1.11.2022

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




On January 13, 2012, I was posting the first pics coming in of the Costa Concordia. Thirty-two people died, and the captain -- who did not go down with the ship because he left -- was ultimately sentenced to 16 years in prison.  When the ship was finally up-righted, its sunken side looked like this:



  • If you don't personally know someone who is home sick right now with COVID, you are in the minority.
    • That peak right after the holidays might have been slightly artificially high because of the numbers backlog, but they are now settling in to the accurate numbers. They are astronomical. 

    • Hospital numbers. (Disclaimer: NBC News has questioned whether hospital numbers are as accurate accurate during this Omicron surge.)

    • Just an example of the impact this week:

  • The leader of far right conservatives is still taking heat for his tweet dogging teachers.  The reason guys like him denigrate public schools is part of a far bigger agenda. They certainly admit that they want "school vouchers" for private schools. But to them the term "school vouchers" is code for wanting your tax money to fund Evangelical Christian schools only. 

  • If you heard this claim (below) on right wing talk shows yesterday (and it was everywhere), it is a lie. The numbers came from the CDC Director on Good Morning America who was talking about deaths for those who are fully vaccinated. That is, if you are vaccinated, you have to be in really bad shape in order for COVID to kill you. 


    • This isn't hard. The director was citing this study which analyzed 1.2 million people who were vaccinated. First of all, only 36 had died. And even then, 28 of those 36 people had four comorbidities-- ergo "75% of those who died had four comorbidities." This is from the actual study:

    • Here are her full and unedited remarks for those who care about facts instead of the eight seconds out of context sound bite.

  • I was going to make fun of this headline by saying that's a pretty cheap price to eliminate all traffic deaths. Then I read the lede and that's exactly what they were claiming: "Dallas officials say they believe it will cost $30 million to make streets safe enough that no one will die in crashes by 2030."  Oh, come on. 

  • We have a new quarter. I'll admit I had to look her up. 

  • This is a 10 miles stretch of highway 380 starting in Denton County and going to the Collin County line. It will be completed in 2025. And with all the growth up there, that ain't nearly enough lanes. And 380 needs to be a full freeway with no red lights. 

  • Which reminds me, that stop light on 380 right by the Wise County Sheriff's Office is the most mismanaged intersection in the state.  One single car coming up to the red light on Business 380 will cause a traffic jam of what had been 40 free flowing cars on 380 because that one single car will trigger the red light for the highway.  It's been that way for years despite the TxDOT office being a stone's throw away. 
    © 2022 Liberally Lean Graphics

  • The Final College Football AP Poll was just released:

  • Here's a great picture of the game sealing interception (ran back for a TD) in the National Championship game last night. Video.

  • They built that Tesla factory quicker than the Starbucks in Bridgeport (which has been under construction for months):