Israelis embrace the ideal of democracy with the same fervor that Americans do. It’s why, on Monday, the people of Israel effectively shut down their country’s economy in a defiant, urgent statement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dangerous bid to overhaul — and in doing so weaken — the country’s judicial system.

...Read more

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has discovered that there are limits to brute force politicking as he steps back from his ill-advised judicial control legislation as his party’s approval ratings crater and Israelis take to the streets. Or rather, this should be his takeaway, even if he is foolishly planning to regroup and resume the push...Read more

One small but important aspect of changing the conversation about mental health in this country is the need to remove the stigma around seeking help. In far too many corners, seeking treatment or counseling is considered a sign of weakness, something to be pitied, an indication of fragility.

That’s why it was heartening to see the reaction ...Read more

Once upon a time, the roles were reversed.

Democrats were, if anything, skeptical of foreign intervention. Many, especially in the liberal and progressive wings of the party, saw war as inhumane, policing the world as folly and the Pentagon as bloated. Humbled by failure in Vietnam, the party that gave us Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern and ...Read more

I recently adopted a rabbit. Olaf had been passed from shelter to shelter for more than a year. He has holes in his ears and eyelids from a severe mite infestation he endured while struggling to survive alone on the streets of Northern Virginia. Fortunately, a good Samaritan scooped him up and took him to the local animal shelter.

I imagine ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom came close but couldn't quite bring himself to say it: The drought's over.

It's disappointing when a governor won't acknowledge what ordinary citizens already know because they can see things for themselves.

Another drought will emerge soon enough. It always does. That's the California pattern — ...Read more

After 20 years of what appeared to be unstoppable growth, America’s tech industry has spent the past year underperforming the rest of the economy. Product failures in new industries like virtual reality and cryptocurrency, layoffs across the board, lower stock prices, and the failure of Silicon Valley Bank create a teachable moment to talk ...Read more

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Disclaimer: No human volition was harmed in the making of this editorial.

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Technological progress happens — or at least is constantly under attempt. When it succeeds, it's because ...Read more

Let’s all hope that Chinese President Xi Jinping sees this outrage as a personal affront and gives his “friend” in Moscow a good talking to at once.

Only days ago, Xi was paying Russian President Vladimir Putin a visit — to discuss their collaboration, but also to talk him out of nuclear escalation and into a peace process with Kyiv. ...Read more

Having a child is the most emphatic statement of hope a person can make. I have three young kids, and yet I have trouble remaining optimistic about the world they and their children will inhabit in 2100 and beyond.

The world 77 years from now is likely to be far hotter and more unstable, warmed in a way that depopulates entire metropolises and...Read more

Monday morning, the Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases testing the limits of abortion rights. It did not appear to go well for the state’s attorney who sought to undermine a woman’s right to choose.

At issue are two state laws that remain unenforceable as long as there’s a constitutional right to abortion in Kansas. One ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For 13 years, Carlos Pena has run NoHo Printing & Graphics in North Hollywood. He has stayed here even as this stretch of Lankershim Boulevard became sketchier, even as the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to lay off all his employees.

"It's a very creative field of work, but not very profitable," the Salvadoran immigrant told me ...Read more

It’s a now-taken-for-granted miracle that each year in these United States, more than 40,000 people have many healthy years added to their lives by getting new kidneys, livers, hearts and, in rare cases, lungs. That’s terrific, but the bureaucratic apparatus that connects people in need to organs isn’t nearly as efficient as it can be. ...Read more

The museum in Florence, Italy, that houses Michelangelo’s Renaissance masterpiece the David issued a remarkable invitation last week to parents and students of a school in Tallahassee.

Come visit, the Galleria dell’Accademia said. See the statute for yourself.

The invite came after the forced resignation of the Florida charter school’s ...Read more

JetBlue is seeking permission to merge with Spirit Airlines. The U.S. Department of Justice is working to block the purchase. Does this make sense for air travelers?

JetBlue sells itself as an upscale low-cost airline, with 34 inches of seat pitch and no-cost amenities for which other airlines charge a fee. Spirit is the ultimate low-cost ...Read more

The Illinois Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that exposes the White Castle burger chain to as much as $17 billion in liability because it didn’t get explicit permission from employees to use biometric controls on its time clocks and computers. But don’t blame the courts for the burger joint’s legal costs. The Illinois legislature’...Read more

JetBlue is seeking permission to merge with Spirit Airlines. The U.S. Department of Justice is working to block the purchase. Does this make sense for air travelers?

JetBlue sells itself as an upscale low-cost airline, with 34 inches of seat pitch and no-cost amenities for which other airlines charge a fee. Spirit is the ultimate low-cost ...Read more

Ten years ago, I wrote a book called "The Golden Shore: California’s Love Affair with the Sea." Back then, I suggested that California, with almost 40 million people and the world’s fifth largest economy, was proof that you could grow a progressive society while protecting your coast and ocean. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the book...Read more

One of the essential principles of free enterprise depends on an understanding so conventional that it largely goes unspoken: When people borrow money, they must pay it back—usually with interest.

We’ve established guardrails to protect naïve borrowers from usurious lenders, and defaulting on a loan has legal consequences. But our system ...Read more

With the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Iraq War, I’m reminded of the remarkable consensus behind that decision, which passed with strong bipartisan support. Experts, journalists and well-known media personalities joined the bandwagon too.

Often, consensus is good. It clears away opposition and helps make things happen. But too often, ...Read more