Congress passed a $1.3 trillion “kitchen sink” spending bill early Friday that increases domestic and defense spending. The bill passed by a 65-32 vote in the Senate and 256-167 in the House. Republican budget hawks (yes, there are a few) opposed the bill; but enough Democrats joined the majority for the legislation to easily pass….
Joe Simonson Bank of America further solidified its corporate position in favor of gun control after sponsoring an anti-gun discussion hosted by Axios on Friday. Axios co-founder Mike Allen facilitated the talk between activist and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. The event, held in Washington,…
Grace Carr America’s largest abortion organization, Planned Parenthood, operated a booth at a middle school mental health resource fair in California Tuesday. An outrage broke out among a number of parents. “I’m not happy, but unfortunately we have a huge generation of children [who] are not being parented, and they’re learning on their own or…
Robert Donachie House Republicans released the text of a $1.3 trillion spending bill that must pass both chambers of Congress in order to avert a government shutdown Friday evening at midnight. The legislation will keep the government funded through Sept. 30, if House and Senate lawmakers pass the bill and President Donald Trump signs it….
Henry Rodgers The operator of one of Uber’s self-driving cars that hit and killed a pedestrian Monday is a convicted felon who served nearly four years in prison, according to court records. Rafaela Vasquez, 44, the operator of the Volvo, who was in the driver’s seat, reportedly had the car in self-driving mode when he struck a…
Grace Carr Video games are harmful to society because they encourage toxic competition and meritocratic values that will degrade society, a professor alleges in his 2018 book. In “The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games,” Seattle University communication professor Christopher A. Paul explains that video games encourage meritocracy, or judgement based on skill and ability. “Games typically…
I was out for a walk a while back when I stopped to chat with a neighbor. Neither of us knew each other very well, having only had a few conversations on subjects such as the weather, the overbearing city council, and her cute, grade-school-age twin boys. It was likely because of this slight acquaintance…
The question on why some countries are rich and prosperous whereas others seem to be condemned to the scourge of poverty has been around for centuries. Many factors have been argued to be the determinants of prosperity: geographical, cultural, historical, etc. Yet, since at least the publication in 1776 of The Wealth of Nations, we…
Stephen Hawking once pronounced that he thought he was little more than a computer and that, because of this, he was unafraid to die. “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for…
Kevin Daley The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a constitutional challenge to the death penalty Monday, though four justices wrote separately to criticize Arizona’s capital sentencing process, which they strongly suggested is unconstitutional. Though the group agreed that the court should not hear the case, the statement reflects a continued effort to narrow the…