Pondering

Preliminary list of people who owe us apologies for the damage they caused. First round of admissions to overcounting Covid deaths.

Counting Covid deaths using CDC methodology. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Now that Covid infection rates have collapsed in the United States, our political and public health ‘leaders’ are backtracking on the steps they took which caused so much damage.

Before they take credit for a virus variant running its course and fading away, we need to be pay attention to all those who caused trauma by their actions and who had their thumb on the scales when quantifying the impact of the virus.

Articles for your consideration today:

  • CDC “accidentally” overcounted Covid deaths.
  • Massachusetts overcounted Covid deaths by including deaths from any cause whatsoever if a person had an infection diagnosis within 60 days prior to death.
  • An incomplete list of people and organizations who owe us profuse apologies for the damage they have caused.

3/18/22 – Reuters – CDC reports fewer COVID-19 pediatric deaths after data correction – CDC reduced their tally of deaths caused by Covid by 72,277. This includes 416 pediatric fatalities.

That is a 24% drop in the number of children they count as having died because of Covid. With the revised tally of 966,575 deaths in total that means they reduced the total count by 7.5%.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Before they claim credit for victory over Covid, remember what our supposed leaders did to us.

Accomplishments of our leaders during the pandemic. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

With the speed at which restrictions are disappearing we will shortly see our alleged leaders claiming credit for their victory in defeating the pandemic.

In advance of those headlines, here are a number of reports to keep in mind: articles on adverse medical consequences, increasing supply chain disruption, and flaming hypocrisy from flagrant hypocrites:

  • Leaked information from military’s medical database shows severity of adverse effects from vaccinations.
  • In England, the vaccinated are getting sicker at higher rates than the unvaccinated.
  • In New York state the double jab is a mere 12% effective for young children.
  • Police officers moving to the Inland Empire area of California to escape vaccination dictats.
  • Train robberies are a thing in Los Angeles.
  • Weapon thefts are part of those train robberies.
  • Backups at US ports are spreading.
  • School board in New York blows off masks while schoolchildren suspended for doing the same.
  • Masks optional for SAG awards and mandatory for schoolchildren.

When you see the declarations of victory by our rulers in political office, overlords in the public health sector, and our betters in news media, remember what they did.

Remember what happened.

Remember who took away 18 months or 2 years of your child’s education. 

Remember who cratered the economy and caused the supply shortage we see every day. 

Remember who generated the Carter-era rate of inflation we see all around us.

Remember.

Adverse health impacts.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Predictions: Damage caused by government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

How much harm was caused by government reaction to the pandemic? I will put into print my predictions of what we eventually learn of the damage willfully caused by the federal and state governments.

Introduction to this series is here.

Concluding comments are here.

Over the last two years reports have surfaced here and there hinting at the following predictions. In the next few months more reports will emerge.

It will take honest, serious researchers years before statistically valid research provides solid evidence for these predictions. Strong, verifiable, reproducible proof will emerge with time.

I predict that in a decade or two there will be a consensus throughout the country that the government reaction to the coronavirus pandemic was the worst, most destructive government policy in U.S. history.

Seven predictions follow:

1 – Government response caused more deaths as measured by years-of-life-lost than deaths prevented by the government response as measured by years-of-life-lost.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Introduction to predictions: Damage caused by government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

It is time to lay down my predictions about what we will eventually conclude about the damage caused by the government reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.

It will take time, but we will eventually prove government actions caused horrible damage. We will quantify the destruction willfully inflicted.

The predictions are here.

Concluding comments are here.

Since April 2020 I have been writing about the damage caused by the economic shutdown imposed by federal and state governments. Over 200 posts on this blog point out the economic, political, social, educational, and medical damage directly caused by government action.

I started writing in early April 2020 calling out the danger of lockdowns with my first direct complaint on 4/26/20 about the damage caused by government actions.

To lay down my first marker, here is the headline and first paragraph from back in late April 2020:

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

In case of nuclear attack, please maintain six feet social distance and wear your mask as you bend over and kiss your, um, backside goodbye.

Image from FEMA at https://www.ready.gov/nuclear-explosion

I don’t know how any comedian can possibly develop new jokes when competing against the silly, silly people in the public health community. And FEMA.

(Updates at end of article describing laughter that is emerging around the ol’ internet.)

The mental giants, the phenomenal geniuses at FEMA have the following advice to survive the fallout of a nuclear explosion:

Most importantly, after the explosion, please do get indoors.

Then go the basement or interior of the building.

That’s sound advice so far.

And then?

Well, then you should

“Stay away from the outer walls and roof. Try to maintain a distance of at least six feet between yourself and people who are not part of your household. If possible, wear a mask if you’re sheltering with people who are not a part of your household. Children under two years old, people who have trouble breathing, and those who are unable to remove masks on their own should not wear them.” (emphasis added)

Well, good.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Just like that, the mask mandates evaporate over the weekend.

The science changed over the weekend of February 5, 2022 so all those signs can be removed because masks aren’t needed. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Mask mandates are going away everywhere. It is almost as if a memo went out over the weekend of February 5, 2022 to all the people who have had their boot firmly planted on our face that they should switch to sneakers.  

I’ll leave it for you to consider what has caused this radical change in ‘science’ over one weekend.

Regardless of the cause, the floodgate opened.

Consider articles describing what has happened this week:

  • California will lift the blanket indoor mask mandate.
  • New Jersey, Oregon, Connecticut, and Delaware do the same.
  • Nevada joins in.
  • Los Angeles County slightly relaxes their mask requirements.
  • Eight counties in the Bay Area will lift their mask mandate.

Almost fell out of my chair reading one comment in the San Francisco Chronicle article discussed below. Unidentified public health officials are arriving at a conclusion which was achieved by dozens of other states approximately 23 months ago. I will quote the article, because otherwise you would think I’m imagining this:

“…officials say they plan to ease away from legal mandates to dictate behavior and instead trust individuals to make their own health decisions, including whether and when to wear masks.”

Wow. Only took two years to make that realization. I guess that’s better than never.

Until this month, a trust-the-public attitude was prohibited, with penalty of banishment from the public square for anyone who held such a radical, heretical concept. After the weekend, trusting people to make their own decisions is suddenly acceptable.

The New Jersey and Nevada governors also made previously-heretical comments.

More details:

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

More news on devastating health impact caused by government imposed lockdowns.

It may take a decade, but eventually we will be able to identify all the damage government policies caused during the pandemic. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Grim news emerges every few days about some aspect of how horribly the government imposed lockdowns have damaged people’s health. It is difficult to keep up with all the bad news. 

My guess is it will take a decade or more for researchers to full understand the destruction willfully caused by politicians and so-called public health leaders.

A few recent articles:

  • Lockdowns are killing young Canadians.
  • Somewhere around 30,000 excess deaths from diabetes during the lockdown. “Excess deaths” means more people died that would have otherwise.
  • Study calculates lockdowns reduced number of reported infections but did not reduce hospitalizations and did not reduce deaths.  One thing lockdowns achieved was to push poor people into the unemployment line. No lives saved. No hospitalizations avoided.

(Hint for future reference: Combine the first and second articles with the third and we have the hypothesis that lockdowns caused deaths while not preventing any deaths.)

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Speaking of clueless, check out these point-and-laugh-out-loud rationalizations for elite elitists not wearing a mask.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Ridicule is effective in discussing the flaming hypocrites who hold power and ignore the rules they demand, demand, we follow.

I’m not great at sarcasm and ridicule. Takes lots of effort to gather the minimal ridicule you see on this blog. I certainly cannot generate as much humor as the loons we have in office.

Any smidgeon of humor I could muster is overshadowed by the hilarity of their dead-pan rationalizations.

(How do they hide the giggles such comments would cause? Only stand up comics have that level of skill.)

Yes, as you already guessed, I am talking about California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

First, we had British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claiming he did not know the afterhours office parties with lots of drinking were a violation of the Covid rules that no more than two people could get together in private. His laughable excuse was nobody told him those drinking parties were a violation of the Covid rules that no more than two people could get together in private.

His defense is that as an experienced politician he lacked the intellectual capacity to apply the rules to scheduled, weekly, after-hours drinking parties. 

It has since emerged that two of the booze-it-up shindigs now under criminal investigation were in his private residence at 10 Downing Street.

I cannot make up ridicule stronger than just citing his comments.

And now!

Now we have Gov. Newsom and Mayor Garcetti. They are comedic geniuses. There is no way I can keep up with them.

They appeared in separate photos posted online by Magic Johnson. In one photo, Mayor Garcetti was joined by San Francisco Mayor London Breed. More photos have emerged showing Mr. Johnson with a variety of lesser elite elitists.

Of course, none of them were wearing a mask while at SoFi Stadium during the NFC championship game. Everyone at the stadium was required by both stadium rules and Los Angeles County rules to have a mask on every moment except when actively eating and drinking.

Their excuses? I could never dream up something as entertaining as their straight face explanations.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago