What's Wrong With Kentucky? #200
I had a chance to travel through Kentucky last summer. We were just passing through on our way to St. Louis, a trip I wrote about when we got back.
Kentucky seemed like many other places I have traveled in the United States. There were quaint small towns, lots of farm land as well as strip malls and struggling downtowns.
I don't want to criticize all the people of Kentucky because frankly, I don't know any of them and I am sure there are many wonderful Americans who live and work there.
But for some reason they have sent some of the most outrageous people to represent them in the United States Congress.
Everyone knows about Senator "No," more commonly referred to as Mitch McConnell. He swore to block any legislation proposed by Democrats back in 2008 when he was Majority leader, and continues to try that now that he is in the minority.
Then there is Senator Rand Paul, who thinks as a trained ophthalmologist that he knows more about infectious diseases than anyone else in the medical or scientific community. He continues efforts to discourage vaccinations and mask mandates to fight Covid-19.
But that's just the Senate. Over in the House, Kentucky voters have also elected Thomas Massie, a Trumpite who is also a Republican. Just days after the school shooting in Michigan which killed four people and wounded seven others, Massie sent out a "Christmas card" with a family picture posted on it.
If you look closely you will notice Massie is holding an M60 machine gun while his youngest daughter is holding an Uzi. The rest of the family is holding other types of assault rifles.
It should be noted that under federal law, machine guns are restricted to the military, law enforcement and civilians who have a special license obtained before 1986. It's not clear if the Congressman, who is running for re-election, has such a license. The ATF should take a closer look.
In defense of Kentuckians, Massie is taking some heat from other members of Congress. Among them, another Kentucky Congressman, Democrat John Yarmuth, who called the tweet "insensitive" considering the Michigan shooting.
“I promise not everyone in Kentucky is an insensitive asshole,” he said.
I'll buy that. But I hope some folks there come to their senses next year when Massie is up for re-election. (No dumbest quote of week this week. Nothing can top Massie's tweet. )
Got a Dart?
An asteroid is heading our way. NASA is tracking one that will make a close approach, in space terms, on December 11. It's deemed "potentially hazardous," even though there is little chance it will hit Earth.
This asteroid is about the size of the Eiffel Tower and will pass within 2.44 million miles of our planet.
It's called 4660Nereus and you really don't have to
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| (Courtesy NASA) |
But an asteroid hitting the earth sometime in the near future is not that far-fetched. There are 2,000 "potentially hazardous" asteroids that can be seen today. Some have come a lot closer that Nereus will, so NASA has a plan if there's really a threat to the planet.
You may have missed this, but just last month NASA launched a spacecraft called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) at Dimorphos, a smaller asteroid. It's a test to see whether a spacecraft crashing into an asteroid can change the asteroid's orbit and push it farther away from Earth. It will take nine more months for the DART to make contract with Dimorphos, when it's about 6.8 million miles from Earth. The DART program is costing $330 million, but if it works it could be well worth it sometime in the future.
An asteroid is heading toward Earth. Don’t cancel dinner plans. | RochesterFirst
NASA launches spacecraft to test asteroid defense concept – CBS17.com
Note to Sci-Fi fans. No, this is not a new Bruce Willis movie or an episode of Star Trek. It's real. It's an international mission. The spacecraft has a small tracking system on board that will be monitored by the Italian Space Agency to make sure it finds its way to Dimorphos. It's the Italians first deep space mission.
You Can See The Red In Covid-19 Spikes
This did not surprise me, and I doubt you will see much reporting of it on Fox News or any of the right-wing propaganda networks. But a new study shows that people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election are three times more likely to die from Covid-19 than areas that went for President Biden.
I'm sure the conservatives will ignore this study because it was done by NPR, but it looks accurate to me.
NPR looked at the deaths per 100,000 in roughly 3,000 counties from May when the vaccine became available nationwide, until the end of November. The trend crossed all age groups so it isn't just people over 65. They also looked at the vaccination rates in the counties as well using numbers from Kaiser. Despite early low vaccinations among minorities, the vaccination rate for Republicans is now at 59%, while Democrats are 91% vaccinated.
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| (2020 vote by county, courtesy Wikimedia Commons) |
The Kaiser Family Foundation's poll traces the differences to misinformation. Their poll shows 94% of Republicans think one or more false statements about Covid-19 might be true, and 46% believe four or more false statements might be true. In contrast, only 14% of Democrats think that to be the case.
KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: November 2021 | KFF
The CDC says there have been 150,000 deaths from Covid-19 since May, and the vast majority of them have been among the unvaccinated. If you voted blue in a red state, this can be depressing.
This is my 200th blog. You will note the small number in the upper right hand corner of this page indicating that. Since I started writing this blog 200 weeks ago, I have covered many topics large and small, some important and some trivial. I confess that some of my entries were not my best work, while others I go back to read with pride.
Those of you who read this blog on a weekly basis, I thank you. Those who may have discovered it by accident and have read just one or two, thank you as well. I would very much like to get more feedback. So if you have a few minutes, go to the comments section at the bottom left side of this post and send me a note. You can suggest a topic, take issue with what I wrote or just comment. I hope to keep this going a bit longer.
HS
(Copies of my latest book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:
HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796
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