If 100% of bisexuals, transgenders, and pansexuals used non-standard pronouns (they do not) and all are offended if the remaining 94.6% of us do not publicly proclaim our pronouns in our signature cards and profiles (also untrue), then the pronoun kerfuffle risks offending 5.4% of Americans. From 10 to 20 times more Americans are offended by this babble.

Murder is never justified – or justifiable. The twisted response to Thompson’s assassination illuminates a deepening sickness across the country, a cauldron of cultural forces that threaten our body politic more than a single assassin’s bullets.

How does Secretary Mayorkas who infamously told us for years that our southern border was secure and closed – when it was and is not – now insult our intelligence that "we haven’t seen anything unusual?" This is usual? 

While plastic and glass should probably be crushed and buried in a landfill, aluminum, tin, and paper – especially cardboard – should absolutely be recycled.

It was then that I realized what she was thinking. We might not care, but she did. She knew, without any doubt, that it was her job was to keep an eye on this white stuff and protect our creek valley world.

Ladies and gentlemen, don’t look now, but Christmas is less than a fortnight away. So on that note, how’s the Christmas shopping coming?

It is the season of giving but, unfortunately, it is also open season for criminals who take advantage of kindness and generosity. So, as you plan your shopping and end-of-year gifts, it is important to do your homework, make sure websites are legitimate and think about why an online person or entity might be asking you for money. 

There are three points to make: the timescale for emissions reduction is arbitrary; the climate “threat” is far from dire; and the cost/benefit calculus very much depends on who is doing the calculation.

In my last column, I hopefully regaled you with my story about December 1974. Seven years later, 1981, found me working at the Westvaco Paper Mill at Wickliffe, Ky. Where is this? About two miles south of the merger of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. In “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, there is a fictional feud that takes place at about this spot. 

Liberal policymakers couldn’t help themselves: Ways and Means Committee Democrats, in a now-deleted post on X, cynically responded to the record-holiday shopping news report with, “And here we were thinking y’all couldn’t afford eggs!” Once again, they expose how out of touch they are with Americans’ hardship. 

Russia’s 2015 military intervention in Syria was a bold assertion of its great power ambitions, rescuing Bashar al-Assad's regime and projecting influence in the Middle East. However, recent rebel advances and Assad’s sudden deposal threaten to isolate Russia’s Khmeimim airbase and Tartus naval facility, undermining both the practical and symbolic foundations of Moscow’s global power status.

Vance, Hegseth, Zeldin, and Gabbard volunteered to wear the uniform, and they deployed to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Patel, a lawyer, prosecuted criminals affiliated with al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other terror organizations. Each experienced the consequences of bad military policy, not as fans or spectators from their comfortable offices in Washington, but on the field, as participants in the campaign.

Americans’ priorities are in the right place. The biggest challenge facing our nation is China, but the larger problem is our ability to deter China as well as other threats simultaneously. 

Pulp and paper mills, being continuous operations, sometimes have a shutdown at Christmas to give the operating staff a break. At that point, they tell us engineers, “You can work on the mill while we are gone.”  

Just a few weeks ago, I traveled to North Carolina to survey some of the damage. My takeaway leaving this trip was very clear: Congress must act. We need to provide the necessary aid for states in desperate need, as, while it was obvious that there is still a long road ahead for recovery efforts and rebuilding, this aid will mark a vital step forward.