Other stuff

News reports on early days of Lori Loughlin’s term give insight to confinement in federal prison.

Residence of Lori Loughlin for next two months – Federal Correctional Institution Dublin California Overhead View by Prison Insight is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Previous discussion of Lori Loughlin reporting to prison prompted one astute reader to point out I had made some mistakes in the post. I have corrected some items and clarified others. Many thanks to this perceptive reader!

His comments prompted me to read a few more articles and discuss them here. I dive into this detail because it provides insight on the federal prison system.

11/30/20 – Associated Press – Actor Lori Loughlin reports to prison in college scam– Article says the actress reported to the Dublin, California prison on 10/30. Statement from the prosecutor indicated “the parties” agreed she would report early on 10/30. This is about three weeks earlier than 11/19, which was the date the judge had previously ordered.

She is subject to a 14 day quarantine, which is standard protocol from the Bureau of Prisons. That means as of 11/5 she is in day seven of quarantine with another seven days to go.

11/30/20 – USA Today – Lori Loughlin reports to California prison for 2-month sentence in college admissions case – Reporter confirmed with spokesperson at the prison that Ms. Loughlin was in custody on 10/30.

11/4/20 – Us Weekly – Lori Loughlin is a “Wreck” While Serving Time in Prison–

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Jim Ulvog

Sentencing and current status for parents in college admissions scandal.

Temporary housing for growing number of parents who scammed their children into elite universities. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Periodically I update the status of the parents who tried to cheat their children into colleges. Here is a recap of the players, their sentences, and current status.

Detention status is from the Bureau of Prison’s inmate locator database.

Why am I spending the time to track all this information? Several reasons.

  • First, it is interesting.
  • Second, this provides a superb object lesson in the consequences of cheating, especially when such ethical/moral failures move into the criminal realm.
  • Third, it provides you and me background information on how the federal judicial system works.
  • Fourth, this accumulates the players and status for those who want to find such information.

 

#29? – Mark Hauser – guilty plea entered; plea deal recommends six months prison time, one year supervised release, and $40K fine.  Sentencing expected in January 2021. (9/25/20)

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Jim Ulvog

Devastating impact from shutdown visible in higher education, cancer treatment, pending evictions, and state government finances.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Every day there are fresh reports of the devastating impact from the shutdown of the economy. Damage is widespread. Impact is growing.

Just a few of the recent articles:

  • Early screening for cancer slowed down earlier, resulting in more serious cancers discovered now
  • People showing up for treatment have more advanced cancer
  • Wave of tenant evictions is on the horizon
  • State government budgets are collapsing
  • Freshman enrollment at colleges is down 16%

There is a severe cost to be paid from early mistakes and ongoing mistakes by a wide range of government officials.

 

Devastating impact from more serious cancers

10/15/20 – Wall Street Journal – Covid-19 Outbreaks Led to Dangerous Delay in Cancer Diagnoses – The closing of many health facilities meant regular screenings for cancer were not available for several months this past spring. Next, widespread panic kept people away from doctors’ offices. One insurance company reports the number of daily screenings for colorectal cancer dropped between 50% and 80% for about three months.

Only at the end of August was the number of screenings back to the normal amount compared to prior years.

The expected result?

A cancer care provider reports an increased number of patients are arriving with advanced stages of cancer.

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Jim Ulvog

Seven parents who entered guilty plea in college admissions scandal.

Large number of parents have learned this is not a good plan for getting their children into their dream college. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

While describing the status of Lori Loughlin and her husband in previous update of the college admissions fraud, I learned there have been a number of parents who entered a guilty plea, several of whom have already been sentenced, but I had not previously mentioned their participation.

Looking at the Department of Justice’s listing of defendants, charges, status, and sentencing information at their web site, Investigations of College Admissions and Testing Bribery Scheme identified seven parents who have already pleaded guilty.

 

Bruce and Davina Isackson

5/1/19 – USA Today – Couple who paid $600K to get kids into UCLA, USC pleads guilty in college admissions scandal – This is an old report, all the way back in May 2019.

Bruce and Divina Isackson signed a plea deal with the feds. They admitted paying $600,000 to the mastermind of the scheme in return for getting their older daughter into UCLA and younger daughter into USC. Feds also claim they were in conversations about getting the youngest son into school.

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Jim Ulvog

Update on college admissions scandal – Lori Loughlin and husband sentenced. She already reported to prison.

Residence of Lori Loughlin for next two months – Federal Correctional Institution Dublin California Overhead View by Prison Insight is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Since last update on the admissions cheating scandal, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli have been sentenced to prison, the insurance executive who introduced them to the scheme has entered a guilty plea, and another parent has been charged in the scam.

Double checked my notes against the Department of Justice’s listing of defendants along with their charges, status, and sentencing information at the DOJ web site, Investigations of College Admissions and Testing Bribery Scheme. Found out I missed seven parents who have pleaded guilty, of whom several have already been sentenced.

This post will discuss the Loughlin/Giannulli case. Next post will discuss the parents I previously missed.

Following posts will summarize status of parents who voted pleaded guilty, their sentences, and current status.

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Jim Ulvog

Restrictions on holiday celebrations in California. This is not a spoof. You will think it is a joke, but it is not.

No fun allowed sign. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The California Department of Public Health has listed their specific restrictions on holiday gatherings. There are serious limits on what you can do for your Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year celebration.

I’m not making this up.

Check out for yourself the Guidance for Private Gatherings published on 10/9/20.

In case you think I imagined all this, I will quote select portions of the guidance.

So, if you happen to be one of the people who have not yet moved out of California, or you are waiting for the moving van to arrive, here are the requirements for your holiday celebrations –

(Again, this is not a spoof.)

You may not gather with friends inside your home. You are still allowed to let guests use your bathroom, assuming you scrub down the bathroom quite frequently:

“All gatherings must be held outside. Attendees may go inside to use restrooms as long as the restrooms are frequently sanitized.”

No more than three households may gather together.

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Jim Ulvog

Economic destruction from the shutdown is expanding.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Economic damage from the shutdown is becoming more obvious as more reporters spend time covering the destruction. Here are two articles each on the overall economic impact, specific impact on individuals, and concentrated impact on two cities:

  • GDP in Italy expected to shrink to the level it was 23 years ago
  • Airline CEOs expect it will take years for the airlines to recover
  • Additional 8 million Americans drop below the poverty level, joining the 55 million who were there before the pandemic
  • All 1,600 orchestras in the country have gone dark; their 160K musicians are unemployed
  • San Francisco has 14% vacancy rate in commercial office space
  • Impact on employment in New York City is more severe than the national average

How long will we let this go on?

 

Broad indication of the damage:

10/11/20 – India Today – Italy’s GDP in 2022 shrink back to the same level as 23 years ago: Report – (more…)

Jim Ulvog

Health damage caused by the shutdown is becoming more visible.

There are consequences from the shutdown. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The damage to health caused by the lockdown is becoming more visible. The damage has been there from the beginning of the shutdown; it is just becoming more obvious. A growing number of news articles are describing the deteriorating health outcomes. A growing number of reporters are noticing the devastation.

A few recent articles for your consideration:

  • ‘Years of life lost’ caused by the shutdown is calculated in one analysis to be seven times the number of ‘years of life lost’ which are prevented by the shutdown
  • Frightening increase in suicide ideation by young adults
  • Mental health services pulled off line because of the shutdown
  • Seniors at one nursing home protest the shutdown and the loneliness it causes

Make a mental note that a large number of governors, state-level health officials, federal health officials, and county health officials are forcefully, willfully continuing the lockdowns.

5/5/20 – Washington Examiner – Stress from virus response will destroy 7 times more years of life than lockdowns save: study – Several studies are cited by the article.

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Jim Ulvog

Education – More reports on devastating impact from the shutdown.

Status of public education across the country two months into the new school year. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Increasing numbers of reports describe the damage to education of our youth.  Students of every age group being hurt by the lockdown. Impact on poor or disadvantaged or previously struggling students is even more severe.

I am heartbroken that the damage will continue for the near future. The compounding effect will be terrible.

9/28/20 – ProPublica – The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning – Keep in mind this article describing the devastating impact of the lockdown on students from disadvantaged families is from ProPublica, a far-left news organization and not from some wild eyed Libertarian organization that wants people to have the freedom to make their own decisions on absolutely every issue in their lives.

Article goes into great lengths describing the struggles experienced by one particular student who has been trying to learn in virtual classes. As a starting point, there’s a grand total of four hours online teaching per week. Four hours – one hour per day on Monday through Thursday. That is the only teaching time. For all his class subjects.

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Jim Ulvog

Why I talk about economic indicators so often.

 
Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

One of the frustrations I have experienced as an auditor is the statistical information made visible by the AICPA and publications from others is that the economic data mentioned routinely lags behind two or three quarters on the date it is published.  Another trade association reports giving trends in the religious communities, but the survey information is provided late in the year for the prior calendar year.

The result is when I’m working on an audit or review several months later, the readily available economic data is from the start of the fiscal year I’m analyzing. Sometimes the data is for the prior fiscal year I’m considering. That doesn’t do me much good.

Long time ago I came across a comment that CPAs ought to start tracking key economic indicators on their own.

What a great idea!

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Jim Ulvog

Did the lockdowns have any beneficial impact on the rate of new infections?

Enough time has passed that there is enough information to start analyzing the lockdowns. Preliminary info is not pretty. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Indications are starting to emerge that the answer to the question may actually be no.

Previously mentioned one analysis which found a weak statistical correlation between weaker lockdown requirements and lower infection rate. The study found no correlation between the date that states started releasing the lockdown restrictions and subsequent infection rates.

 

The rate of infections accelerates rapidly and then hits an inflection point where the rate of infections either plateaus or the rate slows dramatically.

The following study suggests the lockdowns have no correlation to when the infection rates hit that transition point. In fact, the inflection point normally is reached before the lockdowns could have had any impact.

10/4/20 – National Review – Stats Hold a Surprise: Lockdowns May Have Had Little Effect on Covid-19 Spread –

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Jim Ulvog

More updates on religious expression and restrictions thereof.

California church during regularly scheduled worship time. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Update on the effort by Los Angeles County to shut down worship at GCC. The march in San Francisco took place. Some churches are worshiping in minor league baseball parks.

9/26/20 – The Roys Report – John MacArthur will Face New Hearing in November for Defying Ban on Indoor Services – On 9/24/20 an LA County judge postponed a hearing to consider whether to hold Grace Community Church and John MacArthur in contempt.

A hearing will now be held on 11/13/20. What will happen then? I don’t know.

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Jim Ulvog

Economic bad news keeps rolling in, but hint of good news is on the horizon.

Parked airplanes idled by pandemic shutdown. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The bad news on the economy called for the shutdown just keeps growing but there is a hint of good news in the near future.

First the good news.

9/30/20 – CNBC – US economy plunges 31.4% in the second quarter but a big rebound is expected – Commerce Department calculations of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter were revised, which is routine, dropping from an annualized contraction of 31.7% down just a little to 31.4% reduction in GDP.

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Jim Ulvog

Minimal drop in number of new unemployment claims for last four weeks as of 9/26/20; more people going back to work.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The number of new claims for unemployment for week ending 9/26/20 has been about the same over the last five weeks, in the mid- to high 800 thousands. Last big drop was the week of 8/29/20. To again put this in context, before the government induced shutdown of the economy new claims averaged about 220,000 per week.

Good  news is the number of continuing claims for unemployment is continuing to drop, which means that more people are going back to work than loosing their job.

The devastating impact of the economic shutdown continues to be painfully obvious.

New Graphs

Starting this week that way the information is presented for this ongoing analysis will be in graphs.

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Jim Ulvog

Observations from San Diego on economic destruction from shutdown.

View directly underneath Coronado Bridge shows the arches in the support towers. Photo by James Ulvog.

It is sad to personally observe the economic devastation from the shutdown.

We spent a few days in San Diego last week. Stayed at a hotel downtown near the harbor. Saw several things showing the severity of the economic damage.

Air travel

For quite a long time airplanes have not been allowed to leave San Diego International Airport until 6:30. It is funny to hear the first engine rev up a few seconds after 6:30 a.m.

I have noticed on previous vacations that there is a string of airplanes lined up ready to leave right at the stroke at 6:30. The planes take off approximately 1 minute apart.

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Jim Ulvog