ArcaMax

Let's all gather 'round the campfire, Buckaroos and let Ol' Cactus Jim here tell you about some of today's hardy, hard-working cowboys. Yes, those manly men who live free-spirited, yippy-ti-yi-yo, cowboy lives out in the rustic ranch country of the Rocky Mountain West.

Oh, wait -- that was a century ago. The "cowboys" who are now humming "...Read more

Historians may settle on President Donald Trump's demolition of the United States Agency for International Development as the perfect exemplar of America's precipitous plunge: the nullification of the best and most idealistic of what we have to offer by those whose values are the worst and most cynical we've ever experienced. Founded by John ...Read more

It was a day of deep thinking and heroic typing, my brain so fried I could hardly call out for pizza. Then the news and social media feeds exploded with reports that Harry and Meghan plan to leave California and move back to England. What was that to me? I don't care that the royals moved away or believe in royal anything except perhaps Royal ...Read more

More than 50 years ago, the framers of the Montana Constitution made a commitment that Indigenous cultural identity would be taught in every classroom across the state. Montana law has since promised that every student would learn about the history, cultures and contributions of tribal nations for more than two decades. But in classrooms ...Read more

On Tuesday, authorities in Pennsylvania reported two deaths from measles. Both of the patients were unvaccinated. Measles is reportedly ravaging Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, where 70 people have been hospitalized so far and hundreds infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has so far this year reported 2,777 cases ...Read more

What if you were scrolling through job listings, and you found one that said "Assassin/Assassination Assistants"?

You'd think it was a sick joke.

"Organization with rich and powerful history, but deeply in debt and facing decline with few prospects of improvement, seeks paid assassin willing to unquestioningly injure, maim and/or kill anyone...Read more

As I write this, Armelle Bondonga Bradshaw has not seen her husband or held her 19-month-old baby in over two weeks.

On Aug. 12, Armelle and her husband, Terrance Bradshaw, voluntarily appeared for what was supposed to be a final interview in the process of obtaining her marriage-based green card. Instead, immigration agents separated the ...Read more

AI ain't ever gonna use an outhouse, but Dolly Parton used one. That was back in the days when living "off the grid" wasn't a moral decision, but just meant that the grid didn't give a damn about where you were, and you couldn't afford it if it found you.

That was when country singers didn't come from the suburbs of Cleveland, and they didn't...Read more

Classic Labor Day imagery shows men wearing hard hats and tough women in uniforms. These are Americans who did not build their muscles at a wellness club.

By contrast, actual photos of the Democratic Socialists of America show seas of white faces belonging to college graduates. The only work most of them have done with their hands is typing. ...Read more

On Aug. 25, the Department of Justice filed its papers defending its decision to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey for posting a picture of seashells arranged to spell out "8647."

That's right. A picture of seashells.

"There is no serious dispute that an objective viewer of Comey's post could read it to mean 'Kill President Trump,'" ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The city takes a deep breath after the president's IndyCar auto races came and went without crashing a precious Smithsonian artwork, and before Congress returns. Cicadas and tennis balls make background music.

Thank god we didn't lose a Cezanne or Renoir as IndyCar drivers circled the National Mall. Some diplomats were uninvited...Read more

Public leadership doesn't mean that the "leader" has to have all the solutions, but instead must be open to others with problem-solving ideas.

That was one of Franklin Roosevelt's great strengths when he came into the White House. Facing the full-blown crisis of a national depression, he brought his top advisers together with an open mandate ...Read more

It's another not especially beautiful week in the neighborhood, another week in which a spotlight is shone on President Donald Trump's unsubtle use of executive power to retaliate against critics and opponents, and to intimidate into submission those who might criticize or oppose him. Last week's lawsuit by the American Broadcasting Company ...Read more

Oh good, another war. This time a trade war with Canada and for no other reason than ... what? To give Donald Trump a new stage for big-league bullying? To divert attention from the Jeffrey Epstein files? Who knows. Whatever. Trying to humiliate our closest ally does not serve American interests, ya think?

I say "trying" because Trump's ...Read more

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an order in July that blocked Florida from enforcing the Stop WOKE Act in the state's universities.

Florida is one of 24 states that has passed laws restricting instruction on race and gender in higher education since 2020. Taken together, these laws represent a nationwide backlash to progress in ...Read more

Sen. Darline Graham, Republican of South Carolina, was appointed to serve out her late brother's term and was endorsed by President Donald Trump in the Republican primary for the full six-year term. Hers is a test in many respects: a test of President Trump's reach, as well as a test of the value (or stigma) voters attach to experience versus ...Read more