ArcaMax

Since it's been over 70 years since Sen. Joseph McCarthy used his power as chairman of a Senate investigative committee to bully and crush citizens at his whim, the closest younger Americans can come to visualizing the truly thuggish abuse of power to destroy dissenters may come, of all places, from a popular musical. "Wicked," which opened on...Read more

Years ago, a contest was run for the most boring newspaper headline. The winner was "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative," which appeared in the April 10, 1986, edition of The New York Times. "Worthwhile initiative" is a snooze-worthy phrase. Adding a reference to the quiet and restrained country to the north was seen as draining the last ounce of ...Read more

This week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a statement saying it would cut nearly 50% of the department's workforce. These new layoffs occur at a moment when President Donald Trump has vowed to eliminate the ED and withhold funding from any other entity that incorporates diversity, equity and inclusion in educational practices ...Read more

They call it "Cancer Alley." It's an 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River that connects Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The name stems from the fact that the area's residents have a 95% greater chance of developing cancer than the average American. Some 200 petrochemical and fossil fuel operations are located in the area. About 25% of the ...Read more

"Nothing is more dishonorable for a civilized people than to let itself be 'governed' without resistance by an irresponsible clique of rulers devoted to dark instincts." These words open the first communique of the White Rose, a collective of young Germans in Munich, including brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, clandestinely opposing the...Read more

Echoing other analysts, New York Times opinion columnist Thomas L. Friedman wrote: "What happened in the Oval Office on (Feb. 28) ... was something that had never happened in the nearly 250-year history of this country: In a major war in Europe, our president clearly sided with the aggressor, the dictator and the invader against the democrat, ...Read more

In the search for waste, fraud and abuse, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have set their sights on Medicaid and the Department of Education. On paper, these potential cuts don't affect local curriculum, or educational services for special needs families, because laws are in place to protect them. But ...Read more

I own a yarmulke. It's embroidered in gold, and I bought it in the gift shop at Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, the oldest Jewish temple in America.

I've had it for decades. I've worn it to a couple Jewish weddings, and as a reporter, I wore it when I had to cover a Jewish religious ceremony.

You go in the temple to attend or cover...Read more

Boy, do I miss Joe Biden. I especially miss the former president when Donald Trump and his bobbleheads unfairly blame him for everything that's gone wrong since Inauguration Day. Trump has since proven beyond doubt that he can wreck the economy all by his lonesome. And that's not all he's wrecking.

Trump was handed a great economy, "The Envy ...Read more

I probably don't agree with anything Mahmoud Khalil has to say about Israel. He's the Columbia University student activist who has been arrested and threatened with deportation in the name of fighting antisemitism.

Trampling on free speech rights is no way to fight antisemitism. Neither is cutting off funding for much needed medical research....Read more

Words matter. When wielded maliciously by the powerful, words can harm, even kill. That's why Texas Republican Congressman Keith Self's words chairing a recent House subcommittee hearing deserve special condemnation. Near the hearing's end, Self recognized the committee's newest, most junior member, Delaware Democratic Congresswoman Sarah ...Read more

We are in a state of emergency. Most newspapers report the facts, ma'am, but shy from stating American democracy is on the line, in serious peril.

Scenes from the resistance: the Lincoln Memorial, the jammed independent bookstore and the floor of Congress, where Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) parted waters by bellowing at the president midway ...Read more

Last week, the Democratic Party's top congressional leaders finally took a bold stand against President Donald Trump's assault on our democracy when he came to Congress to tout his autocratic agenda.

Traditionally, when a president arrives to address Congress, a bipartisan escort committee leads the dignitary to the podium. But, by gollies, ...Read more

Say what you will about Joseph Goebbels, the Third Reich's Minister of Propaganda: the man lied for a living, and he knew one heck of a lot about lying. Before committing suicide in Berlin in 1945, he left a formidable body of commentary about the art of lying and the psychology of it.

"This is the secret of propaganda," Goebbels observed. "...Read more

You can get rich when stocks go up. You can get rich when stocks go down. When stocks go up, people who knew to buy them in advance may win big. If they go down, investors who had the wisdom to "go short" on them -- that is, bet on their decline -- can make a bundle.

Clearly, anyone who can predict what stock prices would do can make ...Read more

President Donald Trump has nominated Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney, media personality and Republican Party official, to lead the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. If confirmed, Dhillon will lead the division of the DOJ charged with upholding core civil rights and liberties in many aspects of American life.

Dhillon is known ...Read more