The Lighthouse®
Only a little more than half of the current world’s 7 billion people are citizens of fully consensual governments. That lucky 50 percent alone enjoys constitutionally protected freedoms. Most are also Western. Or at least they reside in nations that have become “Westernized.” Migrants, regardless of their race, religion, or gender, almost always head for a Western nation. And most often their destination remains the United States. The more it is now fashionable for Americans to take for granted or even to ridicule the idea of their own country, the more the non-American global poor risk their lives to pass through America’s borders.
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By Anthony Lupo (The Hill)
The release in August of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report on climate change and its summary for policymakers has prompted the media to report that it is “code red” for the planet. The reaction from many people was one of genuine alarm. But does the report really provide anything new or alarming? The answer is No. Several of the most overstated findings have been presented already in one form or another since the fifth assessment report came out in 2014.
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By Richard A. Muller, Steven C. Quay (The Wall Street Journal)
Where did Covid-19 come from? Four studies—including two from WHO—provide powerful evidence favoring the lab-leak theory. To get to the truth, we need only unleash the power of science.
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By Steve H. Hanke (National Review)
President Biden has hit the road in an attempt to peddle the Democrats’ mega-spending package—a package that originally carried an eye-popping price tag of $3.5 trillion. It now appears that haggling amongst the Democrats has dialed the advertised price tag down to $2.3 trillion or less. Or, at least, that’s what the president is claiming. Don’t believe a word of it.
READ MORE »
By Alexander William Salter (The Wall Street Journal)
The Federal Reserve plans to consider the idea of launching a U.S. digital currency. Central bank digital currencies are a hot topic among monetary-policymakers world-wide. More than 80 countries, representing 90% of the world’s gross domestic product, are looking into the technology. But these currencies come with serious risks.
READ MORE »
By Donald A. Downs, Robert P. George, Keith E. Whittington (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Calls to take disciplinary action against—and even fire—professors for saying controversial things have become disconcertingly common. Students, administrators, and sometimes even faculty colleagues demand that a professor be punished for expressing dissent publicly—and even privately—from certain widely held views on campus. Politicians and political activists have also gotten into the act, sometimes insisting that a professor be fired before the sun goes down. Many professors have no idea what to do when a mob is howling for their heads. However, there is a way to defend yourself in a free-speech crisis, whatever your politics.
READ MORE »
By Paul H. Rubin (The Wall Street Journal)
Karl Marx called his system “scientific socialism.” Modern leftists advocate a similar ideology and call themselves “woke” to indicate that they understand the world better than the rest of us. Yet the worldview of Marxists and woke leftists alike is fundamentally primitive.
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The Lighthouse® is the weekly email newsletter of the Independent Institute.
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Volume 24, Issue 40: October 13, 2021
By Victor Davis Hanson (American Greatness)
Only a little more than half of the current world’s 7 billion people are citizens of fully consensual governments. That lucky 50 percent alone enjoys constitutionally protected freedoms. Most are also Western. Or at least they reside in nations that have become “Westernized.” Migrants, regardless of their race, religion, or gender, almost always head for a Western nation. And most often their destination remains the United States. The more it is now fashionable for Americans to take for granted or even to ridicule the idea of their own country, the more the non-American global poor risk their lives to pass through America’s borders.
READ MORE »
By Anthony Lupo (The Hill)
The release in August of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report on climate change and its summary for policymakers has prompted the media to report that it is “code red” for the planet. The reaction from many people was one of genuine alarm. But does the report really provide anything new or alarming? The answer is No. Several of the most overstated findings have been presented already in one form or another since the fifth assessment report came out in 2014.
READ MORE »
Hot Talk, Cold Science (2021)
Global Warming’s Unfinished Debate (Revised and Expanded Third Edition)
Global Warming’s Unfinished Debate (Revised and Expanded Third Edition)
By S. Fred Singer, David R. Legates, Anthony R. Lupo
By Richard A. Muller, Steven C. Quay (The Wall Street Journal)
Where did Covid-19 come from? Four studies—including two from WHO—provide powerful evidence favoring the lab-leak theory. To get to the truth, we need only unleash the power of science.
READ MORE »
Crisis and Leviathan
Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (25th Anniversary Edition)
Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (25th Anniversary Edition)
By Robert Higgs
By Steve H. Hanke (National Review)
President Biden has hit the road in an attempt to peddle the Democrats’ mega-spending package—a package that originally carried an eye-popping price tag of $3.5 trillion. It now appears that haggling amongst the Democrats has dialed the advertised price tag down to $2.3 trillion or less. Or, at least, that’s what the president is claiming. Don’t believe a word of it.
READ MORE »
By Alexander William Salter (The Wall Street Journal)
The Federal Reserve plans to consider the idea of launching a U.S. digital currency. Central bank digital currencies are a hot topic among monetary-policymakers world-wide. More than 80 countries, representing 90% of the world’s gross domestic product, are looking into the technology. But these currencies come with serious risks.
READ MORE »
By Donald A. Downs, Robert P. George, Keith E. Whittington (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Calls to take disciplinary action against—and even fire—professors for saying controversial things have become disconcertingly common. Students, administrators, and sometimes even faculty colleagues demand that a professor be punished for expressing dissent publicly—and even privately—from certain widely held views on campus. Politicians and political activists have also gotten into the act, sometimes insisting that a professor be fired before the sun goes down. Many professors have no idea what to do when a mob is howling for their heads. However, there is a way to defend yourself in a free-speech crisis, whatever your politics.
READ MORE »
By Paul H. Rubin (The Wall Street Journal)
Karl Marx called his system “scientific socialism.” Modern leftists advocate a similar ideology and call themselves “woke” to indicate that they understand the world better than the rest of us. Yet the worldview of Marxists and woke leftists alike is fundamentally primitive.
READ MORE »
The Beacon: New Blog Posts
- Cashing in on Congressional Trading, by Craig Eyermann
- Censorship Campaign Reveals China’s True Face, by K. Lloyd Billingsley
- $3.5 Trillion Does Not Equal $0, by Craig Eyermann
Catalyst: New Articles
- The PATRIOT Act Should Have Ended With Afghanistan, by Jonathan Hofer
- “Open Access” Competition Can Improve Intercity Rail, by Scott Beyer
- Recent NIMBY Move Could Leave California in the Dark, by Jon Hersey
