High-mindedness and hypocrisy: From the UN to Congress, posturing about peace and free speech
We have no qualms with much of the United Nations resolution expressing “grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population” and emphasizing that “the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
Christmas is the world’s festival, its happy place
I am an oddball. I like to work on Christmas.
Letters to the editor for Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023
AI ‘infantilizes younger generation’
Reality check — intifada has nothing to do with genocide of Jews
When New York Rep. Elise Stefanik repeatedly — and now infamously — badgered three college presidents about the nuances of free speech last week, she attempted to push her narrative that elite schools are antisemitic by equating “chants for intifada” with “genocide of Jews.”
Listen up. The closing of the teenage mind is almost complete
My revelation came in the spring, after a typical day in 11th-grade AP English. The topic was gender and how the experiences of the authors we were studying related to our world today. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear anything I hadn’t heard many times before.
Editorial: After COP28, let’s make this the ‘beginning of the end’ of fossil fuels
It took nearly three decades, but world leaders this week finally acknowledged the obvious: There is no way to slow climate change without winding down fossil fuels.
Editorial: Democrats, make a border deal to save Ukraine
In exchange for approving a supplemental national-security bill providing aid to Israel and Ukraine, Republican lawmakers are insisting on a far-reaching crackdown on the flow of migrants at the US’s southern border. Many Democrats continue to resist the GOP’s demands. They should reconsider.
Editorial: Revenge? Republicans need to chart a path forward
Kevin McCarthy, recently deposed as House speaker, has urged Donald Trump to move away from a message of “revenge.” McCarthy was referencing a speech Trump gave last month in which the former president told supporters he would be their “retribution” if he again wins the Oval Office.
Hunter Biden isn’t being accused of any new wrongdoing. So why was he just indicted again?
It’s not necessarily sinister for a prosecutor to go from offering an attractive plea deal to a defendant to throwing the book at him. Plenty of defendants have seen that happen after they turn down a plea bargain or authorities turn up new evidence.
Social media news is about to get more dangerous
According to a recent report from The Washington Post, the Biden administration has stopped warning social media companies about possible foreign meddling on their platforms, which means the government is starting to treat those platforms like what they are: publishers. It’s a logical move, but one that accelerates national security threats.
Is a $250,000 college degree worth it? Probably not — and Americans are catching on
FORT WORTH, Texas — It’s the season for blow-out holiday sales. That thing you’ve been eyeing all year, the one that skyrocketing inflation made just a little too pricey to justify, is probably now a steal.
The action schools should take to stop distraction
The latest report on how poorly U.S. students are performing in math also includes an easy way to potentially improve classroom performance.
Letters to the editor, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023
Current system is failing our teachers
Letters to the editor, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023
Tired of too much political correctness
Tip requests are everywhere: Are Americans greedy or is service worse?
If you’ve ordered a coffee and been asked to tip your barista at Starbucks and hesitated, you’re not alone: If you don’t tip, will your chipper barista be let down? What does everyone else do?
You don’t have to hate Trump to want a better president
It’s a common accusation: “You just hate Trump.” But this dismissive assertion always implies a subtext: “Your hatred of Trump blinds you to his virtues and accomplishments.”
No, Virginia, your Christmas tree is not a climate crime
If there’s one climate-change solution everybody seems to agree on, it’s that trees are good. Even Donald Trump, who has called climate change a Chinese hoax, has proposed planting a trillion trees.
Put up for sacrifice: Anti-abortion zealot Ken Paxton makes mom of two into an example
Kate Cox, a 31-year-old Dallas-Fort Worth married mother of two, might die. She’s not recovering from some tragic accident, nor does she have some kind of untreatable ailment. The best path to her health is eminently clear and medically proven: an abortion to terminate an unviable 20-week pregnancy, as recommended by her doctors.
Letters to the editor for Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023
Trump wants to be king, not president
What’s it like to be an average American?
One of the best ways to get a picture of a nation is through its numbers and, perhaps more importantly, its averages.