Close to 1,000 people have gotten measles in South Carolina since October. Governor Henry McMaster, who is anti-gay, anti-union, and a moron of the highest order, proudly announced the state is part of the largest surge in measles cases in the U.S. in three decades. Over 90% of the stricken were unvaccinated. How unusual is this? I think it’s the first time I’ve ever used the word “stricken.”
Last week, U.S. FDA Commissioner Martin Makary urged Americans to get vaccinated for measles. “I think everyone in this administration has been pretty clear that the best way to prevent measles is to get your kid vaccinated against measles,” he said.
Everyone? Pretty clear? Ya think?
I wrote the above yesterday, Tuesday, 2/17, before seeing the Times today. The headline on the lead story is: Vaccine Makers Curtail Research and Cut Jobs. “There will be less invention, investment and innovation in vaccines generally, across all the companies,” Dr. Stephen Hoge, the president of Moderna, said.
“The Trump administration said it was not discouraging innovation.” That’s the tell. The lie tells you the administration is acting in bad faith and against the public interest. They are idiots, but not idiots enough not to know they need to lie about it.
Robert Duvall, dead at 95. One of our favorite actors. Did you see The Apostle? In one scene he is just walking up the street, but he’s full of anticipation about getting his own church, and you can feel it in his walk.
Above, he is with his wife of 21 years, Luciana, 41 years his junior, to the day. (They shared Jan. 5 as their birthdays. Saved on cake.)
Rest in peace, Consigliere.
In yesterday’s puzzle, two crossing answers were ALBINO RAT (“White rodent often used in lab research”) and ALBANIANS (“Residents of Tirana”). So the obvious question that arises is Are there albino Albanians? Will have to get back to you.
Here’s a little fatty. Awwww. . . .
The puzzle was based on the old (and bad) pun playing on baroque and broke. You know, if it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it. BAROQUE was the central answer, and there were four embedded musical theme answers that were split (broken) by a black square. For example, reading across the third line you get ALBINORAT ORION, and there’s a black square after the T, “breaking” the oratorio. That happened with FUGUE, CHORALE, and SONATA.
Sam’s wonderful viola teacher, Mr. Stewart, would come by the house for his lessons, and I noticed once that he had a new car, a Hyundai Sonata. So I remarked on how appropriate that was for him. (He’s been a member of the NJ Symphony forever.) He gave me a blank look that said “What?” So I said, “You know . . . Sonata . . . music?” And he lit up and said he hadn’t realized that.
That’s him, below (without much hair). We still see him when we go to concerts and sometimes catch him up on how Sam’s doing. To make him feel good, we lied to him that Sam’s a member of the Detroit Philharmonic. What are the chances of him checking?
At 1D, for “Distance from end to end” the answer was SPAN. Here’s a fun song called “All Around My Hat,” by the appropriate band, courtesy of Son Volt.
With a name like Mac Forehand, how can this guy not be playing tennis? Also, how can this jump, below, only net him the silver medal (in the aptly named Big Air event)? Norway’s Tormod Frostad copped the gold. And that’s a good name for what he does.
At 27D today, the clue was “Pips.” What? The answer turned out to be HUMDINGERS. SRSLY? Had no idea. I guess if you say to someone “You’re a real pip,” it’s like saying “You’re a humdinger.”
Whatever. Here’s a song by Kevn Kinney. (Yeah, you heard me — there’s no I in Kevn. Like team.)
We have begun paying attention to the UMich men’s basketball team. They are ranked #1 nationally (!), and beat a tough Purdue squad last night. They face a major test against Duke (#3) on Saturday. Two of their starters are orthodox Jews (no they’re not). Center Aday Mara is turning heads. He’s 7’3″ and from Spain. They seem to have a legit crack at the national title, kinehora. Go Blue!
Enough. See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 