When U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, it was almost as if President Donald Trump's most well-worn talking point came to life:

A bad hombre tried to go after a white American.

All Padilla did was identify himself and try to question Noem about the immigration ...Read more

The assassination and attempted assassination of two Minnesota legislators should shatter, once and for all, the myth of Minnesota exceptionalism. The reality is that Minnesota has become a microcosm of the polarization and political tensions plaguing the United States today. It is, in effect, two states — separate and, if not unequal, at ...Read more

In announcing his decision to send in National Guard troops to quell demonstrations against his deportation campaign, President Donald Trump said Los Angeles had been “invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals.”

Trump said he had to order in the military to “address the lawlessness” of the city that covers 500 square miles ...Read more

As is its right and duty, the U.S. Senate now has messed with the Trump administration’s “big, beautiful,” tax-and-spending bill that just squeaked through the House. Here’s our hot take on some of the Senate’s work in progress, as viewed not in terms of what is ideal but in the context of what the House already passed.

We’re all ...Read more

The Iranian regime’s tragic miscalculations continue. As Israeli’s air offensive wreaks havoc on Tehran and environs, Iran now leaks through diplomatic channels that it is prepared to talk about a deal involving its nuclear program. But what incentive is there for Israel to back down when it has become increasingly clear that Iran’s ...Read more

Now and again, while walking Philly near the Rose Bowl, I bump into a dog trainer named Eldon, who generously offers pointers.

My cheesesteak-shaped beagle used to go on strike during walks, but he’s improving thanks in part to Eldon’s tips. I wanted to write about that, but Eldon said he’s mostly retired and doesn’t need the publicity....Read more

On June 9, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly fired all 17 members of a key panel of medical and science experts overseeing the use of vaccines for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This move contradicted the explicit assurances Kennedy gave before his Senate confirmation to Sen. Bill ...Read more

I met Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan human rights defender, in late May at the Oslo Freedom Forum, an event celebrating activists against authoritarianism. She was petite but powerful, bruised but not broken. Traveling to this event was her latest act of defiance.

Only days earlier, she and Boniface Mwangi, a high-profile Kenyan activist, had been...Read more

Since the widespread rollout of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, the world has begun to grapple with a wave of technological progress unlike anything seen since the advent of the internet. The pace of innovation is accelerating, self-driving cars are becoming more commonplace, and Tesla is developing a commercially available humanoid robot ...Read more

The “No Kings Day” protests turned into a celebration of freedom and democracy, while President Donald Trump’s military-style dictator day parade was a costly flop with empty seats and a president who looked bored by the lack of goose-stepping and adulation.

Meanwhile, more than five million marched in events held in cities and towns ...Read more

For those of us of a certain age and sensibility, Ronald Reagan is the quintessential American conservative. He not only vanquished the Evil Empire and restored business’s animal spirits. He rode a horse, wore a cowboy hat and, when his wife came to visit him in hospital after he survived a 1981 assassination attempt, quipped “honey, I ...Read more

The United States’ security interests in Iran do not justify direct American involvement in the ongoing war between the Islamic Republic and Israel, and specifically do not justify the direct attack on an Iranian nuclear facility the Israeli government wants.

President Donald Trump must keep his campaign promise to be a peace president, which...Read more

In the recent state budget approved by Sacramento Democrats, lawmakers gave a high priority to preserving health care for undocumented Californians as they eliminated the main program to shelter the state’s homeless residents.

In the approved federal budget, President Donald Trump has frozen available funding for needs such as international ...Read more

As a lifelong marketer and Consumer Behavior professor, it’s interesting to observe how people’s opinions change as details of an issue become more apparent. Behavioral change – once information and knowledge increase – is common among people who are open-minded, educated, and critical thinkers.

For example, a YouGov/Economist poll ...Read more

During his 10 years as a dominant political force, President Donald Trump has thrived on chaos and with his harsh and cruel vitriolic language and actions against anyone he dislikes or scorns, he encourages division, the opposite of what leaders should do.

This nasty atmosphere encourages hatred and extremism and it has contributed to a culture...Read more

The Lorax would be appalled: In 2024, trees vanished faster than ever before—forests the size of 18 soccer fields disappeared every minute, according to researchers at the University of Maryland and the World Resources Institute.

This record-breaking loss included 6.7 million hectares of rainforest, much of which was purposely burned to ...Read more

Lunging men are perceived as dangerous.

In an America that has long weaponized descriptions of how men of color look and move to justify use of force, that is especially true of dark men lunging at white women.

So when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said after Sen. Alex Padilla interrupted her news conference Thursday that “people ...Read more

The epiphany of common sense came late in an otherwise tedious congressional subcommittee hearing, and from a Democrat, Representative Jim Costa. He gets that Republicans and the administration of Donald Trump take pride in exerting “maximum pressure” on Iran, Costa made clear. But at this “seminal moment in American and world history,” ...Read more

The U.S. population includes an estimated 65.2 million Latinos, nearly a quarter of whom call California home. For over a century, Latinos were absent from the state’s two U.S. Senate seats.

In 2022, Sen. Alex Padilla reversed the willful neglect of Latino senatorial candidates by both major political parties, winning 61.1% of the vote, more...Read more