Using data from reliable public sources listed below, I plotted charts showing the relation between the percent of voters that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 in each state and various per capita rates: gun deaths, poverty, teen births, suicide, crime, divorce, several sexually transmitted diseases, longevity, and education. The results show that states that […]
Politics
Something liberals and conservatives can agree on
Liberals tend to dislike suburban sprawl and over-dependence on cars. Conservatives tend to dislike regulations and lack of freedom. Here’s a policy change that should satisfy both liberals’ desire for more walkable, self-sufficient neighborhoods and conservatives’ desire for more freedom. The proposal is to loosen zoning regulations so as to allow homeowners to open small […]
Stopping crime by helping SADs
You are already paying for the drug habits of people with substance abuse disorder. Why not treat addiction in a more humane way that reduces crime, defunds drug gangs, better helps the addicted people, and saves society money? Lots of people complain about crime, especially property crime. People complain especially on websites such as nextdoor. […]
Blowback: Ten ways America’s aggressive foreign policy causes blowback and political instability
U.S. sanctions on oil-producing countries Iran, Venezuela, Syria, and Russia raise energy prices worldwide. U.S.-sponsored coups and proxy wars in Latin America overthrew democratically elected governments and provoked refugees to flee poverty and oppression. Likewise, U.S. wars in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in Asia and Africa since 9/11 have caused at least […]
Blowback: Eight ways America’s aggressive foreign policy causes inflation and political instability
U.S. sanctions on oil-producing countries Iran, Venezuela, Syria, and Russia raise energy prices worldwide. U.S.-sponsored coups and proxy wars in Latin America overthrew democratically elected governments and provoked refugees to flee poverty and oppression. Likewise, U.S. wars in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in Asia and Africa since 9/11 have caused at least 38 […]
Why James Kirchick is wrong about the war in Ukraine
James Kirchick’s essay How the Anti-war Camp Went Intellectually Bankrupt in The Atlantic is a defense of U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine. The essay consists mostly of name-calling and of ridicule of cherry-picked arguments made by antiwar commentators from the left (e.g., Noam Chomsky), from the right (e.g., Ron Paul), and from what […]
Guilt by Association: How the Peace Movement is hindered by antiwar MAGA Republicans like Joe Kent
Tonight I went to a fundraiser for Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who is running for Congress in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. Perez’s opponent is Joe “America First” Kent, a far right MAGA Republican endorsed by Donald Trump. Kent appears frequently with Steve Bannon and with Tucker Carlson. He supports crazy conspiracy theories. He has called the […]
Imagining peace in Ukraine, with AI
The images below were generated by an AI program MidJourney, based on my prompts, shown at the bottom of the article. My aim was to get it to imagine a peace treaty between Biden and Putin that would bring an end to the horrible and risky war in Ukraine. They would be lauded as heroes […]
An easy, money-saving way to stop crime
You are already paying for addicts’ drug habits. Why not treat addiction in a more humane way that reduces crime, defunds drug gangs, better helps the addicts, and saves society money? Lots of people complain about crime, especially property crime. People complain especially on websites such as nextdoor. Likewise, many newspapers and TV news shows […]
Playing Russian Roulette in Ukraine
Four recent articles have similar, frightening messages about the risk of nuclear escalation in Ukraine. My member of Congress, Rep. Adam Smith (no relation), is playing a large role in sustaining that risk. The first article, Putin flirts again with grim prospect of nuclear war – this time he might mean it, by Pjotr Sauer […]