There’s no getting around it, no matter how good you have it or how happy your life is, sometimes things are difficult. Some personal losses this past month have put me in the mood to share a few small stories of times when some unexpected love has come my way. I hope they will trigger memor…
There has always been something faintly Old Testament about the way we Americans pick our presidents. Remember the first election of the 21st century when, by a 2-to-1 margin in national polls, voters found the country to be “headed in the right direction” and the then-term-limited President…
I received some exciting, but also upsetting, news the other day. Viviana Felix, diversity affairs officer for Ogden City, is resigning to take a position with a nongovernmental agency in the community. While my heart was bursting with joy as I reflected on the successes of her leadership, I…
Joe Biden ran for president on a “return to normalcy.” His challenge is that there are three competing definitions of normalcy for him to contend with.
Last week, I testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties regarding H.R. 40: Examining the Path to Reparative Justice in America. In other words, reparations. This is the first part of the statement I submitted:
We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of our collective COVID-19 incarceration, and I thought it might be helpful to share a few things I’ve learned during quarantine.
The United States Senate acquitted Donald Trump after his impeachment trial. Again. The Democrats’ aim, this time, was to disqualify Trump from running for president in 2024.
Today’s environmental activists are so hostile to capitalism that they end up killing animals they want to protect.
Like the poor across America and much of the world, poor Texans are getting hammered by climate change.
When will Black History Month be ... history?
I hate getting shots. But receiving my first COVID vaccination was a different story. Funny how the threat of a deadly disease can be a great motivator. And despite some reports that the process has problems, it was actually just the opposite.
Last fall, Weber State University conducted a ribbon cutting for a new building on the Davis campus in Layton — Computer & Automotive Engineering (CAE). This month, the computer history museum inside the building just opened. The museum makes clear that no matter your age, you have witne…
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s idea of an independent House commission re-examining the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is a useful way of diverting the public debate over the conduct of former President Donald Trump from our daily political discourse.
How do we acknowledge the death of someone who made a career of inflicting harm?
Just when you thought our so-called “cancel culture” couldn’t get any more ridiculous, the calibrators of literary justice have surpassed themselves recently by targeting The Bard himself as just another racist, genderist, homophobic fellow.
Are we at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? Let’s call it the middle.
I love my digital devices, but people keep telling me to worry more about my privacy.
It’s been a busy few weeks for Mars exploration. The Hope orbiter, launched by the United Arab Emirates, entered orbit on Feb. 9. It took its first image of Mars just as the Chinese Tainwen-1 orbiter-lander combo arrived at the red planet on Feb. 10.
Electrifying women at the highest — and lowest — levels are coming out of the woodwork these days. In a 48-hour period, three very different women stole headlines and created a frisson of disquiet across social media and the nation’s capital.
It was around 8 o'clock on a recent Monday night, and my husband was yelling at the neighbors.
Jeff Bezos announced last week that he is stepping down as Amazon’s CEO. He built Amazon from scratch. He also built Blue Origin — a pathbreaking spacecraft company — on the side. In the process, Bezos became the richest person of all time.
It is no exaggeration to say that Northrop Grumman’s expansion in Northern Utah is one of the most significant economic development wins in state history. The economic impact is estimated to generate approximately $1.2 billion annually and create approximately 3,000 new, high-paying jobs. Wi…
Last week, I reported on two myths about socialism. My new video covers three more.
There is considerable debate in academic circles about whether those with advanced degrees should be given a great deal more respect and money or be given straitjackets in their school color. Being married to one of these people, I can say with all the love and respect in the world that the …
After losing a national election, it’s natural that a political party goes through a period of soul-searching and internal turmoil.
President’s Day is a holiday to celebrate the presidents of this country. Most of us will do something with our long weekend: maybe ski or work some extra hours, or binge Netflix. I personally will be grading 75 exams that I decided to have due the Friday before a holiday weekend. Maybe you …
Valentine’s Day comes next Sunday, just in time to think about the people we love and let them know what they mean to us.
On April 1, 2018, when Thad Cochran retired after 40 years as a U.S. senator from Mississippi, he made history; Cochran was the last Republican in Congress to have ever voted to increase federal taxes. He had done so on Dec. 19, 1990, when Republican President George H.W. Bush, deeply concer…
As an American, I wish President Joe Biden every success in defeating the pandemic and getting the economy moving again. But when it comes to the dysfunction of our political system and the polarized climate generally, it’s becoming clear he’s part of the problem, not the solution.
Progressives demand that conservatives practice tolerance — at all times — and if they dare to say or post anything on social media that strays from politically correct speech, then they risk being “canceled” from society. The offender may lose their jobs and livelihoods, get blacklisted in …
As the country’s political pendulum has swung back to the Democrats, there is a reason to lament that Republicans did not retain control of the Senate: Split-government leads to better and more durable public policy.
The board of Goya Foods has just forbidden its CEO, Robert Unanue, from talking to the media without first obtaining board permission. Do you know how extraordinary that is? Well, these are extraordinary times.
America has a new president along with calls for unity, but it remains unclear whether or how America will be able to unite and move forward.
Over the last year, I’ve found that time seems to have lost its hold on me. While days, weeks and months pass, it often feels like mere minutes or even years have gone by. As our efforts to stem the tide of COVID-19 continue and many of us opt to mask up, physically distance and/or stay at h…
The homelessness problem throughout the country, including Utah, has existed for decades. Poverty and low income relative to affordable housing are the root causes of homelessness. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the problem, since many have lost their jobs without adequate financial bene…
Ten Senate Republicans have proposed a COVID-19 relief bill of about $600 billion. That’s less than a third of President Joe Biden’s plan. They promise “bipartisan support” if he agrees.
After months of hyping conspiracy theories and pressuring election officials to falsify results, Donald Trump incited a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol and stop Congress from certifying the presidential election. If this does not warrant conviction in his upcoming Senate trial, what possibly could?
Regular readers of this space may recall that I believe Americans are the most optimistic of voters. Think about it: With the exception of those who were already here when Christopher Columbus arrived and those who were brought here against their will in chains, every American is either an i…
There are likely long-term impacts on gatherings, travel, eating, medicine and home life because of the pandemic — but, of course, this is a personal perspective based on how you view the pandemic. However, for many seniors, the pandemic will have changed how they receive health care, for ex…
Little passion greeted President Joe Biden’s decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline. Remarkably little.
“[i]f you only watch Fox News, because it's reinforcing what you believe, you are not an informed citizen." — Four-star General John Kelly after serving 18 months as President Trump’s chief of staff
A 2020 Joe Biden campaign ad described the pending election as an “opportunity to leave the dark, angry politics of the past behind us.” After Biden’s election, he, Democrats and media urge a “return to civility.” But when did the Democrats practice the very civility to which they seek to return?
Ask just about any parent and they have stories about the rude awakening they received last year when schools shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. From difficulties with internet access to weeklong gaps in education, Utah students have struggled to keep learning, and many have fallen b…
Recently, a friend told me of receiving a pink pamphlet that apparently had been stuffed into the mailbox. The pamphlet said simply, “Trust God, Not Science.” My friend, incredulous, noted specifically the less-than-one year turnaround on creating a vaccine for COVID-19 and suggested I shoul…
Some small Utah town just might have a gold mine hidden in a nearby burrow ...
As many feared, after President Joe Biden was inaugurated, a mob unleashed destruction. They stormed the Democratic Party headquarters. They spray-painted “[expletive deleted] Biden!” and smashed the Democratic HQ’s windows. One sign read, “We don’t want Biden, we want revenge!”
As the nation gathered to watch the inauguration this week, one thing became glaringly obvious: President Joe Biden is already breaking his promises to the American people.
Finally, we have a new president.
Actor Ben Affleck once explained why he found it difficult to watch Republican actors on screen. “It’s ... hard,” explained Affleck, “to get people to suspend disbelief. ... When I watch a guy I know is a big Republican, part of me thinks, I probably wouldn’t like this person if I met him, o…
As we stumble through the twilight of the Trump era, let us devote a moment to an actual issue. Let us briefly visit Donald Trump’s vow to save the coal industry — notable because it figured prominently in his successful 2016 campaign. His “Trump Digs Coal” sign at a rally showcasing miners …
The other day, partly out of curiosity and partly because I am rapidly becoming a man of a certain age, I found myself reading an article about something called a campus-connected retirement community. These are retirement communities connected to university campuses that offer courses and a…