Where We're Headed With This Pandemic?

Some very sobering to the point of possibly frightening information, data and predictions on this COVID-19 and the coming Fall, Winter and flu season. From The Hill today:

A new study indicates that even if Americans adhere to current social distancing guidelines for months, the U.S. death toll, which is now near 92,000 with 1.5 cases of infection reported, will likely triple by the end of the year due to the coronavirus.

The study, conducted by the Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy and Economics Institute at the University of Washington's School of Pharmacy, found that 1.3 percent of those who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms die. As Reid Wilson writes, the infection fatality rate of the coronavirus is 13 times higher than a bad influenza season.

“COVID-19 infection is deadlier than flu — we can put that debate to rest,” said Anirban Basu, a health economist at the University of Washington who authored the study.

If the infection fatality rate stands, with the virus spreading even before most states open their economies and relax social distancing restrictions, COVID-19 could claim between 350,000 and 1.2 million American lives by the end of this year, the study found.

Potentially very sobering indeed, I thought.

Stay safe, campers. Be well. Best of luck to all of us.

Defend Gun Control With Facts

It's gotten so tiresome over the years, trying to discuss weapons in our nation and the damage they do to us all. The Right Wing and Republican Party and NRA and all their supporters insist nothing will work, nothing will help and, gosh, we have to support our Constitution and the oh so precious Second Amendment.

The fact is, the facts are, the facts need to be looked at and accepted.

So herewith, some of those facts.

America's unique gun violence problem, 

explained in 17 maps

--America has six times as many firearm homicides as Canada, and nearly 16 times as many as Germany

--America has 4.4 percent of the world’s population, but almost half of the civilian-owned guns around the world

--On average, there is more than one mass shooting for each day in America

--There have been more than 1,500 mass shootings since Sandy Hook

--States with more guns have more gun deaths

--It’s not just the US: Developed countries with more guns also have more gun deaths

--States with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths

--Where there are more guns there is more homicide

--Across high-income nations, more guns = more homicide

--Across states, more guns = more homicide

--More guns = more homicides of police

More:


We have to get over the emotionalism and empty opinions with facts.

Links, sources:

Harvard Injury Control Research Center 

Check out this totalitarian state

Check out this chart.  And if you only compare two nation's statistics, look at Russia's incarceration rate vs. ours, here in the US.

Who's the totalitarian state now?

Another thing we Americans don't believe about about ourselves.

Kansas, Missouri, the US and gun deaths

From the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence on Facebook comes the following article and chart:

How Many Gun Deaths Are There In Your State?

Then, after looking below, note Missouri is HIGH on the list, in the top 1/2 at number 14.  Kansas, while still lower, is also high, at position 23.  And check out next door neighbor Iowa, at near bottom at 43.  People say there's so much killing going on in Chicago yet Illinois comes in down at 37.

Interesting stuff.

But pitiful, too.

Notice, also, that it's the "Red", Republican, Right Wing states where most of the killing occurs.

Coincidence?

You can bet it's not.

Check out the data on the two parties

Over the years:

Keep it in mind next year, in the voting booth.

Look at the jobs alone, let alone the stock market return.

Missouri, Kansas rankings on annual "KIds Count" survey

Here's where you stand to date, Missouri and Kansas on the things that are important, overall, for the children of our respective states (click on picture for easier reading):

Missouri, number 27, overall and Kansas 16.

We have work to do, folks.  It's for our children.

There is a TON of great, hard data here, too. Here's a Yahoo! News article on it, with links:

Best—and worst—states to be a kid

Here's a link to the actual organization that compiles the data:

Kids Count

and this:

KIDS COUNT - Annie E. Casey Foundation

And their Facebook page, since I'm kind of supporting them here:

KIDS COUNT | Facebook

Finally, information on the group as to who they are and what they do:

Annie E. Casey Foundation - Wikipedia

How many hours at minimum wage to pay just for an apartment in Missouri and Kansas?

Check it out for yourself (click on image for larger view):

Unemployment statistics in America and why we need a jobs bill from Congress

Youth Unemployment in the United States

The unemployment rate for those between the ages of 16-24 was 16.2% in April, more than double the national unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate for those between the ages of 16-19 was 24.2% in April.

More than 13 percent of borrowers have defaulted on their student loans, and another 26 percent are delinquent.

More than half of Americans ages 25–34 have saved less than $10,000 for retirement.

According to the White House Council on Community Solutions, the fiscal cost of the 6.7 million Americans ages 16–24 who are neither working nor attending school is $1.6 trillion over their lifetimes.

Congress has cut $1 billion from youth jobs programs over the past decade.

According to the Center for American Progress, nearly 1 million young Americans who have experienced long-term unemployment will lose a staggering $20 billion in earnings over the next decade.

Research shows that workers who are unemployed as young adults earn lower wages for many years following their period of unemployment due to forgone work experience and missed opportunities to develop skills.

Today the unemployment rate among teens is 24.2 percent, higher than it ever was prior to the Great Recession of 2007–2009.

The trends in unemployment indicate that young job seekers have suffered disproportionately in the recession compared to adult workers.

Over the past several decades, employment and labor-force participation among Americans ages 16–24 have declined, while the unemployment rate for this group has risen.

The biggest drop in labor-force participation has been for teenagers, who saw their numbers decline from a high of nearly 60 percent in 1978 to an all-time low of 33.5 percent in 2012.

Since the 1980s the employment-to-population ratio for teenagers and young adults has declined, with the steepest drops occurring in the past decade.

During that time employment among teenagers has dropped the most, falling from 50 percent in 1978 to just 25.8 percent today.

Employment among young adults peaked at 72.9 percent in 2000, falling to 60.8 percent today.

By contrast, employment among Americans of prime working age currently stands at 75.9 percent, about the same as it was in the mid-1980s.

While the overall unemployment rate for teenagers is 25.1 percent, the unemployment rate for black teens is 43.1 percent. And fully half of black males ages 16–19 are looking for work but unable to find a job.

Today Americans under the age of 40 have accumulated less wealth than their parents did at that age more than 25 years ago.

Source: Center for American Progress   So how about it, Congress?  Senators? Representatives? Could we have a jobs bill?   Please?

Republicans trying to kill "Obamacare" for the 35th time

Yes, you read it right, it's being reported that the Republicans in Congress are trying, for yet the 35th time now, to kill the Affordable Care Act, "Obamacare."

They have no plan for replacing it whatever and our system is badly, badly broken, yet they want to try to end it.

How badly broken is the American health care system?

This badly:

New Health Rankings: Of 17 Nations, US Is Dead Last

We, the US, have the most expensive health care system in the world, people, yet our "return" for all that expense is to have one of the worst mortality rates of any industrialized country in the world.

And the Republicans don't think it needs fixing.

It's insanity. 

It's grossly irresponsible, on their part, collectively.

More than 50 million Americans have no health care insurance coverage whatever.

Don't take my word, my opinion, for it, either. Here is just a bit of data on our health care in the US:

Our free market, Capitalistic health care system is killing us, folks.

And we need solutions.

Link:  Latest GOP Attempt to Repeal Obamacare Fails Again

Compare the statistics

And then vote accordingly.

Facts, statistics and America

Missourians on guns and background checks

By all means, get that gun for your home

American health care fact

 

Also the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US:

 

10 Leading Causes of Bankruptcy

 

Study Links Medical Costs and Personal Bankruptcy

 

But no, no, we don't need any fix to our health care system.

 

Heck, no.

Incontrovertible statistics and hard data on guns, violence, shootings and killings in America

From an article in The Atlantic Monthly from last year, not today:

The Geography of Gun Deaths

"...what are the factors that are associated with firearm deaths at the state level?

Poverty is one. The correlation between death by gun and poverty at the state level is .59.

An economy dominated by working class jobs is another. Having a high percentage of working class jobs is closely associated with firearm deaths (.55).

And, not surprisingly, firearm-related deaths are positively correlated with the rates of high school students that carry weapons on school property (.54).

What about politics? It's hard to quantify political rhetoric, but we can distinguish blue from red states. Taking the voting patterns from the 2008 presidential election, we found a striking pattern: Firearm-related deaths were positively associated with states that voted for McCain (.66) and negatively associated with states that voted for Obama (-.66). Though this association is likely to infuriate many people, the statistics are unmistakable. Partisan affiliations alone cannot explain them; most likely they stem from two broader, underlying factors - the economic and employment makeup of the states and their policies toward guns and gun ownership.

Firearm deaths were far less likely to occur in states with higher levels of college graduates (-.64) and more creative class jobs (-.52).

Gun deaths were also less likely in states with higher levels of economic development(with a correlation of -.32 to economic output) and higher levels of happiness and well-being (-.41).

And for all the terrifying talk about violence-prone immigrants, states with more immigrants have lower levels of gun-related deaths (the correlation between the two being -.34).

And what about gun control? As of July 29 of last year, Arizona became one of only three states that allows its citizens to carry concealed weapons without a permit. Might tighter gun control laws make a difference? Our analysis suggests that they do.

The map overlays the map of firearm deaths above with gun control restrictions by state. It highlights states which have one of three gun control restrictions in place - assault weapons' bans, trigger locks, or safe storage requirements.

Firearm deaths are significantly lower in states with stricter gun control legislation. Though the sample sizes are small, we find substantial negative correlations between firearm deaths and states that ban assault weapons (-.45), require trigger locks (-.42), and mandate safe storage requirements for guns (-.48).

While the causes of individual acts of mass violence always differ, our analysis shows fatal gun violence is less likely to occur in richer states with more post-industrial knowledge economies, higher levels of college graduates, and tighter gun laws. Factors like drug use, stress levels, and mental illness are much less significant than might be assumed.

Link to original article: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/01/the-geography-of-gun-deaths/69354/

Here's that horrible, "big government" President in the White House

Statistic of the day

From the "You think you have it tough?" department:

"For every dollar of non-home wealth owned by white families, people of color have only one cent."

Links: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/14-0; http://arc.org/downloads/2009_race_recession_0909.pdf

For anyone who knocks city bike lanes

A statistic: When protected bike lanes are installed in New York City, injury crashes for all road users (drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists) typically drop by 40% and by more than 50% in some locations. Now doesn't that make sense, then? Link: http://www.bikesbelong.org/resources/stats-and-research/statistics/when-protected-bike-lanes-are-installed

Springfield, MO No. 3 on list of "Cities Gaining the Most Jobs"

This out yesterday, according to the 24/7 blog, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They're findings: 3. Springfield, Missouri > Employed pct. increase: 4.96%; > Total employed increase: 3,610; > Workforce: 82,429; > Unemployment rate: 7.4% The employed workforce in Springfield, Mo., jumped nearly 5% between November, 2010 and October, 2011. The city has added 3,610 jobs over the course of the past year, and unemployment has dropped to 7.4%, below the state rate of 8.5%. The city of Springfield says its sales tax revenue increased more than 10% from last year. The improvement came in "sectors like restaurants, department stores, and home improvement stores," according to Ozarksfirst.com. This growth points to a healthy, growing economy — the most important component of job growth. By contrast, Washington State had cities in the "Losing the Most Jobs" category. That would be Spokane (3rd worst), Tacoma (4) and Vancouver (5). Who knows what's going on in Washington State, eh? Link to original post: http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-113812-11705-4-the-american-cities-that-gained-and-lost-the-most-jobs?ywaad=ad0035&nc

This is why scientists think there is global climate change--and why we need to be concerned

Photos show dramatic shrinking of Mount Everest glaciers Glaciers on Mount Everest are shrinking, according to startling new photographs. The two pictures show an "alarming" retreat in ice over more than 80 years. The first was taken in 1921 by British mountaineer George Mallory, who later died trying to conquer Everest. The Asia Society commissioned the same picture to be taken of the main Rongbuk glacier on the northern slope of Mount Everest in Tibet in 2007. The new picture by mountaineer David Breashears show that the glacier is shrunk and withered. A spokesman for the Asia Society said the picture was proof the ice is melting because of climate change, threatening water sources in highly populated areas of India and China. "The photographs reveal a startling truth: the ice of the Himalaya is disappearing," he said. "They reveal an alarming loss in ice mass." It's not because Al Gore wants to benefit commercially from global warming or whatever we call it (though he may, I'm not disputing that---nor do I care). It's because the 2 ice caps and, to my knowledge, all the glaciers on the planet are melting and shrinking at alarming, heretofore unseen rates, folks. And that's hard scientific data--not opinion. Link to original post: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7895611/Photos-show-dramatic-shrinking-of-Mount-Everest-glaciers.html