The late Southern writer Florence King once lamented that “a cornerstone of Western thought that has vanished without a trace is admiration for ancient Sparta.” There are good reasons why this should be so. Yet in the three decades since she penned those words, there has been a resurgence of “laconomania” at the popular and […]
In the old days — we’re talking about the 2010s here — when you boarded a plane, and glanced with envy or disdain at the passengers sinking into their plush First-Class seats, you were looking at an assembly of road warriors. A traveling salesman might be resting his haunches in seat 2C. Your local congressman […]
BRADDOCK, Pa. — In American politics, when negotiating hard deals that involve high risk and the livelihoods of all involved while requiring great compromise, pain is usually shared unequally. The rarest outcome is for all involved to be grateful. Yet that was the overwhelming sentiment expressed by the local union leaders, steel workers, plant managers, and […]
Novelist Maggie O’Farrell always wanted to write the story of her great-great-grandfather, who lived in Ireland and worked for the Ordinance Survey, Britain’s mapping service, in the 1850s. And now she has. Her vivid new novel, Land, features a surveyor and his family who are engulfed in the chaos of the era. These were perilous […]
Is a reading comprehension test racist if fewer black people pass it than white people? Is a pushup requirement sexist if fewer women can pass it than men? For decades, employers have faced the impossible task of identifying objective measures to analyze job applicants while also ensuring the demographics of those who pass those tests […]
A major defense policy bill released by House Republicans Tuesday looks to maintain limits on how many U.S. troops can be moved from Europe and South Korea and bars construction of the first “Trump-class” battleship until the Navy can prove it has the technology to make it. The draft text of the legislation, known as the...
Tensions are rising between Washington and Tehran, putting an emerging peace plan that would have opened the Strait of Hormuz and offered relief to skyrocketing oil and gas prices at risk. The U.S. struck southern Iran late Monday amid a clamor over negotiations for a framework of a deal to end the war. The U.S. insisted the...
The Energy Department may allow up to five companies to use its surplus plutonium, which it has historically been used in nuclear warheads, as fuel. The department has selected the firms for “advanced negotiations regarding the potential allocation of surplus plutonium materials,” a spokesperson for its nuclear energy office said Tuesday. The five companies entering...
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney took a swing at an upcoming vote on Alberta’s independence, calling it a “dangerous bluff.” “In these separation issues, it is often advanced that, ‘Vote for this and it's a free option,’ ‘Vote for this and we will strengthen your — our hand in a future negotiation.’ That is a...
An American journalist and author is facing federal charges after being accused of working as an agent for the Chinese government for the past at least seven years. Thomas Weir Pauken II, the son of former Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Thomas Pauken (R), was arrested in early March and is expected to appear in federal...
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R)’s estranged wife state Sen. Angela Paxton (R) on Tuesday shared her endorsements for various candidates in state races but remained neutral in the Republican Senate primary. Angela Paxton urged Texan voters on Election Day to join her in voting for Mayes Middleton, a state Senate colleague of hers and...
President Trump on Tuesday formally raised the refugee cap to allow the admittance of another 10,000 individuals — slots he said must be given to white Afrikaners in South Africa. In doing so, Trump declared an emergency over a matter the South African government has long denied — that the country’s white minority is facing “racially motivated...
South Carolina state senators voted Tuesday against a plan to advance a new congressional map, putting a pin in the state's GOP-led redistricting push amid the national back-and-forth ahead of the midterms. “I can no longer support the passage of this bill for one simple reason: South Carolina citizens are going to the polls today,”...
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said energy prices are going to fall “like nothing you’ve ever seen before” once Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz. “Well, you know, I can't really talk about the ongoing negotiations and the strikes, but what I can say is that as soon as the straits are open, then...
Multiple people were injured in a “major” chemical incident in Washington state, according to a local fire department. Posts Tuesday morning from Washington’s Longview Fire Department indicated that it was responding following “an implosion involving a vat of chemical treatment product” at a Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility. “Multiple people” suffered injuries including chemical burns, but the extent...
Vice President Vance will speak with a group of state attorneys general Tuesday afternoon as part of a roundtable focused on the Trump administration's anti-fraud efforts. President Trump said last month that Vance's new role as "fraud czar" will mainly focus on Democratic-run states, including Minnesota, which is currently under investigation over allegations of fraud...
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushed back on criticism from some "Make America Healthy Again" activists after he extended liability protections for drugmakers working to develop treatments for the Andes hantavirus strain. The HHS late last week extended legal protections through July 18 to manufacturers and distributors of the experimental antiviral drug favipiravir as a potential treatment. Kennedy signed a Public Readiness...
