Many of today's consumer loans are legal but abusive. Payday lenders and used car sellers often steer customers into costly contracts they barely understand. Low-income borrowers with jobs, and therefore, dependable cash flow to siphon off, are favored targets. Sure, there's a sucker born ...

First off, I have to apologize. The trip to the Redwoods was entirely my idea. I was seized with the compulsion to go before the war with Iran broke out. Naturally, I assumed that if we took a trip with lots of long drives that gas prices would go up for the occasion, but I had no idea it would ...

No nation has expressed more lofty ideals than the USA did 250 years ago in its Declaration of Independence. The overall purpose of the Declaration was to throw off the yoke of British imperialism. To prove the illegitimacy of British imperial rule, the declaration proclaimed that governments ...

Smoking or non-smoking? For those of a certain age, this was a question you’d get asked when entering a restaurant, or when booking flights or hotel rooms. People smoked absolutely everywhere: buses, airplanes, offices, schools, at home. Even in hospitals. NHL players used to smoke in the ...

The 2026 World Cup came to a close Sunday with Spain defeating Argentina 1-0 in an extra-time thriller. Overall, the World Cup hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico has been a huge hit and there were so many feel-good stories. Whether it was foreign visitors falling in love with our ...

There's poison in the air outside my house, a bitter smoke of ashes and hot freeway, and it is keeping us all inside. Yesterday morning, the kids' summer camp announced that the planned trip to the pool had been cancelled. They would do activities indoors all day. "How high can it get?" ...