Although people who read The Oregonian might believe differently, conservation efforts over the last few decades have greatly benefited the iconic symbol of the far north: polar bears. Their numbers have increased dramatically since the signing of an international agreement in 1973 to eliminate commercial and sport hunting. The uncontrolled slaughter of these magnificent animals […]
Portland Public Schools is redrawing the boundaries of more than a dozen schools and reassigning 5,000 students, ten percent of its enrollment. According to The Oregonian: “To make sure no school ends up understaffed or overcrowded, students must be shuffled.” In government-run school districts, kids are cards in a deck. The bureaucracy gets to deal, […]
Or at least by paper certificate, as St. Louis city council raises electricity costs for poor families In 2016, Missouri generated 96.5% of its electricity with fossil fuel and nuclear power, 1.6% with hydroelectric, and just 1.5% with wind and solar. The St. Louis Metro Area did roughly the same. But now, by royal decree, […]
Martin Luther was the greatest man of the second millennium. Many great and influential men moved about the world stage between 1000 AD and 2000 AD – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Bismarck, and Winston Churchill to name just a few – but Luther towers above them all. As a lowly monk, he […]
Senators and crony corporatists deep-six proposed EPA reductions in biodiesel mandates Despite what I thought were persuasive articles over the years (here, here and here, for example), corn ethanol and other biofuel mandates remain embedded in US law. As we have learned, once a government program is created, it becomes virtually impossible to eliminate, revise […]
The Obama era “Climate Science Special Report” demands a “red team” analysis Several months ago a brief furor erupted when the New York Times leaked the final draft of the upcoming Climate Science Special Report (CSSR), an extremely alarmist rendition of what is supposedly happening with Earth’s climate. Dangerous climate change and weather events, the […]
Americans love their cars, because they allow us such great mobility and freedom, the mobility to live in one location and work in another, the mobility to run errands whenever necessary, the mobility to attend sporting events and visit friends, and the mobility to see this great nation from sea to shining sea. No other […]
Columbus Day, now celebrated on the second Monday of every October, is the day set aside by Congress in 1937 to commemorate Columbus’ discovery of the Americas in 1492. Lest you think Columbus Day is only a holiday for white racists in America, it is also celebrated as Dia de la Raza, “Day of the […]
It drives anti-fossil fuel agendas and threatens wildlife, jobs, and human health and welfare Sustainability (sustainable development) is one of the hottest trends on college campuses, in the news media, in corporate boardrooms and with regulators. There are three different versions. Real Sustainability involves thoughtful, caring, responsible, economical stewardship and conservation of land, water, energy, […]
America’s charter school movement celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Since the first charter school opened in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1992, the number of charters nationwide has grown to about 7,000, serving three million students. Charter schools are public schools that operate according to a charter granted by a sponsoring agency (like a school […]