News Weakly - 7/24/21

COVID-related Deaths?
This is not written with the sarcasm or satire I often aim for given the gravity of the story. The CDC is reporting that drug overdose deaths rose by nearly 30% in 2020 to the highest number ever recorded. They are, additionally, connecting this rise to COVID-19, or, rather for stress over COVID. This looks a lot like "COVID-related deaths" although it is the prevention rather than the disease that caused much of this.

Backwards
Those backwards Arkansans. Those nutjobs thought that human life was more valuable than a woman's right to sleep with whomever she wants without consequences¹. So they tried to ban abortions except when the mother's life was endangered. What were they thinking? Luckily a federal judge put an end to that nonsense. This is America. We will not protect the rights of the most vulnerable among us! Human life is only as valuable as we say it is, and that life and its value is determined by the mother and not any ol' God or anything. Although, in my view, devaluing human life in favor of an individual's personal comfort is a major step backward. And it cannot end well.

Business as Usual
As expected:
Democrats: "We're going to burn Trump at the stake after the fact. We want a January 6 probe."

Republicans: "Yeah, sure, we're on board. We're putting forward a few Trump supporters."

Democrats: "Apparently you weren't listening. We're going to burn Trump at the stake. The probe is just for looks. If you can't appoint people who will agree with us, you can't appoint people."

Republicans: "If we can't appoint who we want, we won't play."

It doesn't look like either side is interested in an actual probe ... or is any older than 6.

The Wisest Among Us
The story is that a federal judge declared it "irreparable harm" if we as a society decided that children were not the best judges of what's best for them. The subject was an Arkansas law that banned turning children into the opposite sex. The argument is that the best thing we can do for minors is to cause permanent damage before they're even old enough to know what they're doing by offering "hormone treatment, puberty blockers or sex reassignment surgery." At the same time, New York passed a law that said that people under the age of 18 did not have sufficient maturity to choose to marry. We live in a confused world.

It Only Makes Sense
The term is "incel." It refers to guys who consider themselves "involuntarily celebate." It refers to guys who believe that women are unjustly denying them sexual or romantic attention. The story is about a guy in Ohio who planned to kill sorority members in retaliation for his inability to get a relationship. He has been charged with attempted hate crime and possession of a machine gun. But, if you think about it, it only makes sense. If the poor people have the right to your money, if babies have to surrender their right to life to women's choice, if workers have the right to determine what their employers will pay them, etc., why would it not be the women's fault for failing to provide for his "just sexual needs"? (Which, if you're not paying attention, is intended to point out the fallacy of all that other stuff.)

Trust the Government
The press asked the president if the administration was spying on Americans by flagging misleading, dangerous information. Joe didn't deny it. He said that they were "killing people." "They're killing people. I mean it really," he said. "Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they're killing people." Yes, the government is looking at your posts and comments. Yes, they believe you are a threat if you have questions about vaccinations. If you would just stop questioning them, you will be fine. Trust us. Oh, and Planned Parenthood was relieved to learn "They're killing people" was a reference to Facebook and not them.

Misinformation
We've been told that it is wrong to ask questions about COVID. It is labeled "misinformation." They've already determined that COVID was not a leak from a Chinese lab and stop saying that it might have been. So it's odd that China had to reject a request from the WHO because they wanted to study further the possibility that the virus might have come from a lab. Why is WHO asking if it's settled? WHO is presenting misinformation?

The Wrong Tree
Liberty University has been sued by 12 women who claim, among other things, that the university "promoted attacks on and discrimination against women through a series of policies that discouraged sex before marriage." Now, I'm no defender of Liberty U and I'd agree that they've not handled stuff well, but when the claim that discouraging sex outside of marriage promotes attacks and discrimination, it's not Liberty on the line. Take that up with God. Oh, and stop going to a university that claims to follow such a Being.

Briefly ...
Just a funny headline from the Bee this week when outer space returned an unwanted Amazon delivery.

Postscript: I just was wondering. Years ago we had to flush that term we used for black people. Back then they referred to them as "colored" and that had to go. Why is "people of color" better? I don't know. I just wonder about things from time to time.
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¹ They tell us that 49% of pregnancies are unplanned. Statistically, the #1 reason given for abortion is "not financially prepared" (40%). Thirty-six percent say it's "not the right time for a baby." Other top reasons include partner-related reasons (31%), the need to focus on other children (29%) and not emotionally prepared (19%). "Health related" doesn't occur until around 12% and some of that is due to drug or alcohol use (5%). Health is not a primary reason for abortion. Rape or incest are not primary reasons either.