Albany Floyd County Consolidated School Corporation’s (NAFC Schools) Safety Referendum. The endorsement was made official by a unanimous vote of the party’s 120 member Central Committee.

You know, unanimity, like when the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party re-elected Chairman Mao yet again without a single dissenting vote. As a friend put it after reading this letter, "our Adam isn't exactly Abe Lincoln at the word processor, is he?"

Adam's words got to me, right here ... in my big toe, the one where the gout lives.

The word "Kremlinology" (archaic usage) refers to "the study of the policies and practices of the former Soviet government," so called because these actions took place largely within the walls of the Kremlin in Moscow, where transparency was about as common as telling obscene jokes about Stalin's parentage -- to his face.

Experts in Kreminology looked forward to the USSR's annual May Day parades, where the assembled VIPs standing atop Lenin's Mausoleum to watch the missiles roll through Red Square gave clues as to who was in, and who wasn't. Whichever colorless, originality-free Politburo member was standing next to Brezhnev yielded bountiful clues about the succession, as opposed to a greater degree of anti-social distancing, with Siberia being an ultimate destination where a disgraced appointee could put 60 miles between himself and another prisoner. 

Ergo the first salvo in the the mayoral race for 2023 has been glimpsed, and it's ... Jason Applegate, who is the focus of this local chain newspaper article provides clear evidence that he's ahead of those other functionaries wearing furry caps and leaning unsteadily against the moldering walls of Bob Caesar's backyard garage.

And what of a fourth term for His Highness?

Won't happen, suggests the Green Mouse. A cushy job with HWC Engineering awaits, and besides, two pensions are better than one. The minions can clean up the mess, right?

Even better, just blame it on county government -- right, Slick?

"The tradition of open-air, secondhand and antiquarian bookselling in Paris."

Personal collection, 1985.

Paris is synonymous with books. One might say "the arts" in general, though as a reader and admirer of the post-WWI generation of American expats in the French capital, it's always about words first for me.

The efforts of current mayor Anne Hidalgo to reduce the number of cars in the Paris city center can only enhance traditions like these outdoor book stalls.

The Bouquinistes of Paris (Atlas Obscura)

The tradition of open-air, secondhand and antiquarian bookselling in Paris dates back to the Renaissance.

 ... In 1762, the word bouquiniste first appeared in an edition of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, then simply meaning “bookseller.” It was later used to exclusively denote the antiquarian booksellers of Paris. During the French Revolution, editorial production dropped dramatically except for newspapers and brochures. Bouquinistes were warmly embraced during the revolution by aristocrats and the clergy, who yearned to read and acquire antique books for their collections. Under the reign of Napoleon I, the docks were embellished, and the Bouquinistes’s area of operation spread from the Quai Voltaire to the Pont Saint-Michel along the banks of the Seine.

And, for good measure, a famous Parisian bookstore of the more conventional bricks 'n' mortar variety.

Dear Peter: "10 Tasks for Cities Responding to the Pandemic."

The mayor's most recent video reminded me of that Downfall flick.

Meanwhile, Chuck has more good advice that doesn't stand a chance in New Gahania.

10 Tasks for Cities Responding to the Pandemic, by Charles Marohn (Strong Towns)

... Last week we published Nine Things Local Government Needs to Do Right Now in Response to the Pandemic, a guide for the first sixty days. Following that initial phase, local leaders must continue the mental shift they started by recognizing that:

1. Recovery will not mean restoration. 
2. You must work towards community self-sufficiency, fully knowing you won’t get all the way there. 
3. There is a tradeoff between growth and stability. 

Can you imagine anyone -- ANYONE -- amid the Team Gahan cadres capable of thinking along these lines?

Preparing for Recovery

With the community stabilized, it’s now time to shift to preparing for a recovery. Here is a list of ten things to work on once you're ready:

1. Waive Home Occupation Restrictions. 
2. Legalize Neighborhood Essential Services.
3. Kickstart Entrepreneurs. 
4. Legalize Housing Adaptations. 
5. Make Quick and Lean Investments in Walking and Biking. 
6. End Parking Requirements. 
7. Start Growing Food. 
8. Thicken Civic Infrastructure. 
9. Begin Reorienting Bureaucracies. 
10. Change How You Measure Success.

Here's the portion we're most in danger of botching, because Gahan's first instinct will be to ask HWC to "study" how we might use this assistance, thus revving up the same old pay-to-play bull feces.

State and Federal “Assistance”

It is likely that local governments will be offered some form of recovery assistance from the state and/or federal governments. In advance of these funds being offered, be proactive in having a discussion about how to respond ...

 ... Infrastructure spending is popular for state and federal officials because it creates immediate jobs and the potential for long-term growth. For local governments, new infrastructure has some of those same benefits, but also the additional long-term liability of now having to service and maintain that infrastructure. Over time, these hasty transactions rarely work out well for local communities, most of which are already burdened by years of deferred maintenance.

If you are asked or have a chance to influence deliberations, tell your state and federal officials that cities would benefit more from cash assistance than aid channeled through a narrow infrastructure funnel. Local government officials are more influential than they may think, so know that your recommendation could be impactful.

If the only form of assistance provided to local government ends up being an infrastructure appropriation, take steps to focus those funds. You want to select projects with the most upside benefit and the least additional long-term commitment. When considering projects:

• Prioritize maintenance over new capacity. 
• Prioritize below-ground infrastructure over above-ground. 
• Prioritize neighborhoods that are more than 75 years old. 

When making infrastructure investments, the more you can let a neighborhood assessment of urgent needs guide your priorities, the more effective your efforts will be. Ground yourself in your people and places. The less time you spend chasing the shiny object or projecting theoretical new growth opportunities, the more likely your investments will help the community prosper.

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: What is a "bar" and what is not; who can open now, and who must wait?

The Frozen Weenie Chronicles of 2014.

Last week my friend Jeff at Riverside Cigars/Match Cigar Bar in Jeffersonville posted a conundrum at this Facebook page.

So, Governor Holcolm says:

Restaurants and bars that serve food may open (on May 11) at 50% capacity with operational limitations. Bar seating will be closed with no live entertainment. Servers and kitchen staff must wear face coverings

But ATC (Alcohol & Tobacco Commission) says:

A business that merely meets the minimum food requirements outlined in 905 IAC 1-20-1 of having hot soups, hot sandwiches, coffee, soft drinks, and milk available does not qualify to open for on-premises sales during stage 2.

So, I have a question. Since when does "meeting requirements" mean one "does not qualify"? Their words, not mine!

The answer: Whenever the ATC says it does -- or doesn't.

However, in fairness to the ATC, if making sense of the laws handed by legislators to the agency is confusing during non-pandemic times, it can only be more impenetrable when some rules have been suspended, others have not, and there exists no real road map for wandering through the maze.

According to the governor's Back on Track economic reopening plan, bars without full food service cannot reopen until Stage 4, which lands on June 14th.

The ATC's official clarification can be found here.

May 8, 2020: Frequently Asked Questions on EO 20-26, Roadmap to Reopen Indiana

1. What is a “bar area”? The bar area for the purposes of Executive order 20-26 is the counter over which drinks are served. During Stage 2, this area should be for employees only. Chairs should be removed or marked as unavailable. Ordering, serving, and consuming food and drinks for on-premises consumption is prohibited in this area. To the extent that this area is being used for ordering and serving of carryout food orders, a business may continue to do this while following the CDC guidelines.
2. What is a bar or tavern that must remain closed under Paragraph 10. e. during Stage 2? A bar or tavern is a premises that prohibits the entry of anyone under the age of twenty-one and is not in the business of providing in-person full dining service. A business that merely meets the minimum food requirements outlined in 905 IAC 1-20-1 of having hot soups, hot sandwiches, coffee, soft drinks, and milk available does not qualify to open for on-premises sales during stage 2.
3. Can a retail restaurant permittee that is limited to customers twenty-one and over allow on-premises dining during Stage 2 at 50% capacity and following other social distancing and sanitation measures? Yes. The bar area must remain closed and the business must provide in-person full dinging service. A business that merely meets the minimum food requirements outlined in 905 IAC 1-20-1 of having hot soups, hot sandwiches, coffee, soft drinks, and milk available does not qualify to open for on-premises sales during stage 2.

It's clear enough to me. Bars not normally engaged in food service on-premise cannot reopen until June 14, and the ATC isn't allowing the frozen weenie dorm fridge or even a food truck to alleviate this interpretation.

My personal view is that all these reopenings are happening too soon, but no one asked me. However, if it's to be now, then it needs to be consistent. My former brewers' guild board mate Shane Pearson (Daredevil Brewing) said it best, encapsulating his viewpoint as well as mine:

"Some of this deciding what is in which stage seems random or just not trusting people to do the right thing. If you have social distancing then most retail businesses should be able to open at the same pace. Lots of room for people to stay under the radar. I've got no issue if they maintain social distancing & other requirements."

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS (ENCORE EDITION): The amazing versatility of the word "piss" (PG-13).

I’ve been digging the opportunity to wear a COVID mask in public, while conceding that as a white guy, I can do it without being howitzered by those other white guys who take their bazookas with them to the bathroom to ... that's right, take a piss.

Not only is it socially responsible to wear a mask in times of pandemic, but it’s also a fun and enriching opportunity to take the metaphorical piss out of the know-nothings.

Wait, what was that?

Our lawyerly Shane’s not fluent in Commonwealth-speak?

No problem, big guy. Here at NA Confidential, we’re all about broadening perspectives and enhancing knowledge. Here’s the excellent definition, as first published here on May 9, 2018.

There's one missing from Mojo's list of British phrases: taking the piss.

Taking the piss is a Commonwealth term meaning to take liberties at the expense of others, or to be joking, or to be unreasonable. It is a shortening of the idiom taking the piss out of, which is an expression meaning to mock, tease, joke, ridicule, or scoff.^[1] It is not to be confused with "taking a piss", which refers to the act of urinating. Taking the Mickey (Mickey Bliss, Cockney rhyming slang), taking the Mick or taking the Michael is another term for making fun of someone. These terms are most widely used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

It's probably a measure of testimony to the vitality of the English language that "piss" is so versatile.

Do You Confuse this Word in British or American English? (30 Uses of the Word PISS), by Chad (Real Life Global)

This is not only one of the most COLORFUL words in the English language, it can also be very USEFUL. But, be careful, because the difference between BRITISH and AMERICAN English can also make it confusing!

Apart from the literal meaning of PISS (to urinate), it can be used to talk about ANGER, INTOXICATION, JOKING, and a huge variety of other imporant uses and collocations. Even if you´re not going to use it, it's a good idea to know how others use it.

In honor of the Triple Crown, let's pause to recall that yes, a racehorse pees like a racehorse.

horse_pee_like_a_racehorse.html">Does a Racehorse Pee Like a Racehorse?, by David Sessions (Slate)

The third leg of horse racing's Triple Crown takes place on Saturday, with the running of the Belmont Stakes. Around 60,000 fans will be watching in Elmont, N.Y., as they put down beer and the track's signature cocktails. Needless to say, they'll probably be peeing as much as the racehorses. Wait, how much does a racehorse pee?

A lot.

As for the etymology ... think "pissoir," a public urinal in France.

online.com/word/piss">piss (v.)

late 13c., from Old French pissier "urinate" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *pissiare, of imitative origin. To piss away (money, etc.) is from 1948. Related: Pissed; pissing. Pissing while (1550s) once meant "a short time."

City Hall was taking the piss when it omitted the pissoir from the farmers market. We were pissed, but now they park a portable pissoir there, and we have a place to piss, because after all, daytime on Saturday is the ideal slot to get pissed. Know what I mean?

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Read Lew Bryson's latest article or I'll disown your sorry butt.

My Monday column is out at Food & Dining Magazine: Hip Hops: One of those bucket list lager days.

For knowledgeable beer drinkers during my lifetime, lager often has constituted a Jekyll-Hyde proposition. Thirty-five years ago, the American mass-market way of doing lager (fizzy and flavorless) was the original impetus for the “craft” beer rebellion. At the same time, touring the Central European heartland always provides bountiful examples of how satisfying lager can be when traditional thought processes and methodologies are retained.

Otherwise, and as usual, Lew Bryson has the take of first (and best) resort. This truly is a must-read, with a conclusion more optimistic than you might imagine from the header.

"Brewers will be tightening their belts like the rest of us. It’s a scary future, but a little more community feel is going to help get us all through it. If everyone gives a little, fewer people will have to give a lot. After all, it just might save your favorite beers."

Did I mention this essay is a must-read?

Coronavirus Could Kill Craft Beer. Will Any Brands Survive? by Lew Bryson (Daily Beast)

I’ve been watching the craft beer industry collapse over the past few months.

After 20 years of writing about how upstart craft brewers have steadily taken customers from mainstream brands, it’s a shock to see this whole world shatter under the hammer of the coronavirus pandemic.

Given that everything is now upside down maybe I shouldn’t be shocked, but overall, things are pretty grim. The disease has broken the long growth curve of craft beer, which had outperformed the overall category for more than a decade—and it only took a month ...

Candidate Vaughn's letter to INDOT about the Sherman Minton Bridge.

A cynic (who, me?) might assert that a letter from a candidate for county council stands to have little impact on bloated state bureaucracies like INDOT, but I disagree with this standpoint.

In my view, candidates like Nick Vaughn must articulate coherent positions on issues out in the real world, while at the same time revealing to voters something about what makes them tick in the sense of smarts, values and a willingness to get in the thick of it. 

In this letter, Vaughn demonstrates these qualities. He understands that coming on the heels of COVID's toll on independent small business, INDOT's "renewal" plans could easily constitute a death sentence for those entities managing to survive a pandemic, only to find unresponsive state government waiting at the gate with a bloody scythe.

I eagerly await the points of view of other candidates. 

---

Nick Vaughn Sends Letter to INDOT Urging No Full Closure of Sherman Minton Bridge in 2021

New Albany, IN -- On Monday, May 11th, County Council Candidate Nick Vaughn sent a letter to the Indiana Department of Transportation urging them to remove a full closure of the Sherman Minton Bridge from consideration for the repairs scheduled for 2021.

In his letter, Vaughn makes note of the unprecedented times we are in due to COVID-19 and how hard the pandemic has made it to own a local business in Floyd County:

“Local businesses have already had to adapt or face closure during these current unprecedented times due to the pandemic.

I fear that a full closure of the Sherman Minton Bridge would be deadly to Floyd County’s local economy and cause an economic crisis which would require state intervention.”

Additionally, Vaughn called for an economic impact study to be carried out and released to the public and called on state leaders to create an economic stimulus package to protect Floyd County’s local economy during a partial bridge closure.

Included among such an economic stimulus plan should be:

• The ability for Floyd County residents to claim at least half of money spent on bridge tolls on their taxes for a credit.
• The authorization of funds to be dispersed to Floyd County for the purposes of small business loans.
• Advertising stipends for locally owned Floyd County businesses to use to market to Floyd County residents during the duration of the partial bridge closure.
• The formation of a cooperative local economic advisory board made up of locally elected officials and community stakeholders.

On the prospects of a full closure, Vaughn stated that “There is no doubt that the full closure of the Sherman Minton Bridge would be an economic disaster for Floyd County.”

News and Tribune loses young talent as John Boyle moves to 89.3 WFPL.

John Boyle has been selected one of Report for America's 2020-2021 Corps Members.

Report for America is a national service program that places emerging journalists into local newsrooms for a year of service reporting on under-covered issues and community. Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.

And:

Report for America

INTRODUCING: Report for America’s 2020-2021 Corps Members! These 225 emerging journalists are hitting the ground in more than 160 newsrooms across the U.S. at a time when they’re needed most. Meet our corps members and read their bios here.

Boyle revealed the switch on social media.

I'm thrilled to finally announce that I'll be joining 89.3 WFPL News Louisville on June 1. Last month, I was lucky enough to be selected as one of Report for America's 2020-2021 Corps Members. My team is changing, but I'll still be covering Southern Indiana, along with health.

I can't stress enough how grateful I am to everybody at the News and Tribune. They gave me my first shot out of college and welcomed me back after I spent some time in NYC. None of this would be possible without The Horizon team, either. To everybody who has played a role in my journey up to this point (and there are lots of you), thank you!

Green Mouse says: Boyle does solid work, and it's good to know he'll be staying in the area, at least for the short term.

LIVE TO EAT: 50% of Indiana goes first. Getting your queue on, or keeping to the curbside?

Habana Blues.

These past few days I've been reminded of forgotten topics in history, as in the late 1980s, when those in the profession of analyzing Eastern Europe commonly debated what would happen if communism ever fell.

Essentially: We already know how to transform a capitalist economy into a communist one. But we don't know how it's done the other way around. 

Similarly, today is RO Day, the grand reopening for Indiana's restaurateurs. If food service operators so desire, they may place 50% of your ass in a seat and begin the process of implementing a new normality, subject to a great many mandates and restrictions, few of which will be clear to anyone -- operator or customer -- until doors actually are unlocked.

ON THE AVENUES: COVID tolls for thee -- whatever, so hurry up and get your ass back into this seat.

It is my personal belief that this reopening process is coming too soon in terms of public health, and inescapably, there'll be a social/political/cultural aspect to it which stands to be divisive -- although it might be plausibly argued that American society already is divided and wasn't about to come any closer together, pandemic or not, in an election year.

I continue to marvel at the results of The Fat Lamb's informal polling over the weekend at Facebook, in which the Louisville eatery asked its customers how they felt about a possible return to on-premise dining, as opposed to the curbside carryout regimen that has evolved over the past two months.

The result was not unexpected, but the veritable landslide came as a great surprise, even to me; the last time I looked, the score was approximately 145 in favor of continued curbside (with little or no likelihood of coming inside), and four, maybe five preferring to be seated again at a table. But even they expressed a cheerful willingness to continue take-aways if so ordained.

Treading lightly, I can imagine the results at a typical sports bar -- say, Hoopsters in Jeffersonville -- being slightly different, perhaps even 145 - 5 in favor of re-entry.

Not being critical, mind you; the choice to reopen or not is theirs, although you have to wonder what's going to be showing on the televisions at area sports bars.

Tiddliwinks?

I put together a pants-down survey at Food & Dining Magazine, listing restaurants intending to reopen this week, and some that aren't. Clearly, there is a division of opinion among owners and operators. It's to be expected. They're all different people, with different stories and personalities.

The food and drink industry plainly is divided, though not yet acrimoniously so. No one knows exactly how this reopening will play out, and beginning today, an experiment will begin yielding demonstrable results, which will inform further measures.

Individual conscience plays a role in all our lives, decisions and actions. We've arrived at one of those points in history, hopefully not to be forgotten, where individual conscience is of paramount importance, even more so than usual.

Here's the article. You'll have to click through to see the names of the restaurants.

Now or later? Reopening Southern Indiana restaurants — or not yet

Today is Monday, May 11. Indiana restaurants may reopen at 50% capacity, and the Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association has released these guidelines for them, as outlined in the organization’s “Hoosier Hospitality Promise” and published at the Indianapolis Star.

Here’s what you can expect:

• All staff, including in the kitchen, will wear masks.
• All staff will pass a health check or complete a health survey prior to each shift.
• Hand sanitation stations will be available upon entry and exit from restaurants.
• All tables, chairs and common areas will be cleaned regularly.
• Menus and condiments will be single-use. Utensils will either be single-use or cleaned after every use.
• Each restaurant will have a designated employee to oversee safety and sanitation measures.
• Bar seating will be closed, with no live entertainment.
• Tables will be limited to 10 or fewer guests.
• Physical barriers will be used to separate tables, booths and bar stools.
• Communal serving areas such as buffets will be closed.

If patrons have been exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms, they are asked to not dine in restaurants and order takeout instead. Restaurants will be limited to 50% capacity until June 14, at which time they will increase to 75% capacity. According Indiana’s plan, restaurants will be able to operate at full patron capacity beginning July 4. Bars will be closed until June 14 and will be able to operate at full capacity on July 4, pending continued positive trends.

Following in no particular order is a non-comprehensive seat-of-the-pants survey of independently owned establishments in Southern Indiana that have commented publicly about their reopening plans in the run-up to May 11.

I exchanged messages with a few of the owners, and otherwise gleaned information from their social media posts and local news reports. Even if not explicitly stated, it is reasonable to assume that all these restaurants will continue their curbside carryout and delivery programs during the coming weeks, but of course there is no substitute for contacting them directly to be sure.

Finally, to repeat, this is a survey; if your business has been omitted from either list, just e-mail me and I’ll update: foodanddiningmagazine@gmail.com

CULTURAL BITS: Frans Masereel and Hugo Claus.

Back in 2004 or thereabouts, NABC's founding brewer Michael Borchers produced a damn fine Belgian ale.

Silent Oath

The joy in Belgium

Drawn from an episode in Hugo Claus’s novel, “The Sorrow of Belgium,” it was Belgian-style Brown, perhaps with a hint of intentional sourness. A portion was aged in oak chips.

"Perhaps" used in reference to sourness aptly summarizes the improvisational nature of our early brewing experiments. Much fun, little pressure and financially sustainable. Those were the days.

As an aside, the novel by Claus (1929 - 2008) is wonderfully insightful, dealing with society and politics in Flanders (the Flemish-speaking half of Belgium) before and during WWII; specifically, Claus tackles the thorny issue of collaboration with the occupying Germans.

Having read the novel, and this being a period when I visited Belgium often, eventually I stumbled across Frans Masereel.

Frans Masereel: The First Woodcut Novelist, by Tamara Fultz (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

What defines our attraction to a particular artist? Education and experience can offer us opportunities to see an artist's work, but whether we like or truly appreciate it is dependent on individuality and personal taste. In my own work, I get to see a wide variety of art in books—from ancient to contemporary—and there are always some artists that I prefer over others. This post is a reflection on one of my favorites: Frans Masereel (1889–1972).

Masereel, a Belgian graphic artist, is considered by some to be the creator of the woodcut novel. There is a certain warmth and linear clarity to woodcuts that I find appealing: everything from the woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) to the woodblock prints of Japanese artists in the ukiyo-e style. Masereel's woodcut novels fascinate me because in each one he creates a narrative using strictly images, no text—although there may be an introduction by Thomas Mann or some other great contemporary. For a modern-day equivalent to this kind of work, you might be familiar with the graphic novelist Eric Drooker, whose artwork in Flood! was heavily influenced by the novels of Masereel.

Thomas J. Watson Library has a number of Masereel's woodcut novels. Below are some images that I will let speak for themselves, just as Masereel would have done.

Somewhere online I found a Masereel woodcut of a tree, which may or may not have been an oak. Michael's beer was aged on oak chips, after all. The tree became the label for the ale, which wasn't brewed a second time. The label has eluded me, hidden in a banker's box. Eventually I'll find it.

For whatever reason, I still take much comfort in all this -- Masereel, Claus, Belgian ale, and their confluence in our embryonic brewery. My advice is to do some browsing and explore Masereel's world.

With independent small businesses at risk, no use looking to a panic-stricken City Hall for help.

Always remember -- and never forget -- that in the case of New Albany, even if we're able to struggle back to our feet at any point this year, INDOT is waiting to cave our skulls in a second time with years upon years of Sherman Minton Bridge traffic dislocation.

As the mayor's captive council lackeys only now begin to fathom that they'll be the ones to take the fall for budget catastrophes in the wake of COVID, freeing Jeff Gahan to continue his own hallowed tradition of narcissistic pay-to-play campaign finance monetizing, it's clear that a Democratic-controlled legislative body will be of little help during the coming hard times.

Urban Enterprise Association? It's been annexed and gutted, existing only symbolically.

Develop New Albany? It's theoretically possible, although the organization's umbrella will have to get much bigger and its sad ongoing dependence on Gahan's political needs accordingly smaller.

City Hall as presently configured possesses no experience in dealing with a crisis. The rest of us will have to figure it out ourselves, and DNA needs to be a part of this solution. Exactly how is yet to be seen.

The Hyperlocal Support Small Businesses Need to Recover, by Patrice Frey (Governing)

It may be tempting, in coping with revenue losses brought on by the pandemic, for governments to reduce funding for community economic-development organizations, but it would be short-sighted.

With the recent replenishment of the Paycheck Protection Program, Congress and the Trump administration hope to avert a massive and catastrophic closure of small businesses amid the economic devastation of the COVID-19 crisis. But while the additional funds for the PPP are desperately needed, a successful rebound will require more than a one-time infusion of cash.

State and local elected officials will soon find that they are the next — and last — line of defense in protecting their communities (and tax rolls) from a failure of small businesses at a scale unlike any ever seen in this country. A recent study by our organization found that as many as 7.5 million small businesses are at risk in the coming months, especially those employing fewer than 20 people.

These businesses urgently need hyperlocal support systems that link businesses to resources that will aid them through the next 18 to 24 months. Fortunately, such support systems already exist in thousands of cities and neighborhoods across the country in the form of Main Street Programs, Business Improvement District associations and other kinds of downtown organizations. The local economic-development leaders who head these organizations are typically well known in their communities as trusted sources of information and as "connectors" to business support resources. They are also extremely knowledgeable about their communities' business environments and the local "players," which is invaluable in helping to broker creative solutions to get businesses through challenging times ahead.

And creative solutions will be in high demand. Small-businesses that survive stay-at-home orders, whether aided by the PPP or not, face a long and difficult recovery. Dramatic unemployment figures suggest that many Americans simply won't have the spending power they did before the crisis. Even where consumers are able to spend, their behavior is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic norms anytime soon. After stay-at-home orders are lifted, residual concerns regarding coronavirus transmission are likely to slow the recovery of the restaurants and retail and service businesses that are the heart of communities.

Business owners are likely to encounter a confusing patchwork of local, state, federal and philanthropic funding sources, and they are going to need help identifying suitable programs and navigating often-cumbersome application processes. They will also need advocates in their corner to work with property owners and negotiate lower or deferred rents, and they'll need assistance, where feasible, in transitioning some of their business to e-commerce. On this latter point, our research indicates that approximately two-thirds of small businesses have no online presence, a troubling figure given that online sales are likely to be a lifeline in the coming months.

The risk as state and local leaders look to trim budgets in the coming weeks and months is that they will cut any program that is not directly tied to health, human services and education. We've seen this before, post-Great Recession, when governments reduced or eliminated dollars for local business-support efforts. Such moves are short-sighted and have painful consequences, largely in the form of lost jobs and reductions to state and local revenue from taxes and fees. Ultimately, elected officials in many places elected to restart these programs, acknowledging that aid to local economic-development programs has a return on investment that far exceeds their cost.

In coming budget negotiations, elected officials will be wise to recognize that they are playing the long game in bringing their communities back from COVID-19. We can coax that recovery to a faster and stronger outcome if we can keep the focus of our support as hyperlocal as possible and if we can maintain the connector organizations that help small business on the ground, community by community. Ultimately, modest expenditures to support local economic-development organizations now will deliver a healthier and more stable tax base in the months and years to come.

Bunker Deep -- Experiment Nigh.

There's a consistent feature of recent news stories and commentaries about the approaching economic reopening, and the different ways Indiana and Kentucky are treating the timing of these steps.

It's the absence from this discussion of New Albany's mayor.

When Jeff Gahan deigned to speak with WDRB last week, he said basically nothing.

“We are probably a little behind the governor’s directive to hit some of these benchmarks – we’re glad we have them but we are going to be very cautious how we move forward,” said New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan.

Gahan believes it’s hard to make a blanket statement applying to an entire state, especially with positive COVID-19 cases varying. “It is going to differ from municipality and county to county it’s just the nature of it,” he said.

Granted, we're accustomed to cerebral nothingness from ranking Democrats in Nawbany. It's peculiar, though.

If genuinely taken with the belief that reopening is occurring too soon, Gahan might embrace more stringent municipal measures than the false positive PR move of closing his beloved water park; after all, Governor Holcomb has consistently stated that local authorities can choose tighter counter-timetables if they wish.

For a mayor ever eager to grapple with the detested Republicans, it's odd.

Is it that his cadre of campaign donors need to get back to work and keep those pay-to-play coffers filled?

Probably.

Meanwhile, LEO Weekly has an opinion on the matter.

Indiana, Kentucky govs at odds over reopening economy… or when dining out becomes an experiment

So, on Monday, when you think about sitting down for a taco in Southern Indiana, consider whether it is worth the gamble, whether you want to be part of an enormous experiment… and whether you trust art and science to keep you well.

He's baack.

For the record, welcome back. I'm sure we'll spar as in times of old, but who knows? Maybe not this time.

SUDDEATH COLUMN: It's me again, by Daniel Suddeath (once again) of the News and Tribune

Hello Southern Indiana, how have you been?

Almost five years ago, I transferred from my post with the News and Tribune to serve as editor of the Glasgow Daily Times in Glasgow, Kentucky. It was a wonderful experience, but I was thrilled to be offered the opportunity to return here after spending eight years in New Albany previously as a reporter.

I’ll be reporting once again, and I’ll also be taking photos, helping with Southern Indiana Business, and doing whatever else I can to help bring you the news that matters.

Seattle's "Stay Healthy Streets": You can't even IMAGINE any of this ever occurring to Jeff Gahan, can you?

No, it can't even be imagined.

Consider this: Gahan's belated embrace of public art for the parking garage has resulted in a three-story-high Freudian anchor seal and gigantic paintings of automobiles. 

There are, and always have been, people near Gahan who actually do "get it." But in Nawbany, you can't keep it (your job) without ditching any practical urban aptitude that runs contrary to campaign finance's pay-to-play circle of remuneration.

Too bad. Some of them might have amounted to something. All they have to look forward to now is a lifetime of employment as bootlicking functionaries, maintaining Dear Leader's automobile supremacy until retirement.

Seattle to bar traffic from 20 miles of streets so residents can exercise, bike, by Kaelan Deese (The Hill)

Seattle to bar traffic from 20 miles of streets so residents can exercise, bike

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) announced Thursday that the city plans to permanently bar 20 miles of roads from car traffic to leave room for people to use bikes and walk.

According to a city spokesperson, the streets would be closed for thru-traffic only, allowing residents to still access their homes using vehicles and delivery companies to continue services.

The measure is part of a larger initiative that began in April called Stay Healthy Streets, a temporary relief program providing more space for residents to leave their houses while practicing social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a press release.

"Safe and Healthy Streets are an important tool for families in our neighborhoods to get outside, get some exercise and enjoy the nice weather," Durkan said.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) said that areas chosen to be closed from car traffic include places with routes that connect foot traffic with essential services and food stops, as well as streets with low car ownership, according to a release.

"We've witnessed a 57% drop in vehicle traffic volumes accessing downtown Seattle during Governor Inslee's Stay Healthy, Stay Home order," SDOT said. "Finding new and creative ways, like Stay Healthy Streets, to maintain some of these traffic reductions as we return to our new normal is good for the planet, but is also good for our long-term fight against COVID-19."

Part of the initiative includes building better bike infrastructure such as bike lanes to improve mobility around the city and help reduce pollution in the process.

The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board strongly supported the measures Durkan announced Thursday.

"All these actions together will help Seattle come back as a safer, healthier, and more climate friendly city," the board said in the release.

Regardless of political affiliation, "the brown rats of New York are struggling just as hard (as humans) to adapt to urban existence."

Long before COVID-19, Rattus norvegicus had been cleared of history's major charge: the Black Death was spread by humans not rats.

They got a bum rat.

The ostensible reason for this post? Vindication for the rat, but scroll down for the subsidiary purpose.

Rats have other problems now.

Beer and bagels please: New York rats evolve to mirror human habits, by Robin McKie (The Guardian)

Changes in rodents’ DNA means they are now prone to similar health threats to humans, scientists discover

Humans are not alone in suffering from the stresses of modern city life.

Researchers have found the brown rats of New York are struggling just as hard to adapt to urban existence.

Indeed it is possible, they say, that both humans and rats have undergone parallel shifts in their genetic make-up in response to city life, leaving them prone to similar health threats, such as the effects of pollutants and the consumption of highly sugared foods.

“We know rats have changed in incredible ways in their behaviour and in their diet, just as human communities have changed,” said Arbel Harpak, a population geneticist at the New York’s Columbia University. “In New York you can see them eat bagels and beer; in Paris they like croissants and butter. They adapt in amazing ways.”

snip

The crucial point, say the researchers, is that urban rats are so closely associated with human city-dwellers that it is possible similar genetic changes have occurred in both species. “Like humans, rats live in higher densities in cities, leading to increased pathogen transmission potential,” they argue. “In addition, mosquito species that have rapidly invaded urban areas across the world feed on both rats and humans – suggesting a novel, shared-disease exposure.”

The most striking common feature of the lives of urban humans and urban rats is diet, the researchers discovered: both consume an increasingly large amount of highly processed sugars and fats. Such a diet leads to various health concerns, which could also apply to rats.