Brazen!
All over America there is an epidemic of thefts of catalytic converters, taken right off of cars parked outside. The converters, which are part of the pollution control of cars’ exhaust systems, contain small amounts of precious metal. These metals, platinum and palladium are two of them, have seen their values skyrocket. Both metals I have named have seen marked increases in their values from being just over $600 an ounce to $1300 an ounce for platinum and $3000 an ounce for palladium.
These sharp increases have made catalytic converters highly desirable to daring and desperate thieves. This has led to a stunningly high number of missing converters. Car owners start their vehicles that have sat outside overnight to be startled by roaring engines. And repairing their exhaust systems isn’t cheap.
My parents narrowly escaped the theft of their catalytic converter, thanks to the quick actions of their barber!
Are The Right-Wingers Finally Getting It?
Admittedly, before the pandemic took hold here in America, I wasn’t sure how worried I should be about what seemed to be just another flu. I had long been an advocate of vaccination and I got my flu shot every year, but how bad could this Covid thing be? I was skeptical.
Then as the virus began to rapidly spread across the world and more and more science was done on the virus and its disease, it became very clear this wasn’t just another flu. The flu, which kills tens of thousands of Americans each year, does not transmit as easily, its symptoms show up much sooner, and it isn’t nearly as deadly as Covid-19.
Typically, the flu season in America is October through May. In those eight months, the flu can take as many as 60,000+ American lives. From March 1 to May 30, 2020, more than 95,000 American deaths were due to Covid-19. That’s just three months! My skepticism had vanished long before May, 2020.
Fast forward to a week ago and we are finally seeing right-wing media stars (E.g: Steve Doocey and Sean Hannity) and Republican politicians (E.g: Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis) have done an about face and are now encouraging people to get vaccinated. Some leave a little wiggle room in order to stay somewhat consistent with their anti-shutdowns, anti-mask, and anti-vax messaging from over the past 17 months, but they are now encouraging the shot.
Why? Perhaps they have come to the realization that Covid is now the disease of the unvaccinated and they are in danger of their audience and constituents dying off. Or maybe they are seeing a return to shutdowns, social distancing, and mask mandates, at the very least.
Whatever the reason, they may be a year and a half late, but welcome aboard.
I also talked about the regrets of one vaccine resistant woman whose whole family and herself got infected. She ended up in the hospital and spent nine horrifying days in he ICU. She thought she was going to die. She didn’t, but she’s not back to normal and she regrets not getting the “stupid shot.”
And the young do get Covid and some have been dying. One young fellow who defiantly refused to get vaccinated tweeted about having “99 problems, but a vax ain’t one.” He’s dead now. Covid killed him.
Finally on this show’s Covid talk, I mentioned last week’s talk about the Mayo Clinic’s statistics on vaccination rates in each state here in America. They also gave vax rates by age groups. That was the most encouraging stat.
The age group of 65 and over is at more than 70% fully vaccinated in every state! One this occurred to me since last week’s show when thinking about why that age group’s vax rate is so high. It may have to do with the fact that they have direct memories of the days before the polio vaccine.
Candace Owens Came Dangerously Close To Getting It
Conservative commentator and assuager of white guilt, Candace Owens posted a tweet in which she came so close to getting it. In the tweet, she asked why if the government is so concerned with saving lives it made the Covid vaccine free, but hasn’t done the same with insulin and asthma inhalers. Those are lifesaving medications, so why are they so expensive?
Hold the phone! Is Ms Owens advocating universal healthcare? Medicare for all?
Of course not.
To be fair, she has advocated for lower healthcare and prescription costs. She was just stating her disbelief that the American government had suddenly gotten in the business of saving lives.
And she is right. Our government didn’t just suddenly get in the business of saving lives. I gave twelve examples of government agencies, going back as far as 1906, that have saving lives as part of what they do. Actually, I only listed 11 on the show. I mistakenly skipped the US Department of Defense.
Whoops!
My Bubble App Is Peddling Miracle Weight Loss Bullshit
I play a bubble-popping app called Bubble Pop Origin. I play the free version, so I have to sit through ads. Meh, it’s the price you pay when you don’t want to pay an actual price.
I’ve been seeing several ads that are for an undoubtedly bullshit miracle weight loss pill. No exercise! No dieting! Just take this magic pill and lose the fat while you sleep.
Really? It’s just that easy? Then why is there still an obesity epidemic in America? Shouldn’t this miracle pill fix that?
Of course, not. It’s bullshit.
I go over several of the red flags that scream out this is a scam. One is the before and after images. Some of them go by pretty quick and I’m not sure the before person is the same as the after person. Another red flag is those who are depicted as “experts”. They’re the rich folks from Shark Tank. I doubt they are experts on weight loss. The biggest red flag is several ads, but not all, feature America’s quack Dr. Oz. If you had any doubt this was bullshit, his inclusion should erase it.
I wonder if the quack is aware he is in these ads. He got in trouble for touting miracle weight loss nonsense before, would he be at it again?
Don’t waste your money. You wanna lose weight? Eat less, mostly plants, and exercise. If you are obese or morbidly obese work with a doctor. A real doctor. An MD! One that specializes in weight loss, maybe. But not Dr. Oz!
All Real Monsters Are Humans
I made an adjustment to a meme in which its creator made the point that when they were a child they never realized all real monsters were human. Reading that I knew they must have missed out of a certain Saturday morning kids’ show.
GET VACCINATED!
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That’s it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com
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