Using data made available by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, I downloaded and compiled a history of political spending in state politics by anti-gun control interests like the NRA. I did this for all 50 states and for the years 2006-2012. My goal was to be able to answer a simple question: [...]
The most recent Job Gap report was recently released by the Alliance for a Just Society. It is the latest in a string of Job Gap studies for which I was the primary number-cruncher. The report looks at the availability of job openings that pay a living wage in five states – Colorado, Idaho, Montana, [...]
The Walmart located in Secaucus, NJ was one of at least 1,000 stores targeted by striking workers on the busiest shopping day of the year. Despite being one of the largest and most profitable private employers, Walmart pays many workers so little that they can not support themselves or their families without public support. If [...]
Let’s say you have an Excel file with names and sign-in information from some events you hosted over the past year. Some of the attendees came to more than one of your events. You want to send out email invitations to your next big shindig, but you don’t want to accidentally send more than one [...]
I recently looked into donations made by corporate members of The Business Council to New York State Senators. This research was done in support of the push for fair elections in New York State. Some of what I compiled got picked up by the media. For example, an article in the Times Union from Albany [...]
I spent five days on Cliff Island, one of approximately two hundred islands scattered across Casco Bay near Portland, Maine. Cliff Island is remarkably beautiful and peaceful. It is home to a small community of roughly 75 year-round residents. Many live from the sea by fishing for lobster. Less than ten children attend classes in [...]
Bit.ly, the link shortening and tracking service, released new data showing the best and worst times for posting links to Facebook and Twitter. This was reported on at http://mashable.com/2012/05/09/best-time-to-post-on-facebook/. Key Points Don’t post links on the weekends or from 8PM – 8AM ET.
To illustrate the large difference in the amount of money needed to win a US Senate seat (quite a lot) and the amount needed to win a state Senate seat (much, much less), a recent Mother Jones article used some calculations that I thought were somewhat lacking – so I decided to make improvements. To [...]
Today was May Day and though the day isn’t yet over, I’m pretty sure that Occupy Wall Street’s goal of “halting the flow of capital” wasn’t really achieved. That does not lessen, however, how awe-inspiring it was to see thousands of people take to the streets in support of labor and immigrant rights. My photographer [...]
