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Almanac for May 5, 2026

Today is Tuesday, May 5, the 125th day of 2026. There are 240 days left in the year. Today in history: In 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard Mercury capsule Freedom 7. Also on this date: In 1821, ...

The Trump surveillance state

The Fourth Amendment protects all persons from warrantless government searches and seizures of their persons, houses, papers and effects. It requires that warrants be supported by probable cause of crime and specifically describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be ...

How a weaker dollar is quietly making life more expensive

NEW YORK (AP) — A hidden force is quietly pushing up costs for everything from your summer vacation to your weekly grocery bills: a weaker U.S. dollar. The dollar has fallen about 10% against other major currencies since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, a pullback ...

Almanac for May 4, 2026

Today is Monday, May 4, the 124th day of 2026. There are 241 days left in the year. Today in history: In 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on student demonstrators during an anti-war protest at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others. Also on this ...

The ballroom amounts to taxpayer abuse

Some years ago, I was president of an organization called the Association of Opinion Journalists. Every year we would run a convention in a different city and end it with a celebration in the hotel's ballroom space. Our speaker on that closing night was usually some well-known political ...

US military reaches AI deals with seven tech companies

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Friday that it has reached deals with seven tech companies to use their artificial intelligence in its classified computer networks, allowing the military to tap into AI-powered capabilities to help it fight wars. Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, ...