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The wrath of CON

I am a Star Trek nerd through and through, ever since I can remember. Naturally, I’m a fan of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” I have many favorite scenes from that movie. I even have a Hallmark ornament of the (spoilers) famous engine room death scene with Adm. James T. Kirk and a mortally wounded Capt. Spock, separated by glass, unable to touch his dying first officer and friend. But one of my all-time favorite scenes is Khan appearing to outwit Kirk, stealing the Genesis device and leaving him, his ex-lover, their son and his landing party marooned in the center of a ...

Understanding even if not agreeing

In the United Nations, the United States sided with Russia, Belarus and North Korea — three authoritarian regimes currently rampaging through parts of Ukraine — against a General Assembly resolution that noted Russia as the aggressor in the Ukrainian invasion. China and Iran would not side with Russia on that resolution. It is a bad look for the United States. Ukraine is not the instigator or aggressor in the invasion. President Donald Trump’s statements suggesting as much play into Russia’s hands. Under international law, an aggressor who loses territory in a war forfeits a ...

Open for corruption

Is America open for corruption now? Unabashedly? Nakedly? Are we tossing aside not just our hard-won victories over infectious diseases but also the more than hundred-year battle against fraud, bribery and graft? Honest, clean government doesn’t follow automatically from democracy. Before civil service reform, the wealthy or well-connected were able to line their pockets by bribing public officials. The Credit Mobilier scandal, which featured bribes to a dozen congressmen paid in the 1860s by railroad executives, was just one example of a widespread plague. But just as we were ...

Repeating mistakes

A month into Donald Trump’s second term, Democrats continue to commit old mistakes. They are reactive with a tendency to go down the same rabbit holes and thus play into Trump‘s hands. For the President, his opponents persist in pushing familiar criticisms while not developing their own policies, far from pushing Trump into a corner they give him a great deal of latitude. For the President, it is not a threat but a piece of cake. Take the Democratic approach to Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy, Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and Linda McMahon. Sure, they held the line but lost getting ...

First Friday focus on education

This coming Friday we plan to have our second “First Friday Focus on Education” gathering in the Learning Lab at Kump Education Center, 401 S. Randolph Avenue across from Kroger at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7. We hope to develop more understanding of problems that impede progress in our schools and find practical solutions to these problems that we will identify with the help of a special guest from the WV Center for Budget and Policy. Our Feb. 7, group included parents, grandparents, and teachers who agreed that we needed to increase regular communication between the public ...

Amazing life journey

Senator Stephen B. Elkins, namesake for the town of Elkins and Davis & Elkins College, lived the American dream and an amazing life. Last week’s column described his accomplishments as a young man. Now, the rest of the story. Working together with his father-in-law, Senator Henry Gassaway Davis, Elkins’ West Virginia business interests exploded in the late 19th and early 20th century. Railroads were built, lumber harvested, manufacturing expanded, and coal mines opened. Elkins needed a home closer to business interests. Wanting to be on the bank of the Tygart River, he sent a ...