Saturday, December 7, 2019

Population loss in Kentucky: Breathitt County/Jackson


It all started here.

Population loss as in major -- 50% or more.

Source:  Wikipedia  (Breathitt County, Jackson)


Jackson is the county seat of Breathitt County.

Population loss by degrees:  80-90%70-79%, 60-69%, 50-59%.



Percentage of population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree:
  • 12.6% - Breathitt County
  • 23.2% - Kentucky
  • 30.9% - U.S.
Percentage of population 65 and older:
  • 17.2% - Breathitt County
  • 16.4% - Kentucky
  • 16.0% - U.S.
% of population living in poverty:
  • 36.2% - Breathitt County
  • 16.9% - Kentucky
  • 11.8% - U.S.

Greetings from Trump's America.  
Source:  Wikipedia 
3rd-party candidates received 10.1% of vote in 1992, 9% of vote in 1996, 3.7% in 2016
(George Wallace received 7.8% of the vote in 1968)

Breathitt County Library
Related reading:
What’s the Matter With Eastern Kentucky?  (The New York Times, 6/29/2014)
There are many tough places in this country: the ghost cities of Detroit, Camden and Gary, the sunbaked misery of inland California and the isolated reservations where Native American communities were left to struggle. But in its persistent poverty, Eastern Kentucky — land of storybook hills and drawls ­ — just might be the hardest place to live in the United States. Statistically speaking. 
The team at The Upshot, a Times news and data-analysis venture, compiled six basic metrics to give a picture of the quality and longevity of life in each county of the nation: educational attainment, household income, jobless rate, disability rate, life expectancy and obesity rate. Weighting each equally, six counties in eastern Kentucky’s coal country (Breathitt, Clay, Jackson, Lee, Leslie and Magoffin) rank among the bottom 10.

Other Kentucky population loss posts:
Harlan County/Harlan.  (12/6/2019)

Population loss series:

Could you be a little more specific, please?



What a surprise to learn this!


And you have failed miserably, Donald Trump



(updated 1/25/2019; time for another)

The long list of swamp creatures, as provided by the above reporting.



Related posts:
2019
What is the opposite of 'drain the swamp'?  (1/25/2019)
The latest Donald Trump swamp thing.  (1/18/2019)
What is the opposite of 'drain the swamp'?  (1/15/2019)

2018
The Trump Swamp is full of lobbyist-related critters.  (7/18/2018)
What is the opposite of drain the swamp?  (5/14/2018)
Swamp thing Scott Pruitt and his lobbyist buddy ride the Marrakesh Express.  (5/2/2018)
UPDATE. Dear Coral and Lisa, Analysts? How about 'anti-environment Republican' and 'energy industry shill'?  (4/29/2018)
No drainage here UPDATE: Scott Pruitt fills the swamp a 24/7 gushing hose.  (4/3/2018)

2017
Like a swamp after an extended downpour, Donald Trump's Washington D.C. is flooding.  (11/15/2017)
Siding with Wall Street, GOP continues to fill the swamp.  (10/25/2017)
Trump administration plans to flood the for-profit colleges swamp.  (10/1/2017)
UPDATE. More than 4 months into his presidency, Trump blathers about draining the swamp.  (6/8/2017)
Swamp critter of the Trump administration: Geoffrey Burr, Dept. of Transportation chief of staff.  (6/7/2017)

GOP members of Congress announce their retirements from the House early and often (George Holding edition)


Say goodbye to George Holding, 51, calling it quits after 8 years in the House.


Reported in Raleigh Republican George Holding won’t run for re-election to Congress in 2020.  (Raleigh News and Observer, 12/6/2019)

Source:  Ballotpedia 

The art of the North Carolina gerrymander


Sources:  Ballotpedia (NC CD2), U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts (NC, US)

Sources:  CNN (NC/US), Daily Kos (NC 2nd CD)

Source:  Daily Kos

Other retirement/resignation posts:
Alabama 1st CD.  Bradley Byrne.  (8/1/2019)
Alabama 2nd CD.  Martha Roby.  (8/1/2019)
California 8th CD.  Paul Cook.  (11/15/2019)
Florida 19th CD.  Francis Rooney.  (10/21/2019)
Georgia 7th CD.  Rob Woodall.  (8/2/2019)
Illinois 15th CD.  John Shimkus.  (9/11/2019)
Indiana 5th CD.  Susan Brooks.  (8/3/2019)
Michigan 10th CD.  Paul Mitchell.  (8/5/2019)
New York 2nd CD.  Pete King. (11/11/2019)
Oregon 2nd CD.  Greg Walden.  (11/2/2019)
Texas 11th CD.  Mike Conaway.  (8/3/2019)
Texas 13th CD.  Mac Thornberry.  (11/12/2019)
Texas 17th CD.  Bill Flores.  (9/5/2019)
Texas 22nd CD.  Pete Olson.  (8/4/2019)
Texas 23rd CD.  Will Hurd.  (8/5/2019)
Texas 24th CD.  Kenny Marchant.  (8/6/2019)
Wisconsin 5th CD.  Jim Sensenbrenner.  (9/4/2019)
Wisconsin 7th CD.  Sean Duffy.  (9/1/2019)

Let's visualize this Foxconn square footage discrepancy



Foxconn's Terry Gou visits Milwaukee after Trump tells him to 'bring more jobs to Wisconsin'.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/7/2019)
Foxconn is building a million-square-foot structure that is to house a flat-screen factory, and recently filed plans for a 261,000-square-foot “smart manufacturing center,” and a computing data center that would include a 98-foot-high glass dome. A 120,000-square-foot multipurpose building was completed about a year ago.

Keep in mind that Gou is no longer chairman of Foxconn, "but still has a hand in company affairs" -- whatever that means -- according to J-S reporting.

"Rinky Dink", an instrumental by Dave 'Baby' Cortez, one of two of his singles to reach the top 10, debuted at #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending July 14, 1962.  It spent 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at #10.



According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of 'rinky-dink' occurred in 1913. 

Other coinages from the same year include:
  1. blooey
  2. comfort station
  3. efficiency expert
  4. lunatic fringe
  5. roadblock
  6. sob story
  7. stooge
  8. wettability

Related posts:
GET ME REWRITE: Fox News gives Scott Walker air time to prop up his Foxconn FoxCon.  (11/7/2019)
UPDATE: It's time for Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave to face facts.  (11/5/2019)
Foxconn UPDATE: You can add an end date to Chris Murdoch's resume.  (9/30/2019)
Based on Erik's experience, Foxconn has little to offer right now.  (9/26/2019)
Foxconn promises:  Then and now.  (8/2/2019)
The Foxconn chips and dip UPDATE.  (7/16/2019)
So excited: Rep. James Edming (R-Glen Flora) wets his pants over Foxconn vote.  (8/18/2017)
Rep. Warren Petryk (R-Eleva) west his pants over Foxconn vote.  (8/18/2017)
Rep. Scotot Krug (R-Nekoosa ) wets his pants over  Foxconn vote.  (8/18/2019)

Keeping tabs on Foxconn Place in
Eau Claire
Green Bay
Madison
Milwaukee
Racine

Friday, December 6, 2019

Around Town Middleton: Hubbard-Parmenter four-way stop sign intersection



2016 view



Around Town Middleton posts
December 2019
The Monona side of town.  (12/6/2019)

November 2019
Bike rack at Sauk Trail Elementary School.  (11/8/2019)
Not everybody's on board in the Meadows neighborhood.  (11/4/2019)
 
October 2019
Matching car and garage door.  (10/11/2019)

September 2019
Around Town Middleton: Bees love ornamental onion plants.   (9/4/2019) 

August 2019
60-year-old resident arrested for armed robbery.  (8/21/2019)
Staff and visitors may now park in the MCPASD Services Center lot .  (8/2/2019)

June 2019
"ROAD WORK AHEAD" trumps "DRIVE LIKE YOUR KIDS LIVE HERE" on Park Street.  (6/27/2019)
Free lunch Friday.  (6/24/2019)
CBD, just like everywhere else in Wisconsin.  (6/24/2019)
 
February 2019
According to chapter 8.07 of the city ordinances....  (2/4/2019)

January 2019
More than a snow fort, but not a standing-room igloo.  (1/2/2019)
 
December 2018
This section of sidewalk was replaced in 1980.  (12/18/2018)
The post office's new and improved self-service kiosk.  (12/18/2018)

November 2018
Spell checker.  (11/19/2018)

August 2018
Must be on a tight schedule.  (8/6/2018)

July 2018
What type of seeds?  (7/6/2018)

June 2018
If it's not one thing, it's another.  (6/23/2018)
Bloom Bake Shop to reopen as Bloom Bindery, a bakery/bookstore.  (6/15/2018)

May 2018
The Tiedeman Pond frog chorus.  (5/15/2018)

March 2018
Tiedeman Pond winter fish kill.  (3/30/2018)
Hear that lonesome whistle blow.  (3/22/2018)
Explosion on Elmwood Avenue.  (3/20/2018)
Googling 'Henry Hubbard'.  (3/18/2018) 
A not-so-faded Flo strikes a new pose.  (3/12/2018)

February 2018




Around Town Middleton: The Monona side of town


Columbus Drive in Sak's Woods.  One of the few streets in Middleton where the sidewalks end when you get there.

Photos by Retiring Guy



Boulder Lane is a different story.  I'm pretty sure that the sidewalks were added after the fact, much to the consternation of residents here.



Mapped

Related reading:
Sak's Wood neighborhood blog.  (Last post published 5/22/2008)

Around Town Middleton posts
November 2019
Bike rack at Sauk Trail Elementary School.  (11/8/2019)
Not everybody's on board in the Meadows neighborhood.  (11/4/2019)
 
October 2019
Matching car and garage door.  (10/11/2019)

September 2019
Around Town Middleton: Bees love ornamental onion plants.   (9/4/2019) 

August 2019
60-year-old resident arrested for armed robbery.  (8/21/2019)
Staff and visitors may now park in the MCPASD Services Center lot .  (8/2/2019)

June 2019
"ROAD WORK AHEAD" trumps "DRIVE LIKE YOUR KIDS LIVE HERE" on Park Street.  (6/27/2019)
Free lunch Friday.  (6/24/2019)
CBD, just like everywhere else in Wisconsin.  (6/24/2019)
 
February 2019
According to chapter 8.07 of the city ordinances....  (2/4/2019)

January 2019
More than a snow fort, but not a standing-room igloo.  (1/2/2019)
 
December 2018
This section of sidewalk was replaced in 1980.  (12/18/2018)
The post office's new and improved self-service kiosk.  (12/18/2018)

November 2018
Spell checker.  (11/19/2018)

August 2018
Must be on a tight schedule.  (8/6/2018)

July 2018
What type of seeds?  (7/6/2018)

June 2018
If it's not one thing, it's another.  (6/23/2018)
Bloom Bake Shop to reopen as Bloom Bindery, a bakery/bookstore.  (6/15/2018)

May 2018
The Tiedeman Pond frog chorus.  (5/15/2018)

March 2018
Tiedeman Pond winter fish kill.  (3/30/2018)
Hear that lonesome whistle blow.  (3/22/2018)
Explosion on Elmwood Avenue.  (3/20/2018)
Googling 'Henry Hubbard'.  (3/18/2018) 
A not-so-faded Flo strikes a new pose.  (3/12/2018)

February 2018

Population loss in Kentucky: Harlan County/Harlan


It all started here.

Population loss as in major -- 50% or more.

Source:  Wikipedia  (Harlan County, Harlan)


Harlan is the county seat of Harlan County.

Population loss by degrees:  80-90%70-79%, 60-69%, 50-59%.


Percentage of population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree:
  • 11.4% - Harlan County
  • 23.2% - Kentucky
  • 30.9% - U.S.
Percentage of population 65 and older:
  • 18.7% - Harlan County
  • 16.4% - Kentucky
  • 16.0% - U.S.
% of population living in poverty:
  • 41.5% - Harlan County
  • 16.9% - Kentucky
  • 11.8% - U.S.

Greetings from Trump's America.  

Source:  Wikipedia 
3rd-party candidates received 11.8% of vote in 1992, 9.1% of vote in 1996, 2.4% in 2016
(George Wallace received 16.2% of the vote in 1968)

Harlan County Public Libraries (Harlan branch)

Related reading:
Where Government Is a Dirty Word, but Its Checks Pay the Bills.  (The New York Times, 12/21/2018)
Harlan County is the nation’s fifth most dependent on federal programs, according to the government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. In 2016 some 54 percent of the income of the county’s roughly 26,000 residents came from programs like Social Security and Medicaid, food stamps — formally known as SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — and the earned-income tax credit. That is up from 28 percent in 1990. 
In Militant Harlan County, Ky., Miners Vow to Reject New Settlement.  (The New York Times, 3/21/1978)
Nobody here pretends that Local 1974, which has a short but fierce history, is representative of the nation's miners. It wrote the latest chapter in the long-running story of a county known, for good reason, as Bloody Harlan. Part of the county's history of strife was written in mine wars.

Other Kentucky population loss posts:

Population loss series:

Scott Walker environmental legacy UPDATE: Slashing state spending on environmental protection



Reported in Wisconsin led nation in cuts to environmental protection since 2008.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 12/6/2019)



9/1/2019 update, "CAFOs, CAFOS, and more CAFOs", starts here.

Source:  Wisconsin DNR

Reported in County official ask for state help to protect water.  (Kewaunee County Comet,  8/30/2019)

The DNR approved permits for 9 CAFOs in less than a year, from December 2017 to September 2018,  Four of them in one month.

The legacy of Scott Walker's chamber of commerce mentality

At 342 square miles, Kewaunee County is Wisconsin's 7th smallest.   With a population of 20,574, the county has way more cows than people.

8/10/2019 update, "The Wisconsin DNR slash and burn", starts here.

Opinion: Clean water a deliberate policy choice.  (Daily Reporter, 8/9/2019


4/22/2019 update, "Little to no review, lax enforcement, more contaminated groundwater", starts here.

Under a 1984 state water-protection law and more recent statutes, it can take more than a decade for state agencies, the governor and the Legislature to create enforceable limits for hazardous pesticides and industrial contaminants in groundwater, which is the state’s main source of drinking water. 
During Walker’s administration, the process ground to a halt for several years as the governor’s appointees withheld approval to trigger the extensive toxicological review of new contaminants that is among the first steps toward controlling them, the regulators with the state Department of Natural Resources said.
Source:  Wisconsin Water Law (p. 125)


1/4/2019 update, " The chickens come home to roost", starts here.


Task force promised by GOP leader after study finds 42 percent of tested wells tainted.  (Madison.com, 1/4/2019)
Dear Southwest Wisconsin residents,  Be thankful Scott Walker is no longer our governor.  Kewaunee County residents have complained about contamination for at least a decade. After years of pressure from residents and the federal government, Walker in February [2018, his 8th year in office, desperate for a third termapproved an administrative rule with stricter standards for disposal of manure in 15 eastern Wisconsin counties. 
The rule officially took effect July 1. However, the state hasn’t funded DNR enforcement of the new manure limits, and the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection hasn’t taken initial steps in setting technical standards it says are required for implementation.  [emphasis added]

Original 12/17/post starts here.




Original 12/16/2018 post, "Perhaps Donald Trump wants Scott Walker for the same reason Walker wanted Ms. Stepp", starts here.


Sources:
Joke of a headline from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (12/15/2018)
Wisconsin State Journal, (12/30/2010)

More on Scott Walker's legacy:
December 2018
The first 3 chapters:  environment, transportation, corrections. (12/12/2018)
Chapter 4:  Wisconsin families can't afford basic necessities edition.  (12/12/2018)
Chapter 5:  Scott Walker's shameful legacy: The black-white high-school graduation gap edition.  (12/12/2018)
Chapter 6. Scott Walker's shameful legacy (the higher education edition).  (12/13/2018)

January 2019
Taking credit where no credit is due.  (1/7/2019)
Not telling the whole story.  (1/7/2019)
Gliding over the disparities.  (1/7/2019)
Voter suppression.  (1/7/2019)
Teacher bashing compounded by cuts to education.  (1/8/2019)
Just fine and dandy with treading water over high school graduation rates.  (1/8/2019)
And then, to make matters worse, he apparently hacks his son's Twitter account.  (1/9/2019)
Dear Scott Walker, You forgot to mention this part of "OUR LEGACY".  Best, Retiring Guy.  (1/12/2019)
Scott Walker's toxic legacy: "Power to the people" hypocrisy" (Taking away local control).  (1/12/2019)
Pay to play the groundwater contamination way.  (1/12/2019)
Addicted to political slogans.  (1/12/2019)
Blaming his predecessor.  (1/19/2019)
Fast-tracking bills, stifling public participation.  (1/23/2019)

February 2019
UW Regents as campaign donors' club.  (2/8/2019)
Act 10, not working. (2/15/2019)
Scott Walker environmental legacy UPDATE: Little to no review, lax enforcement, more contaminated groundwater.  (4/22/2019)

April 2019
Frac sand nightmare.  (4/25/2019)
Chapter 6 UPDATE.  State Higher Education Executives Officers Association confirms Scott Walker's shameful higher education legacy. (4/26/2019)
"We're # 1" Walker: the 30 billion pound milkman.  (4/27/2019)

May 2019
The piggy bank otherwise known as WEDC.  (5/14/2019)
Giving children with complex mental health needs the shaft edition).  (5/17/2019)

June 2019
Scott Walker's legacy UPDATE: Achieves jobs creation pledge in 8 years instead of 4.  (6/8/2019)
Heartless bastard.  (6/14/2019)
Scott Walker's legacy UPDATE: The Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake youth prison scandal.  (6/21/2019)

July
The Foxconn environmental review skate.  (7/21/2019)

September 2019
Act 10 puts rural school districts in an even deeper hole.  (9/3/2019)

GET ME REWRITE: 3000 sexual assaults at Uber in 2018, and this is the statement we get?


Photo credit:  Wikipedia

Reported in 3,000 people reported sex assaults in Uber rides last year. The company says this just reflects society.  (Madison.com, 12/5/2019)

In Iceland, record-breaking early December heat follows a record-breaking hot summer


Map source:  Ebay

July was the hottest month on record in the Icelandic capital, with temperatures 1.4 degrees Celsius (2.5 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average of the past decade, according to the Icelandic Met Office. April, May and June were also unusually dry and warmer than usual. 
Iceland's most beautiful places Iceland's most beautiful places Iceland's breathtaking landscapes of glaciers and waterfalls, and an economy that's largely dependent on natural resources, make the country particularly vulnerable to climate change. Its impact is seen everywhere.


Other hot spots:
November 2019
Key West and Hawaii.  (11/18/2019)

August 2019
Alaska:  Dead salmon linked to climate change.  (8/24/2019)

June 2019
India.  (6/17 /2019)
San Francisco.  (6/12/2019)
Atlanta, Geogia.  (6/5/2019)

April 2019
Australia suffers through record hot March.  (4/2/2019)

March 2019
Seattle's record-breaking winter heat.  (3/19/2019)
UPDATE: Central Florida's record-setting February heat.  (3/2/2019)

January 2019
Australia, scorched.  (1/16/2019)
2018: Hottest year ever for Australian state of New South Wales.  (1/11/2019)
Sea surface temperatures around New Zealand hottest ever in 2018, further threatening marine life.  (1/11/2019)
GET ME REWRITE: Prague experiences hottest year on record for third time this decade.  (1/6/2019)

August 2018
Climate change as a matter of fact: Red-hot summer of record heat in Europe.  (8/18/2018)
UPDATE: July 2018 is hottest month ever in California.  (8/18/2018)

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Dear GOP lemmings, I'm sick and tired of your "sick and tired" meme. Best, Retiring Guy


Photo credit:  Washington Post


Desperately opined at Americans don’t want Congress to impeach, but Democrats aren’t listening.  (Washington Post, 5/23/2019)

Photo credit:  Washington Post

Nothing in the impeachment hearings will change anyone’s minds.  (Washington Post, 11/15/2019)


Photo credit:  Wikipedia

Blathering found at Americans are ‘sick and tired’ of impeachment and ‘grandstanding & chicanery’ of both parties – Ron Paul.  (RT, 11/27/2019)



Tomi Lahren's message to Trump amid impeachment: 'Don't forget what got you elected'.  (Fox News, 12/3/2019)

Photo credit: NNDB

Bellowing reported at Wisconsin's Jim Sensenbrenner assails impeachment inquiry at House Judiciary hearing.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/4/2019)

Other impeachment posts:
This episode of Looney Tunes stars the three stooges Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, and Michael McCaul. (12/3/2019
GET ME REWRITE: Trump impeachment drive has parallels to Scott Walker recall effort, sez Scott Walker.  (11/29/2019)
GET ME REWRITE: Rep Ann Wagner (R-Missouri) gets buttered up by Donald Trump. And she's lovin' it!  (11/24/2019)
Meet the lieutenants of Vladimir Putin.  (11/22/2019)
"New GOP star" Elise Stefanik is likely to have a re-election battle on her hands next year.  (11/21/2019)
October and November Marquette polls highlight respondents' disconnect between 'the President' and 'Trump'.  (11/20/2019)
Comparing the October and November Marquette polls: There's definitely something screwy going on.  (11/20/2019)
In Wisconsin, it appears that Gen X is leading the parade to keep Trump afloat.  (11/20/2019)
GET ME REWRITE: Ron Johnson consults with Lafayette county board chair before appearance on 'Meet the Press'.  (11/18/2019)
Both sides now: When evenhandedness is simply bad journalism (Christian Science Monitor edition).  (11/16/2019)