The news has been good locally with COVID case numbers coming down. Unfortunately, the news overseas has has dampened these good feelings. Watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold I cannot help but think of parallels and differences between what is happening now and what was happening 19 years ago when the U.S. invaded Iraq.Continue reading “Iraq and Ukraine: A Contrast in Superpowers”
Tag Archives: United States
Protests and Pandemics: Lessons from History
Watching the developments of the past week were surprising even to me. Were the up swelling of protests over the death of George Floyd and the corona virus pandemic totally unrelated? Is Trump’s generally incompetent leadership a factor? The mostly peaceful demonstrations have been occurring just as the turbulent restriction from the pandemic are being lifted. Do peopleContinue reading “Protests and Pandemics: Lessons from History”
Are Mass Shootings Rare in Southwestern Pennsylvania?
In the press conference following the horrific shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue which climed 11 lives, Wendell Hissrich, Pittsburgh’s director of public safety, said “these events usually occur in other cities, today the nightmare has hit home in the city of Pittsburgh.” The video clip above details six other mass shooting events (definedContinue reading “Are Mass Shootings Rare in Southwestern Pennsylvania?”
Has Poverty Prevention Worked in California?
Trends in Poverty in the US, CA, MS, NH, and PA Recently I did a post on The Hill Talk on how a writer for the National Review falsely claimed that California had the highest poverty rate in the US. The data from the Census Bureau for the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE)Continue reading “Has Poverty Prevention Worked in California?”
Post Paris Politics, Fear of Refugees, and Medicaid
The horrific attacks in Paris have sent a wave of fear around the world. As of this writing, 28 governors in the US have said that they will not accept refugees from the civil war in Syria for fear that ISIS members will sneak into their states. 26 of these 28 governors (84%) are Republican. Continue reading “Post Paris Politics, Fear of Refugees, and Medicaid”
Patriotic Projections and Calculations
I know I’ve been away for awhile between my last post and the one before that. Hope you had a good time on the 4th. There has been some podcasts in conjunction with the holiday. The first was on NPR’s science Friday where Dr. Edward Frenkel discusses how understanding math enables citizens to better questionContinue reading “Patriotic Projections and Calculations”
Correlation with the Number of Hate Groups per Million, Poor Health Suggests More Hate
This is a follow up on the last post on the number of hate groups (such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Westboro Baptist Church) in each state that are being watched by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Some may not agree with the inclusion of African American separatists like the Nation of Islam. Continue reading “Correlation with the Number of Hate Groups per Million, Poor Health Suggests More Hate”
A Wave of Hate Groups in California? No in Washington, DC
The Southern Poverty Law Center has issued a report listing the total number of hate groups per state which they track. The categories followed include, the Ku Klux Klan, Neo Nazi, White Nationalist, Racist Skinhead, Christian Identity, Neo-Confederate, Black Separatist, and General Hate. California is shown to have the most hate groups followed by FloridaContinue reading “A Wave of Hate Groups in California? No in Washington, DC”
Uninsured and Income Gaps in the US and Pennsylvania
The Census Bureau has two estimates of the uninsured that comes out every year. One for the national and state level which is based on the Current Population Survey and the other for the State and County level which is the Small Area Health Insurance Estimates or SAHIE that I’ve written many posts about here. Continue reading “Uninsured and Income Gaps in the US and Pennsylvania”
The Civil War in a Larger International Historical Context
This year much has been made of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the US Civil War. Between the years 1861 and 1865 the United States of America changed, at the expense of over 600,000 lives or 2% of the population, from a loosely confederated grouping of agricultural states (eleven of which were agrarianContinue reading “The Civil War in a Larger International Historical Context”