High School Graduation Rates

The 2014-15 school year is the last year for which we have data. The data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, and is based on the Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR).

Should SNAP Dollars be Spent on Soda?

In Sin Taxes and SNAP Benefits I discussed my thoughts on the ability of SNAP recipients to buy soda. In that post, I present information about the amount of soda bought by SNAP users and the amount of soda bought by people not using SNAP.

Sin Taxes and SNAP Benefits

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about so-called sin taxes (the additional taxes added to products the government deems unhealthy). My recent reconsideration of sin taxes was spurred by a discussion I had on social media about the idea of restricting SNAP, food stamp, money from being spent on soft drinks.

The Truth About Afghanistan

The verdict for this episode is: it is more acceptable to declare Muslims terrorists and kill them than it is to build hospitals and schools in impoverished, Muslim-majority countries. https://media.blubrry.com/jonathansimeonepodcast/content.blubrry.com/jonathansimeonepodcast/Afghanistan.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:45 — 3.6MB) | Embedsubscribe to my podcast Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | RSS | Subscribe to Jonathan's… Continue reading The Truth About Afghanistan

Slavery and Secession

The Confederacy formally withdrew from the United States of America through the ordinances of secession. The ordinances of secession were short, formal documents that announced the intention of each of the 11 Confederate states to leave the union. Four states: Georgia; Mississippi; South Carolina; and Texas,, also published a declaration of causes document explaining their… Continue reading Slavery and Secession

I Got Paratransit

In I Signed up for Paratransit, I described how paratransit is a service offered by local public transit that provides people with disabilities shared ride services within the transit system’s boundaries at a discounted rate.