From Worldometer (new COVID-19 deaths yesterday):
DAY USA WORLD Brazil India South Africa
- Looks like this pandemic is worsening.
- Regarding new cases yesterday, with new cases/million population in the parentheses:
- #1 Japan 195,801 (1558)
- #2 South Korea 119,866 (2334)
- #3 USA 100,653 (300)
- #4 Germany 74,645 (885)
- #5 Italy 45,621 (757)
- #6 Australia 40,967 (1569)
- #7 France 38,788 (592)
- #8 Brazil 36,900 (171)
- #9 Taiwan 23,902 (1,000)
- #10 Hungary 21,840 (2273)
- #19 Austria 8,475 (930)
- #20 Singapore 7,231 (1216)
- #21 New Zealand 6,694 (1338)
- #48 Brunei 1,020 (2286)
- Hawaii 527 (376)
- #70 Micronesia 270 (2297)
- #77 Bermuda 163 (2638)
- Although #3 worldwide in new cases yesterday, on a per capital basis, the U.S. is doing okay. We are doing 5 to 8 times better than Asian/Oceania countries and 2 to 3 times better than European countries.
- Mortality rate of August 3, 2022:
- World 0.25%
- USA 0.42%
- Japan 0.06%
- S. Korea 0.02%
- Germany 0.26%
- Italy 0.37%
- Australia 0.16%
- Brazil 0.74%
- Taiwan 0.13%
- Singapore 0.05%
- It's almost glaringly different. Countries of the Orient have mortality rates ten times lower than North and South America. Why? I suspect this is so because these countries in the Pacific avoided the virus until recently, and by then most of their populations had been vaccinated.
- Vaccines save lives. If you haven't yet been infected, get your shots and boosters as fast as you can to stay alive. More and more, authorities are suggesting that the BA.5 subvariant is so contagious that everyone will someday get it, and more than once, like the flu.
- Further, the result is that the COVID-19 mortality rate is approaching that of the seasonal flu, which is 0.01%.
- As of today, for the world, dividing total deaths by total cases = 1.0%
- USA = 1.1% (the U.S. has so far had just a little over ONE MILLION deaths)
- Japan = 0.25%
- S. Korea = 0.13%
- If you only look at recent deaths, and use 50% as the asymptomatic rate for COVID, South Korea (at 0.02% today) would equal the flu rate of 0.01%.
- Of course, we did not realize it until recently, but the seasonal flu probably has a similar asymptomatic rate of COVID. The current best guess for the flu is 33%.
Here is something we haven't seen for almost two decades. A U.S. dollar is worth as much as a Euro, making travel to the Continent financially easier. However, I would still wait a while because of this pandemic. This conversion varies day to day, but today is $1.02 dollar to 1 Euro.
The professional pundits just about all see a Republican surge. Here is something from the New York Times:
Analysts have all but written off the Democrats in the race for House control, not only because Biden’s ratings are so poor but also because there’s a long history of the president’s party getting pummeled in midterm elections. These factors help explain why FiveThirtyEight’s statistical forecast gives the Republicans an 88 percent chance of winning House control.
At least for the moment, conservative policy victories — on abortion, climate policy, religious rights and gun laws — and a spate of mass shootings seem to have insulated Democrats. State polls have also looked good for Democrats. The party has led just about every poll of a hotly contested Senate race over the last few months, including polls of Republican-held states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. |
But that newspaper ends with:
He said the above, but he also says. In any case, how can you truly blame Biden for high gas prices and our current inflationary trend. The Ukraine War is responsible for our economy today. Our inflation rate is high, but:
- Venezuela — 1198.0%
- Sudan — 340.0%
- Lebanon — 201.0%
- Syria — 139.0%
- Suriname — 63.3%
- Zimbabwe — 60.7%
- Argentina — 51.2%
- Turkey — 36.1%
- Iran — 35.2%
- Ethiopia — 33.0%
Here is another list showing the U.S. at 9.1%. But compared to the European Union at 9.6%, Brazil 12%, Czech Republic 17%, Egypt 13.2%, and Russia 15.9%.
First, most people aren’t delusional enough to think our borders are being overrun or that crime is out of control.
Second, intelligent people understand that when you have near-record low unemployment (which is a good thing) and record high wages (which is also a good thing) that you get record high consumer spending (which means we have a healthy economy) and that is why we have high inflation—it’s because people are buying things they never could have afforded before. Intelligent people also know that people being able to afford to buy more isn’t destroying their lives.
But putting aside the faulty premise of the question, let’s just take a look at the records each President set.
Trump: first President in almost a century to lose jobs in his first term.
Biden: most jobs added or recovered in a President’s first year.
Trump: first President in history to maintain a debt to GDP ratio over 100% for his entire term.
Biden: Highest GDP growth in forty years
Trump: saw largest single day point drop in the history of the Dow
Biden: Dow hit a record high seventy times in his first year
Trump: most new jobless claims in history
Biden: lowest jobless claims in 50 years
Trump: most added to the national debt in a President’s single term (adding more than GHW Bush and GW Bush combined to add in three terms)
Biden: Cut the deficit by $360 billion in year one and will cut it by another trillion dollars in year two.
Trump: first President to be impeached twice and first to have members of his own party vote for his conviction.
Biden: fastest economic recovery in history
Trump: largest annual budget deficit
Biden: Childhood poverty reached lowest level in history
Trump: most criminal indictments, guilty pleas, and criminal convictions by members of an administration
Biden: most new business startups in a single year.
So yes, people can say Biden is better than Trump. Specifically, informed, intelligent, and mentally stable people can say that.
- True, history is all about a Republican tsunami this year, for in all but two mid-terms since 1942, 80 years ago, the party out of power has gained an average of around 30 seats in the House.
- The current balance has Democrats with an 8 seat majority, with every seat being contested.
- There are probably 50 seats where the margin of possible Republican victory is less than 10%. If Democrats can take advantage of what has happened with Supreme Court rulings on abortion, gun rights and voting rights, these are emotional issues can make a real plus difference for Democrats. Add the House January 6 Committee hearings, and any Trump-supported candidate will be in jeopardy.
- The Senate has 20 Republicans and only 14 Democrat seats up for re-election.
- Hard core Republicans will vote Republican. But would this be 90% or 75%?
- Only a very few Democrats will vote for a Republican on November 8.
- There are more Independents than either party.
- So today, there are only 27% Republicans, 27% Democrats and 43% Independents.
- My sense is that those emotional issues will dominate: abortion, gun rights, voting rights, global warming and the Donald Trump effect. If only the margin of personal choice leans in one direction, that could make all the difference.
- If only 10% of Republicans are affected by any one or any combination of those issues, and decide not to show up to vote.
- If only 20% Independents also are influenced, where 10% don't vote and 10% vote for a Democrat.
- This combination could easily flip the victory in 50 House seats and at least 2 Senate seats.
- To be conservative, this would mean that the 2023 Congress would have:
- A House Democrat majority of 10-20 seats, and probably more.
- A Senate Democrat edge of 52-48, and I wouldn't be surprised is this ends up being 54-46.
The annual Florida Python Challenge begins on Friday. Goes on for 10 days. I noted this event in 2013 and again in June of this year.- The NFL starts on August 11 with a pre-season game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants. 1PM EDT on the NFL Network, which many don't get.
The first game of NCAA women's volleyball will be August 26. Hawaii plays at Texas A&M that night. I think 6AM Hawaii time. Wisconsin was #1 last year, and Nebraska will begin at #1 this year.- Week One of NCAA football is Saturday, August 27. The day ends with Vanderbilt at Hawaii on CBS Sports Network. Ranked #1 to start this season is Alabama, which lost to Georgia in the championship game in January.
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