I’ve not yet made it to the Grand Canyon, but it’s on my list of places to see before I “kick the bucket.” I understand it’s a place of awe that takes your breath away. Read More»

Imagine that you are, in the eyes of your superiors, inadequately educated, without the necessary social skills and political graces, in the later years of your life, and you have been given an assignment that falls to you only because the boss’s first choice died unexpectedly. No one expects you to succeed but a warm body must be thrown into the breach.

In this true story, the reason that the person in question was poorly educated was, quite literally, no fault of his own. Read More»

The Boy amused me the other day — he often does of late. With the closing on his new house now under his belt, his upcoming marriage, and hopefully soon a grandchild or two, one would say The Boy has a lot of balls in the air. Luckily for him, he’s a good juggler. Read More»

Among the many irrational ideas about racial and ethnic groups that have polarized societies over the centuries and around the world, few have been more irrational and counterproductive than the current dogmas of multiculturalism.

Intellectuals who imagine that they are helping racial or ethnic groups that lag behind by redefining their lags out of existence with multicultural rhetoric are in fact leading them into a blind alley. Read More»

The Democrats have to be bent over in derisive laughter as the national Republican party flagellates itself for irrelevance, backwardness and plain old stupidity. (Ow! Ow! Hee, hee, haw, haw!) Read More»

The Maryland legislature recently voted to abolish capital punishment in the state, making Maryland the sixth state in the last six years to eliminate the death penalty.

The primary argument for repealing the law is that our justice system is imperfect and it’s possible an innocent person could be condemned.

Indeed, anti-death penalty activists presented Kirk Bloodsworth, a former death-row inmate, convicted of the 1984 rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl. His conviction was overturned on appeal after the court found the prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense. Read More»

The last piece of the pie, left out when the family went to bed, and gone at daybreak?

A key that worked before but cannot be depended on to open a cabinet door again?

A window that blew open just as the rain came and left the table wet?

A runaway roll of toilet paper?

Which are real?

My parents called any such mysterious anomaly the work of a “gremlin.”

In retrospect, I don’t remember any special rationale for gremlins except, perhaps, to find a source of mischief to clear one’s childhood reputation as a mischief-maker. Read More»

When I decided to run for secretary of the Fayette County Republican Party (FCRP) several weeks ago, it was a very difficult decision. My husband and I talked and prayed about the decision.

I feared the time commitment. I feared my lack of political experience and whether I had the ability to serve in such a position. I feared how it might hinder my ability to effectively speak to, and be of positive influence to family and friends who might disagree with me on some issues. Read More»

[Editor’s note: Parts I and II appeared in The Citizen March 13 and March 16, now online at www.TheCitizen.com.]

The desire of intellectuals for some grand theory that will explain complex patterns with some solitary and simple factor has produced many ideas that do not stand up under scrutiny, but which have nevertheless had widespread acceptance — and sometimes catastrophic consequences — in countries around the world. Read More»

After reading Dr. Thomas Sowell’s latest book, “Intellectuals and Race,” one cannot emerge with much respect for the reasoning powers of intellectuals, particularly academics, on matters of race. There’s so much faulty logic and downright dishonesty.

Many intellectuals attribute the behavior patterns of blacks to “a legacy of slavery” or contemporary racial discrimination. But when one observes similar behavior patterns among Britain’s lower-class whites, which can’t be attributed to “a legacy of slavery” or discrimination, it calls into question the explanations for black behavior. Read More»