Columns

Gotta be a better way to teach reading

Published on Thu, 03/19/2020 - 4:33pm

News flash: Shoving a pie in the principal’s face probably won’t fix those reading scores.

So, yeah, a real columnist might drone on about the virus and what should/should not be done and how the federal government has screwed-up/done-well and why President Trump is a boob/genius with the way he’s handled things.

But that would be a real columnist. This is us. What do you expect for a buck?

Besides, this rant about the reading thing and the virus are somewhat related.

Coronavirus is the ‘Chinese virus’

Published on Wed, 03/18/2020 - 4:58pm

This week, President Donald Trump came under fire for his use of the phrase “Chinese virus” to describe the coronavirus, the source of the new pandemic that has led to a global economic shutdown as well as lockdowns of citizens in every major Western country. That media have somehow found time to hone in on the one issue that matters least — the labeling of a Chinese virus as such — in the middle of an unprecedented planetwide freeze demonstrates the utter unseriousness of those objecting. That the term should be controversial at all is nearly beyond belief.

Caring for the elderly just got more stressful

Published on Tue, 03/17/2020 - 5:11pm

We who oversee the care of elderly friends or family know what stress is all about — in normal times. It’s a hard job, physically and mentally. Even for those who can hire others to help out, there remains worry about paying good wages to keep good people, and coordinating doctor visits and prescriptions. 

Supply and demand, hoarding and price gouging — and the coronavirus

Published on Mon, 03/16/2020 - 5:19pm
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As the saying goes, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” I would add, “and anti-price gouging legislation in times of crisis.” Yet price increases in the face of sudden shortages are an important impetus to restore supply and demand market conditions that are closer to normal.

The president meets his match

Published on Fri, 03/13/2020 - 12:00am
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We are now officially dealing with a pandemic. No one but the president thought a $2.5 billion program would be enough to address the threat. Congress — not only the Democratic House but also the Republican Senate — nearly quadrupled the appropriation, even as health officials around the country are warning about shortages of everything from masks to skilled nursing care. No one except the president thinks the virus will just fade away with the warm weather. No one except the president disputes the mortality rate of the new coronavirus. The president has a “hunch” that the numbers are wrong. Who needs science when the president has a “hunch” — based on nothing — that the World Health Organization is wrong? No one but the president is claiming that a vaccine is around the corner, or that clinical trials are already beginning.

AOC must choose between the future and the political abyss

Published on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 4:58pm

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hitched her star to Bernie Sanders — and vice versa. AOC brought a young, hip Latina vibe to the elderly Sanders’ rallies. Photogenic and enjoying a massive social media presence, she joined Bernie in the far left’s crusade to take over the Democratic Party.

Joe Biden now commands a nearly insurmountable lead in Democratic delegates, thanks to a multiracial coalition including the white working-class voters Sanders believed he’d attract. Biden also has suburban women, whom Sanders hasn’t even tried for.

Trashing Title IX

Published on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 4:57pm

This doesn’t seem to be controversial.

But then, with Leftists these days, nothing is normal.

It seems reasonable that 48 years after Title IX was passed that girls and women can expect an equal opportunity to play sports. In fact, any suggestion today that boys be given preferential treatment over girls in sports would be ridiculed.

Except, to people on the Left, nothing is ridiculous.

The idea to give males preferential treatment over females was all the rage among protesters at the state capitol in Boise last week.

What the coronavirus should teach us

Published on Wed, 03/11/2020 - 4:59pm

As the markets have plummeted over global fears surrounding the fallout from the new coronavirus, political pundits have taken up the call: Find some meaning in the coronavirus outbreak and response. And where there is a demand for speculative opinion, there’s never a shortage of supply. Thus we’ve seen the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, be blamed on President Donald Trump. We’ve seen government-managed response, which has varied widely in terms of success by country, touted as a final rebuttal of libertarian precepts.

Why must a woman be perfect?

Published on Mon, 03/09/2020 - 12:00am

Elizabeth Warren checked every box. Brilliant. Tough. Prepared. A Harvard Law professor who didn’t go to a fancy private law school. Married young, followed her husband, made it to the United States Senate by dint of hard work, determination and courage.

Recognizing the voice of leadership

Published on Mon, 03/09/2020 - 12:00am

We’re traveling in a crowded subway car somewhere under Manhattan when, without warning, the car comes to an abrupt halt in a tunnel in between stations. The subway car is plunged into darkness, and our own growing anxiety, along with that of our fellow passengers, is almost palpable. After a while, a measured, authoritative voice comes over the public address system and calmly tells all us stranded, semiscared passengers a) what has happened; b) what is now being done to fix the problem; c) that we will be safe and on our way within a finite amount of time; and d) what we can do in the meantime to help the rescue process along. That is what the voice of leadership sounds like.