Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
When Angela Davis, a domestic terrorist, wrote, “Racialized Punishment and Prison Abolition”, she began by extensively citing an ex-Marxist French philosopher. “Michel Foucault’s ‘Discipline and Punish’ is arguably the most influential text in contemporary studies of the prison system,” she argued while crediting herself with an analysis of the “racial implications” of his ideas. There … Read more
Why are Democrats so bad at running cities? Frank Rizzo was no surprise. After presiding over a reign of brutality as superintendent of police in Philadelphia in the late 1960s, he was twice elected mayor of that perennially misgoverned city and probably would have been elected to a third term if the city council hadn’t … Read more
Parents are not enough to protect kids from the harms of social media today. And current federal law is not up to the task either. The severity of the problem of social media to children and the inability of parents to effectively protect their kids necessitate a public policy solution. And as a new report … Read more
The temptation is eternal to use taxes, regulations, subsidies, and mandates to steer the economy in politically desired directions. Call it the Eternal Urge to Industrial Policy. Democrats, for the past 15 years, have tried to use government power to make corporations chase “green profits”: green energy, electric cars, green building, etc. Both parties seem … Read more
Facts about slavery never mentioned in school | Thomas Sowell Slavery cannot be justified or excused by enlightened people, but it can be studied, explained, put in context, and understood—if all the facts of it are in the equation. In “Recognizing Hard Truths About America’s History With Slavery,” published by FEE on February … Read more
I recently wrote about how public schools and boards are making the case for school choice advocates with failing scores and rising controversies. The latest shocking statistic was released this week that 23 schools in Baltimore City had zero students who tested proficient in math. Those schools include 10 high schools, eight elementary schools, three … Read more
A rogues’ gallery of institutions that anybody with an independent mind should skip. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a civil liberties group that began with a focus on academia, just published a rogues’ gallery of institutions of higher education that anybody with an independent mind should avoid. “Each year, FIRE bestows a … Read more
“Custody of six-year-old Eli Hart was returned to his mother after two inpatient psychological evaluations for delusional behavior; despite ongoing concerns expressed by the child protection caseworker and the Guardian ad Litem about her chronic mental illness, they recommended that her case be closed; nine days after the court terminated her case, she killed Eli … Read more
One solution to bad politics would be to make politicians suffer the consequences of their own laws and initiatives. But for real. I mean to really suffer from them. I propose a constitutional modification: Before voting for anything, it must be experienced in the flesh. The Democrats’ passion for anything transgender comes to mind, for … Read more
Were our Founding Fathers liberators or traitors? The Declaration of Independence set out the case for the revolution prospectively, for the benefit of that “decent respect to the opinions of mankind.” Yet the American Revolution was always going to be judged retrospectively: In order to justify the rebellion against kingdom and king, the new republic … Read more
Recently an unarmed 29-year-old African American, Tyre Nichols, was brutally beaten to death by five Black Memphis police officers. They were charged with murder. All belonged to a special crime unit known as the Scorpions. Both the victimizers and victim were Black. The Memphis police chief is Black. The assistant police chief is Black. Nearly … Read more
The Supreme Court took the easy way out when it first heard a dispute between Jack Phillips, a baker, and the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Justices sidestepped the fundamental issue, which was whether the state could compel speech from private citizens, and instead impugned the commission’s actions by pointing to the bigoted statements that its … Read more
The practice of keeping the equity of a foreclosed property above and beyond the debt owed is known as home equity theft, and it’s a lot more common than you might think. Across the country, local governments and private tax lien investors regularly foreclose on properties for unpaid tax debts and then keep the whole … Read more
How do we determine which kids are most at risk of severe abuse or neglect, and what can we do to protect them? Answering these questions should be the primary concern of child protective services. In recent years, more advocates have become interested—reasonably enough—in the question of how to stop abuse and neglect before they … Read more
I don’t worry much about budget deficits. Simply stated, it is far more important to focus on the overall burden of government spending. To be sure, it is not a good idea to have too much debt-financed spending. But it’s also not a good idea to have too much tax-financed spending. Or too much spending … Read more
Many people are rightly concerned about the federal government spending us into bankruptcy. We being the ones who get the bill — plus interest — for whatever the federal government decides to spend. The latest $1.7 trillion installment having been made with the complicity of the current Republican leadership in the Senate. Plus another $44 … Read more
The question during, and even before, the pandemic was whether declining ridership would force public transit agencies into a self-perpetuating “death spiral” of fare hikes, service cuts, and fleeing riders. To stave off this disaster scenario, the federal government showered transit agencies with nearly $70 billion in operating subsidies during COVID-19. But rather than giving agencies the … Read more
In a famous exchange in the The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway wrote: “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually, then suddenly.” “Gradually” and “suddenly” applies to higher education’s implosion. During the 1990s “culture wars” universities were warned that their chronic tuition hikes above the rate of inflation were unsustainable. … Read more
he economic outlook in New York (both the state and the city) has been very depressing in recent years. New York is ranked #50 in the Economic Freedom of North America. New York is ranked #48 in the State Business Tax Climate Index. New York is ranked #50 in the Freedom in the 50 States. New York is next-to-last in measures of inbound migration. New York … Read more
Tomorrow is Election Day, and as Americans prepare to go to the polls—or not!—it is worth spending some time thinking about the fact that the characteristic quality of politics in our time is not populism, nationalism, socialism, illiberalism, or anything of that nature: It is immaturity. Depending on how you do the math, the United … Read more
A quarter billion dollars in losses later, it may be time to give up on Beto O’Rourke Democrats across the country should be grateful for what Republicans are about to do: rid them of a nagging disease known as Betoism. Beto O’Rourke, the erstwhile congressman from El Paso, Texas, who has far more glossy national … Read more
(Click for the funny cartoons) With a body count of 100 million, communism definitely killed a lot of people. Whether they were “friends” is a separate question. P.S. To close with a serious comment, socialism is an economic system based on misguided policies such as government ownership, central planning, and price controls. Communism is a … Read more
A zombie is shambling down the street, one leg dragging, arm waving at the sky before collapsing on a discarded cardboard refrigerator box. A thin trail of blood can be seen on the back of his dirty shirt. It’s not Halloween yet. It’s just Thursday. But in the America of Drag Queen Story Hour, of … Read more
A Catholic political advocacy organization has launched a $2 million ad campaign aimed at boosting turnout among Catholic voters by targeting a number of vulnerable Democrats on parental rights issues. The group, Catholic Vote, announced its new ad campaign less than two weeks before Election Day hammering Democrats in competitive races for supporting social gender … Read more
This week the Communist Chinese Party is holding a congress at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. The purpose of the congress is cement Xi Jinping’s genocidal, imperialist autocracy. This post explains the centrality of Tiananmen Square to the Chinese dictatorship, and to the Chinese people victimized by the dictatorship. In … Read more