Lollapalooza wasn’t a superspreader event

Most attendees were vaccinated. To be honest, I would not have held it. Let’s see what happens from Sturgis.

Read this thread from the Chicago Public Health Commissioner:

We are now 14 days past the first day of Lolla and we are continuing to investigate cases of COVID. There have been no unexpected findings at this point and NO evidence at this point of “super-spreader” event or substantial impact to Chicago’s COVID-19 epidemiology.
— Dr. Allison Arwady (@DrArwady) August 12, 2021

Chicago health officials said the city’s Lollapalooza concert shows no sign of being a superspreader event for Covid-19, even with 203 cases being reported https://t.co/X3ahMHNrWs
— Bloomberg (@business) August 12, 2021

Out of the 385,000 who attended Lollapalooza only 203 total COVID-19 cases were reported in people who attended, with no definitive conclusion the point of infection was there. The festival reported 90% of its attendees were vaccinated, the others had to present negative tests.
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) August 12, 2021

More than 200 Lollapalooza attendees got COVID-19 — but it wasn't a super-spreader event, Chicago's top doc says https://t.co/5eR19RLJqP pic.twitter.com/aHzTkN0OFV
— Block Club Chicago (@BlockClubCHI) August 12, 2021

Texas Covid update

"Unvaccinated Texans make up vast majority of COVID-19 cases and deaths this year, new state data shows." 85% of both cases & deaths were among the completely unvax'd; partially vax'd accounted for most of rest. As Abbott fights vaccination requirements. https://t.co/uMCE8egdbt
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) November 15, 2021

If vax rates in Florida and Texas had been on-par with the nation's highest vaccinated states by the end of July, a new analysis estimates roughly 4,700 lives could have been saved and 70K hospitalizations avoided, reports @sonysalz: https://t.co/51OTJq7Y6K
— Anne Flaherty (@AnneKFlaherty) August 12, 2021

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is doing nothing to stop the spread of COVID in Texas, but he just announced that more than 2,500 medical personnel will be deployed to hospitals around the state to care for the growing number of COVID patients.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 12, 2021

And now @GregAbbott_TX is going to spend Texas taxpayer’s money to sue Texans trying to stop him from killing Texans. https://t.co/QOfHxFOax1
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) August 12, 2021

Across Texas, a virus called RSV is spreading like wildfire, with many children contracting it alongside Covid.

Experts say the virus was kept dormant last year through mask wearing. But today cases are exploding.@GregAbbott_TX must let schools mask up. https://t.co/ONuNPZkW0e
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) August 12, 2021

Unvaccinated people killed this patient. https://t.co/GpmeTZA8Se
— Jessica Shortall🧂🥴 (@jessicashortall) August 12, 2021

Across Texas, health officials warned of a growing crisis not seen in months, with more than 10,000 people hospitalized and intensive care units stretched thin.

"I am frightened by what is coming," a top official said. https://t.co/5czPC3590D
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 12, 2021

And as more big city districts defy Abbott ban, GOP state AG @KenPaxtonTX says he'll ask Texas State Supreme Court to uphold it and block the local mask requirements. https://t.co/AymkPhUAMw
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 11, 2021

Florida covid update – it gets worse

I think it's very early. It can get much, much louder.

DeSantis confronts growing resistance over COVID-19 handling https://t.co/L4CqWUWucE
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 12, 2021

White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients: “In the past week, Florida has had more Covid cases than all 30 states with the lowest case rates combined. And Florida and Texas alone have accounted for nearly 40% of new hospitalizations across the country.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 12, 2021

24,753 new cases in Florida today — another record. Please do your part. Vaccinate and mask indoors.https://t.co/f8Z5L5aYZW
— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) August 12, 2021

Floridians are listening. Vaccinations are rising. I can't say it enough — we have to vaccinate our way out of this pandemic.https://t.co/9MqXVnNUrm
— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) August 12, 2021

Florida superintendent: Covid-19 cases among students and staff are much higher than anticipated. https://t.co/adZfZ1DiI0
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 12, 2021

Over 800 doctors signed a letter urging Florida's governor to repeal his order barring districts from requiring masks in school.

"What’s heartbreaking … is watching children needlessly suffer while Gov. DeSantis rejects simple protections," they wrote. https://t.co/VjetekmUM2
— Axios (@axios) August 12, 2021

Brian Williams: What it's like to be in your line of work where the governor is anti-mask, especially where it applies to children?

Florida Physician Dr. Marty: We want liberties and freedoms. But my freedom ends when I'm endangering your health. https://t.co/KUb8P9rY5x
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 12, 2021

This story and the one about Texas asking for out-of-state help fighting their self-inflicted #COVID19 surges makes me wonder: what happened to all that talk of personal freedom, responsibility, and fighting against government overreach?https://t.co/QOp39EReb3
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) August 12, 2021

This was a choice, and quite possibly the plan. https://t.co/ESpa7A5Tou
— robneyer ⚾️🧗‍♂️🦉🗽 (@robneyer) August 12, 2021

It doesn’t have to be this way, @RonDeSantisFL. https://t.co/Ji4dwtknLA
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) August 12, 2021

The Supreme Court is the biggest obstacle to voting rights legislation

Even if Congress passes voting rights legislation to undo damage done by the Supreme Court and Republican states, the Supreme Court is likely to strike it down. This is very discouraging. We will only make progress in voting rights when the court doesn’t have a Republican-appointed conservative majority.

Chief Justice John Roberts and the Supreme Court might block anything Democrats do on voting rights https://t.co/5p207u7vDj
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 12, 2021

Margaret Sullivan’s great column on how journalists should cover Trump

I wrote her today and attached a PDF of what I wrote

reply-to-sullivan Download

Our democracy is under attack. Washington journalists must stop treating it like politics as usual. …I offer a prescription for how news-organization leadership can radically reframe its coverage. … My column: https://t.co/XYGI8BvIEd
— 💫 Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) July 28, 2021

Opinion: Here’s how the media can cover Republicans responsibly https://t.co/A58ce0a5f5
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 29, 2021

Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Action Movies

I’ll spend time looking at this but I strongly recommend #21, Snowpiercer.

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The George A. Romero Archival Collection at the University of Pittsburgh

George A. Romero is best known for the films Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

We're honored to share an exclusive look at the George A. Romero Archival Collection at Pitt today. Want the full list of the 100+ unproduced screenplays and treatments Romero created? We've got it, plus a whole lot more, right here… https://t.co/koEMSkHNuB
— Cinematic Void (@cinematic_void) August 11, 2021

Link to the collection

George A. Romero Foundation

The Covid crisis in Texas

Governor Abbott is preventing cities from dealing with it

TX health system executive: “If this continues, and I have no reason to believe it will not, there is no way my hospital is going to be able to handle this. There is no way the region is going to be able to handle this.” https://t.co/OZ3CBaijnU
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 11, 2021

"The number of COVID-19 patients in TX hospitals is accelerating faster than at any other point in the pandemic as the contagious delta variant spreads unchecked, primarily among the unvaccinated." https://t.co/OZ3CBaijnU
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 11, 2021

10,000 new Covid cases a day in Texas & Greg Abbott preventing major cities from requiring masks

16 cases of false addresses on voter registration forms out of 11 million votes in 2020 & Texas Republicans authorizing arrests of Texas Dems in order to make it harder to vote
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) August 11, 2021

BREAKING: In surprise move, Fort Worth school superintendent Kent Scribner says he is ordering use of masks when school starts next week. Defies order by Gov. Abbott and follows same move in Dallas and Houston https://t.co/YOuOMb0A2m
— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) August 11, 2021

Great graphic from ⁦@HoustonHealthGa⁩ illustrating why vaccination matters pic.twitter.com/LukZWXECH7
— Kavita Patel M.D. (@kavitapmd) August 11, 2021

All five major cities in Texas are now instituting mask mandates in schools, in open defiance of Governor Abbott.

Houston, Austin, and Fort Worth are ignoring his ban, as well as San Antonio and Dallas, who are also suing him.

If he won’t keep kids safe, local leaders will.
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) August 11, 2021

A tangible measure of the impact of Abbott's strategy of systematically blocking diverse blue-trending big urban centers from responding to the pandemic, as part of his overall strategy of preempting them across many issues to mobilize GOP's non-urban base. https://t.co/bVH7LqfDdU
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 10, 2021

"It's tragically ironic he'd use his emergency powers from dealing with the emergency," San Antonio Mayor Nirenberg says on Texas Gov. Abbott's attempted ban on mask mandates. https://t.co/Wmn79S5Rlu
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 11, 2021

NEW from @texastribune: Texas — with a population of more than 29 million — is down to 329 available ICU beds statewide, the lowest point thus far in the pandemic https://t.co/eRRwE7F2om #txlege
— Evan Smith (@evanasmith) August 11, 2021

Broadsides from Black Oak Books

I used to go to a lot of author appearances in Washington to hear authors read and get books signed. Black Oak Books from Oakland printed broadsides with book excerpts which they distributed at readings. I got some through the mail and brought them to readings. The one from Maxine Hong Kingston was sent to me already signed.

I eventually got most of them framed. They are signed unless noted. I saw the authors of three of the four unsigned ones (Johnson, Sayles, Stone) after I got the broadsides.

The top group of 9

top: Maxine Hong Kingston (sent to me signed), Paule Marshall, Charles Johnson (not signed)

middle: Martin Amis, Tim O’Brien, Don DeLillo (not signed)
bottom: Julian Barnes, Gloria Naylor, Ivan Doig

The bottom group of 6

John Sayles (not signed), Robert Stone (not signed), Elmore Leonard, Jayne Anne Phillips, TC Boyle, Amy Tan

Barbecue/pit beef I have eaten during the pandemic – Baltimore

Support local restaurants! Pit beef is a Baltimore thing – it’s not the same as barbecue but there are similarities. For pit beef, start with Chaps. The original location is on the parking lot of the Gold Club strip club!

Mission BBQ: