Americans who lived through the Cold War were taught that the Soviet Union was not our friend. They possessed weapons that could obliterate us with “the push of a button,” as President Trump would say. They were the scourge of democracy who ensnared Eastern Europe in an Iron Curtain... more

Much of the nation has been suffering from a cold snap of epic proportions, but there are always a few jokers who don’t get the message. I know you’ve SEEN them: the oddballs flitting about in shorts and tank tops while everyone else is shivering, chattering and holding a hair dryer to their water pipes... more

My father is behind the curve on social media, but I think he is onto something. You see, my father was born in 1933. He was a paperboy in the days when paperboys stood on city corners and shouted “Extra!” In his home, the newspaper still is king. He has two delivered daily. He reads every inch of both. He does the crossword puzzles in both, too - with a pencil... more

The new year came in like a lion. The average temperature in the contiguous 48 states was eleven degrees. Over 85 percent of the country was below freezing. Nearly a third was below zero. For much of the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains, temperatures were about 30 degrees below normal. ... more

The new year came in like a lion. The average temperature in the contiguous 48 states was eleven degrees. Over 85 percent of the country was below freezing. Nearly a third was below zero. For much of the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains, temperatures were about 30 degrees below normal. ... more

I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions. In fact, I usually scoff at the very concept of suddenly making a decision to change some aspect of one’s life, especially after a night that, for many folks, involves staying up too late and losing important articles of clothing in public. ... more

When the national economy is on a roll, history tells us, the American people are happy, content, upbeat and readily credit whoever the President is at the time for creating an environment in which growth, opportunity and job security can thrive. At the outset of 2018, the unemployment rate is 4.1 per cent (de facto full employment); economic growth is slightly above three per cent (well ahead of that of recent years); new jobs are being created at more than 200,000 a month; consumer spending and confidence has risen above last year’s levels, and the stock market breaks records daily (it’s now closing in on 25,000).. ... more

Will 2018 will be the year when I finally stomp out my footwear malfunctions? Perhaps I can even inspire others. A quick Google search reveals a distressing number of people are vexed and perplexed by shoelaces that suddenly, repeatedly unravel at inopportune times... more

Journalists love yearend recaps, but summarizing the odyssey that was 2017 might better be left to late-night comedians. So herewith a Precap of news certain to occur in 2018: Jan. 1 - President Trump tweets: “Let’s resolve to move forward in the New Year and make the right decisions for our wonderful nation and its beautiful people by finally bringing Crooked Hillary to justice!”... more

My wife called me at work not long after President Trump signed the Republican tax bill into law. She asked me if we would be getting a tax cut or a tax hike. It was an interesting question, and one for which I did not have an answer. There are myriad tax calculators that have popped up since the tax bill debate began. I hadn’t used any of them... more

What a difference a historic Republican tax bill makes. The liberal media and Democrats, of course, hate what Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have done without a single Democrat vote. They are trying their best to degrade, dismiss or deliberately misrepresent the broad benefits that the bill will bring to the half of American households that pay federal income taxes and to the economy in general... more

Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, of California, seems to believe he’s this generation’s J. Edgar Hoover, the near-mythic crimebuster and first and longest-serving director of the FBI. Nunes has set his sights on this highly-regarded law enforcement organization, as well as its second-longest serving director, well-respected Special Counsel Robert Mueller, also a Republican... more

When I was in sixth grade, my impassioned 4-H speech about the possibility of extraterrestrial visitors didn’t even merit an Honorable Mention (my fifth-grade speech about our thumb-sucking CAT had taken me all the way to the county level!); so I can empathize with those military intelligence officials who are being ridiculed for the existence of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification program... more

It’s the Monday before Christmas, and my daughter, her hair tied up snugly in a bun, plops herself down in the front seat of my car. And as I aim my trusty German import in the direction of her ballet school, she turns to me, her face aglow in the gray afternoon light, a plea in her eyes... more

Let’s send a big fat congratulatory shout out to former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones for capturing the Senate seat in Alabama, the first Democrat to be elected to that Yellowhammer State position since Richard Shelby won a second term in 1992, but then switched allegiances to the Republican Party two years later. Which, to be perfectly honest, is cheating... more

Democrats can dream all they want. They and their soulmates in the liberal media can celebrate the victory by Doug Jones in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race until next fall. They can continue to fool themselves into thinking that Republican candidate Ray Moore’s narrow defeat was a sign from above that the Democratic Party will regain control of Congress in 2018... more

As war continues to be waged over tax reform and the Affordable Care Act, a more subversive battle to eliminate consumer and environmental protections continues to rage. With the stroke of a pen, the president has swatted away bothersome regulations at the behest of corporate interest groups as though they were so many annoying flies... more

I dream of “White Christmas” this year. I speak of the Irving Berlin classic made famous by Bing Crosby - a sweet, wistful song that holds more power over me with each passing year. According to CBS News, many speculate that Berlin was inspired to write the song in the late 1930s, while working on a movie in Beverly Hills and feeling homesick for his family in New York... more

At this festive time of year, it is good to remember those who will probably never again personally experience “city sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style.” Individuals who are fortunate enough not to have close relatives in nursing homes may feel that they have “dodged a bullet” and can unashamedly concentrate on “me me me”; but visiting my mother-in-law at the nursing home over the last two years has humbled me and opened my eyes to opportunities for compassion... more

Like or hate the Republican tax-reform plan, here’s one thing we can all cheer: Beer taxes are going down. According to Business Insider, Senate Republicans included an amendment to their tax plan that “reduces craft brewers’ excise tax from $7 per barrel to just $3.50 per barrel on their first 60,000 barrels... The amendment would also cut excise taxes for bigger brewers from $18 a barrel to $16 a barrel.”... more