Out in the cold on a hot day

Sunday. The first anti-matter particle, the positron, originally theorized by Paul Dirac, was discovered on this day in 1932 by Carl Anderson, who won a Noble Prize for it.

Did photographer David Ryan get into the dryer to take this photo? Is the woman loading the dryer so caught up in her work that she doesn’t notice a camera inside pointing at her? So many questions.

Retail, car rental, airlines, restaurants and communications are some of the major sectors that have been hit by bankruptcies due to the pandemic. The employees affected have been surviving economically through a federal unemployment supplement, which ended this week. Now Congress is bickering about what to do next. When our representatives deliver results, we like them. These days we don’t like them very much. I suppose that’s especially true if you’re out of a job.

Red Auerbach’s record of all-time wins has been eclipsed by Doc Rivers, another one-time Celtics coach, now with the Clippers. “Any time your name is with Red, you feel very fortunate,” he told ESPN.

There’s more drama around TikTok. Apparently the Microsoft deal is being reviewed by the White House pending any action on a potential US ban. Tic. Toc.

And at least Americans aren’t the only idiots in the world. The AP reports crowds marching in Berlin without masks demanding an end to the pandemic.

Headlong, eyes closed

Today is Thursday. It’s National Refreshment Day.

In Poland, they’re playing soccer in empty stadiums. But fans will find a way.

Under the proposed Massachusetts police reform bill being rushed through the legislature, current or former law enforcement officers are prohibited from serving on the law enforcement Standards and Training Commission. That’s a little weird, don’t you think? I certainly do, and so do these two prominent attorneys. Also, Eddie Crispin, president of MAMLEO, weighs in on the bill’s streamlined due process provisions. The issues involved are important but this legislation, he says, “cannot, and should not, be a rushed product.”

And defunding the police, as a political concept, is not generally supported by the public, although the Black Lives Matter movement is. It’s an election year so expect to see these two things to be conflated and weaponized.

Bruce Schneider takes a high-level view of the implications of the big Twitter hack.

And, someday, our whole life will be built around the computercirca 1974. Despite those thick glasses Arthur C. Clarke had amazing vision.

Facing an uphill battle

Thank God it’s Wednesday. The high point of the week.

Bruce Mohl checks the temperature of the state Republican Party. The prognosis does not look good. In fact it’s a Code Red.

Universal Hub has the latest on Cumberland Farms’ initial victory in the courts to allow a ballot question that would greatly increase the availability of beer and wine in grocery stores.

The Post profiles the two astronauts scheduled to lift off in the SpaceX capsule today. Live coverage of the launch is here.

Las Vegas is getting ready to open up again. Not sure how you play cards without touching the cards, though.

And virtual crowd noise is coming. Can virtual face painting be far behind?

A day late and a dollar short

Wednesday. Halfway to Friday. And it’s International Darwin Day. Evolve.

LAFD is buying an electric fire truck. Charge those lines.

Supporters say that Deval Patrickjust needs to get known“. Really? I think it’s a little bit late in the game for introductions, especially if you’re one of the guys that doesn’t have a billion dollars to blow on ads. UPDATE: He dropped out later in the day.

Part of the enjoyment of a football game on TV is the flow of game data. It has to be displayed in a way that informs but doesn’t overload the viewer or distract them from the actual game. And it has to look good. Some networks are better at this than others. ESPN is the worst. CBS is good and Fox is the best, in my opinion. John Teti, writing at The Outsider, examines how Fox changes its look to stay up to date.

The coronavirus cruise ship looks like a petri dish experiment. A single infected person came on board. Now, 175, more than a third of the passengers, are infected. And even though the confirmed cases are quarantined, new infections are still popping up – 40 as of this week.

The Globe has a small mention of a “malware attack” that brought down a network at Children’s Hospital. Sounds like a ransomware incident. The affected system is associated with a regional group of pediatricians and is not the primary network at the hospital. It’s still down as of this morning.

And Andrew Yang is out. So I guess this means that Norm MacDonald’s endorsement is up for grabs.

After a nationwide search

We made it to Friday. It’s a cold one. The Cherry Orchard had its opening on this day in 1904. The gun did not fire.

Meet Scientist Barbie. And she’s not the only one challenging gender stereotypes around girls and science.

If Governor Baker follows through on his proposed law change allowing an outsider to run the State Police, it could bring big changes to the agency. Sure, there are benefits to knowing the culture from the inside. But being restricted to insiders only, as the MSP is, only guarantees that the culture will stagnate. Other large forces, like Boston PD and NYPD to name two, have benefited from bringing in leaders from the outside, alternating with insiders. It’s time.

Your car may know you better than your friends do.

A prominent chef says to forget dry January. He wants us to drink by the bottle, not the glass. That seems like a lot of drinking. But don’t worry. Science says it probably won’t kill you.

And apparently all sorts of bad behavior can be rationalized as long as it leads to victory for our side.

A thought experiment

It’s Wednesday, the 352nd day of the year. It’s also Answer The Phone Like Buddy The Elf Day.

Fallon Sherrock is the first woman to win the world championship of darts. She beat Ted Evetts for the prize.

As a research experiment, the Massachusetts Housing Partnership ran the numbers and concluded that it would be possible to get a lot of people off the roads by adding denser housing around T stations. The report doesn’t address the transit system capability to handle all those extra people other than to say that the added riders will “demand — and help pay for — better and more frequent transit service”. Simple as that.

News flash: Lobster thief caught red handed.

Ted Gioia has released his best 100 albums of 2019. His are far and away the most eclectic and high quality ‘best of ‘music lists available. (It looks like someone made a shared iTunes playlist of this year’s selections.)

And the wife of the vice-president of Zimbabwe has got some explaining to do.