Monday, January 17, 2022
If the Fed folks think raising the Federal Funds Rate will help control inflation, they are sadly mistaken . . . again
From 1983 through 2001, the Federal Funds Rate was aggressively high and averaged 6.27%, and the Consumer Price Index averaged 3.24%.*
From 2002 through 2020, the Consumer Price Index was much lower on average at 2.01%, as the Fed pursued an aggressive low interest rate policy, which averaged just 1.36%.
So, lower Federal Funds Rate, lower inflation, higher Federal Funds Rate, higher inflation, just the opposite of what the Fed says it intends.
But only a numbskull thinks these are correlated. The Fed is merely reactionary to complex existing phenomena, not pro-actively creating conditions.
* I used the average of the annual averages.
Sunday, January 16, 2022
At current infection rates in the UK and the US, we won't see "herd immunity", defined as 70% infected with Omicron, until sometime in November
The US is averaging roughly 720k infections per day, and the UK 147k, so far in January.
In the US you have to have roughly 232m people infected to get to 70%. At the current rate of infection, that's 322 days.
In the UK you have to have roughly 48m people infected to get to 70%. At the current rate of infection, that's 327 days.
There is no way to predict if current rates of infection will persist, but current rates put us to mid-November.
One thing's for sure, however, the vaccines sure as hell aren't stopping it.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings
... by the middle of the Second Century ... there were few Greeks and Romans left. They had destroyed themselves by miscegenation, internecine wars, and that fatuous tolerance with which they permitted themselves to be displaced by their subjects and slaves. ...
-- Revilo P. Oliver, "By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them", Liberty Bell, August 1985
The vaccine mandate for healthcare workers was decided by the Supremes in a 5-4 vote where Roberts and Kavanaugh voted with the three liberals
Tucker Carlson laughably says Kavanaugh voted with the liberals on this because his confirmation hearings broke him.
Ridiculous beyond words.
Saturday, January 15, 2022
Our Enemy The State wants to stop reporting COVID-19 case numbers entirely because Omicron breakthroughs are making monkeys out of them and their stupid vaccines
Omicron case counts are shattering all previous COVID-19 records. But the numbers don’t carry the same weight they used to. State and local health departments are preparing to explain that to the public and start reporting more meaningful data on the virus.
More.
Remember when Donald 15 cases going to zero Trump wanted to stop testing to reduce case counts because they were making him look so bad?
THESE PEOPLE ARE TRUMP.
Friday, January 14, 2022
Thursday, January 13, 2022
Sam's Club seemed fully stocked to me this morning: No shortages of anything I needed
Eggs, butter, and ketchup prices were a little bit higher than previously.
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
The problem with Rex Reed is the people he names in the same paragraph
He's not a critic. He's a drive-by shooter.
The people to whom we waved goodbye in 2021 were not all heroes. Expect no celebratory parades for disgraced Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff or Hustler publisher and smut peddler Larry Flynt, but in fairness, Flynt was a brave advocate for First Amendment rights before he was gunned down by a racist extremist in 1978 and left paralyzed for the rest of his life. And “So long” to Prince Philip, 99, the Duke of Edinburgh, who left the monarch of England, Queen Elizabeth II, to endure the antics of her dysfunctional family alone.
More.
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
LOL CDC Director Walensky at the beginning of October: With 164 million vaccinated we should expect "tens of thousands perhaps of breakthrough infections"
The US has added 10 million new cases since mid-December alone, 26 days ago. The previous record for a calendar month was Dec 2020 with 6.4 million.
January 2022 is going to be a breakthrough doozy. We have already 6.9 million cases in the first ten days of January alone.
This is what you get when you oversell an under-tested therapeutic as a vaccine.
These people should all be fired, including anyone who has blamed unvaccinated people for spreading this disease when the CDC has here months ago clearly admitted that vaccinated people are still spreading it.
Hell, they admitted it in July after Provincetown.
Vaccinated people have been spreading COVID all along.
Remember when the hysterical Rachel Maddow proclaimed her faith in the ability of the new vaccines to stop the spread?
The virus stops with every vaccinated person, she said.
It doesn't.
LOL NBC: Boosted Americans home sick with Omicron are "confused"
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/we-have-gone-backwards-covid-confusion-snarls-biden-white-house-n1287282
[Biden] calls it the “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” but that has only confused boosted Americans home sick with the omicron variant.
They're not confused, they're thinking "You said all we needed to do was get vaccinated!"
Monday, January 10, 2022
LOL, The Kansas City Star is as ignorant as Justice Sotomayor, knows nothing about how Omicron breakthroughs are utterly crushing the booster in places like Iceland, The UK, Denmark, and Malta
KC Star:
... an additional “booster” dose of Moderna or Pfizer mRNA-based vaccine is essential, providing far greater immunity against the omicron variant.
That's why they must try to sell that worthless rag for $2 for 2 months.
Just look at cases soaring in these places where boosters administered per 100 people so far exceed 50%.
Omicron is breaking through like gangbusters.
Tucker Carlson is right and the news media, as usual, are wrong.
The CDC's Walensky is such a Democrat hack she won't even correct an obvious, enormous whopper promoted by none other than Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor
BAIER: Now, what we can find from Friday suggests there are fewer than 3,500 current pediatric hospitalizations from COVID-19. Is that true?
WALENSKY: Yeah. But, you know, here's what I can tell you about our pediatric hospitalizations now. First of all, the vast majority of children who are in the hospital are unvaccinated ...
BAIER: Understood, but the number is not 100,000. It's roughly 3,500 in hospitals now.
WALENSKY: It -- yes, there are -- there are -- and in fact what I will say is, while pediatric hospitalizations are rising, there are still about 15-fold least [less?] than hospitalizations of our older age demographics.
BAIER: Do you have a number of children on ventilators?
WALENSKY: I do not have that off the top of my head, but what I can say is for it -- I don't believe there are any in many of these hospitals who are vaccinated. So, really, the highest risk of being on a ventilator if your child is if you're unvaccinated [sic]. ...
BAIER: ... I guess what I’m getting at in this opening is that the Supreme Court is in the process of dealing with this big issue about mandates. And do you feel responsibility as the CDC director to correct a very big mischaracterization by one of the Supreme Court justices?
WALENSKY: Yeah, here's what I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you that, right now, 17 -- if you're unvaccinated, you're 17 times more likely to be in the hospital and 20 times more likely to die than if you're boosted. ...
Q: Are 100,000 children really hospitalized for COVID-19?
A: Mostly unvaccinated ones.
Sunday, January 9, 2022
The Sweden cheerleaders like Ann Coulter keep at it, but Sweden just keeps outperforming at least 7 other fellow European neighbors in the deaths per million category
You can't unkill all the old people killed in Sweden early in the pandemic, who early on laid the foundation of Sweden's present ignominy. They were killed in institutions by workers, many of whom are immigrants and not native Swedes, who spread the disease to them. Sweden got out front early with these deaths, and only kept going.
So-called conservatives don't seem too interested in that story, because it doesn't fit their anti-lockdown, anti-mask narrative, for which they think Sweden is the model, never mind Sweden's immediate neighbors to this day have done much better. The immigrant angle should be right up their alley, too, but nope. Conservatives seem little interested in learning about that, or about what has worked better and why.
Meanwhile Ex-Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo oversaw a similar massacre by transferring COVID-19 patients into nursing homes full of vulnerable elderly people who caught the disease and died. But he had to resign not because of that, but because he felt-up some ladies uninvited.
Connecticut is embarking just now as we speak on the same nursing home policy as New York.
If you are an old person in America, you probably think they are out to get you.
And you would be right.
Instead of wading into politics Moochelle should just wade out to sea
I mean, it's right there in her own backyard.
And take George Bush with you, please!
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/politics/michelle-obama-2022-elections-fight-for-vote/index.html
Friday, January 7, 2022
Thursday, January 6, 2022
LOL, Democrats run both houses of Congress and own The White House but Carter and Obama both say democracy at risk
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/588451-jimmy-carter-says-he-fears-for-democracy-our-great-nation-now
https://news.yahoo.com/obama-democracy-is-at-a-greater-risk-today-181810269.html
Democrats are hostile to democracy. It keeps them from imposing their will.
At least they are honest, unlike every health authority in the United States working in government or quoted in the press: Vaccine failure in Ontario, Canada
Fully-vaccinated COVID-19 cases presently outnumber unvaccinated by 5.9:1 in Ontario.
Fully-vaxxed hospitalizations outnumber unvaccinated by 2.7:1 in Ontario.
Fully-vaxxed in ICU = >36%.
Breakthroughs are the norm now.
Meanwhile in the People's Republic of Chicago:
“COVID is very real, it’s merciless, and unless you are fully vaccinated, your defenses against it are pretty low,” said CDPH Commissioner Allison Arwady, M.D., in a statement. “You can only fully fight this virus if you’re vaccinated."
Clay Travis is a stand-up guy for contributing ten grand to the Patriot Freedom Project
https://www.patriotfreedomproject.com/
No deaths are linked to the Jan 6 "attack" except Ashli Babbitt's, at the hands of a federal agent
Media, enemies of the people, repeat nothing but lies.
A nation 18 or older 86% vaccinated for COVID-19 is a nation of sheeple
Three-percenters, take note.
J6 Hysteria Is How Media And Other Democrats Are Avoiding Accountability For Their Rigging Of The 2020 Election
https://thefederalist.com/2022/01/06/j6-hysteria-is-how-media-and-other-democrats-are-avoiding-accountability-for-their-rigging-of-the-2020-election/
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Omicron has completely overrun Pfizer in Israel
Daily new cases per million since Nov 24: up >2,300% !
Percent received at least one dose of vaccine by Nov 24: 67.8%
Percent fully vaxxed as of Nov 24: 62.2%
Number dosed at least once by Nov 24: 6.3 million
Number fully vaxxed by Nov 24: 5.78 million
Number boostered by Nov 24: 4.07 million
Total doses administered by Nov 24: 16.14 million
Omicron cases soar globally, but daily deaths per million from COVID globally are down ~17% since Nov 24 when Omicron was first identified
Omicron is running over everyone like a runaway train, vaccinated or not, but 6 weeks after its identification it is contributing no added lethality to the pandemic curve.
Global daily new deaths per million are still as low now as they were 14 months ago and appear to be headed even lower.
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Not an auspicious start: Hope she knows how to drive that thing
In a historic first, aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln deploys under command of female captain
Five sailors were killed during those work-ups in September when their helicopter crashed into the carrier’s flight deck and tumbled into the sea. Bauernschmidt, who came up through the ranks flying helicopters, had only been in command for 12 days when the crash occurred. She offered condolences to the families of those killed and talked about the effect the crash had on the crew.
Monday, January 3, 2022
And to think World War III was only a year ago
Seems longer ago than that.
See what I mean?
At least Billy Pilgrim knows what I mean.
Sunday, January 2, 2022
Alex Berenson still thinks The Atlantic was wrong about Georgia's Experiment in Human Sacrifice
You can still read Alex Berenson, at Substack, as I do. He continues to be an important source for stories our media continues to ignore (censor) because they don't fit the narrative. But sometimes the takes can be odd.
Alex today still thinks the Georgia story way back when was a bad covid take, and that Germany's troubles presently somehow invalidate The Atlantic's positive opinion on the record of Europe's biggest country outside of Russia.
Neither point is defensible.
The US State of Georgia today ranks 10th worst in the US for deaths per million of its population, at 2961/m. Mississippi is our very worst, at 3511/m. In between there, there are red and blue states, including New Jersey and New York.
But Germany today is at 1361/m. Worst place in the world Peru by contrast is at 6336/m.
Germany's done pretty damn well considering it has a population of 83 million compared with Georgia's paltry <10 million.
The situation in Georgia to date, in fact, is 118% worse than in Germany. And if Georgia were a country, it would be ranked in the top 15 worst performers in the world today for deaths per million.
I think Alex is letting animus cloud his judgment. Animus certainly for The Atlantic, but perhaps also for Germany.
Gee, why would that be?
Georgia's done a very poor job. Not as poor as New Jersey and New York, and not poor enough by comparison with them to be singled out the way they were. "Stupid hicks" elitism, right? On that we agree. But Germany's done remarkably well, and we should care enough to understand why.
But Alex is too busy to go into that right now. The drive-by-shooting of the "little homily on the brilliance of Germany’s Covid response" will have to do for now.
COVID-19 in the USA by the numbers: About as infectious as the flu, but 10-13 times more deadly in the first two years of the pandemic
Deaths 2020: 346,050
Deaths 2021: 477,867
Cases 2020: 20.0m
Cases 2021: 34.7m
Case fatality rate 2020: 1.73%
Case fatality rate 2021: 1.38%
Case prevalence 2020: 6.1% of 328m population
Case prevalence 2021: 10.4% of 332m population
Typical annual prevalence of influenza: 8% of population (9.2% in the previous decade)
Typical annual deaths from influenza: 36,000
Alpha and Delta have produced 22% more cases in 2021 in the USA but 20% fewer deaths
Alpha dominated in the US during April, May, and June. Delta has dominated since July 1.
Alpha and Delta cases in the US, April through December 2021: 24.2 million
US COVID-19 cases April through December 2020: 19.8 million
Alpha and Delta deaths in the US, April through December 2021: 272,259
US COVID-19 deaths April through December 2020: 341,746
The data is consistent with the theory that viruses mutate to become more infectious at the expense of lethality.
All indications so far indicate that this will also continue to be the case with Omicron.
Axios finally updated its Variant Tracker: So far "Delta" still dominates in the US, with Omicron most prevalent in Louisiana at just shy of 27%
Check it out here.
Politico reported last week that the CDC had to climb down about its estimate of the prevalence of Omicron in the US.
It had originally estimated prevalence of 73.2% in the US on Dec 18, but revised that down to just 22.5%.
Quite the doozy, that.
This was very amusing coming as it did with all the other messaging shifts last week:
Ditch the cloth masks for N95s;
Walensky at CDC claiming suddenly that PCR tests are unreliable;
You need only 5 days of quarantine, not ten, because, you know, Omicron is different;
Mr. I'm Going to Shut Down the Virus blurting out that there's no federal solution;
And Fauci suddenly admitting the distinction between being admitted to hospital for Covid as opposed to just with it.
Saturday, January 1, 2022
Thursday, December 30, 2021
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Sociologist writing for TIME Magazine caricatures First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, but doesn't interview a single actual member of the church
Attending the event in person allowed me to appreciate how central Trump remains to white evangelicalism. ...
Standing in line 2.5 hours before the event, I chatted with a group of five elderly women who all came together. All were committed churchgoers in the Dallas area, but none were members at First Baptist. ...
There was Bill, a repairman who had taken public transportation to get to First Baptist. He was not a member either, but had always been a huge fan of Trump and was eager to see him in person. ...
And there was Carlos. Like Bill, Carlos was visiting First Baptist from elsewhere in the city along with a friend. ...
Trump’s appeal Sunday morning extends far beyond the First Baptist faithful. Evangelical visitors from around the city had come to cheer for their President. They were convinced he’d been treated unfairly. And they pined to see him back in office. ...
For the vast majority of white evangelicals in the U.S., like those visiting First Baptist Dallas on Sunday, Trump is still their warrior. ... over two-thirds of white evangelicals felt the 2020 election had been stolen from Trump.
More.
This guy should get out more and document the adulation directed at Democrats visiting America's black churches and insinuate in a column about how 92% of the nation's blacks voted for Joe Biden in 2020 because they're duped by religion or something.
Monday, December 27, 2021
Biden promised to shut down the virus, now says there's no federal solution
Which is even more odd since he has mandated vaccines for the employees of large companies.
The guy is obviously too old upstairs for the job.
"There is no federal solution. This gets solved at the state level,"
Biden responded, before mentioning another Republican governor.
Saturday, December 25, 2021
John Tamny remains as confused as a thinker and as obtuse as a writer as he has ever been
John Tamny has made some progress, however.
He now admits that some of his views are "fringe".
Which is amusing, since we've known that since Russell Kirk demonstrated long ago how the libertarians have always been "chirping sectarians".
A case in point of the continuing confusion:
Tamny expresses fawning admiration for George Will's latest collection of his columns, which opens asserting the priority of the study of history.
But Tamny later avers without the slightest awareness of self-contradiction that "The talented people, the unequal people, have a tendency to run from the present and past."
Nostalgia is "dangerous".
Do make up your mind for once, John.
The seemingly interminable review is here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)