Huh?

 

Not Bad, All Things Considered

Ontario's COVID rate creeping up, but no big spikes. 

So that's probably not bad considering they opened up bars and restaurants - and hair salons, malls and gyms - a month ago. [As always, click on any graph to zoom in.]

Looks better than most of the other provinces at least.

And deaths due to COVID have really flattened.

And even our friends south of the border - at least really south - look to have turned the corner.

But with social distancing, many people still feeling lonely.

Any solutions?

Really?

 Aw, come on.  Now you can get infected twice?

What will they tell us next?  

Asteroids? Two hurricanes are going to crash info each other in the Gulf of Mexico?

Come on.....

Well, I guess if you want to avoid getting infected twice, you better start by not getting infected once.

So maybe start by not going to Ontario.  [As always, click on any graph to zoom in.]

Looks like the steady drip, drip, drip of increasing covid numbers. Not surprising, as the province re-opened much of the economy.

Just like everywhere else.

Who'da thunk way back in March that Quebec would almost be the safest place to be.

Look at that orange line back on March 19th. It rocketed right out of sight.  Followed not long after by Ontario.

While those granola inhalers out in BC were wagging their yogurt encrusted fingers at us.  But not now.

So payback's a b.....bad thing.

So I guess the safe bet is social distancing and maybe exploring the great outdoors.

Or is it......

[From the mind of Joe Martin]

Okay, It's Official

The world has definitely gone crazy.

Well at least one person in Toronto has.

And yes, it is the "house" in the middle.

Some features:

• no living room
• no dining room
• 20 foot wide lot
• but, a two car garage in the back

So is this a sign of the apocalypse?

Maybe, but here is another sign.....

Checking In Again.....

 ....to see how BC & Alberta are doing, a couple of days later.  [As always, click on any graph to zoom in.]

They are both trying hard to separate themselves from the pack.

And good old Steady Eddie Ontario, almost down to where BC used to be.

Okay, to cheer ourselves up, let's also check in on our favourite whipping boy - Florida Man.  Today's offering....

Now let's look at actual Florida, covid-wise.

Sweet Maria!  Even Florida is going in the right direction.  

Compare the red BC line with the red Florida line.

Of course while you are comparing the two lines, compare the numbers.  BC is at about 20 cases per million population, Florida is at 200. 

So you still don't want to be Maskless in Miami yet.

But signs are pointing to an active hurricane season.  Here is the path of the latest one.

And sheltering from hurricanes and social distancing don't get along very well. So that is not a good sign.

But some sings are helpful.....

Checking In.....

 ...on how COVID is faring in Canada.  [As always, click on any graph to zoom in.]

Pretty much steady as she goes.

Although this "Canada" view masks something at the provincial level.

BC and Alberta were once the model of how to handle the corona virus. Noe they, especially BC, are on fire with new cases.

As a comparison, here is the same graph from two months ago.

Complete reversal now.  Quebec & Ontario with the lowest rates, BC & Alberta the highest.

And at the time, the chattering class in Ontario was gnashing its teeth over why we can't have real leaders like BC and Alberta. 

Be careful what you wish for.

But as the temperatures start to cool and we leave the patios to head inside, things could change.

I may even have to change from my tightie-tight patio shorts to even tightier jeans.

And that's good for anybody......

Here We Go Again...?

 

Looks like another slight uptick in Canadian COVID cases yesterday.  [As always, click on any graph to zoom in.]

And has been the case for quite a while now, our friends in Western Canada are the ones stubbing their toes.

Absolutely amazing what is going on in British Columbia.  They're gone from being the poster boy for all things good to now being the basket case.

And Ontario is now kicking some serious ass in the COVID department.  Oh yeah!

But remember......

Furthermore to yesterday.....

 

....if CNN wanted to truly report important information - as opposed to yesterday's "click bait" stats - they could have shown COVID deaths by state.  Or even better, the COVID death rate per million population.

So if you want better, you ya gonna call? 

[As always, click on any graph to zoom in.]

So rather than bashing the southern states, this tells a different story.

Top five death rates are all in the north east.

In fact, where is Florida and Texas and Georgia?

Here, I'll make it easy for you.....

Canada, as reference, is just below California, at 240/million pop.

Now, the fact southern states have lower deaths rates could be due to younger people being infected.  And if you shotgun enough beer, you are protected.  In my books, that's good news.

Anyway...looking at Canada.

And again this is misleading, as our friends in BC and Alberta refuse to report over the weekend!

Boy, it's easy to get caught up in this click bait stuff.  Usually the Urban Cowboy Network is much more balanced.

Next time.

Sloppy Reporting

CNN is reporting that five states are responsible for more than 40% of the 5,000,000 COVID cases in the US.

OMG!!

And you know they are taking jabs at Florida and Texas and Georgia.

But what they fail to mention is that those five states - the above three plus New York & California - represent 37% of the US population. 

So really, no news here.  Except to alarm people.

I'm sure NBC and Fox do the same thing - they are all looking for clicks.

Which is what I did.  But only to call them out!!

But I guess they win anyway.

Here's another one, maybe a little tongue in cheek.

Of course, you know the old line.

You and your buddy are out hiking and he says, Aren't you worried about a bear attack?

And you say, No.

And he says, But you can't run faster than a bear!

And you say, I don't have to, I just have to run faster than you.

Ba da boom.

P.S.  Don't tell anybody I was looking at CNN.....

Here's A Twist

 

Maybe this is Florida Man's son.  Or Cabbage Patch kid all grown up.

But I shouldn't make light of this, as this could garner nationwide attention.  As this white kid killed a black kid, claiming self defense. 

And it happened in the town of Sanford, where George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin. Also claiming self defense.

So let's see what's going on in Florida, COVID wise.  [As always, click on any graph to zoom in.]

Oops, they may have taken their foot off the brake a little too early.

What about The Great White North?

Still seeing the effects of re-opening in many provinces.

But not Ontario!

If not us, then who.....?

It looks like all of them.  And Ontario is now the best?

I guess all those days of wandering around inside my apartment in my newly tightie-tight patio shorts has paid off.

But maybe some of these other provinces need to go back to closing their bars.  

I don't know what the big deal is.  I've been closing bars for years!

[Ed. Note: What bars close at 9pm?]

  

Hey. The Toronto Star Reads My Blog!

A while back I posted a picture on the front page of the Toronto Star of two girls in a store line up not wearing their mask correctly.  

Don't touch your mask!

Well, the Star obviously saw that post and got those two girls back and said, do it correctly this time.  The Urban Cowboy is all over our ass on this one!

So in today's Star......

You can just see the blonde is pissed.  And the brunette is like, whatever......

So looking at COVID cases in Canada yesterday.  [As always, click on any graph to zoom in.]

Now, this looks bad, but is due to sloppy reporting in Western Canada.

BC & Alberta did not report any cases over the long weekend, so a big spike yesterday.

But the good news is, once the medical directors of BC & Alberta read my blog this morning, I'm sure this practice will be changing soon. 

Anything else I can do, just let me know.

Dodged One Bullet...

...by Hurricane Isaias missing Florida....

Although Florida Man did make headlines again, this time internationally in Toronto Sun...

...but not sure if Isaias related or COVID related.

Or, that's just Florida Man doing what he does.

Speaking of COVID and Florida, let's see how out of control that state is.

Holy Whacka-moley!  

Could the sunshine State have turned the corner?

Time will tell, but I might know someone who finally knocked some sense into our shotgunning beer bros.

I'm not sure if this superhero would have been as effective.