Are Hispanics inferior? A conservative scholar thinks so

In his dissertation, titled “I.Q. and Immigration Policy,” Jason Richwine, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, is offensive, but he’s also wrong. Hispanics are assimilating at the same rates as previous immigrant groups, in some ways even faster due to technology.

Grim news: How much is too much?

Can a story be both interesting and repellent at the same time? Absolutely, according to readers who have contacted me about how The Kansas City Star has covered the news lately. It’s understandable that some readers have felt the overload.

‘Civil rights babies’ moved forward without a map

Judge Lisa White Hardwick takes personally “the fierce urgency of now” in Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. She credits her parents, schools and the community that raised her to settle for nothing less than excellence. But she also is aware that if it weren’t for the civil rights movement, she wouldn’t have been able to get to where she is.

Let’s hope the Koch brothers don’t buy media

By the acquisition of major newspapers, wealthy Koch brothers of Wichita could purchase the forum for opinion that influences millions of voters. Whether you are conservative or liberal, the prospect of having that much power concentrated in so few hands should be plenty scary.

Some advice for today’s graduates

This is the time of year when we are looking forward to graduations. I have heard many graduation speeches, only a few were good. I have given the topic some thought. As a retired senior citizen, if I were asked to speak this is what I would say.

Capitol Watch: Decency takes flight in the legislatures

Lawmakers in Missouri and Kansas have stacked the decks against vulnerable citizens in starkly cruel fashion. Missouri pitted impoverished senior citizens against disabled children and the blind. Kansas staked the disabled against the disabled. A pox on both their houses.

LP’s disappearance for years should lead to reforms

Schools are an abused or neglected child’s first — and sometimes last —line of defense. Teachers know when a student is hungry, or shows signs of abuse, or when they vanish without explanation. They are mandatory reporters of abuse and neglect, and that duty should extend to notifying authorities when a child can’t be found.

Sexual assaults stain the U.S. military

Victims need to know that reporting assaults won’t derail careers, that abusers will be punished by prison and ouster from the military, and that arcane rules will be amended to prevent commanders from tossing aside military jury convictions.

Time to collect taxes on Internet sales

In reality, it would allow far more efficient collection of taxes already owed to states and others. Right now, many Internet customers are simply scofflaws, not paying their fair share of taxes.

Brownback’s sales tax increase is best of bad options

The governor’s tax increase would at least save Kansas from falling faster. Lawmakers should pass it, and close some tax loopholes as well. Then they should begin a soul-searching process aimed at steering back to a fiscal policy that the state’s traditional values, like good schools and services.

Deception shows why judicial activism matters

Suppose a federal executive department flagrantly abused its regulatory powers for the unmistakable purpose of suppressing truthful speech that annoys the government. If you assume the Supreme Court would rectify this assault on the First Amendment’s core protection, you would be mistaken.

The loss of Catholic health care

"Catholic health care has been a vital part of our city’s health care infrastructure for generations, but that’s all changing," writes John Leifer, the president of the Leifer Group, a Leawood-based health care consulting group.

Selling guns to kids, legally: Only in America!

I don’t care where you’re from or what “culture” you purport to be a part of: You don’t “play” with guns. And if a child is too young to understand that fact, to respect weaponry, adults shouldn’t be giving them guns as gifts. And companies have no business marketing to children.