Column

“I’m gonna live forever, baby, remember my name” – (from “Fame”) The death at age 54 of Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis, got me thinking again about the two-edged sword that is fame. Poems, books, even movies have addressed fame, how some people even lust after it and how it seems to ruin more lives than it helps. Once you have attained fame you can never live as normal people…

WASHINGTON — Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba of Uganda has announced to the world via his Twitter account that he is offering Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, a dowry of 100 cows if she will marry him. Kainerugaba is the 48-year-old son of Uganda’s prime minister, and his Twitter account is taken very seriously, especially in Uganda. In other news, our president, Joe Biden, heard from his…

This week, the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee released a report calling on the city to pay every black resident $5 million and absolve all of their outstanding personal debt. Their rationale was broad -- as it had to be, since California was founded as a free state: “While neither San Francisco, nor California, formally adopted the institution of chattel slavery…

SYDNEY – Last July, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, visited Jakarta where he said China’s military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years. While the U.S. has seemed fixated on China’s growing verbal threats and military maneuvers around Taiwan, Milley and others, including some in Australia, are concerned that China’s…

WASHINGTON -- I am engaged in reading a very fine book by my colleague, Paul Kengor. It was written six years ago, so do not feel bad if you missed it. You still have time. It is called “A Pope and a President.” It covers the lives of John Paul II and Ronald Reagan, and, as its coverage is chronological, I just read its treatment of the assassination of President John Kennedy. This will be the…

Behind the refusal of the House Republican Party’s so-called freedom caucus to vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is the caucus’s skepticism that he will actually “rein in government spending.” I’ve never quite understood why all Republicans do not belong to the Freedom Caucus. If the Republican Party supports low taxes, light regulations and strong national security, why is a Freedom…

It’s now been three years since COVID hit. At the start of the pandemic, “experts” shouted: “Stay home!” “Close schools!” “Wash your hands!” “Disinfect countertops!” Clearly, disinfecting countertops and washing hands made no difference. What about closing schools and lockdowns? The media trashed Gov. Ron DeSantis when he lifted Florida’s lockdown. “Acting irresponsibly!” roared MSNBC’s Dr.…

After months of ignoring the problem and demonstrably false claims by his Homeland Security secretary that the southern border is “secure,” President Biden is finally visiting the area this week as part of a trip to Mexico. Last week, the administration announced it would immediately begin turning away Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Why are laws…

Last week, Pope Benedict XVI died at the age of 95, nearly a decade after stepping down as head of the Catholic Church. His life was marked by adherence to a belief in an eternal truth above all. As he stated in a 2008 meeting with Catholic educators at the Catholic University of America, “Truth means more than knowledge: knowing the truth leads us to discover the good... (W)e observe, with…

In a theatrical performance the worst thing that can happen is to have a predictable outcome. That is precisely what occurred with the Jan. 6 Committee, which has referred former President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution on four counts – “influencing or impeding an official proceeding of the U.S. government”, “conspiring to defraud the U.S”, “unlawfully,…

Stanford University put out a new list of words it considers to be “harmful language.” The 13-page “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative” includes words like “immigrant,” which should be replaced by “person who has immigrated.” It advises against saying “walk-in hours” in favor of “open hours” to avoid discriminating against and hurting the feeling of those with disabilities. Stanford…

It’s the season for giving. I’ll give! I’ll donate to the Doe Fund, a charity that helps ex-cons find purpose in life through work. “Work works!” they say. It does. Doe Fund graduates are less likely to go back to jail. I’ll donate to Student Sponsor Partners, which helps at-risk kids escape bad “public (government-run)” schools. SSP sends the kids to Catholic schools. I’m not Catholic, but I…

WASHINGTON — It did not take the richest man in the world long to find himself in trouble with the American media. Elon Musk bought Twitter in October for $44 billion, and in no time found himself in the doghouse with the press for suspending writers from CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. What was the cause of this imbroglio?

NEW YORK – I was a teenager when I first visited New York. The flight cost $15 on the Eastern Airlines Shuttle from Washington, D.C. You could buy your ticket from a flight attendant on board. She (and it was always a she back then) would roll a cart down the aisle with a credit card device on top. New York in the ’60s was THE place to visit. There was Greenwich Village with folk music.…