ArcaMax

Christmas marks the birth of Jesus of Nazareth over 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, Palestine, in what is now the Israeli Occupied West Bank. The occasion is both solemn and celebratory. The Church of the Nativity now stands on the site considered to be Jesus' birthplace, in an animal stable, where the newborn is believed to have been placed in ...Read more

"The hopes and fears of all the years ..." -- Traditional Christmas carol

WASHINGTON -- Oh, the drama.

The closing days of this Congress were a mad rush, more so than usual since the white mansion up Pennsylvania Avenue will soon change hands.

The holiday parties given by the Bidens enchanted guests with a melancholy undertow. The candles ...Read more

This holiday season got me to thinking about America's spirit of giving, and I don't mean this overdone business of Christmas, Hanukkah and other holiday gifts. I mean our true spirit of giving -- giving of ourselves.

Yes, we are a country of rugged individualists, yet there's also a deep, community-minded streak in each of us. We're a people...Read more

In her iconic song "Big Yellow Taxi," an obvious lament about American presidents who have been underappreciated while in office only to finally be given their due with time's passage, famed presidential historian Joni Mitchell wondered, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?" Professor Mitchell clearly ...Read more

Those 38 Republicans who frustrated Donald Trump's demand that he be freed from the inconvenience of a debt ceiling vote early in his term were truly impressive. These are guys with whom yours truly disagrees much of the time.

What Trump's smarter knee-jerk defenders really believe is a matter of speculation. Scott Jennings used to work for ...Read more

Sports stadiums around the country have begun using face recognition to identify ticket holders, threatening to normalize a uniquely powerful surveillance technology that has already been used for abusive purposes. Worse, companies involved are already planning big expansions, raising the specter of a world where our faces become not just our ...Read more

Something very scary happened in Washington this week. The world's richest man flexed his political muscle.

And the House collapsed.

All in a day.

Republicans and Democrats had negotiated for months about a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown -- complicated negotiations to keep the government funded through mid-March including $110...Read more

As is typically the case after a high-profile murder, people are speculating about suspect Luigi Mangione's state of mind when he allegedly killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Hilton hotel in Manhattan.

We have a likely (political) motive in the form of a handwritten statement Pennsylvania police say they found on Mangione ...Read more

Louisville, Kentucky, got their Christmas present early this year. The Department of Justice, Louisville Metro Government and Louisville Metro Police Department have signed a Consent Decree, an agreement to enact significant, systemic reforms to policing in Louisville.

In 2020, the murder of Breonna Taylor sparked protests across the country ...Read more

What I've got is an "LED Santa Blow Mold With Warm White Light & Light Skin."

He stands a little over 2 feet tall.

So, what is it I've got?

It's one of those plastic Santas you put in your front yard, hopefully just during the Christmas season. The rest of the year, he lives in your garage, next to the bin for recyclables, just across from ...Read more

The older he gets, the bigger the baby. Donald Trump has turned the U.S. government into one giant pacifier to calm his fear of seeming less than all-powerful. Consider those billionaires now dropping bags of gold at his feet, concerned that he would use his presidential powers to hurt them.

Donald Winnicott, a prominent English pediatrician ...Read more

Pitiful.

That's the best I can say about ABC's decision to settle the defamation suit that Donald Trump brought against ABC News because star anchor George Stephanopoulos said he had been held liable for "rape."

Trump's claim: he was not held civilly liable for "rape," but for "sexual assault."

In fact, the judge had already rejected Trump'...Read more

There's one thing Donald Trump can't take away from me.

I'm ready for living in a reality where a knock on the door could take you and your rights away. I'm prepared for violent Jan. 6 offenders in prison to be pardoned on Trump's first day. I'm even braced for freedom of speech -- and the press -- to ebb toward being things of the past.

...Read more

America has endured a long panorama of corporate greed -- from the East India Trading Company to the Robber Barons, Gordon Gecko Wall Streeters to Elon Musk. But down at the bottom of raw greediness today, you'll find the insatiable profiteers of the private nursing home industry.

Of course, many providers deliver honest, truly caring service...Read more

It's in vogue since Donald Trump's election last month to suggest that using words like "autocrat" or "strongman," let alone "fascist," to describe the once and future president is bad form at best and terribly out of line at worst. The problem with this suggestion is what the president says and what he does; other than that, there's no ...Read more

Is Daniel Penny a Republican, a Democrat or something else? As of this writing, his political leanings remain a mystery. Republicans clearly want to adopt the white Marine veteran who strangled a threatening Black passenger on a New York City subway car. They may deny it, but the racial dynamics created a desired optic for their warm support. ...Read more

President-elect Donald Trump has said that he intends to issue an executive order to end birthright citizenship for millions of children. Trump's campaign website states that, to qualify as a citizen, any baby born after his executive order would need to have at least one parent who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident. Scholars across ...Read more