Pen-pricks

• California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday it is time for Californians to prepare for returning to normal life after 13 months of shutdown and masks. I’ve only benefitted in one way during this entire pandemic. Your Internet connectivity is fantastic after your second Covid shot.

• The FDA released statistics trying to justify the Johnson & Johnson halt that left many people astonished. Six people out of seven million vaccinations got blood clots. Deciding to shut down the whole country over odds like that is the same critical thinking that keeps the Lotto tickets moving.

• Bernie Madoff died in North Carolina prison at age 82 on Tuesday. In a rotating con game, he raised billions from new investors, paid interest to old investors and skimmed off the middle. There should be a statue of him in Washington honoring him as the Father of Social Security.

• Los Angeles Police went on tactical alert Wednesday in the wake of the Minneapolis riots that threatened to spread to other big cities. It helps to be a sloppy bachelor. During last summer’s George Floyd rioting, one looter broke into my apartment, looked around and then tossed me a $20.

• GOP senators called for a boycott of Major League Baseball after the All-Star Game was moved to Denver over the Georgia voting law. The Republicans have now called for boycotts of MLB, MLS, the NBA, the NFL, and NASCAR. Pretty soon the only sport Republicans will be able to watch are My Pillow fights.