Cal Thomas
Tribune Content Agency
RAPID CITY, S.D. â South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem likes to present herself as a ânormal everydayâ person âwho enjoys life.â
Appearing at FreedomFest 21, a gathering of 2,700 conservatives and libertarians, Noem said, âNobody knew who I was until liberals began attacking me every night on the national news.â Sheâs referring to her conservative views on economic and social issues.
Noem benefits from a roaring economy. She says there are fewer than 2,500 South Dakotans on public assistance and 28,000 job openings. The state has no sales tax. Property taxes average 1.22%. Annual economic growth is 9.9%, among the nationâs best. Houses are inexpensive relative to many other places. With such figures, itâs no surprise thereâs been a population growth of 8.9% since 2010.
Cal Thomas
Tribune Content Agency
By any standard, Zaila Avant-garde is a remarkable 14-year-old girl with a positive and compelling outlook on life.
Avant-garde (her father reportedly changed her surname from Heard in honor of jazz legend John Coltrane) recently won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee, the first African American to win the highly competitive spelling contest. She told reporters afterward that she studied 13,000 words a day. A DAY!
There are many lessons that should be learned from her remarkable achievement. Here are two of them:
Former President Barack Obama tweeted: âThree Guinness World Records (related to her prowess at basketball dribbling) and now the national spelling bee champ! Congrats, Zaila â your hard work is paying off. Weâre all proud of you.â
Cal Thomas
Tribune Content Agency
Books and articles â scientific as well as theological â have been written on human nature. Still, most people donât understand it, or refuse to learn from it, or worse, play to its dark side.
Some politicians play to the dark side of human nature because it empowers them and extends their careers at taxpayer expense. They never have to solve a problem; they only have to appear to care about a problem. Doubt me? Then why after many years of talking, legislating, studying and spending are so many problems unresolved?
The Wall Street Journal reported on several states that have stopped or will soon cease sending out unemployment checks. This has resulted in many of the former recipients of other peopleâs money going out to find or return to work. Who knew?
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is reportedly considering the development of tools that would help America’s children discern truth from lies and know when they are being fed “disinformation.”