Massacre in Vegas. When tragedy strikes, there’s a lot of misinformation out there. It’s always best to sit back and wait (usually not very long) until the truth is reported. Here are three things to read today (if you’re up to it) about the mass shooting in Las Vegas:
- Christian Lowe, a gun expert, on automatic vs. semi-automatic weapons.
- The Washington Post on who Stephen Paddock was.
- The Wall Street Journal on what investigators found in Paddock’s hotel room.
Millennials are fleeing Washington. Good. It’s popular to pick on Millennials, probably because their caricature as precious little snowflakes is constantly reinforced in intriguing new ways each day. But, at the Washington Post, there’s a feature on why they’re leaving the capital. Turns out, Washington is expensive! Millennials, economist Stephen Fuller observes: “are eager to leave when the economic conditions wherever they grew up or went to college become more favorable.”
Good! People should leave for greener pastures when it makes sense to do so. Unless you’re stuck in a career in government, politics, or lobbying, there is no good reason to stay in Washington. The story, however, does have my favorite description of Millennials to date: “[I]t was easier to lure millennials than to keep them.”
Can Congress actually reform taxes? People often forget, as Jay Cost writes at National Review, that the mess with our tax code is one of Congress’s doing. Can they actually reform it? Here’s Cost:
“Congress” Cost writes, “had to read between the lines to acquire that authority.” And what a great job they’ve done!
“I mean they lost a big student.” This is what a Maine student told a local paper after being kicked out of a private Christian school for undergoing testosterone treatments relating to a transgender transition. Stiles Maverick Zuschlag (previously Alija) has said “God wants me to do this” and also claimed to be the school’s best biblical scholar. Stiles now attends a public school and is loving it, but has this to say to his old school: “It’s a big loss, I mean they lost a big student; I mean, whatever, I’ll just bring my excellence here then. I’ll just excel here.” Which, for a supposed valedictorian, is an odd phrasing. Zuschlag sounds like a pro-athlete reacting to a trade. In any case, Zuschlag will have one of the most interesting college application essays around come spring. I mean, what college admissions counselor could resist?
Afternoon Links are part of the Daily Standard newsletter, a free daily newsletter that goes out Monday through Friday. Sign up here!
