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“It’s a miracle!” said the doctor. “You’ve awakened from a coma after 10 years. You must have some questions.”

“For sure,” said the patient. “I remember most of President Barack Obama’s time in office, a time of unity, hope and change. Americans must be getting along better than ever by now?”

“It’s best we discuss ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Meet one of the patron saints of the Texas tornado that helped turn a red state into a purple one.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was a 52-year-old construction worker in Houston with a wife and three children. He had come from Mexico without authorization more than three decades ago as a teenager. His lack of legal status did not ...Read more

Note to editors dnly (do not publish this line): A version of this column was distributed in 2024.

As I explain in my humor book, “Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood,” Thursday night was grocery shopping night and the best night of the week.

Shopping with dad

Right after dinner, my father and I would board our 1970 Plymouth Fury III ...Read more

Survey data published last week show a sharp decrease in violent crime from 2024 to 2025, which is consistent with FBI numbers released last summer. Although the Trump administration has tried to take credit for that welcome development, there are several reasons to doubt such claims.

In August, the FBI reported that the U.S. homicide rate ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Writing a column won't win you any popularity contests. At least, not if you do it correctly.

Yet, for the nearly 40 years that I've been expressing my opinion in print, I've held firm to one unpopular opinion in particular. It goes like this: The political parties are more alike than they are different.

I first noticed it a ...Read more

Veteran suicide remains a serious national problem, but recently released data show that expanded access to care is helping save lives.

Moral injury

According to the September 2026 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, 6,488 veterans died by suicide in 2024 — an average of 17.7 a day, down from 18.2 a day in 2023.

Still, the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- The Sleeping Giant is wide awake. He's fed up. He's furious. And, unfortunately for MAGA, he's wearing a sticker that reads: "I Voted."

The Nov. 3 election is still a few days away. But already, more than 40 million Americans have voted early. About half of those ballots were cast in person in states where polling places are open, ...Read more

Years ago, I bought a contraption designed to separate and concentrate the most volatile components of a liquid mixture. I would tell you what I did with it, but I don't want to implicate myself in a federal felony.

Since 1868, it has been illegal for Americans to locate a "distilled spirits plant" in "any dwelling place," an offense ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- In the 1980s, there was a famous ad campaign for Doritos starring a young stand-up comic named Jay Leno. The idea was that customers loved the crunchy tortilla chips so much that the supply could run out. The comedian assured us there was no need to worry. "Crunch all you want," Leno said. "We'll make more."

As a native ...Read more

On Halloween night in 1974, 8-year-old Timothy O’Bryan became the first child in American history to die from intentionally poisoned Halloween candy.

After trick-or-treating in his Pasadena, Texas, neighborhood, he began to consume a Giant Pixy Stix that had been laced with potassium cyanide.

Timothy fell violently ill within moments and ...Read more

Although I always complained about the BCS era of college football, when the Coaches' Poll and the AP Poll rankings were used with computer algorithms that factored in strength of schedule and win-loss records to crown a national champion, I'm now beginning to think this 16-year period really captured what fans love about the regular season. ...Read more

Since 1871, a federal statute has authorized Americans to sue state and local officials for violating their constitutional rights. But since 1982, thanks to the court-invented doctrine of qualified immunity, such claims have been allowed only when they allege violations of "clearly established" law.

Because courts often require plaintiffs to ...Read more

Technology has enabled a new breed of bullying, and it’s nastier than ever.

Bullying transformation

In 1972, when I was 10, Franky Leper busted my handmade go-cart into pieces, then shoved me into the mud.

Leper was in his teens, then — a big, fat, man-sized kid — and I stood no chance.

But my older sister, Kris — then 5 feet tall ...Read more

There was a bit of good news at the end of September, when the Census Bureau released its 2025 poverty report. Last year, 34.5 million Americans lived in poverty, a rate of 10.2%. Although this was a historic low, the Census Bureau's supplemental poverty measure was slightly higher at 13.1%. The supplemental poverty measure includes refundable...Read more

Dear Lindsey,

Your body had not long been in the grave when your pal Donald Trump made the anti-Russia legislation that carried your name a nullity. Wondering how you'd feel about this if you were around to see it. The whole point of your last decade of life was the belief (or was it a rationalization?) that by truckling to Trump you could do...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- In the 2026 midterm elections, ICE is on the ballot. So it makes sense that -- in states where Republicans expect to take a beating -- the Trump administration has ramped up ICE enforcement to scare voters away from the ballot box.

A recent poll by the University of San Diego showed that 40% of Americans believe that ICE agents ...Read more