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Fill ’er up and pass the loan application

SAN FRANCISCO – If media interviews with voters are to be believed, some people – perhaps many – will cast their midterm votes based on the high price of gasoline. It’s one thing to read about high California gas prices, it’s another to fill up my 20-gallon rental car with regular ...

Almanac for Oct. 28, 2026

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 28, the 301st day of 2026. There are 64 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. Also on this date: In 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts passed a legislative act establishing Harvard College. In 1858, Rowland Hussey Macy opened his first New York store at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan. In 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, which provided the means for enforcement of a Prohibition-era ban on ...

The France riots are not what MAGA says they are

Polls being what they are, Republicans and their supporters must be feeling a bit like the condemned Frenchmen who rode to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. It's fitting, then, that they are seizing on unrest in France as a desperate campaign gambit. "The Riots in France Are a Warning ...

Almanac for Oct. 27, 2026

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 27, the 300th day of 2026. There are 65 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 27, 2018, a gunman shot and killed 11 congregants and wounded six others at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in the deadliest domestic attack on Jews in U.S. history; authorities said the suspect, Robert Bowers, raged against Jews during and after the rampage. (Bowers was convicted and sentenced to death in 2023.) Also on this date: In 1787, the first of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the United States Constitution, was ...

Our failed Constitution

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) The U.S. Constitution was ratified to create and to restrain the government. It established boundaries beyond which the government may not venture, even when it invokes ...

Almanac for Oct. 26, 2026

Today is Monday, Oct. 26, the 299th day of 2026. There are 66 days left in the year. Today in history: On October 26, 1881, four lawmen, including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, exchanged gunfire with five outlaws, killing three of them, in the "Shootout at the O.K. Corral" in Tombstone, Arizona. Also on this date: In 1774, the First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia. In 1825, the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River. In 1861, the legendary Pony Express officially ceased operations, giving way to the transcontinental ...