Hitchhiker’s bLOG – 2021.03.09

this I know…

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It is March 2021, which means we are closing out one year under pandemic restrictions. Friday the 13th of 2020 began the last weekend that provided us with any semblance of normalcy. Throughout this past year, many people have been obsessed with the COVID-19 death numbers. Many self-proclaimed experts have told me that the number of deaths is higher because conspirators have underreported these numbers. Other self-styled authorities have told me the numbers are overreported because charlatans have intentionally inflated the numbers (apparently there was a financial benefit in doing so). You can pretty much predict with some accuracy the partisan leanings of the people making these various claims.

So let us stop and take the titles “COVID” or “Coronavirus” or “Pandemic” off the table. Instead, let us look at raw data that only cares about mortality. After all, death does not lie!

The graph below charts deaths of all kinds in the United States from 2015-2020. Each year is plotted by week and month across the horizontal plane, and the total number of deaths on the vertical. The gray are the plots for the years 2015-2019. This graph also plots the average deaths for 2015-2019, seen in black. The year 2020 is in red.

Again, let me be clear; this is death from all causes, natural and unnatural. It includes murders, suicides, skateboard accidents, old age, cancer, dementia, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and so much more. It doesn’t care what it stated on their death certificates!

Look closely. While you are study it, I will sing you a little song…

If you figured out that the red one is not like the others, you are correct. 2020 stands out above and beyond in all months except the first three. It is worth noting that there are very prominent spikes in the spring and late fall, and a lower, yet substantial, bump at the early/mid-summer. What it does make clear…

Something really big happened in 2020.

Again, let me clarify; this data does not tell you what to think about the causes of death, nor does not wield a partisan ax. It clearly tells us that in 2020, a statistically significant number of Americans died; substantially more than the average of the previous five years. (And yes, 2017/2018 was a big flu year, just in case you were wondering).

If you believe these numbers have been manipulated, then I don’t know what else to tell you.

But this I know…

lots and lots of people died!

Jesus wept. John 11:35

Lastly, on this particular bLOG, I will except no comments. Death speaks for itself.

However, I will post the names of those you love who have passed in the last year, regardless of how they died. Feel free to provide me with name, month, and the year that they passed, and this bLOG will memorialize them.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

To get this ball rolling, and on behalf of my kid sister (T.O), my brothers (Chipster and Sir Knight), and myself (The Hitchhiker) we remember:

Patricia “Patti” Sileo – July 2020