Assembled in the USA from 100% Chinese parts.

Live feed of the eruption in Iceland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faH3xrKyP_o

Live stream from drone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfDiffbPk6Y

I am hip deep in analog images from the 1970s to the mid-2000s. I'm working on converting them to digital now.

Two Paul Simon lyrics come to mind at the moment:

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, A time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories; They're all that's left you
(1968)

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
Give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama, don't take my Kodachrome away
(1972)

Today, 7 June, is World Chocolate Day. Take appropriate action.

#WorldChocolateDay
#WorldChocolateDay2020

Boston-area transit riders: If you've used the MBTA's services in the last month, the T would like to hear your opinions.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelSsncCc_l_FWr7dEadouEWV7tNeDY9vYEh03iJLvxD6DRdg/viewform?fbclid=IwAR1bs4pS_FbiTbqDeWnWq7omiAY4Ivlsf3rsCMmYan6a4p81CuTfHMMMPxQ

From https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/national-nurses-week-deals-2020-free-food:

Throughout Nurse Appreciation Week, which starts with National Nurses Day on Wednesday, May 6, restaurants throughout the United States are offering free meals, coffees, and deep discounts to the nurses and healthcare workers who are busting their asses daily during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below, you'll find deals from places like Corner Bakery, Grimaldi's, Cumberland Farms, Steak 'N Shake, and tons of other chains that are doing their very small part to say thanks."

Raised from comments elsewhere:

I have never been a Green Beret, and I have never attempted a coup, though who knows where the future will take me. Nevertheless, I did assume — naïvely! erroneously! — that the first rule of organizing a coup is that you do not tweet about it. And doesn’t it require a lot of planning? Based on my many years spent playing successive versions of Civilization, I think that if you want to capture a country’s capital city, you are going to need more than a boat, some guns, and 62 men of dubious military skill."

(https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/mercenaries-arrested-after-alleged-failed-coup-in-venezuela.html)

Edit to add quotes from a somewhat more serious article:

From https://apnews.com/79346b4e428676424c0e5669c80fc310:

Planning for the incursion began after an April 30, 2019, barracks revolt by a cadre of soldiers who swore loyalty to Maduro’s would-be replacement, Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader recognized by the U.S. and some 60 other nations as Venezuela’s rightful leader. Contrary to U.S. expectations at the time, key Maduro aides never joined with the opposition and the government quickly quashed the uprising.

A few weeks later, some soldiers and politicians involved in the failed rebellion retreated to the JW Marriott in Bogota, Colombia. The hotel was a center of intrigue among Venezuelan exiles. For this occasion, conference rooms were reserved for what one participant described as the “Star Wars summit of anti-Maduro goofballs” — military deserters accused of drug trafficking, shady financiers and former Maduro officials seeking redemption.

Among those angling in the open lobby was Jordan Goudreau, an American citizen and three-time Bronze Star recipient for bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a medic in U.S. Army special forces, according to five people who met with the former soldier.

Those he interacted with in the U.S. and Colombia described him in interviews alternately as a freedom-loving patriot, a mercenary and a gifted warrior scarred by battle and in way over his head.

and

“He was always chasing the golden BB,” said Drew White, a former business partner at Silvercorp, using military slang for a one-in-a-million shot. White said he broke with his former special forces comrade last fall when Goudreau asked for help raising money to fund his regime change initiative.

“As supportive as you want to be as a friend, his head wasn’t in the world of reality,” said White. “Nothing he said lined up.”

This woman is evidently confused about the nature of the society in which she is currently living.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/woman-who-allegedly-didnt-wear-a-mask-at-shunfu-mart-charged-with-offences

Paramjeet Kaur, 40, who made headlines on Sunday after videos emerged of her claiming to be a “sovereign” when confronted at the market, allegedly failed to wear a mask when she was outside her home, as required by law, on more than one occasion."

In videos circulating online, the Singaporean, who was born here, can be seen claiming to be a “sovereign” while in a heated argument with passers-by.

“It means I have nothing to do with the police, it means I have no contract with the police. They have no say over me,” she says.

A man, who is off-screen, responds: “This doesn’t even make any sense. If you’re a person in Singapore, you have to follow the rules of Singapore.” But the woman replies: “That’s the thing – I’m not a person, I’m ‘we the people’.”

"A report by Chinese evening paper Lianhe Wanbao on Tuesday quotes a woman who identified herself as Kaur’s mother saying that Kaur is a physiotherapist who had lived in Australia for 20 years before returning to Singapore last year."

TIL that the "sovereign citizen" movement is a thing in Australia as well as the States.

Singapore, not so much.

If you are a Massachusetts resident currently without health insurance, this is a reminder that the special open enrollment period has been extended again, this time until May 25th.

https://www.mahealthconnector.org/

The Big Blue Bug in Providence is wearing a mask now! I only learned this week that it has an official name: Nibbles Woodaway.

The industry press did not disappoint! Article with details here: https://www.mypmp.net/2020/05/01/nibbles-woodaway-dons-a-face-mask/

I was never a huge fan of the airline but as is usual with airlines I'm on the side of more competition.

From https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47905089:

Passengers are stranded in India and around the world after Jet Airways suspended all international flights.

Flights from London, Paris and Amsterdam are among those grounded amid fears about the survival of India's largest private airline.

The airline cancelled all international flights until Monday when, according to reports, it will meet its lenders again to try to secure funding.