ArcaMax

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who, like nearly everyone, is running for president, presides over the largest and most media-centric city in America. His national name recognition is respectable, but his support is undetectable. Literally. He's at 0%, lagging behind such Democratic titans as Tim Ryan, Andrew Yang and John Delaney -- all of whom ...Read more

On the morning of April 28, 1986, an employee of the Forsmark nuclear power plant an hour north of Stockholm was returning from a restroom break when his shoes set off the radiation alarm. Soon klaxons were sounding everywhere. Technicians scoured the plant. No leak. After performing chemical and other analysis, they determined that the ...Read more

With several septuagenarians competing for the presidency, the ghost of the 1990s looms over the 2020 race. Joe Biden has faced criticism for his sponsorship of the 1994 crime bill. President Donald Trump tweeted, "Anyone associated with the 1994 Crime Bill will not have a chance of being elected."

Here's some context. Violent crime rates in ...Read more

The Dow plunged 450 points on the opening bell May 6 in response to this presidential tweet: "The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No! The 10% will go up to 25% on Friday." Economists eye this brinkmanship fearfully. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch's global research team, among many others, has ...Read more

Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., tweeted in response to anti-abortion legislation passed by the Alabama legislature: "I refuse to believe that these Republican men represent the views of most Alabamians. Their action is both unconstitutional and shameful. The people of Alabama deserve to be on the #rightsideofhistory -- not the side of extremists. Women...Read more

Many Democratic voters are worried that a female candidate cannot win the presidency in 2020. "I don't think they're strong enough to carry it for themselves," an Iowa voter told The Washington Post. Amber Phillips reports that "female politicians are held by voters to a much higher standard than men," and points to polls showing that today's ...Read more

Every Republican remembers with disgust the video of Bill Clinton glowering into the camera and declaring: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false."

It's worth revisiting why that statement was so infuriating. It wasn't because we -- well...Read more

The conservative media world, along with all but a few Republican members of Congress, are in the process of handing Vladimir Putin his greatest victory yet. They are ignoring the copious evidence in the Mueller report that Russia interfered in our election -- and continues to do so. Pace Jared Kushner, it was a whole lot more sinister than a "...Read more

In 2016 and 2017, Bernie Sanders raked in over a million bucks. Last year, his gross income was down to $561, 293 -- still not too shabby. The point is not to rib the senator about his membership in the top 1 percent, though that's tempting. Nor is it to chide him for his relatively paltry charitable donations. His contributions to charity ...Read more

An appropriately Twitteresque meme circulated recently on that platform: Write a sad story in just three words. This was an homage to Ernest Hemingway, who, challenged to write a sad story in only six words, grabbed the nearest blank paper and scrawled: "For sale: baby shoes. Never worn." Or so the story goes. It's too good to check. Responses ...Read more

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand
"This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:
"My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
"To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

-- William Shakespeare. "Romeo and Juliet," Act I, Scene 5

Joe Biden's explanatory video in response to stories of his sometimes overly exuberant ...Read more

It seems that "13 hardened Democrats" or "angry Democrats" did not deliver a politically motivated, illegitimate hit job after all. Based on what we know so far, the special counsel's office reported that it did not find evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. This is a fabulous vindication of the integrity ...Read more

Now that we've all had a good airing of grievances about elite colleges and their attendant injustices, let's get some perspective.

While the numbers of high school graduates heading off to college has increased in recent years, the percentages graduating with a four-year degree have not increased much. Many students, especially those who are ...Read more