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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPublic statement of the programmer to manipulation of data in Florida...
https://geojones.org/2020/05/22/public-statement/?fbclid=IwAR0ajEq20BD29ZmwUUnImSgVA7_8yILARl8sWXiybpVT7DbDqXf5CADshuYStatement issued by Rebekah Jones for public release
Historical data has been removed or become inaccessible, and researchers are now being told they wont be given access to data previously published for at least another year. The dashboard I built and managed for months continues to crash under its new management, with data going missing or showing questionable numbers, and the interface itself constantly glitching and disabling features. Reports of mismanagement and misleading numbers plague an office I once helped establish as the gold standard for public data sharing.
The only directive I refused was to manually change data in a misleading way to drum up public support of resuming pre-pandemic level of activities without a science- based assessment of each countys respective risk or readiness to do so. The request to mislead the public with falsified data made me uneasy, and I immediately reached out to my supervisor, as well as my friends and family, about what happened. It was no secret in our office that Shamarial Roberson asked me to compromise my integrity and use my dashboard to mislead the public about the safety of reopening each county. I had never in my academic or professional career as a scientist been asked to manipulate data to influence public opinion, and I am still caught in disbelief that this person remains employed by DOH, while I have been wrongfully terminated and defamed by the Governor and state employees.
I did what any scientist would when asked to do something wrong I said no and I made clear that I would not participate in any research or activity using misleading data that could get people sick or worse.
Read the whole statement. The Florida website is not accurate.
SWBTATTReg
(22,100 posts)way that may confuse some who accesses the website and associated facts. The deliberate distortion of facts should be a crime of some sort, but I don't know what, e.g., endangering the public welfare?
RVN VET71
(2,690 posts)And Desantis and his fellow Satan worshippers (I made that up about worshipping Satan, but it sure as f*ck fits, doesn't it?) don't give 2 figs for immorality or sinning. If they did they wouldn't be going into the everglades to strip naked, fornicate with the goat Lord, and dance around fires on Witches' Sabbat. (I'm not sure if I made that up. It sounds like something Republicans in Florida would do. I could be wrong. Look it up, someone. I heard stories, lots of stories, from people all over the place, from everywhere.)
3Hotdogs
(12,364 posts)Salviati
(6,008 posts)yardwork
(61,588 posts)Stuart G
(38,414 posts)gibraltar72
(7,500 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,309 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,697 posts)I'm reaching the conclusion that everything about Florida is corrupt.
Those of us who are trying to uphold the good qualities we were raised with, are fighting a lonely battle.
"The only directive I refused was to manually change data in a misleading way to drum up public support of resuming pre-pandemic level of activities without a science- based assessment of each countys respective risk or readiness to do so."
mcar
(42,295 posts)her education, credentials, everything.
chia
(2,244 posts)if it's been disappeared forever.
superpatriotman
(6,247 posts)The backwater regressives in Tallahassee are keeping the state darker than a mushroom funeral
Stuart G
(38,414 posts)Kinda tough choice? ...Not really...
superpatriotman
(6,247 posts)on behalf on Plump's fluffer
Shamarial Roberson needs to be outed.
Shamarial Roberson manipulates health data to influence public opinion
iluvtennis
(19,843 posts)someone will destroy the data she had collected/maintained, never to be found again.
ananda
(28,856 posts)I think it's a lot of red states misreporting and fudging
the figures.
Response to ananda (Reply #15)
Name removed Message auto-removed
magicarpet
(14,144 posts)... fudge the numbers - then just call it a win.
ancianita
(36,016 posts)Which might be one reason she's come forward, done this interview with Chris Cuomo and made a statement.
So far, Floridians know what they've read in the papers.
Here's the latest from the Tampa Bay Times. (formerly the Tampa Tribune)
https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/22/ousted-manager-was-told-to-manipulate-covid-19-data-before-states-re-opening-she-says/
Thursday's Miami Herald
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article242892011.html
Previously, its taken as long as two weeks for the results of pending tests from private labs to be added into the states official count, making it difficult for officials to project the size and scale of the pandemic in the state.
And on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed that a weekend spike of about 550 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Miami-Dade County was largely due to a backlog of three-week-old test results from an undisclosed testing site. He said the site was not affiliated with the state.
Back in April...
"State Officials Block Florida Medical Examiners From Releasing Data On Coronavirus Deaths"
https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/state-officials-block-florida-medical-examiners-releasing-data-coronavirus-deaths
SleeplessinSoCal
(9,107 posts)"ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida's governor says the woman who was in charge of the state's COVID-19 dashboard has active criminal cases against her, suggesting her claims of data manipulation were just being amplified by those looking for a "boogeyman."
Rebekah Jones, a geospatial scientist formerly with the state Department of Health, reportedly told several media outlets she was asked to remove data showing that COVID-19 patients first reported symptoms earlier than state officials originally announced. She claimed that when she refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen," she was given the choice to resign or be fired."
https://www.fox13news.com/news/desantis-former-manager-of-coronavirus-dashboard-not-a-data-scientist-faces-cyber-stalking-charge
Another source including Jones' lawyer.
https://cbs12.com/news/local/covid-19-dashboard-designer-faces-cyber-sexual-harassment-charges-desantis-says
Crowman2009
(2,494 posts)Just because he claims that she is under investigation does not take away the fact that she was ordered by state officials to remove data. Sort of like when sexist scumbags in politics or criminal justice try to blame rape victims for the crimes committed against them.
Jarqui
(10,122 posts)They have been considering that data in their decision as to when to come home.
They both are high risk.
So this story hits a little closer to home.
The woman who wrote that blog conveys heavy vibes that she's telling the truth.
The conduct of DeSantis & his government is outrageous.
They're risking a lot of lives and trying to cover it up as I think has been happening in other red states.
CaptainTruth
(6,582 posts)And it's intentional. Our governor Ron DeRacist wants to be Trump Jr. I hate him & from comments I see he's pissing off a lot of us.
Our Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried (Florida's only statewide-elected Democrat) has been taking on DeRacist in the press & on social media, & I'm really hoping she runs for governor.
It won't be until 2022, but if DeRacist keeps screwing up like he is & Nikki keeps waging prominent opposition, like she has been recently, I think she could beat him.
Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)we're all on our own to protect ourselves.
I like Commissioner Fried. I too hope she persists and prevails.
Martin Eden
(12,862 posts)Then there is no accountability or justice.
Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)In my opinion, besides the problems inherent with minimal insufficient testing, the data shit really hit the fan big time on or around April 23-25. There were certainly problems before then, but something big happened around that time frame. No clue what, but something did.
The Florida website is absolutely and definitively NOT accurate!
Native
(5,939 posts)Grins
(7,205 posts)And if she doesnt have one, why not?