This and That

66% of mothers say that they, rather than their partners, are chiefly responsible for childcare. 24% of fathers make the same claim. [NYT 2/7/21]


In 2019, an average of $11,000 per year per person was spent on health care in the United States, far more than any other industrial country. [Axios AM 2/27/21]


At the end of 2019, women made up the majority of students in U.S. medical schools. 50.5% of students in medical schools were women and 49.5% men. In the medical profession overall, male doctors outnumber female doctors 64% to 36%.

While medical schools are experiencing an increase in applicants and new enrollees, the country continues to face a projected shortage of 122,000 doctors by 2032. [WP 12/23/19]


Healthcare is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. economy employing over 18 million workers. Women represent nearly 80% of the healthcare work force. [CDC.gov 2/6/21]


It appears that the more educated people are, the more likely they are to believe that QAnon claims are either very accurate or somewhat accurate. 27% of those with postgraduate degrees have those views. That compares to 20% of those with a bachelor’s degree and 14% of those with less than a college degree. [Political Playbook 2/6/21]


45% of all U.S. workers in 2019 were included in the category of the lowest-income workers, earning less than $30,000 a year. [Axios Market 2/10/21]


39% of respondents (15% were very likely and 24% somewhat likely) say they will consider buying or leasing an electric vehicle. 49% (19% not very likely and 30% not at all likely) are not likely to consider buying such a vehicle.

50% will consider buying a hybrid vehicle while 38% will not consider the same. [Morningconsult.com 1/25/21]


There have been four Black governors in American history – all men. [Grandjay]


What would life be like in these crazy times without email, texting, Twitter,
Facetime, Skype, Zoom, WebEx/Cisco, and whatever other form of communication one might use? [WW]

The use of Zoom has exploded from 10 million users in 2017 to 300 million during the pandemic.


“That’s a great question.” How many hundreds of times have you heard one person or another use that phrase to describe a question they have received from a journalist on TV when you think, “Why is that such a great question?” [WW]


Sometimes delivery of the U.S. mail takes a while, as previously reported. Here are some additional examples:

Debbie Cowan mailed a letter to her grandson Max on December 17 – it arrived on February 9, 2021 – 54 days in transit.

Nancy Alexander (my sister) mailed a letter to me on January 23 – 2-day priority mail – it arrived on February 3 – 10 days in transit.

Debbie received both her January 25, 2021 and her February 15 & 22, 2021 copy of the New Yorker magazine on February 11, 2021. [WW]


General Motors will sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2035. This decision, especially if followed by auto makers in the U.S. and Europe, will have a negative impact on industries involved in supplying parts to makers and the oil and gas sector. [NYT 1/28/21]

The following are 15 interesting predictions relating to the current gas/diesel engine.

  • Auto repair shops will disappear.
  • A gas/diesel engine has 20,000 individual parts. An electric motor has 20.
  • Electric cars are sold with lifetime guarantees and are repaired only by dealers. It takes only 10 minutes to remove and replace an electric motor.
  • Faulty electric motors are not repaired in the dealership but are sent to a regional repair shop that repairs them with ROBOTS.
  • Your electric motor malfunction light goes on…so you drive up to what looks like a car wash, and your car is towed through while you have a cup of coffee. Then your car comes out on the other side with a new electric motor or component.
  • Gas stations will go away. Street corners will have meters that disperse electricity. Companies will install electrical recharging stations…in fact, they’ve already started in the developed world.
  • The coal industries will go away. Gasoline/oil companies will go away.
  • Drilling for oil will stop. So, say goodbye in OPEC. The Middle East is in trouble.
  • UBER is just a software tool (they don’t own any cars) and is now the biggest taxi company in the world. (Ask any taxi driver if they saw that coming.)
  • Autonomous cars. In 2018 the first self-driving cars were already here. In the next few years, the entire auto industry will be disrupted. You won’t own a car anymore, instead you will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination. You will not need to find a parking space. You will pay only for the ‘driven distance’ and you can be productive while driving. The very young children of today will never get a driver’s license and they will never own a car.
  • About 1.2 million people die each year in car accidents (worldwide). That includes distracted or drunk drivers…We currently have one accident every 60,000 miles driven. However, with autonomous driving that will drop to 1 accident every 6 million miles. That will save a million plus lives, worldwide each year.
  • Look at what Volvo is doing right now. No more internal combustion engines in their vehicles starting with the 2020 models. They are using all-electric or hybrid only (with the intent of phasing out hybrid models in the not too distance future).
  • Many engineers from Volkswagen and Audi are completely terrified of Tesla. That was unheard of only a few years ago.
  • Insurance companies will have massive trouble too because, without accidents, the costs of insurance will become cheaper. Their car insurance business model will disappear.
  • Electric cars will become mainstream by about 2030. Cities will be less noisy because all new cars will run ONLY on electricity.

[Author unknown]


The United States government was able to land a vehicle on Mars—where the temperatures are -81 degrees Fahrenheit—after traveling 300,000,000 miles. But the state of Texas was not able to prevent their electrical system from failing during a temperature of +40 degrees. [WW]


Nearly 17 million children do not have the high-speed internet they need to connect to virtual learning. [AT&T 1/29/21]


Super Bowl 55 averaged 96.4 million multiplatform viewers, the smallest overall Super Bowl audience in 14 years. Last year’s Super Bowl averaged roughly 102 million viewers. [Morning Media 2/10/21]


Approximately 12.6 million households took in pets between March and December 2020. [NYT 2/21/21]


Less than 20% of the world’s population lives in free countries. [World View Newsletter 3/3/21]