by Michael McKenna Last Thursday, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works reported legislation (the Prove It Act) that sets the stage and lays the foundation to impose a carbon dioxide tax on American families, workers, and consumers. This new energy tax was voted out of committee 14-5, with four Republicans…
Read MoreMonth: January 2024
Nikki Haley Scolds Crowd for Booing Climate Protesters Disrupting Campaign Event
A group of climate protesters interrupted a Nikki Haley campaign event in New Hampshire on Saturday night, prompting the former South Carolina governor to scold attendees for booing the activists, Politico reported.
Multiple young protesters disrupted a Haley campaign event in Nashua, New Hampshire, holding up signs that read “Haley: Climate Criminal” and chanting “climate criminal,” according to a video of the incident. Haley told her supporters not to boo the protesters, who were escorted out, Politico reported.
Read MoreCommentary: The Reason Some Diamond Brands So Expensive
One of my first full-time jobs outside of college was working in the jewelry industry at Harry Winston in Manhattan. The experience I gained as a sales assistant, working at the historical house of Winston, expanded my understanding of the power of a brand.
The amount of money customers would spend on a Harry Winston diamond, while scoffing at what was down the street at Tiffany’s, seemed absurd. I was on a yearly salary of $35k, and people were dropping more than that amount on a tennis bracelet with less than 30 minutes of deliberation.
Read MoreThousands Converge for Snowy 2024 March for Life, Take on Reforging New Identity Post-Roe
by Isaac Willour The 2024 March for Life brought thousands into the streets of Washington D.C. on Friday amid driving wind and snow to show support for the unborn and address a pivotal question: After the overturn of Roe, where is the movement going? Attendees gathered on the National Mall…
Read MoreDeSantis Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race, Endorses Trump
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday dropped out of the 2024 Presidential race and endorsed former President Donald Trump.
Read MoreHome Sales in 2023 Were the Lowest in 28 Years as Affordability Crisis Plagued Americans
Sales for existing homes, which make up a majority of the housing market, slumped to the lowest level since 1995 as rising prices and sky-rocketing mortgage rates increased unaffordability, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Existing home sales sank 1.0% in December compared to the previous month, falling 6.2% annually, with 4.09 million homes being sold for the year, according to a report from the NAR. The slump in sales follows a year of rising prices due to inflation, constrained supply and sky-high mortgage rates, which at one point neared 8%, suppressing demand and Americans’ ability to buy in the housing market.
Read MoreDivide Among Elites and Rest of Country Widening Ahead of 2024 Election: Rasmussen
The divide between the country’s “elite” and the rest of America is growing and it will have a substantial impact on the 2024 elections, according to a survey conducted by Scott Rasmussen and RMG Research, Inc.
The survey also found the most highly educated voters with advanced degrees are liberal-leaning and their policy positions are at odds with the rest of the electorate, which Rasmussen and conservative economist Steve Moore said during a briefing about the results on Friday.
Read MoreCloud Hangs over Commercial Real Estate as Trillions in Debt Set to Come Due
Commercial real estate is facing a mountain of debt that many borrowers could have trouble refinancing due to a rapid hike in interest rates and record vacancies, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Around $2.81 trillion in commercial real estate loans are set to expire through 2028, meaning borrowers would either have to pay the amount outright or refinance the debt with higher interest rates, according to data from market research group Trepp. Payments on commercial mortgages are typically only for interest while the loan is active, and when the loan reaches its expiration date, borrowers often refinance at current rates, but doing so would increase payments drastically in a time when commercial developers and property owners are strapped for cash, according to the WSJ.
Read MoreHarvard Details Handling of Claudine Gay Plagiarism Controversy in New Congressional Report
Harvard University detailed its handling of the controversy surrounding former President Claudine Gay’s alleged plagiarism in a new report submitted to Congress on Friday.
Harvard’s report, which was submitted to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, details how a university subcommittee appointed an independent panel of “three of the country’s most prominent political scientists” that found “virtually no evidence of intentional claiming of findings that are not President Gay’s.” The independent panel did not review all accusations of plagiarism against Gay, only the 25 allegations flagged by the New York Post, 16 of which the panel said were “trivial,” used “commonly used language” or regarded a previous publication that “they devoted ‘less attention.’”
Read MoreCommentary: The Loss of the Sacred in American Culture
There’s a grim scene near the end of The Iliad in which the Greek hero Achilles, because of his rage and grief over the death of his comrade Patroclus at the hands of the Trojan prince Hector, slays Hector in battle and drags his corpse behind his chariot, day after day, desecrating the body in a manner unthinkable to the ancient Greeks. In fact, the affront to the dignity of this hero and prince, as well as the violation of the sacred customs of Greek society, eventually compels the gods to intervene. They tell Priam, the elderly king of Troy, to go to Achilles and plead for the body of Hector so that it may be properly honored and buried. The gods will not allow such a desecration to continue.
In these final lines of this epic poem—which, along with The Odyssey forms the bedrock of Western literature and arguably Western Civilization as a whole—Homer reaffirms a notion that all Greeks would have agreed with: There are certain lines that must not be crossed, certain sacred realities that cannot be defied, even by the semidivine hero Achilles.
Read More