by John L Micek

Quiet the hate: Top ten cartoons of the week

At times I wish we could go back to the days when extremists with the lowest intelligence and loudest voices didn't have digital megaphones spreading their garbage. Our most popular cartoon of the week by far, drawn John Darkow, touches on that thoug..

February 12, 2026

The best-laid plans

My five-year plan is currently on year eight. Look, it’s not my fault that it takes me time to do things. Okay, so maybe “time” is a misnomer. Maybe I did spend two hours ordering a pizza when it could have taken me 15 minutes. But I had to ch..

Shutting down birth hotels another line of defense against China

Thanks to questionable programs like birthright citizenship, and chain migration, as many as 1.5 million Chinese may be eligible to vote by 2030. The startling number, revealed in Peter Schweizer’s new best selling book, “The Invisible Coup: How..

Older generations teach the lost art of romance

Note to Editors: A prior version of this column was distributed in 2024. All my father ever wanted as a young man was to marry my mother and start a family — plans that were interrupted when he was drafted into the Army during the Korean conflict...

We should care more about Trump’s racist post

It's worth pausing for a moment to recall just a few days ago, President Donald Trump shared a racist clip on his social media account that showed the heads of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama transplanted onto a mo..

February 11, 2026

Do we expect too much from our dogs? 

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree “Lean on me/When you’re not strong/And I’ll be your friend/I’ll help you carry your Frisbee.” - apologies to Bill Withers. I was intrigued by a recent article by Margret Grebowicz, a philosophy professor at Missouri..

Girl Scout cookies vs. the inverted food pyramid

Girl Scout cookies are back, and the new inverted food pyramid gives me permission to eat them — sort of. I’m addicted to Girl Scout cookies, you see. I measure Thin Mints servings by the sleeve, not the cookie. I gobble down Tagalongs the way g..

February 10, 2026

Antisemitism and blatant hatred on display in Philly

One of my favorite stars is Gregory Peck, because he embodied what I always believed to be the American ideal: a handsome man who spoke quietly, but whose moral center was rock solid. Of course, he was Atticus Finch, fighting racists in the Deep Sou..

February 9, 2026

Trump’s racism is sadly in sync with the American id

My friends would tell you I have a freakish memory. On the up side, I know the date of the Mets-Pirates double-header I saw at Shea Stadium (July 3, 1966), and I know the date I was hiking the rim of a canyon in Yellowstone (July 30, 1977). But on t..

Too much news: Top ten cartoons of the week

Are we ever going to have another slow news week? Trump threatening to nationalize elections, A.I.'s continued stampede through our lives, the Washington Post's implosion, and the Super Bowl are just some of the topics that made our list of the most ..

February 5, 2026

Ahead of the Super Bowl, thinking of Broadway Joe

I’ve been around long enough to have seen the Super Bowl games since the first one kicked off in 1967. “Seen” is too strong a word. Early on, I watched every play, glued to the television. But for the last several years, the game has been on b..

Lawncare woes

People say I’m stubborn about lawncare, but I’m not. I look at every suggestion with an open mind before I say “No.” The trouble of living in New Jersey is that my lawn decides to die right about September and continues to be yellow and wisp..

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