I often contemplate the emotional well-being of my dog. I work from home, and he has gracefully adapted to my schedule, adhering to specific routines. He dines and plays by my side, gets plenty of walks and is rarely alone. At times, though, I wonder if he’s genuinely happy or if making him part of my human family might be inadvertently ...Read more

My parents were Palestinian refugees who managed to rent an apartment in the city of Nazareth after their village, Ma’Alool, 10 miles to the west, was destroyed by the advancing Israeli army in 1948. My father, a cobbler, took his trade to Nazareth’s historic bazaar. From the little shop he rented I was able to watch shoppers as they went ...Read more

Which one is better: Florida or California?

When the governors of both states, Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Gavin Newsom, face off in a debate on Fox News moderated by Sean Hannity Thursday night, the question will no doubt be the subtext for the governing vision the men will offer the country.

Unless one of them surprises, expect a ...Read more

Robert Crimo Jr.’s guilty plea to reckless conduct for helping his son obtain authorization to own firearms three years before Robert Crimo III allegedly opened fire on Highland Park, Illinois, paradegoers should be a wake-up call to everyone: If you hear or see things about potential violence, you must alert the authorities. And if you do ...Read more

The first news conference Earl Blumenauer held in Washington was a bipartisan affair, featuring the Oregon congressman alongside a fellow Democrat from Texas and Republicans from Illinois and New York.

Their topic: a plea for greater civility in Congress.

"It almost seems quaint now," Blumenauer said of that 1996 let's-join-hands moment.

The ...Read more

Socrates would weep. The great philosopher of ancient Athens was among the first teachers of critical thinking, you might say, and he died for doing so. And now, college philosophy departments — along with the other humanities and the social sciences— are shrinking, with reduced fields of study, smaller teaching staffs and fewer courses.

...Read more

The last time I stepped on a plane for vacation, for fun, was more than three years ago. I haven’t been able to visit California, whose coast I adore. Nor Rome, where my husband and I lived for some time.

And yet, I’m told, I’ve been on a journey. Two journeys, actually: First, a “traumatic brain injury journey,” experienced at Johns ...Read more

I’m not proud to admit it, but I’m a better husband when my mother-in-law visits. I walk a little faster to get to the door. I add a few extra “pleases” and “thank yous.” And, I’m slightly less cheap — making sure I cover some meals, cocktails, etc.

Theoretically, I should do all these things on a daily basis — trust me, my ...Read more

Our guests from Israel sat across from us around a large table. They spoke not of politics so much as personal pain.

What did they know of the whereabouts of their family members who had been taken hostage by Hamas, we asked them.

Very little, they said. One person pulled out a cellphone to play a short video, containing the image of a loved ...Read more

In December 1966, the CBS special “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” premiered. At the time, it was “the most expensive half-hour ever put on TV” due to animation costs, music and narration.

It was inspired casting that Boris Karloff, star of 1931’s “Frankenstein,” would provide the voice of the Grinch. The artists may have also ...Read more

President Joe Biden was looking his most protective and avuncular as he announced that Avigail Idan, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel who had turned four while in Hamas’ captivity, was among those now liberated. “Thank God she’s home,” he said. “I wish I was there to hold her.”

Avigail’s individual fate, like that of the ...Read more

It’s holiday season, and the Biden administration is in full Santa Claus mode. Never mind the $33 trillion national debt clock whirring upward, the White House is making liberal use of a massive green slush fund to dole out taxpayer-funded goodies to favored special interests.

The comically misnamed Inflation Reduction Act contained $400 ...Read more

Chronically low poll numbers for President Joe Biden. A brutal war in Gaza that’s driven a wedge into the Democrats’ coalition. A migration crisis at the southern border and an overwhelmed immigration court system. An unnerving election victory by an anti-immigrant demagogue in the Netherlands, a staunch ally of the U.S. and NATO.

Less than...Read more

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” I asked Muhammad, an 8-year-old boy.

“I want to kill Israeli soldiers!” he replied proudly.

This was in 1998, when I was teaching English in Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut. I’d come to Beirut to study abroad and explore my Arab roots, but as an American who’d never left the ...Read more

Last week, I questioned whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas would be able to hammer out a short-term truce that would include the simultaneous release of hostages on both sides. We received the answer last Tuesday. Working through Qatar, Egypt and the United States, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement that has paused ...Read more

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, language is being used strategically in a contest over legitimacy in ways that blur important distinctions. Much of the heat — and none of the light — comes from a failure to distinguish tactics from goals, leaders and organizations from the people they aim to represent, and attempts to understand...Read more

Democrats have ridden an abortion rights platform to outperform expectations in recent elections. Do Republicans have a similar opportunity when it comes to illegal immigration?

President Joe Biden’s handling of the southern border has been a fiasco. According to Syracuse University’s TRAC website, which compiles immigration information, ...Read more

The latest Consumer Price Index report showed inflation slowing in October, due in part to a supposed 34% drop in the cost of health insurance from the same time last year. That left many people scratching their heads, since you’d be hard pressed to find anyone whose premiums dropped at all, let alone by that much. Is someone cooking the books...Read more

This was supposed to be the year for a new Farm Bill, the five-year legislation that funds farm subsidy programs, conservation efforts and food assistance for low-income Americans.

Unsurprisingly, our dysfunctional Congress couldn’t get its act together for what is usually a bipartisan effort and chose to punt instead, extending by one year ...Read more

Campuses across the nation are debating what is and isn’t free speech. CEOs and online trolls are canceling young people whose positions they consider hateful. Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian faculty are taking sides. Students are hollering at administrators to do the same.

I am a lecturer in rhetoric at San Diego State University. Our biggest...Read more