Greg and I have called the creek valley our home for over 20 years, and even in that short time, we have seen so much change.

The tragic killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley in Georgia two weeks ago by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan migrant in the country illegally and with a criminal record, is the latest example of a much larger problem: Criminal gangs are brazenly taking advantage of America’s broken immigration policies to invade our country. 

Homelessness in Pittsburgh rose 23% in 2022 and has likely not improved much since, pending the results of Allegheny County’s annual point-in-time count conducted in January. Many homeless are left living on the streets and trails of Pittsburgh as the county struggles to find vacant beds for this growing population. At least two homeless people have died in tents during the cold winter months.

The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East following the October Hamas attacks has completely upended conventional policy hopes for the region and has forced the global community to deal with yet another geopolitical crisis.

A human tsunami of previously unfathomable size – Border Patrol has had to handle more than 7.6 million border crossers in 36 months – has smashed every record, with each year’s numbers exceeding the previous year’s record in stair-stepping fashion. Too many of our elected leaders have selfish reasons to let the border crisis continue, no matter what their constituents demand. Whether they will be able to continue in their inaction is in the hands of the American people.

President Joe Biden took aim and the nation's debt and deficit in his State of the Union address on Thursday, but several of his financial claims were false, according to some budget experts, including his claim that he cut the deficit by $1 trillion last term. 

Former President Donald Trump responded to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address with a speech of his own late Thursday. In his response, Trump focused on the border crisis, laying the blame squarely at the feet of the president. More than 11 million illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. since Biden took office.

The powers that be feed us lots of information that may not necessarily be in our best interest. We must do our own digging to ascertain what is best for the country and our children.

Joe Biden delivered a State of the Union address with a full head of steam maintaining his momentum during aggressive and polarizing remarks that, at times, sounded identical to a campaign pitch. He was not subtle, vowing to “win again in 2024.”

"Like so many families across America, my family and I just watched President Biden's State of the Union Address from our living room and what we saw was a performance from a permanent politician who has actually been in office longer than I've been alive," Sen. Britt, 42, said in a video online filmed from her kitchen. "One thing was clear, though, Biden just doesn't get it. He's out of touch."

These are our choices America, the ones we knew we’d get and long dreaded. The next eight months will remind no one of Periclean Athens, but they won’t be boring. Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

“Guatemala,” according to Reuters, “is considering reaching out to develop formal trade ties with China.” We know what happens next. The Chinese Communist Party will do what it always does and attempt to condition trade relations on Guatemala’s denial of Taiwan’s legitimacy (as well as its support for China’s other geopolitical goals). The question is: will Guatemala succumb, or will President Bernardo Arévalo resist Beijing’s bullying?

What is needed is not another crusade but a realistic strategy that prioritizes U.S. interests, avoids needless escalation of regional conflicts, husbands resources for our most vital interests, and, to paraphrase Walter Lippmann, brings into balance our commitments and resources.

U.S. Senator Dr. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) this week joined U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and 15 other Republican senators in raising serious concerns to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Monica Bertagnolli, M.D. following President Biden’s proposal that attempts to allow agencies to seize drug patents under the Bayh-Dole Act if the administration views the price the company is charging as too high.   

How can a treaty that won’t call out malign behavior of even non-member states like Russia – or hold accountable one of its actual signatories like Kazakhstan – be expected to resolve disputes in the event the major powers somehow join its ranks and warily give up their nuclear bombs. The answer is plain, it cannot, which is why those powers boycott it.