What a crappy flame
You may be right, who knows? I think it's just a badly-written article that you could read into it whatever you're looking for. Failing to tie the numbers to a time frame makes the damn thing a Rorschach Test.
I think the outrage junkies like Tom could take quite a load off their hearts and circulatory system if they'd heed the old adage (something like) "Why posit malevolency when stupidity will suffice?" Not all journalists are Hemingways and a lot of what's written out there is just gibberish. It's a sure sign of paranoia to start hearing threatening voices in the random noise.