Erik Loomis has discovered the phenomenon of right-wing idiots buying fake vaccination cards. In New York, at least, I hope the fucks buy them by the dozen and waste plenty of bitcoin on them, because a fake or real vaccination card is not going to get you into a Bills game.
The Excelsior Pass, our vaccination passport, is based on an app that pulls in state records to determine if you’re fully vaccinated (14 days past your last shot), had a negative PCR test in the last 3 days, or a negative antigen test in the last 6 hours. Cards have nothing to do with it — it’s all based on electronic records kept by the state.
Is it going to be perfect? Probably not. Will some people cheat it? Probably. But the procedure isn’t going to be something as boneheaded as showing a paper card along with a ticket to get into a Yankees game.
Perhaps that will cause a tear to drop in some bare-shouldered Karen’s vaccination scar, but the mystery’s met.
Ken
The most imperfect part of it is that it’s an app, so requires a smartphone or computer, and not everyone has those. Or will the app be used by the Yankees ticket-takers, not the patron?
germy
Loomis doesn’t like paper.
So he wants me to have an app on my phone, just because some RW idiots in a focus group want fake vaccine cards.
I like my paper card. It’s right in my wallet.
I don’t want a fucking app
The same people who’ve been warning everyone not to post photos of their vaccine cards online because of hackers… they trust an app?
WereBear
@Ken: Good point, maybe they are working on it.
I downloaded mine and I’m waiting for 2nd shot (Wednesday) and then the 2 weeks to pass.
A Ghost to Most
Meh. A buncha fuss catering to religious bigots.
A national vaccination registry database could be created in a week, but Jebus and “mark of the beast.”
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
@Ken: You can get a paper version on the website, I believe, and print it out. You could do that at your local library.
I should be able to get it at the end of the week, so I’ll let you know.
Baud
Make vaccine fraud a felony punishable by forfeiture of guns.
JCJ
@Ken: Can you use paper tickets to get in to a Yankees game? Two years ago I went to a Milwaukee Bucks game and they only accepted tickets on a smart phone.
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
@germy: You only need the app, or a printout (I believe) if you want to go to a big sporting event or other crowded event in New York.
different-church-lady
Fuck everything that involves a cell phone.
Every last thing.
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to my newsletter.
different-church-lady
@germy:
Loomis doesn’t like anything.
Served
Illinois has stated that they aren’t doing a passport, but I don’t see how we continue our rollout of major events without one. I would much rather have a publicly-run program than rely on some gross and fee-heavy patchwork from a who’s-who list of the worst companies on earth (TicketMaster, airlines, etc.)
different-church-lady
@Baud:
Let’s take the teeth out of vaccine fraud.
Ken
I’m trying to, but your website isn’t compatible with my Google phone.
Jeffro
Fuck all of these Q-nuts and anti-vaxxers who can’t do the minimum to keep themselves, their families, and the rest of us safe. I hope they never get on a plane or go to a major sporting event again.
Stay home and gobble Ho-Hos until you explode, morons.
different-church-lady
@Ken: CASH ON THE BARREL HEAD, COWBOY.
different-church-lady
@Jeffro:
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
WereBear
Essence of Wingnut: the rules don’t apply to meeeeeeee
Jeffro
1st offense: they have to sign up for Biden’s non-existent 1 burger/month plan
2nd offense: cough up the guns.
I’m trying to be reasonable here…
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
@different-church-lady: I tried to subscribe, but salty-boomer.com is down. Can you check it for me?
Jeffro
@WereBear: exactly
“Nobody
puts Baby in a cornertells white people what to do”Baud
@Jeffro:
germy
MADRID (AP) – A Spanish man with COVID-19 symptoms who coughed on work colleagues and told them “I’m going to give you all the coronavirus” has been charged with intentionally causing injury after allegedly infecting 22 people.
Spanish police said their investigation began after a COVID-19 outbreak at the company where the 40-year-old man worked on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.
Days before the outbreak, the man showed COVID-19 symptoms but refused his colleagues’ suggestions to go home and self-isolate, police said in a statement.
After work, and showing no improvement, he went for a PCR test before visiting a gym and returning to work the next day. Though his superiors told him to go home after he allegedly had showed a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, the man refused
https://wnyt.com/health/spanish-man-charged-with-infecting-22-people-with-covid-19/6085867/?utm_source=zetaglobal&utm_medium=onsite&utm_campaign=thumbnails
Baud
@germy:
Yay! He’s not American!
germy
@Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix:
Oh sure, the old computers at my local library are definitely secure. I should go there and print out personal info.
A few weeks ago we learned someone applied for unemployment benefits under my wife’s name. So I’m extra security conscious.
Let’s punish RW crooks who sell and buy fake IDs. Instead of putting the rest of us at risk with stupid smartphone solutions.
Kristine
@germy: So if one of those people he infected dies, can he be charged with negligent homicide? Manslaughter? It couldn’t be accidental since it sounds as though he wanted to spread the joy.
Ivan X
Maybe I’m a bleeding heart, but I feel bad for everyone actually named Karen when people sneeringly talk of Karens.
ETA: and two posts in a row! You got a Karen thing, Mix?
Just One More Canuck
A Tragically Hip reference – thank you
Chbnna
@JCJ: Same with the Cubs. They stopped using paper Tickets 2019, pre-pandemic.
Mary G
Orange County’s app gives you a QR code, or whatever the little black squares are called, that we showed to scan to get in to be vaccinated, so I suppose they could use those, but seeing as all the local officials are still mostly Republican, it’ll probably be honor system. Or something, I guess. Disneyland is reopening the outside parts of the parks but not the sit-down indoor eating areas. I don’t know about the sportsball teams.
Had my first non-medical expedition out of the house yesterday, to a tile warehouse to pick out new tile to replace the 71-year-old bathroom. There were only about 10 cars in the massive parking lot, and everyone I saw was masked. Severe sticker shock ensued, especially after the housemate zoomed in on an accent tile costing $59.00 a square foot. We needed 40 square feet! Yikes! I think the most I had ever paid for tile before was 59 cents for the cheapest 4″ square landlord white.
We bought much cheaper tile, but were still treated like I imagine movie stars are on Rodeo Drive, with offers of coffee, water, and first-born children from the herd of employees standing around who helped us. (Everyone else was buying samples). They stood six feet away, the register was surrounded by plexiglass, and you could feel the air blowing through the open doors, so I felt very comfortable. It was weird, though, to be out in the world after so long.
cain
@Jeffro:
We are now in a stage where I think COVID is going to disproportionately affect these people than the rest of us. Some will take it because they got no choice when they land up in the hospital.
I don’t have any remorse at this point because we have done everything we can to be inclusive. But they are determined to ‘own the libs’ and what not.
I’m now at the point of being on twitter and start talking about how much better my 5G connection has been after my vaccines.
I might pull the plug on T-Mobile because I can now just use my own body as a cell tower and save 65 bucks a month.
Barbara
@germy: Well, I am unlikely to go to a baseball game but if I had to download an app I would do it, and then uninstall the app as soon as possible. So if I went to one ball game, it would be uninstalled immediately afterwards. I don’t like the proliferation of apps either, especially when the default is to track and use data in ways I don’t like or don’t understand. But really, this kind of cheating is not just an RWNJ thing — even someone who doesn’t mind getting vaxxed but hasn’t found the time will talk themselves into why cheating is okay just this once. Not the most attractive feature of our species.
different-church-lady
@Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix: What’s your address?
No, not your e-mail address, your street address. I’ll get a mimeograph off to you tomorrow.
Barbara
@Ivan X: Right, especially since in a comparison of voting preferences based on name, women named Karen were the second highest cohort of people likely to vote for Biden. Only those with the name Barbara were more likely to vote for Biden. Which I for one did not find surprising AT ALL.
Baud
@cain:
Maybe we should change that to getting free Fox News without paying for cable. Even right wingers hate cable.
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
@Just One More Canuck: I always liked this song, finally had a chance to use it.
@Ivan X:
I actually try to avoid calling women Karens, because I think it’s overused and often used in a misogynistic way (there are a lot more males with Karen behaviors). But, the woman from the last post was a total Karen, and this post is a reference to a song where a bare-shouldered woman is shedding a tear and it rolls into her vaccination scar, so you work with what you have.
different-church-lady
@cain: Aw, darn it, I went with the prehensile tail option. :-(
Raven
@JCJ: yep, the National Championship football game was electronic only.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@cain: Re vaccinations, I used to feel sympathy for those who couldn’t get the vaccine because it was really hard. But now I’m just irritated at unvaccinated people. No resident of my building has caught COVID in months because we were able to be vaccinated early.
The staff hasn’t had any cases in two months either, but last week a person tested positive. Really? Get a damn vaccine.
different-church-lady
Just so everyone doesn’t think I’m a total Luddite, here’s an up-side to electronic tickets. Couple of years ago a friend had tickets to a concert, and it was only about 4 hours before the show a reason popped up he couldn’t go. I was on a job site 80 miles away from him, but he was still able to transfer the virtual tickets to me. Otherwise they would have just gone to waste.
Barbara
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Maybe they did. There are breakthrough cases, but they are likely to be mild. Some people who are immunocompromised do not build immunity after getting vaccinated, and some do. These are the people who need the rest of us to get vaccinated.
Ivan X
@Barbara: We can start calling women Biden supporters Barbaras!
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
@different-church-lady: First, I hope you ship your mimeographed newsletter in a ziploc bag to preserve that fresh mimeo smell.
Second, e-tickets are huge benefit for the small venue events I liked to attend pre-COVID. Festivals, small concerts, etc. don’t have to go through the hassle and expense of printing tix. And even the older crowd around here has seemed to adapt to it.
jeffreyw
@different-church-lady: Do you have an app for that?
Barbara
@Raven: I had a friend who wasn’t able to go to a post-season hockey game because of ticket fraud perpetrated by someone else. The electronic-only ticket makes that kind of activity much harder to carry out successfully.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
hehe good chance the tickets were fake.
MisterForkbeard
Look, in a few months I’ll be a lot more amenable to the “if you don’t want to get the vaccine then it’s on you” perspective, but for now: I have two kids who are too young to get a vaccine and can’t until September or later.
Assholes not masking and faking vaccinations puts my kids in danger. They’re not going to public events for a long time, but agggghh
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Barbara: A handful of residents haven’t been vaccinated for medical reasons. The staff member could be in the same situation, but more likely they’re young and busy and feel invulnerable.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@germy:
I’m reminded of an incident while I was in line at the drugstore awaiting Moderna #2. An older black man came in and asked about getting a shot. Pharmacist told him he’d have to sign up by an app (which clearly wasn’t going to happen, judging by expressions), or by a convoluted phone menu (equally unlikely). When the guy said “can I just schedule one while I’m here now”, the pharmacist said there was no way to do that.
burnspbesq
@Baud:
You, sir, are a fucking genius.
Good luck getting your proposal through Congress.
Scout211
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
CVS has phone number you can call to sign up for an appointment. I helped my neighbor get his first appointment that way. However, once he checked in, they made him fill out paperwork on-site, which took some time and made him a tad grumpy. But shot was given and the second appointment was easy.
StringOnAStick
@germy: I had someone file for unemployment insurance in my name, and then everyone else at my old job too. The state unemployment database had been hacked, and it’s happened in a lot of states because all the extra money being funneled into their systems made them a good target, on top of tight state budgets meaning the coding that should have been done to harden these systems hadn’t been done. It’s a huge problem and like a lot of computer systems, what should have been done only becomes a high priority after the fact.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Scout211:
Good to know. This was Walgreens, and it wasn’t even close to user friendly.
Jinchi
@Kristine:
I think negligent homicide implies lack of malice and intent, like reckless driving. For example:
MattF
Peter Wehner has a scary essay in The Atlantic about what’s happening now with Republicans. Wehner writes on what Sarah Longwell, a never-Trump conservative, is finding in Republican focus groups. It’s bad news.
Another Scott
@Barbara:
I’m kinda fatalistic about that, myself.
1) I block every ad that I can. Those that I cannot block, I ignore. Those that I cannot ignore I **never** click on.
2) I know that Google News and the like is “tailored” to me based on searches and sites I visit. I don’t usually much care as I usually just read the headlines. If/when it starts to bother me, I’ll adjust my Google preferences (to turn off personalization).
3) I’m one of 7+B people on the planet. I’m not that interesting. If companies want to spend money trying to get me to buy things from them via some complicated AI-targeted ads (rather than, say, making better products), I can’t stop them.
4) So far, I think we’re doing pretty well in the useful product and service in our pocket vs cost equation. I’ll probably feel differently when I have to watch a 5 minute video ad before I can use Google Maps, but that day isn’t here yet…
YMMV.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jeffro
@MattF: yup.
Same stuff we’re seeing from other pundits (even Brooksie)
The danger is nowhere near over, unfortunately.
Ivan X
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Oh yeah. CVS told me the same thing. It’s fucked up. I went down the street to a Rite Aid and they had, you know, a clipboard with times on it. Everyone who wants to will eventually get vaccinated, but we are still in the receding shitshow phase of distribution.
leeleeFL
@Baud: Deeee-licious! Won’t happen, But FUN to see think about!
planetjanet
@Raven: My local rugby team is requiring a smartphone for tickets. They will not allow a print out or QR. I have to meet my friends outside the gate and bring them in, because it is too complicated for them. This technology requirement really limits who can enjoy events.
WereBear
@MattF: I read it, but while the R’s are just as unhinged as I suspected, the both-sidering and implicit claim that this all started with TFG chapped my hide.
Delk
Yay! Another Ticketmaster surcharge.
Ruckus
@different-church-lady:
He’s trying to take modern life back to the stone age.
And No, I didn’t misspell stoned.
J R in WV
@MattF:
I read a good bit of that essay. I quit because I don’t care to know too much about crazed people and their crazed beliefs. Life is too short for me to care about those fascist, racist, un-American MotherF’ers. [I’m 70 and time is passing fast for us!]
I’m more interested in which species of frog has just reproduced in our tiny pond, which flowers will bloom next, and is it time to dig some ramps for supper this evening.
I think it is time to dig some ramps, and to make potato latkes with ramp shreds in them for supper. Ya’ll eat your pea pickin’ hearts out — either Greek yogurt or sour cream with. The best way to eat potatoes bar none~!!~
Ruckus
@Mary G:
Did you mean the republican dishonor system?
Because there is certainly no honor among republicans.
Brachiator
@MattF:
That the GOP leadership and a good chunk of the base no longer believes in democracy is, sadly, no longer news.
There are some fitful signs that a few Republican leaders are fighting back. But it is going to be a long struggle.
Matt McIrvin
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I’ve had it pointed out that there’s probably a significant population who still can’t get vaccinated because of horrific work situations–they can’t get any time off to go get it done (in spite of any regulations that theoretically exist), or they’re afraid they’ll be fired if the vaccine makes them too sick to work for a day.
trnc
Anyone want to hazard a guess on how many of these people believe in voter ID with every fiber of their being?
MazeDancer
Took 30 seconds.
Didn’t even need my vaccine card, they had all the info.
Easiest NY Gov thing ever.
Tip: Download the “Excelsior Wallet” app first. You can request pass from there or go online and add pass to your wallet.
Feel liberated!
rikyrah
@cain:
BWA HA HA AH AH AH AHA HAH
JoyceH
Re vaccine hesitancy – a lot of it is young people who think they’re immortal. Young people have always believed they’re immortal. I would recommend a new sort of PSA. Forget about appeals to civic responsibility and looking out for others, they’d just roll their eyes. Point out the potential consequences to THEM. Have a series of ads featuring young people with long COVID. Ideal spokesmodel would be one of these young guys who spent the Before Times posting pictures of his tattooed muscles and videos of his workouts on Instagram. Photos and videos can contrast with what life is like for him now. Bonus points if he currently uses supplemental oxygen or some sort of walking aid. That’d get their attention!
Martin
My guess is that Apple and Google will anchor the passports inside of their system-wide health services.
One reason why I wanted to get my shot from my HMO is that they are already integrated into the system-wide Health app, so record of my vaccines just showed up – which shot, where administered, when, etc. It’s 2 taps away. What I’m hoping is that Apple surfaces that onto your Medical ID card so it’s one swipe away. Normally that has your stats, medications, allergies, emergency contacts, so this would be an obvious addition.
Apple has already started to crack down on passport apps saying they are required to integrate with public health agencies. It’s currently in their half-ass implementation phase where they usually aspire to something but either don’t know how to get there, or have something coming at WWDC in a month and a half.
Google has analogues to almost all of this in Android. Not sure where they are in terms of uptake, etc.
Martin
@JoyceH: It’s not young people thinking they’re immortal. It’s young people not allowed to get a shot, and therefore responding in surveys to a decision which is not yet real.
All polling so far has shown that as people get access, their enthusiasm goes up. The only aggregate hesitancy is from Trump supporters. Not black people, or young people, etc. And given how few young people voted for Trump, guessing they’ll be among the highest uptake demographics.
Martin
@MattF: Yep. Trump unified the white nationalist voters, and its inconceivable to them they could be outvoted. If the Liz Cheney/Mitt Romney side of the part don’t get control, this is going to get resolved with violence because they have declared that all other forms of resolving these issues are invalid.
Don’t know if it’ll be big violence or small violence, but I don’t see any evidence there is headway being made to get things under control.
Matt McIrvin
@Martin:
The thing that got everyone worrying was that on the first week that every adult in America got access, vaccination volume seemed to go down. But it also coincided with the J&J vaccine getting pulled, which was both a big PR hit and cancelled a bunch of appointments directly. So it’s hard to say what was going on.
Ivan X
@Martin: My 17 year old niece already got her first, and my 14 year old niece says she and her friends are livid that they can’t.
Ivan X
@Brachiator: Scary, but nothing surprising. I’ve resigned myself to this. In the political near term, the future is grim. But it’s not like the alternate reality of the right didn’t exist before Trump. It’s just all out in the open now.