Latest Articles

Is $13.7 Billion a Good Price for Whole Foods?
The brilliant online behemoth absorbs a sometimes careless and deceptive grocery chain.

June 30, 2017  •  National Review

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross called Amazon's recent $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods a "clever move" because it marries Amazon's marketing and distribution expertise with a "high-quality, niche retailer." One suspects that perhaps Secretary Ross, a 79-year-old billionaire investor and art collector, doesn't do a lot of grocery shopping.

More to the point, as to the "high quality" of Whole Foods' operation and reputation, he might wish to check with his government colleagues at the FDA and Department of Justice, because Whole Foods' violations of state and federal law have been escalating: They've gone from defrauding their customers in various ways to adopting food-preparation practices that actually endanger them.

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Senate misstep will cost jobs and energy

June 22, 2017  •  The Detroit News

The Senate just failed to roll back an Obama-era regulation that will discourage energy production, cost millions of dollars and kill thousands of American jobs.

The rule, issued in the 11th hour of the Obama presidency by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), was designed to limit already decreasing methane emissions from oil and natural gas wells on federal lands. The Republican-led Senate was expected to kill the regulation before it had a chance to take effect. But instead, three Republicans broke with their party to keep the rule in place.

That move was shocking. Although some speculated Sen. John McCain's surprise break from his party was to retaliate for the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

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Stop Funding WHO Until It Cleans Up Its Act
Subhead: U.S. taxpayer funding of scandal-plagued World Health Organization needs strings attached

June 14, 2017  •  National Review

The World Health Organization (WHO), the troubled United Nations (UN) health agency, has just elected a controversial new director-general. The choice should disturb taxpayers, members of Congress, and the Trump administration.

We'll soon hear condemnation of the administration's plan for steep cuts in funding of international organizations, as proposed by the White House's budget blueprint. Cuts to WHO will draw dire warnings about global pandemics and cries for America to do more.

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Will the EPA Abandon the Science of Risk?

May 23, 2017  •  Real Clear Policy

A prevailing take-away message from last month's March for Science was that President Trump and his Environmental Protection (EPA) Administrator, Scott Pruitt, are in the process of dismantling critical science-based rules that were put in place to protect nature. With nature left unprotected, they argued — or, rather, chanted — we'll be exposed to dangerously contaminated air and water, and the environment will be devastated.

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Promote Health by Not Defending the E-Cigarette Ban
The Trump administration should no longer defend FDA's indefensible vaping ban.

May 16, 2017  •  National Review

Harm reduction — opting for a product or activity that is not harmless but is better than the existing alternative — is a common and obvious strategy that we employ almost unthinkingly. For example, many drugs used for chemotherapy to treat cancer are highly toxic and cause a variety of serious side effects, but taking them is better than leaving the cancer untreated.

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