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Charlie Watts, RIP

You can’t deny Charlie Watts was one of the most iconic drummers in history. I always loved his playing… simple and magical.

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Covid-19 Updates: F.D.A.’s Vaccine Approval Leads Pentagon and Others to Add Requirements

Daniel E. Slotnik and Helene Cooper, writing for The New York Times, have a short article regarding the mandates that will be coming down now that the FDA has approved the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and older, making it the first to move beyond emergency use status in the United States.

 

The decision will set off a cascade of vaccine requirements by hospitals, colleges, corporations and other organizations. United Airlines recently announced that its employees will be required to show proof of vaccination within five weeks of regulatory approval.

 

Oregon has adopted a similar requirement for all state workers, as have a host of universities in states from Louisiana to Minnesota. The Pentagon has said it would mandate the shots for the country’s 1.3 million active-duty troops once the Pfizer approval came through.

I applaud the organizations that have already put mandates in place without the Federal government’s approval. Now, I expect mandates will be everywhere making it much more difficult for the unvaccinated to do things. Seriously, mandate vaccinated status for everything. School, air travel, train travel, restaurants, stores. Everything. Get vaccinated or stay home.

Now, hurry up and approve it for all ages.

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Parents Are Not Okay

Dan Sinker, writing for The Atlantic, focuses on how everything about Covid-19, politics and the public school systems have broken parents all across the country.

Instead it was a year in limbo: school on stuttering Zoom, school in person and then back home again for quarantine, school all the time and none of the time. No part of it was good, for kids or parents, but most parts of it were safe, and somehow, impossibly, we made it through a full year. It was hell, but we did it. We did it.
Time collapsed and it was summer again, and, briefly, things looked better. We began to dream of normalcy, of trips and jobs and school. But 2021’s hot vax summer only truly delivered on the hot part, as vaccination rates slowed and the Delta variant cut through some states with the brutal efficiency of the wildfires that decimated others. It happened in a flash: It was good, then it was bad, then we were right back in the same nightmare we’d been living in for 18 months.
And suddenly now it’s back to school while cases are rising, back to school while masks are a battleground, back to school while everyone under 12 is still unvaccinated. Parents are living a repeat of the worst year of their lives-except this time, no matter what, kids are going back.

Even with college-age and older kids, my wife and I are struggling with trying to keep the kids (and family and friends) safe from Covid-19 while balancing the social and emotional wellbeing of everyone concerned. Plus, you know, navigating our jobs and figuring out dinner and whatnot.

We have help and resources. I can’t imagine what it is like for parents who don’t.

Most of 2020 and a large chunk of 2021 are going to be traumatizing for kids for decades.

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Time Dilation

This post by Seth Godin is fascinating to me. I’m going to drop the whole thing here:

You can read this post in six minutes. It took me more than an hour to write.

That extra editing and polish is a benefit to the reader.

You can read this post instead of 100 others, because people highlighted or shared or ranked or otherwise filtered the other things you might be reading. That curation created value as well.

The math here is compelling indeed: 1,000 would-be authors pitch books but only 30 get published. Each book takes a year to write but just six hours to read. And you didn’t read all thirty of them, just the one that had the best reviews… 10,000 hours of work by authors and editors to deliver six hours to you.

The time dilation of polish and curation is possible because of asynchronicity and the one-to-many nature of publishing ideas.

Asynchronous because you’re not doing it live, reading it as I write it.

And one-to-many because the work of a creator is multiplied across many readers.

A friend recently sent me a note via voice mail. It was 14 minutes long. Because he didn’t spend another ten or fifteen minutes editing it into a three-minute long email, he wasted a ton of my time. But the nature of 1:1 interaction meant that it was either his time or mine, even steven.

And listening to someone live, at an open mic nite or at a concert, promises wonderful surprise, but it also means that there’s bound to be a lot of dead time. Because no one is curating, and you have no selection advantage.

One of the surprising unsung benefits of the worldwide web and the organized sharing of information is time dilation. A benefit we constantly waste by seeking the more human habit of mindlessly taking what comes, in real-time instead.

The idea of time dilation and curating input and the important idea of curating output to others is a concept I’ve never heard of before, but I understand completely.

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Type the Alphabet

Type the Alphabet is an online game that challenges the player to type the English alphabet to see how fast they can type. The timer starts when the player starts typing and finishes when the alphabet is complete.

I think my fastest was about six seconds.

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“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”

I had a thought at the start of summer 2021 that now seems ridiculous. I thought people would get the free, safe, and effective vaccine and our country would usher in a decade of “roaring twenties.” People who had been isolated away to keep themselves and their loved ones safe… who now have the ways and means to protect themselves… would come out of their caves and embrace life in all its glory.

My naiveté is showing.

I had forgotten the only real truth. “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”

The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has changed the game. It only exists because people are too stupid to get a life-saving vaccine. Need more info? The best reporting on the subject is by Ed Young.

But something is different now — the virus. “The models in late spring were pretty consistent that we were going to have a ‘normal’ summer,” Samuel Scarpino of the Rockefeller Foundation, who studies infectious-disease dynamics, told me. “Obviously, that’s not where we are.” In part, he says, people underestimated how transmissible Delta is, or what that would mean. The original SARS-CoV-2 virus had a basic reproduction number, or R0, of 2 to 3, meaning that each infected person spreads it to two or three people. Those are average figures: In practice, the virus spread in uneven bursts, with relatively few people infecting large clusters in super-spreading events. But the CDC estimates that Delta’s R0 lies between 5 and 9, which “is shockingly high,” Eleanor Murray, an epidemiologist at Boston University, told me. At that level, “its reliance on super-spreading events basically goes away,” Scarpino said.

In simple terms, many people who caught the original virus didn’t pass it to anyone, but most people who catch Delta create clusters of infection. That partly explains why cases have risen so explosively. It also means that the virus will almost certainly be a permanent part of our lives, even as vaccines blunt its ability to cause death and severe disease.

This is directly related to Fox News, Facebook, and Republicans who have radicalized large swaths of the willfully ignorant and stupid.

The only way this changes is for life for the unvaccinated to become intolerable.

No flying without proof of vaccination.

No bus travel without proof of vaccination.

No renting of cars without proof of vaccination.

No public transportation without proof vaccination.

No public performances (concerts, sports, movies, etc.) without proof vaccination.

And so on.

Enforcement must be arrest and jail. Caught with a fake vaccination card should be the same for a minor with a fake ID.

I’m also of the opinion that unvaccinated COVID patients be deprioritized in hospitals and possibly turned away like someone without proper health insurance. At the very least, unvaccinated COVID patience must be sequestered from the majority of the hospital staff and patience.

There is a solution to all of this… simply get vaccinated.

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Nestflix

Finally, a way to watch all the fake movies within a movie and fake shows within a show. The selection is tremendous!

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Not What You Asked For, but Just What You Needed

Seth Godin on leadership:

Not what you asked for, but just what you needed

That doesn’t happen very often. When someone combines generosity, insight and bravery to provide something before we know that’s what we need, we are particularly grateful.

It’s a special form of leadership.

I’m always incredibly impressed when someone can do this. It is remarkable.

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Wil Wheaton’s Guidelines

Over on Instagram, Wil Wheaton posted what he calls guidelines to help you live your life. I thought I’d share.

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CNN Fires Three Employees For Going Into Office Without Covid Vaccinations

Ted Johnson, reporting for Deadline:

CNN head Jeff Zucker said that the network has fired three employees for going into the office without being vaccinated against Covid-19, and that parent WarnerMedia may ultimately require proof of the shots. […]

“In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated,” Zucker wrote in an email to staff. “All three have been terminated. Let me be clear — we have a zero-tolerance policy on this. You need to be vaccinated to come to the office. And you need to be vaccinated to work in the field, with other employees, regardless of whether you enter an office or not. Period. We expect that in the weeks ahead, showing proof of vaccination may become a formal part of the WarnerMedia Passcard process. Regardless, our expectations remain in place.”

Yes. More.

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Unvaccinated People Need to Bear the Burden

Juliette Kayyem, assistant secretary for homeland security under President Obama, writing for The Atlantic:

The White House has rejected a nationwide vaccine mandate—a sweeping suggestion that the Biden administration could not easily enact if it wanted to—but a no-fly list for unvaccinated adults is an obvious step that the federal government should take. It will help limit the risk of transmission at destinations where unvaccinated people travel—and, by setting norms that restrict certain privileges to vaccinated people, will also help raise the stagnant vaccination rates that are keeping both the economy and society from fully recovering.

Flying is not a right, and the case for restricting it to vaccinated people is straightforward: The federal government is the sole entity that can regulate the terms and conditions of airline safety. And although air-filtration systems and mask requirements make transmission of the coronavirus unlikely during any given passenger flight, infected people can spread it when they leave the airport and take off their mask.

This needs to happen right now.

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The First Two Hours Of MTV

Where were you on August 1, 1981?

The video starts off with a Space Shuttle countdown, the iconic launch of Apollo 11, and the planting of the MTV flag, during which the famous phrase “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll” was uttered. The first music video to air was The Buggles song “Video Killed the Radio Star.” The new VJs then introduced themselves, and from there the world as we knew it was no more. You probably know the Buggles video for “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first video ever aired on MTV, but do you know the second?

Just seeing the bumpers for MTV is taking me back to being in high school with music and music videos being everything.

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A Crisis for the Unvaccinated

Aaron E. Carroll, the chief health officer for Indiana University, echoes a lot of my thoughts about mandates in a guest column for The New York Times.

Many may read the C.D.C.’s continued focus on masking and distancing as an acknowledgment that the vaccines don’t work well enough. Leaning heavily on masking and distancing is what we did when we didn’t have vaccinations. Today, such recommendations are less likely to succeed because they are more likely to be followed by those already primed to listen — the vaccinated — and to be fought and ignored by those who aren’t.

Hospitalizations and deaths are rising in some areas not because someone didn’t wear a mask at the ballgame. They’re occurring because too many people are not immunized.

This is why I’ve advocated vaccine mandates. I don’t understand how we can mandate wearing masks but not getting vaccinations.

These morons who won’t get vaccinated are not killing those of us who are vaccinated… they are killing others like themselves–too stupid to save themselves. We are right on the verge of massive celebrations and now we can’t quite get over the hump because of the unvaccinated.

For some strange reason that makes no sense, they don’t get that for them the pandemic has not changed. In all the places with low numbers of vaccinated people, many of them are catching COVID, getting dangerously sick, being put on ventilators, and dying.

I would beseech the Biden Administration to issue a vaccination mandate, except I know they won’t.

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“The only people who are not vaccinated are just assholes.”

Jade Scipioni, writing at CNBC, reports on the comments from Charles Barkley, a guy who famously said he wasn’t a role model.

“Yes, I’m vaccinated,” says NBA legend Charles Barkley. “Everybody should be vaccinated. Period.”

“The only people who are not vaccinated are just assholes,” he says.

The 58-year-old NBA Hall-of-Famer says he personally thinks sports leagues should force players to get vaccinated. “Can you imagine if one of these guys that are not vaccinated, if they get one of these players’ kids, wives, girlfriends, moms and dads sick and they die over some unnecessary conspiracy bullshit,” Barkley says. “I think that would be tragic.”

Well, he’s not wrong. Vaccine mandates are the only solution that will work.

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Defining Domestic Terrorism

When Capitol police officer Daniel Hodges appeared before Congress and was asked why he referred to the pro-Trump rioters of January 6 as terrorists, he simply read the US Code that defines terrorism.

Smart.

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The Cleveland Guardians

When I first saw it, I didn’t love it. After a bit, it’s growing on me more and more, especially after learning its origins. I have never been to Cleveland and have never heard of the ‘Guardians of Traffic’ or even noticed them in Major League (a comedy about the Cleveland Indians, among other things). Also, I read that Corey Barnes made a good case for ‘Guardians’ a year ago.

Apparently, the Guardians was one of several fan favorites going into the announcement. The name is inspired by the four art deco statues, the Guardians Of Traffic, that appear on a bridge near the team’s stadium. It’s also apparent the team wanted something that worked well with the “dians” part of the original name. I would have bet they were going to go with “Spiders” for historical and obvious cool logo reasons.

However, the new logo looks decent. It’s not Seattle Kraken-good, but it’s a cool script, even though it kind of looks like the Milwaukee Tool logo. The winged “G” baseball (the “Guardian’s Fastball,” per the team) reminds me of a bad video game graphic, and I dislike it a lot, but it isn’t the Chief Wahoo caricature, so there’s that.

I do like the new ‘C’ mark. It’s a blend of the current ‘C’ mark mixed with the new Guardians type. It’s far better than the “Fastball” logo. The jerseys with Cleveland across the front should have been in the same font as the Guardians script, so it kind of throws the whole look off.

Doing a complete brand change is difficult. I think they pulled it off pretty well. Next up… hey there, Washington Football Team …what’s it gonna be? Red Tails? Renegades? Redhawks? Generals?

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Randy Arozarena with a Little League Homerun

Randy Arozarena hits a single and then comes around to score because of two errors by the third baseman fielding a throw and then making a bad throw to homeplate. Even worse a second throw to home by the pitcher trying to get Arozarena who’s kept running the entire time is wild and he’s easily safe. The Cleveland Baseball Club looks like the Bad News Bears.

Just terrible baseball.

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Back to the Future with RSS

Nicky Case explains RSS and why it was so damn good:

Imagine an open version of Twitter or Facebook News Feed, with no psy-op ads, owned by no oligopoly, manipulated by no algorithm, and all under your full control.

Imagine a version of the newsletter where you don’t have to worry about them selling your email to scammers, labyrinth-like unsubscribe pages, or stuffing your inbox with ever more crap.

Now imagine this existed and was extremely popular 15 years ago. Then we got suckered by the shiny walled gardens.

Well, it’s time to make like a tree and go back to the future, baby!

I don’t know about you, but RSS has never really left. I use Inoreader and it’s just the best.

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Anti-vaccine groups changing into ‘dance parties’ on Facebook to avoid detection

Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny, reporting for NBC News:

Some anti-vaccination groups on Facebook are changing their names to euphemisms like “Dance Party” or “Dinner Party,” and using code words to fit those themes in order to skirt bans from Facebook, as the company attempts to crack down on misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

The groups, which are largely private and unsearchable but retain large user bases accrued during the years Facebook permitted anti-vaccination content, also swap out language to fit the new themes and provide code legends, according to screenshots provided to NBC News by multiple members of the groups.

One major “dance party” group has more than 40,000 followers and has stopped allowing new users amid public scrutiny. The backup group for “Dance Party,” known as “Dinner Party” and created by the same moderators, has more than 20,000 followers.

If NBC News can identify them, then Facebook can absolutely find them. I’m pretty convinced Facebook is aware of them already and letting it go on. Why? So they can ignore it and keep people on the platform and also say look we are removing the anti-vax content. It is highly infuriating and another reason why I’m seriously considering removing myself from Facebook.

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“I’m sorry, but it’s too late”

Dennis Pillion, writing at AL.com:

Dr. Brytney Cobia said Monday that all but one of her COVID patients in Alabama did not receive the vaccine. The vaccinated patient, she said, just needed a little oxygen and is expected to fully recover. Some of the others are dying.

“I’m admitting young healthy people to the hospital with very serious COVID infections,” wrote Cobia, a hospitalist at GrandviewMedical Center in Birmingham, in an emotional Facebook post-Sunday. “One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late.”

Dr. Cobia treats Covid-19 patients in a state that ranks last in the US in fully vaccinated adults. This story should be spread far and wide. I know I need more empathy in my life, but it is really hard to muster it up for these poor people.