Then and Now

A short compilation of "then and now" items to provide context to the world we are living in at present  compared to the past.

Covid

Do you remember this statement that Joe Biden made almost exactly two years ago?

Then.

Now.

For those who argue that Covid deaths are the better metric.

And there is this to show how The Washington Post reported it then and now.

Financial Conditions

Do you remember in March, 2002 as the Covid pandemic and lockdowns were starting that it seemed everything was coming unglued?

It really felt scary and bad then, didn't it?

List of items that are now below those March, 2020 lows.

Source: https://twitter.com/MacroAlf/status/1583855770705465345/photo/1

The Price of Eggs

Of course, a lot of things are a lot higher in price now they were then.

A comparison of the prices of eggs by one consumer between December, 2020 and October, 2022.

Global Warming?

We also hear incessantly about global warming and the need to eliminate all fossil fuels in powering our daily lives.

Based on what we are told you would think it was much colder then than it is now.

Look at this chart that shows the high temperatures recorded at every U.S. climatology station on October 21 for every year between 1895-2022.

60% of all stations recorded a high of over 80 degrees on October 21, 1947. Only 15% were above that temperature this year.

Do you see any upward trend in the data?

Source: https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1583638205018296320

We also have often heard in recent years that the polar bears are going to be extinct due to global warming.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-polar-bears-extinct-by-2100/

Al Gore made the plight of the polar bears a part of his movie "An Inconvenient Truth" where he showed an image like this of a forlorn polar bear in desperate straits due to melting Arctic ice.

Credit: Gerard Van der Leun

However, the facts are far different.

There are actually many, many more polar bears today in the Arctic than existed when Al Gore was in high school.

Then     5,000-10,000  polar bears

Now     26,000

Source: https://financialpost.com/opinion/bjorn-lomborg-suppressing-good-news-is-scaring-our-kids-witless

Florida Governor

Two weeks before the Florida election for Governor in 2018 a CNN poll had Democrat Andrew Gillum leading Republican Ron DeSantis by 12 points. 

Source: https://t witter.com/ChristinaPushaw/status/1583623854785957889/photo/1

DeSantis went on to win that race by a mere 32,000 votes out of 8.1 million votes cast.

DeSantis has led Florida to so much success in navigating Florida over the last four years that he is considered a prime Presidential candidate.

Gillum was found in a Miami Beach hotel in 2020 with a male prostitute who had overdosed on meth. Gillum, married with three children, was so intoxicated he could not answer any questions to the responding police officers. He later came out and stated he was bisexual.

Source: https://www.metroweekly.com/2020/03/former-florida-governor-candidate-andrew-gillum-found-in-hotel-room-with-gay-escort-who-allegedly-overdosed/

Earlier this year Gillum was also charged in a 21-count federal indictment for conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements regarding fund raising and the misuse of campaign funds.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/former-tallahassee-mayor-and-gubernatorial-candidate-and-associate-charged-conspiracy

A trial is set for next April in which Gillum faces 20 years in federal prison.

It is hard to imagine how different Florida would look today but for that slim vote margin four years ago.

Has any state's residents ever come this close to disaster by a factor of .4% of votes cast?

A reminder that every vote really does count.

It is also a reminder that the election day votes count, not the polls.