I see it over and over: assertions that COVID-19 is just “a bad flu,” and accusations that those who say that are wrong, wrong, wrong. Both statements annoy me – but then, maybe I’m just getting testy from being cooped … Continue reading →
Modeling can analyze data about complex systems and make predictions. But the predictive value of modeling is hampered by the fact that models are only as good as the assumptions and statistics behind them. Models have become ubiquitous in government … Continue reading →
Commenter “Montage” writes: Covid-19 is not just like the flu, which some want you to believe. In all the years of the flu we didn’t have hospital bed shortages or a worry about the number of ventilators that will be … Continue reading →
Here are some estimates for the toll COVID-19 is likely to take in the US. Make of them what you will: One model from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested that between 160 million and 210 million … Continue reading →
Wouldn’t it be better to have only high-risk people stay home? People over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions? That way, if all those at low risk kept mingling, a lot of them would get a mild flu and herd … Continue reading →
Worth reading: In fact, a small industry has grown up consisting of historians and historically minded social scientists who are, one by one, refuting all of the serious claims of the 1619 Project… Since the launch of The 1619 Project, … Continue reading →
Recently there’s been some talk (including in the comments on this blog) of a theory that high doses of aspirin played a key role in exacerbating the number of deaths in the 1918 flu pandemic: The high case-fatality rate—especially among … Continue reading →
[NOTE: I’ve decided this needs to be at least a two-parter, because there’s so much to be said. Here’s Part I.] I haven’t written too many posts on the new coronavirus (COVID-19) because we know quite little, and much of … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Years ago I downsized and got rid of a lot of books. But since I’d had a ton of them to begin with, I’ve still got a lot, although nothing like the original number. And of course, I keep … Continue reading →
[Hat tip: commenter Artfldgr.] A group called the Woodson Center has launched a counter-project to the NY Times’ “1619 Project” falsehoods: As long as the perpetrators of race grievance that are represented by the 1619 Project are permitted to go … Continue reading →
“By the dawn of the 19th Century, the disease had killed 1 in 7 of all people that had ever lived, more than any other illness.” Anyone who’s a Bronte or Keats or Chopin fan hasn’t forgotten. But it’s true … Continue reading →
The Founders were fearful that impeachment would become a partisan endeavor, and they were right to be fearful. It has. That’s why the Founders set the bar so high for a Senate conviction. If you look back on the history … Continue reading →