Many attention-grabbing headlines talk about laws restricting speech. It seems some legislators don’t know the constitutionality of these proposed laws. What are the ramifications of passing laws such as these? Are these laws justified under some legal doctrines? What’s the rationale behind these propositions? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they dig into these proposed laws and more on this week’s episode of Words & Numbers.

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Quick hits

California blackouts

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/23/pge-rebuked-over-imposing-blackouts-in-california-to-reduce-fire-risk.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/29/business/california-fire-insurance.html

Portland is surprised that a retail tax causes retail prices to rise

https://www.americanexperiment.org/2019/10/portland-voters-put-a-1-tax-on-large-retailers-complain-when-retailers-pass-it-on-to-them/

Foolishness of the week

Woke math

https://reason.com/2019/10/22/seattle-math-oppressive-cultural-woke/?fbclid=IwAR2ZEAmWBlm0KnxvWblTthoNsuPG39Qx-eNMp_dn1GdmdKztww_QZMB1YFU

https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math%20SDS%20ES%20Framework.pdf

Topic of the week: First Amendment https://www.americanexperiment.org/2019/10/portland-voters-put-a-1-tax-on-large-retailers-complain-when-retailers-pass-it-on-to-them/

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-uconn-rally-racist-video-20191021-fmpaw34gzzcqtipztwv45tieca-story.html

https://reason.com/2019/10/23/the-connecticut-hate-crimes-law-used-to-charge-two-idiot-college-students-would-ban-family-guy-too/

https://www.boston.com/news/policy/2019/10/22/proposed-massachusetts-law-would-ban-b-word

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It’s debate season, and speculation about who will be the next president has already begun. Looming over the current president are constant calls for impeachment and reports on alleged wrongdoings which may diminish his chances for reelection. So, who are the best candidates and their running mates? Is impeachment a criminal or a political procedure? What kind of candidate are many Americans looking for? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they offer their assessment of the next presidential election and more on this week’s episode of Words & Numbers.

Quick hits:

Difference between a signatory and a party

http://www.insidejustice.com/intl/2010/03/17/signatory_party_treaty/

Major cities that have peaked their carbon emissions

https://www.c40.org/press_releases/30-of-the-world-s-largest-most-influential-cities-have-peaked-greenhouse-gas-emissions

Mad Dog Mattis and the Debt

https://www.politics-prose.com/video/call-sign-chaos-jim-mattis

Foolishness of the week:

San Francisco's Office of Emerging Technology

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/sf-to-establish-office-of-emerging-technology/?fbclid=IwAR2Txda5zSvC_YEblel4JVpZ8hm1hgDOKVbXHmGK4_syDb0Vm__ThwJrzcQ

Topic of the week: Politically Smart Moves: Giuliana’s associates arrested

https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-foreign-born-men-who-helped-giuliani-on-ukraine-arrested-on-campaign-finance-charges-11570714188

Bi-partisan presidential tickets

https://www.bustle.com/articles/160298-do-presidents-vice-presidents-have-to-be-from-the-same-party-a-bipartisan-attempt-isnt

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https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

Sean Malone, the creator of the Out of Frame video series and Director of Media at FEE, gives us his unique perspective on the film Joker. Do art and cinema have the power to hold a mirror up to society? Is that what makes people uncomfortable about Joker and movies like it? How do other cultures respond to graphic novels and films about superheroes? Join James Harrigan, Antony Davies, and special guest Sean Malone as they avoid spoilers and more on this week’s episode of Words & Numbers.

Quick hits

Pikes Peak Library  District

https://ppld.org/

Shepard Smith leaving Fox

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/breaking-shepard-smith-leaving-fox-news/

Foolishness of the week

White House sends talking points to Democrats

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/465457-white-house-accidentally-sends-ukraine-talking-points-to-democrats-again

Topic of the week: Joker Sean Malone

https://fee.org/people/sean-malone/

Out of Frame

https://fee.org/shows/video/out-of-frame/

The Joker, Nihilism, and One Iranian Boy

https://youtu.be/rYLwLSlfnlU

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This year, October 3, 2019, is Deficit Day, the day the federal government’s income runs out. For a long time, the government has been spending more money than it collects in taxes. What effect will this have on the average American citizen? How much does the government pay in loan interest alone? Hasn’t the federal government had surpluses? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they crunch the numbers and more on this week’s episode of Words & Numbers.

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Quick hits

Gang leaders

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/former-bloods-and-crips-leaders-make-peace-to-stop-gang-violence/

Hate symbols

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/26/us/adl-new-hate-symbols/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1-5FFWB_7gYooaWLZgmyXo9w9DgeN9IrAc_yLxchsjqReEIwoOzzqcvRA

Foolishness of the week

Stock markets and impeachment

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/trump-warns-again-that-the-stock-market-would-crash-if-he-is-impeached.html

Topic of the week: Deficit Day 2019

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/federal-debt-deficit-reserve-president-donald-trump-20190924.html

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https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

As the saying goes, nothing can be certain except death and taxes. Thousands of people die every year from a remarkably wide variety of causes. What are the top five causes of death in the US? Are you more likely to be killed by a knife than a gun? What do diet and exercise have to do with death? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they cover death by rare diseases, vaping, firearms and more in this week’s episode of Words & Numbers.

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Quick hits

Speculators

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/upshot/Bernie-Sanders-housing-plan.html

https://news.streetroots.org/2019/09/13/wall-street-speculators-and-loss-affordable-housing

San Francisco library eliminates overdue fines

https://www.kqed.org/arts/13866475/san-francisco-public-library-eliminates-overdue-fines

Foolishness of the week

Confessing one’s climate sins

https://pagesix.com/2019/09/22/radioheads-thom-yorke-admits-hes-a-climate-change-hypocrite/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/specials/climate-confessions-share-solutions-climate-change-n1054791

Topic of the week: What will kill you

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/19/health/vaping-lung-injury-new-cases-530-bn/index.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eastern-equine-encephalitis-several-dead-from-rare-disease-spread-by-mosquitoes-2019-09-21/

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congresswoman-mocked-for-saying-ar-15-is-as-heavy-as-10-moving-boxes-fires-50-caliber-bullets

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/topic-pages/tables/table-20

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https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

In this episode, James and Ant interview Robert Anthony Peters, producer and director of Tank Man, the story of the everyday person who stood down the Chinese army during the Tiananmen Massacre. In 1989, the Chinese people staged a series of protests in Tiananmen Square calling for democratic reforms. When the authorities had had enough, they sent in troops and tanks to break up the protests, killing and wounding thousands. One man, whose name and fate remains unknown, stood in front of the tanks and refused to let them pass.

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Quick hits

Repurchase agreements

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-repo-market-what-it-is-and-why-everyone-is-talking-about-it-again-11568743438

Americans are getting heavier

https://www.vox.com/2015/6/15/8784389/america-weight-gain

Foolishness of the week

Sanders wants to forgive medical debt

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/21/us/politics/bernie-medical-debt-healthcare.html

Topic of the week: Tank Man

Robert Anthony Peters

www.tankmanthemovie.com

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Tuition increases seem to indicate that colleges might have an incentive to admit students who may not succeed. Meanwhile, many professors are being required to add clear student outcomes to their syllabi. However, this still leaves many students hanging. Loans are difficult to pay back, and many other problems crop up in schools. How can we adjust incentives to help public universities perform better? Should some schools use their endowments to issue loans? What innovations could be implemented to improve education? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they search for better solutions to the problems many students experience on this week’s episode of Words & Numbers. 

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Quick hits

Mesh network is robust because it’s decentralized

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2019/09/02/hong-kong-protestors-using-mesh-messaging-app-china-cant-block-usage-up-3685

Noah’s Arks

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1177909/space-news-igor-ashurbeyli-asgardia-russia-space-nation-nasa-moon-spt

Foolishness of the week

Second hand vaping

https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-youth-secondhand-vaping-smoke-tt-20190828-5immkhhkrrecbjub7ik6un4lni-story.html

Topic of the week: Follow Incentives to Solutions

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2019/tr2019.pdf

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James R. Harrigan on Twitter

https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan

Immigration policy in the United States is fraught with obstacles. Visas, green cards, and work permits all have complicated stipulations that must be followed. What does the process of legal immigration entail? What are the costs, monetary or otherwise? Is there an incentive to immigrate illegally? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they discuss the astonishing personal experiences of two special guests on this week’s episode of Words & Numbers.

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Quick hits

Workers are fleeing big cities

https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-are-fleeing-big-cities-for-small-onesand-taking-their-jobs-with-them-11567848600

Foolishness of the week

Oregon wants to ban self-checkouts

https://reason.com/2019/09/06/union-backed-ballot-initiative-would-limit-grocery-stores-to-2-self-checkout-machines/

Topic of the week: Pitfalls of Legal Immigration

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Many proposed solutions to society’s problems produce unintended consequences. Some laws passed in good faith, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, have adverse effects on the very people they intend to help. How many laws like this are there? What do people do about them? How do businesses deal with such laws? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they dive into the unforeseeable results of mixing good intentions with public policy and more on this week’s episode of Words & Numbers.

Show your support for Words & Numbers at Patreon

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Quick hits

Being the victim and the perpetrator in the same case

https://slate.com/technology/2019/08/maryland-sk-court-case-teen-sexting-child-pornography.html

Turning sign language into speech

https://www.blackbusiness.com/2019/05/roy-allela-black-engineer-invents-gloves-turn-sign-language-audible-speech.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR1eM20XHy03gUnCjvwy5XjkAt69auKNhszwtYQqUJhZVrd3y1NO6tjV_II

Foolishness of the week

Mayor de Blasio wants to abolish gifted classes

https://reason.com/2019/08/28/de-blasio-advisory-group-wants-to-abolish-gifted-classes-in-nyc-public-schools/?fbclid=IwAR1NhDE1augEPuYkpFcn1yIFmCgMq0OFHM3VU4lsKWsGUgL6BggK2MhK87c

Harrison Bergeron

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron

Topic of the week: Unintended Consequences

A380 is too quiet

https://www.wired.com/2008/12/a380-is-so-quie/

The Cobra Effect

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-cobra-effect-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/

Payday lending

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-political-assault-on-paydays-1464909417

Americans with Disabilities Act

https://www.nber.org/papers/w6670

Bernie Sanders’ green electrical grid

https://berniesanders.com/issues/the-green-new-deal/

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If you haven’t seen either of the previous Democratic primary debates, here’s a summary: Twenty candidates debate free health care and slavery reparations, among other things. Instead of talking about eliminating the federal debt, the candidates talk about adding to it. Additionally, the top candidates don’t get to debate the issues fully. All this raises a few questions: Who’s in charge of choosing the broadcast networks? The moderators? The questions asked? What effect do these choices have on the quality of the debates? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they discuss the primary debates and more in this special episode of Words & Numbers featuring bonus material.

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Quick hits

Monopoly socialism https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/us/monopoly-socialism-board-game-trnd/index.html

NASA plans mission to a gold asteroid

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1169605/Asteroid-news-NASA-scientists-16-psyche-asteroids-mining-gold-platinum 

Foolishness of the week

Minneapolis bans drive thrus

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/08/09/minneapolis-bans-new-drivethrus

Topic of the week: Democratic debates

Reporter bias ratings

https://reporterbias.com/

DNC is a private corporation

https://ivn.us/posts/50-ways-the-democratic-and-republican-parties-are-the-same

Candidates

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/08/2020-candidates-president-guide/582598/

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/us/politics/2020-presidential-candidates.html

Polling numbers

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/democratic_nomination_polls/

Ford-Carter debate

https://youtu.be/BuaPct7gH1w?t=152

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James R. Harrigan on Twitter

https://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan