Author: Christopher Ingraham
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A 5,000-year-old stone carving may be the world’s first drawing of an eclipse
An unassuming grass-covered stone mound outside of Dublin, Ireland, may be home to the world’s oldest visual representation of a solar eclipse. The Loughcrew Cairns in Meath County, Ireland, date back to approximately 3,300 years B.C., predating the more well-known structures at Stonehenge, in southern England, by about 1,000 years. The 5,000-year-old Loughcrew structures appear…
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The military spends five times as much on Viagra as it would on transgender troops’ medical care
On Twitter this morning, President Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military, citing “medical costs” as the primary driver of the decision. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” the president wrote. While…
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Trump’s voter commission is now facing at least 7 federal lawsuits
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that President Trump’s voting commission “was formed with the intent to discriminate against voters of color in violation of the Constitution.” “Statements by President Trump, his spokespersons and surrogates . . . as well as the work of the Commission as described by its co-chairs, are grounded…
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White House releases sensitive personal information of voters
The Trump White House on Thursday made public a trove of emails it received from voters offering comment on its Election Integrity Commission. The commission drew widespread criticism when it emerged into public view by asking for personal information, including addresses, partial Social Security numbers, and party affiliation, on every voter in the country. It…
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It’s not just young men — everyone’s playing a lot more video games and Colorado leads the way
The amount of time Americans spend playing video games and board games has risen by 50 percent since 2003, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The typical American now spends more time playing games than volunteering, going to social events or going to church. The numbers come from the American Time…
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Legalized marijuana is making it harder for police to search your car
Drug policy experts often say that the health risks of marijuana use are relatively minor compared to the steep costs of marijuana enforcement: expensive policing, disrupted lives, violence and even death. Law enforcement agencies, however, have often been at the forefront of opposition to marijuana legalization. One reason is that the drug, with its pungent,…
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Analysis: Officer who shot Philando Castile said smell of marijuana made him fear for his life
The officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop last year told investigators that the smell of “burnt marijuana” in Castile’s car made him believe his life was in danger. “I thought, I was gonna die,” Officer Jeronimo Yanez told investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension fifteen hours after the shooting.…
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Study: National medical marijuana laws would save lives — and a billion taxpayer dollars
A fascinating study in Health Affairs last year by a father-daughter pair of public policy researchers found that Medicare prescriptions for things like painkillers, antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications dropped sharply in states that introduced a medical marijuana program. The implication? Offered the choice between taking medication prescribed by a doctor and self-medicating with pot, many…
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United Airlines’ 2017 business model: Drag a person off a plane, keep raking in record profits
On the surface the outrage over United Airlines forcibly removing a man from a flight after he refused to “voluntarily” give up his seat for a United employee looks like just another case of airline overbooking gone awry. Overbooking is necessary, the story goes, because sometimes passengers don’t show up for their flights. The practice…
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Survey: A big thing marijuana opponents warned you about is definitely not happening
A state-run survey of 37,000 middle and high school students in Washington state finds that marijuana legalization there has had no effect on youngsters’ propensity to use the drug. The Washington State Healthy Youth Survey found that the 2016 rate of marijuana use was basically unchanged since 2012, when the state voted to legalize marijuana…