The New York Times’ David Sanger had an interesting observation in a recent article on Vladimir Putin’s bizarre foreign policy. Russia, Sanger wrote, is a “declining economy with the gross domestic product of Italy.” So how come it manages to push around the United States, which has the world’s biggest economy and, as President Obama […]
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Warring Libyans common interest: Oil revenue
Defeating ISIS fighters in Libya is proving to be a grinding, bloody struggle. The multi-sided battle among Libyans for control of their own oil industry is an even more complex war — but an opportunity to settle may have just emerged. Let’s address ISIS first. On August 22, Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord announced […]
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A taxing situation
What would you think of an individual or a company that earned a pre-tax profit of $29.9 million in one year, paid nothing in taxes and still received a $3.5 million refund? Am I speaking of Donald Trump? No, it is The New York Times Company. Forbes magazine studied the newspaper’s 2014 annual report, in […]
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America’s hierarchy of death
Did you hear about Jacob Hall? Maybe his name rings a bell for you, maybe not. Jacob was the 6-year-old boy who was shot on the playground at Townville Elementary School in South Carolina a week ago Wednesday. Another boy and a teacher were also struck, but survived. It’s a blessing Jacob was denied. Hit […]
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Bobcat kill monitoring questionable
“A stuffed bobcat head is considered a highly prestigious trophy,” says a 2015 Newsmax article on winter hunting in Maine. “A fresh winter snowfall simplifies the hunt. A bobcat’s footprints can be easily tracked.” If a current proposal by Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is passed, trophy hunters will get an extra week […]
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Movement away from capital punishment gathering force
Most of the civilized world has come to regard killing someone held in captivity as barbaric. The death penalty has been abolished in the European Union and 19 U.S. states. Governors in four states that do permit capital punishment — Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington — have imposed a moratorium on executions. The rest of […]
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Trump gets cozy with Rosy Scenario
WASHINGTON — Rosy Scenario is alive and well. There is a long and dubious tradition among politicians of projecting high — usually unrealistic — rates of economic growth as a way of avoiding unpopular political choices. We can do everything, because rapid growth and torrents of tax revenues will pay the bills. That’s Rosy’s message, […]
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Media lose any measure of objectivity
We are in the midst of an epic media freakout. It is a subset of a larger liberal panic over Donald Trump’s strength in the general election. The mood of the center-left is, “America, how dare you?” The outraged incomprehension is seeping into and, increasingly, driving the coverage of the race. The freakout began a […]
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Competency should be a requirement
“What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?” “I read most of them, again, with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.” “What ones, specifically?” “All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over […]
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Can Trump gain solid GOP support?
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is a strange standard-bearer for Republicans. He espouses few of the party’s traditional positions and disavows most of its icons. Almost every important conservative publication — National Review, The Weekly Standard, Commentary — opposes him, as do most leading conservative pundits, from George Will to David Brooks to Bret Stephens. Of […]