Ever heard of Kiribati? Neither had Pat and I, until we came across a story about missionaries bringing COVID-19 to the tiny Pacific Island nation that had not experienced it to date. Of course, with only 122,000 people inhabiting the island and having been shut out from the world for the past 10 months, not having a case of the virus yet shouldn’t be surprising.

But, what if I told you that a group of 54 missionaries were allowed in to get fellow missionaries out of the nation and COVID-19 came with them? Would you be surprised?

What if you knew that the 54 missionaries were all triple-jabbed, quarantined for two weeks before leaving the United States and then were tested three times while quarantined in Fiji before entering the country…only to have 36 of the 54 test positive just five days after entering Kiribati?

Today, they’ve gone from zero cases to over 364 cases in a matter of a few weeks.

Yes, after all the precautions and testing protocols, COVID-19 was still able to win. What did Kiribati do about it? Well, the nation’s response tells us all we need to know about the insanity that COVID-19 has caused, because it’s response is the opposite of learning anything from it’s own, let alone other nations, experiences.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg on today’s Critical Thinking. Join Pat Oney and I on a Truth or Fiction Tuesday.

Tune in every Monday through Friday via podcast, Rumble (at noon ET) and MoJo 5.0 Radio (at 5pm ET).

Today marks a year since the government told us we all had to lockdown for 15 days in order to slow the spread. In the course of the next 365 days, what have we seen from America? Well, there’s a lesson I learned early on — that there is no reasoning with those so gripped by fear that facts don’t matter.

I was reminded of that during a conversation this weekend over the beginning of the NCAA tournament and the audacity to suggest that life has to go on. There was no reasoning with someone who saw three teams bowing out of conference tournaments.

But, this attitude has permeated our society for the past year. Which brings me to a bigger point than rehashing the whole year of fear, lies and panic that we have seen. That point? None of the research, facts, figures or charts will ever matter against a society that buys in to fear over facts. Arguing with facts to those gripped by fear is not going to work. We must prepare for a much larger battle ahead.

It’s a Tuesday, so we also play Truth or Fiction and of course, us sports nuts had to give you our picks for the upcoming NCAA tournament. By the way, you can join us in a tournament challenge over at ESPN, where the sole winner gets an awesome Critical Thinking prize package to include APR coffee and show swag! Join the Critical Thinking Show Challenge (1 entry per person, 1 bracket per person — man up).

Find our highlight of the day on our Rumble page too.

Don’t forget, you can see this show every weekday by becoming a Critical Thinker on our Locals page. Subscribe today ($5 a month) and find the video version of the show for your viewing pleasure.

So many are talking about the $.19 trillion Covid-19 relief bill that passed the Senate and moves one step closer to being signed by President Joe Biden, yet a lot of people are missing just how hurtful this bill is to millions of Americans.

One prime example is what this bill does to the federal tax code and it’s impact on so-called gig workers. What in the world does gig worker tax code issues have to do with Covid-19 relief? We discuss that and we chat on other fun things that happend over the weekend.

Get your week started off right with Monday’s Critical Thinking on MoJo 5.0 Radio.

Find our highlight of the day on our Rumble page too.

Don’t forget, you can see this show every weekday by becoming a Critical Thinker on our Locals page. Subscribe today ($5 a month) and find the video version of the show for your viewing pleasure.