Michael R. Shannon

Healthcare Reform Begins With End to Hospital Costs Secrecy

Last week I wrote about the failure of Obamacare to reduce the number of uninsured. Today’s number is about the same as it was before Democrats passed Obamacare. The only difference now is being uninsured is no longer synonymous with low income.

From the Stalls of Montezuma: A New Front in Culture War

North Carolina has a reputation for going the furthest in the pursuit of a lost cause. The Gettysburg battlefield features a monument carefully placed at the “high watermark of the Confederacy” where the 26th North Carolina came to within ten paces of the Union position in The Angle before being driven back.

Obamacare’s Fundamental Transformation that Failed

Obamacare this is going to hurt Obamacare’s individual mandate is the lynchpin of the act. This provision that forces all citizens to buy health insurance — regardless of age, medical history or obvious death wish — is so important Chief Justice John Roberts prostituted his position on the court to uphold its obvious illegality.

Now Humans Are Just Along for the Ride

I have seen humanity’s future, and it's cargo. Not shipping cargo, but being cargo. One cannot pick up the newspaper without discovering a new area of transportation where human control will soon be superfluous.

Apple's Potemkin Privacy Suffers a Breach

You may recall the Apple CEO Tim Cook made a big production out of refusing to comply with a court order to help the FBI extract the data from an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino Islamic terrorists.

DC Metro's Cellphone Service Hangs Up

The airline industry and the Washington, D.C. metro have much in common.

What’s Next? Voting Absentee from Prison?

Maryland Democrats are hoping that allowing 44,000 ex–cons to vote in the next statewide election will accomplish what cancer failed to do: Get rid of Republican Governor Larry Hogan.

Big Govt Pays Big for Snow 'Disaster'

In 1930, if you told big government progressives in coming years they would be able to charge taxpayers for weather while increasing the size and power of the federal government, I doubt you would have been believed.

A Leftist and Her Money Are Soon Parted

San Francisco leftists have once again decided to inflict another socialist utopia on an unsuspecting South American nation. What’s more, just like at Jonestown, a popular liquid is playing a prominent role.

D.C. Streetcar Fiasco Wouldn't Last in Private Sector

There’s good news for Washington, D.C. area parents with small children. No longer will you have to travel hundreds of miles to Disneyland to let the little ones enjoy a thrilling ride on a toy train. Instead you can pack the wee folk off to D.C. and let them ride a streetcar line that’s as short as their attention span.

Two Words that Would Seal Trump’s Deal for Me

Theories abound, thus far, regarding the increased numbers of voters in the republican primaries as compared to the deflating democrat totals. They include everything from democrats not bothering to cast a ballot because Hillary Clinton is the presumptive heir to Obama’s throne, to discontent with their own candidates.

Apple Holds the Key to Safeguarding Against Terror

Another fanatic, blinded by a cult–like ideology, is inflicting more pain on innocent bystanders in San Bernardino, Calif. The only difference is this time the fanatic worships Edward Snowden and not Allah.

I Wish My Column Was ‘More Addictive Than Cocaine’

Cocaine is commonly recognized as the baseline for degradation clichés in the US. A product, pastime or vice has made it big when an authority figure compares its addictive power to that of cocaine while warning the public of a looming threat to domestic tranquility.

The Typo that Bloated a Nation

For decades Americans have been laboring under a misconception that has fueled the growth of Jenny Craig, stretched spandex to the limit and turned people–watching at the mall into a vaguely unsettling experience.

Education — America’s Sacred Bottomless Pit

The Washington Post ran a story this week that asked: “Does this 81-year-old hold the key to teaching kids how to understand math?” Treating her as if she was some valuable relic washed ashore from Atlantis, the reporter explains Mary Johnson has been “teaching math in the District [since] the 1960s as if little time has passed.”

Taxpayers Will Cover Infrastructure Costs of Inglewood Stadium

This article was originally published on Newsmax One only has to glance at the long line of NFL owners flying to the league’s annual meeting in their private jets to know for a fact that welfare handouts only serve to create a culture of dependency.

Sudden Jihad Syndrome’s Related Pathology

Most of us with a cable, newspaper or Internet subscription are familiar with the 21st Century’s global epidemic: Sudden Jihad Syndrome. First identified outside the laboratory by Daniel Pipes, the disease is typically confined to males.

Google Designs the Self-Absorbed Car for the Self-Absorbed Man

To give you an idea of how far the nation's confidence has retreated from the exuberance of the 60s--I promise this isn't an endorsement of Donald Trump--just look at current automotive culture.

Republican Surrender Caucus Schedules a Vote for Show

Kabuki dance is a clichéd term used to describe a political event with a pre-determined outcome. These shows are designed solely to appease.

Wolf Blitzer Fails as Moderator

The last GOP debate of the year proved once again John Kasich is the most tone–deaf politician in the contest. There he was — America’s Angry RINO —clinging to his edge of the stage with that desperate look on his face that only comes from knowing a poor performance means next time he’ll be with Lindsey Graham sharing a riser in front of a Winnebago.