You might think 2026 is the worst year of fires given the huge clouds of smoke that blanketed the Midwest and Northeast earlier this month. But last year was actually worse in terms of the number of acres burned. Whether it will be the worst year on record or not, we need to come to […]
In 1984, while completing my undergraduate degree, I took electives titled “China Today”, “Russian Literature,” and “International Terrorism.” I lay no claim to deep expertise in any of them, but at the time, the terrorism course proved the most compelling. It was a full classroom with bright, sometimes sleepy faces — an atmosphere abruptly interrupted […]
On a Thursday afternoon, as Jews across the world sat on low stools and read the Book of Lamentations to mark Tisha B’Av — the fast day that mourns the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the long catalog of catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people ever since — a man stabbed […]
Although unarticulated, there seems to be a growing consensus within certain circles that every societal problem, no matter how minor, could be solved if only the American people had less anonymity. One of the most obvious examples is law enforcement’s widespread adoption of automatic license plate readers, a type of surveillance system that tracks individuals […]
“Failure to launch” is a big concern among the parents of Gen Z, as this generation — its oldest members are pushing 30 — is much more likely to live at home. But there’s a related datapoint that’s probably good news: An uptick in multi-generational living. Rather than your college graduate living in Mom’s basement, […]
There was a time when you’d have to fly to Nevada, take a trip to a reservation, or deal with a criminal bookie if you wanted to wager on sports. Today, most Americans have this power at their fingertips. It’s ruining sports, and more importantly, people’s livelihoods. You can tell a lot about a society […]
Nostalgia, the old joke goes, ain’t what it used to be. I thought of the line while revisiting Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, released 15 years ago to a nationwide theatrical run throughout the summer of 2011, in a very different America. Watching it today is an exercise in paradox, because it’s aged well precisely […]
One of the Army values is respect. It’s important. I’m careful to avoid allowing my column to disparage someone’s military service. Everyone who has served deserves some measure of respect. But even among soldiers, some perform better than others, or serve at peak levels at different times. I need to tell you about one Army […]
