One billion dollars of product is produced each year by the informal economy of the Dharavi slum in India. Many have called it a “money-minting” economy. How is that possible in a squalid, seemingly uninhabitable slum? The facts behind this … Continue reading
Economics & Political Systems
Butler: The Riveting Untold Story of the Shooting of Donald Trump
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. Growing up in Butler, Pennsylvania in the 1970s and 1980s, I surely at some point must have encountered a book titled Butler, but it would have been at the town … Continue reading
Italy, Giorgia Meloni, and the Future of the West
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. The eyes of the world are focused on Rome right now because of the death of the pope, but they should also be directed at Italy’s increasingly influential prime minister, … Continue reading
The Great Marijuana Lie: Why Americans Should Jump off the Smelliest Bandwagon of All Time
Let’s not kid ourselves. Pennsylvanians who want to buy adult-use cannabis are just driving across the border to one of our five neighboring states where it’s legal. Up to 60% of the customers at those stores just over the border … Continue reading
The Man Behind Reagan’s ‘Evil Empire’: Tony Dolan, RIP
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. I was saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Tony Dolan, who passed away at age 76. Tony was the chief speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan in a “speechwriting … Continue reading
NCAA’s NIL Policy: No Integrity Left
$4.8 million is the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) valuation of Cooper Flagg, a freshman Duke basketball player. How is that even possible? In essence, Duke was able to buy the hired gun, Flagg, one of the most highly decorated … Continue reading
The Promise and Peril of DeepSeek
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. There’s an old story that, sometime in the 1960s, NASA spent millions to create a pen that worked in space. American engineers worked for years on a high-tech marvel that could write … Continue reading
A Postscript to “Reagan,” the Movie
As the end of the year approaches, professional movie reviewers are publishing their lists of the year’s best movies. I am at a stage of life where I don’t go to the movies often enough to presume to name my … Continue reading
The High-Water Mark of Woke Corporate Activism
In July of 1863 at the battle of Gettysburg, Confederate forces reached their high-water mark during Pickett’s charge. While no one knew it as a high-water mark at the time, that point marked the beginning of the end for the … Continue reading
Winston Churchill at 150
November 30 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Winston Churchill. Few individuals have been as lauded and lambasted both during their lifetime and after their death. As both a person and a symbol, Churchill has evoked many powerful … Continue reading
‘We Win, They Lose’: Remembering Richard V. Allen
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. We win, they lose.” That Reagan statement was a declaration for the ages, a denouement to the 20th century, encapsulating what Ronald Reagan did to defeat the Soviet Union and win … Continue reading
Rerouting: Fixing a Wrong Turn on the Road to “Green”
Making sure that you’re on the right road to get where you want to go is obviously important when you’re headed somewhere. While this is common sense for a good driver, it is rarely so for central planners. As the … Continue reading
Jimmy Carter Turns 100
On October 1, Jimmy Carter will celebrate his 100th birthday, becoming the first former president to reach this milestone. This occasion provides a fitting time to consider Carter’s life and legacy. He is one of the nation’s most outspoken Christian … Continue reading
The Political Contamination of Climate Science: If Climate Scientists Wanted to be Taken Seriously, They Should Have Stuck to Scientific Facts
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. Few scientific efforts have been so dramatically ruined by politics as climate science. For over 30 years, thousands of climate scientists have pushed the message that the world is in … Continue reading
Biden’s plan for SCOTUS term limits: ill-conceived and unnecessary
President Joe Biden, displeased by recent Supreme Court decisions, is thus proposing several changes. His vexation with the court is reminiscent of Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California-Berkeley Law School, who flatly said that changing the court was … Continue reading
China’s Potential for Pharmacological Warfare
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. It’s the middle of the night. Your child is tugging on their ear and crying inconsolably. It’s an ear infection. If you’ve ever had to deal with that situation, you’re … Continue reading
The Green Version of Socialism: What Is Familiar and What Is Different
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. In my previous column, I described the socialistic character of the greens’ masterplan for American society in the name of “climate change.” In one important way, the current green iteration … Continue reading
The American Righteous Cause—Then and Now
Reply
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. The Declaration of Independence was, of course, just that. It was an official declaration of independence by the “United Colonies” (upper case), as they were thus described by Thomas Jefferson, … Continue reading
Climate Change Socialism on the Attack
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. Over five years ago, I reported on the socialist agenda of the climate change alarmists and the essentially socialistic character of what was then called “the Green New Deal.” The GND presented an … Continue reading
Tech, Talk, and TikTok
In August 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency with an unlikely cause: the video-sharing app TikTok. At issue was TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and its close connections with the Chinese Communist Party. Trump argued that TikTok gave the CCP “access … Continue reading