'I'm taking a stand against jacked-up airline fees by taking the middle seat'
Blake Fontenay at USA Today
Ordering a "plane ticket now is like buying a car — after you've made your purchasing decision and are ready to get on with the rest of your life, you're bombarded with decisions about add-on fees," says Blake Fontenay. Choices "must be made about how many bags you want to check, whether you want 'priority seating' and whether to add" insurance. Shouldn't "everybody get refunds if flights are cancelled, regardless of whether they've made an impulse buy for travel insurance?"
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'Remember the real victims of Jeffrey Epstein'
Renée Graham at The Boston Globe
President Donald Trump is "not a victim of a vast left-wing conspiracy. He's not a victim at all," says Renée Graham. Those "who most deserve empathy and answers are the girls — now women — victimized by Epstein and others. Trump is "getting what he deserves." The "focus shouldn't be on the president's latest attempt to use victimhood and lies as a shield from responsibility, but in inching closer to some small justice for the victims and survivors."
'It's okay to go no-contact with your MAGA relatives'
Sarah Jones at Intelligencer
Young adults are "going no-contact with parents and other relatives, often because of politics," says Sarah Jones. The "usual narrative pits liberals against MAGA elders." Sometimes the "act of knowing a person leaves you with no choice but to move on without them." Though "shunning won't work as a political strategy, there are still natural consequences for the way we speak and behave." Politics "never stopped at the family front door. Why pretend otherwise?"
'Ivy leaguers aren't auto workers'
Dominic Pino at the National Review
Why "do graduate students at private universities get to pretend they're auto workers or electrical workers?" says Dominic Pino. Thousands of "U.S. grad students at elite universities" are "now members of traditionally blue-collar unions." Graduate "students at public universities are sometimes allowed to unionize depending on state laws." Ivy Leaguers "can be transformed into auto workers and unions can coerce graduate students into paying them, as long as three out of five unelected lawyers agree."
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Trump’s trade war: has China won?Talking Point US president wanted to punish Beijing, but the Asian superpower now holds the whip hand
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Gregory Bovino: the officer leading Trump’s strong-arm immigration tacticsIn the Spotlight He has been referred to as the Border Patrol’s ‘commander-at-large’
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‘This is where adaptation enters’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Trump ordered to fully fund SNAPSpeed Read The Justice Department is appealing the decision
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‘These wouldn’t be playgrounds for billionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Trump tariffs face stiff scrutiny at Supreme CourtSpeed Read Even some of the Court’s conservative justices appeared skeptical
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FAA to cut air travel as record shutdown rolls onSpeed Read Up to 40 airports will be affected
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The longest US government shutdown in historyThe Explainer Federal employees and low-income households have been particularly affected by ‘partisan standoffs’ in Washington
