Ken's Comments

Recently a relative forwarded a post from Douglas G. Frank - Dr. Frank Models.  A person asked Dr. Frank "What would it take for you to support a [coronavirus] vaccine Dr. Frank?" Dr. Frank posted a long response that I won't copy here.*  But I'll summarize and then respond.  Two key premises of his position: 1. The reward has to be worth the risk 2. Polio is not Covid and the reward [for taking the polio vaccine] was worth the risk (and the price). Of course that led into a long dissertation on why the reward for taking the Covid vaccine is not worth the risk, with a lot of mathematical equations on what percent of the US population has been infected and what percent has died and speculating on what value the vaccine will be.  And he also tossed in a suggestion that Covid will just fade away if we don't vaccinate. Let's make one obvious point first.  He's commenting about a vaccine or vaccines that have not yet been approved and for which no side-effects ...

This is a story that came to a head last week. Previous to last week, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a quasi-federal Agency, fired approximately 200 tech workers - American workers - and, it is reported that they forced those people to train their replacements, all of whom work for foreign based companies and many of whom were coming to the US to work on H1-B visas. Here's what happened last week: Monday: President Donald Trump meets with representatives of the tech workers in the White House to hear first hand what happened to them President Trump immediately fires Skip Thompson, the Chairman of the Board of the TVA.  Thompson was a Trump appointee.  Didn't matter.  "You're fired" in classic Donald Trump/Apprentice fashion. President Trump then says: “So, let this serve as a warning to any federally appointed board. If you betray American workers, then you will hear two simple words: You’re fired. If the TVA does not move swiftly to reverse their decision ...

A friend posted a meme on Facebook titled "Trickle Down Economics" and it offers the following facts.  $2.3 trillion was spent in stimulus this year That's $23,000 per working age adult (assuming 100 million such adults) The meme goes on to say but "you got 1,200 per person & big companies got the rest." The meme wraps up by showing President Trump's signature, clearly intending to hold him responsible for this atrocity. I did something I rarely do on Facebook.  I posted a reply to something political.  Here is a version of my answer. In 2008 when 10 million Americans* were losing their homes, how many people got a check in any amount?  No one.  Who did get checks in the bailout packages?  AIG, Wall Street financiers, and the big banks - all of whom were involved in causing the economic meltdown. Contrast that with what happened this year, 2020.  What happened to the average American: Every American with incomes below a certai...

At least that's what many in the media will have you believe - that the most dangerous thing to do to our children is to send them to school this Fall. The fear is hitting social media too.  There was a meme on Facebook, allegedly quoting US Education Secretary DeVos, who appeared on all the Sunday morning talk shows last weekend, as saying 0.02% of kids might be at risk of dying due to Coronavirus if schools re-open.  The posting suggested that would be over 14,000 kids. That's scary. A single child's death is tragic.  14,000 even more so.  However, I'd like to suggest there is another side to this issue. It is estimated there are 22 million or 30 million children* for whom school meals are the only nutritious meals of the day.  If 0.02% of those kids die of starvation, that would be 440,000 children (if we use the lower figure).  I don't know if that is a correct calculation but you have to come up with a much smaller percentage to go from 440,000 k...

I am not a fan of the organization that goes by the name "Black Lives Matter" but I am in complete agreement with the concept that Black Lives Matter.  There are three events in recent months that should be rallying points for all people to come together and recognize it is time to not just protest but offer ideas on how to do more to end the inequality that still exists in America. The events I refer to are: The killing of Ahmaud Arbery - in Georgia a young man killed for no apparent reason while he was jogging and then the local police and local DA find no reason to charge the perpetrators The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis  Learning of the higher impact of the Coronavirus on black communities All Americans, regardless of color, deserve to be viewed as individuals and not by skin color, religion, or any other grouping.  All Americans deserve the same opportunity, the same treatment and respect, the same justice.  Unfortunately, the three events I ...

It was an opportunity to unite the nation to do something positive, to bring people together to fight racial discrimination and injustice in the policy and criminal justice system.  And it's been lost. In February, Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed by Gregory and Travis McMichael and a local district attorney said there was not sufficient evidence to charge those two with a crime.  A tragedy and a total disgrace.  Thankfully, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in and the two men have been charged. Last week, George Floyd was killed by a police officer who refused to take his knee of Mr. Floyd's neck for an extended period of time and while ignoring Mr. Floyd's pleas that he could not breathe.  Another tragedy and total disgrace. These two cases point out that, sadly, there still remains injustice towards black Americans in the police and the justice system. These two cases could have united Americans to come together to fight this, to demand chang...

I rarely post political thoughts on Facebook.  It's a nice way to keep in touch with family.  I like to see the stuff they post.  I leave politics for this blog.  If they want to see my thoughts, they can come here. But today, my nephew said something and it demanded a response.  I responded both to his comment and then posted my views on all the violence.  I am reposting it here because this is where these views normally belong and some of the people who read this may not be on Facebook.  This is what I said: I reject the idea that violence solves problems.  Jackie Robinson started dramatic change in American not by fighting back on the baseball field.  He started change by turning the other cheek and using his talents to show people they were wrong. Martin Luther King, Jr. continued that process not by fighting back when Alabama police turned hoses and dogs loose on him and his marchers, but by maintaining peaceful protest.  Rev...