Breaking News

Uncategorized

And now a word from the other side

President Trump and Vice President Vance spent most of last week trying to convince Americans the “Memo of Understanding” (MOU) with Iran is a good deal for the United States and world peace. That’s not what Iran believes. Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, has hailed the MOU as a major “victory” for Tehran. The “greater jihad” would now begin, he promised, according to a speech aired by Iranian state media last week. You read that correctly. The greater Jihad. To some this might sound like the same ...

West Virginia born amid confusion of Civil War

Editor’s note: In the spring of 1861, the United States stood at its breaking point. For years, tensions between North and South had deepened. Nowhere was that more felt than in Virginia. While leaders in Richmond voted to join the Confederacy, many residents in the mountainous western counties remained loyal to the Union and refused to follow eastern Virginia into rebellion. This led to one of the most remarkable chapters in American history. Meeting in what was then Wheeling, Va., delegates from these western counties declared that Virginia’s secession was illegal and established a ...

The US founders’ other revolutionary choice: Separating religion and government

Did the founders of the United States intend to create a Christian nation? Political leaders who addressed a prayer rally on the National Mall on May 17, 2026, seem to think so: House Speaker Mike Johnson led the crowd in "rededicat(ing) the United States of America as one nation under God." Some, and perhaps many, scholars would say no: that while many founders were religious, as a group they concluded that the national government should not support any particular faith. As a scholar of Colonial North America, I believe that history provides an answer. European colonizers in lands ...

Minimum wage fail

Not long ago, new kinds of jobs appeared: app-based gig work. They include jobs like dog walking on Rover, Taskrabbit work, DoorDash food delivery, Uber and Lyft driving ... Lots of people like gig work. It's flexible. You work when you want to work. But "workers' rights" activists and governing socialists don't like that. Gig workers rarely join unions. They don't get a minimum wage. "Uber and Lyft exploit their workers" is a headline at MS NOW. "We can't ignore it." The Democratic Socialists said they had a solution. Seattle's city council imposed a $26 delivery driver ...

To make hosting less stressful, strive for connection and not perfection

Inviting friends and family members over for a celebration, holiday or routine dinner provides an opportunity for connection, but pressure to serve good-tasting food in a clean and welcoming environment can deter many people from hosting or prevent them from being fully present with their guests when they do. But there are not only ways to reduce the stress of entertaining at home, but strong arguments for throwing a party, planning a game night or bringing guests together over a shared meal, according to mental health experts and experienced hosts. Without in-person social gatherings, ...

Please pass the salt and pepper of loss

I swam in the beautiful bay water three times that day. Salt on skin does wonders. Six of us had a sundown dinner on the roof, with a homemade almond cake a la creme and fruit for dessert, a ferry and lighthouse in the distance. Everyone around the table at the house party was a true-blue friend. Some I'd known forever, so it seemed. Our host created a spell, a consoling space of light in these times. My spirits suddenly took flight once we left Washington and crossed the silver Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The Eastern Shore land, with corn growing on all sides, held a promise that things ...