Nolan Out Loud: Restrictions will stay if they work, and if they don't

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday it is too soon to say if she'll renew the three-week partial shutdown of Michigan scheduled to end Dec. 8. She's right. It will be next week before the daily case numbers reflect the impact of the restrictions.

If the number of cases drops significantly, it will suggest the shutdown worked. Will that mean the governor will lift the orders? Doubtful. She'll more likely use any decrease to declare success and justify an extension of orders.

And what if the cases don't drop? Will she acknowledge the shutdown isn't an effective tool against this current surge and end it? That's even more doubtful. 

The most likely scenario is Whitmer will do what she did last spring and renew the unilateral orders over and over without demonstrating through data their effectiveness.

When asked at the press conference what are her metrics for reopening Michigan, the governor dodged the question. 

Vaccinate teachers early

The Centers for Disease Control Tuesday recommended a priority list for governors to distribute the coming Covid-19 vaccines. The CDC suggests health care workers be first in line, followed by nursing home patients. Next up should be school teachers. Get them vaccinated and reopen schools to in-person learning before we do irreparable harm to children. See today's editorial.

ETC.

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Another Big Tech company is bailing on California. Hewlett-Packard is packing up and moving to Texas. 

Turns out it wasn't aliens who dropped a10-ft metal monolith in a Utah desert, discovered on Nov. 18. Photographs show human beings removing the rectangular structure.