The election-night coverage of the 2016 vote began with images of the Clinton campaign team gathering in the Javits Center—under the symbolic glass ceiling. Hillary Clinton supporters were enthusiastic, upbeat, and expectant. The polls gave them every reason to expect … Continue reading
America’s agricultural resources are among the best in the world. American farmers, or perhaps we should call them America’s agribusiness professionals, produce essential financial crops including wheat, corn, beans, grapes, apples, etc. We are all dependent on their productivity. Indeed, … Continue reading
C. J. Box is a New York Times best-selling author. Although he has published some stand-alone novels, he is best known for his Joe Pickett series. The 17th Joe Pickett novel is scheduled for release next spring. These novels feature … Continue reading
In predictable economic times, it makes sense—indeed it is essential—to put money aside and save for the coming rainy day. Trouble is brewing for each and every one of us. For some, it is just two appliances failing in the … Continue reading
Mary Poppins was “practically perfect in every way,” except that Mary Poppins isn’t real. I fall very short of “practically perfect” in any way, every single day. I do things I regret; even more I fail to do things I … Continue reading
Dream surveys consistently show that dreaming about being back in school is among the top three content areas of our adult dreams. College is often described as being the best years of our lives (though I don’t care to repeat … Continue reading
My heart aches over the stories I hear about heroin overdoses. Local fathers post stories about their sons and daughters, fatal victims of the heroin market. Police conduct raids. The illegal marketing demand continues to fund Afghanistan poppy farmers. Other … Continue reading
During the commencement ceremony at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa., where I am a professor, we will be singing Isaac Watts’ “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” Tears will come to my eyes as we harmonize the … Continue reading
In recent years there have been far too many cases in which elections in America have been rigged. As a result of court involvement, the guilty parties have in some cases spent time in prison, in some cases been released … Continue reading
Described by the Belaruskaya Entsiklopedia as the “largest technological disaster of the 20th century,” the catastrophe at Chernobyl was the equivalent of 350 atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima. To increase your understanding of this tragic event, I highly recommend … Continue reading
In “Pleading Guilty,” best-selling novelist Scott Turow wrote, “What kind of ethical social system takes as its fundamental precepts the words ‘I’ ‘me’ and ‘mine’? Our two-year-olds start like that and we spend the next twenty years trying to teach … Continue reading
Of course, it’s not a new verb; it’s in older dictionaries. I have been hearing it much more frequently, however, and I am becoming alarmed. We as a society are much more aware of the risks of being concussed, and … Continue reading
In his 1850 short story, “The Great Stone Face,” Nathaniel Hawthorne described the legend of the Old Man of the Mountain: “At some future day, a child should be born hereabouts, who was destined to become the greatest and noblest … Continue reading
As a college student, in an era when college tuition was much lower, I was able to pay my college bills without taking any loans. First, I had the support of my parents. They paid my bill in full for my freshman … Continue reading
According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, life expectancy in the United States is the longest ever, approaching 79 years. This was highlighted in the recent Time cover story, “This Baby Could Live to … Continue reading
Barring the unexpected, Queen Elizabeth II, on September 9, 2015, will become the longest reigning British monarch, overtaking Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901. These historic 63-year reigns are separated by four kings who reigned for a combined … Continue reading
A pastor friend of mine, not trying to be irreverent or sacrilegious, once shared with me his own faint analogy of eternal hell—waking up every day and discovering yet again that it was moving day. I know that some will … Continue reading
A recent story in the Chronicle of Higher Education suggests that Michael LaCour, a UCLA graduate student, has fabricated data for another journal article. Science magazine has retracted the article, due to “the misrepresentation of survey incentives, the false sponsorship … Continue reading
On 9/11, 2,977 people were killed by terrorists. In response, the American government, after a bipartisan vote, decided to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. As a consequence, a huge number of countless thousands of Middle East civilians have been killed by … Continue reading
Self-control is more important than self-esteem. The ability to control one’s activities is more predictive of success than is intelligence. When it comes to self-control, research supports Ralph Waldo Emerson’s adage that “character is higher than intellect.” What does the … Continue reading
