It's a far better thing, as well as much easier, for government to act to prevent a disaster, or at least to warn residents loudly and clearly of the potential consequences of their foolish choices.

Why such a difference between the handling of the California fires, vs Katrina in New Orleans?

These bridges have needed fixing for 25 years and they're still operating?

It does seem slightly odd that the famous Nobel Peace Prize should go to someone who is famous, more or less, for talking loudly.

What is not acceptable, what is a non-starter, is the notion that we can dispense with the law.

Somewhere in the Great Beyond, Hermann Goering is laughing.

I stood on the bridge; I stood right there on the bridge looking down at the Rio Grande River, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a Mexican gentleman who had started himself a ferryboat service.

What does Mr. Gates plan to do with all the extra people that won't die from malaria now that his foundation has found a cure?

In recent years, the dream of home ownership has gotten farther and farther out of reach, as house prices have escalated. According to a recent study, the primary cause is excessive zoning laws - that is, government over-regulation.

Inspecting IDs is a waste of time and money, but it's ideal from the bureaucratic point of view because it doesn't solve the problem.