More than 100 billion dollars will be spent on lottery tickets this year. That’s more than what’s spent on movies, video games, music, books, and sports teams combined. People are desperate, and the lottery feels like an easy way out. But behind that colossal jackpot lurks a depressing truth; this is a predatory game, one […]
Consumers, Beware of Buy Now Pay Later
Seemingly overnight, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) companies invaded online marketplaces. From Walmart to local bookstores, consumers now have the option to split the price of a purchase into a few monthly installments, sometimes for no additional cost. A $170 treadmill can become $15 for 12 months, a $300 TV $50 for 6 months, or […]
Atlantic Herring v. Alphabet Soup
Capital letters have ruled the American government since 1933. Following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s implementation of the New Deal, three-letter agencies, also known as “Alphabet Soup Agencies,” have monopolized the American political system. From the FBI to the FDA, sequences of triplet capitals are omnipresent and inescapable. These organizations have become central to the basic […]
The Legal Disaster of Illinois’ Gun Ban
Amid the contentious landscape of the debate over gun violence, the Illinois state government has attempted to take this issue into its own hands: passing a constitutionally disastrous weapons ban with the potential to prove legally injurious to thousands of Illinoisans. On January 10th, 2023, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the “Protecting Illinois Communities Act,” […]
How to Save Lives in the Israel-Hamas War
In recent months, we’ve seen a disturbing reminder of a pattern that’s repeated itself for decades in Israel: terrorists launch an attack from Gaza, putting the lives of Israeli civilians at risk; to protect its citizens, Israel responds by killing both the terrorists and the innocent Palestinian bystanders who are being used as human shields; […]
Wall Street Warms to Trump
On January 15, 2024, the day of the Iowa Caucus, the world’s economic elite met to commence the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. As the polls closed, and former president Donald Trump emerged victorious, conversation turned to the possibility of a second Trump administration. Prominent American business leaders attempted to dial down concern […]
A New Form of Capital Punishment
In the aftermath of the recent execution of Kenneth Smith in Alabama, the first execution conducted by nitrogen gas, a renewed debate on capital punishment has started to form, one with a new focus on the methods of execution. Nitrogen gas as an execution method was first proposed in 2014 by Oklahoma State Representative Mike […]
Infrastructure Mania Gone Wrong
Where can you find the lengthiest bridge? The most extensive high-speed railway network? The longest metro system? If there were a list of Guinness World Records exclusively on transportation, China’s name would probably dominate most of its rankings. Having spent trillions of dollars on railways, highways, and waterways, the Chinese government loves to brand the […]
Young Voters and President Biden: A Plea
As we approach the 2024 presidential election, it has become abundantly clear that former President Donald Trump is all but guaranteed to secure the Republican nomination. His overwhelming victories in Iowa and New Hampshire have dealt a major blow not only to Nikki Haley’s battered campaign but also, more symbolically, to the anti-Trump flank of […]
The Revitalization of St. Louis
In a recent article by The Wall Street Journal, St. Louis was described as having a “real estate nightmare” complete with lost jobs, theft, and abandoned buildings. The article gave the example of The Railway Exchange Center, a once-thriving commercial building and department store that has since been abandoned and remains in a hazardous condition. […]