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Five tests of American restraint

Five seemingly unrelated developments — the Supreme Court’s intervention in mail-in ballot rules, a federal judge’s decision affecting foreign students and journalists, the blockade threatening Saudi Arabia, an unusual alliance in Michigan politics, and the accelerating power of artificial intelligence — are testing whether American institutions can exercise authority without abandoning restraint. Let’s begin with the Supreme Court’s decision concerning mail-in ballots. The Trump administration asked the justices to permit new Postal Service requirements before the ...

A convoluted scheme to pay parents to stay at home

Vice President JD Vance wants to pay married parents to stay home with their children, and he wants to do it with money Congress appropriated to help low-income families afford day care. Whatever one thinks of the goal, which may prove popular, the proposal fails every test we should apply to government subsidies. That’s because the proposal corrects no market failure. It pays people for choices they’re already making. It adds a new claimant class to a budget that cannot carry the ones already promised something. And it does all of this without a workable plan to pay for ...

Dear Annie: ‘Retired’ husband puts their golden years on hold

Dear Annie: My husband retired last year after 40 years as an engineer, and we finally started planning the life we’d been talking about for decades: travel, hobbies, quality time together. But three months after he retired, he accepted a series of offers for “small consulting projects.” He accepted without checking with me, and since then, it’s been a series of “just one more” promises. He finally left his full-time job, but he’s working as much as ever. We’ve already had to postpone a trip because of his shifting availability, and I’m starting to wonder if he ...

Some people do well with lower doses of GLP-1 agonists

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’ve been on Zepbound for about eight months. I’ve had fantastic results as far as weight loss, and I’m building muscle back. The problem is that I’ve constantly had to push back on increasing my dose. I started at 2.5 mg, then 5 mg, then 7.5 mg. My body couldn’t handle 7.5 mg, so I asked to go back to 5 mg. My weight loss slowed down, but I was still losing weight and was happy with this. With the 7.5-mg dose, I couldn’t eat anything, which meant that I always felt tired, couldn’t get my proteins, and didn’t have energy to work out. Also, my hair ...

When AI hands us lemons, states should make clean-energy lemonade

In 2026, Americans have been handed two lemons: a warming climate and an artificial intelligence data-center boom straining the nation’s electricity and water systems. Maybe it’s time to squeeze them together and make lemonade. First lemon: Temperatures are rising around the world. Western Europe suffered a record heat wave this summer. Spain, for example, recorded 61 heat wave days, with Barcelona hitting 105 F, the hottest temperature since measurements began over a century ago. Researchers suspect rapid glacial melting and unusually warm conditions contributed to a catastrophic ...

Dear Annie: Parents’ generosity has its price

Dear Annie: My fiance and I are getting married next spring, and my parents generously offered to help pay for the cost of the wedding. We were thrilled. Weddings are expensive, and money is tight. But I quickly realized that this might actually be a mistake. Their contributions come with strings attached, and my mother seems to think this is her wedding, too. She already vetoed my venue and hired a florist I never approved. Every time I talk to her, she has a new idea. I’ve gently reminded her that this is not her wedding, but she always hits me with the credit card guilt. I love ...