Fauci invokes the 5th Amendment privilege at the Senate hearing today.

I'm listening to the hearing live:

Here's the Washington Post article: "Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment in hearing before Rand Paul and Senate GOP/At a hearing on covid-19, the former infectious-disease official said he would avoid answering contentious questions" (gift link):

He declined to answer questions from [Senator Rand] Paul, who began the hearing by asking Fauci about the pandemic response and whether there was a folder in front of him on the table.

In a separate statement shared with The Post, Fauci’s lawyer alleged that Paul was fixated on Fauci after their clashes at the height of the pandemic — referring to a 2021 incident when the two men traded accusations of lying — and that the senator’s sole purpose for the hearing was to punish Fauci and see him in prison....

What about the pardon?

"The gig also made me remember what rockstar fandom, as a young girl, had been: a gateway drug to the opposite sex and sexual attraction in general."

"I remembered chasing Sting (as part of a mob of 14-year-old girls) as he rode with the other members of the Police in an open-top Jeep down Hammersmith Broadway in 1978. I remembered ogling his poster in my bedroom.... Aged 58, I felt as though I was somehow repeating a level on the multi-player game of life that I’d previously completed at 14: sexual and emotional infatuation with a rock star as a prelude and initiation to the real thing...."

From "A moment that changed me: I’d lost my libido – then I saw Richard Ashcroft on stage and it came bursting back/I was nearly 60 and hadn’t had sex in 10 years. And I was fine with that. But seeing the Verve’s former frontman reminded me how much fun it is to fancy someone" (The Guardian).

"What was it like walking right up to the dead, dissected bodies? For me, it was not disturbing."

"The bodies were amazing -- beautiful. You can look into a real human body and see the details of the organs --not bloody and pulsating -- but perfectly preserved. You know nothing about each individual -- who he was, how he died. But there he is, more fully exposed than a nude, for you to walk right up to and inspect. See those testicles, elegantly suspended on long ligaments?"

I wrote, in May 2005, in "Among the cadavers." I'd just seen the "Body Worlds 2" exhibit at the Great Lakes Science Center, which is right next to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

I'm looking back at that post this morning because I see "Gunther von Hagens, Creator of Polarizing ‘Body Worlds’ Exhibits, Dies at 81/A German scientist, he developed a process for turning corpses into posable figures. His shows drew millions of visitors, and many detractors" (NYT gift link).

Excerpt from the obituary: "Many religious leaders objected... especially in Germany.... '"Body Worlds" is possibly the logical conclusion of Nazi crimes,' Andreas Nachama, a rabbi and civic leader in Berlin, told The Independent in 2001, 'when millions of bodies were burnt by their murderers into cinders or transformed into soap, and their skin into lampshades.' [Von Hagens] also faced accusations of accepting bodies of executed prisoners from China, though there was no evidence he knew the source...."

"One afternoon he brings matzo ball soup from Max’s deli, my favorite. Another time, a mixtape."

"One afternoon I am eating a salad at my desk when he walks in and sits down across from me. I look up and meet his eyes—large, brown, steady—and something shifts. I see him differently. Or perhaps I allow myself to see what was there all along. He carries himself with an effortless assurance. There is gravity to him. On New Year’s Eve, as time clicks to 2000, we kiss for the first time on a friend’s back porch. We are pressed against the wall as midnight erupts across the city. Fireworks, car horns, the collective exhale of a century ending. It feels like a beginning. After that night, I play the mixtape on repeat...."

Writes Ruby Rippey, in "How I Blew Up—Then Rebuilt—My Life/When news of her affair with Gavin Newsom exploded into the public eye, it was only the outward mark of a long-rippling private implosion. In the wreckage of the scandal, Ruby Rippey faced her demons but lost her voice. Twenty years later, she is ready to share her story" (Vanity Fair).

And here's the NYT article about that: "Aide Who Had Affair With Newsom 20 Years Ago Details Her Experience/Ruby Rippey had stayed mostly quiet since her relationship with the San Francisco mayor rocked the city" (gift link). Excerpt: "She seems to blame herself for betraying her husband and says that her life spiraled as she drank heavily and used cocaine. She indicates that she was not coerced, but she also held Mr. Newsom responsible for holding power and proceeding with the affair anyway. 'Power does not need to coerce,' she writes. 'It only needs to exist. The responsibility to hold the line belongs to the one who holds it. That didn’t happen.'"

I like Rippey's info-packed, present-tense prose: "I always go to him — his penthouse in Russian Hill, a private back room at a North Beach bar, the W Hotel in Los Angeles." And the breathless wisdomizing: "We meet and we drink. There is sex, but it isn’t the point. The point is proximity — to power, to being chosen."

It got nice and cool overnight. I was almost cold in my summer clothes at sunrise.

But visually, it was rather dull. But that's all right. The 90° weather is over. We had 2 days of it in a row, and we're not up for that here in Wisconsin. We think it's too hot when it's 80. 

Write about whatever you like in the comments... except the Lindsey Graham funeral. Go one post down for that.

Trump at the funeral.

President Trump whips out Tic Tacs and hands them out at Lindsey Graham’s funeral: pic.twitter.com/yYhDG1mAoh

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 28, 2026

Trump takes issue with the Lindsey Graham eulogy he's reading: "Virtually everyone liked Lindsey. Well, not everybody. But it sounds good. I have to be honest. I have to veer from this for a second." pic.twitter.com/L5JwAXxWi0

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2026

"A comedian and his friends are transforming a vacant retail space at the West 4th Street station with freebies, art and puppet shows to make commutes more enjoyable."

I'm reading "A Newsstand That Aims to Delight N.Y.C. Subway Riders" (NYT gift link).

Trading cards that highlight fun facts about retired subway conductors and operators. Key chains with a fake rat’s foot for “good train luck.” A bucket hat with a sliding veil that riders can borrow to cry in private.... The transit-themed newsstand will have no other purpose than to amuse and intrigue New Yorkers....

Nice photos. I like this kind of art installation. Comical. For the people.

"When I was meant to be with friends, I hid in the bathroom to absorb it, ingesting the spikes of serotonin and hits of dopamine, then instantly feeling regret and disgust."

Writes Ella Hodson, in "I’ve been addicted to social media for 17 years. Here’s how I quit/‘Chained to a screen’ since she was ten, Ella Hodson feared her phone was making her sick. So she took action and got her life back in just a few months" (London Times).

Meteotsunami.

"While the Appleton/Menasha tornado was occurring, Lake Winnebago appeared to drop by 1-2 ft at my location near Adella Beach/ Neenah, WI. At 12:29 - likely after the tornado had ended - I observed an unnaturally-long wave approaching from the northeast as the water rushed back into the bay. I moved my vehicle multiple times to stay clear of the rising water which spilled over the bank. I observed flying/falling debris such as shingles, small stick, and a projectile plastic kiddie pool as part of the broader event":

"There are times when I watch him, and I think to myself, this can't be real. Like, this can't be America. America. You've heard of us. We're great...."

ADDED: Collins is great in this interview. Watch to the end to fully appreciate.

"[His diary] paints a portrait of Dr. Fauci as obsessed with himself, reveling in his own importance and the celebrities he knows..."

"... from the actress Julia Roberts to the singers Joan Baez and Barbra Streisand.... The entries were also full of references to Hollywood stars, some of whom seemed star-struck over him.... Barbra Streisand called asking for vaccine advice. When Dr. Fauci told her he listened to her music on Alexa, the virtual assistant, she confessed she didn’t know what Alexa was. 'I accidentally butt called her later in the evening,' Dr. Fauci wrote, and when he played her music over Alexa, she 'absolutely loved it!' Joan Baez painted a portrait of him. Julia Roberts introduced him at an awards ceremony. 'She is so charming, natural, fun and amazingly beautiful,' Dr. Fauci wrote of Ms. Roberts. 'When my image came up on the screen,” he added, “she gasped and said that every time she sees me her throat gets dry and she gets nervous.'"

From "Fauci, in Private Diary, Reflected on Covid’s Origins and His Own Fame/Private entries, released by a Republican senator, have reignited a furious debate over whether Covid-19 leaked from a lab" (NYT gift link).

The "Republican senator" is Rand Paul, who's engaging in some taunting:

What Anthony Fauci looked like every night when he wrote about how great he is in his diary. pic.twitter.com/KbPvbtyi7g

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 27, 2026

And here's that Joan Baez artwork. Baez enfolds Fauci in her political schemata:

"So, yes, I do wear sunscreen every day despite working indoors."

"I commute at least 45 minutes to my office each way. I also face a nice large window behind my computer screen when I’m there. So even though I don’t actually step foot outside most of the day (tragically), my skin is getting UVA rays for much of my indoor time."

From "I’m a doctor. Here’s why I wear sunblock indoors. Plus, four tips for buying an effective sunscreen" (WaPo)(gift link).

I think the expression is "set foot" — not "step foot" — and I'm not going to take this doctor's advice. Frankly, I don't even use sunscreen outdoors. I walk at dawn and in places I know to be shady. Sunscreen is for people who go out in the sun and stay there a while, like I did when I was a child and even second-degree sunburns — the kind with blisters — were a normal part of a day at the beach. 

Sunrise.

Write about whatever you like in the comments.

Pyrocumulonimbus — a thundercloud caused by fire.

I'm reading "Firefighters in France Encounter a 'Fire Cloud'/A pyrocumulonimbus — a thundercloud created by intense heat — is a phenomenon that can spark new blazes and is 'unprecedented in France,' officials said" (NYT gift link).

These large, fire-fueled thunderstorms, also known as pyroCbs, are created by intense heat from large blazes or volcanic eruptions. They produce lightning and burning embers that can spark more fires, and they generate high and unpredictable winds that fan the flames and spread the embers. But they rarely bring rain....

"The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible."

Writes Emily Wilson, quoted in "'I would be ashamed to have written any part of this’: Odyssey translator Emily Wilson attacks Nolan blockbuster/Wilson, whose work on Homer’s epic was praised by Nolan, said his film was grandiose and superficial with ‘nothing convincing to say'" (The Guardian).

People always say the movie lacks the depth and character development of the book, but complaining about food is funny.

As for the lack of sex... Maureen Dowd wrote about that in "Nolan’s Zero-Eros 'Odyssey'" (NYT gift link): "In keeping with Gen Z’s waning interest in sex, the poem’s famous sex scenes have been excised, sapping erotic power from the female characters.... Nolan did not want his Odysseus betraying Penelope and enjoying his sojourns with other women. The director completely cut out the young princess Nausicaa, whom Homer’s Odysseus has a flirtation with, and neuters the text’s sexual encounters with Circe and Calypso...."

ADDED: Here's the whole Wilson essay: "An Uncomplicated Man" (London Review of Books).

It was very hot — 80° at sunrise — and really humid. No rain though.

Meade's video.