Analysis

In the post on flu vaccination rates and Trump’s 2024 vote, I was asked on reddit what the relationship was between gas prices and Trump’s approval rating. I told them that this data was not available on the county level but it was available on the state level. AAA keeps track of average gas prices […]

The next variable in the County Health Rankings updated is Flu Vaccinations. The data is from 2023 from the Medicare database for Medicare enrollees. The overall flu vaccination rate for the state was 52% which was higher than the U.S. rate of 44%. Potter county had the lowest rate at 26%. Montgomery had the highest […]

I have used County Health Rankings for years on this site to provide insight into the social ills plaguing the Allegheny mountains. Last year they lost their main funder, the Robert Wood Johnston Foundation. They are not doing major data releases now, but they update their site as new data is released. This post focuses […]

I have used County Health Rankings for years on this site to provide insight into the social ills plaguing the Alleghenies. Last year they lost their main funder, the Robert Wood Johnston Foundation. They are not doing the major data releases now, but they are updating their site as new data are released. This post […]

Scrolling through the feed on LinkedIn I came across this photo showing the Catholic Dioceses with the largest rise in converts. The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese reports an 84% increase in converts to the faith. Could this increase in converts be an example of a Pope Leo XIV effect? He is the first Pope to be born […]

On day 2 of the 49th Appalachian Studies Association Conference at Marshall University I took video of 2 individual sessions. There were many that day. The first session I filmed is on Race and Health in the Appalachians. The second session I filmed is on emergency response to climate change disasters such as Hurricane Helene. […]

Jackie Allison has submitted this article on how the Iran War and all wars are rackets. “War is a racket,” said Major General Smedley Darlington Butler USMC (1881-1940) in the book of the same name. Major General Butler received many outstanding medals and commendations during his years of military service including two Medals of Honor. The […]

Many liberal pundits often predict that Trump’s MAGA followers will desert him every time he breaks one of his campaign promises. Except for the Epstein files, these predictions have not come to fruition. The latest prediction of a MAGA revolt is over Trump’s Iran war, which began on February 27. The polls so far tell […]

Last week I posted on the new Small Area Income and Poverty Esimates (SAIPE) for the U.S. and Pennsylvania and for Cambria and Forest Counties. The poverty rates for the U.S., Pennsylvania, and every county in the state are presented in the table at the bottom of the post. Subsequently, this post will look at […]

After a month delay, the Census bureau came out with new poverty estimates for 2024 for every state, county and school district. The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates were probably delayed by the government shutdown. They also had to catch up on other economic statistics such as the unemployment rate. The map above shows […]