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Almanac for Oct. 29, 2026

Today is Thursday, Oct. 29, the 302nd day of 2026. There are 63 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 29, 1929, 'Black Tuesday' descended on the New York Stock Exchange. Stock prices collapsed amid panicked selling, $14 billion in value was lost, and thousands of investors were wiped out, triggering America's Great Depression. Also on this date: In 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh, the English courtier, military adventurer and poet, was executed in London for allegedly conspiring against King James I. In 1787, the opera "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had its world ...

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 ...