Herewith, a random conglomeration of six unrelated columns (links to full columns embedded in the headlines).
How NEST, LOOP, and hip-hop are putting youngsters on the right path (April 19):
It stands to reason that the best way to keep adults from exhibiting social pathologies, including criminal behavior, is to give them hope and tools when they are young. Across the country, innovative projects are doing just that — including one in New Orleans celebrating its 25th anniversary this week.
Thumbnail sketches of the New Orleans program, one in Mobile, Alabama, and one in St. Paul, Minnesota, give a sense of the ways young people can be inspired to forge better lives…..
The violence continues: Wild shooting in New Orleans shows perils of weak-on-crime policies (April 30)
Russia is at fault for the war, but in banning Russians, Wimbledon double-faulted (April 21): [Hint: The individual players not only aren’t at fault, but actually have spoken up for peace!]
Democratic senators also should oppose radical judicial nominee Nancy Abudu (April 29): Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri raked a judicial nominee over the coals on April 27, for good reason. Nancy Abudu, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, shouldn’t be a federal judge. …
Kevin McCarthy was right to rebuke colleagues for their dangerous rhetoric (April 27): In the days immediately after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California was correct. (Too bad he was such a coward that he soon retreated from his correct instincts, but that’s a different subject from this one.)
Back then, McCarthy said that several extremely conservative congressmen had used incendiary rhetoric that could heighten the risk of violence and that they needed to cool it. He was clearly thinking of the horror experienced when the rage of a political extremist nearly led to the death of the second-ranking Republican in the House, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, in a 2017 shooting. His concern was valid, and the self-control he advocated then would be welcome on both sides of the political aisle. Both sides have transgressed those standards. …
