http://naplesnews.com/news/opinion/columnists/naplesnews.com Stories: Columnistsen-usopinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/07/brent-batten-collier-dems-inching-barely-closer-go/You’ll forgive Chuck Mohlke if he sounds a bit like a proud dad. The one he’s guided and nurtured for so many years has done something that he can’t help but crow about. Last month, for the first time Mohlke can remember, more new Democrats registered to vote in Collier County than new Republicans. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:53:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/07/brent-batten-collier-dems-inching-barely-closer-go/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/06/michael-peltier-you-win-some-you-lose-some/Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was one-for-two last week as he entered into one covenant and lost his ability to sanction another. The 51-year-old bachelor made a proposal that doesn’t need legislative approval as he asked Carole Rome to be his wife. According to reports she immediately said yes without a conference committee being appointed. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:29:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/06/michael-peltier-you-win-some-you-lose-some/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/06/martin-schram-live-washington-its-bush-white-house/Satire, at its best, is an artful blend of subtlety and wit. But often it plunges into heavy-handed ways. Then it becomes insufferably witless. Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:41:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/06/martin-schram-live-washington-its-bush-white-house/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/05/jeff-lytle-stores-should-try-business-making-custo/And then we wonder why business is crummy. When you pull into the auto body shop on one of Collier County’s busy highways, you see that getting there requires a hairpin turn to the right, so you just ease into the parking lot of the muffler place next door. Sun, 06 Jul 2008 02:50:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/05/jeff-lytle-stores-should-try-business-making-custo/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/05/phil-lewis-survey-says-cape-coral-drivers-best/Dozens of press releases flow into the newsroom each day via e-mail, but only a fraction have an intriguing enough subject line to make you stop and click immediately. Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:02:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/05/phil-lewis-survey-says-cape-coral-drivers-best/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/05/ben-bova-rocco-mediate-more-proof-weve-pushed-back/Naples can feel justly proud of golfer Rocco Mediate, who battled Tiger Woods to within one stroke of winning the U.S. Open. At age 45, Mediate would have been the oldest man to win a major golf tournament. Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:00:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/05/ben-bova-rocco-mediate-more-proof-weve-pushed-back/opinion/perspectivehttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/05/brent-batten-free-gas-come--hard-stomach/Bernt Batten's column for Sunday, July 6, 2008 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:29:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/05/brent-batten-free-gas-come--hard-stomach/localhttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/04/political-cartoons-not-so-funny-china/I just got back from a speaking tour in China as part of a cultural exchange through the U.S. State Department, talking to college audiences about my political cartoons and what it’s like to be an editorial cartoonist in America. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:59:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/04/political-cartoons-not-so-funny-china/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/04/fourth-celebration-feels-flattened-america-losing-/We ran a column this week by Arnold Rosenthal that was first printed in a March edition of The Banner. Rosenthal called last week and said the issue of America’s dependence on oil worried him, and he pointed out that no major politician has a plan to fix the situation. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/04/fourth-celebration-feels-flattened-america-losing-/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/03/don-farmer-compliments-id-rather-not-receive/On this Independence Day, be careful of your compliments. Never say, for example, to a woman with big, gray hair, “You look just like George Washington.” Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:26:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/03/don-farmer-compliments-id-rather-not-receive/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/02/jay-ambrose-swiftboating-term-unjustly-used-single/General Wesley “Flap-jaw” Clark recently said of John McCain that “riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down” is no qualification to be president, and the immediate accusation was that he was guilty of “swiftboating.” Two disgraceful things are going on here, starting with Clark’s mouth. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:15:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/02/jay-ambrose-swiftboating-term-unjustly-used-single/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/02/brent-batten-exercising-freedom-poke-fun/The Fourth of July is the most American of holidays. And what’s more American than a touch of irreverence? A hint of sarcasm? The freedom to take a bit of journalistic license? In that spirit, here are some (mostly true) Fourth of July facts and trivia. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:06:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/02/brent-batten-exercising-freedom-poke-fun/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/01/thomas-sowell-november-election-will-shape-high-co/Recent landmark court decisions are reminders that elections are not just about putting candidates in office for a few years. The judges that elected officials put on the bench can remake the legal landscape, change fundamental social policies and even affect the way wars are fought, long after those who appointed them have served their terms and passed from the scene. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:54:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/01/thomas-sowell-november-election-will-shape-high-co/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/30/brent-batten-sorting-out-weekends-inbox/When information moves at the speed of light and can be accessed with the click of a mouse, a lot of things can cross one’s desk (or more precisely cross one’s computer screen) in the course of a weekend. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:13:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/30/brent-batten-sorting-out-weekends-inbox/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/30/dan-k-thomasson-gun-ruling-court-takes-giant-step-/ I often wonder if Antonin Scalia might not be more comfortable in another century, past not future, one not touched by the miseries and dangers of urbanization. I certainly think we would be if he were. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:11:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/30/dan-k-thomasson-gun-ruling-court-takes-giant-step-/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/29/michael-peltier-state-salvers-odds-over-water-trea/Private treasure hunters are squaring off with state historic officials over a new proposed set of rules to govern the salvaging of sunken ships and the financial and historic troves they bear. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:18:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/29/michael-peltier-state-salvers-odds-over-water-trea/floridahttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/29/deroy-murdock-alternative-energy-research-isnt-big/Rather than do something productive to increase fuel supplies, members of Congress wastes time hunting bogeymen and fabricating distractions. Lately they have excoriated Big Oil for the cardinal sin of “under-investing” in alternative energy. Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:04:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/29/deroy-murdock-alternative-energy-research-isnt-big/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/28/phil-lewis-us-sugar-purchase-big-deal/Last Sunday few knew about the agreement between Florida and U.S. Sugar to buy 300 square miles of cane fields and sugar-processing facilities to help save the Everglades. Word started to leak on Monday and by 10:30 a.m. Tuesday the historic agreement had officially been announced and was making headlines from Melbourne (Australia) to St. Petersburg (Russia). Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/28/phil-lewis-us-sugar-purchase-big-deal/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/28/pbs-still-lacking-attention-hispanics/Word is out that PBS is providing funding for a two-hour documentary about Latinos in the military. “The War Within” is tentatively scheduled to air in 2010. It’s welcome news. And still, it’s bittersweet for reasons that might seem recondite to some. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:52:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/28/pbs-still-lacking-attention-hispanics/opinion/columnistshttp://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/28/betsy-hart-principle-thing-behind-dating-rules/In “What the Dating Rules You Set for Your Kids Say About You,” Sue Shellenbarger of The Wall Street Journal writes about why parents do — or don’t — set dating rules for their teens. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:48:00 -0000http://naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/28/betsy-hart-principle-thing-behind-dating-rules/opinion/columnists