Tag / nyt
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The Reality of the Fake News Hysteria
Since the 2016 election, “fake news” has become a stunningly popular topic among politicians in America and around the world. As of November 2017, the term’s usage had increased by 365 percent since 2016. Donald Trump played a major role in its popularization, with his attacks on the media often laced with the term “fake…
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Why All Drugs Should Be Legal
A woman stands on a street corner and takes out a small cylinder of a drug rolled in paper. A policeman walks by and glances over. Could this woman be in trouble? Well, that depends on whether or not the drug has been repeatedly proven to cause lung cancer, even to second-hand users. If so,…
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Consuming a Balanced Plate of Information
Doctors, parents, and many others tell us from an early age to eat a balanced diet because our bodies need many different nutrients to function. Similarly, we need a balanced diet of information if we want to engage in healthy and informed discourse. This isn’t another article about the dangers of alternative facts; it’s about…
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Terrorism Vs. Gun Violence: A Proportional Threat?
Most Americans would find these numbers surprising, expecting that more violence results from the terrorist groups at the forefront of our national security efforts. However, the data says otherwise. One reason for this discrepancy between actual and perceived violence is where we see violence depicted most – in the media. Consider how the media covers…
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An Interview with Norm Ornstein
On Oct. 30, the Washington University Political Review sat down with Norm Ornstein, a national commentator, political scientist, and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. We asked Dr. Ornstein about his recently published book, the state of Washington, the situation facing the American press corps, the Republican Party’s present and future, and more. What…
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The (Mis)construction of Knowledge
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in two rulings nearly 15 years ago that sex offenders’ rate of re-offense, at almost 80 percent, is “frightening and high.” Since then, his “statistic” has been used by hundreds of lower courts and lawyers to defend policies that banish offenders from most communities. The severity of the punishment would be…
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Affirmative Action and Asian Americans
Since the Department of Justice announced its investigation into the effects of affirmative action on Asian Americans, there has been renewed attention on Edward Blum’s case against race-based admissions at Harvard. I’ve grown increasingly troubled with the fierce discussion that has erupted over this news. I could easily be a plaintiff in Blum’s case: first-generation…
