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The MOU with Iran is just awful

Last week, my column dealt with President Donald Trump’s declaration that the “Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete” — it isn’t — and the release of the White House’s “Talking Points” related to the already infamous “Memorandum of Understanding” that has been signed and is now being sold (unconvincingly) by Vice President JD Vance who has suddenly reappeared on the scene. And as we expected, the MOU — which was supposedly so amazing that the Trump administration refused to publish it until after it was signed — is just awful, demonstrating in ...

General Time is undefeated in battle

I am on a mudslide toward death. Well, we all are, really, when you think about it, but sometimes it just seems you’re slipping down the side of the mountain faster than at other times. Like, for example, when you’re approaching a birthday that starts with a “fif” and ends with crying in the car because the clouds are moving too quickly overhead. It’s not as silly as it sounds — though it is, admittedly, fairly silly. I had dropped off the kids at camp and was driving back to the house when I got to a stoplight. I looked up and saw shocking blue, scattered white puffballs ...

Ohio is ripe with summer destinations

Efforts by those promoting Ohio as “the heart of it all” have caught the attention of researchers studying road-trip destinations across the country. In fact, according to WalletHub’s “Best and Worst States for Summer Road Trips (2026),” Ohio is ranked 10th. The Buckeye State is 24th for costs, 25th for safety and 14th for activities. In Ohio, those dealing with a vehicle break-down will be second-least in the country for repairs, according to the study. Good to know, even if your “road trip” is just to work and back every day. In other categories, researchers said ...

Pass salt, 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 ...

Threats to US greatness loom large as America turns 250

Success often sows the seeds of future failure. That’s the danger America faces now. America is a great and powerful country. But this shouldn’t blind us to an obvious historical reality. Great empires rise — and fall. Just look at the history of the Roman Empire. Or the Babylonian Empire. Or the Mongol Empire. Success often comes with a temptation — to abandon the things that made you successful. Think about an athlete who’s spent a decade training for six hours a day, six days a week. He makes it to the pros and signs a big contract. Suddenly, he’s a ...

Get to know data centers before simply rejecting them

It’s a tradition like no other. Several entities — Merriam-Webster and Oxford University Press among them — pick a term and proclaim it the Word of the Year. We’ve had slop, rage bait, six-seven, brain rot, rizz, authentic, goblin mode and gaslighting blow up in recent years. Based on news mentions during the first half of 2026, it appears that the leader at the turn for this year’s Word of the Year is data centers. They’re a hot topic because they’re popping up all over the country as our collective love affair with tech and all that comes with it continues and ...