(FREE) PAINE IN THE MORNING: 8 things you need to know this Tuesday – March 15, 2022

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Did flawed PCR tests convince us Covid was worse than it really was? – It has been one of the most enduring Covid conspiracy theories: that the ‘gold standard’ PCR tests used to diagnose the virus were picking up people who weren’t actually infected.

Some even suggested the swabs, which have been carried out more than 200 million times in the UK alone, may mistake common colds and flu for corona. – READ MORE

Idiocracy: CDC Lowers Expectations For Child Development, Raising New Questions for Parents – The CDC has changed its list of children’s developmental milestones for infants and young children, marking the first update of its kind since 2004.

The move has generally been portrayed in the media as a positive adjustment, with claims that it provides clearer benchmarks and can help identify developmental delays early. – READ MORE

NYC building where fire killed 17 skipped inspection after officers were moved to COVID unit: report – The Bronx, New York City, building where 17 people – including eight children – died in a blaze earlier this year was due to receive a fire inspection before the tragedy, but never did because those tasked with examining the structure were reassigned to a unit that checked that restaurants were following COVID restrictions, according to a report.

Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507, the union that represents uniformed emergency medical technicians, paramedics and fire inspectors, testified last week before the City Council’s Fire and Emergency Management Committee. – READ MORE

U.S. Average Gas Prices Soar 22% in Two Weeks to Record $4.43 Per Gallon – Up, up and you pay. The average U.S. price for regular-grade gasoline at the pump soared a whopping 79 cents over the past two weeks to hit a record $4.43 per gallon on Sunday.

That exceeds by 32 cents the prior all-time high of $4.11 set in July 2008, AP reports. – READ MORE

While Everyday Americans Struggle, Congress Gives Their Staffers A 21% Pay Bump With Your Tax Dollars – It’s apparently a good time to be a staffer in the House of Representatives, as Congress reportedly revealed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill on March 9th that “would substantially boost the office budgets of House members to pay staff more,” to the tune of a 21% increase.

Contained within the bulky omnibus spending bill is a total of $5.9 billion in funding for the Legislative Branch’s 2022 fiscal year, where $774.4 million of the aforementioned $5.9 billion is going toward the Members Representational Allowance. – READ MORE

$14 million in taxpayers’ money spent to get monkeys high – The National Institutes of Health gave $14 million to Oregon Health and Science University to feed monkeys marijuana edibles and observe the effects last year.

A White Coat Waste Project investigation found that the experiment included two parts. First, eight female macaques were given a THC — the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — edible daily for up to four months and were observed for any changes to their menstrual cycle. Then, six male macaques were given the THC edible daily for up to 7 months and were observed for any changes to their fertility. – READ MORE

Atlantic piece slammed for arguing nuclear war would kill millions and ‘prove disastrous for climate change’ – Political commentators criticized an Atlantic headline on Sunday that argued, in addition to killing millions of people, a nuclear war would “prove disastrous for climate change.”

“On Top of Everything Else, Nuclear War Is a Climate Problem,” the headline of The Atlantic article read. “A nuclear war would kill tens of millions of people and would also prove disastrous for climate change,” a tweet that accompanies the article said. – READ MORE

A 93-Year-Old Woman Couldn’t Pay Her $2,300 Tax Bill. The Government Sold Her Home and Kept the Money. – Whether or not Geraldine Tyler will live to see the resolution of her case remains unclear.

The 93-year-old left her Minneapolis condominium in 2010 after a nearby shooting and a disturbing encounter left her uneasy. But she was unable to finance both her new apartment and the property tax on her erstwhile condo, accruing $2,300 in debt. – READ MORE