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Chet Richards
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August 25, 2022
Something's missing in the Mar-a-Lago coverageI am someone who has held a TS/SCI (Top Secret — Special Comparted Information) security clearance. Moreover, I have had a facility clearance for my home so that I could handle classified information there. Having had that...
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April 27, 2022
You Can't Have a Functioning Nation without Free SpeechA dozen of us were seated on either side of the long dining table. Present were writers gathered from across the nation and around the world. Beside me was a lady from Nigeria. Facing me was a Romanian. The...
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April 2, 2022
America is suffering from a gigantic loss of trust"There is a great deal of ruin in a nation." So said the Scottish economist, Adam Smith. When Adam Smith talks about a "great deal of ruin," he is saying a successful nation has a large margin, or cushion, be...
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March 7, 2022
How Technology has Saved UkraineGeographers tell us the truth that geography often dominates world affairs. For more than a century, until the invention of nuclear weapons, America could rely on our oceans and navy to prevent serious invasion from foreign armies. We cou...
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February 13, 2022
The easiest government-approved way to be cruel to childrenDid you ever wonder why childhood seemed to take so long, yet as you age, time seems to slip by ever faster? I am of an age where I am well acquainted with this phenomenon. I propose an explanation based on simple biology: relat...
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February 2, 2022
The Great Climate Rip-OffIs the climate changing? Yes. Is mankind contributing to the change in climate? Yes. Should major national policy respond to this change? No! Climate changes continuously, both warming and coo...
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January 19, 2022
Government's COVID Tyranny Heralding a New Dark AgeWe were having tea under sparkling Southern California stars, just the two of us. Seated with me, the distinguished lady was the director of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. She had just given a lecture on Dark Age Britain ...
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October 21, 2021
On the Front Lines of the COVID WarA heart attack is no fun. I discovered this the hard way a few days ago. As a consequence I found myself on the frontlines of the Third World War -- the global war against the Chinese created, and deliberately disseminated, COVI...
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September 5, 2021
Joe Biden and the Consequences of Lost Global TrustOrdered to do so, a soldier charges through a hail of bullets toward his objective. Instinctively a soldier falls on a live grenade and his life is snuffed out. Folks at home honor these soldiers, as they should. Why? What is ...
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August 16, 2021
Biden's Afghanistan FailureUnless a miracle happens Afghanistan is a lost cause. Our friends there now face slaughter and slavery because of our betrayal. Too bad. Although Afghan society is, by our standards, corrupt from top to bottom, it is their culture, ...
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July 2, 2021
The Golden Rule: He Who Has the Gold Makes the RulesI suppose it was not entirely his fault. The Distinguished Visitor was only delivering a message, you see. While he was part of the faction that had created the message, he had not actually formulated what he was going to say. That, it became obvious...
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March 24, 2021
Kristi Noem v. NCAAKristi Noem should have paid attention to some of the history behind her own name rather than listen to the advice of attorneys and lobbyists. She didn't realize that she had the power to wreck the NCAA if it didn't bow to her wish...
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March 22, 2021
Science in an Age of Fear"Don’t you believe in Science?” she asked. She was a devoted member of the Party of Science -- the party that doesn’t recognize that men and women are different. “No,” I said. “I...
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November 11, 2020
Free speech and the woke mobWe live in The Age of Orwell: The woke cancel culture mob has claimed a new fundamental right: The right to not be offended. But how can we know when we are about to cause offense? How can anyone really know what is ...
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October 27, 2020
For how much longer will we get to enjoy free speech in America?We live in The Age of Orwell: The woke cancel culture mob has claimed a new fundamental right: The right to not be offended. But how can we know when we are about to cause offense? How can anyone really know what is in the min...
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October 4, 2020
Thoughts on Belief and ReligionWe stood by the water’s edge and made sacrifices to the river god. A bit of our food, some of our drink, this we committed to the swift stream. It was time to put it in the river and be on our way. No, we weren’t pagans....
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August 18, 2020
Donald Trump and the Tide of HistoryLeo Tolstoy, in an essay about War and Peace, debates whether history is shaped by Historical Forces or by Great Men. Indeed, War and Peace itself is Tolstoy’s way of exploring this dichotomy. He comes down on the side of Historical...
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May 21, 2020
Killing Off a Pandemic is Engineering, Not 'Science'More than half a century ago a fellow grad student invited me into his laboratory to show me his doctoral research. He introduced me to the science of animal reflexes. A novel stimulus induces in an animal, however briefly, a freeze react...
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March 24, 2020
It's Not Just Physical Walls the U.S. Must Build in the Coronavirus EraWalls have been the norm for settlements since the earliest Neolithic days. Farmers have things, such as food and valuable implements. Other people want those things and are sometimes inclined to take them. Walls provide security so...
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January 19, 2020
Industrializing SpaceSpace faring was once a science fiction fantasy of the far future. Now we live in that future and space activity permeates our economy. The civilian space economy is surprisingly large. According to the Satellite Industries Association...
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January 3, 2020
Why the USA Needs a Space ForceThe establishment of the United States Space Force tells us that we really do live in a science fiction world. For nearly forty years, the United States Air Force has had a Space Command. Now that organization is being upgrade...
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December 31, 2019
Standing up to the PC BulliesAmerica has become a land of institutional cowards. I don’t mean you, average joe, dragging your aching body out of bed in the morning, facing brutal traffic or dreadful weather, to get on with the job of keeping America running. Th...
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December 26, 2019
Deplorables Versus the Ruling Class: A Global StruggleConsider the age of monarchs. Squabbling barons select a supreme ruler – a king or an emperor -- to suppress the squabbling. Peace and prosperity return to the land. The king makes policy but he can’t do everything....
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November 21, 2019
Free Markets: The Purest form of DemocracyThe purest form of democracy is the free market. Every time you select and buy a product, you are voting for that product. You become a citizen of an association formed around that product. This voluntary association ...
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September 8, 2019
Dems want an election recession. Should we expect one?The Democrats are hoping recession will topple Donald Trump in 2020. Will that happen? The answer requires some history. For two centuries, the long-term economic growth of the United States has been nearly 2% per capita, per...
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January 18, 2019
The Culture of Trust and How Society Collapses without ItI picked up the telephone and dialed a small shop in a little town on the other side of the continent. After a friendly conversation, I gave the fellow my credit card number. A few days later, a package arrived with the item I h...
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November 11, 2018
Facing the Woolsey fireSouthern California, the Woolsey Fire: It really was a dark and stormy night -- extra dark with the threat of hovering smoke clouds and gale force winds. Thursday night, eleven thirty p.m., the phone rang. It was a robocall from the...
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October 3, 2018
Judge Kavanaugh Is the Victim of a Great CrimeI believe that Judge Kavanaugh is the victim of a great crime. Judge Kavanaugh’s wife is the victim of a great crime. Judge Kavanaugh’s children are victims of a great crime. The crime was committed by powerful people by...
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September 19, 2018
Google May Help the US by Setting Up Big Brother in ChinaIs Google a saint or a sinner? Perhaps it once aspired to be a saint. Its old motto, "Don't Be Evil," tells us so. It even remains something of an angel with its powerful delivery of useful information....
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September 12, 2018
Presidential ChaosThe Oval Office is in chaos. Donald Trump is mercurial, scatter-brained, given to changing his opinion every few minutes. Talks all the time. Doesn’t listen. Is opinionated. Often wrong. He is interested only...
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September 6, 2018
Suicidal EmpiresIn the year 410, Alaric and his Goths sacked Rome. For 800 years, Rome had not suffered siege and sack. Within 30 years, the Western Roman Empire effectively vanished, becoming a bundle of new Germanic kingdoms. The c...
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July 22, 2018
Sifting the rubble in HelsinkiHysteria ruled the days after Helsinki. After a closed-door meeting, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a joint press conference. The tone of both leaders was properly diplomatic. This undoubtedly surprised the pres...
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May 4, 2018
How Trump InspiresMy college roommate was blind from birth. Despite that profound handicap, he was a brilliant student of physics. As a physics major myself, I understood what his blindness meant. For physics is a visual subj...
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February 17, 2018
Feminism and What Makes a WomanCrowds of angry women, and a few men, shuffle along. Their signs flaunt words of hate and venom. So do their shrill voices. Many placards sport the hammer and sickle – the emblem of slave empires that many of th...
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December 6, 2017
Bakery vs. bakeshopThe Supreme Court just heard arguments in the case of Jack Phillips's Masterpiece Cakeshop. Phillips, for religious reasons, refused to create a custom cake for a ceremony involving two men attempting to get married. The homosexuals s...
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November 26, 2017
President's DilemmaGeneral John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, started a minor controversy in responding to a question by saying that he would not obey a president’s illegal command for a nuclear strike. Of course, he was completely correct...
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September 2, 2017
Ranch Land: America's True EliteSheridan, Wyoming: My friend took me to the local Walmart to pick up supplies for the long drive home. He introduced me to the lady at the checkout counter. In a small western town, you get to know pretty much everyone. If not...
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August 12, 2017
Diversity and the Human SpiritOn the plains of East Africa there are deadly hazards. Lions, leopards, and man are the most dangerous. Grazing animals have evolved strategies for dealing with such: there is safety in numbers. A stray buffalo is fair game, but a herd of them can ea...
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July 25, 2017
The Necessity of Missile DefenseThe stocky man standing before me was immaculately turned out in a dark blue pin striped suit. With his thick New Jersey accent he could have been a movie Mafioso. But he wasn’t. Despite the cognitive dissonance this situation wasn’t as f...
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July 4, 2017
The F-35 Critics vs. the FactsThe people working on various aspects of the F-35 fighter program must be very frustrated. The program is still highly classified, so that much that is taking place within the program is simply not available for discussion. And yet, the F-35’s ...
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June 13, 2017
Iago ComeyIn 1604, Shakespeare presented Othello to the world. The year before, in 1603, the Scottish king, James, ascended the throne of England. Othello is an adaptation of earlier stories, but Shakespeare applied his genius to ...
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May 31, 2017
Fingerspitzengefuhl: What It Is and Why We Need ItFingerspitzengefuhl. There is no equivalent word in English. Expertise doesn't quite fit. Know-how comes closer. Literally, the German word means "fingertip-feeling." The sense of the word is an intuition, ...
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February 22, 2017
How to Win WarsOctober 25, 1976. This morning, we boarded a chartered bus to take us to the airport in Addis Ababa and thence to home. Along the way, we picked up a police escort. That seemed odd until we reached the gate of the airport. Awa...
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January 25, 2017
America, at Last the Land of Can-DoHordes poured in over the border – men mostly, but women and children as well. Rape and pillaging and murder followed wherever they went, though most of the invaders were peaceable. The nation's prosperity rapidly diminished....
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January 15, 2017
The Pros and Cons of Talking PointsA few years ago, I attended a lecture by a media consultant. The job of the consultant was to prepare people who were scheduled to be interviewed on television or on the radio. Much of what he said in the lecture made sense, but there was...
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November 26, 2016
Here's what to do with HillaryWhat is to be done with Hillary Clinton and her crew? Indications are that President-Elect Trump is inclined to forgive her transgressions. As expected, there is already substantial pushback from conservatives. Thus, the story is st...
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November 18, 2016
Line-jumpers and revolutionWhen I was a student at the University of California, Berkeley, in the early sixties, a line formed. This line quickly became quite a long line. The university required students to take certain courses in order to graduate, and the number...
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October 29, 2016
Time Travel in the Twenty-First CenturyThe path led from the African river across a narrow flood plain toward a high embankment crowned with a dense thicket of tall elephant grass. Beside the trail grew a few randomly scattered sorghum plants. Continuing alongside this forlorn...
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October 7, 2016
Why Environmentalism Became Both a Religion and a Con GameI am a Conservationist. I am not an Environmentalist. What? Aren’t the two the same thing? No, they are not. In fact the two movements are diametrically opposed. John Muir was a Conservationist, not an Environme...
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September 16, 2016
Globalism and the Death of Defense"If you want peace, prepare for war." Nearly seventeen hundred years ago, the historian Vegetius gave that advice to the Roman emperor. Good advice, as true today as it was then. Time was when America's overwhelming milit...
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July 10, 2016
The United States Has Become an EmpireNearly sixty years ago, I was seated comfortably in the Morrison Library at U.C. Berkeley. Oblivious to the luxury around me, I was fascinated by an essay I was reading. The essayist was reacting to the recent renewal of the old Basque separ...
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June 18, 2016
Trump the EntrepreneurI will vote for Donald Trump for President. Why? My reasons are somewhat different than the usual. Like many of Trump’s supporters I evolved from a very different place. Initially, Trump was not on my list of possible candidates. Only after ...
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March 5, 2016
Exceptional AmericaWe are surrounded by negativity. And yet most people are unaware of the dangers inherent in this morale-eroding Political Correctness. For the most part, people are focused, each day, on making a living. The true significance of what we all are doing...
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February 10, 2016
The Lessons of Engineering for Social EngineersHave you ever wondered why seasoned engineers are almost invariably politically conservative? With a fresh-minted bachelor’s degree, enthusiastic on my first professional job, I was a committed liberal. This was the Kennedy era a...
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August 14, 2015
Progressives and Free MarketsProgressivism mutated when Woodrow Wilson came along. Originally Progressives, a purely American community, were devoutly religious and strongly opposed to the concentration of power in the hands of a few rapacious individuals and organizations...
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July 20, 2015
When All Have the BombLet there be a nuclear explosion in downtown New York, and the city starts to wither away. Without a functioning Manhattan, jobs will evaporate, and the survivors will drift away. A similar terrorist bombing in Los Angeles would be more a...
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April 6, 2014
Truth as a Weapon“War is the continuation of politics by other means.” “Politics is the continuation of war by other means.” The first of these is the most famous aphorism of Carl Von Clausewitz, the eminent Napoleonic-era military theor...
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March 9, 2014
Dissonance, Harmony, and American CultureFor many years I had a much older friend. My friend was highly intelligent and musically cultured, but he had an odd quirk: He listened to Arnold Schoenberg’s atonal, and highly dissonant, music for pleasure. My friend maintai...
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February 4, 2014
Equality of OpportunityI don't believe in Equality of Opportunity and, most likely, neither do you. At least not in the way that Progressives have perverted this once noble idea. According to the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management, equal opportunity is defined as: "A sta...
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January 6, 2014
How Leftists (Badly) Explain Climate StabilityOver geologic time, within a fluctuation of a few degrees, the Earth's climate has been moderate and stable. The climate has long been similar to today's despite the fact that, in the past, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has typically be...
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January 1, 2014
A Few Easy Tests to Debunk Global Warming HysteriaGlobal warming advocates went to Antarctica to prove that Antarctic sea ice had disappeared because of man. They got stuck in ten foot thick sea ice they knew wasn't there. The rescue ship was also stuck for a while, but it was ...