Because the Walmart at 15th and Hillsborough (a.k.a. Supercenter #5964) is a bike-able distance from home, has Coke Zero (a vice that makes you productive can’t possibly be a vice) at the best per-unit price, and reasonably well-stocked “ethnic” and “specialty” food sections, I’m there about once a week.
And since I go on bike, I see everything that happens in the parking lot. And at a Walmart — a Florida Walmart — that can be a lot.
But I was really surprised when I saw a pair of jeans, fairly neatly laid out — just as you might lay out your jeans on a dresser for the next day — on a trash can, and on top of them, a black cloth mask, also laid out as if on a dresser.
It was in the middle of asking myself “Now why would someone need to remove their pants and mouth covering in a Walmart parking lot?” that I figured out the answer.
From WFLA News Channel 8, Titusville, Florida (north of Cocoa Beach, northwest of Cape Canaveral):
Deputies say they were on active patrol when they spotted the flames on Craig Avenue in Titusville around 2:12 a.m. on Thursday.
According to police, the fire was in front of a man’s home who they visited around five times in the past six months for illegal burns. Officials say the fires ranged from being on the sidewalk, to taking up the entire street.
Officials say when they went to speak with suspect Scott Taylor he was sitting in his front yard holding a sword in his hand and had a knife in his waistband. Police say he was also actively drinking in front of them then began chugging from a half-gallon-sized Captain Morgan spiced rum.
Authorities say he dropped the knife and sword when asked but could not provide an answer as to why he started a fire in the roadway. He was arrested and taken to the Titusville Police Department.
The police encountered him at two in the morning, which means that the booking photo was probably taken at least an hour later. Very few people photograph well at that time — especially after drinking.
Do the police not give you “do-overs” for your booking photo? I figure that if you can ask to have your driver’s license photo re-taken, you should also have the same right for your mugshot.
Note to self: In case I succumb to the mysterious forces that cause residents to “go Florida,” I should work on my “mugshot face”.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic, according to federal health data released Saturday, as its theme park resorts again started asking visitors to wear masks indoors.
The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the state Legislature, has limited local officials’ ability to impose restrictions meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks when classes resume next month.
The numbers
Here are the numbers that Google reported last night, around 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 31st…
Tap to view at full size.
…and here’s what the New York Times is reporting this morning (Sunday, August 1st):
In the American Catholic magazine Commonweal,theologian and philosopher David Bentley Hart puts into words what many of us who didn’t grow up in the U.S. education system have internalized:Americans are, of course, the most thoroughly and passively indoctrinated people on earth. One major consequence of this indoctrination is that many people treat freedom as being able to yell “You can’t tell me what to do!” and forgetting that freedom also means taking on responsibilities. Many Americans know the adage “Freedom isn’t free”, but are a little unclear on the coin used to pay for it.
The result of this simplistic approach to freedom is summarized in Ryan Cooper’s article in The Week (featured in the screenshot above): America’s narrow idea of freedom is literally killing us. He poses the question “Which country is more free during the pandemic: the United States or Vietnam?”, and to borrow a popular internet clickbait phrase, the answer will shock you.
Because the Walmart at 15th and Hillsborough (a.k.a. Supercenter #5964) is a bike-able distance from home, has Coke Zero (a vice that makes you productive can’t possibly be a vice) at the best per-unit price, and reasonably well-stocked “ethnic” and “specialty” food sections, I’m there about once a week.
