CHARLES HARRINGTON ELSTER IS BACK FOR MORE WORD AND GRAMMAR GAMES Join us for Please Tell Me I'm Right at 2, and bring your word and grammar questions with you! Find out more about Charles, buy his fantastic books or ask him a question off the air by clicking here.
JULI HENRY WANTS TO BE COLORADO'S SENATOR And initially I thought she was running for the GOP nod, but her website says she's running in the Constitutionalist party so we will get this sorted today at 1 when we speak to her. Her website is here if you'd like to know more, though there isn't much there.
HEY LOOK, THE CDC ADMITS I WAS RIGHT AGAIN I'm just going to sit here and wait for the slew of apologies from people who told me I was going to be responsible for COUNTLESS deaths for spreading "junk science" that the CDC now confirms about natural immunity vs vaccinated immunity. A really large retroactive study of California and New York covid patients during the Delta wave showed the following:
By the first week of October, COVID-19 rates among the vaccinated with no previous infection were 6.2 times lower in California and 4.5 times lower in New York than among the unvaccinated with no previous infection.
However, among the unvaccinated with a previous infection, the COVID-19 rate was 29 times lower in California and 14.7 times lower in New York.
The individuals most protected against infection were those who had previously had COVID-19 and were also vaccinated. Their infection rate was 32.5 times lower in California and 19.8 times lower in New York.
If you read the Reuters coverage of this story you would come away with a much different perspective on this study. Check this out:
People who had previously been infected with COVID-19 were better protected against the Delta variant than those who were vaccinated alone, suggesting that natural immunity was a more potent shield than vaccines against that variant, California and New York health officials reported on Wednesday.
Protection against Delta was highest, however, among people who were both vaccinated and had survived a previous COVID infection, and lowest among those who had never been infected or vaccinated, the study found.
Notice they don't give you the numbers, because you would quickly realize that vaccination doesn't boost you all that much. I wonder why? JK, we all know why. The actual study is linked in both stories if you want to read it yourself. Now we need to demand to know why the Federal government won't accept prior infection as immunity-granting as they try to force vaccines on everyone. Even though natural immunity is better, don't be an imbecile and TRY to get the virus, because it can still kill you if you're unvaccinated or immunocompromised, as one Czech folk singer learned when she got the virus from her son and husband so she could move freely about the country. She died.
OH, AND YOUR KIDS AND TEENS DON'T NEED BOOSTERS At least according to the lousy WHO, who says there is no evidence that the group at the least risk of covid needs to be boosted. Also, little evidence that healthy children need the vaccine exists.
YES, AGE DISCRIMINATION IS A HORRIBLE PROBLEM IN COLORADO And this editorial is SPOT ON about businesses who make assumptions about older workers instead of giving them a chance to see what they can do. I have several friends who have been applying for jobs literally non stop for two years and can't get ANYTHING. If you're under 50 and think I'm exaggerating talk to any person who either got laid off or just returned to the workforce to see what that's been like. And yes, if we don't fix it, it WILL happen to you someday. Read this great op-ed here.
THIS THREAD ON MASKING IS A MUST READ Because not only is it full of fun graphs, it's full of snark and sarcasm. MUST READ. It's unrolled here if that's easier.
THIS THREAD BY MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER IS ANOTHER MUST READ You heard Michael on this show talking about his incredible book San Fransicko about how lax and tolerant policies on homelessness and open drug abuse have ruined the city. Read this.
BIDEN'S PRESS CONFERENCE WAS WAY WORSE THAN I THOUGHT Because today, when I went to find what should have been numerous "he was great" and "he was awful" columns, the "he was great" columns were darn near impossible to find. Even CNN had this milquetoast recitation of what happened in the presser rather than their normal "Oh my gosh, how AMAZING is this?" And trust me, I could flood this blog with columns on the right like this one:
President Biden’s marathon two-hour press conference Wednesday was an exercise in self-delusion.
The reality of American voters’ lived experience of his presidency is evident in his plummeting polls after a hellish first year of self-inflicted crises, from Afghanistan to inflation to illegal migration.
And yet the president declared to the world that he is doing a tremendous job and has “achieved more than any president in history.”
He blamed Republicans for any stumbles, despite the fact that his party controls the White House, the House and the Senate.
Only a couple of things would he do differently, he said. He would seek advice from “academia, editorial writers and think tanks.” That will really give him the pulse of the American people.
I heard part of the press conference yesterday afternoon, the second hour where he just shot from the hip. I was not impressed and if I'm Ukraine, I'm downright despondent. They are not happy there after the President seemed to give his tacit approval to a "minor" Russian incursion.
AN INDIANA LAWSUIT SHOWS KIDS ARE BEING HELD OUT OF SCHOOL FOR NO REASON And if you guessed this was about stupid quarantine rules, you'd be right. A judge says the parents suing over lost educational opportunities have enough to move forward, as they showed that of the 3,000 students who missed school because of quarantine requirements, only TEN had covid. TEN. Read more here.
ANOTHER WORLD HEALTH BODY SAYS WINE IS BAD FOR YOU AND WHO CARES WHAT THEY SAY I added that last part. Some organization affiliated with the corrupt World Health Organization says regardless of what you have heard, NO WINE OR ALCOHOL is good for you. Then the article launches into descriptions of all the problem drinking that has sprung up around the world during Covid and try to make you think that this is your future if you have a glass of wine with dinner nightly. Now if you have a BOTTLE of wine with dinner, please talk to my friends at Go Sober.
WANT TO ACCESS YOUR DATA ON IRS.GOV? SMILE! Because the IRS is instituting facial recognition in an effort to cut down on identity theft. I've had to use ID.me for another account I have and I can say once you set it up, it's easy. Setting it up is a pain in the arse though, and I'm glad I didn't need support after reading this story on it.
NBC IS KEEPING ITS ANNOUNCERS HOME FOR THE OLYMPICS As they are worried about the Beijing restrictions if any of them test positive for covid during the Winter Olympic Games. So again, the commentators will be in the studio in New York and the games will be elsewhere.
RALPH LAUREN CRUSHED THE US OLYMPIC TEAM UNIFORMS THIS YEAR They are really, really sharp, and feel quintessentially American, like I would buy one of these jackets now. Check them out here.
LIVE TV CAN BE A REAL WRECK SOMETIMES And in this case, this reporter literally got hit by a car WHILE DOING HER WEATHER LIVE SHOT. She cowboyed up, rallied and finished her reporting. I hope she wins an Emmy for this one.
BIPARTISAN OPPOSITION SAVED THE FILIBUSTER Because as expected, Democrats Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema voted against the rules change that would have given Democrats unlimited power. This is a big loss for Chuck Schumer, who privately is probably pretty happy about this because he can see the writing on the wall about the midterms too. If the GOP takes over, I'd love to see them make a motion to abolish the filibuster just to see Democrats freak out and have to defend it. This is why I'm not in charge.
WHEN YOUR BABY IS BORN IN A HURRY
HERE ARE SOME OF THE REAL LOW POINTS OF THE PRESSER YESTERDAY
THIS ANTHEM IS BALD EAGLE APPROVED
BINGE WATCHING IS GONNA KILL YOU NOW If you didn't know that laying around watching tv for hours at a time is bad, here's one for you. It increases your chance of a blood clot by a third. Get up and do something in between those episodes, people!