Articles

Brownstone Institute Articles, News, Research, and Commentary on public health, science, economics, & social theory

technology tyranny

Technology and a Tyranny Worse than Prison 

By / / , , / 12 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

There is a lesson in this as far as the ineluctable need for action is concerned when rational argument with would-be oppressors gets one nowhere. This is especially the case when it becomes obvious that these oppressors are not remotely interested in a reasonable exchange of ideas, but summarily resort to the current unreasonable incarnation of technical rationality, namely AI-controlled mass surveillance, with the purpose of subjugating entire populations. 

Technology and a Tyranny Worse than Prison  Read More

Tufekci and Howard

How Zeynep Tufekci and Jeremy Howard Masked America

By / / / 21 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Tufekci and Howard played a decisive role in affecting this vast shift in scientific guidance that so intimately affected the lives of every American, which the Cochrane review has now shown to have afforded no benefit at the population level, for dubious reasons such as “shaping new societal norms.” Throughout COVID, Tufekci pushed false information and harmful policies that were far afield of her expertise based on information from China, despite knowing such information was unreliable, without ever admitting or apologizing for the errors once the harms became manifest.

How Zeynep Tufekci and Jeremy Howard Masked America Read More

Trump Georgia

What Happened When the Georgia Governor Tried to Open the State?

By / / , , / 7 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Georgia is important because it was the first state to open. Trump tweeted his opposition to this move both in general and then, two weeks later, in opposition to Kemp’s opening. Every bit of documentation absolutely contradicts Trump’s claim that he “left that decision up to the Governors” as a matter of his own intention. It was his intention to achieve what he later bragged he had done, which is “turned it off.”

What Happened When the Georgia Governor Tried to Open the State? Read More

FDA abortion

FDA Is Wrong Again: Mailed Abortion Drugs are Not Safe

By / / / 7 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

The FDA’s clinical and scientific staff is repeatedly being led astray from its public health mission. It should be obvious to anyone that the cumulative safety profile of mifepristone predicts that the FDA’s political decision to allow mailing of abortion drugs for at-home use will lead to otherwise preventable morbidity and mortality in America’s women. 

FDA Is Wrong Again: Mailed Abortion Drugs are Not Safe Read More

DOD vaccines

The DOD Plays Hardball with Covid Vaccinations

By / / , / 5 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

The DOD mismanaged the Covid mandatory vaccine program, which degraded morale and negatively affected recruitment goals.  Now is the time to rectify these abuses and welcome rather than punish those men and women who choose to serve the country but exercised their rights under the Nuremberg Code.  Exerting financial pressure, failing to offer administrative services, and ostracizing these service members will discourage enlistments and further erode the public’s confidence in the United States military. 

The DOD Plays Hardball with Covid Vaccinations Read More

law school progressives

Madness in the Law Schools 

By / / / 7 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Tirien Steinbach’s censorious and sanctimonious diatribe embodies larger trends of the modern era: institutions’ abandonment of free speech principles, the most powerful people in the country posturing under the banner of victimhood, and the entitlement of wrongdoers who regurgitate the proper shibboleths. 

Madness in the Law Schools  Read More

Trump lockdown

How They Convinced Trump to Lock Down

By / / , / 8 minute read / Articles, Popular
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

To be sure, this scenario cannot be proven because the entire event – certainly the most dramatic political move in at least a generation and one with unspeakable costs for the country – remains cloaked in secrecy. Not even Senator Rand Paul can get the information he needs because it remains classified. If anyone thinks the Biden approval of releasing documents will show what we need, that person is naive. Still, the above scenario fits all available facts and it is confirmed by second-hand reports from inside the White House. 

How They Convinced Trump to Lock Down Read More

lab leak

The Lab Leak and the Counter Measures: What Really Happened

By / / , , / 13 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Some have argued that it was the powerful forces backing the vaccines, without reference to or need for a lab leak, that set the whole Covid disaster in motion. There is also some resistance to the idea that the entire Covid disaster was – and still is – a conspiracy of the international biodefense network. I would contend that the only explanation for the cascade of Covid events is that it began with a lab leak that required a cover-up, and that those involved in the cover-up were those who dictated and benefited from the response.

The Lab Leak and the Counter Measures: What Really Happened Read More

war on science

The Latest in the War on Science

By / / / 5 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

We do not know what spooked the Editor in Chief, but given the speed and highly unprofessional nature of the reaction, could it be one of their big funders?  How the decision was made to undermine the review so quickly and so well – was it a prepared strategy? Finally, the relationship between all this and the NYT opinion piece published on 10 October is unclear.  Nor have the Editors of Cochrane had the decency to explain what happened and what the haste was for. Therefore, why were folk working on the review since 2006 not consulted?

The Latest in the War on Science Read More

covid love canal

The Covid Disaster was Foreshadowed with Love Canal

By / / , / 10 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Those at the highest risk from Covid were given a piece of cloth to wear over their faces, while those at very little risk from the virus itself saw their future prospects decimated because of overly broad restrictions.  Both groups were told that $.05 masks were the difference between life and death, despite a lack of scientific consensus at any juncture.  Both groups were told that questioning any of this was tantamount to terrorism; that embracing one-size-fits-none restrictions held the only path forward. 

The Covid Disaster was Foreshadowed with Love Canal Read More

love canal

The Real Trauma of Love Canal

By / / , / 8 minute read / Articles
SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

In thinking only about the (very real) dangers posed by benzene and dioxin, activists forgot about everything else. They forgot about the fact that happy communities are healthy communities; that family dinners and book clubs are every bit as essential to a healthy life as staying away from pools of chloroform. Well-meaning people developed tunnel vision; thinking only about the dangers of the landfill, while forgetting about the dangers that come with upending a community. 

The Real Trauma of Love Canal Read More

Stay Informed with Brownstone Institute