Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

As some of you know my husband is a mathematician. What you might not understand is what this means. What this means is that numbers are vitally, incredibly important to him. And when numbers don’t add up, he goes slightly unhinged. How unhinged? Well, he once spent over half an hour trying to give 45c to a clerk who had undercharged us. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence. I only remember that one, because we had a girl both boys had a crush on along on that outing, and she looked near-terrrified, until I pointed out Dan is a mathematician and that’s not so much an avocation as a condition. He’s also far less political/politically aware than I am, so he keeps coming up with a bang against things I’ve known for—I think—my entire adult life, like the fact the media is irretrievably crooked.
A combination of these two fueled him to post the following on Faceborg. I’m posting it here as a guest post with his permission. He would like me to point out—and this was said indignantly—that the NYT mostly repeated stuff from other reports, which means—he says—this is an MSM-wide problem. I didn’t meme it with “welcome to the party pal” nor did I say “you sweet summer child.” He is far smarter than I, just not a politics-addict. Which tells you how normal people have missed these things, for how long
—Sarah A. Hoyt

 

The NYT takes what SHOULD be a human-interest story about how people’s livelihoods are being threatened by the current COVID-19 situation and turns it into a blatant attempt to manipulate voters. For shame!

https://www.nytimes.com/…/…/pandemic-unemployment-covid.html

My favorite passage in there is from a PA guy who is a stunning example of a low-information voter who believes everything the MSM spoon-feeds him without question. Point-by-point:

“I’m not real happy with the way President Trump has handled, or continues to handle, the pandemic. I think what he’s doing is hurting more than helping.”

Dude, you need to stop watching the MSM. Just because it’s on TV doesn’t make it true. Trump didn’t order the lockdowns that put you out of work, your governor did. Blame him. And in PA, that would be a Democrat, BTW, not even the same PARTY as Trump.

“First, he started with, “I built the greatest economy this country has ever known,” which is not true.”

Again, stop watching MSM; the Bureau of Labor and Statistics disagrees with you and supports Trump’s claim. The stock market does, too, even now. The 3 years leading up to the lockdowns that were ordered mostly by Democratic governors WERE the greatest economy we’ve seen in the US. Even more so for blacks and asians than whites, BTW. Go look at the numbers (https://www.bls.gov/). There’s some great historical documents there that tell the story. If you’re a hardcore Obama fan, do NOT look at 2008-2016 unless you want your preconceptions shattered, especially when it comes to black employment.

“And now he’s talking about bringing that back, which I think is great, but you can’t do that until you deal with the pandemic properly.”

Oops, didn’t you just say Trump did NOT build the greatest economy that you know want him to bring back? Which is it, hypocrite? Make up your mind. As for how to “deal with the pandemic properly,” Biden is promising to continue the lockdowns and make masks mandatory nationwide. Despite the facts that any doctor worth his salt will tell you that putting a mask on an asthmatic is a really bad idea, and even the CDC isn’t even SURE that masks do any good. From their FAQ (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html): “Masks MAY slow the spread of the virus and help people who MAY have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.” That’s a lot of weasel words there, all translating in plain English to, “We’re not sure, but it PROBABLY won’t hurt to wear masks.”

“And not only is he ignoring it, but he takes steps to limit and slow down testing.”

Well, now you’re just being ignorant. Trump isn’t ignoring COVID-19; he tested positive, quarantined and recovered well before October 23, when this article was published. The fact that the “journalist” at the NYT included this statement this late in the game indicates clear and present malice, rather than credible journalism practices. As for slow testing, we’ve had faulty tests for 7 months with

“He continues to go to his rallies; he’s encouraging people to gather in rallies. For me, it’s about human life.”

Again, old news, and the BLM continued to gather in protest rallies, too, during that time. AND they didn’t wear masks for WEEKS, until conservatives started pointing out the hypocrisy. THEN they started wearing masks. And burning building, looting businesses and murdering innocent bystanders. But, yeah, it’s about human life. Just not ALL humans; only those who agree with their politics.

“There’s about 200,000 people dead, and we’re still counting.”

Yes, yes there are about 225K deaths under discussion, although it’s not clear WHAT caused the deaths. Do you know what happens when a gunshot victim bleeds out, then tests positive for COVID-19? It’s listed as a COVID-19 death, that’s what. Most of the first 100K attributed deaths were made with clinical diagnoses, in fact. That means no test, just a doctor saying, “Yeah, the patient died of respiratory failure, so it’s PROBABLY COVID-19.” Think about it. The tests just weren’t available in quantity at the time, and the efficacy was suspect. Even the official COVID-19 site for PA (https://www.health.pa.gov/…/cor…/Pages/Symptoms-Testing.aspx) includes the disclaimer:

“No test is perfect. There is a false negative rate and false positive rate that varies depending on the test and the collection modality. Accuracy of antigen tests may be problematic due to poor sensitivity.”

The FDA site on testing (https://www.fda.gov/…/consumer-u…/coronavirus-testing-basics) is more specific:

“Some things that may affect the test’s accuracy include:
— You may have the virus, but the swab might not collect it from your nose or throat.
— The swab or mucus sample may be accidentally contaminated by the virus during collection or analysis.
— The nasal or throat swab may not be kept at the correct temperature before it can be analyzed.
— The chemicals used to extract the virus genetic material and make copies of the virus DNA may not work correctly.”

So the test results are suspect, even now. And the cause of death rarely gets changed after the fact. That mean those attributed numbers are HIGHLY suspect and should be taken with a grain of salt. Witness the NYC numbers. As of today, there are almost 20K “confirmed deaths” in NYC, but less than 5K “probable deaths” (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page).

So how much of that 225K is actually deaths FROM COVID-19 as opposed to deaths WITH COVID-19? Well, if it’s similar to the NYC numbers, that would be about 50K nationwide. Contrast that with about 35K deaths from flu/pneumonia for the previous flu season (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html).

BTW, the CDC data is fascinating reading, and the NYT “journalist” really should take a quick look, at the very least. Here’s some highlights from 2018 (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db355.htm) with some notes on the current situation:

“In 2018, a total of 2,839,205 resident deaths were registered in the United States.”

That’s an average of 236,600 per MONTH. So, the total number of ATTRIBUTED COVID-19 deaths (see above) over 7-8 months is still less than the number of TOTAL deaths in a normal SINGLE MONTH in the US. So how many total deaths there have been in 2020? CDC reports 2,399,494 through Week 39 (September 26): https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/mortality.html. The previous year, over the same 39 weeks, the CDC reported 2,123,573. That means that 2020 has resulted in a net increase in TOTAL deaths of about 13% (275,921). Compare that to a 4.4% (86,599) increase in the 2014-15 flu season or a 3.2% (64,531) increase in the 2016-17 flu season.

So, yes, 2020 looks worse than anything we’ve seen since 2013, and nobody’s denying that, despite what the MSM is claiming, but it’s hardly the “we’re all going to die” story the MSM has been pushing.

And don’t forget that the population since 2013 has been steadily increasing, so the raw numbers are less important than the mortality per 100K, which is a COMPARABLE metric.

So how bad is 2020? Go back to 2018:

Leading causes of death:
All causes: 723.6 per 100K
Heart disease: 163.6 per 100K
Cancer: 149.1 per 100K
Chronic lower respiratory: 39.7 per 100K
Flu/Pneumonia: 14.9 per 100K
Suicide: 14.2 per 100K

The CDC’s latest info says 7.6% of the 2020 deaths were ATTRIBUTED to flu/pneumonia/COVID-19 (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm). Using the current US population of 330,491,064 from the Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/popclock/), that means:

Flu/Pneumonia/COVID-19: 55.2 per 100K (attributed)
Flu/Pneumonia/COVID-19: 13.8 per 100K (probable, based on NYC)

That’s a big range, but if the PROBABLE numbers are accurate, that’s LESS than 2018 numbers for flu/pneumonia alone. And if the ATTRIBUTED numbers are accurate, it’s still about the same as 2018 for flu/pneumonia/chronic lower respiratory combined. And we already suspect that most chronic lower respiratory deaths were attributed to COVID-19, so were does that leave us?

With a lot of questions, still. Only one thing is crystal clear:

Tying COVID-19-related unemployment to an election is irresponsible “journalism.”

My second favorite story, from a Salvadoran in Vegas, deserves a separate writeup:

“The other sad update is that the president got a green light to end the T.P.S. program (which has allowed families who fled El Salvador and other countries to temporarily live and work legally in the United States).”

First off, what is TPS? From https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/…/temporary…:

“Congress created Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the Immigration Act of 1990. It is a temporary immigration status provided to nationals of specifically designated countries that are confronting an ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions. It provides a work permit and stay of deportation to foreign nationals from those countries who are in the United States at the time the U.S. government makes the designation.”

The key word here is “temporarily.” Trump EXTENDED the program for Salvadorans A YEAR AGO (https://www.dhs.gov/…/us-and-el-salvador-sign…) to 2021, ensuring the program DOESN’T end during his first term. The program will end for El Salvador eventually, as that’s it’s stated intent:

“TPS beneficiaries return to the immigration status that the person held prior to receiving TPS, unless that status has expired or the person has successfully acquired a new immigration status. TPS beneficiaries who entered the United States without inspection and who are not eligible for other immigration benefits, for example, would return to being undocumented at the end of a TPS designation and become subject to removal.”

In plain English, that means he’s not at risk of being deported if he’s not an ILLEGAL alien. If he IS, why hasn’t he done anything about that in the 6 years he’s been here (which included 3 years under Obama)?

He ends with:

“If Trump wins, we have no more hope.”

I’m really not following the reasoning here. Trump extends TPS for Salvadorans, and even provides ADDITIONAL time:

“Additionally, the Trump Administration is providing El Salvadorans with TPS an additional 365 days after the conclusion of the TPS-related lawsuits to repatriate back to their home country.”

As stated early, the POINT of the program was NEVER a path to citizenship, but some protection for foreigners in the US when bad things happened in their home countries (in this case, El Salvador). This does NOT sound like Trump is planning to kick out the Salvadorans:

“TPS is a legal mechanism to provide temporary status for some foreigners who need humanitarian relief. The Administration’s goal is to create an orderly and responsible process to repatriate Salvadorans and help them return home; however, a sudden inflow of 250,000 individuals to El Salvador could spark another mass migration to the U.S. and reinvigorate the crisis at the southern border. Taking into account these concerns, we have decided to provide additional time to work out that plan. We cannot allow the progress the President has made the past several months to be negated.”

Note the word “progress” used with Trump’s efforts. How does that translate to “no more hope”? Answer: it doesn’t.

It’s a blatant attempt to sentimentalize the story and make out Trump to be evil (the unsubstantiated narrative of the left in general, and the New York Slimes—sorry—Times in particular). Once again, irresponsible “journalism.”

 

Reprinted from https://accordingtohoyt.com/ for October 26, 2020