"That which does not kill us makes us stronger"
-Fredrick Nietzsche
"Whatever doesn't kill you makes you weaker. And it will probably kill you the next time it comes around."
-Norm Macdonald
Let's talk about death and dying, shall we?
After all, isn't it the fear of massive numbers of impending deaths that has resulted in Americans shutting off their brains while putting up no resistance to politicians shutting down their livelihoods?
Despite the fear-mongering and the posting of "official" death numbers, the actual number of deaths caused by COVID-19 remains unknown. What we can gather from the statistics is that the actual number of deaths actually caused by COVID-19 is extraordinarily low, because the Center for Disease Control has admitted they were lying about those estimates, and the number of quarterly deaths caused by other means (old age being chief among them) remains pretty much the same.
Good ol' Doctor Birx also let the cat out of the bag this week when, in answer to a reporter's question, she admitted the numbers were routinely being fudged:
"So, I think in this country we've taken a very liberal approach to mortality. And I think the reporting here has been pretty straightforward over the last five to six weeks. Prior to that when there wasn't testing in January and February that's a very different situation and unknown.
"There are other countries that if you had a preexisting condition and let's say the virus caused you to go to the ICU and then have a heart or kidney problem some countries are recording as a heart issue or a kidney issue and not a COVID-19 death. Right now we are still recording it and we will I mean the great thing about having forms that come in and a form that has the ability to market as COVID-19 infection the intent is right now that those if someone dies with COVID-19 we are counting that as a COVID-19 death."Did you get that? It might be easier to understand what she is saying if you watch the video in the link provided above. Notice she did not say "if someone dies from COVID-19", she said "if someone dies with COVID-19." In other words, if a patient comes in with, say, a heart or kidney problem and it can also be said they tested positive for COVID-19, they're going to list COVID-19 as the cause of death. Even if the attending physicians knows that wasn't the case.
Never mind that when someone dies from heart failure no one ever says they died with heart failure. They died from heart failure. They died from kidney failure. But suddenly the deal is that if you die with viral traces of any old benign viral shreds in your DNA (aside from that list of afflictions you arrived with that are known to be fatal such as heart failure, kidney failure, diabetes, asthma, or others -you are going to be listed among those who died of COVID-19. Nothing you can do about it. What are you going to do, argue with the doctor? You can't, you're dead.
The Center for Disease Control is currently instructing hospitals to attribute patient deaths to COVID-19 even if they are not sure that was the cause, or if they are just assuming, or even if they still suspect the patient's underlying illness was the actual cause of death. No laboratory confirmation needed, just write "COVID-19" right in that little box on the form right there, Doc, and you're good. On to the next patient.
Here is that directive from the National Vital Statistics System:
NVSS COVID-19 Alert No. 2
In other words, if I were to go to the hospital as I did last month because I was having severe difficulty breathing, and if I died, the hospital would likely list the cause of my death as COVID-19. My respiratory ailments could be listed under "Part II" on the form (assuming the doctor felt like going to that bother), which would only mean asthma woulda coulda maybe have been considered secondary. If at all. Because the only thing that matters to those overseeing this fraud is that it was the Coronavirus that killed me, and that's the end of that.
This is insidious. It means that the official number of people who died from COVID-19 will never be known. There is no way you or I will ever be able to ascertain how many of those reported deaths attributed to COVID-19 actually were caused by COVID-19. The truth no longer matters, and science be damned.
But, you insist, clearly there will be regulations in place to help keep medical professionals honest, right?
On the contrary, free money has a tendency to make the normally conscientious set aside their integrity. Legislation was recently passed that would provide cash bonuses to every hospital in the country every time they treat a patient who (supposedly) has the coronavirus. 100 Billion dollars is being set aside to,as the bill puts it, “reimburse … eligible health care providers for health care related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to coronavirus.”
And this shouldn't surprise you: there are no control measures built into the bill that would require hospital administrators to prove a patient they got reimbursed for actual had the virus.
If that's not a recipe for a free-for-all looting frenzy, I don't know what is.
The unadvertised secret in the medical community is that the determination of Cause of Death has always been arbitrary enough before the CDC made it official policy that doctors should go ahead and lie outright. Here is Dr. Ann Bukacek:
"Few people know how much individual power and leeway is given to the physician, coroner, or medical examiner, signing the death certificate. How do I know this? I've been filling out death certificates for over 30 years.
"More often than we want to admit, we don’t know with certainty the cause of death when we fill out death certificates. That is just life. We are doctors, not God. Autopsies are rarely performed and even when an autopsy is done the actual cause of death is not always clear. Physicians make their best guesstimate and fill out the form. Then that listed cause of death … is entered into a vital records data bank to use for statistical analysis, which then gives out inaccurate numbers, as you can imagine. Those inaccurate numbers then become accepted as factual information even though much of it is false.
"So even before we heard of COVID-19, death certificates were based on assumptions and educated guesses that go unquestioned. When it comes to COVID-19 there is the additional data skewer, that is –get this— there is no universal definition of COVID-19 death. The Centers for Disease Control, updated from yesterday, April 4th, still states that mortality, quote unquote, data includes both confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19. That’s from their website.
"Translation? The CDC counts both true COVID-19 cases and speculative guesses of COVID-19 the same. They call it death by COVID-19. They automatically overestimate the real death numbers, by their own admission. Prior to COVID-19, people were more likely to get an accurate cause of death written on their death certificate if they died in the hospital. Why more accurate when a patient dies in the hospital? Because hospital staff has physical examination findings labs, radiologic studies, et cetera, to make a good educated guess. It is estimated that 60 percent of people die in the hospital. But even [with] those in-hospital deaths, the cause of death is not always clear, especially in someone with multiple health conditions, each of which could cause the death.You can watch Dr Bukacek explain further by clicking here.
I Ain't 'Fraid O' No Ghost
The possibility of impending death is always present in our home, although that possibility has never given us cause to fear or reason to worry. Ever since my wife Connie was diagnosed at age 27 with Avascular Necrosis and the many afflictions that followed in its wake (Ankylosing Spondylitis, Fibromyalgia, Neuralgia, Diabetes, assorted Heart Ailments, and that ever-present bugaboo, Arthritis), for the past 25 years I've expected that one morning I will probably wake up to find my wife no longer breathing. And guess what? I'm fine with that.
Connie will be fine with that, too, if she wakes up and finds me gone. Although we would both prefer she goes first so I don't leave her with no one to take care of her. I think that's how it's going to happen. At 68, I'm eight years older, but her body is ready to give out sooner, so I'm not worried about being the one who leaves the planet first. All bets are it's going to be her.
There is no official prognosis for Connie. She is considered a medical anomaly. When they replaced her right shoulder, a chunk of the bone was sent to Cedar's Sinai so the scientists could study it, and we've been told someone wrote his doctoral thesis about her various maladies. That's how unusual this condition was at that time for a woman her age. Avascular Necrosis, was sometimes seen in deep sea divers who got "the bends", but rarely found in a healthy young woman in her twenties.
When, back in the 1990s, I pressed the doctor who was most familiar with Connie's case to tell me how long he thought she might have to live, he finally replied with unusual candor, "I don't know. No one knows. But she'll wish she were dead long before she is."
Neither of us is afraid of dying. Afraid of what, exactly? Afraid to leave behind these cumbersome prisons of pain and misery and return to a state of complete joy and infinite awareness? Gads, what a nightmare that would be.
I don't understand why anyone would panic at the thought of dying of COVID-19, especially when the statistics are still showing that the overwhelming majority of those who are dying of what are now being disingenuously referred to as "coronavirus related illnesses" continue to be, by an overwhelming majority, the aged and infirm who have as many as two or three underlying afflictions that would have done them in by this time anyway.
In other words, statistically we are looking at the same category of people who would be breathing their last at this stage in their lives whether tiny viral shreds were found in their DNA or not. Yet by the frantic way some people are reacting, you would think dying is a highly unnatural act and something that can be prevented if only we would all stay home and watch Netflix. The number of people said to be dying with coronavirus who are younger than 69 is so small as to be infinitesimal.
Time For A Reality Check
If you favor real statistics over padded numbers, there are few statisticians more competent in providing them for you than David Stockman, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Reagan. Here is an excerpt from an article he wrote just this morning. It won't surprise you to learn he scoffs at the ridiculously high number of deaths predicted before the models were adjusted for reality:
What’s needed is isolation and protection of the elderly and already medically afflicted populations and an opening of the spigot for any an all therapeutics and palliatives which could mitigate the illnesses and minimize deaths among those who contract the virus (whether the FDA approves or not), not a freezing of commerce, economic activity and social life among the overwhelming bulk of the population which would otherwise weather this new form of winter flu and develop herd immunity.
Thus, of the 4,758 deaths in New York state attributed to Covid-19 as of April 6, 63% of the deaths were among those over 69 years of age, while just 7% of the cases were those under 50.
So we will say it again: The death rate per 100,000 population in New York was 70X higher among those over 69 years than among those under 50 years:
- 3,000 Covid deaths among those over 69 years = 183/100,000;
- 333 Covid deaths among those under 50 years = 2.6/100,000;
Likewise, 86% or 4,089 of those who died had at least one other chronic disease:
- The leading underlying illness was hypertension, which showed up in 55% of the deaths.
- Next was diabetes, which was diagnosed in 1,755 deaths, or about 37% of the cases.
- Other top illnesses found in those who died from coronavirus were hyperlipidemia; coronary artery disease; renal disease and dementia.
Folks, this isn’t the data for Wyoming or East Jesus. This is the epicenter of the putative plague, where upwards of 13 million New Yorkers under 50 years of age have essentially been put under house arrest by Governor Cuomo. And for what? To protect them from a 2.6 per 100,000 death rate? Let’s be clear. It is not our choice to trade in the ghoulish data on the death rates of American citizens. But when CNN carries the death rate on a continuous screen crawler, which is apparently updated by the hour, you have no choice but to, well, get the facts straight. So in the first place, New York’s tiny Covid death rate of 2.6 per 100,000 among those under the age of 50 years needs some context. To wit, in the most recent year, the total New York death rate in that age category was 91 per 100,000 or 35X the Covid rate. Moreover, the under 50 death rate for accidents and suicides alone was 34 per 100,000 or 13X the Covid rate. So, yes, every death is tragic, but what we are dealing with is marginalia from a societal viewpoint, not a once in a 1000 year plague that requires the virtual shutdown of economic life. Indeed, if we wished to be politically incorrect, we could slam Governor Cuomo for running the ultimate Nanny State gambit and be done with it. Except except…. there are the old and sick folks allegedly being protected by his sweeping stay-at-home orders. But exactly how keeping young folks out of restaurants protects the elderly with medical conditions, who would now be well advised to stay away from said venues, is hard to fathom. Besides, even the smoking gun New York state data on the high 183 per 100,000 death rate from Covid-19 for those over 69 itself needs contextual amplification. In the most recent year, for example, the death rate for the New York State population over 69 years of age (1.642 million) was 6,465 per 100,000 or 35X the current Covid rate. That is, the grim reaper doth cometh, inexorably. And in the case of the four leading co-morbidity diseases that have been widely present in Covid cases – diabetes, heart disease, pneumonia and lower respiratory illnesses – the death rate is 2,800 per 100,000. In other words, the leading co-morbidities with Covid have a year-in and year-out mortality rate that is 15X higher than than the Covid death rate that has occurred to date among New York’s over 69 population. Nor are these New York stats some kind of aberrant outlier. If New York is the epicenter of the US corona contagion, then Italy has been ground zero for the Grim Reaper on a worldwide basis. In fact, as of yesterday (April 8), there had been 18,280 corona deaths reported in Italy. That represented a death rate of 30.5 per 100,000 total population and which was only slightly below New York’s 32.0 per 100,000 rate. Yet according to the Italian National Health Service’s own numbers and we quote, the aged, infirm and medically vulnerable have borne the overwhelming brunt of the deaths: “According to the latest data of the Italian National Health Institute ISS, the average age of the positively-tested deceased in Italy is currently about 81 years. 10% of the deceased are over 90 years old. 90% of the deceased are over 70 years old.” “80% of the deceased had suffered from two or more chronic diseases. 50% of the deceased had suffered from three or more chronic diseases. The chronic diseases include in particular cardiovascular problems, diabetes, respiratory problems and cancer.” “Less than 1% of the deceased were healthy persons, i.e. persons without pre-existing chronic diseases. Moreover, the Italian government agency attempts to distinguish between those who died from the coronavirus and those who died with the coronavirus. But in many cases it is not yet clear whether the persons died from the virus or from their preexisting chronic diseases or from a combination of both.
“The two Italians deceased [!!] under 40 years of age (both 39 years old) were a cancer patient and a diabetes patient with additional complications. In these cases, too, the exact cause of death was not yet clear (i.e. if from the virus or from their preexisting diseases).”
In short, in some real sense, the Covid-19 is not a fatal pandemic which afflicts the entire population; it’s a highly contagious virus that preys upon a limited, identifiable, isolate-able sub-population that could be generously protected and cared for at a tiny fraction of the cost being imposed by the hysterical shutdowns now in place.
Once upon a time, there were actually thoughtful conservatives among the GOP ranks who knew their economics and were listened to by the rank and file. Senator Robert Taft in the 1950s, Barry Goldwater in the 1960s, Bill Simon in the 1970s and Senators Pete Domenici and Alan Simpson in the 1980s and 1990s, among others, come to mind.
But today’s Republicans are simply beltway domiciled fundraising robots, whose philosophy boils down to keeping themselves in office, whatever it takes. So in the face of a statist-instigated hysteria that virtually cries out for repudiation, they simply genuflect to the CNN body counts, or as Ann Coulter sarcastically put it:
It turns out a person with Stage 4 lung cancer and a bullet through the heart will be counted as a “coronavirus death” if he also tested positive for the disease, OR merely exhibited symptoms associated with it (symptoms that are coextensive with the flu and pneumonia).
Of course, you wouldn’t necessarily expect at 55-year beltway slug like Mitch McConnell to investigate the case when passing out trillions to the business PACs was the ready alternative. But last we heard, the Donald’s new chief of staff is the tea-party born, big-government hating, former Freedom Caucus Chairman, Rep. Mark Meadows.
Did he get the Mick Mulvaney Memorial Lobotomy, too, when he got his White House identification badge?
In fact, you can kick any so-called conservative Republican on Capitol Hill and you will get the same brain-dead eruption of fiscal incontinence, such as this budget buster from one of the recently minted Republican Senators from Missouri:
“The circumstances are just overtaking us here in terms of the depth and scope of the economic fallout of this public health crisis,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), who has been pushing a plan to restore workers’ paychecks by having the government cover 80% of employers’ payroll costs, up to the national median wage, at all firms affected by the crisis, and provide incentives for rehiring workers laid off last month.Is he kidding?
In the most recent year, there were 84 million US wage earners below the median, who collectively generated $1.3 trillion of payroll. Does the good Senator really mean to underwrite 80% of that ($1.1 trillion) or does he plan to set up a government tribunal to determine which firms were “affected by the crisis” and therefore entitled to Free Stuff from Washington?
Here’s the thing. Any conservative Senator worth his salt from the state of Missouri should be waving the bloody shirt about the insanity of the the plenary lock-downs, not pimping for restaurant chains, hotels, airlines and cruise ship companies that have gotten caught in the crossfire.
Indeed, it was only in the era after the detestable Dick Cheney pronounced that “deficits don’t matter”, and thereby delivered the coup d’ grace on fiscal rectitude, that the business lobbies were transformed into principle-free racketeers and shameless parasites on the public purse.
Still, here are Missouri’s corona-facts as of April 8. The state has had 3,327 positive cases and 58 deaths to date, which amount to 54 cases per 100,000 and 0.94 deaths per 100,000.
Yet this compares to annual death rates in Missouri of:Old People Have No Fear
- All causes: 1,008 per 100,000;
- Heart diseases: 241 per 100,000;
- Lung cancer and other lung diseases: 124 per 100,000;
- Diabetes: 26 per 100,000;
- Pneumonia & influenza: 20 per 100,000; and
No matter how you slice it, Missouri is not the subject of a deathly pandemic in any way, shape or form. Yet this pathetic rookie GOP Senator can think of nothing better to do than to thrust his snout deep into the Bailout Trough along with all the rest of the Dem pols and Republican lifers in the Imperial City.
- Suicides: 19 per 100,000
I wonder how many of you actually know people near the end of their lives. I've known many, and I've only known one who was actually afraid of dying. By the time the chronically infirm get to the stage where death is imminent, the chance to cross over is usually something they look forward to as a sweet release from all that misery.
I'll tell you what Connie and I don't care for: Pain. Pain and discomfort. Connie is in constant, unremitting pain, despite all the palliatives prescribed to her that are intended to mitigate it. So you can understand why she would prefer a simple, painless passing to anything she is currently going through.
Last Saturday Connie began to get sicker than normal. Vomiting, shakes, and lots of vomiting.
Did I mention vomiting? Twelve times in two days, which would have been enough to get the attention of a Christian Scientist. Sunday night I took Connie to the hospital, where she was admitted and found to have a bowel obstruction. They kept her there three days and three nights while they tried to figure out how to uncork her without surgery. They fed a tube through her nose and down into her stomach with which they extracted quart after quart of bile.
Eventually they dislodged something or did something to fix the problem somewhat, and I brought her home late Wednesday. So far she is able to eat only a little broth, herbal teas, and ice chips. The only soup she ever liked was Campbell's Chicken & Stars, a comfort food from her childhood, and now she can't eat the stars. After a few sips of the broth, she's had all she can handle, and that's her meal. I bought a variety of flavors of yogurt since that isn't a solid, but even that makes her feel sick. She can eat part of a jello snack pack cup, but neither of us can think of what else to try feeding her. Not even a cracker goes down well.
Anyway, all this is by way of explaining why we are open to the possibility that once again my lovely bride may not be long for this world. On the other hand, you can add "bowel obstruction" to the long list of maladies that may eventually contribute to Connie's demise, but who knows when that may occur? The point is that when death finally comes for her, trust me when I tell you she will embrace it. For me it will be a time to mourn, but not a time to grieve.
As for me, what I experience with my respiratory afflictions is mostly discomfort. That beats being in pain any day. So I've got the better deal, although during those many times when I've contracted pneumonia I've begged God to take me home. I'm a bit of a wuss that way. Asthma I can endure because I have my handy-dandy nebulizer. But there is no relief from pneumonia. You have to wait it out, and that wait can seem interminable, mainly because there is no sleep to be had when your lungs are filled with fluid and you struggle for each tiny breath.
I don't mind dying either, but I don't want to die of anything related to my lungs. Give me something quick and clean like a car accident.
I become very melodramatic when I get pneumonia.
We're Shutting Down The Country Over THIS?
Alex Berenson is a former reporter for the New York Times with impeccable liberal credentials, but because he is doing actual research and questioning the narrative of the Ruling Class, he is getting viciously attacked by his peers on the left. For what? For making observations like this:
"In February I was worried about the virus. By mid-March I was more scared about the economy. But now I’m starting to get genuinely nervous. This isn’t complicated. The models don’t work. The hospitals are empty. WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT INDEFINITE LOCKDOWNS?"You can read more of what Berenson has to say here. But the takeaway from all of this is that when the Ruling Class makes lying the default program, those who attempt to expose the deception can expect to be viciously attacked. Scientific researchers like the guy I quoted from last month are well aware that merely telling the truth is professional suicide, so he writes anonymously to report what every other scientist in his field would affirm if they, too, weren't afraid to do so.
The Lord warned us three times in the Book of Mormon that lies and deceptions would be the order of the day in our time. I just didn't realize the deception would be so widespread and that so many ordinarily intelligent people would be incapable of seeing through it.
We live in a world gone suddenly mad. Is it any wonder Connie and I aren't going to mind when our time comes to leave it?
*****
