by John L Micek

Thirsty Iran could be heading towards a crisis

I’ve been saying this for years. Maybe I’m wrong, but the pattern is hard to ignore. As Iran slides deeper into water bankruptcy — a structural gap between water demand and what the country can sustainably supply — the odds of protests and w..

December 31, 2025

The cold of colds

Glorious is the morning when you take your temperature and find out it’s 98.7 F. That was my cue to roll back over in bed and go straight to sleep again, because I was obviously sick. Look, my company gives me 10 sick days per year. I’d be stupi..

Should newspapers be on, you know, paper???

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree Friends, I was like a kid in a candy store. When I first visited Washington, D.C. (youth tour, 1977), politicians and historic monuments took second place. This small-town nerd was obsessed with scooping up copies of “exoti..

How Trump really repays loyalty

Modern-day conservative politics is deeply populated with those who have demonstrated fierce and unmistakable allegiance toward Donald Trump. These backers offer their support with the expectation Trump would reward such loyalty, who instead doesn't..

December 29, 2025

Uncle Sam schools us on New Year’s resolutions

Get this: the federal government is offering New Year’s advice on improving our health and managing our money — courtesy of the National Institutes of Health and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Their first recommended resolution: getti..

CBS News has been rendered worthless by a MAGA handmaiden

I intend here to discuss MAGA handmaiden Bari Weiss, the CBS News assassin, and to suggest ways we can combat corporate media corruption. But first I need to share a story from my rookie stint in journalism. You’ll see why. In 1975, while covering..

Merry Christmas: Top ten cartoons of the week

The Christmas spirit has invaded cartoon world, with Santa and his elves predictably dominating our most-popular toons this week. Gary McCoy topped out list with his cartoon about a father asking Santa for a peaceful world, which any parent can relat..

December 24, 2025

Don’t blame Santa

Making Sense By Michael Reagan Here’s a true Christmas story starring the U.S. Postal Service and Santa Claus. Earlier this week, my wife Colleen went to our local post office in Los Angeles to mail a present to her relatives in Nebraska. The addr..

Have you preserved 2025 for posterity?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree “I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died…no, wait, I was remembering the year Molly Farkle was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. My bad.” - with apologies to country music legend Tom T. Hall. I gave up on maintain..

Beneath the dignity of a president

The old maxim is we are not allowed to speak ill of the dead. In Latin, because all Catholic school veterans understand that Latin makes everything more official, we say “De mortuis nil nisi bonum.” The direct translation there is a bit differen..

December 23, 2025

Mergers foster innovations that bring prices down

The Washington policymakers responsible for bad decisions causing the inflation that drove prices so high have left town. Those who took their place must find ways to reduce the gap between what we all earn and what we pay for the things we want and..

Rob Reiner’s overlooked relationship with the Black community

The horrific and senseless deaths of beloved Hollywood icon Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry and across the nation. The couple’s son, Nick Reiner, faces two counts of first-degree murder, among o..

john-l-micek

Full Archive