Demand Transparency on Covid-19 Cycle-Threshold Data

December 13, 2020/by Mike Stenhouse

The full release and analysis of detailed testing data could be critical in shaping more focused and less intrusive COVID-19 restrictions for Rhode Islanders.

This data, which measures “viral load” (how much of the virus is present) and which is routinely collected by labs that conduct COVID tests, can be critically important in determining both public policy and individual regimens. Take action now to demand it.

The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity has launched a new campaign, sending over a sixteen hundred pre-written emails (in just days) to officials petitioning the state to take action to collect and publish this vital cycle threshold data.

We have good news to share… they have taken the first steps in making a small portion of this data available. Our campaign is clearly working, but we need full transparency on this critical information.

You can take action by clicking on the link here now. Don’t wait, because your voice is powerful and it will make a difference for the people of Rhode Island!

Court Appointments and the Governor’s Power

December 9, 2020/by Justin Katz

Raimondo wants you to follow rules that she, alone, has developed and proclaimed. Whatever their thoughts about the coronavirus, Rhode Islanders should insist that she must follow the rules that our representative democracy purports to impose.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The End Game Settling In

December 8, 2020/by Justin Katz

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for December 7, included talk about:

Not getting rid of Gina
Identity politics rule
The poor investment of a General Assembly campaign
Nellie’s election security deterioration

I’ll be on again Monday, December 14, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Mattiello, Shekarchi, Ruggerio, Raimondo Prolonging Failed Lockdown – Due to Filthy Federal Lucre?

December 6, 2020/by Monique Chartier

Let’s review eight months of unconvincing reasons for implementing, then not ending, Rhode Island’s COVID-19 lockdown, then go to the video tape for what’s looking like the real explanation.

Wolf Crying and Water Carrying in the Local News Media

December 2, 2020/by Justin Katz

It’s a sad testament to the state of modern media that journalists are happy to play along with the governor’s scare campaign to maintain her far-reaching emergency powers.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Governor’s Court

November 30, 2020/by Justin Katz

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for November 30, included talk about:

The Pause arrives
The Queen’s bid for a higher court
McKee’s bid for the Queen’s attention
The General Assembly as courtiers
Is the jester in the Britt trial still relevant?

I’ll be on again Monday, November 30, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Arm’s Length for the Heir During the Very Serious Pandemic (TM)

November 30, 2020/by Justin Katz

If Governor Raimondo really thought the coronavirus represented a crisis, wouldn’t she be keeping her replacement in the loop?

Rhody Reporter: COVID Update

November 27, 2020/by Rhody Reporter

Mark Zaccaria shows that Gov Raimondo and other public officials have provided little help to their constituents by trying to micromanage everyone’s behavior. Instead, they should start trusting us to make good decisions about COVID safety on our own.

The research Mark cites may be found here: https://globaljournals.org/GJSFR_Volume20/1-SARS-Cov-2.pdf

Lockdowns are Now a Proven Failure As Their Collateral Damage Rises Inexorably

November 25, 2020/by Monique Chartier

Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, let’s examine the goal of the lockdown, the critical matter of its effectiveness and the collateral damage it has caused.

Following the Science Where Science Can’t Lead

November 21, 2020/by Justin Katz

We should acknowledge reality (you know, believing in science and all), respect rights, and do what planning and management we can around those to great Rs.

Distracted from Important COVID Questions

November 18, 2020/by Justin Katz

Given the choice, Americans might very well choose not to sacrifice their holidays, their businesses, and their children’s education so as to maintain the fiction that a rapidly socializing government can manage complex systems like healthcare.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Mailing in the Lockdown

November 16, 2020/by Justin Katz

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for November 16, included talk about:

What to make of Gina’s move toward another lockdown
What to think about the RI Trump co-chairs’ differences on concession
What Rhode Islanders should do about mail ballot anxiety

I’ll be on again Monday, November 23, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

… Except that Rhode Island’s COVID Positivity Rate Is Lower than Two Months Ago

October 30, 2020/by Monique Chartier

Graph by epidemiologist Dr. Andrew Bostom basis State of R.I. data

At her press conference currently ongoing, Governor Gina Raimondo is announcing new restrictions, including reduction from fifteen to ten at social gatherings; no spectators at any sports for next two weeks; and fines, including fines on households, saying she doesn’t want cases to “explode”.

You’d reasonably conclude from these serious measures and language that Rhode Island’s case positivity rate, the newest panic-promoting selling point of the lockdown, was at a recent high, wouldn’t you? In fact, as epidemiologist Dr. Andrew Bostom said yesterday on the R.I. Center for Freedom and Prosperity‘s “Mikes with Mics” and shows in his graph, above, the current, very modest rise in case positivity is actually lower than the modest rise of August 1.

UPDATED: Rhode Island Hospitalizations – Still Less than Half the Peak

October 28, 2020/by Monique Chartier

Eight days ago, this is where Rhode Island stood with hospitalizations, the original and only goal of the lockdown. Now Rhode Island is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases. Good time to update, especially with a press conference by Governor Raimondo coming up shortly.

At 168 “Currently Hospitalized”, we are still less than half the peak in late April of 377. And Rhode Island hospitalizations were not overwhelmed even at this peak. In fact, the Governor Raimondo herself stated mid-April that the need for hospital beds would peak in late April or early May and that Rhode Island was not going to see a worst case scenario. She was correct on both points. Nor has Rhode Island come close to the peak for hospitalizations

Yet despite achieving this goal, Governor Raimondo, with the express consent by inaction of Speaker Mattiello and Senate President Ruggerio, has inexplicably not lifted the onerous and damaging lockdown of Rhode Island.

Moreover, as we are now seeing in Europe, lockdowns do not work to stop the disease.

Yes, we need to be vigilant. Vulnerable populations must continue to take steps to protect them and we all need to be thoughtful of our interactions with them. But let’s also not overreact.

By continuing to impose what has now been demonstrated to be an ineffectual (yet highly damaging) measure to suppress spread when the singular goal of the measure was achieved six months ago, our state leaders are flexing power in a way that is completely detached from facts, science and data. This is, accordingly, an an abuse of power and an overreaction, the result of which, intended or not, is to punish Rhode Islanders in the short and long term for something that is beyond our control.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Protest and Action

October 26, 2020/by Justin Katz

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for October 26, included talk about:

Fenton-Fung and Mattiello back in the ring
The governor comes for Thanksgiving dinner
Protests settle in in Providence

I’ll be on again Monday, November 2, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Hospitalization Data: Why is Rhode Island Still Locked Down Five Months after Flattening the Curve?

October 20, 2020/by Monique Chartier

What does perhaps the most important COVID-19 data point show and say about the case for continuing Rhode Island’s lockdown?

Aaron Lewis: In the Grey Zone

October 16, 2020/by Engaged Citizen

Are local hospitals withholding life-saving measures and allowing some babies to die?

Time to Acknowledge Doubt About Raimondo COVID Response

October 8, 2020/by Justin Katz

If we continue to accept the governor’s proclamations passively, or even with support, part of the blame for consequences falls on us for our silence.

Last Impressions #52: Stable Pods and Unstable Metonyms

October 5, 2020/by Justin Katz

Justin Katz reports the (unfortunately) not Not Real News about “stable pods” at URI, reviews local conservative happenings in Rhode Island, and talks about the metonymic dogmatism of the Left.

Last Impressions #51: Rebels Needed

September 25, 2020/by Justin Katz

Governor Raimondo and her merry band of magic Appointees focus on the true danger in Rhode Island — not roudy rioters carrying signs that threaten to burn down the country, but college kids who aren’t voluntarily living as if in an open-air prison.

Government Tracking Your Health Through the Sewer

September 23, 2020/by Justin Katz

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

September 21, 2020/by Justin Katz

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

August 17, 2020/by Justin Katz

Comparison of the Woodstock-era pandemic with COVID-19 has to take into account the ages of the population.

School Opening Follies

August 14, 2020/by Rhody Reporter

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

August 14, 2020/by Justin Katz

Just calling something “highest risk category” and saying there has been a “spike” induces fear.

In The Dugout: DOH Whistleblower On Media Lockout

August 11, 2020/by Mike Stenhouse

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

August 6, 2020/by Monique Chartier

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

August 5, 2020/by Justin Katz

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

August 3, 2020/by Justin Katz

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

July 28, 2020/by Justin Katz

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.

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