By Eric W. Schoen
There is so much going on in the news that we will explore this week. Some good, some bad, some truly sad!
Our country has come to the point where we have to screen members of Congress before they enter the House chamber? The No. 3 House Democratic leader, Rep. Jim Clyburn, has been fined $5,000 after Capitol Police reported he avoided being screened before entering the House chamber, the House Ethics Committee said last Friday.
The 80 year old South Carolina congressman is serving his 15th term in the House. He is the first Democrat to be fined under security screening rules the House imposed this year after the violent Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.Three Republicans have been fined, most recently Kentucky Rep. Harold Rogers, who is 83 and has also appealed. Clyburn’s fine, which he is appealing is $5000.
If our elected officials have to go through this screening, imagine the screening you and I will have to go through if we want to go to their respective offices and greet them or lobby them in person on issues important to us?
As we go to press, a Queens highway cop diverting traffic from a fatal Long Island Expressway crash was run down and killed early Tuesday by a drunken hit-and-run driver with a suspended license. NYPD Highway Officer Anastasios Tsakos, 43, was directing cars away from a single-car crash near Francis Lewis Blvd. in the eastbound lanes when he was struck “head on” by a passing red Volkswagen Passat.
By the way, the driver of the single-car crash also had a suspended license. One person in that car was killed. Do we really think that with the legalization of recreational marijuana things are going to get better on our roadways. Tsakos leaves behind a wife and 2 children. We pray for them.
People have been driving crazy on our roads particularly since the start of the pandemic. If you are doing the speed limit chances are you will be honked at by the driver behind you who will also flash their lights. With more people going back to work driving their cars this crazy behavior better stop or we are bound to see more senseless tragedy.
89 people short on the Census and New York will now lose a Congressional seat. This as a result of national population shifts according to census data released Monday. The loss might have been avoided if just a few dozen more people in the state had been counted!
New York’s population grew by more than 4% over the past decade, according to the 2020 census figures, but that increase didn’t keep pace with larger gains in other parts of the country. If just 89 more people had been counted in New York, and no other states counted more residents, it would have held on to all 27 of its current seats in congress, according to Kristin Koslap, senior technical expert for 2020 Census Apportionment.
According to the person who ran New York’s Census operation, President Trump is to blame for closing down Census operations 2 weeks early and Governor Andrew Cuomo is also to blame for not providing promised funding for census operations. Well, here we go again! Another investigation! When does it stop?
Plenty of Covid vaccine and only 43% of Americans have received a dosage. And of those who received Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, 5 million people didn’t go back for the second dose. Those in the know are saying that people are fearful of the supposed bad reactions that people have had to the second dose.
One dose will give you some coverage but you really need the two doses of Pfizer and Moderna and to wait two weeks until after your second dose to be fully covered. Didn’t we see and hear of all those people who died when there was no vaccine available. And now because of the fear of a slight reaction that a friend of a friend had people are afraid to get fully vaccinated! Makes no sense to me.
By the way, 8 million people received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine before the pause which is now over. Of the 8 million people, 15 people developed the blood clotting conditions and 3 have died. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the Death rate is 869.7 deaths per 100,000 population every year in our country. You don’t want to see anyone die, but 3 out of 8 million is certainly not a reason why you shouldn’t get the needle with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in your arm! And with Johnson and Johnson you get 1 needle not two!
The Yonkers Office for the Aging (914-377-6822) and Scarsdale Ambulance Corps (914) 722-2288 are working to provide Covid vaccinations for the homebound.
We hear of more juvenile Covid cases. We see more kids playing sports. Don’t get me wrong, sports are an important part of a young adults high school experience. But if your kid is playing sports remember Pfizer vaccines can be given to young people 16 and over and Moderna is authorized for those 18 and over. Participation in sports is a decision parents and their children have to make but a friend of mine who is a doctor doesn’t recommend it.
We are hearing reports again of people putting off routine doctor and dentist visits out of fear of contracting Covid-19. Not smart. In terms of dentists they have been practicing sophisticated hygiene practices for years. It’s never fun going to the dentist, but you should have no fear if your dentist is following all the proper protocols. It’s rare you see a doctor who isn’t masked up and gloved up in an office constantly sanitized.
Finally, lessons for the candidate in Yonkers 4th District who was recently removed from the ballot. And a lesson for all candidates.
#1. No palm cards (the card that tells you their miraculous accomplishments) on car windshields. This candidate put a card on my sister’s windshield, it rained and she spent a half hour scraping it off. #2. Don’t drop a bunch of your palm cards in the entrance hallway of a building you can’t get into. They end up blowing all over the place, the Super throws them in the garbage and will never vote for you.
#3. Don’t dump palm cards in shopping bags or put them in bags you are distributing. In an apartment building push them all the way under the door. Better yet, hand them to people. And pray they will read them!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.
