Health damage caused by the shutdown is becoming more visible.

There are consequences from the shutdown. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The damage to health caused by the lockdown is becoming more visible. The damage has been there from the beginning of the shutdown; it is just becoming more obvious. A growing number of news articles are describing the deteriorating health outcomes. A growing number of reporters are noticing the devastation.

A few recent articles for your consideration:

  • ‘Years of life lost’ caused by the shutdown is calculated in one analysis to be seven times the number of ‘years of life lost’ which are prevented by the shutdown
  • Frightening increase in suicide ideation by young adults
  • Mental health services pulled off line because of the shutdown
  • Seniors at one nursing home protest the shutdown and the loneliness it causes

Make a mental note that a large number of governors, state-level health officials, federal health officials, and county health officials are forcefully, willfully continuing the lockdowns.

5/5/20 – Washington Examiner – Stress from virus response will destroy 7 times more years of life than lockdowns save: study – Several studies are cited by the article.

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by Jim Ulvog on October 15, 2020, 8:51 am  •  Permalink
Posted in Other stuff, Pondering

Posted by Jim Ulvog on October 15, 2020, 8:51 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/10/15/health-damage-caused-by-the-shutdown-is-becoming-more-visible/

Economic damage from shutdown continues to spread.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Summarized below are a few of the recent articles pointing to expanding economic damage from the shutdown. Destruction in the movie business is noticeable in recent days:

  • Second largest movie chain in the US closes all its theaters
  • Wonder Woman director worried the entire theater industry may die
  • Disney restructures in order to increase focus toward direct-to-consumer distribution channel and away from theatrical release
  • Sales tax collections in San Francisco collapse
  • Passenger cruise ships are getting scrapped

10/5/20 – Wall Street Journal – Regal Cinemas Suspending Operations at All US Locations – The chain with the second largest number of theaters in the U.S. has closed all of its US theaters after having reopened only two months ago. Article does not indicate when any of the theaters will be reopened.

Article says release dates for a dozen movies have been postponed.

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by Jim Ulvog on October 13, 2020, 8:47 am  •  Permalink
Posted in economic freedom, Economics, Pondering

Posted by Jim Ulvog on October 13, 2020, 8:47 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/10/13/economic-damage-from-shutdown-continues-to-spread/

Education – More reports on devastating impact from the shutdown.

Status of public education across the country two months into the new school year. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Increasing numbers of reports describe the damage to education of our youth.  Students of every age group being hurt by the lockdown. Impact on poor or disadvantaged or previously struggling students is even more severe.

I am heartbroken that the damage will continue for the near future. The compounding effect will be terrible.

9/28/20 – ProPublica – The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning – Keep in mind this article describing the devastating impact of the lockdown on students from disadvantaged families is from ProPublica, a far-left news organization and not from some wild eyed Libertarian organization that wants people to have the freedom to make their own decisions on absolutely every issue in their lives.

Article goes into great lengths describing the struggles experienced by one particular student who has been trying to learn in virtual classes. As a starting point, there’s a grand total of four hours online teaching per week. Four hours – one hour per day on Monday through Thursday. That is the only teaching time. For all his class subjects.

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by Jim Ulvog on October 8, 2020, 9:03 am  •  Permalink
Posted in Other stuff, Pondering

Posted by Jim Ulvog on October 8, 2020, 9:03 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/10/08/education-more-reports-on-devastating-impact-from-the-shutdown/

Did the lockdowns have any beneficial impact on the rate of new infections?

Enough time has passed that there is enough information to start analyzing the lockdowns. Preliminary info is not pretty. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Indications are starting to emerge that the answer to the question may actually be no.

Previously mentioned one analysis which found a weak statistical correlation between weaker lockdown requirements and lower infection rate. The study found no correlation between the date that states started releasing the lockdown restrictions and subsequent infection rates.

 

The rate of infections accelerates rapidly and then hits an inflection point where the rate of infections either plateaus or the rate slows dramatically.

The following study suggests the lockdowns have no correlation to when the infection rates hit that transition point. In fact, the inflection point normally is reached before the lockdowns could have had any impact.

10/4/20 – National Review – Stats Hold a Surprise: Lockdowns May Have Had Little Effect on Covid-19 Spread –

Authors pulled the daily infection rate for 13 states and graphed the data on a logarithmic scale. Seeing infections on a log scale makes it easier to see trends. There are visible transitions in every state from rapid acceleration to a flattened or greatly reduced infection rate.

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by Jim Ulvog on October 5, 2020, 9:32 am  •  Permalink
Posted in economic freedom, Other stuff, political freedom, Pondering, religious freedom

Posted by Jim Ulvog on October 5, 2020, 9:32 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/10/05/did-the-lockdowns-have-any-beneficial-impact-on-the-rate-of-new-infections/

More updates on religious expression and restrictions thereof.

 

California church during regularly scheduled worship time. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Update on the effort by Los Angeles County to shut down worship at GCC. The march in San Francisco took place. Some churches are worshiping in minor league baseball parks.

9/26/20 – The Roys Report – John MacArthur will Face New Hearing in November for Defying Ban on Indoor Services – On 9/24/20 an LA County judge postponed a hearing to consider whether to hold Grace Community Church and John MacArthur in contempt.

A hearing will now be held on 11/13/20. What will happen then? I don’t know.

According to this article, the County’s expectation is the judge at that time will set a date for ruling on the county’s contempt request.

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by Jim Ulvog on October 4, 2020, 5:23 pm  •  Permalink
Posted in Other stuff, religious freedom

Posted by Jim Ulvog on October 4, 2020, 5:23 pm

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/10/04/more-updates-on-religious-expression-and-restrictions-thereof/

Economic bad news keeps rolling in, but hint of good news is on the horizon.

Parked airplanes idled by pandemic shutdown. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The bad news on the economy called for the shutdown just keeps growing but there is a hint of good news in the near future. First the good news. 9/30/20 – CNBC – US economy plunges 31.4% in the second quarter but a big rebound is expected – Commerce Department calculations of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter were revised, which is routine, dropping from an annualized contraction of 31.7% down just a little to 31.4% reduction in GDP. Read the full post »
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by Jim Ulvog on October 2, 2020, 10:06 am  •  Permalink
Posted in economic freedom, Economics

Posted by Jim Ulvog on October 2, 2020, 10:06 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/10/02/economic-bad-news-keeps-rolling-in-but-hint-of-good-news-is-on-the-horizon/

Minimal drop in number of new unemployment claims for last four weeks as of 9/26/20; more people going back to work.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The number of new claims for unemployment for week ending 9/26/20 has been about the same over the last five weeks, in the mid- to high 800 thousands. Last big drop was the week of 8/29/20. To again put this in context, before the government induced shutdown of the economy new claims averaged about 220,000 per week.

Good  news is the number of continuing claims for unemployment is continuing to drop, which means that more people are going back to work than loosing their job.

The devastating impact of the economic shutdown continues to be painfully obvious.

New Graphs

Starting this week that way the information is presented for this ongoing analysis will be in graphs.

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by Jim Ulvog on October 1, 2020, 12:20 pm  •  Permalink
Posted in economic freedom, Economics

Posted by Jim Ulvog on October 1, 2020, 12:20 pm

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/10/01/minimal-drop-in-number-of-new-unemployment-claims-for-last-four-weeks-as-of-9-26-20-more-people-going-back-to-work/

Observations from San Diego on economic destruction from shutdown.

View directly underneath Coronado Bridge shows the arches in the support towers. Photo by James Ulvog.

It is sad to personally observe the economic devastation from the shutdown.

We spent a few days in San Diego last week. Stayed at a hotel downtown near the harbor. Saw several things showing the severity of the economic damage.

Air travel

For quite a long time airplanes have not been allowed to leave San Diego International Airport until 6:30. It is funny to hear the first engine rev up a few seconds after 6:30 a.m.

I have noticed on previous vacations that there is a string of airplanes lined up ready to leave right at the stroke at 6:30. The planes take off approximately 1 minute apart.

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by Jim Ulvog on September 29, 2020, 8:25 am  •  Permalink
Posted in economic freedom, Economics, Pondering

Posted by Jim Ulvog on September 29, 2020, 8:25 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/09/29/observations-from-san-diego-on-economic-destruction-from-shutdown/

Stats on infection coronavirus rates not showing what you would expect. Time to open the economy.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

We have been locked down long enough for the volume of statistics to build up to the point of allowing deeper analysis. As is always the case, the statistics can also be manipulated to give whatever answer you want. Deeper, honest analysis is starting to show surprising results, for example, the lack of correlation between infection rates and lockdown policies.

Surprising results on the low correlation will be mentioned after some game playing is described.

Wall Street Journal – 9/9/20 – The Sturgis Statistical Misfire – For this story remember the old saying

  • Figures don’t lie, but liars figure

The annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota routinely draws huge numbers of people to the town, whose population is only 7,000 people. Attendance at the 10-day event this year was lower than usual with an estimated 460,000 motorcycle enthusiasts hanging around.

Frightening news reports at the time said this would cause massive numbers of Covid infections leading to massive numbers of deaths.

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by Jim Ulvog on September 22, 2020, 7:54 am  •  Permalink
Posted in economic freedom, Other stuff, political freedom, Pondering, religious freedom

Posted by Jim Ulvog on September 22, 2020, 7:54 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/09/22/stats-on-infection-coronavirus-rates-not-showing-what-you-would-expect-time-to-open-the-economy/

More churches resist shutdown of worship; one concedes. Pr. John MacArthur is open to starting a jail ministry.

May be a beautiful sanctuary, but in California the government won’t let you use it. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

In news over the last few days, Rev. Dr. John MacArthur said he would start a jail ministry if County officials toss him in the slammer, the Archbishop of San Francisco stands up to de facto shutdown of Masses, and one church concedes to the severe pressures from Santa Clara County.

Pastor John MacArthur open to a jail ministry.

Christian Headlines – 9/17/20 – John MacArthur Says He’ll Start a “Jail Ministry” if Arrested for Worshiping Indoors.

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by Jim Ulvog on September 21, 2020, 6:15 am  •  Permalink
Posted in Other stuff, Pondering, religious freedom

Posted by Jim Ulvog on September 21, 2020, 6:15 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/09/21/more-churches-resist-shutdown-of-worship-one-concedes-pr-john-macarthur-is-open-to-starting-a-jail-ministry/

Destruction in the educational world caused by the lockdown.

Education today. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Growing indications point towards ongoing damage to learning at all educational levels due to the shut down. From kindergartners to college students there will be losses of learning time and knowledge.

Older students will be able to catch up. Motivated students will get through. I fear youngsters in particular and unmotivated students in general will suffer permanent damage from the lockdown.

Consider all the damage described in the following articles is a result of a public policy choice made by a host of state and local officials.

The Dispatch – 9/10/20 – The sad realities of virtual learning. – Looks like kindergartners are disappearing from schools. Enrollment in Los Angeles Unified School District is down 14% from a year ago.

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by Jim Ulvog on September 18, 2020, 8:57 am  •  Permalink
Posted in Economics, Other stuff, Pondering

Posted by Jim Ulvog on September 18, 2020, 8:57 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/09/18/destruction-in-the-educational-world-caused-by-the-lockdown/

The shutdown is killing people. Some estimates of ‘excess deaths’ from the lockdown.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The comment that shutting down the economy represents a trade-off of lives versus jobs is an invalid comparison.

The real trade-off from a shutdown is lives versus lives.

People are dying because of the shutdown. The shutdown is killing people.

It is time to open the economy.

I don’t have time to summarize all the articles I have read making this point. Here are just three examples.

The pandemic is killing dementia patients

Washington Post – 9/16/20 – Pandemic isolation has killed thousands of Alzheimer’s patients while families watch from afar – The Washington Post, the Post, studied data from CDC to identify there have been 13,200 excess deaths from Alzheimer’s and dementia since the shutdown started. Excess deaths are the extra deaths over the number that would otherwise be expected because of some particular situation.

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by Jim Ulvog on September 17, 2020, 3:27 pm  •  Permalink
Posted in Economics, Other stuff, Pondering

Posted by Jim Ulvog on September 17, 2020, 3:27 pm

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/09/17/the-shutdown-is-killing-people-some-estimates-of-excess-deaths-from-the-lockdown/

Slight improvement in new unemployment claims for week ending 9/12/20.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The number of new claims for unemployment for week ending 9/12/20 dropped a little, with “only” 860,000 people losing their jobs, down from an upwardly revised 893,000 the previous week. For contrast, before the government induced shutdown of the economy new claims averaged about 220,000 per week.

Better news in the data is the number of continuing claims for unemployment dropped about twice as much as the new claims, to 12.6M for the week ending 9/5/20.  That is the lowest since the shutdown started.

CNBC report on 9/17/20 says Jobless claims were lower than expected but unemployment growth is still sluggish. The number of new claims was slightly better than  the 875,000 which economists expected.

As I continue to sort out for myself what this means, will continue listing the stats I’m tracking.

The number of new claims for unemployment and number drawing unemployment is provided by Department of Labor. I calculated the net change, which I assume represents the number of new jobs, although it could also be that people dropping out of the job market wash into the new jobs number:

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by Jim Ulvog on September 17, 2020, 7:46 am  •  Permalink
Posted in economic freedom, Economics, Pondering

Posted by Jim Ulvog on September 17, 2020, 7:46 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/09/17/slight-improvement-in-new-unemployment-claims-for-week-ending-9-12-20/

Check out these requirements in Los Angeles County for a church to worship, then give a one word summary. Perhaps repression?

Check out the lengthy list of specific requirements imposed by the County of Los Angeles before a church can worship on campus. Pastor John MacArthur describes the requirements placed on Grace Community Church.

After I go through the requirements ponder how you would summarize these restrictions.

Ponder whether the net effect is to strangle worship.

Then ponder whether the net effect is an intentional strategy.

9/14/20 –HillFaith –Faithful Disobedience: Here’s The Absurdly Detailed California Covid Orders to Prevent Churches From Meeting to Worship Indoors – A video embedded at the link gives the first four minutes of Dr. MacArthur’s sermon on 9/13/20. He received a rousing round of applause at the beginning.

He mentioned a few of the requirements placed on the church in order to hold any worship services. The following comments aren’t exact quotes, but are close:

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by Jim Ulvog on September 15, 2020, 7:00 am  •  Permalink
Posted in Other stuff, Pondering, religious freedom

Posted by Jim Ulvog on September 15, 2020, 7:00 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/09/15/check-out-these-requirements-in-los-angeles-county-for-a-church-to-worship-then-identify-one-word-to-summarize-the-impact-on-churches-perhaps-repression/

New claims for unemployment slowly declining with new jobs exceeding new claims; 9/5/20

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

For the third time since start of the recession, the number of new claims for unemployment for the week ending 9/5/20 was below the 1,000,000 mark. For contrast, before the government induced shutdown of the economy, new claims averaged about 220,000 per week.

On the other hand, the number of new claims was flat for the week – the damage from the shutdown in terms of new claims did not go down.

As I continue to sort out for myself what this means, will keep listing the stats I’m tracking.

The number of new claims for unemployment and number drawing unemployment is provided by Department of Labor. I calculated the net change, which I assume represents the number of new jobs, although could also be that people dropping out of the job market could wash into that number:

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by Jim Ulvog on September 11, 2020, 8:29 am  •  Permalink
Posted in economic freedom, Economics, Pondering

Posted by Jim Ulvog on September 11, 2020, 8:29 am

https://freedomismoral.com/2020/09/11/new-claims-for-unemployment-slowly-declining-with-new-jobs-exceeding-new-claims-9-5-20/

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