Columns – Page 193

Barry Hastings: Manifest Destiny 18 months later, an appraisal

July 31, 2016

by Barry Hastings Results of our (ever-so-slowly-ending) business in Afghanistan, and badly-ended fool's errand in Iraq, are not going to be pretty — not even cosmetically tolerable. We took action in two failing states; pushed one over the edge (and into the arms of our enemies), and have little to...

Basura: As a Vietnam vet, I highly recommend visiting VA

July 29, 2016

I just got back from my annual physical with the VA. I go the Wyoming Health Care Center, in Wyoming, Mich., a suburb of Grand Rapids. It happens to be conveniently located by the M-6 expressway, just west of US-131. I have been quite happy with the VA Outpatient Clinic....

Columns

Army Bob: Media is a huge part of the problem of terrorism

July 28, 2016

"If it bleeds it leads." A pattern is emerging after terrorist attacks in the United States and indeed worldwide. The media covers the attack and is enthralled with the attack itself; the number of victims, the weapons used, the life story of the murders, and the mistakes of law enforcement...

Ranger Rick: Mrs. Clinton worse than Obama (if that’s possible)

July 26, 2016

It must be hard to be a committed Democrat Party supporter nowadays, having a president who hates his own country. Then there’s the presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, an ineffective and poor performing secretary of state and senator. This is a president, presidential candidate, and present administration derelict in their duties...

Monday Moanin’: A roundup on public education issues

July 24, 2016

by Jeff Salisbury Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction to issue advisory opinion on aid to private schools (Fix the mitten blog) After signing the bill, Snyder asked the Michigan Supreme Court to issue an advisory opinion on the constitutionality of Section 152b in accordance with Article 3, Section 8 of the Michigan...

Barry Hastings: GOP sequestration is behind military decline

July 24, 2016

by Barry Hastings It's all well and good the President has killed some 3100 ISIL, al-Quaeda, Boko Haram, and other terrorist leaders by hounding them from above with manned aircraft and drones, killing them with Hellfire missiles. Our real problem (as has been expounded relentlessly in what I've written and...

Yes It Is, It’s True: Plagiarism is as American as apple pie

July 22, 2016

Plagiarism: “The practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.” There has been considerable discussion this week about plagiarism in the wake of the speech Monday evening by Donald Trump’s wife at the Republican National Convention. Melania Trump, with little doubt and more...

Basura: The Ogres and the use of Japanese bamboo bats

July 22, 2016

I just got back from North Carolina and my plane's in-flight magazine had a little article on wood bats. Some guy, Joe Marucci, had a kid who wanted a wood bat. He made one for his kid, made a few more, now the Marucci Bat Co. sells to major leaguers....

Democracy Tree: Here’s how to follow the Michigan GOP money

July 22, 2016

by Amy Kerr Hardin There’s a new easy-to-use tool now available to follow the money in Michigan politics: “Right now, it can be difficult for a member of the public to find the true answer to the question of who’s given the most to my representative. The idea behind this new...

Columns

Army Bob: Why do we see home-grown Islamic terrorists?

July 21, 2016

by Robert M. Traxler Home-grown terrorists are a new threat to our nation; perhaps it is a good idea to ask ourselves why now and never before in our long history? The majority of the American people are of German ancestry, toss in the Italian Americans and Americans with ancestors...

Category: Columns