"A picture is worth a thousand words" is one of the dumbest aphorisms ever coined. Speaking as a former television producer, I'd say a picture takes a thousand words to explain. Take this much-circulated NASA satellite photo showing vast smoke plumes over the Amazon region:Combined with a report from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research that says the agency had detected 39,194 fires in the region, a 77 percent jump up from the same period in 2018, that picture has launched alarmed headlines around the world."Amazon rainforest is burning at an unprecedented rate," CNN. The...…"A picture is worth a thousand words" is one of the dumbest aphorisms ever coined. Speaking as a former television producer, I'd say a picture takes a thousand words to explain. Take this much-circulated NASA satellite photo showing vast smoke plumes over the Amazon region:Combined with a report from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research that says the agency had detected 39,194 fires in the region, a 77 percent jump up from the same period in 2018, that picture has launched alarmed headlines around the world."Amazon rainforest is burning at an unprecedented rate," CNN. The...WW…

Over the past few weeks, at least two major news stories have vied for our attention because they seemingly revealed the deep truth that not only has America always been a racist nation but that things are getting objectively worse because of Donald Trump.The hate-crime attack on Jussie Smollet, we're told, somehow reveals a cancer on the American soul even if the actor engineered it as a . So too does the arrest of the Coast Guard's Lt. Christopher P. Hasson, who according to court documents called himself "" and had drawn up a kill list of "traitors" that included CNN and MSNBC...…Over the past few weeks, at least two major news stories have vied for our attention because they seemingly revealed the deep truth that not only has America always been a racist nation but that things are getting objectively worse because of Donald Trump.The hate-crime attack on Jussie Smollet, we're told, somehow reveals a cancer on the American soul even if the actor engineered it as a . So too does the arrest of the Coast Guard's Lt. Christopher P. Hasson, who according to court documents called himself "" and had drawn up a kill list of "traitors" that included CNN and MSNBC...WW…

Over the weekend, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted out these images of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, whose regime was toppled in 2011 by a NATO-led operation in which the United States participated.— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio)Though the tweet contains no words, the senator was sending an unmistakable message to Venezuelan President , whose control is slipping amid rising protests both within and without his country. , an ad hoc consortium of a dozen Latin American countries and Canada, does not recognize Maduro as legitimate; about 30 countries (including the United States) have...…Over the weekend, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted out these images of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, whose regime was toppled in 2011 by a NATO-led operation in which the United States participated.— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio)Though the tweet contains no words, the senator was sending an unmistakable message to Venezuelan President , whose control is slipping amid rising protests both within and without his country. , an ad hoc consortium of a dozen Latin American countries and Canada, does not recognize Maduro as legitimate; about 30 countries (including the United States) have...WW…

The headlines sound pretty bad. "Russia Targeted Elections Systems in All 50 States," says The New York Times. "New Senate Intelligence report shows 'extensive' Russia 2016 election interference," reports Vox. What these and many other fearmongering headlines leave out is that while Russians may have targeted state elections systems in 2016, there's zero evidence that they actually managed to interfere. We have no reason to believe that votes were changed or deleted, that voters were purged from rolls, that voter information was modified. And the assessment that all 50 states were targeted...…The headlines sound pretty bad. "Russia Targeted Elections Systems in All 50 States," says The New York Times. "New Senate Intelligence report shows 'extensive' Russia 2016 election interference," reports Vox. What these and many other fearmongering headlines leave out is that while Russians may have targeted state elections systems in 2016, there's zero evidence that they actually managed to interfere. We have no reason to believe that votes were changed or deleted, that voters were purged from rolls, that voter information was modified. And the assessment that all 50 states were targeted...WW…

Only half of all Americans now have a positive view of colleges and universities, according to from Pew Research. The number of people who take a negative view has increased from 26 percent in 2012 to 38 percent in 2019. The change largely reflects a growing dissatisfaction on the right with the culture of college campuses. The percentage of Republicans who see value in higher education has collapsed in recent years, from 53 percent in 2012 to just 23 percent in 2019. According to Pew: Roughly eight-in-ten Republicans (79%) say professors bringing their political and social views into the...…Only half of all Americans now have a positive view of colleges and universities, according to from Pew Research. The number of people who take a negative view has increased from 26 percent in 2012 to 38 percent in 2019. The change largely reflects a growing dissatisfaction on the right with the culture of college campuses. The percentage of Republicans who see value in higher education has collapsed in recent years, from 53 percent in 2012 to just 23 percent in 2019. According to Pew: Roughly eight-in-ten Republicans (79%) say professors bringing their political and social views into the...WW…

Tonight's features a dozen candidates, but all eyes will be on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.). Over the past few weeks, she has almost with former Vice President Joe Biden, who can't stop reminding people that he's older than Methuselah (whose eyes seemed less likely to fill with blood and whose dentures fitted more snugly), and shaken loose from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.), whose underscored the Vermont socialist's age (it didn't help that his campaign prevaricated on what exactly happened). None of the lower-polling candidates on stage have anything resembling upward momentum. This is...…Tonight's features a dozen candidates, but all eyes will be on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.). Over the past few weeks, she has almost with former Vice President Joe Biden, who can't stop reminding people that he's older than Methuselah (whose eyes seemed less likely to fill with blood and whose dentures fitted more snugly), and shaken loose from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.), whose underscored the Vermont socialist's age (it didn't help that his campaign prevaricated on what exactly happened). None of the lower-polling candidates on stage have anything resembling upward momentum. This is...WW…

On the weekend of January 18, 2019, a short video appeared on Twitter that purported to show a group of Catholic high school boys—one young man, Nicholas Sandmann, in particular—harassing a Native American elder named Nathan Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.One year later, the media's reckless mishandling of the story stands as an important warning against the kind of agenda-driven, outrage-mongering clickbait that unfortunately thrives in the world of online journalism.But no less noteworthy was the news cycle that followed the initial flawed coverage, which featured a host of...…On the weekend of January 18, 2019, a short video appeared on Twitter that purported to show a group of Catholic high school boys—one young man, Nicholas Sandmann, in particular—harassing a Native American elder named Nathan Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.One year later, the media's reckless mishandling of the story stands as an important warning against the kind of agenda-driven, outrage-mongering clickbait that unfortunately thrives in the world of online journalism.But no less noteworthy was the news cycle that followed the initial flawed coverage, which featured a host of...WW…

U.S. military physician Walter Reed and his medical colleagues famously had mosquitoes bite volunteers in order to establish that the disease was in fact borne by the flying pests. This finding was the basis of successful to reduce the incidence of the disease in tropical areas. The volunteers in these experiments were paid $200 to participate and $500 if they contracted yellow fever. These substantial payments, made in gold, would amount to approximately $8,000 and $20,000 respectively in today's dollars.Now Rutgers University bioethicist Nir Eyal and his colleagues are proposing something...…U.S. military physician Walter Reed and his medical colleagues famously had mosquitoes bite volunteers in order to establish that the disease was in fact borne by the flying pests. This finding was the basis of successful to reduce the incidence of the disease in tropical areas. The volunteers in these experiments were paid $200 to participate and $500 if they contracted yellow fever. These substantial payments, made in gold, would amount to approximately $8,000 and $20,000 respectively in today's dollars.Now Rutgers University bioethicist Nir Eyal and his colleagues are proposing something...WW…

In their desperation to get back to work, some Americans are taking to the streets to demand that the government end the quarantine. Comedian Patton Oswalt is unsympathetic."Anne Frank spent 2 years hiding in an attic and we've been home for just over a month with Netflix, food delivery & video games and there are people risking viral death by storming state capital buildings & screaming, 'Open Fuddruckers!'" he tweeted on Saturday.This is hardly Oswalt's first display of smug liberal condescension: His denouncing Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann as a "leering,...…In their desperation to get back to work, some Americans are taking to the streets to demand that the government end the quarantine. Comedian Patton Oswalt is unsympathetic."Anne Frank spent 2 years hiding in an attic and we've been home for just over a month with Netflix, food delivery & video games and there are people risking viral death by storming state capital buildings & screaming, 'Open Fuddruckers!'" he tweeted on Saturday.This is hardly Oswalt's first display of smug liberal condescension: His denouncing Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann as a "leering,...WW…

It took less than a day for the White House's carefully crafted step-by-step process for reopening the country to be discarded by…the president himself.President Donald Trump met with governors to outline those plans on Thursday afternoon. On Thursday evening, he stood at the podium in the White House's briefing room to explain how states would be able to reopen their economies in the coming weeks and months by following , as long as COVID-19 cases decline. Then, on Friday, Trump issued a series of bizarre (even by his own standards) tweets that seemingly called for residents of three...…It took less than a day for the White House's carefully crafted step-by-step process for reopening the country to be discarded by…the president himself.President Donald Trump met with governors to outline those plans on Thursday afternoon. On Thursday evening, he stood at the podium in the White House's briefing room to explain how states would be able to reopen their economies in the coming weeks and months by following , as long as COVID-19 cases decline. Then, on Friday, Trump issued a series of bizarre (even by his own standards) tweets that seemingly called for residents of three...WW…