ArcaMax

Washington's "tech bros" dominate the news with how they use their wealth to influence politics. It's easy to forget that some leaders of industry actually use their success to contribute to causes with an eye on the greater good. I'm not just talking about billionaires such as Bill Gates, who recently announced that his foundation will give ...Read more

When I was much younger than I am right now, I got a new job.

I'd been out of work for a while before I got the job, but I had some freelance work and some money in the bank, and I lived cheap.

A small number of people worked there, and it was at least a little cozy, and I was new in town.

And I wasn't there too long before it was almost ...Read more

As I flew into Omaha for the first time, the only thing visible from my descending plane was cornfields. You could even see the tassels. I was wondering, where is the city?

There certainly was a city, with a world-class medical center, famous zoo and great nightlife. Old school steakhouses mixed with Persian and Asian restaurants. Anyone who ...Read more

Resistance: a watchword for our times.

The state of Wisconsin is showing us how, above all 49 others.

In Washington, a senator and congressman heeded the call.

To inspire us, first Wisconsin stood up to the Trump-Musk blitzkrieg in a state Supreme Court race. Elon Musk spent $20 million to back a right-wing Republican.

That obscene outside...Read more

Well, habemus papam. Welcome, Pope Leo! Bless him ... and us.

I hope no one thinks I am blasphemous, but I go to a church nearly every Saturday that is not denominational. It isn't held in any sort of ornate cathedral, temple or mosque. It's a plain wooden, open-air shed with a metal roof and a loose brick floor -- but it's filled with ...Read more

The decline in religiosity in America is oft-noted and well-documented, as survey upon survey demonstrates. Gallup reports that while 44% of Americans said in 2000 they attended services weekly, by 2023 that figure had dropped to 32%. The percentage of Americans who identified with a particular religion likewise fell during that period.

But ...Read more

At least six congressional Republicans are demanding a radical fix in the 2017 tax law targeting residents of high-income states. If they don't get it, they may sink Donald Trump's tax-and-spending package, his "one big beautiful bill."

And who can blame these reps from New York, New Jersey and California? At issue is the unfair cap on the ...Read more

President Donald Trump has been pushing mass deportations, aggressive law enforcement measures and a sweeping expansion of the death penalty as the path to public safety -- all while cutting the very programs that actually make communities safer.

Voters aren't buying it.

New research from the American Civil Liberties Union, conducted in ...Read more

It's the perfect Trump story, one that tells you everything. It begins, as so many of them do, with a candidate whose qualification for high office is appearing on Fox News, proving once again that talking about something on television -- and looking good -- is not the same thing as actual experience.

In this case, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a ...Read more

The philosopher Nigel Warburton shrugged: "Users of slippery slope arguments should take skiing lessons -- you really can choose to stop." But slippery slopes are a thing precisely because people often choose to keep cruising along until they smash into Sonny Bono's tree.

Critics from both parties describe Donald Trump's behavior and policies...Read more

Last weekend I visited my aunt and uncle. Their 30-plus acres tucked into the foothills of Appalachia has been my place of refuge for more than 20 years. It's where my husband proposed to me, and it's where we return to again and again with our son. Last weekend, we enjoyed the birds and played in the garden, weeding, mulching and identifying ...Read more

I saw a priest in the coffee shop Wednesday morning.

He was wearing a cassock, the long black robe with buttons down the front that Catholic priests wore everywhere until Vatican II.

The cassock might mean he's what they call a "trad Catholic," which is short for "traditional Catholic" and means you act the way every Catholic did in 1964, ...Read more

Democrats are deep in debate over the age of their older leaders. Some need replacement, according to younger Democrats who want to replace them. And in some cases, they are right.

But these arguments turn toxic when they equate age with capability. Ageism is bad politics, especially when you look at the age of the electorate.

David Hogg, ...Read more

On Tuesday, Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina and a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced that he would not support the nomination of one of the most over-the-top Trumpers (I know, that's saying a lot) Ed Martin to be the U.S. attorney for Washington. Tillis told reporters that he had let the White House ...Read more

On May 3, 2024, Roger Fortson was on a video call with his girlfriend when a knock came at his door. Fortson, a 23-year-old Black man, was a Senior Airman in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Florida. Okaloosa County Sheriff's Deputy Eddie Duran had responded to a domestic disturbance call at the apartment complex. Building staff directed him ...Read more

Scene: walking in Washington at dusk, looking around an old market neighborhood made new again. I'm coming from a book talk, searching the lively sidewalks for the Metro station.

A guy sees my shop bag and asks what book I'm reading. I show him: "Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History." Chris ...Read more