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A reminder: Not all fights are worth fighting

Columns

The president is still riding on global goodwill for the release of hostages from Hamas. On stage in Egypt, the president of Pakistan praised President Donald Trump for bringing peace to what could have become a nuclear war between Pakistan and India. The Israeli people love him more than they do their own leaders. But here at home, Democrats have kept voting to keep the government shut down. Democrats, however, have been careful with their battle. Trump has moved defense funding around to make sure the military gets paid. He will not be able to keep doing it, but for now, our ...

An explanation of the government shutdown

Columns

The partial government “shutdown” is a pure political act. It has nothing to do with the amount of money the government takes from taxpayers, though it does have something to do with how much it irresponsibly spends. Democrats are holding the country hostage over Obama-era health insurance subsidies that don’t expire until Dec. 31. At the heart of it is a narrative created by the Democrat Party that extends at least to the administration of Franklin Roosevelt: Rich people make too much money and people who don’t make as much are entitled to some of it. Barack Obama promoted ...

We’ve finally reached the tyrant territory

Columns

In 1940, then U.S. Attorney General Robert Jackson gathered the nation’s federal prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Great Hall to remind them of the solemn role their morality and disregard of politics in decision-making played in protecting American democracy. The responsible, apolitical exercise of prosecutorial power, he emphasized, is crucial to maintaining a fair, just society. What makes the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James gross is not merely that they are so substantively thin, but that they are so obviously ...

Planning to fly anywhere? The experience will be miserable

Columns

The 1950s were apparently the Golden Age of Flying. My mother loves to recall a time when airlines served full-course meals on china, with actual silverware and linen napkins. Until I was in high school, I thought you had to be dressed up to get on an airplane, because my mother insisted that we be in our Sunday best to travel. That era is long gone, but traveling by air was at least pleasant when I was younger — sometimes even fun. Now it seems to be a test of how much misery passengers can be forced to endure, and how much the airlines can get away with charging for what used to ...

Be careful with bats

Editorials

Most Ohio residents are used to thinking about seasonal changes in the rules such as burn bans or parking in such a way that the snow plow can get through. Perhaps less familiar is Ohio’s fall bat exclusion restriction period — from Oct. 15 through March 31. No, it has nothing to do with baseball’s off-season. This is a requirement that residents obtain permits before removing or relocating bats from homes or buildings. When white-nose syndrome (a cave fungus) showed up several years ago, Ohio started protecting bats, especially during their overwintering period. Despite that ...

Carbon Capture Is a Real Non-Factor for Future

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, In a recent opinion piece, Charles McConnell asserted that Ohio should lead in the deployment of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology because, in addition to reducing carbon emissions, it means “investment in the billions and jobs in the millions”. For 15 years, Ohio Valley residents have heard similarly grandiose claims made on behalf of the natural gas industry. But we discovered how hollow the claims were. Billions of dollars were ostensibly invested in eight natural gas-producing counties in eastern Ohio, but what residents got was: ∫ The number ...