Commentary
Time for new presidential candidates in 2024
Sherlock Holmes’ statement that “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data,” in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet,” is a pearl of wisdom to use when thinking about America’s political future. The following data applies to the Nov. 5, 2024, presidential election notion that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are […]
Schools need more than fakes
Competition soared this month in the sky-is-falling sweepstakes. Among the honorable mentions is U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., who, rather than being serious about serious problems, I found on Twitter making breakfast on a gas stove because, well, gas stoves, you know. Apparently that whole debt ceiling thing is a trifle. Maybe, too, Congress should table […]
Help the Nebraska Examiner mark its first anniversary
The Nebraska Examiner is marking its first anniversary today, and I want to thank you all for your support over the past year. With your help, we’ve achieved some important milestones: In our first year as a nonprofit news outlet, we published more than 1,700 stories – including nearly 1,200 just by our three full-time […]
Facing headwinds, higher education can’t be afraid to change course
A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is 1,090 feet long, displaces more than 100,000 tons of water and is powered by propellers the size of a two-story house. It carries 5,500 crew and 80 combat planes. Standing on the flight deck, you’re 60 feet above the waterline. I’ve been privileged to see these vessels up close and […]
Historic new law brings drug price relief to Nebraska’s seniors
Here in Nebraska and across the country, a law passed last year will reduce the cost of prescription drugs and provide new benefits for millions of seniors. After years of calling on Congress to make prescription drugs more affordable, we won the fight for Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and help seniors save money on their […]
FBI regional office reflects on impact in 2022
For many of us, the start of a new year is a time for reflection, gratitude and the implementation of strategies to achieve even more in the year to come. For the FBI’s Omaha Field Office, we reflect on our impact in 2022, express appreciation for our vibrant and enduring community partnerships and hone our […]
5 things I’ve learned curating the MLK Collection at Morehouse College
For the past 12 years, civil rights historian Vicki Crawford has worked as the director of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection, where she oversees the archive consisting of iconic sermons, speeches, writings and other materials belonging to King. Few archives of historical papers compare with the importance of the Morehouse King Collection. […]
It is time for Nebraska to amend legislative term limits
Twenty-two years ago, Nebraska voters passed term limits for the Legislature. Those term limits took effect in 2006 – and looking back in time, it can be safely said that Nebraska’s term limit experiment has been a solution to a problem that simply did not exist. (Prior to term limits, the average tenure of state […]
Two new words of the year
The 2022 Word of the Year, as chosen by our lexicographic friends at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “gaslighting.” The dictionary bases its decision on the number of lookups the word gets, and for gaslighting that was an increase of 1,740%. Gaslighting: “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for a personal advantage.” In […]
Nebraska legislators should remember the vision of George W. Norris
The Nebraska Legislature is set to convene in the State Capitol’s George W. Norris Legislative Chamber on Wednesday, one day before George W. Norris Day, a state holiday established in 1981 to promote education about the late statesmen and his impact on both Nebraska and the nation. Norris, whose legacy was cemented when he became […]
Inflation, unemployment, housing crisis, possible recession: Two economists forecast what’s ahead
With the current U.S. inflation rate at 7.1%, interest rates rising and housing costs up, many Americans are wondering if a recession is looming. Two economists discussed that and more in a recent wide-ranging and exclusive interview for The Conversation. Brian Blank is a finance professor at Mississippi State University who specializes in the study […]
Hating ourselves into paralysis
I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. Robert Frost is on to something. His poem “Fire and Ice,” from which I’ve culled the lines above, contemplates the end of the world by ice: hatred. But how about a nation? Especially one whose self-proclaimed […]