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Pass the Major Richard Star Act

Major kudos to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. During his testimony before Senate Armed Forces Committee, Hegseth was asked by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal if he will support the Major Richard Star Act. Hegseth affirmed his support. The act was first introduced in 2023 but has not moved forward because of Republican opposition. Now, with the Defense secretary on record in support of this legislation, its prospect for passage dramatically improves. And indeed, it should be passed. Veterans who are injured and disabled in the course of military service, but manage ...

Hantavirus cruise: A ‘Ship of Fools’

On April 1, 114 guests and 61 crew members, unaware of the presence of a killer virus among them, boarded the MV Hondius. That ship has earned the moniker "Ship of Fools." Because of the top brass's reckless disregard of infection control principles, the ship's passengers and thousands of people around the world have been exposed to the rare Andes strain of the hantavirus, a disease found in rat urine and feces, and which has a 40% mortality rate. Among the passengers who boarded that day was a 70-year-old birdwatcher who had spent his final days ashore traipsing through an ...

What is status of national debt?

The U.S. national debt just crossed a once-unthinkable threshold on the way toward breaking the record set in the wake of World War II: It now exceeds 100% of America's gross domestic product. As of March 31, our publicly held debt was $31.27 trillion, while America's GDP in 2025 was $31.22 trillion. This puts the ratio at 100.2%, compared with 99.5% when the last fiscal year ended Sept. 30. That 100.2% figure will likely climb, because the federal government is running historically large annual deficits of nearly 6% of GDP, which add to the debt. The final tally will depend on Iran ...

Rubio’s mission was persuading rightness

It must be the highlight for any Roman Catholic to meet the head of his church. So it must have been last week for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a practicing Catholic. Rubio was on more than a spiritual journey. His mission was to persuade Pope Leo XIV of the rightness, even the righteousness, of the Trump administration's actions to destroy Iran's goal of acquiring a nuclear weapon and likely using it as a means of intimidation, or possibly launching it as a weapon of war. The Pope is committed to resolving disputes through diplomacy. That course would be worth pursuing if Iran's ...

Tell women truth about motherhood

America loves to celebrate mothers while doing little to inspire young women to become them. The biggest news this Mother's Day is how few new moms there are. The U.S. fertility rate hit another record low, according to CDC data released last month. There were 53.1 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age. That was a 1% drop from 2024 and a 23% decline since 2007. There is much debate about why this is happening, especially since it's a worldwide phenomenon. While there are lots of factors at play, consider this question. What is the good life? For millennia, the ...

Yesterday’s Question

Have you continued to work remote since COVID-19? Yes 6.19% Would like to 6.19% Work both office and remote 4.12% Don't work 83.51%