To be American… does it mean that you “have” freedom? You own it? Is it a thing you can grasp with your hands? Or does it mean that others may not grasp you – and that is your ‘freedom’? Freedom is freedom, I would think, when it applies to everyone. If you were in Iran or Pakistan and wanted to listen to your favorite music but were not allowed to due to some religious law, but someone else is allowed to listen to their favorite music, then that is not freedom.

Americans are skipping restaurant dinners, delaying car purchases and scouring for grocery deals. Amid tariff anxiety and broader stress over affordability, consumer confidence has dropped to levels not seen in over a decade, according to The Conference Board, a business think tank. At this point, it’s wealthier consumers who are powering the bulk of spending in the U.S. economy.

So what explains the success of Erewhon’s US$22 smoothie?

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Las Vegas Review-Journal announced Friday that it will no longer print its rival the Las Vegas Sun for the first time in decades, sharpening a legal dispute over the nation’s last joint operating agreement stemming from a 1970 law designed to preserve newspapers.

Readers “will not find a printed Las Vegas Sun insert inside,” the Review-Journal said in an editorial, noting the Sun maintains a website, has a few hundred thousand followers across social media platforms, and is free to produce its own newspaper.