The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Narcissus was a beautiful hunter in ancient Greece. He shunned all romantic advances. None were as beautiful as he knew himself to be, so there was no reason for a relationship with anyone. Eventually, Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water by a stream. He stared so lovingly and longingly at himself, unmoved and unmoving, staying and staring till death. The gods…
‘American Optimist’ Illustrates What Makes Our Country Great
There's so much negative news these days. I was glad to see that a new podcast, “American Optimist,” features good things that are coming. It's hosted by Palantir founder and venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale. He interviews entrepreneurs like Sal Churi, who funds companies like Icon, which found a way to 3D print homes in just one day. The process is cool to watch. You can see it in my new video…
The End of Risk and the End of Civilization
Human beings aren't great at assessing risk. In 1979, psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky posited a new branch of behavioral economics, which they titled prospect theory. One of their key findings was that human beings are naturally loss-averse -- we generally are willing to forego the probability of gains in order to minimize the chance of losses. Because of our loss aversion,…
Ron Klain Reminds Us of Elites and Their Elitism
“They said you were high class, but that was just a lie.” – Elvis Presley, “Hound Dog” White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain brought criticism on himself last week when he retweeted a post from Harvard economist Jason Furman. Furman claimed that rising inflation and nationwide supply chain issues that have delayed products from reaching store shelves is a “high-class problem.” Klain’s…
End Covid Repression, Let Life Resume
America remains bound by often extreme pandemic restrictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends staying 6 feet away from others. In Oregon, everyone must wear a mask outdoors. In parts of the country, 2-year-olds must wear masks. Are such rules necessary? Recently, Denmark lifted all pandemic restrictions. "Go Denmark!" cheers George Mason University…
Netflix Employees Demand Dave Chappelle Be Canceled: Netflix Refuses
And here we go again with the cancel culture. This time the target is comedian Dave Chappelle and his Netflix special. Here's the headline from NBC News: "Netflix Trans Employees Plan Walkout in Protest of Dave Chappelle Special." To his immense credit, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos refused to buckle.
The Nation in the Bubble
This week, the Biden administration received just the latest slap in the face from cruel reality: An economic report showing just 194,000 jobs added in the month of September, short of the 500,000 jobs forecast by most economists. The unemployment rate dived to 4.8% from 5.2% -- not as a result of job gains, but as a result of more and more Americans dumping out of the work force. Meanwhile,…
Virtue Flaunting in a London Church
Washington -- I have been in London visiting old friends, keeping up with changes in our alliance system -- among which were last week's developments in the alliance of the English-speaking peoples called Aukus -- and going to church. Yes, church! Seriously, I am at that age when I hear Him calling. I have actually been at that age for a while now, but in recent years, His calls have become…
Good News for Joe Biden?
More Americans have died from COVID-19 during the Biden administration than during the Trump administration. That is not the good news for President Joe Biden. Former President Donald Trump initiated Operation Warp Speed. We had Democrats casting aspersions on the efficacy of a would-be and supposedly rushed vaccine. We finally got the vaccine at the end of the Trump administration. The moment…
The Pandora Papers and What They Mean
“The rich put cream on their berries; the rich drive shiny black cars.” – (from the Broadway musical “Carnival!”) The Pandora Papers, “an exposé of the financial secrets and offshore dealings of dozens of heads of state, public officials and politicians,” writes CNN, could not have come at a better time for congressional “progressives” who are seeking to win over enough Democrats to…
What If ‘Polarization’ Isn’t the Big Problem?
This week, the University of Virginia Center for Politics released a poll surveying Americans' feelings about their political opponents. According to the poll, 80% of Biden voters and 84% of Trump voters believed that elected officials of the opposite party present a “clear and present danger to American democracy”; 78% of Biden voters believed that the Republican Party wanted to eliminate the…
There's No Fun in Dealing With BEEReaucrats
Jim Caruso, CEO of Flying Dog Brewery, calls his business a "First Amendment brewery." That's because he keeps going to court to defend beer labels. It started in 1995, when Colorado's Liquor Commission objected to the label, "Good Beer, No S---." Bureaucrats told him, "Pull the beer from the market, or we suspend your license," he says in my new video. That could have put him out of business…
The California Recall: Enter Snoop Dogg and Barack Obama
At one point, polls showed the odds of recalling California Gov. Gavin Newsom looked 50-50. It was at that point that the scared, embattled governor sent out a mayday call to Hollywood and to Democratic outsiders, including former President Barack Obama. The Hollywood Reporter -- three weeks before the date of the recall vote -- published a piece with the headline: “Facing Recall,…
The Aukus Treaty, 30 Years of Calm?
Washington -- One of the unsung prophets of Aukus last week was the great British historian Andrew Roberts, who soon will be recognized throughout the English-speaking world as the man who has attempted to retrieve the reputation of King George III from the sneers of ... well, of people like me. His biography of George III will come out in early November, and of course, I have not had a chance…