A BLAST FROM THE PAST: Maryland’s governor takes a shot at President Trump.
This is from about two weeks ago. I'm posting it only because in the last two weeks it has become increasingly clear that the HealthScare 'experts' have been wielding far too much influence in how government has responded to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cowering in fear is not an acceptable response.
Wednesday, April 08, 2020
RANDOM MUSING ABOUT POLITICIANS AND THEIR SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS:
I guess I can be considered an expert since I do have an earned PhD (in electrical engineering). As a young graduate student wanting to join the academy so I could share my 'expertise' I remember a somewhat jaded older faculty member who shared with me his definition of expert: from the two words, ex-, meaning 'has been' and spurt, which is a drip under pressure. As I moved up the faculty ladders, I found his definition wise indeed.
Then I moved to industry, where I was initially an 'expert', deeply knowledgeable in a relatively narrow subfield of radar engineering. Time passed as I matured, branched out into other related areas, becoming less and less in-depth knowledgeable in more and more areas. Pretty soon I became a systems engineer, at that time the informal title of the older graybeards (sorry ladies, there were very few women engineers back in those distant days) who had been around the block a few times and knew a little about a lot of different things.
That experience has led me to formulate the following observation about my career. One becomes an expert by knowing more and more about less and less until he (or she) ultimately knows everything about nothing; one becomes a systems engineer by knowing less and less about more and more until he (or again, she) knows nothing about everything.
Which leads me now to this philosophical observation: politicians are somewhat akin to systems engineers; their scientific advisors akin to experts. So our government is being run by people who know nothing about everything, advised by people who know everything about nothing.
Which, I think, perfectly sums up the current coronavirus pandemic fiasco....
I guess I can be considered an expert since I do have an earned PhD (in electrical engineering). As a young graduate student wanting to join the academy so I could share my 'expertise' I remember a somewhat jaded older faculty member who shared with me his definition of expert: from the two words, ex-, meaning 'has been' and spurt, which is a drip under pressure. As I moved up the faculty ladders, I found his definition wise indeed.
Then I moved to industry, where I was initially an 'expert', deeply knowledgeable in a relatively narrow subfield of radar engineering. Time passed as I matured, branched out into other related areas, becoming less and less in-depth knowledgeable in more and more areas. Pretty soon I became a systems engineer, at that time the informal title of the older graybeards (sorry ladies, there were very few women engineers back in those distant days) who had been around the block a few times and knew a little about a lot of different things.
That experience has led me to formulate the following observation about my career. One becomes an expert by knowing more and more about less and less until he (or she) ultimately knows everything about nothing; one becomes a systems engineer by knowing less and less about more and more until he (or again, she) knows nothing about everything.
Which leads me now to this philosophical observation: politicians are somewhat akin to systems engineers; their scientific advisors akin to experts. So our government is being run by people who know nothing about everything, advised by people who know everything about nothing.
Which, I think, perfectly sums up the current coronavirus pandemic fiasco....
DEMOCRATS FASHION THEMSELVES AS THE PARTY OF HEALTH AND SCIENCE. In reality, they are the party of death and unscientific denialism.
WUHAN FLU [CORONAVIRUS] UPDATE for April 8, 2020. Here's tonight's update.
Today's update is more of the same (scale changes again, though). The flattening of the reported cases plot does appear to be real, though miniscule. The death rate curves do tend to show a more distinct downward curve, but both are still increasing more rapidly than I would have thought. My guess is that there are probably two factors at work. The first is that I suspect the infected population estimate is too low. I use the standard 80% rule for infected but unreported, and I suspect that's too low given the low reported numbers in the young & healthy categories. That would lower the overall death rates but not affect the slope of the rate curves. The increasing slope is, I suspect, an artifact of misreporting. Deaths are being attributed to coronavirus if the virus is present, even when the underlying cause is something different. I'm seeing more and more reporting of that kind on the internet every day.
It's still a case of the tail wagging the dog in the projected deaths chart. I think the trend line would stabilize about midway between the projected (blue) and low end (green) estimates if I could get a death count at a consistent time every day - a mere (1/10)th of 1% in total daily deaths can swing that trend line from green to red overnight.
In case you're wondering, an estimated 99.35% of Americans are still virus-free.
Today's update is more of the same (scale changes again, though). The flattening of the reported cases plot does appear to be real, though miniscule. The death rate curves do tend to show a more distinct downward curve, but both are still increasing more rapidly than I would have thought. My guess is that there are probably two factors at work. The first is that I suspect the infected population estimate is too low. I use the standard 80% rule for infected but unreported, and I suspect that's too low given the low reported numbers in the young & healthy categories. That would lower the overall death rates but not affect the slope of the rate curves. The increasing slope is, I suspect, an artifact of misreporting. Deaths are being attributed to coronavirus if the virus is present, even when the underlying cause is something different. I'm seeing more and more reporting of that kind on the internet every day.
It's still a case of the tail wagging the dog in the projected deaths chart. I think the trend line would stabilize about midway between the projected (blue) and low end (green) estimates if I could get a death count at a consistent time every day - a mere (1/10)th of 1% in total daily deaths can swing that trend line from green to red overnight.
In case you're wondering, an estimated 99.35% of Americans are still virus-free.
THE VICTORY GIRLS WEREN'T HAPPY with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer for their attempt to lard up the Republicans' coronavirus rescue bill. They didn't (fully) succeed, but keep this in mind when November 3rd rolls around.
UPDATE: Here's some of what the Democrats did manage to insert. Be sure to watch how Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC] and Bob Newhart explain the Democrats' unemployment giveaway.
[Note: broken link fixed.]
UPDATE: Here's some of what the Democrats did manage to insert. Be sure to watch how Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC] and Bob Newhart explain the Democrats' unemployment giveaway.
[Note: broken link fixed.]
FORGOT? New York City is short of medical supplies because some bungling idiot failed forgot to order them. Three guesses on the name of the bungling idiot. The first two don't count.
Note: I seem to recall a recent article/post within the last day or so that NYC hospital beds/ICUs were never fully utilized but haven't been able to find that article/post. Google has been no friend.
Note: I seem to recall a recent article/post within the last day or so that NYC hospital beds/ICUs were never fully utilized but haven't been able to find that article/post. Google has been no friend.
AFTER THE HYSTERIA DIES, what rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
[W]hat we are going through now -- a wildly overblown reaction to a suspiciously timed outbreak -- is because, after an uninterrupted winning streak for decades, the establishment is losing. This mother of all false flag operations is their desperate means of self-defense.Linked from Instapundit.
NOW BACK TO WHERE I LEFT OFF IN MARCH....
When you only have a hammer, everything is a nail.These posts were written nearly a month ago, but in my view remain unassailable.
There is a war going on. But it is not a war against the latest iteration of the coronavirus.
Coronavirus Lunacy: take a deep breath, society.
There's a price to be paid for this lunacy and lemming-like compliance. Doesn't nature require that we exercise our immune systems? Is it really wise to let certain things atrophy? What of boredom's effect on overeating? Lying on the couch? Boredom's effect on existing depression, and its contribution to new depression? Same for unemployment's effects. Layoffs are not only going to hurt people; they will kill them. Don't worry: the government is riding to the rescue with $1,000 checks for everyone. How long does that shot in the arm last? Weeks? A month? Then what? Besides, people like having a sense of purpose. Handouts do not give anyone purpose; handouts destroy character and work ethic. And the federal government is 24 trillion dollars in debt. What are we doing but encouraging sloth, despondency, and an attitude of just giving up? Are we Americans, or aren't we?This 'cure' is worse than the disease.
I'm not saying caution is not warranted. It is. Education is not just good, but abundantly necessary. Wash your hands. Sneeze into your elbow. Use sanitary wipes. Clean surfaces. If you feel sick — whether your symptoms are a close match or not — get tested in a timely fashion.
But for goodness's sake, don't crash my economy. Don't destroy my jazz clubs. Don't close schools. (What are we telling our kids? Be wimpy about life's challenges? Don't be self-sufficient? Don't be strong?) Don't close my restaurants. Don't close my libraries. Don't close my coffee shops. Don't make otherwise robust people live as if dead to avoid a "death" that won't come even if they get this bug.
ABSURD ... on steroids.
Ufortunately (or possibly fortunately) I couldn't get to Lowe's - the closest one is in Murphy, NC, and Murphy is closed to Georgians....
Ufortunately (or possibly fortunately) I couldn't get to Lowe's - the closest one is in Murphy, NC, and Murphy is closed to Georgians....
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