Hurricane Milton seen from the International Space Station. Photograph by NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy Commander Matthew Dominick.
As “A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes” by Eric Jay Dolin demonstrates, hurricanes in the United States have always been about two kinds of storms — meteorological and political.
Read MoreFrom left, President Joe Biden takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2021 as wife Jill and children Ashley and Hunter look on. Courtesy the White House.
Context drives perception. What may be perceived as a strength in one scenario may be an Achilles’ heel in another.
Privilege raised Hunter Biden up. And privilege, which enabled his long addiction, may send him to prison for lying about that addiction on a gun application.
Read MoreThe Manhattan Criminal Courthouse where the hush-money election interference trial took place. Photograph by Ajay Suresh.
What’s the old saying about a person representing himself having a fool for a client? Now that the “trial of the century” is over, former President Donald J. Trump has been convicted on 34 counts related to election interference and the postmortem is in full swing, about the only thing that hasn’t been discussed is how Trump’s narcissistic approach to life — deny, deny deny; attack, attack, attack — cost him any chance of a hung jury or even victory.
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Read MoreScales of justice: In “The Egyptian Book of the Dead” (1275 B.C., papyrus), the heart of the deceased is weighed against the feather of truth. Woe to any heart that does not balance with the feather. Courtesy British Museum.
In the civil fraud case brought by the state of New York — as opposed to the criminal fraud case that began Monday, April 22, in Lower Manhattan — former President Donald J. Trump complained that he was denied a trial by jury, even though his lawyers failed to ask for a jury trial.
Now Trump has his jury — seven men and five women of various races, ethnicities and professional backgrounds — and he, of course, is still not happy. It’s understandable. He’s forced to sit quietly — well perhaps not so quietly outside the courtroom and on Truth Social — listening to people say unpleasant things about him when he could be out on the campaign trail saying unpleasant things about others. (It’s the saying of unpleasant things in violation of his latest gag order that could net Trump fines or worse.) Life is not fair, he thinks. But then, how fare is it to jurors and the hush-money trial jurors in particular?
Read MoreLeonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is a lightning rod for climate activists. But why?
On Jan. 28, activists from the environmental group Riposte Alimentaire (Food Response) tossed soup at Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” to protest the state of the French agricultural system.
The painting 1503-06, poplar on panel), which hangs behind bulletproof glass in the Musée du Louvre, was unharmed and guards soon restored order.
This isn’t the first time the painting has been attacked nor is it alone in its appeal to climate activists looking to make a statement. Their point seems to be we care more about art than the environment. But is that a valid point?
Read MoreNikki Haley, seen on the campaign trail in Iowa, has vowed to fight on for the Republican presidential nomination, even after losing the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary to former President Donald J. Trump. Photograph by Gage Skidmore.
As I returned a purchase in a shopping center on a particularly cold Sunday, an extraordinary thing occurred: A flock of pigeons came running up to me in the parking lot as if it were 1964, I were the Beatles and they were a gaggle of teenage girls. One “fan” even aggressively perched on my car roof.
For a moment I was reminded of Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” but only for a moment. Extricating myself and securing the car, I returned the merchandise, wandering around the store a bit. Poor things, I thought of the birds. They were probably only looking for some crumbs. But with several eateries in the center, I was sure they wouldn’t go hungry.
When I returned to the parking lot, the birds were gathered around another car and driver, with a lot more of them perched on his roof. (Adulation is so fickle.) That’s when I realized in Sherlock Holmesian fashion that they were not looking just for food. They had figured out that each new car that arrived offered momentary warmth against a cold, mostly open space.
Nature is so smart. Human nature, not so much. Witness, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Exhibit A — the Republican caucuses and primaries.
Read MoreTaylor Swift at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. Courtesy iHeartRadioCA.
When Peggy Noonan, who was one of President Ronald Reagan’s speechwriters, writes in The Wall Street Journal, that Taylor Swift should be Time magazine’s Person of the Year, you know that Swift has captured the zeitgeist.
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