The Nationwide Surge in Coronavirus Cases Thanks to the Delta Variant

16 Monday Aug 2021

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By Carlos Gamino

If you’ve spent more than five minutes watching the news in the past couple of weeks, you’ve likely heard all about the coronavirus’s latest iteration: the deadly and highly contagious delta variant. First discovered in India, the highly transmissible mutation of COVID-19 is present in all 50 states. In fact, the variant – at least as of this writing – accounts for 51.7 percent of all new infections in the U.S.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said, “Although we expected the delta variant to become the dominant strain in the United States, this rapid rise is troubling.” In some places – including Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa, the delta variant may account for around 80 percent of cases.

In Springfield, Missouri, they thought the worst was over – but now the hospitals there are seeing more than 130 COVID-19 patients every day. That’s more than they had during the height of the nationwide pandemic. Local Fire Chief David Pennington tweeted, “This is a mass casualty event, happening in slow motion. EMS resources are depleted, and the hospital systems are overwhelmed. Our community is in crisis.” It’s not just in the middle of the country, either; there are massive spikes in Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, Wyoming and Utah, too.

Though just under 50 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, there are those who have already decided that they’ll never get the shot – and still others who can’t, such as children under the age of 12 and those with compromised immune systems or who are allergic to some of the formulations’ ingredients. That totals too few Americans to generate herd immunity to the virus, which requires somewhere between 70 percent and 90 percent of the population to become immune and kill it off once and for all.

But is it really something to worry about? Medical experts say it is – but you have less to worry about if you’re vaccinated. Data from overseas (primarily Britain) suggest that the spread of the delta variant will continue to create large outbreaks and significant numbers of deaths in areas where vaccine rates are lower than average; that’s mainly due to how easily it spreads.

What Do You Think?

Are you concerned about the delta variant here in Wisconsin, or are you less worried than you were before? COVID-19 has been a hot topic for more than a year now, so I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please share them on my Facebook page or on Twitter to join the conversation!

Carlos Gamino

The Constant Hum Beyond Our Solar System

12 Monday Jul 2021

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By Attorney Carlos Gamino

If you’re like many people, your curiosity was piqued when news broke that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had detected a faint humming sound in interstellar space – but what is it?

NASA’s Discovery of a Distant Humming in Space

Faint but constant vibrations were first detected by the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which has been in space for more than 40 years. It’s currently the most distant human-made object in space, and it’s feeding data to NASA that nobody ever expected to receive; the craft was only supposed to last five years – long enough to study Jupiter and Saturn, Saturn’s rings, and the larger moons of the two planets.

Voyager 1 currently hangs out in a region of space called the heliosphere – a protective bubble that encloses all the planets in our solar system. It’s essentially the only tool we Earthlings have to directly sampling interstellar space.

And nobody knows where the humming is coming from. It was measured through ripples of plasma in the interstellar medium – a mix of gases, radiation and the same particles that make up the space between stars. It’s operating on a narrow frequency bandwidth, and a lot of scientists are excited because it may be able to tell us how our solar system interacts with everything beyond it.

Scientists have distinguished this hum from other things Voyager 1 has detected, and they know for sure that it’s not from the sun. The sun has its own, distinctive signature when it makes ripples in outer space – and this humming isn’t that.

What Do You Think?

Have you been following Voyager 1 and its discoveries? I’d love to hear your theories on what this deep-space hum is coming from, so please share your thoughts on my Twitter feed or Facebook page!

Carlos Gamino

How Much Dogecoin Do You Have?

07 Monday Jun 2021

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By Attorney Carlos Gamino

If you’re like most people, you’ve heard of Dogecoin – but what is it, what does it do (and what is it good for), and will you lose all your money if you invest in it? Here’s a quick run-down on this meme-based cryptocurrency.

What is Dogecoin?

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that started out as a meme – a funny photo of a Shiba Inu. As a cryptocurrency, you can’t hold it in your hand; it exists only in the cloud. And as a cryptocurrency, you can only spend it by giving it to people who believe in its feasibility (at least enough to accept it as payment). Though not nearly as many big-money investors take Dogecoin as seriously as its larger, much more valuable counterpart, Bitcoin, it’s steadily gained popularity during the first half of 2021.

What Does Dogecoin Do?

You can spend Dogecoin at a handful of retailers. You can use these digital coins to buy fan swag from the Dallas Mavericks’ online store, on plane tickets from the Latvian airline AirBaltic, and with several smaller websites, restaurants and retailers. You can also sell it to others. As of right now, it doesn’t have much value – but it’s like a stock: You buy it when the price is low and sell it when the price is high to make a profit.

Will You Lose All Your Money if You Invest in Dogecoin?

You may – or may not – lose all your money if you invest in Dogecoin. Again, it’s like a stock, and nobody can predict how it’s going to perform. It could take off and become the next Bitcoin, which trades at over $55,000 per coin, or everyone could jump ship and abandon the idea, leaving you holding the bag. It’s very volatile, with the price sometimes fluctuating by as much as $0.30 per day, so your mileage may vary.

What Do You Think?

Do you own Dogecoin, or are you thinking about buying it? Did you have some and sell it when it was trading over $0.70? I’d love to hear your experience and what you think about this meme-based cryptocurrency, so please share your thoughts on my Twitter feed or Facebook page.

Carlos Gamino

Military Leaders Lash Out at Popular News Host

18 Tuesday May 2021

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By Attorney Carlos Gamino

Fox News host Tucker Carlson is no stranger to controversy – but he’s decidedly unfamiliar with criticism from top military leaders. Carlson drew strong rebuke from each military branch in mid-March when he said that China’s military was becoming “more masculine” while “our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine.” Carlson went on to say, “We’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the U.S. military. The bottom line is: It’s out of control, and the Pentagon’s going along with this.”

Officials from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force quickly responded in support of women in the ranks, with some even correcting Carlson’s remark about pregnant women fighting in wars; pregnant women are non-deployable, and the maternity uniforms are used for daily work. Additionally, as some military news outlets noted, the hairstyle regulations haven’t been updated in decades. Previous regulations prohibited women from wearing ponytails in uniform, bangs that touched their eyebrows, and braids; the new regulations across the Army and Air Force simply changed with the times.

Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, who’s quick to defend troops on Twitter and elsewhere, tweeted, “Women lead our most lethal units with character. They will dominate ANY future battlefield we’re called to fight on. Tucker Carlson’s words are divisive, don’t reflect our values. We have THE MOST professional, educated, agile, and strongest NCO Corps in the world.”

Major General Patrick Donahoe, the commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning tweeted, “This is me, yesterday, conducting a re-enlistment for one of the tens of thousands of women who serve in our Army. Just a reminder that Tucker Carlson couldn’t be more wrong.”

Department of Defense Spokesman John Kirby said that the U.S. military is working on becoming more inclusive and more respectful of everyone, especially women. He said, “We pledge to do better, and we will. What we absolutely won’t do is take personnel advice from a talk show host, or the Chinese military. Maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove. That’s on them.”

Master Gunnery Sergeant Stalker of U.S. Space Command, Command Senior Enlisted Leader, tweeted an entire video response that said, “His opinion, which he has a right to, is based off of actually zero days of service in the Armed Forces… the bottom line is that we value women in our Armed Forces.”

What Do You Think?

Do you believe that the U.S. military should become more inclusive and adjust its standards from time to time, or do you think it’s becoming “more feminine”? I’d love to hear your opinions, so please share them on my Facebook page or my Twitter feed.

Carlos Gamino

Wisconsin Hits Vaccine Milestone in Mid-March

13 Tuesday Apr 2021

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By Carlos Gamino

Wisconsin state health officials announced that they’ve administered nearly 2,000,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines during March with the number still climbing – even as some people refuse to get the shot and others are part of “Vaccine Hunters” groups that look for leftover vaccines to distribute to those who want them. (You can track COVID-19 vaccine data in Wisconsin here.)

What About Wasted Doses?

More than 1,800 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been wasted across Wisconsin, according to the Department of Health Services. That number does not include the 500 vaccines that were allegedly intentionally sabotaged by a pharmacist in December. Generally, the waste is accidental; because the vaccines need to be kept at extremely low temperatures, things can easily go wrong.

“St. Nicholas Hospital learned that 28 vials of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine were unintentionally left out unrefrigerated on the night of Feb. 8, 2021. Upon immediate review of the situation, the hospital concluded that these vials were set aside while sorting vaccine; and as a result of human error, the 28 vials were inadvertently left out rather than placed back in the refrigerator as is standard protocol,” a spokesperson from St. Nicholas Hospital said. “HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital firmly believes this situation was a result of human error and not intentional. The hospital has taken this incident very seriously and used it to improve processes and put additional measures in place to ensure it will not happen again.”

Vaccine Hunters on the Prowl

Facebook groups have popped up all over Wisconsin to enable people to find vaccines that would otherwise go to waste.

“We don’t advocate line skipping but we don’t want a dose to go to waste,” said Bob Orech, an organizer of one such group.

Pharmacists and medical professionals are doing their best not to waste vaccine doses. In fact, Dr. Hashim Zaibak of Hayat Pharmacy says they waste fewer doses by going on an as-needed basis. “It’s really difficult because if you mix 100 vaccines and only 50 people show up, then you’re left with 50 doses, then you have to find volunteers or find patients to get,” says Zaibak.

What Do You Think?

Will you get the COVID-19 vaccine when it’s available to you, or are you waiting – or not planning to get it at all? I’d love to hear what you think of the vaccine and your reasoning, so please share your thoughts on my Facebook page or my Twitter feed.

Attorney Carlos Gamino

Dumbest Criminals of 2020

14 Sunday Mar 2021

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By Carlos Gamino

You might be able to argue that breaking the law isn’t the smartest choice a person could ever make – but you could argue that if you’re going to break the law, you could at least be smart about it. Someone should’ve told these people that before they were nabbed in some of the wildest situations of 2020.

She’s No David Copperfield

An Ohio inmate, after being arrested for breaking into a senior citizen’s home, decided she could break out of jail… by crawling through the ceiling. As you might expect, the police station’s ceiling was fairly flimsy, causing her to come crashing through the reception area. She landed head-first in a trash can, and police simply picked her up, cuffed her and took her back to her cell.

When You Gotta Go…

A Michigan man was nabbed mid-stream by police officers as he urinated on a police car in St. Petersburg, Florida. The police cuffed him while he continued to urinate, and the police said he was “uncooperative with questioning” as they charged him with disorderly conduct.

Never Leave Your ID at a Crime Scene

A lot of thieves are careful about leaving anything behind while they’re “on the job” – many won’t even leave fingerprints. But a pair of guys in Marion County, Florida, weren’t so concerned. They left behind a shoe, some tools and even a wallet with a driver’s license in one of the stores they’d broken into as they lifted cigarettes and lottery tickets.

Banks Only Take U.S. Currency

A Jefferson County, Colorado man went to make a deposit at the drive-through of his local bank and put a little more than cash in the pneumatic tube – he deposited two bags of cocaine, too. The local sheriff’s office said, “After further investigation it turns out the customer didn’t mean to deposit his cocaine.”

Don’t Leave Your Undies Unattended at the Laundromat

If you visit the laundromat, you probably don’t think you need to monitor the dryers while they’re running – but if you don’t, someone else might. In fact, a Wisconsin man stole several pair of underwear and a handful of bras from laundromats all over Fond du Lac County… and then used them to start fires in both vacant and occupied buildings.

What Do You Think?

Do you have any out-of-the-ordinary crime stories to share? I’d love to read them, so feel free to share them on my Facebook page or on my Twitter feed!

Carlos Gamino

Is the U.S. Minimum Wage Going Up?

15 Monday Feb 2021

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By Carlos Gamino

President Joe Biden has announced that he’d take action to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour in January, which would be the first increase since 2009. It’s currently $7.25 per hour, so doubling the current amount could make a huge impact on the U.S.’s economy – but is it possible?

Can President Biden Raise the Minimum Wage?

There’s no doubt that raising the minimum wage would benefit many hourly workers – both here in Wisconsin and across the rest of the country. In fact, any increase would boost the incomes of over 17 million people and, according to economists, raise about 1.3 million Americans out of poverty.

“People tell me that’s going to be hard to pass – Florida just passed it, as divided as that state is they just passed it,” Biden said. “The rest of the country is ready to move as well.”

As you might imagine, many businesses are against the increase. Some company owners say that they’ll be forced to make labor cuts as people become “too expensive” to hire – but several U.S. cities and states have raised their hourly minimum wages to $15 and haven’t yet appeared to damage any labor markets.

The Pew Research Center says that two out of three Americans support a $15-per-hour minimum wage, however – and the responses are split along party lines. Notably, though, 61 percent of Americans with household incomes of over $75,000 per year support an increase.

If the federal minimum wage goes up, it’ll take precedence over Wisconsin’s state minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour. That means companies in Wisconsin will have to pay employees at least $15 per hour. Although states can have their own minimum wage laws, and the minimum wage can be anything the state deems necessary (even no minimum wage at all), workers are entitled to at least the federal minimum wage – regardless of what state laws say. On the other side of the coin, states that have minimum wage laws with wages exceeding the federal minimum wage, workers are entitled to the state’s wages. California’s minimum wage, for example, is currently double the federal minimum wage – and all workers are entitled to the state’s minimum wage, not the federal one.

What Do You Think?

Do you think the federal minimum wage should increase to $15 per hour? What do you think will happen if the federal government codifies the increase? I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions, so please share them on my Facebook page or my Twitter feed!

Carlos Gamino

2020’s Weirdest Crime Stories

11 Monday Jan 2021

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By Carlos Gamino

There’s no doubt that 2020 has been the strangest year that any of us has experienced – criminals included. Check out the weirdest crime stories that hit the news in 2020 (and cross your fingers for 2021).

The Weirdest Crime Stories From 2020

Some of these weird crime stories come from our own backyard – and some are halfway across the world. Regardless of location, we hope you enjoy shaking your head at them like we did.

Tree Theft Has Authorities… Stumped

In Madison, someone stole a rare pine tree from the University of Wisconsin Arboretum – and it wasn’t small, so authorities are trying to figure out how the pine-pickers got it out unnoticed. The tree, a 25-foot Algonquin Pillar Swiss Mountain Pine, was chopped down sometime between November 5 and November 9, and whomever did it is still on the loose. Authorities suspect that someone is using the tree as part of a holiday display somewhere nearby.

Fake Death Claim Comes to Life

A New York man wanted to avoid being sentenced for two felonies (who wouldn’t?), so he faked his own death and tried to submit a false death certificate to authorities. It looks like he avoided English class in high school, too – the man’s undoing was that he spelled “registry” as “Regsitry.” The typo caught someone’s eye and now he’s facing additional charges.

It’s Okay to Go to a Liquor Store in a Mask – But Not This One

A man took masking up to the extreme by donning a hollowed-out watermelon and strolling into a liquor store to shoplift in Virginia this year. Even worse, he posted a TikTok video that connected the melon to his – well, melon – and authorities who saw the shoplifting on CCTV had an easy time putting two and two together.

What Are Your Favorite Weird Crime Stories From This Year?

I’d love to hear your weird crime stories from 2020, so please share them with me on Facebook or Twitter!

Carlos Gamino

SpaceX Has Sent Its Second Crew of Astronauts to the ISS

14 Monday Dec 2020

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By Carlos Gamino

Elon Musk’s SpaceX program successfully launched four astronauts into space in mid-November, marking the second time the private company has served as a shuttle for NASA. The Falcon rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center with three American astronauts and one Japanese astronaut, each ready to man the International Space Station. The crew is definitely diverse and includes the first Black astronaut on a long-term space station mission, Navy Commander Victor Glover and physicist Shannon Walker.

The capsule the astronauts traveled in, called Resilience, reached orbit in just nine minutes. After the short trip, the astronauts plan to remain aboard the ISS until spring 2021.

Commander Mike Hopkins told the crew, right before liftoff, “By working together through these difficult times, you’ve inspired the nation, the world, and in no small part the name of this incredible vehicle, Resilience.”

The crew, who had been quarantined with their families since October to prevent the spread of coronavirus in space, took several precautions – as did everyone involved in the launch. SpaceX’s founder, Elon Musk, tweeted that he likely had a mild case of coronavirus immediately prior to the launch. NASA’s policy at Kennedy Space Center requires anyone who tests positive to quarantine in isolation until it’s safe for them to return to work.

NASA hopes there will be several crew rotations in partnership with SpaceX in the future.

What Do You Think?

Do you keep up with the ISS and crewmembers aboard it? Have you ever looked for it in the night sky or seen a livestream from it? I’d love to hear what you have to say about the International Space Station, SpaceX or even Elon Musk, so share your thoughts with me on Facebook or Twitter.

Carlos Gamino

Scientists Find Possible Signs of Life on Venus

15 Thursday Oct 2020

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Scientists Find Possible Signs of Life on Venus - Carlos GaminoBy Carlos Gamino

Scientists have long been searching for evidence of life on other planets – not necessarily as an escape plan for us, but to prove once and for all that we’re not alone in the vast universe.

And they may have found it.

In September, a group of researchers published a study in Nature Astronomy that explained the discovery of trace gases in Venus’s atmosphere and how it could indicate that there’s life on the planet. More specifically, in the planet’s hyperacidic gas clouds. (Venus’s surface is dusty and hot – temperatures can reach up to 880 degrees F, so it’s unlikely that anything living could survive there.)

Venus’s atmosphere contains phosphine gas, which is typically associated with biological processes. Researchers tried – and continue trying – to connect the gas to non-biological processes, but so far, they’re coming up short.

“We did our very best to show what else would be causing phosphine in the abundance we found on Venus. And we found nothing. We found nothing close,” said MIT molecular astrophysicist Clara Sousa-Silva, who co-authored the study.

The gas molecule is, at least on Earth, a byproduct of bacteria and industrial processes. Here, it’s detectable in rice paddies, landfills and meth labs (so it should go without saying that we definitely don’t recommend taking your science set out to test for it).

This could drive a shift in focus from Mars, which scientists have been exploring as a potential place for exploration, and back to the second rock from the sun. Currently, NASA is thinking about a couple of low-cost robotic missions to Venus that haven’t yet been approved.

What Do You Think?

Are you excited about scientists finding potential signs of life on Venus? Do you think it’s a better idea to explore Venus than Mars? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please share them on my Twitter feed or on Facebook page!

Carlos Gamino