We say goodbye to what was a tough year for most of us — tariffs, property taxes, high costs for basic goods, loss of loved ones and an unpredictable business environment. Some small businesses did not make it. We welcome the new year with anticipation and hope knowing that this year will be better than the last. As a sharecropper from ...Read more

As we head into 2026 and Democrats try to figure out how to regain power, their New Year’s resolution should be simple: Manage egos better.

In recent years, they seem to have forgotten the time-tested necessity of placating people. In other words, doing the same basic drudgery the rest of us rely on to get through this chaotic world.

This ...Read more

On Dec. 22 at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump — flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Navy Secretary John Phelan — announced a plan to build battleships that would be "the largest we've ever built."

He said that starting with his first term, he had been asking, "Why aren't we doing battleships ...Read more

As space rapidly becomes an essential battlefield, Europe risks being left behind. Its current approach to the new space race — regulate first, compete later — is unlikely to help.

Ukraine’s dependence on SpaceX’s Starlink for military communications has exposed a strategic vulnerability that the European Union is now struggling to ...Read more

“The West” is a club on life support, skewered on the lance of Donald Trump’s Hobbesian view of the world as a series of protection rackets carved up by countries strong enough to command a seat at the table. With America’s traditional allies now part of the buffet, this seismic development begs a question: Is the West worth saving, and ...Read more

Even for the casual observer, it’s probably apparent that modern warfare, both domestic and abroad, is dramatically changing. Scenes this summer of a synchronized fleet of Ukrainian drones descending on a field of Russian warplanes punctuate just how far we’ve pivoted from classic artillery and infantry-based operations. It’s not only the ...Read more

It seems Idaho U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have finally broken with President Donald Trump — on one issue, at least.

But they seem to have picked about the worst one they could have.

As the Statesman’s Kevin Fixler reported, the two signed onto a letter in mid-December objecting to the Trump administration’s plans to move ...Read more

The Trump administration is badly stretching the law to keep open coal-fired power plants throughout the Midwest that otherwise would have shuttered under well-thought-out, long-term strategies.

The latest examples are in neighboring Indiana, where the Department of Energy late last month ordered utilities not to close two aging power stations ...Read more

Democrats are starting the new year on a high.

A series of 2025 victories, in red and blue states alike, was marked by a striking improvement over the party's 2024 showing. That over-performance, to use the political term of art, means candidates — including even some who lost — received a significantly higher percentage of the vote than ...Read more

I’m going to say something and then I’m going to duck: Being a member of Congress is a taxing profession that doesn’t pay nearly enough based on the expectations and pressures of the job. It’s no wonder Democrats and Republicans are fleeing Capitol Hill in droves.

I ducked because Congress — the House of Representatives and the US ...Read more

José Antonio Kast wasted no time. Less than 36 hours after being elected Chile’s next president, the conservative leader boarded a plane, crossed the Andes and paid a visit to his ideological ally, Argentina’s libertarian standard-bearer Javier Milei. As political images go, it was powerful: Right-wing ideals have become the binding glue ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s Secret Service detail has one job: protect the president. Yet even after a 2024 assassination attempt in which then-candidate Trump was shot in the ear while campaigning in Butler, Pennsylvania, there are appalling lapses in security.

In September, the president went to dinner with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, ...Read more

“The difference between a politician and a statesman,” said James Freeman Clarke, a 19th century American theologian and writer, “is that the politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation.”

Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic congresswoman from California and former speaker of the U.S. House of ...Read more

Artificial intelligence is already impacting the criminal justice system, and its importance is increasing rapidly. From automated report writing to facial recognition technology, AI tools are already shaping decisions that affect liberty, safety, and trust. The question is not whether these technologies will be used, but how—and under what ...Read more

America’s education system is in historic decline. According to the latest report card on 12th graders, students finishing high school have fewer skills and less knowledge in core academics than their predecessors a decade ago.

The learning losses revealed in that report, September’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, show that ...Read more

Like many people over 60 and thinking seriously about retirement, I’ve been paying closer attention to Social Security, and recent changes have made me concerned.

Since its creation during the Great Depression, Social Security has been one of the most successful federal programs in U.S. history. It has survived wars, recessions, demographic ...Read more

In recent years, a handful of deep-blue states have aggressively tried to offer “free” health care to those in the country illegally only to develop alligator arms when the check arrived. Go figure.

In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed ending the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (notice the word “illegal” is nowhere to be ...Read more

Amelia Miller has an unusual business card. When I saw the title of “Human-AI Relationship Coach” at a recent technology event, I presumed she was capitalizing on the rise of chatbot romances to make those strange bonds stronger.

It turned out the opposite was true. Artificial intelligence tools were subtly manipulating people and ...Read more

Two centuries ago, gentlemen routinely carried swords or pistols to protect themselves, their families and their property. On the unlit dirt backroads of England or colonial America, armed highwaymen like Dick Turpin could demand “your money or your life!” without warning.

There was no 911. No local law enforcement or highway patrol on the ...Read more

The unprecedented turmoil at the top U.S. health agencies, under the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is sure to have a long-term impact on the well-being of Americans. Although Kennedy’s mantra has been to “Make America Healthy Again,” the most visible changes he and his allies have made within the ...Read more