Recent Viewpoints

A recent edition of the Washington Times reports, “The Marine Corps’ historic experiment to allow women to take part in its Infantry Officer Course ended with zero graduates.” The Marines’ experiment began about two years ago. Twenty-nine women volunteered. Only four survived the course beyond the first day. The last two washed out on April 2nd of this year. The Marine Corps and the Army have been conducting extensive research and experiments to test the prospects for women to serve…

In many of his books, Dr. Tim Elmore argues that this emerging generation is different in many ways from previous generations due to a range of factors. He was on my radio program recently to talk about his book Artificial Maturity and explained why this generation is different. Education is one reason. As students have been pressed into age-graded groups, they now interact mostly with peers. “The church followed suit with its programming. Social silos were the result. The downward…

The American family is in decline. But sometimes it is hard to see how far we have come because the changes are often subtle and incremental. Each generation comes into the world already taking as a baseline changes that occurred before they arrived. Perhaps the best way to document the decline of the family is to compare where we are today to where we were in 1960. Back then more than nine out of ten U.S. households with children had…

As presidential and congressional campaigns heat up, we are certain to hear more about the disparity between the 99 percent and the one percent. During the Occupy Wall Street protests, we heard the constant cry: “We are the 99 percent.” We will no doubt hear about the growing wealth gap between the mass of America and the few super-rich who own more than 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. While that discussion and debate is worth having, it is also…

You may have heard the story about Dan Price, the founder of Gravity Payments. He decided that the minimum wage for his company would be $70,000. To put it mildly, the people in his business were very excited. He read an article on happiness that documented how, for people who earn less than about $70,000, extra money makes a big difference. And he noticed that some of his employees were struggling from paycheck to paycheck. He decided to cut his…

In his Earth Day proclamation President Obama stated: “Today our planet faces new challenges, but none poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.” Such a convenient word the environmental left has us all using. Of course the climate is changing. It’s the height of human arrogance to think we can stop it. Climate change is a fact, not a threat. But, for the Left it’s become an organizing principle for manipulating human action. Hence the warning: ‘the…

Moore’s Law turns 50 years old this week. If you are unsure of what Moore’s Law is, let me explain. Back in the early 1960s, integrated circuits were coming on the scene but were very expensive. Some commentators believed they would be of limited use because of their size and expense. A physical chemist by the name of Gordon Moore saw a much different future. In his article in Electronics Magazine he extrapolated a few data points and made a…

If a celebrity couple separates, should the couple’s frozen embryos be destroyed or put up for adoption? That is the question surrounding the actress Sofia Vergara. She is best known for her role in the TV program Modern Family or for her furniture commercials. She is now in the spotlight over a bioethics issue. She and her ex Nick Loeb have two frozen embryos that were created when they were still in a relationship. They aren’t in a relationship now,…

Atheism is on the rise in America, and it is worth understanding the trends that contribute to this. The Barna Group has spent a considerable amount of time studying the unchurched but has also published a study on the state of atheism in America. The Barna study lumps together atheism and agnosticism. An atheist would be someone who doesn’t believe that God exists. An agnostic would be someone who is not sure if God exists but might be open to…

When debate broke out last month in Indiana over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, you might remember the story of Memories Pizza. If not, here is a quick summary. A reporter for ABC57 walked into the pizza place located in Walkerton, Indiana and asked if they would cater a same-sex wedding. Although the question was hypothetical (after all, few people order pizza for a wedding reception), Crystal O’Connor answered truthfully and said they would decline the opportunity. A firestorm broke…

Earlier this month the House of Representatives voted to repeal the federal tax on estates. Republicans argue that this “death tax” should be repealed because of the negative impact it has on family farms and small businesses. Democrats call a repeal of the estate tax a giveaway to the rich. In the midst of this debate comes a book that devotes a few pages to this issue. John Tamny has written the book, Popular Economics: What the Rolling Stones, Downton…