In the midst of a rise of COVID cases the governor of my state decided it was better to be loved by the media and people that will never vote for him in the first place, and shut it all down.  Again.

This is my review of Great Divide Mexican Chocolate Yeti.

Naturally, the experts are saying it was the rush to reopen that caused the spike. Their critics are pointing out the coincidental rise in PCR testing and the obvious sampling bias in testing (only sick people are getting tested).  Its depressing how few people can simply recall current events while interpreting the information presented in a graph.  I suppose they don’t teach math in public schools anymore.  So here is the daily case data for AZ, with a few points I added in for context of events.  Taken of course from the state’s interactive data dashboard as of 7/2/20.

  • The dark blue arrow is May 15, when the statewide lockdown ended.
  • The red arrow is May 25, the day George Floyd died, with the ensuing daily protests.
  • The green arrow is May 30, the day a particularly worrisome protest riot occurred in Scottsdale that included looting a shopping mall. They are still arresting people for that.
  • I will be fair and point out June 21 with the light blue arrow, the day Phoenix and Maricopa County mandated facemasks-
  • As well as June 23, which brought the Trump rally to my neighborhood, literally (I was not kidding when I said it was a half mile from my house).  This is the yellow arrow.

A two week incubation period is the expected range, however the average is just over five days.  Given that, we can see results of the ensuing actions within a week—not two.  The state’s ability to collect test samples over the weekends has a noticeable drop, which is convenient for those just watching.  This means the resulting rise of infection from reopening the AZ economy, independent from all other factors, falls between the dark blue and red arrows. I’ll admit reopening does contribute to the total, as it was expected.  I’m not some kind of expert here, but reopening is a weak correlation, because it doesn’t actually start to rise until after the green arrow—after a full week of protests.

Quite frankly, the charge that going to the gym and to bars is making everyone sick is an insult to my intelligence.  It was the protests that lead to a rise in cases.

As it turns out I am not the only one that doesn’t like being blamed for the stupidity of others.  A local gym owner filed a lawsuit with the state within a day of the new lockdown.  Apparently, they think he has a pretty good shot.  His drawing all the attention then lead to others to remain open in spite of the lockdown.  This lead to a surprising email from my gym:

We have carefully weighed all the current decisions that have been made in regards to the shutting down of gyms across the state. We have decided to reopen our gyms based on the evidence and science that supports our facilities. Starting tomorrow July 2, 2020 at 4:00 pm
[…]
…in support of the nearly 75 [sic] employees, we disagree with further damaging their livelihoods after the challenge the March shutdown already imposed.

I am reminded today is July 4.  The day Americans celebrate high treason and make fun of our Canadian friends because they still have to pretend they care about the Queen (haha).  Is this a petty hill to die on?  Yes.  As I’ve been reminded by others here, if you’re not willing to tell them to “fuck off” over something petty, don’t be surprised when they don’t take you seriously when they go for something that really matters.  At that point it stops being a metaphor.

In short, I had to go.  Principles and all.  Here is proof of my intransigence.

Take that! Facial recognition software!

This is a fantastic beer for winter, not so much for summer.  “Mexican Chocolate“ is a gimmick because chocolate is native to Mesoamerica and initially cultivated by Mexican Indians, therefore all chocolate is Mexican. Appropriate it it all you want, because its delicious and STEVE SMITH APPROVED.  Great Divide Mexican Chocolate Yeti:  4.4/5