Below is a collection of graphs that I have created to show several different data points that I find helpful in tracking this disease in the county. You can read some of my notes about the data in these charts here.
Showing posts with label graph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graph. Show all posts
Covid-19 in Saint Charles County - Graphs
Below is a collection of graphs that I have created to show several different data points that I find helpful in tracking this disease in the county. You can read some of my notes about the data in these charts here.
Covid-19 Data Issues in Saint Charles County
May 22 Update:
I reached out to the County Health Department about this discrepancy and received the following reply/explanation:
Original post:
I have been tracking the spread of Covid-19 in St. Charles County since the day the first case was announced. For several weeks, the County only had a table of current data on the site, so I was manually tracking daily case totals in a spreadsheet in order to see the trends. Finally, the County utilized PowerBI to provide some graphs of the data in a dashboard format. However, the County had not created some of the graphs that I thought helped better tell the story, so I continue to input and update daily new cases and deaths into my spreadsheet, all based on the published County data.
Over the course of this pandemic, firm numbers regarding positive cases, and even deaths, have been hard to establish. For Saint Charles County, the tale is no different. Most days, I have to scroll back though the previous days and update a few up or down by 1 or 2 cases. Typically, most of the changes occur to dates within the past 14 days, which makes sense, as this is within the window of symptoms presenting and test results being obtained. However, over the past week, I have noticed that the numbers are changing on dates much further back in time.
I reached out to the County Health Department about this discrepancy and received the following reply/explanation:
The County’s health and information systems departments did switch reporting systems recently and noticed an error in the presentation of reported numbers. This caused the issue you note, and this was corrected as soon as possible.I am not sure if the switch refers to the update to the PowerBI dashboard or if it refers to the actual source they are collecting the data from. I have not nioticed any updates the the actual layout or content of the dashboard, so i assume it is the data source. If the change in source resulted in a greater than 5% negative change in reported cases, then there seems to be valid reason for concern with the validity of the numbers that have been previously reported.
Original post:
I have been tracking the spread of Covid-19 in St. Charles County since the day the first case was announced. For several weeks, the County only had a table of current data on the site, so I was manually tracking daily case totals in a spreadsheet in order to see the trends. Finally, the County utilized PowerBI to provide some graphs of the data in a dashboard format. However, the County had not created some of the graphs that I thought helped better tell the story, so I continue to input and update daily new cases and deaths into my spreadsheet, all based on the published County data.
Active Cases of Covid-19 in St. Charles County
Currently, the County website continues to show cumulative case numbers and does not show active case numbers. I have been tracking this data for over a month and present the below for reference.
Updated 06MAY20
Updated 06MAY20
Current Cumulative Cases: 637
Current Active Cases: 126
Covid-19 Graph Notes
I have published some of the charts that I have created about Covid-19 in St. Charles County, MO. level data. Below are a couple of notes about how I arrived at some of my data points.
Notes:
Notes:
- I have utilized the daily death total that I have been tracking on my own, as the county still does not publish them in a table at the daily level.
- Due to the unavailability of the Recovery data at the county level, I have assumed the standard 14 day recovery window for all cases. I realize that this is variable, but for consistency sake and trend analysis, I felt like this data point was useful.
- I have calculated the number of Active Cases as follows:
- Active Cases = Yesterday's Active Cases + Today's New Cases - Today's Deaths - 14 Day Prior Daily Delta (Defined : Daily New Cases - Daily Deaths Announced)
On the Fiscal Cliff
Thomas Sowell expresses his thoughts about the Fiscal Cliff, and these portions echo exactly what I think and feel:
And there are these nuggets from Part 2:
First of all, despite all the melodrama about raising taxes on "the rich," even if that is done it will scarcely make a dent in the government's financial problems. Raising the tax rates on everybody in the top two percent will not get enough additional tax revenue to run the government for ten days.
No previous administration in the entire history of the nation ever finished the year with a trillion dollar deficit. The Obama administration has done so every single year.
Referring to the Federal Reserve System's creation of hundreds of billions of new dollars out of thin air as "quantitative easing" makes it seem as if this is some soothing and esoteric process, rather than amounting essentially to nothing more than printing more money.
Debasing the value of money by creating more of it is nothing new or esoteric. Irresponsible governments have done this, not just for centuries, but for thousands of years.
It is a way to take people's wealth from them without having to openly raise taxes. Inflation is the most universal tax of all.
But it is not the same politically, so long as gullible people don't look beyond words to the reality that inflation taxes everybody, the poorest as well as the richest.
And there are these nuggets from Part 2:
A key lie that has been repeated over and over, largely unanswered, is that President Bush's "tax cuts for the rich" cost the government so much lost tax revenue that this added to the budget deficit-- so that the government cannot afford to allow the cost of letting the Bush tax rates continue for "the rich."And here are the table and images referred to above:
What is remarkable is how easy it is to show how completely false Obama's argument is.
What both the statistical tables in the "Economic Report of the President" and the graphs in Investor's Business Daily show is that (1) tax revenues went up-- not down-- after tax rates were cut during the Bush administration, and (2) the budget deficit declined, year after year, after the cut in tax rates that have been blamed by Obama for increasing the deficit.
Why I Think America Is In Deep Trouble
Last week I was thinking about all of the hype surrounding the debt-ceiling when it occurred to me that I haven't check the status of the Federal Reserve's Monetary Base lately. What follows is a lengthy post where I try to recapture all of my thoughts on this and various topics that I have written about over the course of the past few years.
I started tracking the Monetary Base prior to attending the April 15, 2009 Tea Party in downtown St. Louis, after which I posted my reasons for attending the tea party event. Included in that post was a graph showing the National Debt Per Capita and the Adjusted Monetary Base.
I started tracking the Monetary Base prior to attending the April 15, 2009 Tea Party in downtown St. Louis, after which I posted my reasons for attending the tea party event. Included in that post was a graph showing the National Debt Per Capita and the Adjusted Monetary Base.
Money Makers
I posted the following FRED graph in April 2009, with this paragraph:
Here's the status as of today:
In order to bring more clarity to the ongoing devaluing of the dollar, below is the activity of only the last year, so we can see the atrocity up close:
Who says you can't spend what you don't have? Our government does just that and then prints more money to reduce the deficit between their spending versus available funds. I fully anticipate to see this line continuing to trend upward, much to my dismay and as an ever-increasing, impending threat to our nation's economic security.
Reason #4 – The devaluing of our currency is an economic and moral nightmare.To be clear, this is a graph of the amount of money that the Federal Reserve Bank has printed and is currently in circulation in the United States of America.
The Federal government has pumped so much cash into the economy over the past 6 months that it would seem altogether impossible for this action not to result in inflation, at best, or hyperinflation, at worst. Either outcome is harmful to American and its citizens and should be avoided by all means necessary. At this point, the question is how to begin reducing the amount of currency in circulation and the answer is one that the Federal government refuses to accept: let the free market correct itself and determine the true value of the dollar. While such action will undoubtedly lead to tougher times ahead, this correction is necessary to overcome the mistakes of our past and ensure that we are standing on solid financial ground in the future.
Here's the status as of today:
Water Consumption on Ice
From this post:
Everyone waited to use the restroom until the periods were over! Simply awesome!
The water utility in Edmonton, EPCOR, published the most incredible graph of water consumption last week.
Everyone waited to use the restroom until the periods were over! Simply awesome!
What Uncle Sam's House Looks Like
Since Lisa and I have been working diligently on getting out of debt (excluding the house debt), I find myself continuously perturbed by the actions of our Federal Government (read "Total Outstanding Debt Owed by the US Federal Government"). When I think about how hard Lisa and I have worked to eliminate our debt by making some tough choices and sacrificing certain luxuries, it infuriates me to see how our government is spending the money that it took from us and is taking from our future paychecks.
The method that Lisa and I have used to become debt-free is quite simple: spend less than you make. In doing so, we have had to plan to save for future known expenses (ie insurance, renovations), while reducing our expenditures. This has led us to where we are today, on the verge of not having a monthly bill associated with credit card or student loan debt. (As an aside, we never carried a balance on our credit card, but we have stopped using it anyway.) It's a great place to be and we are looking forward to the financial freedom we will have in the future because of the decisions we have made over the past few years.
The method that Lisa and I have used to become debt-free is quite simple: spend less than you make. In doing so, we have had to plan to save for future known expenses (ie insurance, renovations), while reducing our expenditures. This has led us to where we are today, on the verge of not having a monthly bill associated with credit card or student loan debt. (As an aside, we never carried a balance on our credit card, but we have stopped using it anyway.) It's a great place to be and we are looking forward to the financial freedom we will have in the future because of the decisions we have made over the past few years.
Total Outstanding Debt Owed by the US Federal Government
Yesterday, I found myself wondering what the current level of debt owed by the United States government is, as well as what the history is of the United States Federal Government functioning under an outstanding debt. I very quickly found the data here, but I was unable to easily find a clear graphic representation of that information. I created the following graphs to visually represent the total outstanding US debt on an annual basis. (If you want to see something from the near past, you can see the graph I created showing the US National debt change from Ocober 2008 through April 2009.)
As of 03FEB09, the total Outstanding Debt of the United States Federal Government is $12,346,427,470,024.01. That is almost 12 and a half Trillion dollars! I have added a widget to the right-hand side of this blog to track the daily amount of debt owed.
Click each graph to see the larger, more detailed version.
.jpg)
As of 03FEB09, the total Outstanding Debt of the United States Federal Government is $12,346,427,470,024.01. That is almost 12 and a half Trillion dollars! I have added a widget to the right-hand side of this blog to track the daily amount of debt owed.
Click each graph to see the larger, more detailed version.
Tax Day Tea Party Motivations
Much has been written and said in the media regarding what motivated thousands of people across the United States to gather last Wednesday, April 15th for Tax Day Tea Parties, and while I doubt that my thoughts regarding this matter will ever reach a sizable audience, I feel compelled to share why I attended the St. Louis Tax Day Tea Party.
The following reasons are listed in no particular order:
Reason #1 – The Federal Government is much too large for it to function efficiently and smoothly and it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that all that red tape and back scratching leads directly to wasted taxpayer funds. The scope and reach of the Federal government was never intended to encompass everything for every citizen from cradle to the grave. This is a false idea of what a democratic republic is supposed to be and it is an idea that can never be fully realized as republic. Most, if not all, of the new programs being launched and funded by the Federal government, along with mos of the other ongoing Federal programs do not appear to be activities authorized within the scope of the Constitution.
Reason #2 – The Taxes levied by the Federal government have become too burdensome and outrageous for the common man to be able to understand, let alone keep track of them all. If nothing else, the recent barrage of government appointees’ accused of tax fraud should exemplify the pure insanity of what we accept to be a proper and justifiable level of taxes and the rules that go along with them. The Federal government gets more of my check than any other entity, including God Himself. I enjoy giving to those things that I believe in and that I believe are beneficial to my family and me. When was the last time you looked at all those taxes being stolen from your check and thought “I sure am glad the government is doing all this great stuff with my hard earned money!”????
Reason #3 – The total national debt is out of control. Yes, this has been a problem for a long time, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t acknowledge this problem and begin taking the necessary steps to tackle this problem. When the government consistently, year upon year, spends more than it takes in, continues creating more wasteful programs and refuses to reign in and reduce spending, then the obvious outcome of that snowballing debt is a complete and total debilitation or failure of the economic engines that propel American prosperity. If you or I ran our house like the Federal government controls its checkbook, we would all be bankrupt and in prison for falsifying documentation, counterfeiting, and stealing.
(Check out the National Debt Clock)
Reason #4 – The devaluing of our currency is an economic and moral nightmare. The Federal government has pumped so much cash into the economy over the past 6 months that it would seem altogether impossible for this action not to result in inflation, at best, or hyperinflation, at worst. Either outcome is harmful to American and its citizens and should be avoided by all means necessary. At this point, the question is how to begin reducing the amount of currency in circulation and the answer is one that the Federal government refuses to accept: let the free market correct itself and determine the true value of the dollar. While such action will undoubtedly lead to tougher times ahead, this correction is necessary to overcome the mistakes of our past and ensure that we are standing on solid financial ground in the future.
Reason #5 – The free market is being crucified by career politicians who have grown so fat and rich off the lobbyist dinners and donations that they cannot relate to the middle class, let alone the poor. The decisions that these fat cats are making have no basis in wanting to lead the country out of a economic crisis, but rather seem to be determined by who pays them the most in kickbacks and perks. The whole idea of a free market is to let the public decide which companies are worth keeping in business and this is the driving factor behind causing companies to innovate and alter the way they conduct their business in order to stay in the game. When the government injects itself into any market, the dynamics of that market are altered until the government removes itself from that market. As such, the housing, banking, insurance and automobile industries, to name a few, are currently functioning in a false environment that is being manipulated by the Federal government. It is one thing for the government to offer tax incentives and tax write-offs to members of an industry to motivate growth and increase profitability, but it is a completely different animal when the government actually takes control over large institutions in those industries. The outcome of these maneuvers can easily lead to nationalizing entire industries, which, in turn, leads us to the doorstep of socialism.
Reason #6 – States rights appear to have ceased to exist. With the Federal government making it clear that a state cannot deny the funds the Fed “gives” them and must use the “donated” funds according to the directives passed down by the Fed, the politicians and bureaucracy in Washington DC have all but made any sort of local control over budgets and programs totally obsolete and unobtainable. As such, there is little incentive for a local government to attempt to enact any localized policy that its residents deem valuable of agreeable, as such policy will either be overturned by a federal court or it will be overruled by the Federal government. It was never the intention of the Constitution to allow the Federal government to dictate policy to the states. The Constitution exists to promote ease of commerce, transportation and defense of the consortium of states, allowing the states to determine all other issues as they see fit.
Reason #7 – The America I grew up in is disappearing. My daughter was born on November 10, 2008, the same day the bailout of AIG was announced. Since that time, the politicians have done their best to make certain that my daughter has an ever-increasing amount of Federal debt hanging over her head, growing it at a rate that defies imagination and pushes the current form of government to the brink of existence. Everything within me screams that something has to change and that we need that change to occur rapidly. I realize that a lot of what I’d like to see take place will never happen, but I also know that if I do not take a stand around these issues then I will one day have to look at my daughter and say “Yes, I understood what was going on and what was happening, but I didn’t feel compelled to say or do anything about it.” I don’t want to have to claim inaction or ignorance and so I do the small part that I can.
The above debt data is from the US Treasury.
Reason #8 – Political correctness and political dishonesty are accepted as the norm. Somewhere over the past 6 months this nation has seemed to forget the idea that everyone can form their own opinion and has the right to voice that opinion in a peaceful manner. During this time, it has somehow become unpatriotic to speak in a negative tone about anything the government is doing. I refuse to allow my rights to free speech to be stripped away out of fear or unpopularity and I will not condone the actions of the government by sitting idly on the sidelines with my mouth clenched shut, knowing that I should speak up and have the right to do so. I refuse to point my finger solely at one party and refuse to vilify any one person for the actions our government has taken over recent months. Every politician is to be held responsible for their votes and actions, and I am determined not to let political or religious affiliation to dissuade me from holding their feet to the fire that they have created, fueled and allowed to grow out of control.
Reason #9 – The political machine of America is broken and we need to fix it. This isn’t about a party. It’s not a Republican thing or a Democrat thing. It’s not about Libertarians and Constitutionalist crying “Foul!”. This about what is at the core of the idea behind America. It’s the idea that when I disagree with how the Government is being run, I can speak up against it without fear of retribution. This is about me standing up for what I believe is common sense and good governing practices. This is about me fearing the direction our government is heading and wanting to help raise awareness and bring about a renewed sense of what I believe our Founding Fathers prayed for. (Just to further clarify this reason: What the elected officials passed through in 2008 is just as detrimental to this nation as what has been passed in 2009. A Republican President and Democratic Senate all played their role then, and the Democratic President and Republican Senators have all played their roles recently.) There’s more than enough blame to go around. Let’s stop pointing fat fingers and start slimming down by doing the hard work that is necessary of we hope to get out from under this mounting calamity.
I’m sure I could think of more reasons, but this is a good start for now.
I didn’t go to the tea party as a frustrated Republican.
I didn’t go to the tea party as an anarchist wanting to overthrow the government.
I didn’t go to the tea party to be a part of a spectacle.
I didn’t go to the tea party to denigrate one party over another.
I went to the tea party as an angry, frustrated, misrepresented citizen.
I went to the tea party as a concerned, motivated and loving husband and father.
I went to the tea party because I felt that I needed to join in a protest of what my government is doing, in order to let them know I think it is wrong.
That seems pretty patriotic and American to me.
The following reasons are listed in no particular order:
Reason #1 – The Federal Government is much too large for it to function efficiently and smoothly and it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that all that red tape and back scratching leads directly to wasted taxpayer funds. The scope and reach of the Federal government was never intended to encompass everything for every citizen from cradle to the grave. This is a false idea of what a democratic republic is supposed to be and it is an idea that can never be fully realized as republic. Most, if not all, of the new programs being launched and funded by the Federal government, along with mos of the other ongoing Federal programs do not appear to be activities authorized within the scope of the Constitution.
Reason #2 – The Taxes levied by the Federal government have become too burdensome and outrageous for the common man to be able to understand, let alone keep track of them all. If nothing else, the recent barrage of government appointees’ accused of tax fraud should exemplify the pure insanity of what we accept to be a proper and justifiable level of taxes and the rules that go along with them. The Federal government gets more of my check than any other entity, including God Himself. I enjoy giving to those things that I believe in and that I believe are beneficial to my family and me. When was the last time you looked at all those taxes being stolen from your check and thought “I sure am glad the government is doing all this great stuff with my hard earned money!”????
Reason #3 – The total national debt is out of control. Yes, this has been a problem for a long time, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t acknowledge this problem and begin taking the necessary steps to tackle this problem. When the government consistently, year upon year, spends more than it takes in, continues creating more wasteful programs and refuses to reign in and reduce spending, then the obvious outcome of that snowballing debt is a complete and total debilitation or failure of the economic engines that propel American prosperity. If you or I ran our house like the Federal government controls its checkbook, we would all be bankrupt and in prison for falsifying documentation, counterfeiting, and stealing.
(Check out the National Debt Clock)
Reason #4 – The devaluing of our currency is an economic and moral nightmare. The Federal government has pumped so much cash into the economy over the past 6 months that it would seem altogether impossible for this action not to result in inflation, at best, or hyperinflation, at worst. Either outcome is harmful to American and its citizens and should be avoided by all means necessary. At this point, the question is how to begin reducing the amount of currency in circulation and the answer is one that the Federal government refuses to accept: let the free market correct itself and determine the true value of the dollar. While such action will undoubtedly lead to tougher times ahead, this correction is necessary to overcome the mistakes of our past and ensure that we are standing on solid financial ground in the future.
Reason #5 – The free market is being crucified by career politicians who have grown so fat and rich off the lobbyist dinners and donations that they cannot relate to the middle class, let alone the poor. The decisions that these fat cats are making have no basis in wanting to lead the country out of a economic crisis, but rather seem to be determined by who pays them the most in kickbacks and perks. The whole idea of a free market is to let the public decide which companies are worth keeping in business and this is the driving factor behind causing companies to innovate and alter the way they conduct their business in order to stay in the game. When the government injects itself into any market, the dynamics of that market are altered until the government removes itself from that market. As such, the housing, banking, insurance and automobile industries, to name a few, are currently functioning in a false environment that is being manipulated by the Federal government. It is one thing for the government to offer tax incentives and tax write-offs to members of an industry to motivate growth and increase profitability, but it is a completely different animal when the government actually takes control over large institutions in those industries. The outcome of these maneuvers can easily lead to nationalizing entire industries, which, in turn, leads us to the doorstep of socialism.
Reason #6 – States rights appear to have ceased to exist. With the Federal government making it clear that a state cannot deny the funds the Fed “gives” them and must use the “donated” funds according to the directives passed down by the Fed, the politicians and bureaucracy in Washington DC have all but made any sort of local control over budgets and programs totally obsolete and unobtainable. As such, there is little incentive for a local government to attempt to enact any localized policy that its residents deem valuable of agreeable, as such policy will either be overturned by a federal court or it will be overruled by the Federal government. It was never the intention of the Constitution to allow the Federal government to dictate policy to the states. The Constitution exists to promote ease of commerce, transportation and defense of the consortium of states, allowing the states to determine all other issues as they see fit.
Reason #7 – The America I grew up in is disappearing. My daughter was born on November 10, 2008, the same day the bailout of AIG was announced. Since that time, the politicians have done their best to make certain that my daughter has an ever-increasing amount of Federal debt hanging over her head, growing it at a rate that defies imagination and pushes the current form of government to the brink of existence. Everything within me screams that something has to change and that we need that change to occur rapidly. I realize that a lot of what I’d like to see take place will never happen, but I also know that if I do not take a stand around these issues then I will one day have to look at my daughter and say “Yes, I understood what was going on and what was happening, but I didn’t feel compelled to say or do anything about it.” I don’t want to have to claim inaction or ignorance and so I do the small part that I can.
 |
| From St. Louis Tax Day Tea Party |
The above debt data is from the US Treasury.
Reason #8 – Political correctness and political dishonesty are accepted as the norm. Somewhere over the past 6 months this nation has seemed to forget the idea that everyone can form their own opinion and has the right to voice that opinion in a peaceful manner. During this time, it has somehow become unpatriotic to speak in a negative tone about anything the government is doing. I refuse to allow my rights to free speech to be stripped away out of fear or unpopularity and I will not condone the actions of the government by sitting idly on the sidelines with my mouth clenched shut, knowing that I should speak up and have the right to do so. I refuse to point my finger solely at one party and refuse to vilify any one person for the actions our government has taken over recent months. Every politician is to be held responsible for their votes and actions, and I am determined not to let political or religious affiliation to dissuade me from holding their feet to the fire that they have created, fueled and allowed to grow out of control.
Reason #9 – The political machine of America is broken and we need to fix it. This isn’t about a party. It’s not a Republican thing or a Democrat thing. It’s not about Libertarians and Constitutionalist crying “Foul!”. This about what is at the core of the idea behind America. It’s the idea that when I disagree with how the Government is being run, I can speak up against it without fear of retribution. This is about me standing up for what I believe is common sense and good governing practices. This is about me fearing the direction our government is heading and wanting to help raise awareness and bring about a renewed sense of what I believe our Founding Fathers prayed for. (Just to further clarify this reason: What the elected officials passed through in 2008 is just as detrimental to this nation as what has been passed in 2009. A Republican President and Democratic Senate all played their role then, and the Democratic President and Republican Senators have all played their roles recently.) There’s more than enough blame to go around. Let’s stop pointing fat fingers and start slimming down by doing the hard work that is necessary of we hope to get out from under this mounting calamity.
I’m sure I could think of more reasons, but this is a good start for now.
I didn’t go to the tea party as a frustrated Republican.
I didn’t go to the tea party as an anarchist wanting to overthrow the government.
I didn’t go to the tea party to be a part of a spectacle.
I didn’t go to the tea party to denigrate one party over another.
I went to the tea party as an angry, frustrated, misrepresented citizen.
I went to the tea party as a concerned, motivated and loving husband and father.
I went to the tea party because I felt that I needed to join in a protest of what my government is doing, in order to let them know I think it is wrong.
That seems pretty patriotic and American to me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)