Opinion

GUEST COLUMN, Kurt Schlichter, Townhall.com

Supposedly, the tiresome comedy stylings of Gavin Newsom – he’s the equivalent of a Wednesday night prop comic opener down at the Gooberville Giggle Works – have thrust him into the forefront of the Democrat race for the 2028 nomination. What a sad and pathetic state of affairs that is. He’s trying to claim the Fighter Lane. You see, he fights by hiring a couple of they/them mediocrities to run his social media account, pumping out an endless series of tweets that are nearly as funny as leprosy. They are directed at Trump, who ignores them; if a nitwit tweets in the forest, does it make a sound? This is fighting in the eyes of the Democrat activist class; this is pathetic in the eyes of normal people.

GUEST COLUMN, Star Parker

The much-publicized exchange between Bed Bath & Beyond chairman Marcus Lemonis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom is a lesson for the whole country.

We shoppers look back fondly on the marketing acumen that, starting with one store in 1971, built Bed Bath & Beyond into a retail giant that once had 365 stores nationwide.

The shopping experience there was always great fun — the basics of homemaking at great prices plus innovative trinkets that were always attention-getters at prices attractive enough to get you to buy what you weren’t even thinking about when you walked into the store.

GUEST COLUMN, Dr. Matthew Drake, Chief of Endocrinology at the Hospital for Special Surgery

For years, calcium intake has declined, even as bone-weakening lifestyle factors have surged. Americans are spending more time indoors, sitting at desks, getting less vitamin D, and doing fewer weight-bearing activities. All of this contributes to an overlooked but growing crisis: our bones are becoming weaker, at an earlier age, and in greater numbers than most people realize.

As Chief of Endocrinology and Metabolic Bone Disease Services at the Hospital for Special Surgery, I see this firsthand. One of the biggest misconceptions patients have is that bone loss is unavoidable with aging — something to worry about only later in life, if at all. But bone health is a lifelong investment, and Americans are dangerously underinvesting.

GUEST COLUMN, Dr. Michael Ast, Ambulatory Surgery Center Strategy director

Medicare pays for about 8 million surgeries each year, from joint replacements and spinal fusions to open-heart bypasses. To ensure that seniors get the best follow-up care possible — and thus avoid expensive complications — Medicare officials are about to roll out a new payment model.

In essence, the reform puts hospitals on the hook for medical expenses patients incur within 30 days after they are discharged. This will give hospitals skin in the game, incentivizing them to not only perform the surgeries well but also provide patients with all the wound care, pain management and physical therapy needed to ensure a healthy recovery.