As we get set over the next few years to not only celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States as a nation but also the 225th anniversary of Ohio, and the 100th anniversary of the credit union movement in this country, there is a lot of history to celebrate and reflect upon. And it ...
The tragedy of Youngstown is not that its problems are unsolvable. The tragedy is that those entrusted with solving them have become experts at managing decline while pretending to fight it. For years, residents have been subjected to a continuous performance of political theater — press conferences, photo opportunities, studies, committees, strategic plans, and carefully crafted talking points. Yet beneath the spectacle lies a city still burdened by poverty, unemployment, abandoned neighborhoods, population loss and growing despair. The mayor’s recent virtual town hall was no ...
Those of a certain age — meaning roughly 65 or older — will recall the “Bicentennial Minute.” These were one-minute homages to the mostly good history of America that ran on CBS 1974 through 1976 to mark America’s 200th anniversary. Politicians, celebrities and average Americans of all political stripes appeared in the videos. It was a mostly unifying time following the divisive Vietnam War and the political scandal known as Watergate. As socialism appears to be sweeping big cities and universities as we approach our 250th anniversary, a small organization has decided to ...
Ohio — particularly poorer, more rural regions — has begun to experience a trend with which neighboring West Virginia is all too familiar. While the country added 172,000 jobs in May, Ohio lost 2,400. Unemployment, on the other hand, fell; but not for the reason we would all hope. Unemployment data measures only those who are in the labor force. As researcher Molly Bryden, with Policy Matters Ohio, pointed out to the Ohio Capital Journal, that figure does not include those who were unable to work because of age or physical condition, or simply have left the state or stopped ...
The Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, embraces two value sets. The first is natural rights, and the second is limited government. After 250 years, neither value has survived, and the opposite of each currently prevails in America. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration in three days while staying at a rooming house in Philadelphia. He had been greatly influenced by the British philosopher John Locke. Locke is the godfather of the theory of natural rights, which he extrapolated from the natural law teachings of Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) ...
Referring to the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz commented on X: “Found an imaginary problem, said only they could fix it, didn’t listen to experts, hired buddies who grifted millions, failed miserably, bragged how great it went. The entire Trump presidency in a nutshell.” (Walz could have added: “blamed others for his failure, conjured up a conspiracy, then prosecuted them.”) One remarkable aspect of Trump’s horrendous reign is how many crises and problems he’s brought on himself — created them out of thin air. Then he brags about how well ...
