Looking for higher ground

October 22nd is on a Thursday this year. What do you know?

RIP to the Amazing Randi. His superpower was skeptical common sense.

Chris Christie should have worn a mask. He says so himself. Nationally, the retransmission index is almost all red. Most states are above R1. To see how this has changed over time click on the ‘3 Months Ago’ button and then work back to the present. This is what a building wave looks like.

Garrett Graff lists 12 things that could go wrong if hackers try to disrupt the election.

Pat Robertson says God told him that Trump will win and then an asteroid will hit the earth. Not sure which is worse but stay tuned.

And a Banksy painting just sold for almost $9 million dollars at auction. And it didn’t self destruct!

Search for “follow the money”

It’s Wednesday. Happy hump day. And happy quinquennial World Statistics Day.

The Franklin Park Zoo has a new addition. Very cute.

If you search for something in Safari on your iPhone, the default search engine is Google. Probably most searches are done this way and it’s a highly profitable arrangement for both Apple and Google. It’s also the focus of an antitrust probe.

When politicians want to seem genuine they eat fake food. Because that’s what real people eat. (Joe Biden seems to go to Dairy Queen a lot.)

What, exactly, is an “Electoral Intrusion?” And capitalized, no less. I guess we’ll find out on Sunday night.

And, what year did the word psychobabble appear? If you guessed 1975, you would be not wrong. (The Merriam Webster Time Traveller is a good way to waste a little bit of time.)

Hello, is this thing on?

Today is Tuesday. Two weeks until the election.

Even with Brady and Gronk as headliners, for the Buccaneers it’s all about the defense.

Another debate? Why? What’s the point? At least there won’t be any crosstalk. It’s still an open question whether the president will even show up. I’m guessing he will. It’s crunch time. If you value your sanity, now might be a good time to shut down all social media. And I know that there’s more at stake in voting than a sticker. But I still want my sticker.

Marc Hurwitz reports that the Beachcomber on Wollaston Beach may be turned into a park. It would be a very small park. But anything would be an improvement over the way it looks now.

The president is threatening to fire Dr. Fauci, who he now calls “a disaster.” Just a week ago the Trump campaign was trying to exploit Fauci’s high credibility to boost the president’s image. I guess it’s opposite day in the White House again.

And apparently the turkeys are too big this year. That’s a problem, how?

It starts with an earthquake

Monday once again. Today’s word is quotidian.

Here’s one more thing to worry about this election season: a refrigerator-sized space-rock, hurtling towards us at more than 25,000 mph. But don’t worry. Neil deGrasse Tyson doesn’t think it will destroy the entire world.

As we prepare for the third wave, the former FDA Commissioner says buckle up. The next few months may be the worst. Check. Also, Dr. Fauci weighed in on 60 Minutes about how easy it was for the president to get infected. Check. And there’s a crisis in chess and it’s all because of the the pandemic. Check.

AT&T might not have the best 5G options of all the carriers. But that’s OK, says the CEO. It’s because they’re so focused on 6G.

Expect a new Springsteen album this week. And a ‘making of’ film on Apple TV. Here’s the trailer. The band sounds great.

And Geoffrey Fowler googled Google and found that it’s getting worse at search (while getting better, apparently, at generating profit.)

Coming down to earth

Sunday. A day of rest. It’s Chuck Berry‘s birthday.

First the crash at McGoo’s and now another ‘drive-through’ in a different part of South Boston. I see a crackdown coming.

Massport was one of those agencies that seemed to have lots of money. The pandemic changed that.

Those football crowd noises that we hear on TV are not heard on the field. It’s quiet out there, and that’s leaving the defense at the mercy of the hard count.

Love these photos by Cambridge photographer Rosamond Purcel. Sometimes it’s the ordinary things that make the best subjects.

And it’s looking more and more like the New York Post is the new Wikileaks and Rudy Guiliani is now playing the role of Julian Assange. Nyet?