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SLG is Coming Top Leaderboard
The Student News Site of Louisiana State University

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SLG is Coming Top Leaderboard
The Student News Site of Louisiana State University

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All content by John Ryan McGehee
FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2007 file photo, the flags of member nations fly outside of the United Nations headquarters in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

U.N. should focus on greater problems than Ferguson

By John Ryan McGehee
December 2, 2014
FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2014 file photo, police wait to advance after tear gas was used to disperse a crowd during a protest for Michael Brown, who was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. Since the shooting, many residents have been afraid to leave their homes at night as protesters clash with police in sometimes violent confrontations. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Opinion: Continued protests in Ferguson inappropriate, needless

By John Ryan McGehee
November 20, 2014
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. acknowledges supporters at her election night headquarters in New Orleans, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014. Landrieu is predicted to be in a runoff with Republican Senate candidate, Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Opinion: Landrieu’s last-minute efforts too late to sway voters

By John Ryan McGehee
November 17, 2014
Kurds stand in line and flash victory signs during a solidarity rally with the Syrian city of Kobani in the village of Caykara, Turkey, on the Turkey-Syria border, just across from Kobani, Tuesday Nov. 11, 2014. Kurds rally daily in villages in Turkey on the border with Syria in solidarity with the embattled Syrian city of Kobani, which has been under a brutal siege by the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Opinion: U.S. needs coherent plan in battling Islamic State

By John Ryan McGehee
November 11, 2014
President Barack Obama meets with Congressional leaders in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 7, 2014. From left are, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Obama, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Opinion: Obama must shift to the center to appease Republican majorities

By John Ryan McGehee
November 10, 2014
Bill Cassidy runs off with Mary Landrieu for congress in the poll results Tuesday, November 4, 2014 and hopes for a victory December 6, 2014.

Opinion: Pollsters, pundits appallingly off-target in recent election

By John Ryan McGehee
November 6, 2014
Paul Dietzel

Opinion: Dietzel’s youth, conservatism give him edge

By John Ryan McGehee
November 2, 2014

Opinion: White House fence security should be beefed up

By John Ryan McGehee
October 26, 2014
Kurdish mourners flash the V-sign as the chant slogans in front of coffins, during the funeral of Kurdish fighters Hanim Dabaan, 20, Idris Ahmad, 30, and Mohammed Mustafa, 25, killed in the fighting with the militants of the Islamic State group in Kobani, Syria, at a cemetery in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. The three fighters_ two men and a young woman barely out of her teens _ were killed during the last few days battling Islamic State fighters in the Kurdish Syrian town of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, located on the border with Turkey. They were buried without their families present; in the chaos of war, since mid-September, hundreds of thousands of Kurds have become refugees, and contacting the families of those killed is not always possible. It wasn’t immediately clear if the families of the fighters even knew their loved ones were dead. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Ethnic Kurds deserve self-determination, unification

By John Ryan McGehee
October 22, 2014
Democratic challenger Charlie Crist waits for Florida Gov. Rick Scott to start their second debate, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014 in Davie, Fla. Scott delayed the start of the debate because of an electric fan below Crist's podium. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Opinion: Scott’s fan tantrum demonstrates political pettiness

By John Ryan McGehee
October 20, 2014
Rob Maness

Opinion: Republican Party should limit number of candidates

By John Ryan McGehee
October 15, 2014
CG Environmental-Cleaning Guys hazmat team members puts up a tarp to shield the view in the alley near the residence of the Dallas woman who's the first known person to have contracted Ebola in the U.S., Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Louis DeLuca) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES

Opinion: Close border to protect nation from Islamic State, Ebola

By John Ryan McGehee
October 12, 2014
Sidewalks on South Campus drive closed due to snow and ice Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2013 causing unsafe conditions.

Opinion: Louisiana must prepare for next great freeze

By John Ryan McGehee
October 9, 2014
Tom Geisbert, right, a professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, explains to Texas Gov. Rick Perry the work researchers are conducting in a Bio Safety Level 4 lab in the Galveston National Laboratory on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014. Perry and other state officials toured the national laboratory a day after he created a Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response. (AP Photo/The Daily News, Jennifer Reynolds, Pool)

Opinion: U.S. should treat Ebola crisis with more urgency

By John Ryan McGehee
October 7, 2014

Opinion: ‘Frozen’ suit typifies frivolous litigation

By John Ryan McGehee
September 30, 2014
No supporters for the Scottish independence referendum celebrate a result at a No campaign event at a hotel in Glasgow, Scotland, early Friday, Sept. 19, 2014. From the capital of Edinburgh to the far-flung Shetland Islands, Scots embraced a historic moment Û and the rest of the United Kingdom held its breath Û after voters turned out in unprecedented numbers for an independence referendum that could end the country's 307-year union with England. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Opinion: Yes, Scotland and the U.K. need each other

By John Ryan McGehee
September 21, 2014

Opinion: Islamic State means U.S. must return to Iraq

By John Ryan McGehee
September 18, 2014
Edwin Edwards speaks at LSU's College Democrats table during the Student Involvement Fair Wednesday September 3, 2014.

Opinion: La. needs representatives who care for our best interests

By John Ryan McGehee
September 14, 2014

Opinion: Bikers need to obey traffic laws to keep themselves safe

By John Ryan McGehee
September 7, 2014

Opinion: Tiger Stadium ‘cathedral of college football’

By John Ryan McGehee
August 26, 2014
People in helmets (left and right), dressed as Russian factories workers, hold a man wearing Barack Obama's mask with mock NATO's bomb in chains, as they take part in a Communists demonstration in downtown Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May, 1, 2014. Thousands of Communists, members of Russia's main political parties and opposition activists staged competing marches in Moscow and other cities Thursday marking the traditional May Day holiday. Poster at the background reads : Peace, Labour, May. (AP Photo/Denis Tyrin)

Opinion: U.S. must directly engage Russia

By John Ryan McGehee
May 1, 2014
Empty desks line a classroom in Audubon Hall on Monday, October 14, 2013 at LSU.

Opnion: Bill would empower educators in their classrooms

By John Ryan McGehee
April 27, 2014
Supporters prepare to rally for Cliven Bundy at the Bundy ranch near Bunkerville Nev. Monday, April 7, 2014. The Bureau of Land Management has begun to round up what they call "trespass cattle" that rancher Cliven Bundy has been grazing in the Gold Butte area 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, John Locher)

Opinion: Yes, the government used excessive force

By John Ryan McGehee
April 21, 2014
Mustaches are a positive symbol of masculinity

Mustaches are a positive symbol of masculinity

By John Ryan McGehee
April 10, 2014
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks during the opening of the state legislature at the state capitol in Baton Rouge, La., Monday, March 10, 2014. (AP Photo/Hilary Scheinuk)

Opinion: Yes, carrying a gun is an American right.

By John Ryan McGehee
April 8, 2014
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen listens to a question while speaking about the future of NATO at The Brookings Institution in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2014. As it steels itself against westward Russian advances, NATO may find itself stretched too thin to maintain a broad military mission in Afghanistan by its member states beyond this year. U.S. officials said having to divert troops and resources, if not withdrawing completely, from Afghanistan to secure NATO states would be an unintended casualty of the West’s new focus on containing Moscow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Opinion: Lack of Western action reflects poorly on alliance

By John Ryan McGehee
March 30, 2014
Gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari, second from left, speaks with reporters at the California Republican Party 2014 Spring Convention Saturday, March 14, 2014, in Burlingame, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Opinion: GOP poised to clean House (and Senate) in November

By John Ryan McGehee
March 24, 2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a government meeting that focused on economic and social issues in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday March 19, 2014. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service)

Opinion: U.S. must take more severe action against Russia

By John Ryan McGehee
March 19, 2014
Car flip CW 1 gal.jpg

Opinion: Reckless driving a problem in Baton Rouge

By John Ryan McGehee
March 11, 2014
F.King_Cartoon.jpg

Opinion: Yes. Growth is beneficial for U.S. and LSU.

By John Ryan McGehee
February 24, 2014
Afghanistan presidential election candidate Qayyum Karzai, incumbent President Hamid Karzai's brother, talks during an election debate at the OneTV building in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Opinion: Karzai turning his back on the US

By John Ryan McGehee
February 20, 2014
Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych, left, greets U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014. Nuland and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, thinking their conversation about the Ukraine was secure and private, were caught disparaging the European Union in a phone call that was apparently bugged, and U.S. officials say they strongly suspect Russia of leaking the conversation. (AP Photo/Mykhailo Markiv, Pool)

Opinion: Diplomats should engage filter in digital age

By John Ryan McGehee
February 10, 2014
A protester throws a tire onto a fire during clashes with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, Friday Jan. 24, 2014. As riots spread from Ukraine's embattled capital to nearly half of the country, President Viktor Yanukovych promised Friday to reshuffle his government and make other concessions — but a top opposition leader said nothing short of his resignation would do. Hours after the president's comments, huge fireballs lit up the night sky in central Kiev and plumes of thick black smoke rose from burning tires at giant barricades erected by protesters. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Opinion: Ukrainian, Russian governments giving opposition legitimacy

By John Ryan McGehee
February 6, 2014
FILE - This Jan. 9, 2014 file photo shows a mockup of a Minuteman 3 nuclear missile used for training by missile maintenance crews at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said Thursday the number of nuclear force officers implicated in a proficiency test cheating scandal has grown to 92 out of a force of 500. (AP Photo/Robert Burns, File)

Opinion: Air Force officers exhibit unbecoming behavior

By John Ryan McGehee
February 3, 2014
The Olympic torch is tested before the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Olympic Park, Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Opinion: Sochi a regrettable choice for Olympic games

By John Ryan McGehee
January 27, 2014
Justin Bieber appears in court via video feed, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in Miami. Bieber was released from jail Thursday following his arrest on charges of driving under the influence, driving with an expired license and resisting arrest. Police say they stopped the 19-year-old pop star while he was drag-racing down a Miami Beach street before dawn. (AP Photo/The Miami Herald, Walter Michot, Pool)

Opinion: America should ignore Bieber, other celebrity scandals

By John Ryan McGehee
January 26, 2014
Keith Edwards holds a sign at the Gun Rights Across America rally Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014 in front of the Louisiana state capitol building.

Brace Yourself: No. Gun rights should be unrestricted

By John Ryan McGehee
January 20, 2014
President Barack Obama arrives on the West Front of the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, for his ceremonial swearing-in ceremony during the 57th Presidential Inauguration. (AP Photo/Win McNamee, Pool)

Opinion: President Obama exceeding his constitutional powers

By John Ryan McGehee
January 16, 2014
FILE - In this January 5, 2014, file photo, gunmen patrol during clashes with Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq. With a new label - the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - the global terror network al-Qaida is positioning itself as a vanguard defending a persecuted Sunni community against Shiite-dominated governments across Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The al-Qaida gains pose the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government since the departure of American forces in late 2011. (AP Photo, File)

Opinion: Failure to maintain control in Middle East embarrassing

By John Ryan McGehee
January 15, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks at Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) in Brooklyn borough of New York, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013, where he highlighted the importance of education in providing skills for American workers in a global economy. (AP Photo/The Daily News, Aaron Schowalter, Pool)

Opinion: U.S. is in grave situation after year of controversies

By John Ryan McGehee
December 8, 2013
A B-52H Stratofortress from the 419th Flight Test Squadron from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., releases a Joint Direct Attack Munition during a recent test. (Air Force photo)

Opinion: The US should be prepared to stand with Japan

By John Ryan McGehee
December 3, 2013
Deadbeat Dads

Opinion: Fathers need punishment for abandoning children

By John Ryan McGehee
November 20, 2013
Libyan military guards check one of the U.S. Consulate's burnt out buildings during a visit by Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif, not shown, to the U.S. Consulate to express sympathy for the death of the American ambassador, Chris Stevens and his colleagues in the deadly attack on the Consulate last Tuesday, September 11, in Benghazi, Libya, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012. The American ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed when a mob of protesters and gunmen overwhelmed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, setting fire to it. Ambassador Chris Stevens, 52, died as he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as a crowd of hundreds attacked the consulate Tuesday evening, many of them firing machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The Arabic on the building reads, "God is Great, and there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger." (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon)

Opinion: Students are worried about the wrong things

By John Ryan McGehee
November 18, 2013
FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2012 file photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comforts Kerri Berean in Little Ferry, N.J., after Superstorm Sandy caused a tidal surge on the Hackensack River that overtook a natural berm protecting the town. For Christie, leadership after Sandy often came with an empathetic hug. For New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, it came with an angry tirade at utilities slow to restore power. For New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, it came with cool, businesslike assurance. (AP Photo/The Star-Ledger, David Gard, Pool, File)

Opinion: GOP needs to run smarter, more focused campaigns

By John Ryan McGehee
November 12, 2013
Barack Obama is greeted by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal after speaking at the Port of New Orleans, Friday, Nov. 8, 2013. Obama traveled to the Gulf Coast region to make a case that more exports equal more jobs. After New Orleans he will go to Miami area for three Democratic fundraisers.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Head to Head: Affordable Care Act not the change Louisiana wants

By John Ryan McGehee
November 10, 2013
ULL

Opinion: Ragin’ Cajuns are getting a bit too uppity

By John Ryan McGehee
October 31, 2013
Sophomore illustration student, Rachel Bryant of Mission, Kan., grabs a quick nap between classes on the concourse at Kansas City Art Institute on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Jim Barcus)

Opinion: It’s all right to skip one day of class to sleep

By John Ryan McGehee
October 23, 2013
Law enforcement personnel gather at the scene of a shooting at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nev. on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. A student at the school opened fire on campus just before the starting bell Monday, wounding two boys and killing a teacher who was trying to protect other children, Sparks police and the victim's family members said. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Marilyn Newton) NO SALES; NEVADA APPEAL OUT; SOUTH RENO WEEKLY OUT

Opinion: Middle schools deserve armed protection

By John Ryan McGehee
October 21, 2013
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio arrives for a meeting with House Republicans in the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Washington, after Senate leaders reached last-minute agreement Wednesday to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government after a partial, 16-day shutdown. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Opinion: Republican party needs to pull itself together

By John Ryan McGehee
October 17, 2013
The LSU student section cheers on the Tigers in the rain Saturday, September 21, 2013, during the Tigers' 35-21 victory against Auburn in Tiger Stadium.

Opinion: Measures needed to ensure student pride

By John Ryan McGehee
October 14, 2013
Cell Phones

Opinion: NSA tracking program was an assault on civil liberty

By John Ryan McGehee
October 9, 2013
Parenting Cartoon

Opinion: Rape issue highlights cultural and parental problems

By John Ryan McGehee
October 3, 2013
Stephanie Groover, center, and others with Independence Blue Cross mark the opening health insurance exchange by providing information on health car reform at Suburban Station Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, in Philadelphia. Tuesday is the first day of the open enrollment period for new health insurance options under the 2010 federal health care law. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Opinion: Obamacare will ultimately do more harm than good

By John Ryan McGehee
October 2, 2013
Morsi

Opinion: Outlawing of Muslim Brotherhood a step forward for Egypt

By John Ryan McGehee
September 29, 2013
John S. Woodard attends a Board of Supervisors meeting Friday, September 6, 2013 in the LSU Systems Building.

Opinion: Thoughts on a more streamlined, centralized government

By John Ryan McGehee
September 24, 2013
A soldier holds a RPG near the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, as smoke rises from it, Monday Sept 23 2013. Islamic extremist gunmen lobbed grenades and fired assault rifles inside Nairobi's top mall Saturday, killing dozens and wounding over a hundred in the attack. Multiple large blasts have rocked the mall Monday where a hostage siege is in its third day. Associated Press reporters on the scene heard multiple blasts and a barrage of gunfire. Security forces have been attempting to rescue an unknown number of hostages inside the mall held by al-Qaida-linked terrorists. (AP Photo/ Sayyid Azim)

Opinion: The fight with radical Islam is nowhere near over

By John Ryan McGehee
September 23, 2013
Dr. Jeff Nunn of the Department of Geology and Geophysics speaks during a lecture about the earthquake in Haiti.

Opinion: Compass will lead good teachers out of state

By John Ryan McGehee
September 19, 2013
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, gesture while making statements to the media following meetings regarding Syria, at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Saturday they have reached an agreement on a framework for Syria to destroy all of its chemical weapons, and would seek a U.N. Security Council resolution that could authorize sanctions, short of military action, if Syrian President Bashar Assad's government fails to comply. (AP Photo / Larry Downing)

Opinion: From Russia, with enmity: Putin’s plan to spite the West

By John Ryan McGehee
September 17, 2013
Parking

Opinion: Closure of Hart Lot detrimental to commuters

By John Ryan McGehee
September 16, 2013
Opinion: Energy boom shows need for greater expansion

Opinion: Energy boom shows need for greater expansion

By John Ryan McGehee
September 9, 2013
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 3: Senator John McCain plays poker on his IPhone during a U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing where Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey testify concerning the use of force in Syria, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, Tuesday, September 3, 2013. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Opinion: McCain’s poker game shows clear disconnect in government

By John Ryan McGehee
September 4, 2013
CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin, right, and other protestors hold up signs in the hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, as Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance President Barack Obama's request for congressional authorization for military intervention in Syria, a response to last month's alleged sarin gas attack in the Syrian civil war. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Opinion: Intervention in Syria would only inflame the conflict and harm US interests

By John Ryan McGehee
September 3, 2013
Demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s release from prison, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013. Mubarak has been in detention since April 2011. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in the 18-day 2011 uprising, but his sentence was overturned on appeal. In April, his retrial opened along with those of his security chief and six top police commanders. His trial has been postponed to Sept. 14. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Opinion: Why care about Egypt?

By John Ryan McGehee
August 28, 2013
In this Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 aerial photo, workers stand on storage tanks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. Deep beneath Fukushima’s crippled nuclear power station a vast underground reservoir of highly contaminated water that began spilling from the plant’s reactors during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami has been creeping slowly toward the sea. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

Opinion: Fukushima spill should not cast doubt

By John Ryan McGehee
August 26, 2013