California’s math wars are roiling the state’s educational system, with contentious debates over high school curricula.

At issue is whether a “data science” course should be available as a substitute for Algebra 2. The University of California and California State University systems previously accepted data science as an advanced math ...Read more

If you’re searching for insight into the likelihood of a second American civil war, you won’t find it in “Civil War,” a film written and directed by Alex Garland and currently in theaters.

When the movie starts, the U.S. is already in full-blown war against itself. Things have gotten so bad that California and Texas have formed a ...Read more

Students are taught in civics class that, under the American justice system, a defendant may be convicted of a crime only if a jury finds him or her guilty of the charged offense “beyond a reasonable doubt.” What’s rarely mentioned, however, is that federal law allows judges to ignore a not guilty verdict and sentence men and women to ...Read more

Louisianan Mike Johnson became House speaker by accident, when eight renegade Republicans voted with the Democrats to eject the unfortunate Kevin McCarthy from the chair in October. After a number of more senior members failed to win enough support, the booby prize went to Johnson.

Johnson has been an exceptionally weak speaker, and not just ...Read more

Shortly after Acting Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan gaveled out the final day of jury selection for the criminal prosecution of Donald Trump on Friday afternoon, the New York County Criminal Court Electronic Document Delivery System sent an email notification of receipt at 5:22 to lawyer Jim Walden that his application had ...Read more

The most anticipated first-round series of the NBA playoffs is here: the Lakers versus the defending champion Denver Nuggets. LeBron James' squad was swept by Denver in the last postseason, and L.A. hasn't beaten the Nuggets since December 2022, which is why the Lakers are serious underdogs according to the online gambling site DraftKings.

...Read more

Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but the hapless House Republicans have finally achieved something big: an end to tit-for-tat impeachments.

Of course, that's the opposite of the achievement they promised two years ago, ahead of the midterm elections that gave them control of the House. Back then, some chest-beaters were vowing to impeach ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Before Donald Trump's hush-money trial in New York got underway, pundits predicted that the proceedings could be a media bonanza for the former president. During this year's Republican primaries, they noted, Trump's popularity rose every time he was indicted.

But so far, the trial, on charges that Trump covered up illicit ...Read more

In her song “We Are Here,” Alicia Keys sings, “Let’s talk about Gaza ... let’s talk about Israel. Right now it is real.” No, the song wasn’t released last week; it was released 10 years ago.

But there’s another part of the song that carries its own importance. In the chorus, Keys sings, “We are here, We are here for all of us,...Read more

Tax Day has now passed, and people have money on their minds.

You may have read news reports that people should not spend certain banknotes because they may be worth thousands of dollars, far more than their face value. Before anyone opens their wallet to use their newfound wealth to book a luxury cruise or make a down payment on a new SUV, I ...Read more

In his timeless essay “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell wrote: “Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. One cannot change this ...Read more

Many Americans were surprised last year when smoke from wildfires hundreds of miles away turned their air toxic. There’s no excuse for anybody to be surprised when it happens again — possibly in just a couple of months.

Canada’s emergency preparedness minister has warned repeatedly that an unusually dry and warm winter, combined with ...Read more

The deaths of six immigrant workers in the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26 sparked the kind of collective empathy that usually follows tragic events. President Joe Biden was among the many who offered his prayers. In news reports, the men have been called “kindhearted,” “humble” and “heroes.”

We should...Read more

The progressive paradise of California has spent $24 billion over the past five years to attack homelessness. Not only has the problem gotten worse, state and local government officials haven’t bothered to track where the money went. Is anybody surprised?

This month, the state auditor released a long-awaited report on “Homelessness in ...Read more

Now we know: Sen. Eric Schmitt isn’t really a “half-a-loaf” guy.

The Missouri Republican on Tuesday scuttled any chance that Republicans would get to debate the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — so Democrats went ahead and dismissed the charges outright.

Schmitt’s problem? Democrats ...Read more

Democracy is ailing. Around the world, strongmen seem all the rage. China’s Xi, Russia’s Putin, Hungary’s Orban, India’s Modi and a clutch of Latin Americans, together with the rise of the right in Western Europe, attest to peoples’ increasing willingness to embrace ruthless, mendacious leaders whom they credulously think can get ...Read more

In an unusual joint statement, the Republican governors of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee assailed the United Auto Workers union as it proceeds with a unionization vote at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. In their missive, the state officials contend that the unionization effort would imperil jobs and ...Read more

The first cup of black coffee had not quite done its job, as I was slowly paging through Wednesday morning’s New York Times. But page B11 sure did.

There, filling up the entire page, was my childhood. Two big headlines stretched across the top and the middle of page B11 evoked a rush of memories that were very special – yet quite different....Read more