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Freedom of Speech In America Must Go Both Ways

Columns

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Before freedom of the press, assembly or the petitioning of grievances, it is freedom of speech that is first guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Why? Because to be truly free, you must be free to think, and without the freedom to express what you think, ...

Prevention and safety is better than a cure

Columns

This week was my 5-year colonoscopy. The 5th in my life. Colonoscopies are the best way to prevent colon cancer. Fourteen years ago, my brother passed from colon cancer at age 57. He didn’t like doctors, checkups or colonoscopies. He finally went to the doctor when he was too weak to walk across a room. By then it was too late. He died two months later. It was sad. He would have been proud, if he had lived, to see the success of his children and would have enjoyed playing with his grandchildren. His grandchildren are fine young adults. We enjoy talking to them. A colonoscopy could ...

Can President Actually Levy a Tax On You?

Columns

This past week the Supreme Court began the process of deciding if the president can impose a sales tax on products and services which originate in foreign countries and are purchased in the United States. The president calls these taxes tariffs. Tariffs are nearly as old as the republic and when imposed by Congress — as they have been going back to the presidency of Thomas Jefferson — are clearly constitutional. Yet the questions before the court ask if Congress delegated away to the president the power to tax, and if it did, was that delegation constitutional? The Department ...

Bill Gates discovers he has been mugged by reality

Columns

You’ve probably heard by now the blockbuster news that Microsoft founder Bill Gates, one of the richest people to ever walk the planet, has had a change of heart on climate change. For several decades, Gates poured billions of dollars into the climate-industrial complex and was howling that the end is nigh unless we stop using fossil fuels, cars, air conditioning and general anesthesia. Now he says he rejects the “doomsday” predictions of the more extreme global warming prophets. Some conservatives have snuffed that Gates has shifted his position on climate change because he ...

Donald Trump’s tariffs find themselves on trial

Columns

In times of national emergency, should the Supreme Court dictate America’s grand strategy and international economic policies? This question confronts the justices in Learning Resources v. Trump, a case that puts the president’s tariff powers to the test. If President Donald Trump loses, the Treasury faces having to refund more than $100 billion in tariff revenue, and the president’s trade strategy will be thrown into chaos. Businesses that have already changed their operations because of the tariffs, drawing jobs and supply chains back to America, will be subject to grave ...

Keep pets out of cold

Editorials

The weather is only going to get colder — forecasts have Ohio Valley temperatures falling into the 20s overnight in the near future — and it’s time to think about our pets as those temps drop. Our furry friends, especially our dogs, aren’t built to withstand such frigid conditions. And if they’re really our friends, they shouldn’t have to. So there are some precautions everyone can take to make sure that our pets stay safe as we transition from autumn to winter. The most important and easiest step, according to the American Red Cross, is to ensure your pets come inside ...