Thursday, May 12, 2022

PBS NewsHour explains 'How misinformation and the partisan divide drove a surge in U.S. COVID deaths,' a pandemic update on Throwback Thursday

I included a program note in the footnote to Dr. Fauci and Stevie Wonder address political division at commencement ceremonies in Michigan.
I'll probably get to "more pandemic news, including global death estimates" that I promised in NBC News and MSNBC report the U.S. passed 1 million deaths from COVID-19, a pandemic update Friday or Saturday. In the meantime, stay tuned for the final retrospective of the 2021-2022 blogging year on Throwback Thursday.
It turned out that the most active link to a blog entry posted between March 21, 2021 and March 20, 2022 was 'Contagion' vs. COVID-19 updates last year's most commented entries on Throwback Thursday, so instead of making today's final strictly about Twitter, the final retrospective of the 2021-2022 blogging year will again be about the pandemic.

I begin with PBS NewsHour revisiting Vox explains 'How American conservatives turned against the vaccine,' a pandemic update as it explains How misinformation and the partisan divide drove a surge in U.S. COVID deaths.

As the death toll from the coronavirus nears 1 million Americans, we’ve been exploring why the U.S. Suffered such a terrible loss, especially when compared to other nations similar to us. While there are many reasons for this, one of them is that many Americans have not wanted to be vaccinated. William Brangham reports.
I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling my reaction from February.
I found this depressing but not surprising, as I've been seeing this develop since I wrote Samantha Bee on 'Mask Hysteria' two years ago, even before vaccines. Since then, I've been paying attention to Charles Gaba at ACASignups.net who has been tracking vaccination rates vs. partisanship since May 2021....He found the same relationship between party identification and vaccination rates that [PBS NewsHour] showed in the video above.
I'm also going to recycle my reaction from U.S. life expectancy continued falling in 2021, a pandemic update, "widespread availability of vaccines has not translated into universal acceptance of vaccines..." On that note, here is Charles's graph that best matches the vaccinated vs. unvaccinated death rate in the video above from Monthly Update: COVID Death Rates by Partisan Lean & Vaccination Rate, except that it charts death rate by county against partisanship instead of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated.


It's amazing how closely they match.

PBS NewsHour also covered global death estimates last week when it reported WHO report finds nearly 15 million deaths associated with COVID-19 worldwide.

Nearly 15 million people around the world have died from COVID's impact, directly or indirectly, during the first two years of the pandemic, according to a new World Health Organization report. It’s also about three times higher than governments have reported so far. University of Washington's Jonathan Wakefield, whose modeling work helped produce the report, joins William Brangham for more.
I explored excess deaths during the pandemic from other causes in Americans speeding during the pandemic is increasing traffic deaths, a driving update, Traffic accidents down but fatal accidents up in Michigan while drivers overpaid $1 billion for insurance during 2020, a driving update, and COVID-19 and diabetes for World Diabetes Day 2021, a pandemic update, so I'm not surprised by the high rate of excess deaths not directly caused by COVID-19. I am a little surprised that Australia and New Zealand didn't experience higher traffic deaths. I guess the land of Mad Max didn't have people speeding on open roads. Before I move on, I was always a little skeptical that India had fewer deaths than the U.S. from the pandemic. An estimate of 4.7 million may be higher than I expected, but I really do think India had more deaths than the U.S.'s 1 million.

Speaking of which, both PBS and ABC News, which broadcast and uploaded Breakthrough COVID-19 deaths increasing as omicron subvariants spread last night, still think the country is close but hasn't passed that grim milestone yet, but expect it will pass it soon (I think we passed it already).

Breakthrough deaths comprise a larger share of COVID-19 deaths amid a surge of cases nationwide. ABC News medical contributor Dr. Alok Patel explains what you need to know.
That's not good news. Despite what Dr. Fauci said to PBS NewsHour last month, we are still in an active pandemic and cases are going up, even though deaths so far haven't followed suit.

That's it for today's pandemic update. Follow over the jump for the most active links on Twitter during the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.


As I mentioned above, 'Contagion' vs. COVID-19 updates last year's most commented entries on Throwback Thursday from April 29, 2021 was the most active tweet with a link to a blog entry posted between March 21, 2021 and March 20, 2022 and the fourth most active tweet overall. My tweet on August 4, 2021 earned 2,350 impressions and 139 total engagements, the most for August 2021 in both, including 110 detail expands (most for the year), 15 link clicks, 8 likes (most for August 2021), 3 retweets (most for August 2021), and 3 profile clicks (most for August 2021). I tweeted it again on February 11, 2022 and it had the most impressions for February 2022, 1,141 (fifth among tweets with links to entries posted last year and tenth overall), and 26 total engagements, including 23 link clicks (most for February 2022) and 3 detail expands. Between the two tweets, it earned totals of 3,491 impressions and 165 impressions, the most in both statistics for a link from the 2021-2022 blogging year and the third most active link overall last year.

FiveThirtyEight asks 'Will We See More Celebrities Run For Office In 2022?' from June 6, 2021 and tweeted by me on September 3, 2021 earned 1,481 impressions and 40 total engagements (most in both during September 2021), including 26 link clicks (most during September 2021), 9 detail expands, 2 likes, 3 replies in 1 thread (tied for most not by me during September 2021), 1 retweet (tied for most during September 2021), and 1 profile click (tied for most during September 2021). It was the second most active tweet of a link to an entry posted during the eleventh year of the blog and seventh overall as well as the sixth most active link overall.

I tweeted Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel take more closer looks at Matt Gaetz on April 18, 2021, when it earned 1,194 impressions, second for the month, and 9 engagments, third for the month, including 3 link clicks, 3 hashtag clicks (most for the year), 3 replies in 1 thread, 1 like, and 1 profile click. It ranked third among tweets containing a link to a blog entry posted during the 2021-2022 blogging year and eighth most active single tweet and seventh most active link overall.

I tweeted Weekend Update on Sidney Powell being sued by Dominion updates 'SNL' on the 2020 election and its aftermath for Throwback Thursday on April 8, 2021, when it earned 1,171 impressions (third for the month) and 2 engagements, both link clicks, ranking fourth in impressions among tweets with links to blog entries posted during the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News and ninth most active tweet and eighth most active link overall.

Reactions to the U.S. Government report on UAPs for World UFO Day from July 2, 2021, then tweeted by Kevin G. and then quote-tweeted by me on July 5, 2021 had the most impressions with 776 and 2 engagements, 1 like and 1 profile click (tied for most). My tweet from July 2, 2021 earned 179 impressions and 2 engagements, including 1 retweet and 1 like, to rank fifth in impressions among tweets with links to blog entries posted during the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

PBS NewsHour on U.S. death rate, long COVID, vaccines for preschoolers, and coronavirus in deer, a pandemic update from February 5, 2022 and tweeted the next day earned 612 impressions (fourth most during the month) and 43 total engagements (second most and most on one of my tweets during the month), including 15 detail expands, 14 link clicks, 7 likes, 3 profile clicks, 6 replies in 2 threads (most replies and threads on one of my tweets during the month), and 2 retweets (tied for most during the month), to rank as the twelfth most active link and thirteenth most active tweet with a link overall and sixth in impressions among tweets with links to blog entries posted during the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Star Wars at the 2021 Saturn Awards for Star Wars Day from May 4, 2021 and tweeted October 19, 2021 had 495 impressions (most for the month) and 8 total engagements (most for the month), including 3 detail expands (tied for most during the month), 2 profile clicks (most for the month), 6 replies (by me) in 1 thread (most for the month), 1 link click, and 1 hashtag click (most for the month), to rank as the thirteenth most active link and fourteenth most active tweet with a link overall and seventh in impressions among tweets with links to blog entries posted during the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' on Cinco De Mayo plus the horror, independent, and international film nominees at the 2021 Saturn Awards from May 5, 2021 and tweeted October 19, 2021 had 457 impressions (second most for the month) and 3 total engagements, including 2 link clicks and 5 replies (by me) in 1 thread, to rank as the fourteenth most active link and fifteenth most active tweet with a link overall and eighth in impressions among tweets with links to blog entries posted during the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Kenneth Branaugh says 'Belfast' has lessons for a divided America from February 11, 2022 and tweeted by Kevin G. on February 12, 2022 was the top mention for the year and had the most engagements of any tweet with a link to the blog during February 2022 with 45, including 3 likes, 2 replies on 1 thread, and 1 retweet. My retweet on February 12, 2022 had 388 impressions and 19 total engagements, including 17 detail expands (most for February 2022) and 2 likes.

Kevin G.'s tweet of My 2021 Saturn Awards votes from May 23, 2021 earned 17 engagements (most for the month), including 2 likes (tied for most for the month), 7 replies in 2 threads (most replies in most threads for the year), and 1 retweet. That was more popular than mine, which had no engagements on 60 impressions.

That's it for this year's links on Twitter, now for the most active tweets of posts from the back catalog.


The most active link on Twitter during the 2021-2022 blogging year was Projection is the Right's favorite defense mechanism from August 5, 2012, which earned 15,917 total impressions and 89 total engagements from several tweets during the year. I tweeted it on November 6, 2021, resulting in the second highest impressions during November 2021 with 212 and earned 3 engagements, 2 likes and 1 retweet (tied for most during November 2021). I tweeted it twice on December 2, 2021 and twice on December 5, 2021 and retweeted the first on December 10, 2021. The more popular December 2nd tweet earned 6,970 impressions (second most for the year and most during December 2021) and 45 total engagements, including 24 link clicks (most during December 2021), 12 detail expands, 5 likes, 2 retweets, and 2 profile clicks (tied for most during December 2021). The less popular tweet that day earned 33 impressions and 3 total engagements, including 2 link clicks and 1 like. The December 10th retweet of the more popular December 2nd tweet earned 6,775 impressions (third most for the blogging year) and 20 total engagements, including 15 likes, 3 link clicks, 1 detail expand, and 1 profile click. The first December 5th tweet earned 371 impressions and 5 total engagements, including 2 likes, 2 link clicks, and 1 profile click and the second tweet that day earned 2 total engagements, 1 reply thread with 2 comments and 1 link click, on 40 impressions. I tweeted the link again on May 12, 2021. That tweet earned 1,516 impressions (sixth most active single tweet overall with a link to the blog) and 11 total engagements, including 4 detail expands, 3 profile clicks (most during May 2021), 2 link clicks (most during May 2021), 1 retweet, and 1 like.

Quatloos for "dinghy lovebirds" Gamrat and Courser from September 2, 2015 was the most active single tweet with a link from this blog during the blogging year and the second most active link during 2021-2022. I tweeted the link on April 2, 2021 and it became the most active link on Twitter during April 2021, earning 7,753 impressions and 185 engagements (down from 187 in April 2021, but still most for the year), including 161 link clicks (most for the year), 15 detail expands, 5 likes (down from 7 in April), 2 retweets, and 2 profile clicks, most in all named statistics for April 2021.

I tweeted Science confirms my opinion of life in the country from August 3, 2013 three times. The tweet on June 26, 2021 had the most impressions (803) and engagements (49 including 27 link clicks—most—16 detail expands—most—3 retweets—tied for most—and 3 likes) of any tweet containing a link from the blog during June 2021. The tweet on August 1, 2021 earned 611 impressions and 33 total engagements, including 27 link clicks (most during August 2021), 4 detail expands (tied for most during August 2021), 1 like, and 1 profile click. The final tweet from February 17, 2022 earned 337 impressions (fifth most during February 2022) and 11 impressions, including 5 link clicks, 3 profile clicks, 1 reply in 1 thread, 1 retweet, and 1 like. While none of the tweets ranked in the top ten, the link's 1,731 total impressions and 93 total engagements rank it as the fourth most active tweeted link overall during the eleventh year of the blog.

It was funnier when Chico Marx said it from February 8, 2017 and tweeted December 12, 2021 earned 1,716 impressions and 75 total engagements (most for December 2021), including 52 likes (most for the year), 13 link clicks, 8 retweets (most for the year), and 2 profile clicks (tied for most). It ranked as the fifth most active tweet and link overall.

Twitter as a 21st Century Crime Scene from February 15, 2014 and tweeted March 22, 2021 earned 824 impressions (most during March 2021) and 8 engagements, including 3 detail expands, 2 retweets, 2 link clicks, and 1 like, to rank as the ninth most active link and eleventh most active tweet overall.

Trump's wiretapping claim shows his vulnerability to conspiracy theories from March 6, 2017 and tweeted February 17, 2022 earned 805 impressions (second most) and 23 total engagements, including 11 link clicks, 9 likes, 1 retweet, 1 detail expand, and 1 profile click, to rank as the tenth most active link and twelfth most active tweet with a link overall.

A conversation with The Archdruid about Objectivism, Satanism, and the GOP from December 30, 2013 and tweeted February 20, 2022 earned 664 impressions (third most) and 32 total engagements, including 15 likes (most), 6 link clicks, 4 detail expands, 4 profile clicks (most for year), 2 retweets (tied for most), and 1 reply in 1 thread, to rank as the eleventh most active link and thirteenth most active tweet with a link overall.

'Tomorrowland'--optimism isn't selling as well as dystopia at the box office from May 24, 2015 and tweeted December 14, 2021 earned 7 total engagements, including 3 likes, 2 link clicks, and 2 detail expands on 12 impressions for an engagement rate of 58.3%, the highest of the year!

Tie for most total replies: Happy Canada Day! from July 1, 2011 earned 7 engagements, including 4 detail expands (most for the month), 10 replies in 1 thread (Tie for most total replies), 1 link click, and 1 profile click (tied for most for the month), on 88 impressions for an 8.0% engagement rate.

Tie for most total replies:We could have had the Moon, instead we get Afghanistan July 29, 2011 and tweeted August 13, 2021, had 224 impressions and 9 total engagements, including 3 link clicks, 2 likes, 2 detail expands, 10 replies in 1 thread (Tie for most total replies), and 1 retweet.

'Putin's Revenge' on Frontline: Looking forward to next year's Emmys 3 from November 20, 2017 and tweeted August 17, 2021 earned 350 impressions and 22 total engagements, including 11 media engagements (most for the year), 6 link clicks, 2 likes, 2 profile clicks, and 1 like.

This concludes the retrospectives for the eleventh year of this blog. Yay!

Previous posts in this series Previous retrospectives about Twitter Previous retrospectives about the back catalog.
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