Month: September 2021

Friends, Family Flock to Long Island to Mourn Gabby Petito

HOLBROOK, N.Y.—Lines of mourners paid their respects Sunday for Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old whose death on a cross-country trip has sparked a manhunt for her boyfriend. Among those who congregated in Holbrook, about 35 miles east of New York City, were family members, friends, co-workers and people who were touched by Petito’s story even though…


‘Sullivan’s Travels’

Commentary In 1941, Preston Sturges—one of the greatest of Hollywood directors from the days when Hollywood made entertaining movies—debuted a picture called “Sullivan’s Travels” that has become something of a classic. If you haven’t seen it (you should), it’s a satire of the film industry in which John L. Sullivan, a highly successful, replete with…


Identity Politics

In this episode of “Counterculture” with Danielle D’Souza Gill, we explore the problems with the Left’s paradigm of identity politics. Are we are more than simply our race or gender, or are we are defined by our values and actions? D’Souza Gill compares America to the rest of the world, showing the differences between how…


America Evacuates From Afghanistan, the CCP Evacuates From Hollywood

Commentary Lost in the din of the greatest American foreign policy debacle since World War II, a mysterious and very positive dénouement occurred with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence operations. Under concealment from the focus on Afghanistan, the CCP has essentially withdrawn from Hollywood and the financial infusion of cash that has kept the legacy…


Taper Tantrum

Commentary On Sept. 22, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested during the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) press conference that the FOMC board was very close to tapering its purchases of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. Initially, bond prices rallied on the news, then were slammed lower over the following two days as investors changed their…


Projections Put German Social Democrats Ahead of Conservatives in Vote to Decide Merkel Successor

BERLIN—Germany’s Social Democrats narrowly won Sunday’s national election, projected results showed, and claimed a “clear mandate” to lead a government for the first time since 2005 and to end 16 years of conservative-led rule under Angela Merkel. The center-left Social Democrats (SPD) were on track for 26.0 percent of the vote, ahead of 24.5 percent for…


German Social Democrats Beat Conservatives in Vote to Decide Merkel Successor: Projected Results

BERLIN—Germany’s Social Democrats narrowly won Sunday’s national election, projected results showed, and claimed a “clear mandate” to lead a government for the first time since 2005 and to end 16 years of conservative-led rule under Angela Merkel. The center-left Social Democrats (SPD) were on track for 26.0 percent of the vote, ahead of 24.5 percent for…


Widow of Man Who Died After She Infected Him Sues Her Employer

LOS ANGELES—A longtime employee of See’s Candy Shops Inc. is suing the company, alleging that poor coronavirus protocol in the packaging warehouse in Carson, Calif., caused her to contract the disease in 2020 and later infect her husband and one of her daughters, ultimately causing her spouse’s death at age 69. Maria Saucillo of Upland,…


Cynicism and Dishonesty in the Current Tax Proposals

Commentary I have written for years about Washington’s bipartisan fiscal policy—chronic overspending and a consequent inability to balance the federal budget. Neither party knows how to balance the federal budget. Today, Democrats are in the spotlight, because they are the ones proposing new taxes in a totally partisan (i.e., with zero Republican support) fashion. Two…


Post-War Afghanistan Opens Door for Beijing-Tehran Collaboration: Experts

The U.S. departure from Afghanistan has opened the doors for greater cooperation between Beijing, Moscow, and Iran in the Central Asian country, experts say. Both Beijing and Moscow have interests in the estimated $1 trillion worth of minerals in Afghanistan. Yet analysts caution that it may be a long time before any economic goals can…