Think Freely Media presents Common Sense with Paul Jacob
A half a year ago, when trying to make sense of the much-publicized search for Amazon’s “HQ2” — a second headquarters city, away from Seattle — I concentrated on the subsidies that cities and metro areas were apparently throwing at Amazon. It all seemed desperate, indecent. But there was a story
When I attended a public school — many decades ago, in a galaxy far, far away — teachers told students that cheating was unacceptable and would be punished. Harshly. Today, the idea has students laughing — all the way to graduation. Last year, after DC Public Schools officials breathlessly announced
Voters, we are told, are amazingly ignorant. So, what to do? “Ultimately, the ideal democracy is one in which as many citizens as possible vote,” writes Dambisa Moyo at The Guardian, “and the voters are armed with the most objective information. Yet today only a fraction of the electorate are
Evermore virtue signaling, everless virtue — that pretty much encapsulates Oscars’ night. The industry that brought us Harvey Weinstein and the occasion for #MeToo made the 90th Academy Awards two months ago unwatchable for most of us. Now, as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences loses touch with
Yesterday I made fun of Bernie Sanders’ jobs guarantee idea. Today, let’s take it seriously. Not as policy, mind you. As propaganda. It’s not worth talking about as a policy because there is no policy yet. “It is not clear when Sanders will announce the plan,” Fox News relates, “and
Does Bernie Sanders remind you of “Citizen Kang”? Vermont’s [S]ocialist Senator is whipping up a new plan for America: to “guarantee a job with at least a $15-per-hour wage and health benefits to every adult American ‘who wants or needs one,’” we are told. What was it that the slavering
Last Friday, Tim Eyman — the Evergreen State’s best-known ballot initiative practitioner — won an important court case. But he also scuttled an amazingly impressive compromise between state legislators, police, and the proponents of Initiative 940. The measure was written and promoted by De-Escalate Washington, a group that includes several
If I’ve heard it one million times, I’ve heard it ten: “We already have term limits; they’re called elections.” A statement usually offered as the beginning and end of wisdom regarding the problems term limits are designed to tackle. Equally “profound” is the collateral claim that “the only term limits
Congress grilled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, last week, and as usual ended up roasting itself. “Zuckerberg has already experienced the worst punishment of all,” quipped comedian Trevor Noah on The Daily Show. “He had to spend four hours explaining Facebook to senior citizens.” Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, retiring after his
According to organizers of the “March for Our lives,” the National Rifle Association is wholly evil, a corrupter of democracy, a malign presence straight out of Mordor, bent upon murder — a monolithic influence responsible for every mass shooting event. The clearest expression of this is by young David Hogg,
Let it not be said that Planned Parenthood lacks for principles. When Donald Trump offered a deal, last year, to fund Planned Parenthood only if the organization would stop doing abortions, the company immediately clarified the situation. “Offering money to Planned Parenthood to abandon our patients and our values is
Around the country, our major metropolitan transit systems have hit the skids. “Between 2016 and 2017, ridership fell in each of the seven largest transit markets,” the Washington Post informs. You might guess that the reason for declines in ridership might have something to do with bad planning and poor