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For whatever the facts are worth, however, this little slam at last year's Republican Talking Points ignores some significant ones.

Maybe Sweden murdered thousands of their own citizens last year on the theory of Get It Over With. The final results are not in for any country. But right now, this little triumphant attack on Non Lockdown Policy is a little bit out of date.

Number of Fatalities from the virus since June 1, 2021 -- 72

Since July 1 -- 20

Since August 1 - 6

The tally of total cases has gone up during this time period by almost 41,000 - from 1,075,745 to 1,116,584. Thus about 4% of the cases reported have occurred over the last 10 weeks or so. Less than 2 tenths of one percent of the summer cases have led to fatality.

And this means that the total fatality rate since June 1 in Sweden has been 72 persons out of a population of about 11 million.

Finally the WorldoMeter provides this snapshot of current infections in Sweden.

Total Active Cases: 21,305

Serious or Critical Cases: 30

Mild Condition: 20,975

In all, less than 2 tenths of one percent of the Swedish population is currently a case. Of those infected, less than 2 tenths of one percent are critical.

Sweden was near the top of the percapita death tables as of April of 2020. They are now in 39th place.

OK, but Norway has much better numbers. A factor worth considering. So if someone can explain to me why Los Angeles County has dramatically higher case and death rates of the adjacent counties while also having a more rigorous lockdown regime, I will take this argument more seriously. Again, I not saying that Sweden was or is "right" in its approach. I am just contesting the attack on Sweden as the published statistics do not support the vitriolic condemnation of the country.

I don't think squibs like this are serious efforts at anything but cheerleading for Team Lockdown.

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I do not cite these temporarily happy numbers from Sweden as suggesting they did anything good by taking the course they took. The jury is still out for every scheme as the virus has us immobilized for a year and a half and counting -- with another six months now appearing to be a certainty.

There is no "right" way to run a public health campaign -- just better guesses and not so good guesses.

I cite them to debunk this linked article as a substance free attack on Republicans and their fellow traveling skeptics like me who do not buy every damn thing we hear from every frickin body who claims to speak for science.

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Finally, looking at the graphs depicting cases and deaths by political jurisdiction, I am struck by how pronounced the "waves" are. Upward angles in excess of 45 degrees are common for the surges, particularly the later ones. The downslope after the peak is never exactly symmetrical to the upslope, but it is striking to me as a layman how close they are.

In the war between Science and The Virus, the Virus is winning as of now. Those upslopes and downslopes suggest a natural phenomenon not driven by human activity but by its own internal dynamic. I just have a hard time buying the idea that those upslopes have anything to do with human failure or that the downslopes suggest any kind of human success.

This word I am seeing a lot lately -- endemic. What does it mean?