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Will immigration policy improve without Noem?

National Columnists

The worst of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's many terrible moments in last week's congressional hearings on immigration control probably came when she admitted to being unfamiliar with the shockingly appalling case of Marimar Martinez. She is the Chicago woman who managed to survive being shot five times by Border Patrol agents in October, leaving her with nerve damage in her right hand. Yet, as Noem, dubbed "ICE Barbie" by some for her love of posturing in front of media cameras, was pushed by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, to acknowledge that the ...

Taking look at search for meaning in everyday life

National Columnists

"Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose," a New York Times bestselling book by award-winning author and journalist Jennifer Breheny Wallace, has made an instant buzz with readers this year. "Mattering" was released in January and is getting rave reviews as well as a huge endorsement from public health leader and former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Murthy, who writes about social connection, healing and mental health, stated, "At a time when so many people are feeling invisible, 'Mattering' is an essential guide for how to restore meaning, ...

Feeling bad about dumb injury?

National Columnists

I hurt my knee taking a step onto a riser in a performance at my kids' elementary school the other day. I'm not sure yet how serious the injury is, but it's the kind of incident that makes you feel about 100 years old and like a complete moron. I mean, who gets hurt taking the stairs? So, after it happened, I decided to make myself feel better in a manner passed down through the centuries as a sure-fire method for dispelling shame: Find someone who did something even dumber than you did. With that, I commenced to furious googling, turning up tales of some of the most ...

Think Israel dragged Trump into war?

National Columnists

"It's Israel's war," our collection of smooth-brained podcast class declared as they rushed to pump out as much propaganda as possible in the aftermath of the joint American-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran. The range of arguments we're seeing from this less-than-serious crowd is impressively broad. Some argue that this war is entirely unjustified, as if Iran never hurt a hair on an American's head. Some argue that this war will only incite further terrorism, implying that we should just accept terrorism in order to escape terrorism. Then there are those frothing at ...

Trump avoids repeating history in Iran

National Columnists

History doesn't always repeat itself, or even rhyme. People sometimes learn from experience, their own or others'. Example: Woodrow Wilson, a stubborn Southerner, refused to involve any Republicans, all Northerners in those days, in treaty negotiations after World War I. His treaty ...

Masculinity has returned

National Columnists

One of the most pernicious and destructive cultural trends in the United States over the past 30 years or so has been the demonization of men and masculinity. This has taken many forms. Take, for example, the medicalization of boyish behavior in schools, which resulted in widespread diagnoses of "attention deficit disorder" and "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," and overprescribing of drugs like Ritalin. Saner voices who insisted that boys simply needed more physical activity throughout the day and could not be expected to sit quietly for hours like girls were ...