“This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America’s greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people — our strength — from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation. [...]
Archive for the ‘America’ Category
What’s with sky-high home prices?
Young adults starting out can’t buy houses in Washington (or in a lot of other places). A Seattle Times article (here) of May 12, 2024, says two-thirds of Washington’s under-35 adults are renting, and in King County three-fourths are, many because they can’t afford starter homes. T[...]
May 11th, 2024 - 3:04 pm § in America
Are police killing more people?
To find out, I went looking for charts, and because I can’t cut-and-paste some of them, you’ll have to click through links to see them. Let’s start with this chart from Statistica that gives numbers for 2017-2023. While the number increased every year, the uptrend was slight until [...]
Has Hamas won?
“Know your enemy better than you know yourself,” Sun Tzu wrote, or phrasing to that effect. If Hamas leaders are truly diabolical, they would carry out an attack on Israel so atrocious it would provoke a gross overreaction. That’s exactly what happened. What’s in it for Hamas[...]
June 11th, 2023 - 11:44 pm § in America, Biden, Christianity, Democrats, Donald Trump, Economics, Law and Courts, Politics, Racism, Religion, Republicans
What’s at stake in Trump’s trial
Now that he’s been indicted, Trump is entitled to a presumption of innocence, and a fair trial. Those are bedrock principles of the U.S. legal system. Trump “has a lot at stake” in the case, a New York Times writer says. “He could, in theory, go to prison for years.” Bu[...]
June 9th, 2023 - 2:12 am § in America, Biden, Christianity, Democrats, Donald Trump, Law and Courts, Politics, Religion, Republicans
Republicans are outraged Trump is indicted for breaking the law
Trump’s MAGA movement caught many Americans by surprise. They’ve never seen anything like it before. This is the first time anyone has tried to overthrow our democracy. To outsiders, Trump looks like a pied piper leading a crowd of zombies into a never-never land of lies, fantasies, and [...]
March 15th, 2023 - 5:11 pm § in America, Biden, Donald Trump, Europe, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Republicans, Russia, Schools & Colleges
Foreign policy …
… is the most important task a president does. It’s literally about war and peace. But this poses a conundrum, because presidential campaigns are waged and won or lost on domestic issues; politics is very much a “what will you do for me” affair. (The softer and more polite wa[...]
March 5th, 2023 - 5:51 pm § in America, Biden, China, Democrats, Donald Trump, Economics, Europe, Foreign Affairs, Hypocrisy, News Media, Politics, Republicans, Russia
Fact-checking Trump’s CPAC lies
Journalist, pesky creatures they are, like to fact-check political speeches. CNN says Trump delivered a “doozy” at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C. on Saturday, March 4, 2023 (see story here). By now, his M.O. is familiar: Portray America as a post-a[...]
GOP legislator’s anti-LGBQT hate tax
Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton (the gunman in the photo below; read his bio here), a former preacher-man, is a hater. He was elected by country hicks in northeast Texas (details here and here). The product of a Baptist bible college, he wants the state to kill doctors who perform abortions, and wome[...]
Will China down a U.S. “spy plane” over its “sovereign territory”?
Earlier this month the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon after it crossed all of North America, lingering over military sites. It came down in U.S. territorial waters inside the 12-mile limit. On the other side of the world, the U.S. routinely conducts military flights over the South China Sea. S[...]