News come out yesterday that Kentucky had managed to take 6 of the top 10 spots on a list top ten counties in the US. Aside from college basketball, when Kentucky makes it to the top of something it's usually a dubious distinction and this was no different. In this particular case it was for having the highest incident rate for covid in the country, with the #1 county in the nation being just 40 miles (64km) from where I grew up. I'm pretty sure that 'if you can't be good then be good at it' doesn't apply here...
Three of the four spots on that list that Kentucky didn't manage to get were claimed by our neighbor just to the south, Tennessee. Don't know what all they're putting in the water around here but I'm pretty sure Fukitol™ is the main ingredient.
In other news it looks like the recall effort in California is so dead you'd think it tried to crawl in a smashed window at the Capitol. With Cali Republicans outnumbered like the Capitol Police on January 6th, I'm still a bit puzzled as to what they expected to accomplish.
Speaking of January 6th, there's a 'Justice for J6' rally in DC on Saturday, which should be interesting. You can bet that the cops in DC haven't forgotten that day and if last year proved anything it's that American cops with an axe to grind can be downright vicious and petty. I suspect that with all the hype and attention it's getting it'll end up being a non-event. Going after an alert and prepared opponent is usually a recipe for disaster. Whatever else I may think of those folks, I don't think they're oblivious to that. Wilder things have happened though.
Besides, why fight when you can accomplish the same by gerrymandering, without all the messiness and bad optics? On the topic of bad optics, did y'all see that the US pledged 64 million dollars to relief efforts for Afghanistan? To put that in perspective, the US spent 300 million dollars a day for twenty years during operations in Afghanistan. Can someone please explain to me why it's so much easier for politicians to sell killing people than it is helping people?
Ever come across the expression 'guns or butter'? It's part of the reason the CCCP is hard to find on a map these days, refers to the tradeoffs made in 'balancing' military and domestic spending. The 'War on Terror' has consumed close to seven trillion dollars since 2001 and yet "how do we pay for it?!?" only seems to be a major consideration when domestic spending is on the table. Could explain why we're having to deploy the National Guard to overwhelmed and understaffed hospitals across Kentucky though...
I didn't know where I was going with this post when I started but I'm pretty sure I got there. If somebody could let me know where there is I'd be much obliged. Until then, drop me a comment with your thoughts/ideas/angry emojis!