Government Tracking Your Health Through the Sewer
The thing with encroachments on our liberty is that they always seem far off… until they’re at your door.
Politics This Week with John DePetro: Theater of Courts and Corona
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for September 21, included talk about:
- Progressive protesters seek Senate shutdown
- COVID crackdown at Providence College
- Mail ballot application apprehension
- No bother with budget before election
- Fenton-Fung fields Mattiello’s obvious flaws
I’ll be on again Monday, September 28, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
A Necessary Adjustment When Comparing 1968 to Now
Comparison of the Woodstock-era pandemic with COVID-19 has to take into account the ages of the population.
School Opening Follies
Mark Zaccaria applies that ol’ Rhode Island intuition to the questions of whether public schools should… and will… open.
Putting the Scare into the People
Just calling something “highest risk category” and saying there has been a “spike” induces fear.
In The Dugout: DOH Whistleblower On Media Lockout
Mike Stenhouse brings Lisa Camuso back on the show to talk about how pervasively the Rhode Island media is ignoring her story of problems at the state Department of Health.
Raimondo Rips out Goalposts Altogether as Governors Carefully Disregard Most Important Datapoint
As you probably know, the original justification for the COVID-19 lockdown was to prevent the overwhelming of hospitals. This never happened; not in Rhode Island nor in any state other than hotspot New York (where it got close); not even at the height of the pandemic. Click here to view Justin Katz’ latest, very informative tracking graph of COVID-19 trends in Rhode Island. You’ll note that hospitalizations in Rhode Island, in fact, peaked THREE WHOLE MONTHS AGO.
Keep this critical piece of information in mind as we move now to Rhode Island’s COVID-19 press conference yesterday.
Games with Models in the Midst of a Dictatorship, 8/5/20 Data
Is it really the law that if the governor decrees an emergency at any point, she can then extend her enhanced power indefinitely into the future in 30-day increments, even when her moves become entirely precautionary?
Games with Models, 8/3/20 Data
The math of recent COVID hospitalization trends has flipped the projection from exponential increase back to gradual decline. Just like that.
Games with Models, 7/28/20 Data, Doom and Denial
The reason RI COVID-19 numbers have been doing things that make a simplistic model inapplicable are instructive as a lesson on the more-sophisticated models of the experts.
In the Dugout: Lyle Morse on Miraculous COVID Recovery
Back to School
Looking for Reality with Schrodinger’s President
In the world of media and politics, ignoring reality in order to keep your preferred outcome a live possibility may be an option, but for the sake of a healthy reality it cannot be.
Daring to Look for Perspective on the Pandemic
The attitude of fear that has been fostered by the presentation of COVID-19 to the public has created a terrible atmosphere in which to be making major life-and-society-affecting decisions.
Data Doubts and Games with Models, 7/15/20 Data
Americans are finding ourselves in a position of not knowing whom to trust on COVID-19.
Narrative Battles and Games with Models, 7/13/20 Data
If we see an increase in hospitalizations, it may very well be an indication that fewer people are dying, which is good, and that people are in the hospital for other reasons, which isn’t an indication that COVID is overwhelming our resources.
The COVID Story’s Focus Isn’t Where It Should Be for a Free People
The narratives around COVID-19 may make for an easier and more-fun story to write, but they aren’t what we should demand as a free and independent people… unless that’s not what we are anymore.
Games with Models, 7/8/20 Data
Today’s data release from the state brings more non-dramatic continuation of trends.
On the Cusp of a Downgrade and Games with Models, 7/7/20 Data
As nationwide deaths move COVID-19 toward loss of its “epidemic” status, Rhode Island continues to see improvement.
Games with Models, 7/2/20 Data
The number of new COVID-19 cases in RI was higher today than it’s been, but the number of tests was up, and we’re still under 100.
A Note from Texas and Games with Models, 7/1/20 Data
We’ll see where this goes, but it remains entirely plausible to expect that cases will continue on the increase while serious cases and deaths continue to decline in Texas, while Rhode Island continues on its positive trends.
An Epidemic of Certitude and Games with Models, 6/30/20
There is a lot of talk about how facts and science are not matters of opinion, but with a large gap between what the facts show and the claims being made on that basis.
Raimondo’s Phony Science and Games with Models, 6/29/20 Data
Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo claims that she makes her decisions based on facts and science, but her restrained move to Phase 3 COVID-19 reopening shows that to be a false pretense.
A COVID Toe in the Water, Comorbidities, and Games with Models, 6/26/20 Data
As the world of COVID-19 news focuses on increased positive tests in Florida and Texas, Rhode Islanders should take not of other interesting (and telling) results.
A Century of Slime-Throwing
One hundred years after the Klan scare in Rhode Island, it’s about time for an effective defense to guilt-by-(accusations-of)-association attacks to be found.
Games with Models, 6/25/20 Data
The story of today’s COVID-19 data release for RI is one of revision. Numbers came in above my projections, but that’s largely because earlier data was revised up.
Games with Models, 6/24/20 Data
Rhode Island’s COVID-19 data is coming up to some milestones, and the conversation should start to transition to following economic recovery.
False “Despite” and Games with Models, 6/23/20 Data
Generally, the trends toward COVID-19 improvement continue in Rhode Island… despite people out and about, following the governor’s rules or following her demonstrated practices.
DOH “Whistle-Blower” Summoned to Ominous HR Meeting
An RI Department of Health employee fears retaliation as she’s ordered to attend a meeting with multiple state officials after going public with concerns about nursing home oversight during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I Can’t Breathe” and Games with Models, 6/22/20 Data
If RI data is relevant, loosening the economy is not associated with increased COVID-19 problems, although medicine is becoming frighteningly politicized.