Games with Models, 7/8/20 Data
Today’s data release from the state brings more non-dramatic continuation of trends.
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The Narrative Determines Who Gets Marked for Life
Police officers injured during Black Lives Matter protests and riots were statistical scenery, in contrast to those hurt while tamping down the scourge of personal fireworks displays.
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.
Discomfort in the Look
If it’s true that white people are becoming “uncomfortable in their whiteness” for the first time, it’s a fabricated phenomenon that is not healthy for our society.
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.
The Supreme Court Rules Against Religious Discrimination, Opens Opportunity
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue was obvious and opens the way for more educational opportunity, which is especially needed during the COVID-19 era.
Progressive Relativism Revives an Abstract Paganism
We long for meaning, but progressive relativism has revivified paganism as an abstract and all-extinguishing ideology.
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.
Headlines Designed to Divide
If you were trying to sow division and promote civil unrest (and maybe civil war), you would promote the narrative of these CNBC headlines.
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.
Whistleblower HR Meeting Just the Start
Department of Health employee Lisa Camuso provides an update after her Wednesday meeting with Dept. of Health and Dept. of Administration officials related to her appearance on In the Dugout with Mike Stenhouse.
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.
A Solution for the Progressive Crisis of Meaning
In our times of turmoil, if we place what’s going on in the proper context, the solution becomes obvious (albeit not easy).
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.
“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.
Retroactive Blessing for Local Dictatorship
Part of the explanation for why new legislation retroactively blesses anything local chief executives have done to change their budget processes can be found in the East Bay.
Games with Models, 6/19/20 Data
It has now been two weeks since the large rally in Providence, including the governor’s naked-faced prayer session in the midst of the crowd.
Officially Approved Revolutionaries in Training
Notions of independent thought and familial authority are quickly becoming illusions, contingent upon the official authorization of powerful progressives.
Games with Models, 6/18/20 Data
Today’s data report is the first since early April that shows fewer than 1,000 “active”cases, defined with the assumption that the average case lasts 14 days.
Games with Models, 6/17/20 Data
The chart of hospitalization projections for this post is extended out to the end of July, by which time the model shows essentially none.
Counterfactual Deaths and Games with Models, 6/16/20 Data
If Rhode Island had taken an approach of masks, hygiene, and social distancing, it isn’t absurd to think the toll of the disease could have been reduced, while also limiting the amount of collateral damage to our economy and to our lives.
Games with Models, 6/15/20 Data
At this point, Rhode Island’s COVID-19 situation is improving so rapidly that adherence to minimum space between each stage of reopening is coming to seem obstinate.
Games with Models, 6/12/20 Data
And… we’re back down to double-digit daily new cases of COVID-19 in Rhode Island, according to today’s data release.
Games with Models, 6/11/20 Data
Nationally, the narrative seems to be leaning toward a post-rally/riot return to fear of COVID-19, but in Rhode Island, the daily update is pretty humdrum.
A Look at the Narrative and Games with Models, 6/10/20 Data
Trends in Arizona shouldn’t be taken as the warning sign for Rhode Island some insist it is, and RI isn’t in a position to be lecturing AZ, anyway.
About “Defunding the Police” in Rhode Island…
Without commenting on the substance of any particular policy proposal, it can be noted that, in the state of Rhode Island, the number of sworn officers on a police force is frequently determined by the police union contract. This seems to be the case in Providence, according to a Projo article by Mark Reynolds…
The tentative agreement with the Providence lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police also includes some new language on staffing levels. The language basically requires the city to maintain a staffing level of at least 435 positions. If staffing falls below that level, the city would compensate officers with additional sick days.
So whatever “defund the police” means in a Rhode Island context, will it mean that the local police union has to directly approve any major policy and budgeting shifts covered by their contract, or will the powers-that-be in Rhode Island come around to challenging the idea that major public policy changes can be vetoed by an organization not democratically selected by the people?
And if it is the latter, will there be an explanation of why police unions are different from other public-sector unions?
It has been argued in this space that allowing union contracts to be a major constraint on state and municipal government decision-making creates a democratic accountability problem, but many Rhode Island leaders were content to ignore this, when they could pretend the issues were mostly fiscal and could be reduced to choices between cuts to existing programs and tax-increases. Well, the issues around policing that government must address right now are much bigger than fiscal ones, and the problems of dealing with them with less-than-democratic governing structures can no longer be ignored.