California School Punishes First-Grader for a Drawing, Sparking Federal Lawsuit

by Patrick McDonald, Reason, August 9, 2024.

Excerpt:

In March 2021, the elementary school student, referenced in legal filings as “B.B.,” drew a sketch depicting several individuals of different races, representing “three classmates and herself holding hands,” the family’s complaint states. Above the drawing, B.B. wrote “Black Lives Mater” [sic] with the words “any life” transcribed below the slogan.

B.B. then gave the drawing to one of her classmates, who is black, in an attempt (as she later testified) to comfort her classmate.

The words any life are, of course, similar to the phrase, “All Lives Matter,” which became a controversial retort to the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd.

That similarity—whether the first-grader was aware of it or not—was soon to land B.B. in hot water. The same day she made the drawing, B.B. was told by the school’s principal, Jesus Becerra, that her drawing was “inappropriate” and, allegedly, “racist.” (The parties dispute whether Becerra told B.B. that the drawing was “racist.” The defense alleges that B.B.’s testimony on the subject is inconsistent.)

DRH comment: Think of the emotional scars on this elementary school student who was punished for doing something nice. Also, notice that the first grader thought more clearly about human beings than Jesus Becerra, the principal did.

Moral of the story: keep your kids out of government schools if it’s financially doable. Many of them are toxic.

 

Why Does Building Roads Cost So Much in the United States?

by Timothy Taylor, Conversable Economist, August 9, 2024.

Excerpt:

One of my personal frustrations with how legislation is often discussed arises when there is a heavy focus on the total amount spent, which is easy to measure, and much less focus on what is received for what is spent, which is harder to measure. But the intention (level of spending) is not the outcome (actual results). The estimates in this paper

 

E.U. Regulations Made the CrowdStrike Fiasco Much Worse

by J.D. Tuccille, Reason, August 9, 2024.

Excerpt:

“CrowdStrike’s bug was so devastating because its security software, called Falcon, runs at the most central level of Windows, the kernel, so when an update to Falcon caused it to crash, it also took out the brains of the operating system,” The Wall Street Journal‘s Tom Dotan and Robert McMillan reported July 21. “A Microsoft spokesman said it cannot legally wall off its operating system in the same way Apple does because of an understanding it reached with the European Commission following a complaint. In 2009, Microsoft agreed it would give makers of security software the same level of access to Windows that Microsoft gets.”

“Mr. Bean” on free speech in UK.

Don’t miss this one: it’s an impassioned case against Britain’s harsh restrictions on speech.

HT2 Dan Klein.