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Don’t fall for decarceration plans

There’s trouble ahead for New Yorkers distressed about crime levels. New York City’s Democratic establishment, including leading mayoral candidates and the City Council majority, are determined to downsize or eliminate the city’s jails altogether. They’ve drunk the decarceration Kool-Aid — and they’re convinced that jails do more harm than good. But the facts prove them wrong. Prisons keep the rest of us safe, because criminals behind bars can’t commit more crimes. A City Council hearing last week on criminal justice was straight out of fantasy land. Council member ...

Homer Simpson gloss on tariff philosophy

There’s a classic episode of The Simpsons in which Homer gets a gun. He thinks his awesome gun is great for everything: home defense, opening beer bottles, whatever. When Marge says she doesn’t want a weapon in the house, Homer replies, “A gun is not a weapon, Marge, it’s a tool. Like a butcher knife or a harpoon, or ... or an alligator. You just need more education on the subject.” How Homer thinks about guns is not all that dissimilar to how Donald Trump thinks about tariffs. Or if you want an even more dated pop culture reference, the Trump administration talks about ...

Reparations are a bad idea

A new law, buried inside an otherwise obscure piece of federal legislation, permits the Washington, D.C., City Council to establish a commission that will give “reparations” to descendants of enslaved people who can demonstrate how slavery and Jim Crow laws have negatively affected their lives. Talk about a high bar. The 12-member commission - yet to be appointed - will include a “social justice expert,” which should tell you all you need to know about its likely liberal slant. According to reporting by The Washington Times, the reparations will come from government ...

Trade chaos may be part of a game

You can get rich when stocks go up. You can get rich when stocks go down. When stocks go up, people who knew to buy them in advance may win big. If they go down, investors who had the wisdom to “go short” on them — that is, bet on their decline — can make a bundle. Clearly, anyone who can predict what stock prices would do can make magnificent profits. And who knew that Donald Trump was about to announce market-moving plans for bigger tariffs, then smaller tariffs, then sideways tariffs, then tariff delays? Trump knew. It happens that trading stocks or other investments ...

Reflecting on the pandemic

National Public Radio recently posted a questionnaire on its website asking readers to reflect on their experiences when the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down in 2020. For those who were able to quickly resume their usual routines after the World Health Organization announced an end to the pandemic in May 2023, the time probably passed quickly. For those who experienced grave losses, such as employment termination or the deaths of close relatives, the pandemic has had a severe lingering effect. Most of the questions on the NPR survey did not apply to me, such as “Did you meet ...

Obtuseness painfully obvious

It’s amazing how men who prided themselves on strength and toughness will submit to a gangster. In 2022, after Russian tanks rolled across an international border into Ukraine and missiles pierced the quiet of cities like Kharkiv and Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earned worldwide acclaim for his courage and heroism. No one was more pro-Ukrainian than Sen. Lindsey Graham, who exulted in an arrest warrant the Russians had issued against him: “I will wear the arrest warrant issued by Putin’s corrupt and immoral government as a Badge of Honor.” Last Friday, ...