Opinion

California floods and Chile fires are just the beginning

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After a 2023 filled with climate disasters, 2024 seems in a hurry to top it, with atmospheric rivers in California, wildfires in Chile, drought in Spain and more in just the first weeks. Even as humanity is missing its goals for limiting global warming, nature is reminding us that every tenth of a degree of heat we can avoid will be precious.

The voters spoke: Ten Commandments monument should not be resurrected at Oklahoma State Capitol

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I don’t think I’ll ever forget standing in the darkness outside the state Capitol, watching crews saw apart the base of the state’s mammoth Ten Commandments monument. Concerned about drawing unwanted attention, state officials decided to wait until about 10:30 p.m.

Systemic Lying Corrodes Once-great Institutions

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The last six or seven months have been a couple of tough seasons for public policies based on lies. Two examples come to mind. One is the Disinformation industry, which has eroded the credibility of the public health establishment. The other is the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion industry, which has infected American higher education with a culture of lying.

Dear Annie

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Dear Annie: When I was 4 years old, my father went to work one day and my mother’s “friend” came to visit us. We had a nice lunch; her friend showed me how he could make smoke rings with his cigarettes and could pull a quarter out of my ear. He bounced me on his knee and was so much fun. My father was 20 years older than my mother and never played with us. He went to work, came home, changed clothes and went to his club every night to drink and play cards.

The 5th Circuit Says Criminalizing Journalism Is Not Obviously Unconstitutional

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The Appeals Court Dismissed a Civil Rights Lawsuit by a Laredo Gadfly Who Was Arrested for Asking Questions Five years ago, the Harris County, Texas, Institute of Forensic Sciences sent me reports on the autopsies of two people who had been killed in a Houston drug raid. After I wrote an article based on those reports, the county attorney’s office told me they were not public information because they were part of an ongoing investigation.