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Almanac for Oct. 2, 2026

Today is Friday, Oct. 2, the 275th day of 2026. There are 90 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 2, 1967, Thurgood Marshall joined the U.S. Supreme Court as its first African American justice; he would serve on the bench for 24 years until his retirement in 1991. Also on this date: In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson had a serious stroke at the White House that left him paralyzed on his left side. In 1942, the RMS Queen Mary, an ocean liner carrying thousands of American soldiers as a converted troop ship during World War II, accidentally rammed and sank the escort ship ...

Always Watching

Do you worry that you're being watched? If you drive, you probably are. My new video covers the cameras that photograph the backs of millions of cars. A company called Flock has 80% of that market. Flock's CEO says the goal is to "eliminate crime." But lots of people hate the ...

Forest management realities in the Upper Peninsula

The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule was controversial a quarter-century ago, and it appears it remains so today. Environmental advocacy groups are coming out in earnest, no doubt hoping to drum-up memberships with sensationalist boilerplate language that often doesn’t mean much after critical review. Most of the Roadless Area — a federal designation — lies in a handful of western states. Michigan has only 16,000 acres of designated Roadless Area. For the most part, nobody in their right mind would venture into most of it, as more than half is practically an impenetrable ...

Almanac for Oct. 1, 2026

Today is Thursday, Oct. 1, the 274th day of 2026. There are 91 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 1, 2017, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a gunman opened fire from a room at the high-rise Mandalay Bay casino hotel in Las Vegas on a crowd of 22,000 fans at a country music concert below, causing 60 deaths and more than 850 injuries. Also on this date: In 1890, Yosemite National Park was established by the U.S. Congress. In 1903, the first modern baseball World Series began, with the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates defeating the American ...

James Talarico’s unconvincing Christian progressivism

James Talarico may not think that God is nonbinary anymore, but he's certain that He's in favor of universal healthcare. The Texas Senate candidate posted a riff on X about how the Bible is the foundation of his progressivism. Supposedly, through happy coincidence, Our Savior agrees with ...

Almanac for Sept. 30, 2026

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2026. There are 92 days left in the year. Today in history: On Sept. 30, 1949, the Berlin Airlift came to an end after delivering more than 2.3 million tons of cargo to blockaded residents of West Berlin over 15 months. Also on this date: In 1777, the Continental Congress — forced to flee by advancing British forces — moved to York, Pennsylvania, after briefly meeting in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1791, Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" premiered in Vienna, Austria. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Boulder Dam ...