First of all, a huge welcome to my listeners in Southern Utah who can now catch my show weekday afternoons between Noon and 2pm on 1450 AM and 93.1 FM in St. George, Utah. It's great to have a regular presence once again in one of the most remarkable radio markets around.
Ever find yourself wondering if there's a concerted effort to mess with our minds? Check out this article on mass psychology from Robert E. Wright. He describes 13 different psychological manipulation techniques and you'll likely recognize many of them being used on us today.
With all the conflicting messages coming at us 24/7, it's hard to know who or what to believe. And that task doesn't get easier when some platforms choose to censor what they deem unpopular opinions. The answer to misinformation is more, not less free speech. John Stossel has a great column about how YouTube may have the right to freeze Sen. Rand Paul's account but that doesn't mean that it should.
Salt Lake City mayor Erin Mendenhall recently took it upon herself to declare an emergency and to issue a mandate requiring every student in K-12 schools in her city to wear masks. This is after the local school board specifically voted not to impose such a mandate after intense pressure from parents. Connor Boyack from Libertas Institute has a great explanation of why Mendenhall's order is on shaky legal ground.
Today is the day that the FDA is expected to approve the Pfizer Covid vaccine. This will likely ramp up efforts to get more people to receive the shot but there are still serious questions that remain. Jon Miltimore has a fascinating article that asks, what is the true vaccine breakthrough rate and why did the CDC stop tracking and reporting breakthrough cases?
You've probably noticed that it's getting harder to have a productive conversation on just about anything these days. Is it possible to discuss anything of importance without bringing more anger to the situation? Here's a great piece on the growing rage of the informed and how to be more than a super-spreader of self-righteousness and blame.
The situation in Afghanistan is a worthy study of how interventionism can go wrong. Will our foreign policy officials actually learn from their mistakes this time? Pat Buchanan has some excellent perspective on the aftermath of the Afghanistan debacle.