Like smallpox pustules, anti-Israel demonstrations broke out on college campuses all across America this spring. The first outbreaks appeared at the nation's most elite colleges but quickly spread to more modest institutions in the South and Midwest. Police arrested demonstrators at more than a dozen universities for trespassing or failing to disperse. Some media commentators argue that the demonstrators have a First Amendment right to set up campgrounds on college campuses, ignoring well-settled constitutional principles articulated by the federal courts. Others debate the need for universit ..read more

This week, it settled with anti-Israel protesters by promising to hire four Palestinians as visiting professors and to award full scholarships to five Palestinian students. In return, the protesters agreed to take down the tents at NWU’s Deering Meadow but not to stop their protesting activities. Extortion can take many forms, but one definition fits the recent settlement at Northwestern. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, extortion includes: bring[ing] about or continu[ing] a strike, boycott or other collective unofficial action, if the property is not demanded or received for the benefit ..read more

American universities have weathered student protests for more than half a century. They've experimented with various tactics to manage these episodes, ranging from delivering pizzas to student protesters camping in the president's office to calling out the National Guard. This year, the colleges are taking a tough stand against the anti-Israel protests that are sowing disorder on their campuses. All over the United States, universities are calling the cops to arrest protesters who violate school policies or refuse to obey police orders to disband. At Emory University, police arrested 28 peo ..read more

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 Robert F Kennedy Jr. is a serious candidate for president of the United States. So far, he's qualified to be on the ballot in nine states and hopes to be on every state ballot when the presidential election is held in November. The Biden administration has repeatedly denied RFK Jr.’s requests for Secret Service protection, which has placed a significant financial strain on his campaign. As a result, Kennedy has been compelled to allocate campaign funds to cover his security expenses. Early this month, six of RFK Jr.’s siblings publicly endorsed Joe Biden for president, even appearing at ..read more

I caught the matinee showing of Civil War yesterday. It's a thrilling movie with several flaws, but well worth seeing. I have two criticisms. First, director Alex Garland’s dystopian film posits a civil war between the United States and the Western Forces, comprised of the rebel states of Texas and California. Both sides field conventional armies equipped with jets, helicopters, tanks, and armored vehicles. This scenario is implausible. If the United States implodes, it won't be because Texas and California fight a conventional war against the federal government. America will likely fall apa ..read more

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler," Albert Einstein observed. Indeed, it is a mark of intelligence to analyze a jumble of complicated information, come to a straightforward conclusion, and decide what to do. Unfortunately, our intellectual elites rarely try to make things as simple as possible. Instead, they obsess about complexity and often conclude that a particular problem is so complicated that it is insolvable. Homelessness, for example, is a complex problem, so tangled and tricky that San Francisco can't figure out how to keep people from defecating&n ..read more

A few days ago, Bishop Douglas Deshotel, prelate of the Lafayette Diocese, excommunicated Scott Peyton, a former Catholic deacon whose son was sexually molested by a Catholic priest. The priest, Father Michael Guidry, pleaded guilty to molesting Peyton’s son and is now in prison. Excommunication is an extraordinarily harsh punishment to impose on an errant Catholic, especially an anguished Catholic whose son was sexually abused by a Catholic priest. What did Mr. Peyton do to deserve Bishop Deshotel’s wrath? It seems Peyton angered the bishop by writing a letter that expressed his disillusion ..read more

In 2016, I wrote a letter to Bishop Deshotel,  reporting that I had been treated rudely by Monsignor Richard Mouton in the confession booth. After asking several shocking sexual questions, Monsignor Mouton refused to confess me because I was divorced. I delivered the letter to Bishop Douglas Deshotel on September 14, 2016. It is 2024, and I have yet to receive Bishop Deshotel's response.  I learned later that Monsignor Mouton was one of the priests in the Lafayette Diocese who figured in the sexual abuse scandal involving Father Gilbert Gauthe, who was eventually convicted of sexual ..read more

 President Biden issued a statement a few days ago assuring us that the economy is robust and we're all getting richer. Here is what he said: Inflation is down two-thirds from its peak, and annual core inflation is the lowest since May 2021. Wages are rising faster than prices over the last year and since the pandemic. Prices for key household purchases like gas, milk, eggs, and appliances are lower than a year ago. Inflation is down, while unemployment has remained below 4% for the longest stretch in more than 50 years. In short, Americans have become wealthier since Joe Biden took offic ..read more