Year: 2021

Anthrax Anniversary

Steven Guccione

Sort of lost in shuffle of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 was the 20th anniversary of the 2001 Anthrax Attacks. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, on 9/18, letters containing anthrax were sent to several US officials and media offices. Five people died and many were infected but survived. The story is complicated with lots of unusual twists. No one was ever charged but links went back to military bioweapons labs. One person of interest, Steven Hatfill, successfully sued several media outlets and the Us government for naming him in connection to the attacks. Oddly Dr Hatfill’s name has turned up recently as an advisor to the Trump Administration in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. From his wiki:

“Hatfill has recently spoken out on the COVID-19 pandemic on right-wing media outlets (e.g., Stephen Bannon’s War Room: Pandemic,[69] The Epoch Times, and Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.[70]) In these venues, he presents himself as “an MD” and as “a virologist”. He has also criticised US and other nations’ exclusion of hydroxychloroquine for early treatment of COVID-19, suggesting that the low fatality rates experienced by some nations is the result of early use of the drug.”

End of an Era: Dry Creek Cafe Closing

Steven Guccione

Lots of little things mark the end of Old Austin for me. Most are closing of certain bars and restaurants. I’m still haven’t gotten over the closing of West Lynn Cafe. Just read in Texas Monthly that Dry Creek is shutting down. I did not know it had been there 68 years, but that is easy to believe. To call it ramshackle is an understatement. I remember being a bit afraid the entire place would collapse at any moment. I only went there once, in probably the late 1980s. Of course I remember the proprietor, Sarah. I made the mistake of asking for clarification of her “bring the damn bottles down” command and was treated like the clueless fool that I was. I’m not exactly sure why I never went back. A bit off my beaten path. But I drove past many times and it was always good to know that it was still there. An article from Texas Monthly and the jukebox playlist from Spotify.

Dry Creek Cafe, an Old-school Dive Bar on Lake Austin, Is Closing After 68 Years

Doomsday Bunkers

Steven Guccione

Looking at houses (on line) in AZ we saw a place with a 200 sq.ft. “fully detached basement”. It was in the middle of the yard of an otherwise unremarkable house. I asked our agent about it, assuming it was an old 1950s bomb shelter. He opined that it was a storm cellar (he is from the Midwest). Storm cellar in Phoenix? I think I might have a new understanding of this modern home feature.

I made more than $1.7 million in a week selling doomsday bunkers. You know who doesn’t buy them? Democrats.

Hot Cheese

Steven Guccione

We are still doing the pandemic grocery pickup thing. Sometimes you get things substituted. Sometimes you end up with stuff a little unexpected. Just tried a slice of this cheese. Wife bought it with a coupon. Packaged like lots of other cheeses we have bought. I didn’t notice the skull image, or the markings placing it on the high end of the heat scale. Now that I’m thinking it I have heard of Carolina Reaper Peppers. Hottest pepper in the world (since 2012)? You don’t say. Grown by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum? I don’t see any legitimate peacetime use for this sort of cheese.