WAS THE FORMATION OF CHRISTMAS ABOUT PRIESTS GAINING POWER? That's what my guest today maintains in his new book, in which he says gods were just made up by men seeking power. Professor Dr. Patrick Hurley, author of Religion, Power, and Illusion: A Genealogy of Religious Belief, taught philosophy at the University of San Diego for 35 years and has done extensive research on Christian theology. He joins me at 1:30 to discuss his theory.
WEATHER WEDNESDAY TODAY AT 12:30 And our pal Dave Fraser from Fox 31 joins me to talk all things weather. Text your questions to 56690 at 12:30
MASK WEARERS GOT COVID MORE OFTEN In a new Random Controlled Trial from Norway they found that people who wore masks "Almost Always/Always" were 40% more likely to get Covid than those who never wore them. There are some variables that could be at work here, like:
Additionally, there may be other factors that could confound the relationship between face mask use and study outcomes, such as participants in high-risk professions or with risk factors for severe COVID-19. Both groups may be more or less prone to wear face masks while also observing different social distancing practices than the average population. We also cannot rule out reverse causality, in which those testing positive for COVID-19 were more prone to wear masks afterwards in order to protect others. Finally, there could be an association between the inclination to test and the propensity to wear a face mask.
The researchers controlled for these factors as best they could, but they still found:
'The main findings are summarized in Table 2. The crude estimates show a higher incidence of testing positive for COVID19 in the groups that used face masks more frequently, with 8.6% of participants having never or almost never used masks, 15.0% having sometimes used masks, and 15.1% having almost always or always used masks reporting a positive test result. The risk was 1.74 (1.38 to 2.18) times higher in those who wore face masks often or sometimes, and 1.75 (1.39 to 2.21) times higher in those who wore face masks almost always or always, compared to participants who reported never or almost never wore masks (reference group).
The researchers caution that these results should not be taken as a causal relationship, meaning wearing face masks GIVES you Covid, but it certainly undermines the garbage observational studies being used by the CDC to force masking. Researchers called for more trials and studies to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of wearing masks against transmission of respiratory pathogens. The study was fully funded by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. It reported no conflicts of interest. Wear a mask if you want, but it's not doing what you think it is.
DENVERITES HAVE A HIGH LEVEL OF GUN VIOLENCE ANXIETY And this column asks why, but I think as we've been home to more of our share of gun related mass shootings it makes sense. We are also the third most anxious state in the country based on surveys, and I don't get this at all, unless we are all so on edge because of the homelessness and addiction, and the high cost of living. We shall chat about this here.
WHY ARE DEMOCRAT GOVERNORS CALLING THE PRESIDENT ABOUT POT AND NOT THE BORDER? Talk about screwed up priorities. Don't get me wrong, I agree that the horse has left the barn when it comes to marijuana and the federal government should follow suit and stop making criminals out of little old ladies who use pot to sleep. That being said, why can we coordinate a response by Democrat governors for THIS and NOT securing the Southern Border? This makes no sense to me when it comes to things hurting the most people.
THE CITY NEEDS BILINGUAL SPEAKERS TO HELP WITH MIGRANTS And this is going to be another huge cost that will be born by Denverites because the Democrats won't secure the southern border. The Mayor is asking people to apply for jobs with the city and they pay good money so find out more here if you speak Spanish.
CHILDREN RAISED IN LIBERAL HOUSEHOLDS HAVE MORE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES This from an Institute for Family Studies-Gallup report released recently. From the Washington Examiner article:
"political ideology is one of the strongest predictors" of which caregiving styles a parent adopts, and conservative parents are associated with the best mental health outcomes for their children...
"Conservative and very conservative parents are the most likely to adopt the parenting practices associated with adolescent mental health," study author Jonathan Rothwell, who is also the principal economist at Gallup and nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote . "Liberal parents score the lowest, even worse than very liberal parents, largely because they are the least likely to successfully discipline their children."
Read the study here, it's fascinating.
AN IDIOT LOOKING AT HIS PHONE KILLS A HORSE I'm assuming the 25 year old Boulder man was looking at his phone as he rolled through a stop sign and hit a horse with a woman on its back. The horse had to be euthanized on the spot and I hope this haunts that kid for the rest of his life. HE KILLED A HORSE because he couldn't be bothered to stop at a stop sign. Good grief.
PEOPLE HAVE LOST FAITH IN COLLEGE And a new survey says this is very pronounced in the Denver metro, which is surprising considering how many college educated people we have in the metro. A new survey by Magellan showed that people no longer think college is worth it. From the Denver Gazette editorial board:
The survey found fully 61% of Coloradans think it is more important for high schools to focus on career and technical education than to prepare high schoolers for college. When asked the question, “Which of the following do you think should have greater importance for high school students in your school district? Learning and obtaining industry training and certifications through Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs or preparing for college to attain a four-year degree?” another 20% of survey respondents expressed no opinion. A mere 19% picked college prep.
...
Magellan dug deeper for survey respondents’ reasoning behind their positions. The pollster found, “Many respondents expressed concerns about the high cost of college education, leading students to incur significant debt. They emphasized that not all well-paying jobs require a college degree, and Career and Technical Education programs offer students opportunities to earn a stable income without accumulating crippling debt.”
Indeed, 73% of the survey’s respondents believed a four-year degree at an institution “like the University of Colorado or Colorado State University” is somewhat or very unaffordable.
Will college pay attention? I doubt it, not until enrollments dip and other schools pop up to help people get the sort of training they need to enter the workforce quickly and affordably, which I'm sure will happen. Those schools already exist, but they've been relegated to second tier until companies said they will stop requiring college degrees.
TRANSFER PORTAL TURMOIL LANDS AT CU It's a bold new world in college football with the transfer portal being an option for players, and CU is not immune to it after pillaging other teams last year to build the first year Buffaloes under then new coach Deion Sanders. Now his maligned by him offensive line has jumped into the transfer portal along with some other starters so it will be interesting to see how the second year coach fills those spots. He's also got coaching spots to fill, read about them here. This as Coach Prime says CU will be a part of the College Football Playoffs next year.
A NEW WAVE OF UNDETECTABLE CARD SKIMMERS ARE AROUND Good grief is these scammers used their powers for good they'd be unstoppable, but instead they use their time and talents trying to find a new way to rip people off. Now the scammers have skimmers on ATMs that are completely undetectable to normal people, and they include pinhole cameras that watch you put in your pin number so they can steal it. This means we have to cup our hands over the PIN pad as we get our money. I'm going to make sure to cup my hand with my middle finger extended for the camera.
WHO GIVES A BABY A JALAPENO? This lady but her baby is no quitter. Watch below or click here.
THE PARENTS OF THAT YOUNG CHIEFS FAN MAY SUE DEADSPIN And that would be fantastic after they published an idiotic opinion piece attacking a nine year old boy for wearing his face painted to a football game along with a headdress to a CHIEFS game. They have sent a letter to Deadspin indicating they are gearing up to sue without a full retraction. In a world where the internet is forever, this could have far reaching ramifications for this young man before he's even old enough to vote.
WHAT WERE THE TOP SONGS IN DENVER LAST YEAR? According to Spotify two country artists took the top spots, see them all here.
NOW IT'S "TRUMP THE DICTATOR" BY THE MAINSTREAM PRESS You guys know I don't love Trump but can we not with this idiocy? The new line from the media is that Trump is going to be a dictator is he's re elected. No, he's not. Stop it. This is stupid and I don't care what Liz Cheney says, we have enough checks and balances that I am confident we will survive another Trump Presidency just fine. Stop it.
RIP NORMAL LEAR, THANKS FOR THE LAUGHS Talk about a guy who had an impact on culture, Norman Lear was the creator of SO MANY incredible tv shows and now he's died at 101. Read about his incredible legacy here.
ISRAEL IS FLUSHING OUT THE RATS By flooding the network of Hamas built tunnels with sea water. Even if they don't drown anyone, it will surely wreak havoc with all the electronics down there. The IDF has set up pumps that will flood the tunnels with sea water, flooding the entire network within weeks. No word on when the flooding will begin, as we know some hostages were held in the tunnels and may still be there, but I think this is a great idea. Force the rats up to exterminate them. And yes, I'm using dehumanizing language, see the events of October 7th if you have a problem with that.
YOUR DIET CAN DETERMINE YOUR ALZHEIMERS RISK This is very important and one of those things that has zero downside if you adopt this way of eating. The Mediterranean Diet is the clear winner when it comes to preventing Alzheimers and dementia, with the Standard American Diet coming in dead last in terms of helping your brain. As we begin to understand more about the role of inflammation and how it affects our brain this makes a lot of sense. Now here's the thing, you can still have a hot dog on occasion, but the vast majority of your diet needs to come from better stuff than that. Read it here for more.
IT'S OKAY TO CALL FOR THE GENOCIDE OF JEWS AT HARVARD AND MIT But don't take my word for it.
RON DESANTIS SAYS FLORIDA MAY SUE OVER THE CFP And though I am super salty about FSU being robbed by the idiotic committee I think this goes too far. Read more here.
CANDY CANES ARE MAGIC TO WATCH BEING MADE Watch below or click here.
TREATING PANIC ATTACKS WITH WARHEADS Or some other super strong candy. Watch below or click here.
THE SECRET TO A 103 YEAR LONG LIFE Watch below or click here.
FARTS ARE FUNNY Even when they happen in the post game interviews.
RIZZ IS THE OXFORD WORD OF THE YEAR And as the Rizzard of Oz myself (I can feel the Q eyerolling from here) I think this is swell. Read about it here.
A PERFECT TIPPING SHOWDOWN This is perfect. Watch below or click here.