Fake vaccine cards

As more colleges and universities require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for students, a cottage industry has sprung up to accommodate people who say they won’t get vaccinated for either personal or religious reasons.

My very first (!) byline for the @AP:https://t.co/4sorZxxjLY
— Roselyn Romero (@roselyn_romero) August 9, 2021

CONSUMER ALERT:

The sale or distribution of fake #COVID19 vaccine cards is illegal and puts the health of our communities at risk.

Any New Yorker that knows of a #COVID19 vaccination card scam should contact my office:
https://t.co/7XEKbPGVY5
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) August 6, 2021

Wear a mask!

Republican governors are harming their residents with mask bans

Leading COVID models are predicting another 83,000-142,000 deaths in the United States between today and December 1st.

Those same models show that we could prevent 48,000-108,000 of those by simply wearing masks.

Get your shot. Wear a mask. Save someone’s life.
— Angry Staffer (@Angry_Staffer) August 9, 2021

Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) doubles down on opposition to mask requirements in schools:

“Mandating masks is not the answer. Personal responsibility is the answer, common sense is the answer. And we have an abundance of both in South Carolina.” pic.twitter.com/tPv0EACgsA
— The Recount (@therecount) August 9, 2021

Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson tells CBS that he made a mistake in signing a law banning mask mandates in his state.

"It was an error to sign that law. I admit that."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 9, 2021

The CDC recommends that people wear masks in indoor public places — regardless of their vaccination status — in parts of the U.S. with “substantial” or “high” coronavirus transmission rates.

Right now, that covers nearly 2,800 counties in the U.S. https://t.co/yUoceARK8v
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 6, 2021

Make wearing a mask all day more comfortable by washing it regularly, using adjustable ear loops and more. https://t.co/KaXktnHYzX
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 2, 2021

Sturgis will be a superspreader event….again

"Doesn't bother me. To me it's just the common cold."

"You kinda have to let go a little bit."

"I'm a realist. If it's my turn, it's my turn." https://t.co/kGeArMCLgf
— Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin) August 9, 2021

Sturgis motorcycle rally director says this year is likely the biggest crowd the event has ever had https://t.co/XJaCz8tfBU
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 9, 2021

The rally has no vaccination, testing or masking requirements as people ride outdoors but also gather at tattoo parlors, bars, campsites and concerts. Gov. Kristi Noem and Sturgis Mayor Mark Carstensen say the rally is safe but medical experts disagree. https://t.co/ETt8dTpf5l
— NPR (@NPR) August 9, 2021

Dr. Fauci chastises those attending the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally: You’re going to get to do that in the future, but let's get this pandemic under control before we start acting like nothing is going on." pic.twitter.com/ifb6tVdMgg
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 8, 2021

last year:

In August the tiny town of Sturgis, South Dakota hosted a 10-dy motorcycle rally of >460,000 people, most not wearing masks. From there, #COVID19 spread across the Midwest. The @CDCgov documented this example, in Minnesota. https://t.co/0plBD7sBsn
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) November 22, 2020

The motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, in August has been linked to a Covid-19 outbreak in Minnesota, according to a new report from the CDC https://t.co/cfjewFUgzT pic.twitter.com/zMeGbrgoKW
— CNN (@CNN) November 21, 2020

Pizza I have had during the pandemic – Baltimore

I love pizza and have had some great ones here in Baltimore during the pandemic, I support local restaurants and haven’t ordered from the national chains. The best pizza I have had is from Two Boots, a small chain that used to have a location in Baltimore.

Macaroni and cheese pizza from Brick Oven Pizza (BOP):

Detroit style pizza (10″ x 14:) from Underground Pizza. They’re so thick that two or three slices are enough at one time. This one with nacho toppings is my favorite but has only been offered occasionally.

Crab pizza from Joe Squared

Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza from Pasta Mista:

Ledo’s Pizza:

Neo Pizza:

Climate news has been terrible lately

How many fires, floods, and extreme temperatures will it take for use to do something? We lost four years with climate change denier Trump.

As climate change turbocharges temperatures, more workers across the country will face stifling conditions with deadly consequences.

Our investigation reveals how difficult setting a national standard to protect them could be. https://t.co/b71FKbhwVP
— POLITICO (@politico) August 9, 2021

"The last decade is likely the hottest the planet has been in 125,000 years. The world’s glaciers are melting & receding at a rate 'unprecedented in at least the last 2,000 years.' Atmospheric levels of Co2 have not been this high in ~ 2 million years." https://t.co/uTj7VPhrro
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 9, 2021

Read today's The Morning Newsletter on the IPCC report and our climate future. https://t.co/vRHCX7quog
— NYT Climate (@nytclimate) August 9, 2021

No sea ice in the Arctic? It is likely to happen sooner than you think.

This disturbing UN report also says ice loss in Greenland over the 21st century is virtually certain, which probably will increase cumulative emissions.https://t.co/S94Yzt5fKf
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 9, 2021

GENEVA (AP) — UN report: Global temperatures in about a decade will likely blow past level that world leaders have sought to prevent.
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) August 9, 2021

Record heat will return to the Pacific Northwest next week: https://t.co/ZeAF69DkM7 pic.twitter.com/MMnsjkVNVP
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) August 7, 2021

On South Carolina’s shore, some condo owners worry: Are their buildings safe? https://t.co/UOYpvJtp7h
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 11, 2021

Paintballing | Future Shorts

A fine short animated film

The Bradbury Building

The Bradbury Building in Los Angeles has been used in many films. It was built in 1893. I remember it best from Blade Runner.

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The Covid Lambda variant

There's a lot left to learn about Covid-19's Lambda variant, which is still rare in the US. Here's what experts know so far. https://t.co/N6Q5sEW71H
— CNN (@CNN) August 7, 2021

Seth Morgan’s novel Homeboy

I was reminded about Seth Morgan yesterday when I watched a show on the last 24 hours in the life of Janis Joplin. She tried to get a marriage license to Morgan but couldn’t since it was a Saturday.

Morgan later wrote the novel Homeboy which was published in 1990. I read it when it was new and remember that it was excellent. I recall he referred to shock treatments (which a member of my family had) as Edison medicine which I thought was great. Morgan died in 1991 in a motorcycle crash,

Here are the Washington Post obituary and the New York Times obituary.

The New York Times review of Homeboy.

Homeboy is in print in paperback and I strongly recommend it.

My first Windows desktop PC purchase in 1992

My first computers were a Timex Sinclair and an Atari 800. The first Windows PC I bought was a Gateway 2000 with a tower case for around $3,500. It had 4 mb of memory and a 120 mb hard drive. It had a modem – maybe 1200 baud. I paid $199 to upgrade from a 14 inch monitor to a 15 inch monitor. It didn’t come with a sound card or CD-Rom drive. They were not standard then and I bought and installed them myself later. It did have 5 1/4″ and 3 1/2″ disk drives. The CPU was an Intel 486-DX2-50 which was so new it wasn’t even in their ads yet. The best thing about it was the tower case. It was metal and had enough room for four hard drives. I later bough 540 mb hard drives from Egghead for $399 and later $299.

I already had a printer. It was an Epson 9-pin dot matrix which had cost me about $350.