By The Numbers - part the eleventh

So, today's reporting on vaccination includes the 'fact' that 40% of Marines decline to be vaccinated. Let us see what the reporting offers about why.

Officials say most of the vaccine hesitancy stems from concerns about the speed at which the vaccines were developed and fears over long-term effects.

Pretty tepid excuse. One might surmise (I surely will) that too many in the armed forces come from Red states where wannaBePresident Huey Long 2024-ism is rampant. Well, here are some numbers.

Looking at each state's share of recruits by the number of 18-to-24-year-olds in the state determines how well or how poorly a state is doing compared to its recruitable population. By that measure, the top five states in 2016 were: Hawaii, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Florida. The five places with the smallest share of recruits were: Washington D.C., North Dakota, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York.

Except for Hawaii, Red. Hawaii had low unemployment and thus not a hot target for enlistment, but Hawaii is mostly about tourism and military and not higher education driven employment; the Islands can't even make enough public school teachers. On the other side, North Dakota looks out of place. The unemployment rate at the time of the survey was quite low in North Dakota. Hmm?? So it is not Patriotism, but moolah that encourages? Don't tell that to the Rabid Right Wing.

We know that police, military, and ex-military were disproportionately in The Insurrection. You are only a Patriot if you are in thrall to wannaBePresident Huey Long 2024.

As a violent mob descended on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, lawmakers and aides hid wherever they could, waiting for the military and police to arrive. But many of those who stormed the Capitol were military veterans themselves, who had once sworn to protect the Constitution. In fact, an NPR analysis has found that nearly 1 in 5 people charged over their alleged involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol appear to have a military history.

As to Hawaii, this report demonstrates that Hawaii has the second highest per capita military presence. And, naturally, that doesn't include civilians working for the various branches.