Word from the Dark Side – Wishing Well, health alarm bell, a big wuss tell and eat your way out of the death row cell

^{Wishing Well by Sanada Maitreya (then known as Terence Trent D’Arby), 1988. He has an interesting background.}

Deaths 17 per cent above historical average amid last year’s Omicron wave:

In the first eight months of 2022, the first year when all major COVID-19 restrictions were dropped, 129,000 Australians died. That was 13.2 per cent more than in the same period the previous year and 17 per cent above the historical average, in part due to COVID-19 as well as higher than average deaths from other diseases.

COVID directly accounted for 7700 of those deaths.

There seems to be a key figure missing in this article: the total number of excess deaths.

129,000 is about 17% higher than 110,000, so the missing number is about 19,000.

19,000 minus 7700 equals 11,300.

11,300 is larger than 7700.

Most excess deaths are not Covid related. Nevertheless, the article and most of the following comments screech only about how recently lifted Covid restrictions will kill us all.

I wonder what’s going on with all those other deaths. The media and health authorities apparently do not wonder because there’s no chatter about it.

Only actuaries seem concerned:

Karen Cutter, an actuary of more than 25 years and spokeswoman for the institute’s Covid-19 Mortality Working Group, said 13 per cent was an “incredibly high number for mortality” and that it was “not clear” what was driving the increase.

“Mortality doesn’t normally vary by more than 1 to 2 per cent, so 13 per cent is way higher than normal levels,” she said.

“I’m not aware [of anything comparable] in the recent past but I haven’t gone back and looked [historically]. They talk about the flu season of 2017 being really bad, and the mortality there was 1 per cent higher than normal. So it’s well outside the range of normal.”

She added, “In addition to Covid-19 deaths, there are significant numbers of non-Covid deaths – it is not clear what is causing these as there are many factors at play.”

The numbers are a little different in this article as they are going with the 13% increase from recent years, not the 17% increase from the historical average.

^{Scarlet ibis. Source}

Two children die amid ‘marked increase’ in invasive strep A infections:

Victorian health authorities are warning of a marked increase in a dangerous bacterial infection that caused the recent deaths of two children and sent many more into intensive care.

The infectious disease is caused by the group A streptococcus bacteria, found in the throat and on the skin. It mostly triggers mild symptoms including a sore throat, but in rarer cases can lead to life-threatening invasive group A streptococcal infections . . .

Professor Robert Booy said a surge in influenza and other respiratory illnesses that occurred as Australia opened its borders again to the rest of the world last summer had likely contributed to the rise of more severe outcomes from group A streptococcus.

Women rob Planet Fitness dork:

For most gyms, a random guy walking out after worshiping some iron would be a bad choice for a robbery. He’s strong, he’s confident, he’s probably into a martial art. Not Planet Fitness! They’re just as likely to walk out with a slice of pizza.

No, I was not joking about Pizza Monday.

“Hey, Chicken Neck! You’re so big and strong for a man! Would you give us hos, uhh, ladies a ride home to the East Side? None of us brought a phone to call a friend with.”

And Captain Save-A-Ho thought it was his lucky day.

Related: Body positivity is for women, not lazy white guys with dad bods.

( . . . ) So to the dads out there flaunting their newfound (read: stolen) body confidence: if you have a dad bod, it’s time to hit the gym. It’s good for you — and we’ll appreciate you more. This movement isn’t for you and you need to stay in your own lane.

Give a bunch of scientists the exact same results of an experiment. Ask them to analyze it. What happens?

Some found a positive correlation, some a negative correlation, and some no correlation.

I fucking love Science!

Big Promotions Increase Odds of Divorce for Women, but Not for Men:

They found the marriages of women working in private firms with more than 100 employees were impacted by being promoted to CEO in a statistically significant way. Married women were found to be twice as likely as their male counterparts to get divorced within three years of earning such a promotion.

A lot of inbred hicks who have never cooked anything but meth seem very attached to their gas stoves

— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) January 12, 2023

Yes the people who don’t matter, losers, think like this. They vote less, contribute less, etc. And everyone else doesn’t want to be associated with them.

— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) December 26, 2022

Old article from the Graun:

Revealed: ‘anti-oligarch’ Ukrainian president’s offshore connections:

The Pandora papers, leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and shared with the Guardian as part of a global investigation however, suggest Zelenskiy is rather similar to his predecessors.

The leaked documents suggest he had – or has – a previously undisclosed stake in an offshore company, which he appears to have secretly transferred to a friend weeks before winning the presidential vote.

Related:

A more recent article from the Graun:

Covid might have changed people’s personalities, study suggests:

Previously psychologists have failed to find a link between collective stressful events, such as earthquakes or hurricanes, and personality change. However, something about the losses experienced or simply the long grind of social isolation appears to have made an impact.

“Younger adults became moodier and more prone to stress, less cooperative and trusting, and less restrained and responsible,” according to the authors of the study, led by Prof Angelina Sutin of Florida State University College of Medicine.

Squirrel Uppercuts Bambi pic.twitter.com/fbROrnTnpR

— Steve Inman (@SteveInmanUIC) January 2, 2023

5 Lessons From an Awful Year For Financial Markets:

( . . . ) Anything can happen in the short run

It’s rare for U.S. stocks and bonds to be down in the same year at the same time. In fact, it’s only happened three times since 1928 before 2022:

Typically, when the stock market falls, bonds provide the ballast to your portfolio as investors rush into the safety of fixed income.

Last year, however, the decline in stocks happened in part because of what’s been going on in the bond market. The Fed aggressively raised interest rates to help fight the highest inflation in four decades.

Since bonds were starting from such a low yield, the losses have been larger than anything investors have seen in modern financial market history.

Inmate awaiting execution dies after choking on food:

A woman awaiting execution in Japan after being convicted of murdering two men in the western prefecture of Tottori in 2009 died Saturday of asphyxiation after choking on food, the Justice Ministry said Sunday.

That’s it. On Wednesday there will be an article about the Grey Terror.

^{Lauren Bacall, 1945. HT}

I just found out about this 1986 Pocari Sweat ad staring Cindy Crawford, and now I'm obsessed. pic.twitter.com/B6dB8uxhGB

— 📼 V I D E O 📼 (@VIDEO199X) January 17, 2023