Media Making It Harder

 I'm increasingly bugged by a particular behavior by news media: mischaracterization. My case in point today is the common phrasing of changing vaccine recommendations as "puzzling" or "confusing". 

Horseshit.

It's about as simple as it gets: as the virus changes so must our response to it. Calling this simple concept "puzzling" is like wondering why the needle on your car's gas gauge moves as you drive. 

Another seething pet peeve is the ubiquitous use a "crisis" to describe things that happen every damn day. A "crisis", by definition, is an unexpected, serious, and short-lived event that does require unique resources to resolve, but when it's resolved, it goes away. Calling the immigration situation at the southern border a "crisis" is simply hyperbole. People have been crossing the border for generations. Our government's commitment to handling that situation, though, is variable across decades. That's not a crisis, that's poor public policy.

Hiding from Smoke

 The air quality in Colorado  has been degraded by wildfires on the west coast pumping smoke into my part of southern Colorado. The Air Quality Index right now is 105, meaning there are 105 parts per million of particulate matter - smoke particles, burned residue from houses, cars, trucks, etc - making it unsafe for at risk people to breathe outdoors.

Being one of those "at risk" people, I've been secluded indoors for 2 days so far, a total of 12 days out of the last 20.  Even at that, my chest aches and my voice has faded to a poor whisper. The forecast for tomorrow is more of the same.

Don't tell climate change "is coming". It's definitely here.

What Was She Thinking?

 In Mesa County Colorado County Clerk Tina Peters, a conservative Republican, Lauren Boebert bestie and MyPillow Guy devotee, will not be allowed to supervise this fall's elections.

According to the Colorado Secretary of State, Jenna Griswold, Peters violated vote rules by allowing a private citizen to observe a software update to the county's Dominion voting machines. The unauthorized person obtained hard drive images and the passwords needed to access the systems and posted them on the Internet. Peters later lied to the SOS, claiming the unauthorized person was an employee. 

The SOS has now decertified Mesa county's voting equipment and directed the county either replace it all or find a way to re-certify the current gear. 

The good news is no election results are in question as a result of this spectacularly stupid move by Clerk Peters, who's now under criminal investigation by Mesa county law enforcement. 

The bad news is the county is on the hook for significant capital funds to replace the vote counting equipment before November.

The sad news Peters still has her job. 

I'm Not Crying

 

I Can Breathe Again!

 Today marks the first day local air quality has improved enough for me to be outdoors. Because of the California wildfires and diabolical wind patterns, smoke has become a genuine threat to southern Colorado people like me with lung disease. This morning, though, I can see the mountains again for the first time in nine days. The air isn't yellow any more.

It also means Reuben, my boxer, gets to go for his usual walk with me. Gotta go, see ya!