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Bongino

So where did the economists get their data? From the epidemiologists would be my guess.

Based on that article, it appears they worked independently:

They looked at mortality rates but didn’t consider how lockdowns might have affected the number of infections or virus-related hospitalizations. They also didn’t use studies that forecast deaths.

The authors of the study are Jonas Herby, a special adviser at the Center for Political Studies in Copenhagen, Denmark; Lars Jonung, PhD, a professor of economics at Lund University in Sweden; and Steve H. Hanke, founder and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise.

So no, I don't see any epidemiologists listed. As I said, you can find experts to prove any narrative. But who do you trust with your life?
 
Based on that article, it appears they worked independently:



So no, I don't see any epidemiologists listed. As I said, you can find experts to prove any narrative. But who do you trust with your life?
Yes, I've been seeing that "Johns Hopkins says the 'lockdowns' only decreased the death toll by 0.2 percent so we should have done absolutely nothing and let Covid spread like wildfire in March 2020. The old and immunocompromised needed to die for the economy" Lives vs. The Bottom Line have been under discussion since the start. My contention has always been a strategy of "let 'er rip" would have had devastating economic consequences as well. "But so what if the death toll was 4 million, eveybody who wasn't sick or dead would have still been shopping, packing stadiums, concerts, restaurants, we'd be working in person and so what if we killed a quarter of the workforce (or disabled them). Seems if you were to eliminate everyone who has high blood pressure from the workforce, the economy would notice but what do I know?
 
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That's the part of this that is a disconnect for me. A lot of these talk show hosts, such as Bongino, have been kicked off various social platforms, but none of them have been kicked off radio.
Radio which still ostensively has a legal obligation to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity, not the interests of one political party or the anti-public health contingent
 
Radio which still ostensively has a legal obligation to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity, not the interests of one political party or the anti-public health contingent
The very convincing argument is that "interest" can mean anything from hip-hop to classical, from right wing talk to live congressional hearings. The strength of the public interest and necessity weakens with each additional signal that comes to a market and, now, with each streaming audio and video source.

Each radio station can not serve all the people all the time. So specific segments are targeted, and each of us will find most of them unappealing. Add in the need of commercial stations to appeal to advertiser goals and non-coms to attract contributors and you have a spectrum of the good, the bad and the unlistenable.
 
There are actually more rules about those commercials than there are about the content of shows. That's why those commercials begin with those long disclaimers. No such disclaimers required for talk show hosts.
That opens yet another door.

Commercials for FDA approved medications require "full disclosure" and that is why we get those thin-paper 24" by 36" inserts printed in 5 point type with many prescription meds, but products like those containing CBD have no disclosures, warnings or disclaimers whatsoever.
 
Each radio station can not serve all the people all the time. So specific segments are targeted, and each of us will find most of them unappealing.

Unappealing isn't the issue. Rock and rap music are unappealing to some. But we're at a point where several talk show hosts have died because they believed certain things. Who knows how many people in their audience have died for the same reason? That's a bit worse than simply being unappealing.
 
There are several articles analyzing the aforementioned Johns Hopkins study. Here's one that questions the methodology:


As we've discussed, conservative talk radio and Fox News have promoted the study, but haven't questioned any of the conclusions. The study promotes their narrative, so it must be right.

More scientific analysis from the medical community:

 
So Fox called attention to the study which gave Salon the incentive to dispute it. What's wrong with that? More discussion is better than less.
 
So Fox called attention to the study which gave Salon the incentive to dispute it. What's wrong with that? More discussion is better than less.

It used to be that you could trust news channels to present both sides of the story. It makes it more difficult for the public to understand the truth. The Salon story presents both sides. The Fox News story does not.
 
It used to be that you could trust news channels to present both sides of the story. It makes it more difficult for the public to understand the truth. The Salon story presents both sides. The Fox News story does not.
We have a large, loud percentage of the population that believes we should do nothing but allow unlimited spread, and believed that way in March 2020. Our very county mayor was telling us we have a constitutional right to infect people working at bars and retail stores
 
It used to be that you could trust news channels to present both sides of the story. It makes it more difficult for the public to understand the truth. The Salon story presents both sides. The Fox News story does not.
To what Fox News story do you refer?
 
To what Fox News story do you refer?

This one:


They make it sound as though this is a medical study. It isn't. The report does not come from Johns Hopkins Hospital or Medical School.

Here's a fact check of the study from Snopes,com:

 
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It used to be that you could trust news channels to present both sides of the story. It makes it more difficult for the public to understand the truth. The Salon story presents both sides. The Fox News story does not.
A huge issue is the adherence to both-siderism and the claims that somehow anti-science, counter-factual idiocy is a legitimate “side.”
 
Apparently there was a production problem during last night's Unfiltered with Dan Bongino on Fox:


He's saying the cities are the "ten unhealthiest places" while the source actually says they are the "ten healthiest places." Whoops.
 
Apparently there was a production problem during last night's Unfiltered with Dan Bongino on Fox:


He's saying the cities are the "ten unhealthiest places" while the source actually says they are the "ten healthiest places." Whoops.

Here is the source where the Wallethub study that sparked the controversy on Bongino's show. In the study of Healthiest cities in the USA San Francisco is on top of the list. Umm?? Bongino and Fox News are offended that none of the MAGA cities are on the list.
1San Francisco, CA69.11101591
2Seattle, WA65.70146252
3Portland, OR65.59203244
4San Diego, CA62.88264119
5Honolulu, HI62.751211575
6Washington, DC61.11458753
7Austin, TX59.1219132713
8Irvine, CA58.921635317
9Portland, ME58.756211938
10Denver, CO58.715515612

Bottom of the list for healthy cities in the study.

170Detroit, MI33.73171124175151
171Augusta, GA33.67136162158180
172Toledo, OH33.27155152168169
173Lubbock, TX32.44180175123142
174Huntington, WV32.01168143179141
175Jackson, MS31.4592176174179
176Fort Smith, AR31.02172161177168
177Montgomery, AL30.86157178172164
178Memphis, TN29.17178164176171
179Shreveport, LA28.02176180178170
180Gulfport, MS26.02163179180182
181Laredo, TX25.64181181182157
182Brownsville, TX23.39182182181181
 
This one:


They make it sound as though this is a medical study. It isn't. The report does not come from Johns Hopkins Hospital or Medical School.
Did you read the article?

It's actually quite balanced, beginning with, "A recent controversial Johns Hopkins meta-analysis reignites a discussion about the adverse consequences of lockdowns ... " Later it quotes differing studies.

Here's a fact check of the study from Snopes,com:

Snopes is not exactly an unbiased arbiter of the truth. It's interesting to get their perspective but I wouldn't bet on it.
 
Did you read the article?

I did. It didn't question any aspects of the report. The main thing it focused on was the adverse affects of lockdowns. With no questions asked about who wrote the study or what research was done. Just quoting the conclusion as fact. It only "reignites a discussion" among their viewers who agree with the conclusion. I don't see any health or medical people reignited about it.

The Fox report correctly quotes Jen Psaki, who says that this administration is not promoting lockdowns. They were mainly done during the previous administration, before the vaccine. So "reigniting the discussion" doesn't serve much purpose.

Snopes is not exactly an unbiased arbiter of the truth. It's interesting to get their perspective but I wouldn't bet on it.

What errors did you find in their fact check?
 
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I didn't read it. That's just my impression from previous experiences.

It's a very good analysis and said this about the author of the report:

While we can’t say if Hanke’s political opinions influenced the conclusions of this working paper, he has repeatedly posted messages on Twitter equating lockdowns with fascism.

Its always useful to look at the background of the person presenting the research.

And said this about the study in general:

The viral “Johns Hopkins study” about lockdowns was not the work of Johns Hopkins University, it was not peer-reviewed, and it was not written by epidemiologists. A number of researchers have also taken issue with the methods used in this study.

The only organizations promoting this study are those whose audiences agree with the conclusions, such as Fox News.

Therefore it falls into a category of research done to advance a narrative rather than one done to find the truth. My feeling is we should be looking for truth. Don't you?
 
Did you read the article?

It's actually quite balanced, beginning with, "A recent controversial Johns Hopkins meta-analysis reignites a discussion about the adverse consequences of lockdowns ... " Later it quotes differing studies.


Snopes is not exactly an unbiased arbiter of the truth. It's interesting to get their perspective but I wouldn't bet on it.
Snopes though, cites their sources. I've yet to ever see somebody debunk a Snopes article by going through the source material one by one. All I see is Snopes is automatically wrong, therefore my conservative meme is automatically right.
 
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