Ballotpedia tracks what it calls a “personal gain index” showing how much each member of Congress’ personal wealth has changed while in office. For the top 20, the average increase in net worth has been 422% per year. Data like that helps explain why regular Americans hold Congress in such low esteem, as they watch their supposed public servants seemingly benefiting personally from their positions. Bipartisan legislation in Congress to prohibit its members from buying and selling stocks while in office could help rebuild that trust.

It was only three months ago that surgeons successfully attached a kidney from a genetically altered pig to a human recipient. Since then, new successes continue to pile on. In December, the kidney procedure was successfully repeated. Then, earlier this month, we celebrated another huge leap forward in such xenotransplantation: Surgeons successfully transplanted a pig heart into a human patient who lives in the Baltimore area. For this accomplishment, congratulations are in order.

Israel became the United Nations’ 59th member on May 11, 1949. In the seven decades since, the General Assembly, now numbering 193 countries, has passed uncounted resolutions blasting the Mideast’s sole democracy. Slander and libel and unfairness by a majority of tyrannies gathered at Turtle Bay against the world’s only Jewish state is mind-numbingly routine.

Chicago is one of a handful of American cities where a deadly fungal infection, Candida auris, has been spreading rapidly.

During his single presidential term, Donald Trump had a penchant for referring to federal judges and Supreme Court justices as though they ruled based on loyalty to the presidents who nominated them. Thus, Trump suggested, there were “Obama judges” and Trump judges. In 2018, Chief Justice John Roberts issued a stern rebuke: “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.” He added, “That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

Today marks the 49th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade that guaranteed the right to an abortion. Will it be the last?

As the warmth of the holiday season ebbs, Americans are taking a cold look at their Christmas gifts. Many don’t like what they see.

The recent hostage crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, is a reminder that antisemitism is a growing and global scourge, one that has forced synagogues across the U.S. and Europe to post armed guards and bar their doors. The idea that members of Congress would block any efforts to combat it is shameful.

As a pulmonary and critical care physician in Southern California treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19, I am noticing a rising tension. Beyond just being overwhelmed, we are now part of the collateral damage.

With a massive backlog of unprocessed returns, staffing struggles and added work from extended pandemic programs, the IRS has warned taxpayers of impending delays in processing their returns.

It’s hard to know which is more messed up these days — air transportation, or the Biden Administration. As another case in point, consider the clash between airlines and wireless carriers over 5G.

Top-ranked tennis star Novak Djokovic finally got his comeuppance for reckless behavior unbecoming of a global sports ambassador. Australia’s government deported him, and his exclusion from the Australian Open stalls Djokovic’s quest for a record 21 major championship titles. Even if he does ultimately outshine rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the court, he has ensured he’ll forever walk in their shadows as players who recognize their roles as leaders on the world stage and who inspire fans young and old by behaving honorably and responsibly.

Loneliness has been one of the greatest harms of the pandemic, and some people are more afflicted than others. In general, those at the very top and the very bottom of the socioeconomic ladder have had the most chances to meet and socialize, while those in between have suffered the worst consequences.

New results from a long-running public opinion survey show that about 1 in 3 Americans is now “alarmed” by global warming. Is it any wonder, given the horrific onslaught of fires, floods, heat waves and other climate disasters we’ve experienced in the last year alone?

You can’t just throw money at a problem and expect it to disappear. But, in a way, that’s what the Biden administration is proposing.

On Jan. 11, 2002, a U.S. military plane landed at our base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the first men deemed “the worst of the worst” by then-Vice President Dick Cheney were brought into the now-infamous detention center. Jumah Al-Dossari, a citizen of both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia whom I would eventually represent, arrived a few days later. He was held as an “enemy combatant” based on the accusation that he was a member of al-Qaida, a claim made without substantiation or allegation that he had done anything to harm the U.S., its citizens or its allies.

Even as COVID-19 cases spiked last month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut in half the amount of time that people should remain in isolation after infection if they are without symptoms — and eliminated the recommendation that they get a negative test before they start interacting with other people. The change caused an outcry among many scientific experts who thought it was reckless.

Imagine getting ready to leave work when you suddenly get a call that your mother has been in a serious car accident and is in the hospital. At the emergency room, the nurses tell you that she has been rushed into surgery. After several hours, her surgeon comes out and tells you that she survived in large part due to blood donations from strangers.