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Proof that the pandemic numbers don’t add up

Posted: December 1, 2020 by chrisharper in Uncategorized

By Christoper Harper

A new study shows that the pandemic may not have caused as many deaths as previously reported, but the research was quickly suppressed by Johns Hopkins, the source of the information.

The study, which was published by Dr. Genevieve Briand at Johns Hopkins University, noted that there were some significant errors in the reporting of COVID-related deaths.

See the initial study and subsequent disclaimer at https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2020/11/a-closer-look-at-u-s-deaths-due-to-covid-19

It is already well established that COVID-19 is most dangerous to those over the age of 65 and have preexisting conditions. There has been a mortality rate of 2.1 percent in the United States, with elderly individuals making up over half that number. 

However, according to the study, the number of deaths in the United States show no significant change and even mirror past trends of seasonal illness. 

According to the CDC’s data from the last six years, total deaths have remained relatively constant, and increases can be explained by various factors such as a larger population. The spikes in fatalities in 2020 are consistent with historical trends, only topping 2018 by 11,292 deaths. There have been more than 260,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the United States.

Perhaps more important, the spike in recorded COVID-19 deaths seen in 2020 has coincided with a proportional decrease in death from other diseases. 

According to a graph in the study, deaths labeled under COVID-19 increased while deaths labeled under other causes decreased. It is important to note that this sample only applies to the month of April as the author noted these were the weeks with the highest reported deaths until recently. 

In the week ending April 18, for example, the number of people who died of heart disease, cancer, respiratory illness, and other diseases dropped by 2,540. The number of COVID deaths increased by 2,561. A similar trend occurred the next week, with a decrease of deaths from various illnesses other than COVID by 1,605, while the number of COVID cases increased by 1,651. 

Furthermore, Briand’s research noted that the number of deaths has remained relatively constant through all age groups. COVID death statistics seem to mirror the normal distribution of death among various age groups, lending credence to the contention that many fatalities were recategorized as COVID deaths. 

“All of this points to no evidence that COVID-19 created any excess deaths. Total death numbers are not above normal death numbers. We found no evidence to the contrary,” Briand maintained.

Although the study only analyzed the month of April when COVID was at one of its highest levels, the data seem to support the argument that the pandemic may have been overblown.

Now that the COVID scare has put Joe Biden into the White House, it wouldn’t be surprising if there somehow was a recalculation that Joe came to the rescue. There wouldn’t be a need to scare people!

Let’s get real about JFK

Posted: November 24, 2020 by chrisharper in politics, Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

In a yearly ritual on November 22, baby boomers recall when and where they heard about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Unfortunately, few of us reflect on how Kennedy, while tragically struck down as a young man, was a lousy president and an even worse man.

Many consider JFK one of the best presidents in the history of the United States.

But even a cursory view of his life and times demonstrates how his legacy became hugely inflated after his death in 1963.

For example, many consider Kennedy responsible for civil rights laws when his successor, Lyndon Johnson, was the man who made that happen.

Moreover, as a senator, JFK voted against President Eisenhower’s civil rights legislation to appease racist Democrats in the South. In collusion with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Kennedy ordered wiretaps on Martin Luther King Jr.

In international affairs, he approved the assassination of the leader of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, as long as the United States had “plausible deniability.” In Cuba, he launched an attack to overthrow Fidel Castro, known as the Bag of Pigs invasion, which failed because JFK failed to approve air cover. In Vietnam, he expanded the U.S. presence and endorsed a coup that ultimately resulted in the assassination of the president, Ngo Dinh Diem.

During his presidency, JFK engaged in various extramarital affairs, including Marilyn Monroe and Judith Campbell, who also dated Mafia boss Sam Giancana and posed an incredible security risk because of her ties to the Mob.

Sure, JFK did some things right. He stared down the Russians during the Cuban missile crisis. He rejiggered the tax code—changes that would rankle his fellow Democrats because it actually made it easier on the wealthy. I’ll even give him credit for encouraging American scientists to launch probes into space.

A longtime friend who covered JFK admitted to me that the reporters knew about the affairs and the political shenanigans. But the media saw JFK as the Great White Hope to bring the United States into a new era.

I don’t want to speak ill of the dead. But I think Americans, particularly baby boomers, should analyze JFK’s legacy in a much more rational way.

The pandemic hit to higher education

Posted: November 17, 2020 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Higher education is facing a severe crisis of confidence and money.

That’s not bad news. Colleges have become overpriced with tangled bureaucracies that often don’t prepare students for the real world.

I hope that higher education will face the stark economic outlook because the pandemic will force colleges and universities to strip away the fat that has become rampant. 

Overall, the number of undergraduates shrank by 4% in the fall, while first-year student counts fell by 16.1%, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The tally includes 9.2 million students, from more than half of schools that report data to the Clearinghouse.

Enrollment declined the most at community colleges, off 9.4% overall and 22.7% for first-year students. Enrollment at four-year public colleges and universities fell by 1.4% overall and 13.7% for first-year undergraduates. At private, nonprofit colleges, those declines were 2% and 11.8%, respectively.

The falloff in first-year students may reverberate through the entire undergraduate population for the next few years as students seek alternatives to the high cost of education, such as apprentice and training programs. 

But there’s more. New international students enrolled at U.S. universities online or in person fell by 43%, according to a survey of more than 700 schools. That’s the largest decrease recorded by the Institute of International Education, which has been publishing data on international enrollment since 1954.

International students pay full costs to most institutions, making these individuals crucial to the bottom line. 

The pandemic has forced universities large and small to make deep and possibly lasting cuts to close widening budget shortfalls. By one estimate, the pandemic has cost colleges at least $120 billion, with even Harvard University, despite its $41.9 billion endowment, reporting a $10 million deficit that has prompted belt-tightening.

Even before the pandemic, colleges and universities grappled with years of shrinking state support, declining enrollment, and student concerns with skyrocketing tuition and burdensome debt. 

Throughout the country, colleges and universities have cut back support staff and even tenured faculty members. For example, here in Pennsylvania, the 14 campuses in Pennsylvania’s higher education system have lost roughly a fifth of their enrollment over the past decade. As a result of the declines, including the one during the pandemic, Pennsylvania plans to cut about 200 full-time faculty out of 5,000 systemwide. 

One option to cut additional costs is to learn from the mistakes of moving online earlier this year. Most faculty members have resisted the notion of teaching online, which ultimately can save both students and universities a lot of money. Moreover, higher education could attract more older students who are working full time. 

Although I have a great deal of respect for some administrative staff in higher education, the number of people has grown significantly in recent years. 

In my college at Temple University, I used to know the first names of almost every staff member who worked there. Now there are so many vice deans, assistant deans, and assistant chairs that I know fewer than half of the administrative staff. 

I hope the pandemic has provided an opportunity for higher education to think about the waste that has accrued and to rethink colleges’ and universities’ missions throughout the country.

The Keystone State is the key

Posted: November 10, 2020 by chrisharper in elections
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By Christopher Harper

The investigation of voter fraud in Pennsylvania is essential in determining who actually won the presidential election.

As I wrote recently, the voting process in Pennsylvania is a mess. https://datechguyblog.com/2020/10/27/the-pennsylvania-chaos/

The Democrats used a variety of ways to stop Trump from winning the state.

For example, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, declared Biden the winner of the Keystone State BEFORE votes had been counted.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which is also dominated by Democrats, extended the deadline for counting mail-in ballots. Votes couldn’t be challenged even if signatures didn’t look right.

In Philadelphia, the city held back votes on election night in an act reminiscent of the 1960 election in Chicago when Mayor Richard J. Daley held back votes–many from people long dead–that helped JFK win the presidential race.

Vote counters in Philly kept poll watchers out of the buildings and erected screens to keep outsiders from seeing what was going.

Although the city had introduced a high-tech computer system to count votes, it took FOUR days to wrangle enough ballots to put Biden in the lead.

The critical battle will occur in the Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar, a case joined by 10 attorneys general and the Trump campaign.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled before the election that mail-in ballots received within three days after the official vote would be counted. The ruling overturned a state statute that required the ballots to be received by election day.

What’s the importance of the decision? On election night, Trump was leading by several hundred thousand votes.

Within three days, Biden was ahead.

How many of those Biden votes came in AFTER it looked Trump was going to win?

So far, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to get involved by a tie vote BEFORE Justice Amy Coney Barret was confirmed.

Last Friday, Pennsylvania Republicans renewed their request in a slightly different form. They sought an injunction to require the country board to segregate the late-arriving ballots and not count them.

Justice Samuel Alito, who handles emergency applications from the geographic area that includes Pennsylvania, issued a ruling to force the segregation of late ballots. He wanted the full court to decide whether to count the votes.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Republican appeal to allow greater access to vote counting in Philadelphia. Again, that case may end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

With a Biden margin of roughly 50,000 votes out of nearly seven million cast, it’s time to slow down the victory parade of the Democrats to see what actually happened in Pennsylvania.

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