Posted on 12/08/2020 6:43:43 AM PST by SeekAndFind
One of the most important lessons of the past nine months is that epidemiological models are predicated on assumptions and that statistical data can be manipulated to conform to a variety of desired outcomes. They are therefore an alluring target for political exploitation.
It was therefore noteworthy when a November 22 study published by Johns Hopkins University was subsequently deleted by the university because an official stated that it "was being used to support false and dangerous inaccuracies about the impact of the pandemic."
The study, titled "A closer look at U.S. deaths due to COVID-19," was conducted by Dr. Genevieve Briand, assistant program director of the applied economics master's degree program at the university. Her analysis made the astonishing conclusion that "in contrast to most people's assumptions, the number of deaths by COVID-19 is not alarming. In fact, it has relatively no effect on deaths in the United States."
Dr. Briand compiled a graph from data on the CDC website representing percentages of total deaths per age category from early February to early September, which includes the period from before COVID-19 was detected in the U.S. to after infection rates soared.
Remarkably, the deaths of older people were unchanged prior to and after the advent of COVID-19. Because COVID-19 primarily impacts the elderly, experts anticipated an increase in the percentage of deaths in older age groups. But the CDC data didn't support this presumption. In fact, the percentages of deaths among all age groups remain relatively the same.
As Dr. Briand noted, "[t]he reason we have a higher number of reported COVID-19 deaths among older individuals than younger individuals is simply because every day in the U.S. older individuals die in higher numbers than younger individuals."
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Yup. Most noteworthy was the text which replaced the post at the Hopkins’ page.
LOL
Good post.
In a nutshell. Heart disease is the number one killer among the elderly.
You always have a lot of people die from heart disease but during the Covid crisis suddenly it dropped off. Why?
Because these are now often counted as Covid deaths.
What was that?
What replaced it?
These are Oregon total death stats for past several years, ....THIS tells the TRUTH...each State likely has similar stats...a “friend” on MEWE posted this...
From the Oregon website, the number of total DEATHS since 2015. Here you go:
2015- 35,709
2016- 35,799
2017- 36,640
2018- 36,191
2019- 37,397
And here you go...YEAR TO DATE
(December 1) 2020........32,330!
And for this we are allowing a tyrannical Governor to destroy our state??? I for one, am not going to be quiet. You better research the “plan” and make some NOISE!!!
Go ahead and fact check here:point_down::point_down::point_down:
https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/birthdeathcertificates/vitalstatistics
The unavoidable conclusion is that the statistics are fundamentally misleading and that for what appears to be political reasons, deaths from other diseases are being categorized as COVID-19 deaths.
I'd say that was fairly obvious to most of us here on FR just a few weeks into the "pandemic." About then in the timeline the MSM was breathlessly reporting on the "pandemic" as if people were collapsing in the street from it. COVID-19 was the boogie-man incarnate, the Terminator of diseases. It could survive for days on any surface, was impervious to nominal hygiene routines, required Reese-like efforts to eradicate... Yet myself and others looked around and thought "Gee, for a so-called pandemic I'm not seeing it." Not only were we not seeing people dropping like proverbial flies, most of us didn't even know anyone who had come down with it.
Here we are, months into the "pandemic" and I know exactly one person who has tested positive. She didn't even know she had it, never felt any symptoms. She only got tested due to her position in the health care industry. From that one person I know of first hand, I'd have to start playing Kevin Bacon-esque "six degrees of separation" or some such. I know a guy who knows a guy who's parents tested positive. They actually felt bad - headache and chills - for less than a day. Wow. I've felt worse from a hangover, and far worse from a bout with food poisoning. From these two "connections" to COVID-19 it starts getting even more remote. The next level of people I know who have tested positive are all word of mouth online "so-and-so heard such-and-such tested positive" and the like, where I don't even really know so-and-so...
This "pandemic" was created almost out of whole cloth. It served it's purpose though - governors and mayors of a certain political bent used it as an excuse to exercise un-Constitutional powers amid the panic fomented by the complicit MSM. They managed to trash the economy - the one sure thing that was going to make President Trump unbeatable this year. With the economy roaring there was no amount of election fraud that would have pushed the addled Biden puppet across the finish line. They needed just enough discontent, and an excuse for massive mail-in, drop-off, anything but in-person ID-checked voting...and they got it. The fraud in this past election committed by the left would do any third world dictator proud.
Editor’s Note: After The News-Letter published this article on Nov. 22, it was brought to our attention that our coverage of Genevieve Briand’s presentation “COVID-19 Deaths: A Look at U.S. Data” has been used to support dangerous inaccuracies that minimize the impact of the pandemic. <\i>
We decided on Nov. 26 to retract this article to stop the spread of misinformation, as we noted on social media. However, it is our responsibility as journalists to provide a historical record. We have chosen to take down the article from our website, but it is available here as a PDF. <\i>
In accordance with our standards for transparency, we are sharing with our readers how we came to this decision. The News-Letter is an editorially and financially independent, student-run publication. Our articles and content are not endorsed by the University or the School of Medicine, and our decision to retract this article was made independently. <\i>
Briand’s study should not be used exclusively in understanding the impact of COVID-19, but should be taken in context with the countless other data published by Hopkins, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). <\i>
As assistant director for the Master’s in Applied Economics program at Hopkins, Briand is neither a medical professional nor a disease researcher. At her talk, she herself stated that more research and data are needed to understand the effects of COVID-19 in the U.S. <\i>
Briand was quoted in the article as saying, “All of this points to no evidence that COVID-19 created any excess deaths. Total death numbers are not above normal death numbers.” This claim is incorrect and does not take into account the spike in raw death count from all causes compared to previous years. According to the CDC, there have been almost 300,000 excess deaths due to COVID-19. Additionally, Briand presented data of total U.S. deaths in comparison to COVID-19-related deaths as a proportion percentage, which trivializes the repercussions of the pandemic. This evidence does not disprove the severity of COVID-19; an increase in excess deaths is not represented in these proportionalities because they are offered as percentages, not raw numbers. <\i>
Briand also claimed in her analysis that deaths due to heart diseases, respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia may be incorrectly categorized as COVID-19-related deaths. However, COVID-19 disproportionately affects those with preexisting conditions, so those with those underlying conditions are statistically more likely to be severely affected and die from the virus. <\i>
Because of these inaccuracies and our failure to provide additional information about the effects of COVID-19, The News-Letter decided to retract this article. It is our duty as a publication to combat the spread of misinformation and to enhance our fact-checking process. We apologize to our readers. <\i>
For the record:
The Hill ^ | 11/13/20 | Jordan
“Something extremely bogus is going on.
Was tested for covid four times today.
Two tests came back negative, two came back positive,” Musk said on Twitter.
“Same machine, same test, same nurse. Rapid antigen test from BD.”
Source :
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3905598/posts
Original News Source :
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/525817-elon-musk-knocks-extremely-bogus-covid-19-test-after-taking
My Comment : If you are a politician and want to create a pandemic
mess with the testing materials to increase the test sensitivity
Elon Musk's test results indicate a 50% false testing result;
at least he has the where with all to have multiple tests in one day.
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.
When they put a bounty on covid deaths of course other deaths drop and covid goes up.
I have zero faith in the testing going on right now. None. I won't bother to get tested because I'm fairly certain either/any result isn't trustworthy, so why bother? I damn-sure won't be getting any vaccine. They want me as a guinea pig for their toys, fine. One billion dollars, tax-free, in my account first. Once I have it safely moved and available to my family in the event of my untimely demise...then we'll talk. I'd take that risk if it meant setting up my family and future generations.
Wow-
Issues pick up inertia, and once they do, anything that does not fit the narrative either gets:
1.) deleted, literally.
2.) labeled, i.e. an ad hominem attack which tells people to shut up, ignore, and not to use that argument or else you are a “bad person.”
Interestingly, the statement that was put up does not truly refute the argument (logic of it). It basically is a smear - i.e. not qualified to make such a statement as a non medical professional, bla bla bla. This tells a lot about John Hopkins.
Exactly true ! Testing, as conducted now is a "crap shoot", with no base of reliability .
That is why I posted Elon Musk's testing since it demonstrates unreliability, with exactly the same identical testing parameters.
If the test can't be replicated, using the same identical parameters, it isn't science !
Science demands the ability to have the same results !
Agreed.
You are not alone in having made that observation of their statement.
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