Conventional wisdom — even its more intuitive cousin, common sense — sometimes needs to be tested scientifically. This year’s winners of the Nobel Prize in economics are living proof of that. Michael Kremer of Harvard University and Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts ...
Members of Congress who want to “overturn” President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria are engaging in an absurd performance of political theater. Many lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, have been critical of Trump’s decision to abandon Kurdish separatists in ...
The Observer-Dispatch Oct. 9 A bill to be introduced in the state Legislature that would be more definitive on the crime and toughen penalties for those caught making threats of mass violence against schools and other places where groups of people gather is long overdue. It should be one ...
If there is a smoking gun in the case of former Vice President Joe Biden’s involvement with Ukraine, it is being held by his son, Hunter. Democrats in Congress and many in the media insist neither Biden did anything wrong in relation to Hunter’s membership on the board of Burisma ...
President Donald Trump’s decision to pull a few dozen U.S. troops out of an area of northern Syria controlled by Kurdish military forces is being criticized widely, by both Republicans and Democrats. It is being portrayed as a betrayal of a staunch ally in the war against Islamic ...
Not all whistleblowers are involved in the attempt to impeach President Donald Trump. Some are worried about a more critical matter — the safety of airline passengers. Ethiopian Airlines former chief engineer, Yonas Yeshanew, is seeking asylum in the United States after resigning from his ...
It seems few days have gone by recently without some new revelation regarding the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry that targets President Donald Trump. Clearly, the president and some of his allies used their positions in efforts to advance Trump’s political prospects. Whether ...
What happened in a Dallas, Texas, courtroom last week ought to be celebrated as an unexpected triumph of compassion — not slammed as an alleged case of misbehavior by a judge. If you have not heard about the trial of ex-Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, you should. And you should look at ...
Fans of “alternative energy” — more on the quote marks in a moment — have begun worrying aloud about President Donald Trump’s aversion to wind power. They fear it will affect federal energy policy. It should not, of course, though it did during former President Barack Obama’s ...
Rome Sentinel Oct. 2 The latest numbers show that being a pedestrian is dangerous. Pedestrian fatalities in the United States are at their highest level since 1990, with an estimated 6,227 killed in 2018, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Pedestrian fatalities now ...
A new public health scare has surfaced, and this one has nothing to do with e-cigarettes and vaping. Instead, it involves millions of people who take drugs to reduce the amount of acid in their digestive tracts. A very popular over-the-counter drug, Zantac, has been taken off the shelves by ...
“We found that DEA was slow to respond to the significant increase in the use and diversion of opioids since 2000.” This week the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice released a summary of its look at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s pathetic response to the ...
Are leaders in Congress unable to walk and chew gum at the same time? That is, are they capable of multitasking on major issues? Some are speculating they are not. Recall that just a few weeks ago, in the wake of more mass murders, lawmakers vowed to debate steps to reduce the likelihood of ...
So-called “red flag” laws are being debated both in Congress and state legislatures in attempts to curb mass murders in the United States. Red flag laws would enable law enforcement authorities to take guns owned by people deemed by the courts to be clear threats to public safety. But the ...
It has been suggested by some that the current scare over e-cigarettes is overblown. Though hundreds of Americans have been hospitalized with respiratory ailments linked to “vaping” and a few have died, calls to ban the products are not realistic, critics say. But there is a valid, ...
Apparently, President Donald Trump believed he could score some political points by releasing the transcript of a July telephone call between himself and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Whether that is true remains to be seen. But one thing is obvious: Partisan politics has become ...
What is the most serious respiratory illness threat facing Americans today? If you answered “e-cigarettes,” we commend you for keeping up with current events. But that is the wrong answer. The correct one is influenza. On average, about 8% of Americans contract the flu each year, ...
Most Democratic Party candidates for president seem to be engaging in a competition to see who can out-promise everyone else. Free health insurance, free college, even free money in the form of checks written out to millions of families, are among the pledges being made on the campaign trail. ...
Keeping economic growth going can be tougher than kick-starting it in the first place. With the nation’s unemployment rate at historic lows — better than ever for some segments of the workforce — the challenge now is to maintain the pace. Most Federal Reserve Board members recognize ...
No doubt recent news about abortions will become a political football within days. It ought to be viewed as one of the great public health triumphs of the past few decades. Abortions have become less common in the United States than at any time since they became legal, through a U.S. Supreme ...