Etiquette



DP Etiquette

First rule: Don't be a jackass.

Other rules: Do not attack or insult people you disagree with. Engage with facts, logic and beliefs. Out of respect for others, please provide some sources for the facts and truths you rely on if you are asked for that. If emotion is getting out of hand, get it back in hand. To limit dehumanizing people, don't call people or whole groups of people disrespectful names, e.g., stupid, dumb or liar. Insulting people is counterproductive to rational discussion. Insult makes people angry and defensive. All points of view are welcome, right, center, left and elsewhere. Just disagree, but don't be belligerent or reject inconvenient facts, truths or defensible reasoning.

Friday, August 14, 2020

Regarding COVID-19: It's Worse Than What is Reported



A New York Times analysis of excess deaths data from the CDC indicates that about 60,000 more people have probably died from the pandemic than official statistics are reporting. If that analysis is correct, the number of coronavirus deaths is now well over 200,000. Some of the extra deaths is probably from unintentional under counting of deaths. Some is from intentional reducing the death count for political purposes, especially since the president took the counting away from the CDC and gave it Peter Thiel's company. The NYT writes:
Across the United States, at least 200,000 more people have died than usual since March, according to a New York Times analysis of estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is about 60,000 higher than the number of deaths that have been directly linked to the coronavirus
As the pandemic has moved south and west from its epicenter in New York City, so have the unusual patterns in deaths from all causes. That suggests that the official death counts may be substantially underestimating the overall effects of the virus, as people die from the virus as well as by other causes linked to the pandemic.
 

The president's creepy supporter
One source characterized Peter Thiel's involvement like this: "Peter Thiel’s Creepy Tech Firm Is Helping The Government Track Coronavirus." Thiel is a billionaire who made his money by co-founding PayPal. Thiel was a major supporter of the president in 2016, but now fears that he won't be re-elected. Thiel now claims to be backing away from supporting the president's re-election. Given how frequently both the president and the people around him lie, it is reasonable to believe that Thiel is lying about COVID-19 deaths to help his friend get re-elected without donating any cash. Cash donations can be traced back to donors under current law. To hide his support for the president, Thiel's donations are fudged COVID-19 death counts instead of cash. That could be worth more than a pile of gold.

No comments:

Post a Comment