State Farm’s Mess

Penna Dexter When are America’s established, successful and reliable corporations going to stop generating PR disasters for themselves by wading into woke gender politics? State Farm Insurance Company operates on the franchise model with thousands of agents serving tens of millions of customers. The company is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Until last week, State Farm’s famous claim, “Like…

Read Now

Target’s New Endeavor

Penna Dexter Over time, Target Corporation has made a string of marketing and policy decisions that blur gender lines — and more. First, the company stopped separating children’s clothing according to sex. Boys’ and girls’ departments ceased to be specifically identified and much of the clothing for kids skewed androgynous. This didn’t generate much controversy but, in April 2016, Target…

Read Now

Loneliness & iPhones

Penna Dexter During the Q & A session at a recent seminar an audience member, a mother of four accomplished girls, wondered: “How do we help our teenaged children have good friendships?’ Coming from her, the question seemed odd. But the speaker, Coleman Ford, who teaches at Southwestern Theological Seminary, shares that concern. He pulled a phone out of his…

Read Now

Kathleen’s Abortion Shift

Penna Dexter I read nearly every column Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker writes. I interviewed her for radio on her 2008 book, Save the Males: Why Men Matter Why Women Should Care. I loved the book and Kathleen struck me as a thoughtful voice for the center-right. I kept on reading her. I still do. These days I find myself…

Read Now

Making Libraries Marxist

Penna Dexter Parents are increasingly raising concerns that public libraries are actively exposing their kids to sexual activities and reading material. But, when they complain about drag queen story hours and books that can only be described as pornography aimed at kids, smiling librarians assure them their libraries are simply committed to “free inquiry”. Indeed, Emily Drabinski, the recently-elected president…

Read Now

“Missed Period Pills”

Penna Dexter The United States Supreme Court will soon announce its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a challenge to the Mississippi abortion law that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation. Pro-lifers hope that the justices will take this opportunity to do away with past court precedent under Roe v. Wade, and to return the regulation of abortion…

Read Now

Student Loan Forbearance

Penna Dexter The White House has announced a sixth extension in the Covid-inspired pause on federal student loan payments — this time through August. The Wall Street Journal calls this “cancelling student debt on the installment plan.” The Journal wonders why, with the rest of the country returning to normal, student borrowers can’t start making their loan payments. Progressives are…

Read Now

‘Gender Affirmation’ Decree

Penna Dexter The last day of March this year was deemed the International Transgender Day of Visibility. We didn’t need such a designation to help us notice the trans issue. The news is saturated with it. That day, the White House made an announcement that should have surprised no one. Regarding children who may “want to be transgender,” Joe Biden…

Read Now

Our ‘Momflation’ Problem

Penna Dexter The worst inflation our country has seen in 40 years is upon us. We all feel it. But inflation hits some communities harder than others. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis states that, although we report a national inflation rate — currently 7.9 percent — different communities are impacted differently. “Covid-related” stimulus was sold,…

Read Now

Define A Woman

Penna Dexter A couple of weeks ago, University of Pennsylvania senior Lia Thomas won an NCAA championship in women’s swimming, setting an Ivy League time record for the 500-yard freestyle. Thomas, a former male swimmer for Penn, has dominated the female competition this year. Commentator and podcaster Matt Walsh observed Lia’s demeanor at the winner’s podium: Thomas, he writes, did…

Read Now

Changing Tech Hubs

Penna Dexter Workers in the technology industry have long known that working remotely was feasible. But the Covid-19 pandemic made it a daily reality for millions. The Wall Street Journal’s technology writer, Christopher Mims, explains how transformative this is turning out to be. He brings to bear the results of recent surveys by economists from several top universities in an…

Read Now