Featured Commentary category, Page 134
Walter Williams: On climate, are scientists dishonest or afraid?
The absolute worst case of professional incompetence and dishonesty is in the area of climate science. Tony Heller has exposed some of the egregious dishonesty of mainstream environmentalists in his video “My Gift To Climate Alarmists.” Environmentalists and their political allies attribute the recent increase in deadly forest fires to...
Cal Thomas: Whatever happened to teaching history?
According to a report by the National Assessment of Education Progress , the teaching of U.S. history to American students lags behind all other subject matters. The latest NAEP survey finds that proficiency levels for fourth-, eighth- and 12th-grade students are in the 20th, 18th and 12th percentile, respectively. Part...
‘Harmful therapy ban’ bill would allow minors to pursue their own therapy goals
In March, Allegheny County Councilman Paul Klein proposed a so-called “conversion therapy” ordinance that would ban “any attempt” by a mental health care provider to assist an individual who seeks help managing their same-sex attractions or gender identity/expression. This blanket counseling ban would include efforts to “change behaviors” or to...
Pat Buchanan: What’s behind our world on fire?
When the wildfires of California broke out across the Golden State, many were the causes given. Negligence by campers. Falling power lines. Arson. A dried-out land. Climate change. Failure to manage forests, prune trees and clear debris, leaving fuel for blazes ignited. Abnormally high winds spreading the flames. Too many...
Vince Mercuri: Establishing boundaries
Quite often, even before we awake each morning, it begins to happen: The guideposts that define our behaviors and interactions start to present themselves. Alarms, schedules, tasks, timelines, speed limits, job descriptions, appointments, etc. — many typical expectations and dos and don’ts provide the external boundaries for our internal conduct...
Jonah Goldberg: Shaking down the rich is bad for democracy
Forget whether the math works. (It doesn’t.) Expecting billionaires to pay for all the nice things is bad for democracy. One of the more exhausting rituals of presidential campaign season is the effort to make every new proposal “add up.” Sure, it’s better that politicians try to come up with...
S.E. Cupp: Senate vote could offer up some surprises
At a time when politics has become less and less about governing and increasingly, well, about politics, last week is perhaps the penultimate illustration. Last week the testimony began in President Trump’s impeachment inquiry, and the nation is watching as members of Congress from both sides of the aisle perform...
Dan Hensley: Community-based programs help passionate learners
According to experts — and a famous ratio — 90% of how we learn is considered informal learning. That’s because 70% of how we learn is from experience and 20% is from peers. The other 10% is through self-directed learning. Add it all up and you have the 70:20:10 ratio,...
Cal Thomas: The importance of ‘no men’
Shortly after Jim Bakker’s release from prison in July 1994, I invited the disgraced TV evangelist to my home. There was an important question I wanted to ask him. Some background: Bakker and his “Praise the Lord” (PTL) associates sold $1,000 “lifetime memberships” to people who were promised annual three-night...
John Stossel: Government creates mandatory shortages
Governments create problems. Then they complain about them. “A public health crisis exists,” says Kentucky’s government, citing a report that found “a shortage of ambulance providers.” Local TV stations report on “people waiting hours for medical transportation.” “Six-year-old Kyler Truesdell fell off his motorcycle,” reported Channel 12 news. “The local...
Walter Williams: Young people are ignorant of history
A recent survey conducted by the Victims of Communism and polled by YouGov, a research and data firm, found that 70% of millennials are likely to vote socialist and that one in three millennials saw communism as “favorable.” Let examine this tragic vision in light of the Fraser Institute’s recently...
Dr. Lawrence John: Patients want physicians involved in their health care
Nurse practitioners have been pushing state lawmakers to remove their collaborative agreements with physicians in Pennsylvania for a number of years. But a new public opinion poll should give state lawmakers in Allegheny County pause, as the vast majority of participants indicated they would not support such a move. Susquehanna...
Kathryn Kugler: To attract more physician assistants, Pa. needs modernized laws
Pennsylvania educates more PA (physician assistant) students than almost any other state. With one of the highest numbers of accredited PA programs in the country — 23, to be exact — our state has access to an enormous group of bright, ambitious, well-trained medical providers who can help to improve...
Pat Buchanan: Will ‘sexist’ white males derail Elizabeth Warren?
After celebrating last week’s takeover of Virginia’s legislature and the Kentucky governorship, the liberal establishment appears poised to crush its biggest threat: the surging candidacy of Elizabeth Warren. From the tempo and tenor of the attacks, establishment fears of Warren’s success are real — and understandably so. The danger for...
Reps. John Joyce and Abby Finkenauer: Rural broadband key to 21st-century success
When was the last time that you unfolded a map for directions before a road trip or required a postage stamp to send a photograph to a friend? More likely than not, you have turned to a phone, tablet or other device to complete these simple tasks. In the 21st...
Jonah Goldberg: Warren, Trump may have a lot in common
Culturally, Elizabeth Warren is a lot more like Donald Trump than you might think. Hold on. I know: Going by their personal lives, their demeanors and their ideological agendas, they’re apples and oranges. But apples and oranges actually have a lot in common: They’re both fruits, they’re round, and they...
S.E. Cupp: Did Democrats get a blueprint for defeating Trump?
While Democrats are celebrating a number of significant local electoral victories in unlikely places, Republicans are left struggling to keep the political shrapnel from grazing their cult commander, President Trump. And not doing it particularly well, either. Don Trump Jr. was on Fox News Tuesday night working hard to insist...
Colin McNickle: Wolf spins tangled overtime threshold web
“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive” was the admonition of Sir Walter Scott in his 1808 poem “Marmion.” Change the word “deceive” to “intercede,” and the quote becomes most apropos to describe Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to increase the threshold for which...
J. Matthew Landis: Don’t thank me for my service; serve with me and defend DACA
I proudly served my country for 10 years in the Army, first with the field artillery and later as a helicopter pilot, serving two tours in Iraq. I come from a family with a long military history, and I am proud to have put my life on the line to...
Jonah Goldberg: Cancel the primaries
The Democratic primary campaign started in January, but it already feels as if it began in the late Jurassic period, and the first votes are still three months away. Primaries are a lot like Christmas: The shopping season begins way before, and things rarely live up to expectations. (I mean...
Earl Tilford: The strategic effect of Operation Kayla
Raids, like Operation Kayla — named for murdered humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller — resulting in the death of Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi and other ISIS terrorist leaders, are usually small affairs with limited results. Nevertheless, such meticulously planned and superbly executed raids also can have significant strategic implications. Roughly five decades...
Ashley Klingensmith: Casey should work to give Congress vote on tariffs
Pennsylvania was once known as “the steel capital of the world.” We have grown and diversified beyond that distinction some time ago, but steel remains a sizable component of the commonwealth’s economy. More than 30,000 workers are directly employed in the industry, producing more than $20 billion in economic output....
Walter Williams: Disproportionalities — whose fault?
Jews have been awarded 40% of the Nobel Prizes in economics, 30% of those in medicine, 25% in physics, 20% in chemistry, 15% in literature and 10% of the Nobel Peace Prizes. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been just over 900 Nobel Prizes awarded. Since Jews...
John Stossel: Libra, Bitcoin show promise
House members summoned Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to Washington, D.C., and grilled him — harshly — about his plan to create a new currency, Libra. I liked it when Zuckerberg said, “I actually don’t know if Libra’s going to work, but I believe that it’s important to try new things.” He...
Carla Balakgie: Before Thanksgiving, vending industry commits to ‘better’ choices
With Thanksgiving just a fortnight away, tables across America will soon be teeming with turkey and all the trimmings — and the potential for Americans to overindulge. At the same time, millions of those same people are trying to be more mindful about their overall nutrition, including snacking. In fact,...
