May
23
2020

URLs du Jour

2020-05-23

  • At Reason, Peter Suderman has news that should surprise… nobody who's been paying attention: The CDC Is Still Botching the Coronavirus Testing Process.

    Over and over again, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have bungled the response to COVID-19. The agency is supposed to stand at the forefront of the federal government's defense against pandemics, but in the effort to track, identify, and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, it has repeatedly proven that it's not up to the task. 

    The agency publishes statistics purporting to show the number of Americans tested, and the number of positive and negative results. In theory, this should provide a clear snapshot of both the spread of the virus and the number of people who have been tested. 

    Yet as The Atlantic reported yesterday, the agency has been conflating the results of two very different tests: viral tests, which determine if an individual is sick right now, and antibody tests, which are designed to reveal whether an individual has ever been exposed to the pathogen. This makes it impossible to determine the true spread of the virus at any given moment. As The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal and Robinson Meyer write, combining the results of these two tests without providing a breakdown of how many fall into which category is, "at best, a debilitating mistake." 

    When some government goon imposes some new mandate for "public health" reasons, Peter's article is only one thing you can flash at them and ask: "Why should I trust you to know what's good for me?"

  • David Brook of the Concord Monitor slices and dices the state's statistics and concludes: In N.H., COVID-19 is a fatal disease of the old, especially old men.

    New Hampshire is also seeing the gender discrepancy reported elsewhere: Women are more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than men – 55% of cases are in females – but men are much more likely to be hospitalized (59%) and to die (53%). That’s particularly startling because in the over-70 cohort, women far outnumber men, many of whom have already died due to stupidity, bad habits and overall masculinity.

    I am officially concerned at that! Even though I feel fine today, I assume that when I turn 70 in 342 days I will simply keel over.

  • Via the WSJ, James P. Freeman considers Memorial Day without Parades, quoting Ronald Reagan and others, well worth your time. And passes along a suggestion from Karin Price Mueller from the Newark Star-Ledger:

    At 10 a.m. on Memorial Day, we’re asking you to sing or play the Star Spangled Banner while socially distancing. Do it from your driveways, your porches, your rooftops, in your back yards.

    I've asked Alexa to do this. Hope it doesn't frighten Mrs. Salad.

  • Out in California, there are still a few folks who can ring the Google LFOD News Alert. For example, Lee Edwards of Livermore, in this letter to the Independent ("Your Local News Source Since 1963; Serving Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, Sunol): Don’t Ask Questions. In a response to a letter asking CA Governor Newsom to "reopen" California:

    How dare Paul Stone (Mailbox, May 7) question Herr Newsom. We are too stupid to know how to take care of ourselves, our families, our businesses. We should be forever grateful that we have such an intelligent, compassionate and well coiffured person in charge of our lives.

    So, don't ask questions, don't resist, don't show any signs of independence. Newsom will take care of us, our kids, our grandkids. Submit and do as you are ordered. I am sure nothing can go wrong.

    Liber vivam aut moriar (I shall live free or die).

    Much respect to Lee Edwards for doing our state's motto in Latin. Really classes it up.

  • And WMUR details (at least some of) the GOP establishment lining up: Current, former GOP leaders, activists endorse Bolduc for US Senate. That's "retired Brigadier General and Stratham resident" Donald Bolduc.

    “I’m humbled and honored by the groundswell of support from those who understand the meaning of ‘Live Free or Die,’” Bolduc said.

    Unfortunately, Bolduc is strongly in favor of amending the Constitution to overturn the Citizens United decision. In other words, a gutting of a major First Amendment liberty.

    Bolduc's embrace of Live Free or Die doesn't extend to people expressing their political opinions in a manner of which he doesn't approve. He's all for the iron fist of government regulation shutting that down.


Last Modified 2020-05-24 6:04 AM EDT