By Dr. Mark Hendrickson If you are a college student, professor, or bookstore employee, you know how jarringly expensive college textbooks are. It isn’t unusual for college students to have to spend over $1,000 per year on books. In an attempt to reduce

I’ve dreamed about retirement for many years, but now that the time has come, I’m a bundle of emotions. Monday was my last day with Swartz Media. For the first time since I was a teen-ager, I’m unemployed. That’s a little scary. It is also freeing and ex

By Dr. Rob Cohen Every minute, logging companies and farmers cut down or burn about 30 football fields’ worth of forest in developing nations. That’s not just an environmental tragedy. By forcing animals from their habitats and bringing them into closer

By Donna L. Sorkin and Colin Driscoll Less than 1 percent of babies in the United States are born with some level of hearing loss. That may not seem like much. But it means that up to 12,000 American children enter the world each year struggling to hear

Weather is improving, summer is coming so now is a good time to start planning a vacation or weekend getaway. You don’t have to go far – there is lots to do and see right here in our own state. VacationIdea has developed a list of the 25 Best Places to V

By Thomas L. Knapp Daniel Press of the Competitive Enterprise Institute calls the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s name “the ultimate misnomer.” He’s right. The “Protection” part only makes sense in the manner of mob racket slang: “Nice loan ope

If you’ve got shopping to do, the national “big-box” and ecommerce retailers can seem like an appealing option. They’re often located close to the Interstate. With huge advertising budgets, they bombard us with tantalizing deals and “doorbuster specials.”

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” Laozi, “Old Master,” (6th-5th century BC - 531 BC). “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” Emanuel James “Jim” Rohn (1930 - 2009

By Farzana Gandhi When natural disasters strike, stories of the damage – along with heartbreaking photos and video – dominate news coverage. Celebrities tweet to raise awareness. Charities and governments pump in short-term emergency funds. Then, attent

Is your portfolio adequately diversified to match your tolerance for risk? Even if you have been fortunate enough to enjoy strong returns in the past, it’s a good idea to periodically review your portfolio to make sure your assets are properly diversified

By Cora Fox, Center for Rural Affairs Whether you are a beginning farmer or have been farming for 30 years, it is important to know resources are available to assist you in your farming venture – through education, technical assistance, mediation, or co

by Thomas L. Knapp At tax time in the US, as Gaurav Sangwani  of India's Financial Express reports, many American cryptocurrency users weren't interested in discussing that aspect of their lives with the Internal Revenue Service. In an early April TeamBl

By Brian Pomper As the United States pushes to finish negotiations to modernize and rebalance the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. negotiating team ought to build on its successful conclusion of the KORUS talks and continue toughening up int

By Bethany Williams Wilson High student On March 14, a nationwide school walkout was held to protest gun violence in schools. This protest, coming in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, aimed to shed light on an issue that is

Taking my teen-age granddaughters to Washington, D.C., during their spring break seemed like a great idea. I wanted them to experience our nation’s Capitol and get a visual of this beautiful city and a better understanding what it is about. So, on April 3