A clear (and more thoughtful than usual)…

…discusion of vaccine "passports" from Wired:

Covid-19 Vaccine Passports Are Coming. What Will That Mean?

I had a WHO yellow card back in the 50's, for travel to Europe, but I don't recall anybody ever asking me to produce it.

It's beginning to look like some form of COVID vaccination certification is inevitable. Indeed, it's likely some people will require not one but several such documents. So the reasonable thing to do is prepare to live with it.

But I continue to believe that, in the present age of digital surveillance, this will not end well.

"Escaping in Rhode Island" sounds like a sitcom

The future is uncertain for a 1,600-pound steer that enjoyed an extended reprieve from the slaughterhouse after escaping in Rhode Island.

And cue the Hollywood ending:

"We don't know where the steer will end up, but we hope he is safe and will be happy,'' the sanctuary announced on social media.

Wait, "quint" means five, doesn't it?

BIG CHUNKS OF CORPORATE TAX CUTS END UP IN EXECUTIVES’ POCKETS

"…as Ohrn notes, the average CEO pay at S&P 500 companies quintupled between 1980 and 2010. And it’s why it’s set to ascend even higher into the stratosphere.

Meanwhile…

In the year 1980, the United States minimum wage was $3.10.

This is equivalent to $10.53 in 2021 dollars.

The  U.S. minimum wage in 2010 was $7.25, and it's the same today.

So all those tax cuts…

First things first is always a good idea

Your COVID vaccine card: What to do if you lose it, and the right way to laminate it

First off, if you are on a two-dose vaccine regimen, don’t get it laminated until you receive your second dose and your card is filled out.

No extra charge

Guy returns to his car after shopping to find 15,000 bees inside

Backers of vax "passports" take note

Exclusion by design: how national ID systems make social protection inaccessible to vulnerable populations

To be effective and serve their universal aims, such programmes must be accessible to all without discrimination. However, a growing number of programmes require their beneficiaries to produce a form of ID in order to unlock access – a requirement that invariably reduces or denies access to welfare to certain parts of the population. This can be for a variety of reasons, almost all of which come down to the fact that some categories of individuals cannot obtain a piece of ID in the first place: specific marginalised groups are by  default or by design excluded from ID access, either because distribution logistics fail or technical features of the system make certain requirements impossible to evidence for some. For example, ID relying on biometrics may inevitably exclude the elderly and manual workers, whose fingerprints fade over time.

 (Which would include me—the fingerprint thing. Mine fade to uselessness in the winter.)

There are a lot of good reasons to be wary of immunity passports and one of them is this: that they create yet one more governmentally endorsed division between haves and have-nots. 

OK, now, wait a minute

COVID-19 and a secret haircut club brought back the White House barbershop

The initial secret operation — a source of intrigue and humor among Trump’s staff — employed a female Asian-American duo that sources say were recommended to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ wife, Debbie Meadows, by the wife of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Four former White House aides said Meadows’ role in establishing the speakeasy coiffeur was widely known to his staff.

A secret haircut club? Really?  Is that why these guys need security clearances? Do they do it in a sound-proof room? Do they burn the clippings?  So many questions.

The monkey's back and doing pretty well

With King Kong, a little swagger returns to the box office

“It’s a good omen that the tastes of the consumer have not shifted so much that there’s no possibility of restarting the movie business,” says Joshua Grode, chief executive of Legendary Entertainment.

 Or maybe it's just an omen that returning to any little bit of whatever normalcy was is welcome these days.

Why I'm confused (well, one reason anyway)

Opponents of the new Georgia voting law are calling for boycotts of Georgia-based businesses such as Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines and Home Depot, accusing them of not doing enough to prevent the measure.

I haven't knowingly patronized any one of those three companies since some time in a previous century but hey, I'll call it a boycott if boycotts work (which they rarely do).

I'm confused, though, about why. I thought the idea was to keep big corporations out of government. But now we want them in?

Cocaine stew

Police say they found mafia fugitive on YouTube, posting cooking tutorials

Marc Feren Claude Biart, an alleged member of the 'Ndrangheta criminal organization based in southern Italy, reportedly hid his face in the cooking videos but failed to hide his tattoos, leading to his identification.

At least it was only a tweet

Strategic Command reveals cryptic military tweet was (literal) toddler gibberish

Within 10 minutes, the tweet drew at least 12,400 "likes," 9,000 retweets and lots of snark and speculation, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

If you are unaware of mathematics it's time to shape up

April, the month that begins tomorrow (and this is not an April Fools joke) is National Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month (Yes! Statistics too!).

And don't think the fact that April is also National Second Chance Month gets you off the hook here because National Second Chance month is for people who've been in prison for breaking some law and being unaware of mathematics (or statistics!) is not against the law. Yet.

Almost close enough to scrape the paint

NASA gives all clear: Earth safe from asteroid for 100 years

“There’s a certain sense of satisfaction to see it removed from the risk list.”

Right. But it will come to about 20,000 miles in 2029, which is a squeaker in astronomical terms. 

Buzzword alert

Siloed

As in, we're all getting siloed by Twitter, Facebook, et al. Meaning, divided into groups.

Or…

Bringing Women, Peace and Security Online: Mainstreaming Gender in Responses to Online Extremism

First, there is a tendency to view relevant issues like the digital gender divide narrowly, framing them as development issues and siloing them accordingly.

On the subject of misinformation

America divided: Why it's dangerous that public distrust in civic institutions is growing

All the while, trust in government and media has eroded…

Distrust in government is more American than apple pie. Apple pie—and pie apples—were imported from Europe.  The government—the U.S. government—was invented right here. And even the people who invented it didn't trust it. They stuffed the Constitution with checks and balances and then, for good measure, tacked on a Bill of Rights.

So, chill, folks. There are a lot of things about America that we could be improving—and we should get at it—but "I'm from the government; I'm here to help you" is very likely the longest-running gag line in history.

Internet services would be a much better fit

Postal Banking, Alcohol Delivery Could Save the U.S. Postal Service, Experts Say

A national default ISP, encryption that works for everybody, a government-sanctioned digital currency, and fewer experts.