The lockdowns simply didn’t work

 

Brad Palumbo at FEE (Foundation for Economic Education - h/t Instapundit) confirms what many of us figured out maybe a month into the lockdowns:

We Just Got Even More Proof that
Stay-At-Home Orders Lethally Backfired

A new study finds that lockdown orders didn’t reduce overall mortality, and may have even increased it.

Life under lockdown was hard for all of us. From economic destruction to social isolation, the costs of restrictive government policies intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have been steep. But now, yet another study suggests that the benefits wrought by our collective sacrifice were negligible at best—and that stay-at-home orders may even have increased overall mortality.  

In a new paper, economists from the University of Southern California and the RAND Corporation examined the effectiveness of “shelter-in-place” (SIP) mandates, aka stay-at-home orders, using data from 43 countries and all 50 US states. The experts analyze not just deaths from COVID-19, but “excess deaths,” a measure that compares overall deaths from all causes to a historical baseline. 

The authors explain that lockdown orders may have had lethal unintended consequences in their own right, such as increased drug overdoses, worsened mental health problems, increased child abuse, deadly delays in non-COVID medical care, and more. So, to find out whether stay-at-home orders truly helped more than they hurt, examining excess deaths, not just pandemic outcomes, is key. 

The results aren’t pretty. 

“We fail to find that shelter-in-place policies saved lives,” the authors report. Indeed, they conclude that in the weeks following the implementation of these policies, excess mortality actually increases—even though it had typically been declining before the orders took effect. And across all countries, the study finds that a one-week increase in the length of stay-at-home policies corresponds with 2.7 more excess deaths per 100,000 people.

 

. . .

Read more here.

Flashback:  In July 2020. this blog linked to Heather Mac Donald’s Imprimis article “Four Months of Unprecedented Government Malfeasance”;  click here.

# # #

Stopping Critical Race Theory in Ohio schools

 

From our friends at Ohio Value Voters:

You can show your support of stopping Critical Race Theory in Ohio by attending the proponent testimony hearing this Wednesday at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus:

[map here]

 

HB 327 Proponent Testimony in opposition to Critical Race Theory in Ohio

COMMITTEE: State and Local Government

CHAIR: Scott Wiggam

DATE: Wednesday, June 23, 2021

TIME: 3:00pm

ROOM: Room 121

OVERFLOW: Room 122

 

H.B. No. 327

Rep. [Diane] Grendell, Rep. [Sarah] Fowler Arthur

Prohibit teaching, advocating, or promoting divisive concepts

2nd Hearing    Prop/IP 

# # #

 

Happy Father's Day

 

# # #

Big Brother is here : COVID-Tracker App

 

Wahagen Khabayan at The National Pulse reports on a disturbing and invasive App emerging in Massachusetts, and probably already migrating westward:

COVID-Tracker App Installs Itself Without User Consent, 
Including On Parental-Locked Devices.

Massachusetts state officials recently announced the launch of the “voluntary” MassNotify app, which monitors the spread of COVID-19 in the state. The only problem is the app appears to be installing itself on residents’ and their kids’ smartphones, unbeknownst to users, and without their consent.

. . .

The MassNotify app was developed in cooperation with both Apple and Google, and claims to work anonymously and “not track” users’ private information. This claim was made by Republican Governor Charlie Baker, who said this week: “As we embrace our new normal, MassNotify is a voluntary, free tool to provide additional peace of mind to residents as they return to doing the things they love.”

The app notifies users who have been near a person that tested COVID positive, and the tracking is conducted using the Bluetooth. The app claims that the tracking will be “completely anonymous, with no location tracking or exchange of personal information”. Furthermore, it promises to not share any location data or personal information with Google, Apple, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or other users.

The news creates a disturbing new dimension to privacy laws and even private property concerns as hundreds of users have reported their Android phones have had the app surreptitiously installed, without their prior knowledge.

. . .

The implementation process of the app clearly contradicts the notion of voluntary participation, as well as raising concerns as to what else might be installed remotely without users’ knowledge.

Many in the state had no idea the app had been pushed to their devices until they got a notification. The app also appears to be reinstalling itself once forcibly removed by users.

“Ghost installed without my permission, and keeps sending me push notifications. I removed it and it reinstall itself. This isn’t something I want in my phone, it’s not something that has permission to be on my phone nor should the commonwealth or any other place/company be allowed to put something on my phone without my permission,” said user Beth Silvaggio.

Read the entire report here.

# # #

RINO alert: Ohio candidates for Senate claim Trump endorsement

 

Matthew Boyle reports at Breitbart:

‘People Close to the President Are Not Happy’:
Trump Team Fuming as Ohio’s Jane Timken Website
Appears to Falsely Claim Endorsement

Ohio Senate candidate Jane Timken had a photograph on her website’s “endorsements” page of her with former President Donald Trump, something an aide for the former president told Breitbart News displeases his team.

The photograph, which first received public attention from Timken’s website on Friday, made it appear as though she was claiming Trump’s endorsement — which she does not have. After a number of the other GOP campaigns for U.S. Senate in Ohio flagged it to Trump and his inner circle on Friday morning, Timken removed the photograph from her website.

. . .

The Ohio GOP Senate primary in the race to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) is a crowded one. In addition to Timken, the former chairwoman of the Ohio GOP, other declared and likely candidates include former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, businessman Bernie Moreno, Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance, businessman Mike Gibbons, and more. Virtually all of them are vying for Trump’s endorsement in the state he won twice in the general election and in which he remains popular.

Lots more here.  It's not just Ms. Timken. Our household received a campaign mailer from candidate Josh Mandel, such as the one Breitbart published:

These attempts to claim President Trump’s endorsement and support are alienating some Ohio conservative voters.  No more RINOs!

# # #

Trump rally in Ohio: venue information UPDATED

 

President Trump’s northern Ohio / Cleveland area rally on Saturday, June 26 at 7pm will be at the

Lorain County Fairgrounds Rally in Wellington, OH

in support of Max Miller's Campaign to unseat Anthony Gonzales who voted for Trump's Impeachment!

Here’s the map – it’s south of Oberlin.  

UPDATE: Reserve tickets here.  They are free.

# # #

Babylon Bee does it again

Babylon Bee, the paper/blog of record, just won in court against the New York Times.  And today, here's the headline that shows why Babylon Bee is cutting edge satire:

Trump Announces He Is Building 1,954-Mile Long
Trump Hotel Along Southern Border

The BB "reports":

RIO GRANDE CITY, TX—Trump flew to America's southern border this week to announce a brand-new Trump hotel unlike anything the world has ever seen. The planned hotel will be almost 2,000 miles long and will be situated right on the southern border.

"Yes folks, I'm proud to announce we are building a big, beautiful, golden Trump hotel on the southern border," said Trump to reporters. "Land just happens to be really cheap down here, what can I say? The border just looks terrible ever since Sleepy Joe 'Loserface' Biden stole the presidency from me. Just a disgrace. I'll bet he can't even build a wall as fast and cheap as I can build my new Trump hotel. Watch!"

The luxurious hotel will also include an 800-mile golf course and a 1,000-mile lazy tubing river. The southern wall will be a gleaming and impenetrable barrier with Trump's name emblazoned on it every couple of miles.

. . .

More here.  

# # #