In these days when it seems like the current administration couldn't organize a utensil drawer, what with a military parade witnessed by empty bleachers and immigrant dragnets snaring American citizens and such, it seems like it would be a shock to find a government function that, you know, actually works.

I found it.

On June 14, I applied to ...Read more

Believe it or not, France has had a form of social security since the 1600s, and its modern system began in earnest in 1910, when the world's life expectancy was just 32 years old. Today the average human makes it to 75 and for the French, it's 83, among the highest in Europe.

Great news for French people, bad news for their pensions.

Because ...Read more

Thanks to decades of sustained federal investment, Chicago, Cook County and Illinois are on the cusp of ending the HIV epidemic in our city, county and state. This remarkable progress is a testament to programs such as the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, established in 1990 to provide crucial health care to those ...Read more

The president is fixated on bringing manufacturing back to the United States. The idea to “save manufacturing” makes for good sound bites but does not appreciate how much the U.S. economy has changed from the time when manufacturing jobs were a central part of the workforce.

Looking more closely at U.S. employment trends, the Bureau of ...Read more

At a hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in Washington last week, Representative Jerry Nadler of Manhattan and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy squared off over the safety of New York City’s subways. A snippet:

NADLER: Are you aware that major crimes on MTA are down 3% since last year and down 8% since ...Read more

The horrific flash flood in Texas has left at least 130 dead (including 36 children), and three are still missing. As with most extreme weather events today, it needs to be repeated loudly and clearly: The extreme flooding was made significantly more likely due to climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

After disasters such as these,...Read more

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump met at the White House in early July for the third time this year, the two men were all smiles. Trump heaped praise on the Israeli premier (and himself) for a job well done on Iran, insisting yet again that the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Tehran’s nuclear ...Read more

Democrats have been all aflutter for the past six months over the possibility that President Donald Trump might ignore a Supreme Court decision that isn’t to his liking. Where’s the similar concern for federal bureaucrats who act as if they’re immune from judicial orders?

In 2023, the Supreme Court reined in the power of the Environmental...Read more

For more than 30 years, Fred Feeney refereed matches for the Ohio State University's powerhouse wrestling team.

Unlike the dozens of young men whose athletic scholarships depended on staying in the good graces of the team doctor, Richard Strauss, who could withhold permission for them to compete, Feeney didn't have to persuade himself that what...Read more

The MAGA-world blow-up over the Trump administration’s about-face in handling the Jeffrey Epstein files isn’t the only conspiracy-fueled dispute splintering Republicans. Another feud is playing out in the state of Georgia, where a group of ultraconservative Republicans that rose to power with the backing of a wealthy financier is at war with...Read more

It’s not too late for Senate Republicans to begin correcting the worst mistake they’ve made this year: confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services.

In just a few months, Kennedy has helped bring a pox upon the country — and until Republicans get serious about holding him accountable, more Americans will die...Read more

Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, did its best to preempt the angst over its canceling of “The Late Show With Steven Colbert,” saying from the start that this was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

It’s incontrovertible that the late-night network audience is declining and aging as ...Read more

Despite a thundering chorus of opposition, state wildlife officials seem determined to go through with its plan to slaughter dozens, maybe hundreds, of Florida black bears this December.

Because nothing says “Merry Christmas” more than a chaotic, unsporting bloodbath featuring one of the state’s most beloved mammals.

Final approval of ...Read more

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced last month that temporary protected status for about 5,000 Haitians would end Sept. 2, five months earlier than planned. The Trump administration has cited flawed and contradictory assessments of conditions in Haiti — which, make no mistake, remains unsafe.

Although a U.S. district court ...Read more

Public school teachers and state lawmakers fill important roles in a civil society, but those jobs hardly prepare their occupants for the daunting challenges and complexities of running a big city with millions of residents, tens of thousands of public employees and multibillion-dollar budgets.

That sobering reality helps explain why Brandon ...Read more

In 2004, Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, discussing his position on funding for Mideast military operations, infamously explained to an audience, “I actually did vote for (the funding) before I voted against it.” Kerry’s craven attempt to have it both ways on a controversial issue cemented his reputation as the quintessential ...Read more

“How’s your summer?” a mom asked from across the living room at a baby shower in June. She was standing with a small group of other moms of my daughter’s classmates whom I hadn’t seen since school ended almost a month earlier.

“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I replied, honestly.

From across the coffee table,...Read more

These are salad days for the likes of Joseph Uscinski, who spends his time peering down rabbit holes and poking in the dark spaces where weird and woolly things grow.

There are loads of conspiracy theories out there, the granddaddy of them all being the conjecture surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination. But most tend to fade and be ...Read more

A new memo outlines plans by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport potentially thousands of immigrants to countries that are not their own. The Trump administration’s assiduous efforts to send people to places like Libya and South Sudan are clearly intended to scare noncitizens, both those in the U.S. and those who might contemplate ...Read more