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THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Articles by THE WASHINGTON TIMES

No. 2 Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver.

EDITORIAL: Detroit police chief wants citizens to arm themselves

Motor City has become Murder City. With 333 homicides of all kinds last year, Detroit tops the list of major cities under siege by violent criminals. The man with the nation's most thankless job, Detroit Police Chief James E. Craig, shocked the establishment when he said last week that he thinks the solution to Motown's crime is more guns. Published January 6, 2014

In this Oct. 24, 2013, photo Robert Malsom checks corn in one of his fields near Roscoe, S.D. Malsam nearly went broke in the 1980s when corn was cheap. So now that prices are high and he can finally make a profit, he's not about to apologize for ripping up prairieland to plant corn. (AP Photo/Doug Dreyer)

EDITORIAL: Cronyism by corn

The new year brings bad tidings to corn. The Midwestern states have been harvesting bushels of cash from the 2007 congressional directive requiring gasoline refineries to adulterate the fuel with corn, but the good times may soon end. This reform is possible now that certain liberal dreamers acknowledge that the scheme serves neither an economic nor environmental purpose. Published January 5, 2014

EDITORIAL: The folly of taxing the rich

Soaking the rich might make some people feel good, but going after "the rich" impoverishes everyone. The French never learned that lesson from their 18th-century outburst of envy that created widespread shortages and famine, and three centuries later, they have traded the guillotine for income confiscation. France's constitutional court last week approved the government taking 75 percent of the income of millionaires at the request of President Francois Hollande. Keeping his campaign promise will damage a fragile economy and hurt the poor most of all. Published January 5, 2014

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. The Senate is nearing a potential showdown on curbing the power that the Republican minority has to block President Barack Obama’s nominations, as Democrats edge toward muscling a rewrite of filibuster rules through the chamber. Reid was expected to force a vote as soon as Thursday on requiring only 51 votes to end filibusters, or delaying tactics, against nominees for high-level judgeships and agency officials. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

EDITORIAL: Doing nothing constructively

It was so cold when Congress came back to town Friday to tidy up loose ends and close the first session of the 113th Congress that Democrats for once had to keep their hands in their own pockets. Keeping a congressman's hands off your wallet, even if for only a day, is a good and rare thing. That's why complaints that the 113th Congress is among the least "productive" ever miss the point. Published January 5, 2014

In this file photo provided China's official Xinhnua News Agency, passengers from the trapped Russian vessel MV Akademik Shokalskiy, seen at right, prepare to board the Chinese helicopter Xueying 12 in the Antarctic Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhang Jiansong) NO SALES **FILE**

EDITORIAL: No more dead parrots

Australian global-warming enthusiasts, enthralled by their own hype, expected their summertime trip to the South Pole to be a breeze. They've been insisting for years that man is overheating the planet, the polar ice caps are melting, and penguins in the south and polar bears in the north would soon die of heat prostration. What a Christmas Eve surprise for the 52 passengers aboard the MV Akademik Shokalskiy. Their ship became trapped by ice that clearly wasn't melting. The ship remains stuck, perhaps permanently, but a rescue helicopter carried the researchers to safety. Published January 2, 2014

The high-tech X-ray machine used by Customs and Border Inspection agents in the Agriculture Inspection Area color-codes organic (orange), plastic (green) and metal (blue) items for easier identification. Here an officer looks at bags on the screen on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012 at Washington Dulles International Airport. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

EDITORIAL: Expanding government snoopery

A nosy neighbor, gossip or voyeur looking for a job can look beyond a career at the National Security Agency. The federal government offers a wealth of opportunities for reading other people's mail. We've come a long way from the other extreme of foolishness, when a Cabinet officer once shut down a code-breaking program because "gentlemen don't read each other's mail." Published January 2, 2014

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor pushes the Waterford crystal button that signals the descent of the New Year's Eve Ball in Times Square on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

EDITORIAL: Justice Sotomayor’s temporary reprieve

Now that Obamacare has gone live, more people than ever are running in horror from President Obama's health care disaster. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Mr. Obama's first pick for the high court, had no choice but to block enforcement of the health care law's requirement that religious groups, whether they want to or not, must subsidize abortions, sterilization and contraceptive devices. Published January 2, 2014

**FILE** Bitcoin tokens are pictured in Sandy, Utah, on April 3, 2013. (Associated Press)

EDITORIAL: He tossed $8.2 million into the trash

For a man with a fetish for keeping things tidy, James Howells, 28, is a reckless man when he's in the mood to clean out drawers and cabinets. Mr. Howells, a Welshman, is a "bitcoin miner" who lost bitcoins worth $8 million tucked away in his laptop computer. Published January 1, 2014

A girl feeds a horse near Central Park on New Year's Eve day, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013, in New York. Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, who will be sworn in tonight, supports ending the practice of horse-drawn carriages. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

EDITORIAL: A resolution for the government

The tradition of making a New Year's resolution to lose weight, kick the smoking habit or exercise more shouldn't be limited to mere men and women keen on self-improvement. Now more than ever, the government should resolve to slim down and become more effective — and less annoying. Such a resolution would require lawmakers to show restraint before proposing a new rule. Published January 1, 2014

A view of the East Room of White House where President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are hosting a state dinner for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

EDITORIAL: Hypocrisy on the White House menu

Some people can't resist telling other people what to eat. There's no room on the menu for trans fats. No salt, no sodas. Milkshakes are out, arugula is in. With everything that tastes good erased from the menu, the government's cafeterias set tables with food blander than ever, but you wouldn't know it at the White House mess. Published January 1, 2014

President Obama closes his eyes as he listens to offerings of prayers at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. While speaking, the president said he hopes to maintain the morning's bipartisan spirit a little longer. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

EDITORIAL: A hope for the new year

The year 2013 ends with higher taxes, more spending and a stagnant economy. The promise of "hope and change" remains as elusive as ever and likely will stay that way until voters give Washington new marching orders in the 2014 midterm elections. Published December 30, 2013

Conrad Alvin Barrett, 27, is escorted out of the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse Friday, Dec. 27,2 013, in Houston. Barrett was arrested the day before on federal hate crimes charges for allegedly shooting video of himself sucker-punching a 79-year-old black man in a "knockout game"-style attack. According to prosecutors, the attack happened Nov. 24 in Katy, but it wasn't until 12 days later that authorities connected the attack to the cellphone video of it. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, James Nielsen) MANDATORY CREDIT

EDITORIAL: Eric Holder’s knockout game

Justice is anything but blind at the agency run by Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. For weeks, the Justice Department refused to acknowledge the existence of the "knockout game" everyone was talking about. The object of the knockout game is to randomly assault a stranger on the street and render him unconscious with a single punch. The knockouts appear to carry extra "street cred" if captured on a cellphone and the video is posted online. Published December 30, 2013

A line of new 787 Dreamliners park nose-to-tail at Paine Field in Everett, Wash., home to Boeing Inc.'s factory. The planes were grounded in January after a battery fire in one and smoke in another. (Associated Press)

EDITORIAL: Showdown in Seattle

Even a financial whiz with the skills of Warren Buffett couldn't have kept Detroit or Stockton, Calif., from bankruptcy. Public-sector unions have been living large at the public's expense through absurdly generous retirement schemes. Published December 30, 2013

A group of Tea Party activists and supporters of U.S. Senate candidate Jamie Radtke (R) protest outside a debate between Former Virginia governors and current U.S. Senate candidates Tim Kaine (D) and George Allen (R), which third party candidates were excluded from participating at the Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, VA, Wednesday, December 7, 2011. (Andrew Harnik / The Washington Times)

EDITORIAL: Another sore loser

Some Virginia Republicans have perfected the art and science of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. With control of the state Senate up for the taking in a special election on Jan. 21, Joe T. May is running as an independent for an open state Senate seat, which almost certainly ensures that Democrats will win. Published December 29, 2013

** FILE **  - A member of the Afghan special forces, left, briefs soldiers after a training exercise on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 14, 2013. A senior U.S. commander said Saturday, March 30, 2013 that American special operations forces have handed over their base in eastern Afghanistan’s Nirkh district to local Afghan commandos. (Associated Press)

EDITORIAL: A hero for our times

The nation lost an unlikely and mostly unsung hero with the death on Christmas Eve of Walter Oi. Armed with keen insight of the sort that has almost entirely vanished from Washington, this University of Rochester economist was instrumental in demonstrating the superiority of a voluntary military force over a conscripted one. Published December 29, 2013

Image: (Associated Press)

EDITORIAL: Cash in the water

The sharks are circling in the Gulf of Mexico. A federal judge on Christmas Eve delivered a ruling that puts BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, at the mercy of anyone who claims he or she lost business as a result of the infamous 2010 oil spill. Even hookers are getting a piece of the action. Published December 29, 2013

Catholic University President John Garvey (J.M. Eddins Jr./The Washington Times) ** FILE **

EDITORIAL: Frightened by debate

Liberals can't stand competition. From their comfortable lofts in ivy-covered towers, left-wing professors sneer at free-market philanthropists eager for a role in the support of higher education. Several disgruntled professors are hectoring the administrators of the Catholic University of America to send back generous donations of $1 million from the Charles Koch Foundation and $500,000 from the Busch Family Foundation. So far, the school is standing firm. Published December 26, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Science and Education Council in the Kremlin in Moscow, Friday, Dec. 20, 2013. Putin on Friday signed a decree pardoning Mikhail Khodorkovsky,  and he was released from prison immediately. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service)

EDITORIAL: Diplomatic welfare

Ambassadors get many perks. Diplomatic immunity is a convenient way to avoid traffic tickets. They often live in grand houses and pay neither rent nor American taxes. Some embassies throw great parties, and motorcades can cut through rush-hour traffic. Certain diplomats get another gift from American taxpayers: They're on welfare right here. Published December 26, 2013

Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin reads a statement to the House of Commons in London in this image taken from TV Monday May 18, 2009. Martin said Monday he was "profoundly sorry" for the handling of Members of Parliament expenses, saying the public had been let down "very badly indeed. (AP Photo/PA

EDITORIAL: When other words fail

Civility is a lot like the weather. Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it. Just now there's lots of talk about proper language in the British Parliament, where they're fussy about words. Well, why not? Published December 26, 2013