https://ourworldindata.org/literacy https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/mean-years-of-schooling-long-run Data on literacy going back to the beginning of the Renaissance tells a very important story. Main points: The United Kingdom and the Netherlands were the first countries to see a mass adoption of literacy in from 1550-1650. The United States had a high level of literacy from our founding. This is due …
Author Archives: stidmatt
Spot the difference
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/armed-groups-in-syria-carry-out-summary-executions-in-lataki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_liberation_reprisals Killing officers of a deposed despotic regime is not a war crime.
How Assad fell
Over the last year, more Iranian military support has been diverted to Russia, reducing Iran’s ability to supply Assad. Russia’s currency has collapsed quickly over the last few weeks, requiring more aid from Iran than ever before, which means less is available for Assad now than at any other point since 2011. Biden has allowed …
Imagine if Stalin had bombed Nazi records
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israeli-airstrikes-hit-security-complex-research-centre-in-damascus-sources-say/ar-AA1vuqZ0 Israel is deliberately bombing the record repositories of the Assad regime. This is not what happens when an enemy power is defeated. This is what collaborators do when their crimes are about to become public. This does not pass the most basic of sniff tests. Cut off Netanyahu immediately.
Long Live Syria
I had to update this map since the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad has been ousted from power. Afghanistan is green because the Taliban lacks recognition from most countries in the world, is not the legitimate government of Afghanistan, Afghanistan still has membership in the United Nations, and is still an ally of the United States. …
Lack of ID part 2
Continued from Part 1 You are an American and you have no identification. You have lost your birth certificate, you are registered to vote, and you have a job. You live and were born in Washington State over 25 years ago. What do you do? Starting documents: Paystub from job Tax statement from last year …
Lack of ID
https://today.umd.edu/umd-analysis-millions-of-americans-dont-have-id-required-to-vote Seven million voting-age Americans lack any ID to vote, and 3 million of these people are under the age of 30. The question I have then is how can someone not have some form of ID. Let’s start with a passport, the highest form of ID. Apply for a Passport To apply for a …
State misses and matches by year
Building off my last post… I have my dataset, which has the partisan affiliation of every Senator and Governor in US history. It also has the partisan affiliation of each president in US history and shows how states have voted in every election since 1788. I just graphed how many states with a Democratic governor …
State flip predictors
My theory is the partisan control of the governorship and Senate seat is a good predictor for how people will vote in a Presidential election. The higher the prediction, the more likely the state will vote for a Democrat. All presidential elections since 1830 are included. A state gets one point if the Governor or …
Israel is not like Hamas
When people describe the interests in the Israeli-Palestinian War as Israel vs. Hamas as what Israel wants vs. what Hamas wants, they are equivocating Israel with Hamas, and the two are very different. Israel is a country with multiple interest groups, and Hamas is a totalitarian terrorist organization. They are not the same. If there …