Segregation hasn’t gone away

Posted by:

Segregation in education hasn’t gone away and is more alive than we might think. Ferguson, Mo., where Michael Brown was shot by a police officer last year, provides an example of both segregation and racial tension. More about that in a minute.

Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, blacks had no access to white schools. What happened since is chronicled by UCLA’s Civil Rights Project in Brown at 60: Great Progress, a ...

Continue Reading →
8
SEP
5

Education

, , ,

Global warming–consensus is the wrong issue

Posted by:

BeijingIn an op-ed last month in the Wall Street Journal, John S. Gordon dismisses the idea that the science concerning climate change is settled. But we’ve been hearing that “97 percent of scientists agree” climate change is caused by man. What’s going on?

Scientific America provides the answer. In 2011, Sarah Greene, a chemistry professor at Michigan Technological University, ...

Continue Reading →
24
AUG
2

Environment

, , ,

Donald Trump and James A. Traficant, Jr.–Soulmates?

Posted by:

traficant 2It wasn’t obvious at first, but then it dawned on me. Donald Trump and James A. Traficant, Jr., though they may be different in one sense, are very much alike. In case you don’t recall, Traficant was a Congressman from Youngstown, Ohio, who was expelled from the House in 2002.

The differences between them may be striking, but those differences ...

Continue Reading →
10
AUG
6

Political Issues, Uncategorized

, ,

Donald Trump: brash and wrong

Posted by:

Sometimes I receive suggested topics for my blog. A reader, who happens to be a client, suggested last week that I write about the fallout from Donald Trumps’s statements on immigration.

“Jack, in your left leaning missives, how about considering this?

“Political Correctness. Let’s all never say anything that could or would be potentially upsetting to anyone. Might as well erase the first amendment while we’re at it. …

“Why do I bring this up? I’m incensed about the treatment of 51 beautiful, ...

Continue Reading →
21
JUL
6

Political Issues

, , , ,

Criticism of the Supreme Court is nothing new

Posted by:

What’s the difference between athletes and politicians? When athletes lose a game, they generally don’t blame anyone besides themselves. When politicians lose, i.e., the Supreme Court doesn’t see things their way, they blame the court.

In an article published last month in The National Review, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Andrew C. McCarthy wrote that the Supreme Court is a political branch, not a judicial one. He sees a left leaning voting bloc, comprised of ...

Continue Reading →
14
JUL
4

Political Issues, Social Issues

, , , ,

Pope’s encyclical a problem for conservatives

Posted by:

Pope Francis came out swinging a few weeks back with his encyclical on the environment, “On Care for Our Common Home.” It’s a beautifully written document though, with 246 numbered paragraphs, hardly a quick read. The encyclical challenges us all to be better stewards of the Earth, but it also serves another benefit: it’s bound to make conservative politicians squirm because of the conflict it presents for them, which provides entertainment for the rest of us.

We’ve already seen some ...

Continue Reading →
1
JUL
6

Environment

, , , , , ,

Reflections on fatherhood–I almost missed the boat

Posted by:

In light of last week’s Charleston massacre, people who know me probably expect me to write about gun policy. It’s tempting, but I’ll let other people deal with this latest instance of America’s gun problem. Instead, let’s talk about Father’s Day—and how I almost missed the boat about just how important fatherhood is.

I begin with my own father, who was always concerned for my welfare, even as I entered adult life and was married with two young children. When family ...

Continue Reading →
23
JUN
8

Social Issues

, ,

Accidental gun deaths–other perspectives

Posted by:

Last month I wrote about kids being killed by guns. To give the issue a little more meaning, let’s look at three cases that were covered by the Columbus Dispatch and the Cincinnati Enquirer in the last three months.

June 5: a 14-year old boy in Hamilton, Ohio, died from a gunshot to the head. He and a 16-year old, who was holding the gun when it discharged, had been playing with the gun.

May 2: a 2-year old boy in ...

Continue Reading →
16
JUN
3

Gun Policy

, ,

Jeb Bush on global warming–conservative thought or lack of thought?

Posted by:

About two weeks ago, former Gov. Jeb Bush joined the ranks of those who argue about established science. Commenting on man’s impact on climate change, he had this to say: “I don’t think the science is clear of what percentage is man-made and what percentage is natural. It’s convoluted. For the people to say the science is decided on this is really arrogant, to be honest with you. It’s this intellectual arrogance that now you can’t have a conversation ...

Continue Reading →
3
JUN
8

Political Issues

, ,

Three Italian brothers who went to war

Posted by:

Today, I’m posting a piece I wrote for Veterans’ Day in 2006. Because the piece touched a lot of people, I thought it worth publishing it again. Here it is.

They were three Italian brothers. With World War II in play, they were expected to serve their country, but the country they would serve was not the country whose language they learned at birth. Sons of Italian immigrants who settled in Ohio, they were Americans.

The brothers came from humble stock. At ...

Continue Reading →
25
MAY
9

The Military

Page 14 of 23 «...101213141516...»