Politics Information
Inflation: Who or What is the Culprit?
Inflation – defined herein as a widespread increase in the prices of widely purchased consumer goods – has gotten worse since I commented on it last spring. According to the official Consumer Price Index (CPI), inflation is currently running at 7.5 percent year over year – the highest since 1982.
Healthcare Infrastructure, Not Intellectual Property is Key to Defeating COVID
When you've made a wrong turn, pushing ahead only takes you further from your destination. It's a lesson that's apparently lost on many officials at the World Trade Organization, who are continuing to entertain a proposal to invalidate intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines, long after it has become obvious that these legal safeguards aren't to blame for the low vaccination rate in many countries.
Google Loss to Sonos Confirms Big Tech's IP Piracy Problem
In January, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Google infringed Sonos' patented innovations in wireless speaker technology. This may sound like an obscure legal ruling. But it confirms a problem that threatens America's innovation economy.
New Drug Pricing Reforms Would Undo Hatch-Waxman's Historic Progress
Senate Democrats and White House officials are hastily piecing together a revised version of the Build Back Better Act, after Senator Joe Manchin announced he couldn't support the version passed by the House.
Dear American Truckers, God Bless You and Please Keep Driving
Grocery store shelves are not like they used to be. Before the pandemic there was plenty of whatever we typically wanted. It’s not like that today.
What the Cuban Missile Crisis Can Teach Us About Today’s Ukraine Crisis
Commentators on the current Ukraine crisis have sometimes compared it to the Cuban missile crisis. This is a good comparison―and not only because they both involve a dangerous U.S.-Russian confrontation capable of leading to a nuclear war.
China’s Careful Dance Around the Ukraine Crisis
Reports out of Washington suggest worry over a Russia-China partnership that would facilitate Vladimir Putin’s presumed ambition to absorb Ukraine and undermine the NATO-based European security system. So let’s examine that relationship to assess the US concern.
Can School Board Meetings Bring Us Together Rather Than Pull Us Apart?
"This is painful. The people we are ‘up against’ are people we have known for years. Our lives are intertwined.” Speaking from rural California, Jane explained what school board conflict is doing to her community.
America's Crumbling Bridges, Can We Save Ourselves?
The Forbes Avenue bridge over Fern Hollow Creek in Pittsburgh's Frick Park collapsed last Friday morning, January 28th with several vehicles, including a Port Authority bus, on the span at the time. The bridge that collapsed is known as the Fern Hollow Bridge, used by an estimated 14,500 vehicles daily.
Let's Not Alow the Great Powers to Destroy the World
The vast destruction wrought by the atomic bombing of Japan in August 1945 should have been enough to convince national governments that the game of war was over.
The Great Resignation and the Hourly Wage
A young adult lady in Johnson county, Kentucky was recently faithfully working her convenient store register job. She had a line of patrons buying drinks and paying for gasoline. Someone asked her how much money she made? “Nine dollars an hour,” she said. “I’ve worked here over two years and the pay has been $9 an hour. I’ve asked for a raise. I work hard. I’m here almost all the time. A manager from the chain of stores always says, “We are looking into it.” She said, “I have to find another job because I can’t take care of myself and my children on $9 an hour.”
Defensive Tackle Left Defenseless Against Superbug
I wasn't nervous about a minor knee surgery. As an NFL football player who'd undergone far more extensive operations before, this procedure seemed completely routine. Little did I know that within 36 hours, I would be lying unconscious on the sofa at my daughter's second birthday party, my right leg inflamed like an overinflated balloon.
Build Back Better Sets Back Medical Science
Democrats are hoping to include a major overhaul of Medicare prescription drug pricing in their Build Back Better legislation. The proposal would allow the government to decide the price it'll pay for brand-name medications covered by Medicare.
Teach MLK, Not CRT
Here’s a critical question for enthusiasts of critical race theory, particularly its growing number of advocates on the religious left: How did MLK do what he did without CRT?
To Cut Health Spending, Look Beyond Prescription Drugs
Democrats are working day and night to get their budget bill over the finish line. It includes a host of long-overdue investments to expand access to child care and education and address the climate crisis.
Democrats' Drug Proposal Cuts Patient Costs — But Also Restricts Access
It's commendable that Democrats in Congress are determined to include prescription drug-pricing reforms in their Build Back Better spending bill. Far too many Americans struggle to pay for their medications, and high out-of-pocket drug costs are potentially life-threatening, especially for those with chronic diseases.
Creativity in Nonviolent Resistance
There is a force in the world that was never considered as a force in our human story until Mohandas Gandhi discovered it 116 years ago, the power of nonviolent resistance.
COVID and Conscientious Objection
The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to stop a state vax mandate for healthcare workers invoking religious objections. It declined to halt New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s denial of the First Amendment religious rights of healthcare workers. Only three justices stepped forward to intervene: Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas. Gorsuch was clearly disappointed with his colleagues, no doubt Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh chief among them.
Homeschooling Will Boom Long After COVID-19
Student enrollment in public schools has nosedived as parent disgust with school COVID-19 policies, student learning losses, and controversial education policies has gone through the roof. In the wake of this enrollment implosion, homeschooling has boomed across the country.
Green Heroin vs. the Call to Work
Addiction to government handouts continues to be a significant economic and societal issue. Recently, some authors have sounded the alarm by tagging the current CARES Act freebies as a form of “green heroin.” This addiction to green dollars has caused free-lunch addicts to lose their desire to work.
A Primer on the Vaccine Mandate: A Case of Federal Overreach
Whether you have strong convictions against vaccines, or just about the Covid vaccine, or you have no particular aversion to vaccines, understanding what is going on with President Joe Biden’s OSHA-enforced vaccine mandate is important. The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) mandate is just one leg of a three-legged stool—the others being the vaccine edict from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services directed at medical workers and the administration’s own vaccine directive aimed at the employees of certain federal contractors.
We Need a Coordinated Global Response to the Pandemic
There is a board-game called Pandemic that has been around for years before Covid 19 circled the globe. In Pandemic, you and your fellow players are members of a disease control team. You must work together to develop cures and prevent disease outbreaks, for Pandemic is a cooperative game. The players all win or lose together.
FDA Approval of Over-the-Countyer Hearing Aids is Music to Americans' Ears
Millions of Americans may soon be able to hear a bit easier. The Food and Drug Administration just announced a new rule that would permit over-the-counter sales of hearing aids.
The Biden Administration's Ongoing Ill-Timed Battle Against Fossil Fuels
A few months ago, I wrote about President Biden’s anti-fossil fuel policies. Among other steps designed to restrict domestic production of oil and natural gas, the president canceled completion of the Keystone XL pipeline, banned drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, and greatly curtailed the issuance of leases for companies to develop fossil-fuel resources underneath public lands and waters.
Celebrate All Our Rights
December 10, 2021 marks the 73rd anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This year also marks the 5th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Right to Peace (DRP). As we celebrate the anniversaries of these two Declarations, let’s consider their interconnectedness and how world government, world law, and world citizenship are key to their implementation.
Do I Teach at a Woke School?
“Do I teach at a woke school?” was not a question I seriously considered until one evening last week when I received an email from a friend assuring me of his prayers for me in my workplace. The reason was an article he had just read on a website, The American Reformer, entitled “Wide Awoke at Grove City College?”
What About the Other Ethan Crumbleys?
We are unfortunately informed once again of another horrific, senseless school shooting. They don’t stop. When will the next one be? Who will be the next shooter and who will be the next unsuspecting victims?
Democrats' Spending Bill Will Punish These Small Businesses
Democratic lawmakers are touting a component of their budget bill that would help small business. And indeed, some entrepreneurs will be happy to learn about the $25 billion proposal, which would provide small enterprises with new financing, training, and help with federal contracts.
Facing the Facts About Gun Violence in the U.S.
A day after yet another tragic school shooting, I just finished teaching a criminology class about gun violence and how to reduce it in the U.S. I found that my students have many misconceptions about the scope and nature of the problem. I believe they are not alone, and that these misconceptions that many others may hold work against the development of thoughtful and effective policy. Although whole volumes can and have been written about this, I share here just a few observations.
Americans Would Pay a Heavy Price for Amnesty
Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are scrambling to find a way to amnesty illegal immigrants in their nearly $2 trillion budget bill.
Critical Race — To the Bottom
The party favor on the Republican side has been the dog whistle.
The Cracks are Showing in Roe v. Wade
Crowds gathered outside of the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the Supreme Court prepared to hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the most consequential abortion case in a generation.
U.S. Killer Drone Attacks Kill Innocent Civilians
As a people represented by our government, what gives us the right to go into other countries and indiscriminately assassinate people? Do we think that “American exceptionalism” gives us that right? How would we feel if the roles were reversed? Families around the world are merely trying to live their lives in peace as much as we are here in America.
For mRNA Vaccines, Thank Animals
To the delight of high school biology teachers everywhere, messenger RNA is having a moment.
Is Big Tech Bad at Business?
Google just suffered a major defeat in its legal battle with Sonos. A judge ruled that Google infringed on five of Sonos' audio patents. If the ruling is upheld, Google could pay hundreds of millions and face a ban on importing everything from Pixel smartphones to Nest speakers.
The Haiti Kidnapped Missionaries, Consider the Costs of Such Trips
The missionaries consisting of sixteen Americans and one Canadian kidnapped by the Haitian “400 Mawozo” gang October 16, is extremely scary. The gang has threatened to kill the humanitarian Christians if a million dollar per person ransom is not fulfilled. The group consists of men, women, children and an eight-month-old baby.
Parental Educational Rights and Religious Liberty: The Yoder Case Revisited
Throughout the country, parents are concerned that some public schoolboards, administrators, and associations hold them in disdain and fear their input when they raise legitimate questions about the direction of their local schools. Just short of 50 years ago (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that protects parents in the educational choices they make for their children—Wisconsin v. Yoder. Revisiting Yoder nearly a half-century later is more than a historical exercise. Yoder reminds us that children are not “mere creatures of the state” and that parents retain the right to direct their education.
A Real Day for Veterans
Some 30,000 post 9/11 service members and veterans have been desperate enough to take their own lives. A real day for veterans would provide mental and physical support services that would seek to reduce or eliminate these self-inflicted casualties.
Honor and Care for our Veterans
During World War II, on April 9, 1942, 75,000 United States soldiers and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces after months of battling in extreme-climate conditions.
Vote Back Better
My Dad skated for the Minnesota Gophers hockey team after he finally got done serving “for the duration” in World War II in the Philippines. So, of course, he was our coach as we PeeWees tried to learn to play hockey in Minnesota in the late 1950s. As a coach, one of his favorite go-to instructions to us was, “OK, team, back to the basics!”
