Posts Tagged ‘covid-19’

Selling fear

Posted: October 13, 2020 by chrisharper in Uncomfortable Truths
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By Christopher Harper

When I walk our dogs each day, I don’t wear a mask outside because no studies show any reason to do so.

If I encounter anyone along the way, many pull up their masks as though I pose a danger.

A few weeks ago, we were cutting a dead tree from our garden, and our neighbor came storming out of his house because we weren’t wearing masks.

I see these incidents as examples of the success of the Democrats’ approach to selling fear during the pandemic, resulting in many peoples’ minds turning into emotional mush.

This anxiety and fear have permeated many people’s thinking when we should be looking to the future. The lockdowns throughout the United States may be taking a more significant long-term toll than the disease itself.

New research has added to the growing body of evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic is taking a heavy mental health toll on people who are not directly impacted by the disease.

A new study of 12,000 workers and executives in 11 countries found that more than 80 percent of those surveyed complained about the pandemic’s negative effect on their mental health. Those surveyed said they suffered from sleep deprivation, poor physical health, reduced happiness at home, or isolation from friends.

A CDC survey found that thoughts of suicide had increased among several groups in the United States: those between ages 18-24 (25.5%), essential workers (21.7%), and minority racial/ethnic groups (18.6% Hispanic, 15.1% non-Hispanic Black).

The homicide rates in many cities have risen dramatically. In August, a Wall Street Journal analysis of crime statistics among the nation’s 50 largest cities found that reported homicides were up 24% so far this year, to 3,612. Last week, Philadelphia recorded 363 murder victims, which was more than all of last year with nearly three months left. This year the murder rate has exceeded the number from every year since 2008. If the trend continues, there will be 113 more murders in the city, bringing the total to 476, the highest since 1990 and the third highest on record.

I may be naive, but it seems that there is a relatively simple solution to many of these issues: tone down the rhetoric and get people interacting once again in a safe environment.

The emphasis on making people afraid of one another and locking them down is likely to have far more negative effects over the next few years than the pandemic.

The Democrats should think about what one of their most beloved presidents, Franklin Roosevelt, said, “[L]et me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself–nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Thanks to the Coronavirus ‘crisis’ the United States has become a police state and far too many are OK with that

Posted: September 24, 2020 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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I heard a call on my police scanner this past Saturday that perfectly illustrates just how far along the road to becoming a police state large portions of the United States have become.  A concerned citizen called the police because there were a dozen cars parked on her neighbor’s lawn.  The caller was concerned that the neighbor was having a party and the guests were not wearing masks and were not social distancing.  Two cruisers were dispatched to make sure no one at the party was being naughty.  The home owner welcomed the officers and demonstrated that all guests were properly following Governor Baker’s edicts from on high. 

I was shocked that the neighbor was such a meddling busybody who would tattle on her neighbor for daring to do something so shockingly evil as have a party in their own home.  I was not shocked that the police responded to such a frivolous call because I have read all of Governor Baker’s draconian, liberty destroying, edicts.  Here is a description of the rather odious proclamation that supposedly granted local police officers the authority to trample on the rights of property owners across the state of Massachusetts:

Baker also announced the formation of a an enforcement and intervention team, which will be tasked with ramping up enforcement in key communities and evaluating rising trends such as new positive cases and the percentage of positive tests.

Public safety officials, including state and local law enforcement, now have the jurisdiction to enforce safety orders and crack down on events hosted in violation of the orders, according to Baker.

“These teams will coordinate an increased enforcement effort across the state to assure businesses and residents are aware of and are following the COVID-19 orders,” Baker said. “By authorizing state and local police to enforce these orders, we can not only increase the number of people who will be out there to enforce these measures but also ensure that are penalties for those who refuse to make the adjustments that so many people in Massachusetts have made and continue to make.

Those who fail to comply with the orders will be subject to fines or cease and desist orders,

If I was hosting a party at my home and the police showed up to determine if we were wearing masks and practicing social distancing I would not have allowed them entry.  I would have demanded they produce a search warrant and I would have asked them to cite the exact laws we were breaking.  If the police officers cited the governor’s emergency edicts I would have informed them that these edicts are not valid laws, not having passed through the formal legislative process.  That situation could easily happen because my family always hosts large gatherings over the Christmas Holidays and we have no intention of followings emperor Baker’s commandments on our private property.  I know a great many individuals believe the same way.  I could see this type of scenario easily spinning out of control and leading to violence or a standoff.

These regulations have turned Massachusetts into a police state with local law enforcement officers and an army of busybodies acting as Governor Baker’s secret police force.   Because so many states such as New York, California, and Virginia have similar draconian regulations most of the country is now a police state.  It is not just sad, it is disgusting that far too many people blindly follow these obscene and unconstitutional regulations.  These regulations are worthy of mass protests demanding they be removed immediately, where are these protests?

Update on the continuing Illinois Exodus

Posted: September 13, 2020 by John Ruberry in crime, economy, education, News/opinion, politics
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By John Ruberry

I’ve been writing here about the Illinois Exodus for several years. The COVID-19 outbreak, as it has many other societal trends, is accelerating the people drain. But two rounds of riots and looting, one after the homicide of George Floyd, and the second last month, after false rumors that Chicago Police had killed a man now charged with murder, are gut punches that the city will not quickly recover from. 

In my DTG post-second riot post about the decline and fall of the city, Welcome to Detroit, Chicago, I wrote, “But when Chicago’s downtown area is dominated by boarded up store-fronts with signs declaring ‘Move in now–lease rates reduced again–first month free!’ you’ll know the downtown descent is well under way.” The vacancy rate for luxury units in downtown Chicago are at their highest level ever recorded according to Mike Flannery (more on him in a bit).

I haven’t been downtown since that “Detroit” entry, but on my own blog, Marathon Pundit, an automated Google Ads banner from a downtown Chicago apartment building offered this promo, “First two months rent free.”

Decline and fall.

And keep in mind that over seventy percent of Chicago’s economic activity comes from the downtown area. And Chicago is of course Illinois’ largest and most important city.

Downstate things aren’t much better. AP is reporting on three towns in St. Clair County, which is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, that are considering merging because of “severe population decline.” St. Clair County, like Chicago and Cook County, are Democratic strongholds where corruption is widespread.

Large swaths of downstate Illinois have been facing population losses for decades, for instance Iroquois County, an agricultural powerhouse that is just 55 miles from Chicago’s city limits, saw its population peak in 1900. Universities have allowed other downstate counties to buck that trend, but enrollment was struggling at many of these colleges before COVID-19 hit. Business Insider last week compiled a list of the “30 college towns that could face economic ruin if schools don’t reopen or have to close again this fall.” Two of them are in Illinois.

The Prairie State has lost population for six straight years. It’s a safe bet that when the counting is over for 2020 it will be seven.

On the usually-worth watching–Fox Chicago’s Flannery Fired Up, three cheerleaders for the city and one moderate skeptic talked about its descent and for the most part, it’s quick bounce back. But this weekend’s episode was an aberration. The show sucked. It was up to the host, Mike Flannery, to bring up the two 800-pound gorillas in Chicago’s otherwise looted basement: rampant corruption and the worst-funded municipal pensions in the nation. 

Since 1973 over thirty members of Chicago City Council have been sentenced to prison. At one time he was the city’s most powerful alderman, but now Ed Burke is under indictment for allegedly shaking down a fast food franchisee. Do you want to bring your business to Chicago? You may have to endure having your pockets picked by a pol. Or by several of them.

Where do I sign up?

Burke has been an alderman since 1969. Chicago needs term limits. And so does Illinois. Boss Michael Madigan, who is from the same part of the city as Burke, has been speaker of the state House since 1983 except for two years in the 1990s when the Republicans had a majority in the lower chamber. Madigan is also a Chicago ward committeeman. He’s been chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party since 1997. Illinois’ most powerful Dem is also currently under investigation as part of an evolving federal corruption probe that has already ended the careers of several Chicago and suburban politicians. 

There is no way out of Chicago’s pension bomb other than a municipal bankruptcy, one that may also force many city vendors to go under, or a federal bailout. Even if the the Democrats capture the Senate and the White House in November, such a rescue for irresponsible spending, a backhanded reward really, faces tall odds in Washington. But under current Illinois law, government bodies are prevented from declaring bankruptcy.

The “moderate skeptic” on Flannery Fired Up mentioned transportation as a city selling point. While O’Hare is one of the world’s busiest airports–it used to be ranked first in traffic–and Chicago is a rail hub and it has many miles of interstate highways, that “expert” needs to drive on Chicago’s streets. They are falling apart. 

And if you don’t own a car and you use your feet to get around? Watch out, walking on crumbling sidewalks often requires strong ankles and a steady balance. 

Violence in Chicago was declining over the last few years but shootings are way up since the pandemic was declared.

As I’ve mentioned before, like an alcoholic, Chicago’s cure won’t begin until it admits complete and utter defeat. 

That point has not been reached. But it’s probably coming soon.

As it is for the rest of Illinois. The state’s pension programs are almost as poorly funded as Chicago’s.

Decline and fall. 

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Governor Baker’s continued business lockdown is destroying the Massachusetts economy

Posted: July 23, 2020 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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I knew the economic conditions in Massachusetts have been steadily deteriorating since Governor Charlie Baker single handedly began our state’s Coronavirus lockdown. I had no idea just how bad things have gotten here until the June unemployment numbers were released. Howie Carr very colorfully breaks down the numbers in this Boston Herald editorial Charlie Baker is leading … us right down the drain

It took a while, but thanks to Gov. Charlie Parker, Maskachusetts now has the worst unemployment rate in the United States — 17.4%.

Very impressive, because while recording the state’s highest unemployment numbers since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began tracking statistics in 1976, the commonwealth also has the third-highest virus death toll among the 50 states.

Massachusetts is not alone when it comes to economic carnage caused by Coronavirus lockdowns.  According to the Howie Carr editorial several other states are nearly as bad.

For the record, the runner-up to Maskachusetts in the June BLS stats is New Jersey, with 16.6% unemployment. The benighted Garden State’s governor, Phil Murphy, just happens to be a Needham High School classmate of … Charlie Parker’s. Not to mention Harvard College. Coincidence?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York finished third with a dismal 15.7% unemployment rate. Thanks to Cuomo’s decision to infect nursing homes with COVID-19 patients early on, the Empire State still has by far the highest number of deaths, followed by NJ and MA.

Do you begin to detect a pattern here? The more draconian the state shutdowns, the more impervious the governors are to the actual facts on the ground, the higher both the states’ death tolls and the unemployment numbers.

Before the Coronavirus panic began the economy of Massachusetts was in good shape,

A year ago, the MA unemployment rate was 2.9%. So was Maine’s. Yet even with Janet Mills, a governor almost as unhinged as Baker, Maine’s unemployment rate has only risen to 6.6%.

None of the lockdowns were necessary.  They were brought about because of junk science, deeply flawed models, and an over reliance on scientific experts that are just as flawed as the models.  This is chronicled in the Federalist article How Have Our Scientific Experts Gotten So Much Wrong?

There have been a lot of mistakes made by our betters with fancy letters after their name, but perhaps none so consequential as the wildly inflated mortality rate back in February and March. To put it in perspective, at a 3.4 percent death rate if 50 million Americans contracted Covid, 1.7 million would die. At the mortality rate of .4 percent that number shrinks to 200,000. All loss of life is tragic, but scientists were having us destroy the economy and people’s lives based on a woefully faulty number.

The lockdowns and business shutdowns were sold to in this state as necessary to bend the curve.  As you can see from this chart that I copied from the WCVB channel 5 news station daily Coronavirus tracker web page, the curve was bent way back months ago.  The daily case numbers are way down yet unemployment is way up because so many businesses remain closed thanks to our governor.  Deaths are also way down from the peak, along with hospitalizations.

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