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Bird Watching While Black

A lifelong bird-watcher ventured into a section of New York's Central Park, the "Ramble," at 7:30 a.m., hoping to catch a glimpse of waterfowl. In previous days, he had spied scarlet tanagers, ovenbirds and mourning warblers. On Memorial Day, as he waited quietly, an unleashed spaniel scurried into the area -- as happens frequently in the park during quarantine -- though a posted sign notifies owners that all dogs must be leashed. The bird-watcher asked the owner to please leash her dog. She was less than cooperative. According to the birder, Christian Cooper, the conversation went ...

The Freedom To Pursue Happiness

The governors of all 50 states, and the mayors of many large cities, have assumed unto themselves the powers to restrict private personal choices and lawful public behavior in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. They have done so not by enforcing previously existing legislation but by crafting their own executive orders, styling those orders as if they were laws, using state and local police to enforce those so-called laws and — presumably when life returns to normal and the courts reopen — prosecuting the alleged offenders in court. It is hard to believe that any judge in ...

At Least We Know What We Don’t Know

Tis early days, but what have we learned from the virus crisis? One thing is that we don’t know what we don’t know. And we are often not certain about what we think we do know. For instance, we don’t know whether we should tell people to stay home, inside. Or should we should encourage them to get out in the fresh air. Some experts say stay inside. Others throw facts at us that refute this. They show if you are inside with others you are far more likely to transmit or pick up the virus. They argue that the best place to be is outside. Where the transmission is much less ...

If You’re Going To Be Angry, Do It For The Right Things

Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world, even after giving his ex-wife 36 billion dollars in a divorce settlement. He must have big stacks of large bills filling his living room. Actually, no, he doesn’t. Most of his wealth is paper profits, unrealized gains on his stock holdings of Amazon.com Inc. As that stock price goes, so goes his wealth. Bezos founded the company in 1994, working at a computer sitting in a bare office. The company went public during the dotcom wars of the late 1990s and survived the subsequent bubble crash. As the founder, he is the largest shareholder, ...

Cashing In On Contact Tracing

Look out. An “army of contact tracers” is about to be unleashed on America. Corporations, political lobbyists and government bureaucracies all win. Privacy, freedom and family autonomy all lose. Big time. You may have already heard of the aptly named House Bill 6666, sponsored by Illinois Dem. Bobby Rush. Known as the Testing, Reaching and Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act, the legislation would allocate $100 billion in public funding to “eligible entities” to “conduct diagnostic testing for COVID-19, and related activities such as contact tracing, through mobile health units ...

The Disinformation Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the world, there is another quieter pandemic creeping across the country: the disinformation pandemic. And a pandemic it is, because this is a global problem. Insidious actors outside of the United States who want to increase their nefarious influence on our country are using bots and other technology to spread lies and attack America’s democracy. Given that America is the leader of the free world, these attacks should be seen as no less than a brazen attempt to seize global control and weaken our standing as a superpower. It should come as no ...