WSJ Hygiene hypothesis

Masking kids too long may be setting them up for future immune problems.

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Teacher-Loyalty-bill-introduced-44670978

Meanwhile, in the “Live Free or Die” state…

Source: American Institute for Economic Research.

I posted a note on the OneAmerica insurance company actuarial data some time ago, and took heat for suggesting that the reported 40 percent pandemic death surge might eventually be attributed to factors no one today wants to believe.

Continue reading “All Cause Mortality in the United States During 2021” →

https://www.pilotonline.com/entertainment/books/sns-bc-schools-banning-books-art-trims-nyt-20220201-yowzqtaognb3jg6iw3uyqjdq5u-story.html

The idea of banning books because of “uncomfortable” themes and discussions is an affront to the 1st Amendment. I say if books can be banned, then so can guns.

Premature abandonment of OWS is costing thousands of lives

The Biden administration abandoned Trump’s policy of sharing risk with pharma on the theory that the vaccines were the end-all of the pandemic, and we are dreadfully short on therapeutics as a result.

Getting a course of Paxlovid in Virginia remains much like winning the lottery.

I am not sure if this is paywalled or not. Covid coverage often is not.

The main point is that the CDC has been tracking booster effectiveness since October 3. Data from Oct and Nov 2021 shows the unvaccinated DIED at a rate of 7.8 deaths per 100,000 PER WEEK. The comparable rate for the vaccinated was 0.6 and for the boosted – wait for it – 0.1. In short, you were 78x more likely to die if unvaccinated vs the boosted.

The story also covers new polling of adults from the Kaiser Family Foundation on vaccination vs political affiliation.

Unvaccinated: Democrats = 9% Republicans = 36%.

Boosted: Democrats = 62% Republicans = 32%.

There are more Republicans unvaccinated than there are Republicans fully protected. That is insane.

Finally, the article includes this tragic statistic: “Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert at the Baylor College of Medicine, estimates that in the second half of last year, 200,000 Americans needlessly lost their lives because they refused Covid vaccines.”

Covid lies and misinformation are murderous. It is that simple.

WSJ Infrastructure bait and switch

Even the small fraction of the infrastructure bill going to roads and bridges isn’t going to happen.

The Dept of Transportation will delay new traffic lanes indefinitely to try to force mass transit on everyone. So, how often will the light rail between Laredo and Cheyenne run?

If you don’t live in a big city, no infrastructure for you.

Kaitlyn Jenner on transgender athletes

A year, or twenty years, on testosterone suppression does not erase growing up male. Anybody but a University administrator can see that.

The next governor of California is now being called transphobic.

Only in California

Source: Wikipedia.

I wrote a brief essay here on the Forum a while back which suggested that reciprocity as anthropologists understand the term may account for the historical origins of money. The theory (not my own) holds that humans are hardwired by evolution to repay kindness with kindness and insult with insult. In a natural (pre-civilized) society, these tit-for-tat obligations can build up over time until a crisis occurs such that the network of obligations must be resolved. Money, according to this view, came into use as a way of paying off or canceling social debts that needed to be quantified so that they could be settled.

Continue reading “Reciprocity (cultural anthropology)” →

Republicans seek to fix Marijuana Legalization

To their credit, last year Virginia Democrats started the state on the path to ending marijuana prohibition. But being Democrats, they could not resist mucking it up with needless regulation. Continue reading “A piece of the action” →