A friend who attended school in the Mount Blue school district was assigned to write a paper about an occupation he admired or might want to pursue. He wrote about farmers and farming, wrote that without farmers most folks wouldn’t eat. The teacher took a dim view of the paper, said the youngster was aiming […]
Op-Eds
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Disaster in oil-industry hub aided by man’s folly
At the end of August, Hurricane Harvey inundated the Houston area with a flood of biblical proportions. But the disaster was not just an act of God. It was also the product of man’s folly in contributing to and then ignoring the impact of climate change. The Texas Gulf Coast, of which Houston is the […]
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Trade issues with South Korea should be low priority
WASHINGTON — How do they come up with this stuff? According to press reports, the Trump administration is considering withdrawing from the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, which was implemented in 2012 and lowered most tariffs between the two countries. Now South Korea and the United States are caught up in the most serious military […]
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The price rises on Houston's 'cheap' housing
As the floodwaters recede, much of Houston’s famously “affordable” housing may seem less of a bargain. We’re not just talking about rising rents, inevitable with so many units destroyed. We are talking about the emotional cost of having to move in with friends, rebuild and buy new furniture more than once in a lifetime. Floods […]
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Yemen's odd war is a human disaster
Three civil wars with roots in Arab Spring revolts continue to plague the Arab world: Yemen, Syria and Libya. Syria receives the most international attention. With over 500,000 dead, that’s understandable. Libyan battles over oil facilities also draw headlines. In comparison, Yemen’s civil war on the Arabian Peninsula’s southwestern corner receives little notice. There are […]
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Russia pushes for increased role in North Korea
By Josh Rogin The Washington Post Both publicly and behind the scenes, Russia has been seeking a greater role for itself in the North Korean nuclear crisis. U.S. officials and experts worry Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unhelpful efforts are driven not by the perceived threat of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but by a […]
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Turkey faces a choice: Past or future
ISTANBUL — Coming from the airport into this city of about 15 million people and 5 million cars, as my driver describes it, I pass ancient Roman ruins and blocks of upscale shops; an old hotel where Agatha Christie penned “Murder on the Orient Express,” smoke shops and modest restaurants, and luxury car dealers. It […]
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America, a land of liberty and justice for some
Steve Loomis is angry. Loomis, the head of Cleveland’s police union, is using words like “hypocritical,” “ignorant,” and “offensive,” and you might, for a wishful second, convince yourself he’s talking about that day in 2014 when two Cleveland police skidded to a stop in front of a 12-year-old black boy playing with a toy gun […]
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A charge to my fellow members of Congress
By John McCain Special to The Washington Post Americans recoiled from the repugnant spectacle of white supremacists marching in Charlottesville to promote their un-American “blood and soil” ideology. There is nothing in their hate-driven racism that can match the strength of a nation conceived in liberty and comprising 323 million souls of different origins and […]
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The middle-class comeback is for real
WASHINGTON — As Labor Day has just passed, it is worthy to note that the American middle class survives. Indeed, it is expanding. That is not the conclusion of some arcane scholarly study. It is the judgment of Americans themselves, though it hasn’t received much attention from politicians or the media. Public opinion polls depict […]