It's the ultimate stomach turner: how Carnival's 893-foot-long cruise ship Triumph, along with its 4,200 passengers, was stranded due to a fuel engine leak for five days with no food, little water and few working bathrooms.
The start of the 21st century has brought with it an avalanche of international problems such as war, economic recession, nuclear proliferation, and rising global competitors. Although all these issues merit individual attention and consideration, I think the unrelenting rise of China presents the largest and most significant global challenge to the United States.
It's sometime in the late 1980s and our family and friends are piled inside our Ford cruiser van heading off to a family ski trip to Lake Tahoe - or to a Boy Scout boating trip at Lake Mead - or some other fun teen-friendly vacation destination.
Webster's dictionary has several different definitions for the word socialism. The one conservative fear and loathe the most is:
oy, do I feel sorry for smokers these days. Smoking used to be so fashionable and hip in the James Dean and Steve McQueen days. Women who smoked used to be sexy. No sooner did they pull a Virginia Slim out of a cigarette case than men would rush at them with lighters. Even when smoking was cool, people knew it wasn't healthy. Some unhealthy smokers sued tobacco companies for concealing the unhealthful effects of ...
Sometimes it turns out that famous clichés are just plain wrong, or at least wrong in enough important situations to make them suspect. One with which I particularly disagree is "Familiarity breeds contempt." I know what it is supposed to identify, and I flatly disagree. Familiarity, with the right people, in the right way, and for the right reasons, actually breeds contentment.
Roger Ailes, the head of Fox News Channel, is a very smart man. And he knows how to count, a skill that has apparently eluded many of his fellow conservatives.
Presidents' Day is a time set aside to celebrate the legacies of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and also remember all of the Presidents of the United States (POTUS) that have made our nation great.
A friend of mine recently sent me one of those political emails that screams for fact-checking. You know the ones I mean - "Obama is really a space alien and we have proof!" or "Hilary Clinton Smokes Pot with Harry Reid."
Our failure in chief gave us his annual blurred vision of America again Tuesday night. Based on his State of the Union message, Barack Obama's eyesight is as ideologically impaired as ever. Despite four years of failure, he still sees only one road America can go down to regain its economic health. Not down the capitalist road of free enterprise and liberty that made us the richest country in history. He wants to continue down ...
We all know what happens when the fox guards the chicken coop - or do we? Our state of psychological disarmament makes us unable to recognize even such an obvious threat. I can't think of another explanation for why the country hasn't melted down the Capitol switchboard with phone calls to U.S. senators beseeching them not to confirm John Brennan as the next director of the CIA. What's so scary about Brennan, currently President Obama's ...
One of the comments I often hear from people who visit Santa Clarita for the first time is how beautiful our city looks.
I syndicate the cartoons of Rick McKee, the brilliant, conservative cartoonist from The Augusta Chronicle, to newspapers around the world.
Our youngest son, a senior at Valencia High School, ain't happy. At least his Twitter feed indicates a certain upset with the sports staff of The Signal. What upset our 6-foot, 2-inch-tall co-captain of the powerful Valencia varsity tennis team, who recently decided to attend the University of Nevada? During the tennis off season, he counts himself a member of Viking Nation, the student athletic rooting section for Valencia High School, along with a trunkful ...
With an editorial titled "Pope Sets Example For Other Aging Leaders," USA Today tried laying a major guilt trip on the nation's authority figures.
More than 50,000 people traveled to Washington, D.C., from as far away as California on Feb. 17 to demand that President Obama block the Keystone XL pipeline and move forward on climate action.
We should not accept the statist premise that most government spending helps people.
The report said people are getting dumber - at least I think that's what it said, but the big words kept throwing me off."
Freshman Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is just the latest in a long series of public figures to be reviled for "McCarthyism" following his recent questioning of Chuck Hagel, President Obama's nominee for secretary of defense.
After President Obama left for a three-day Florida golf vacation that included a round with Tiger Woods, the White House announced his latest immigration plan.
Editor's note: On last Tuesday's Kevin Buck column "Straw men live in glass houses," one poster on SignalSCV.com asked the question, "In your opinion, what are the five biggest problems America faces right now?" Here are some responses from his fellow posters.
I recently met a man who was the epitome of post-modern thought in that he did not believe in absolute truth.
I love history. I plan to purchase the Blu-Ray of the recent film "Lincoln" and rewatch certain key scenes 100 times in a row, unapologetically.
In Santa Clarita, the arts influence our community's quality of life. Without even realizing it, the arts act as an economic driver - creating and supporting jobs, generating revenue and serving as a cornerstone of the tourism industry.
"Obama's proposed voting commission under partisan fire from both sides."
Just a few short days ago the lanterns fell, bringing an end to Chinese New Year season for 2013.