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Plumbers always have work

National Columnists

The skilled trades have become hot of late. That has many young people dropping plans to attend college. Meanwhile, some desk-bound professionals are said to gaze longingly at nearby construction sites. They daydream about trading spreadsheets for tool belts. They imagine becoming plumbers, electricians or carpenters — welders, riggers or crane operators. The list of hands-on jobs that require real training is long. Why the change of hearts? Three reasons: 1. Artificial intelligence will soon do the thinking required for many of these office occupations. 2. The ...

Governance has consequences, so does rhetoric

National Columnists

A brutal cold snap has gripped New York City and much of the East Coast, freezing streets, sidewalks — and, it seems, any remaining sense of civic restraint. In Washington Square Park, a group of adults began hurling snowballs and other objects at responding officers from the New York City Police Department. This was not playful roughhousing in a winter storm. Video shows grown men and women — some masked, some standing brazenly in the open, all apparently confident that consequences would be minimal — pelting officers as they arrived on scene. That confidence is the ...

Are we on verge of repeating history?

National Columnists

"If you don't remember history, you are condemned to repeat it." Are we on the verge of repeating it once again? The drumbeat between the United States and Iran has grown louder in recent weeks. American carrier strike groups have repositioned in the Persian Gulf. Additional air and missile defense systems have been deployed across the region. Iranian-backed militias have intensified proxy activity from Iraq to Syria. Israeli strikes on Iranian assets have escalated, and Tehran has responded with threats of retaliation against not only Israel but also American interests ...

Is loyalty to country matter of choice?

National Columnists

The Winter Olympics had its thrills and spills — and a deep philosophical divide represented by two American, or American-born, athletes. Jack Hughes, the gold medal-winning American hockey player for the U.S. team, gave voice to a patriotic reflex in his heartfelt expressions of love of his country. Eileen Gu, the gold medal-winning American-born free-style skier competing for China, exemplified a cosmopolitan ideal that floats above mere nationhood. This difference — between the hockey player draped in his own country's flag and the exceptionally talented part-time model ...

Government subsidies killed EV industry

National Columnists

Here's a depressing but all too predictable headline from The Wall Street Journal last week: "Detroit's EV Pullback Is Costing $50 Billion." Yikes. That's a lot of money for the American auto industry to lose. Once again, we have confirmation of an iron law of economics: If you want to kill an industry, subsidize it. The best recent example of this rule is the green energy industry (solar and wind power), which has been heavily boosted with taxpayer dollars for almost 50 years now and is still an inconsequential form of overall energy supply. Dozens of promising firms like ...

One party wants different country

National Columnists

Jack Hughes delivered the gold medal to the U.S. ice hockey team in the winter Olympics, scoring the winning goal in overtime play. In a postgame interview, Hughes exclaimed: "This is all about our country now. I love the USA. I love my teammates. It's unbelievable. The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong ... I am so proud to be an American today." Moving indeed. But the question is, how much did Hughes' effusive patriotic sentiments, his exhortation of love of country, resonate across our nation? We don't hear much these days about unbridled expressions of national ...