Republican states have higher rates of teen births, gun deaths, suicides, poverty, crime, and divorce; and they die younger and are less educated

ByDon Smith

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…

Something liberals and conservatives can agree on

ByDon Smith

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…

Dennis Kucinich’s cogent interview about the war in Ukraine and U.S. foreign policy

ByDon Smith

Dennis Kucinich’s extended interview with Aaron Mate’ is cogent: Dennis Kucinich: where are the pro-peace Democrats?. He speaks well. Kucinich sounds clear-headed, informed, and inspiring. He discusses what the proxy war with Russia says about the U.S. attempts to maintain a unipolar world. Here’s my summary of his interview, with quotations. “Once the United States…

Blowback: Ten ways America’s aggressive foreign policy causes blowback and political instability

ByDon Smith

  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

ByDon Smith

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

ByDon Smith

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

ByDon Smith

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…