Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
As thousands of protestors flood downtown Hong Kong in opposition to Beijing’s efforts to control the political future of the “Special Administration Region,” there is growing concern about how this situation will be resolved. For the people of Hong Kong, the issue is straightforward. Under the terms of the Basic Law, negotiated between the People’s…
In terms of the direction of China’s economic future, think of Hong Kong as the “canary in the coal mine.” As the protest movement in Hong Kong grows over concerns about the island’s democratic future, the question is whether Beijing will intervene. A crackdown, Tiananmen-style or otherwise, would not be wise because Hong Kong remains…
Rules and regulations Obamacare imposes on insurance plans sold in the individual market make narrow networks and drug formularies all but certain, as plans curtail these coverage aspects to keep their premiums lower. This is because the law’s standardization of the benefits package not only increases costs, but also leaves little for plans to compete…
How do you make a parody out of a joke? It’s harder than it sounds. In some ways, you have to get out of the way and let the truth amuse you. Last year when The Heritage Foundation released this parody video, something resonated with audiences. That something was the realization that sometimes the jokes…
You stay green, San Diego. But it’s going to cost you. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has introduced what would be a costly, aggressive climate plan in a state that already has some of the most egregious climate regulations on the books. Faulconer’s plan consists largely of forcing expensive and intermittent renewable energy sources on…
Defeating ISIS “requires the application of all the tools of national power–diplomatic, economic, information, military,” stated Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Pentagon news conference on Aug. 21. For Rick Stengel, who took over six months ago as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, developing the public diplomacy piece of…
An “extremist” … “a threat” … “an infiltrate.” These are the words Chinese mainland authorities, national security and pro-Beijing newspapers use to describe 17-year-old Joshua Wong. But to those in favor of freedom, Wong is a hero. He’s one of the students leading the demonstrations in Hong Kong where millions are gathered making legitimate demands…
Tired of long lines at TSA airport checkpoints? Today, the Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) began a transition to private security screeners rather than Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners in a change that promises more efficient security measures. SFB just joined the TSA’s Screening Partnership Program (SPP) that allows airports to replace TSA screeners with…
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first operational deployment of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, the only ballistic missile defense system that currently protects the U.S. from a long-range ballistic missile threat. The interest in the development and deployment of the system came after the U.S. withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty…
Yesterday, it was announced that the first case of Ebola had occurred in the United States. How huge a difference does it make that we now have someone with Ebola in the United States? The difference is not that significant. The Center for Disease Control is the best public health organization in the globe. They…
Former investigative reporter and producer Lowell Bergman observed, “You can have all the information you want in the world. If you don't have the people raising questions and looking beneath the surface, and people being paid to do this, you're not going to find the answers.” Over the past several months, a variety of polls…
When then-pregnant Ashley Bridges found out she had bone cancer, she refused to have an abortion in order to have the recommended chemotherapy treatment. “There’s no way I could kill a healthy baby because I’m sick,” Bridges told the Los Angeles CBS affiliate. Bridges, who is 24, found out when she was eight months pregnant…
Q: Why are thousands of people demonstrating in Hong Kong now? Because when the former colonial master Britain handed Hong Kong over to China, the latter promised universal suffrage in the choice of their leader, or chief executive, and, under the formula of “One Country, Two Systems,” that their separate way of life would be…
For many public school students, Common Core national standards and tests are being implemented in their classrooms this school year. Yet parent opposition has been vocal over the past few years, 60 percent of the public opposes Common Core, and teacher support for the standards has dropped precipitously over the past year from 76 percent…
You probably know the United States dropped bombs on ISIS in Syria last week. How the U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria went down last night – http://t.co/oD8JWM2Lez pic.twitter.com/4xI2Kle1lv — CBS News (@CBSNews) September 24, 2014 You might know Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates joined forces with the U.S. to launch the…
Sick of paying too much at the pump? If you are, there’s good news: There are policies Congress and the Obama administration could implement that likely would lead to lower prices. If you’re looking to lower gas prices, first look at crude oil prices. Crude oil contributes the largest component to the price of gasoline….
China did it again. Between June 2012 and May 2013, Chinese hackers infiltrated military contractors’ networks, according to a recently released report from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Chairman Carl Levin (D–MI) called the findings “very disturbing” and said that these hacks threatened the security of U.S. military operations. The report was based on a…
About 100 Americans and more than 2,000 other Westerners have joined, tried to join, or travelled to areas controlled by militant groups in Syria. This alarming trend highlights the fact that individuals are being radicalized in the U.S. to wage a war of terror in the Middle East. Even more troubling is that some radicalized…
Paul Krugman has this to say about our chart below: [T]he Heritage Foundation tells us that the top 10 percent of filers are cruelly burdened, because they pay 68 percent of income taxes, it’s hoping that you won’t notice that word “income”—other taxes, such as the payroll tax, are far less progressive. But it’s also…
“[Civil Asset Forfeiture] should be abolished.” That’s the considered opinion of the two men — John Yoder and Brad Cates — who, in the 1980s, oversaw the development of federal civil asset forfeiture as a tool to combat organized crime and the drug trade. Forfeiture does not apply to organized crime or drug crimes alone;…