Hanjin’s Hard Times

Hanjin, South Korea’s largest shipping company and seventh largest in the world, is on the skids. Although it represents 2.9% of the world’s shipping capacity, the company has posted net losses every year since 2011 and filed for bankruptcy protection on August 31st, 2016. For almost two weeks, 92 of the 141 container ships operated


DEA Proposes Rule to Classify Kratom as Schedule I Drug

The Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, published a notice on August 31, 2016, of its intent to temporarily schedule Kratom as a Schedule I drug. According to the DEA, the measure is needed to “avoid imminent hazard to public safety”. Schedule I includes    heroin and other dangerous drugs. That rule is scheduled to become effective September


Courser and Gamrat – The Corrupt Politicians That Refuse to go away!

Disgraced Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat have filed separate lawsuits in federal court against the Michigan House of Representatives, investigators, former colleagues and others. This is a case of the corrupt politicians that refuse to go away. Todd Courser was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent the 82nd District in 2014. Cindy


Fox News Settles, Roger Ailes Walks

The sexual harassment case filed against former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes by former anchor Gretchen Carlson has been settled out of court. Fox News’ parent company 21st Century Fox, which is run by Rupert Murdoch and his sons, has agreed to pay Carlson $20 million to make the charges go away. In addition to


Prosecutors Want No Mercy for Charleston Church Shooter Dylann Roof

On a summer night in June 2015, self-proclaimed white supremacist Dylann Roof allegedly walked into an historically African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, during a bible study and opened fire, killing nine people in the process. Roof already had a criminal record, having been arrested on felony drug charges a few months before the shooting,


Liberalism as a Fashion Statement, Pt. 2

In Part 1, I discussed how everyday choices in fashion and shopping, while well-intentioned, lead to suboptimal results if the goal is to make the world a better place.  These are far from the only examples, though, and liberalism as a fashion statement also extends to some of the bigger actions we can take, such


Marijuana Health Benefits Controversy

According to the Seattle Times, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has decided to keep marijuana and its derivatives classified as a Schedule 1 drug. That class of drugs includes heroin and other dangerous drugs that have no medical value. That ruling caused the marijuana health benefits controversy to rage on! That decision flies in the



Darren Seals, Noted Ferguson Activist, Found Shot to Death

Darren Seals was just 29-years-old when he was found shot to death inside of a burning car on September 6, 2016. Seals played a prominent role in the Ferguson protests after the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson in 2014. Brown was black. Wilson is white. Despite the evidence of


Liberalism as a Fashion Statement, Pt. 1

This week I heard a story on NPR about barn wood.  The Midwest is losing their scenic, falling-apart barns because the wood is a hot commodity for people who would like to add that weathered look to their restaurant wall, bar counter, or expensive home.  The barns in question have already lived out their useful