If the Democrats were decent on immigration, not deplorable, they would tell Trump supporters that ending US wars and predatory trade agreements would stop immigration, or most of it, because most people would rather stay home and speak their own languages instead of fleeing bombs and economic desperation. They would have demanded that their 2016 presidential candidate explain those realities to Trump supporters instead of calling them “a basket of deplorables.” They would demand that Trump keep his promises to stop the invasions of Middle Eastern nations and revoke the trade agreements...…If the Democrats were decent on immigration, not deplorable, they would tell Trump supporters that ending US wars and predatory trade agreements would stop immigration, or most of it, because most people would rather stay home and speak their own languages instead of fleeing bombs and economic desperation. They would have demanded that their 2016 presidential candidate explain those realities to Trump supporters instead of calling them “a basket of deplorables.” They would demand that Trump keep his promises to stop the invasions of Middle Eastern nations and revoke the trade agreements...WW…

Photograph Source: John Loo –American universities are failing. They are private or public schools. They could be religiously-affiliated or not. They could be in the east, west, north, or south of the United States.  They traditionally emphasized liberal arts. They are facing an enrollment and budget crunch for several years, seeing that the declining number of eighteen-year-olds in the coming years poses an existential threat. It has a modest endowment. It is not an elite school. It is a school like the one that many professors teach at.  It was failing before Covid-19. It may...…Photograph Source: John Loo –American universities are failing. They are private or public schools. They could be religiously-affiliated or not. They could be in the east, west, north, or south of the United States.  They traditionally emphasized liberal arts. They are facing an enrollment and budget crunch for several years, seeing that the declining number of eighteen-year-olds in the coming years poses an existential threat. It has a modest endowment. It is not an elite school. It is a school like the one that many professors teach at.  It was failing before Covid-19. It may...WW…

Australia has a mixed relationship with the United Nations Human Rights Committee.  Irritation, dismissal and even the occasional openly hostile comment, have registered.  But in 1994, the filtered through the Australian legal process, leading the federal government to remove archaically noxious provisions in the Tasmanian criminal code criminalising sodomy.The UNHRC has since found Australia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to be patchy.  In November 2017, the body released its observations in a five-year review of the Commonwealth’s...…Australia has a mixed relationship with the United Nations Human Rights Committee.  Irritation, dismissal and even the occasional openly hostile comment, have registered.  But in 1994, the filtered through the Australian legal process, leading the federal government to remove archaically noxious provisions in the Tasmanian criminal code criminalising sodomy.The UNHRC has since found Australia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to be patchy.  In November 2017, the body released its observations in a five-year review of the Commonwealth’s...WW…

Photograph Source: Eli Christman –Congress seems to be at war with the states. Only $150 billion of its nearly $3 trillion coronavirus relief package – a mere 5% – has been allocated to the 50 states; and they are not allowed to use it where they need it most, to plug the holes in their budgets caused by the mandatory shutdown. On April 22, Senate Majority Leader he was opposed to additional federal aid to the states, and that his preference was to allow states to go bankrupt.No such threat looms over the banks, which have made out extremely well in this crisis. The Federal Reserve has...…Photograph Source: Eli Christman –Congress seems to be at war with the states. Only $150 billion of its nearly $3 trillion coronavirus relief package – a mere 5% – has been allocated to the 50 states; and they are not allowed to use it where they need it most, to plug the holes in their budgets caused by the mandatory shutdown. On April 22, Senate Majority Leader he was opposed to additional federal aid to the states, and that his preference was to allow states to go bankrupt.No such threat looms over the banks, which have made out extremely well in this crisis. The Federal Reserve has...WW…

Right to left: They are Erik Wennstrom, Neil Clasen, Chief Pollack, Hollywood Dan and the author. Photo: Eric WennstromWhen you’re going through hell, keep going.– Winston ChurchillShould you ever find yourself surrounded by flames a hundred feet high, surely you will find yourself. I was brewing an untenable third cup of coffee when two firefighters clad in Nomex brush-gear pulled up outside the kitchen window in a golf cart. I went out and wished them a good morning. According to them it was not a good morning. A fire was on its way: evacuation level two, poised to go to three.“What...…Right to left: They are Erik Wennstrom, Neil Clasen, Chief Pollack, Hollywood Dan and the author. Photo: Eric WennstromWhen you’re going through hell, keep going.– Winston ChurchillShould you ever find yourself surrounded by flames a hundred feet high, surely you will find yourself. I was brewing an untenable third cup of coffee when two firefighters clad in Nomex brush-gear pulled up outside the kitchen window in a golf cart. I went out and wished them a good morning. According to them it was not a good morning. A fire was on its way: evacuation level two, poised to go to three.“What...WW…

At breakneck speed Brooke Pinto has gone from virtually unknown to one of only 13 DC councilmembers, who, along with the mayor, oversee the city’s $8.5 billion budget. As the dust settles on Pinto’s stunning win, questions about the 28-year-old are growing.Now there’s a new one to add to the mix: What’s Pinto’s connection to Mar-a-Lago?Six months after Donald Trump kicked off his racist bid for the White House, Pinto and her family appear to have celebrated 2015-16 New Year’s Eve at Trump’s Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago., Pinto appears to be pictured with her siblings and cousin Joanna Pinto...…At breakneck speed Brooke Pinto has gone from virtually unknown to one of only 13 DC councilmembers, who, along with the mayor, oversee the city’s $8.5 billion budget. As the dust settles on Pinto’s stunning win, questions about the 28-year-old are growing.Now there’s a new one to add to the mix: What’s Pinto’s connection to Mar-a-Lago?Six months after Donald Trump kicked off his racist bid for the White House, Pinto and her family appear to have celebrated 2015-16 New Year’s Eve at Trump’s Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago., Pinto appears to be pictured with her siblings and cousin Joanna Pinto...WW…

Photograph by Nathaniel St. ClairBeginning on March 24 of this year, Larry Kudlow, the White House Economic Advisor, began to roll out the most deviously designed bailout of Wall Street in the history of America. After the Federal Reserve’s secret $29 trillion bailout of Wall Street from 2007 to 2010, and the exposure of that by a government audit and in 2011, Kudlow was going to have to come up with a brilliant strategy to sell another multi-trillion-dollar Wall Street bailout to the American people.The scheme was brilliant (in an evil genius sort of way) and audacious in employing an...…Photograph by Nathaniel St. ClairBeginning on March 24 of this year, Larry Kudlow, the White House Economic Advisor, began to roll out the most deviously designed bailout of Wall Street in the history of America. After the Federal Reserve’s secret $29 trillion bailout of Wall Street from 2007 to 2010, and the exposure of that by a government audit and in 2011, Kudlow was going to have to come up with a brilliant strategy to sell another multi-trillion-dollar Wall Street bailout to the American people.The scheme was brilliant (in an evil genius sort of way) and audacious in employing an...WW…

Support Our Annual Fund Drive!We don’t shake our readers down for money every month or every quarter. We only ask you twice a year, but when we ask we mean it. So, please, help as much as you can. All contributions are tax-deductible.Image Source: CABQ.gov – Public DomainThe Albuquerque Police Department (APD), with the help of private companies, built a large and sophisticated intelligence gathering operation. One company is slowly building a database of every license plate in the United States. Another has clients that include neo-Nazi and white supremacist websites, and more than a half...…Support Our Annual Fund Drive!We don’t shake our readers down for money every month or every quarter. We only ask you twice a year, but when we ask we mean it. So, please, help as much as you can. All contributions are tax-deductible.Image Source: CABQ.gov – Public DomainThe Albuquerque Police Department (APD), with the help of private companies, built a large and sophisticated intelligence gathering operation. One company is slowly building a database of every license plate in the United States. Another has clients that include neo-Nazi and white supremacist websites, and more than a half...WW…

Support Our Annual Fund Drive!We don’t run advertisements. We don’t take money from big foundations or any government entity. We are solely supported by you, our readers. Please, if you have the means, chip in to help us reach our annual fund drive goal. The sooner we do so, the sooner we can get back to business. The National Coal Council — Stacked With Fossil Fuel Reps — Recommends Subsidies and Deregulation for Coal Industry, Refuses to Release Meeting RecordsWestern Organization of Resource Councils, Democracy Forward Sue to Halt All NCC Activity Until Trump Administration Complies...…Support Our Annual Fund Drive!We don’t run advertisements. We don’t take money from big foundations or any government entity. We are solely supported by you, our readers. Please, if you have the means, chip in to help us reach our annual fund drive goal. The sooner we do so, the sooner we can get back to business. The National Coal Council — Stacked With Fossil Fuel Reps — Recommends Subsidies and Deregulation for Coal Industry, Refuses to Release Meeting RecordsWestern Organization of Resource Councils, Democracy Forward Sue to Halt All NCC Activity Until Trump Administration Complies...WW…

Image by Juan Luis Ozaez.The Cuban people, voting in a national plebiscite on September 25, approved a new Family Code. According to the National Electoral Council, showed that of almost six million Cubans casting a valid ballot, 66.9% voted Yes; 33.1% voted No. The new Code was left-over business from a new Cuban Constitution approved on April 10, 2019.The Code promises all Cubans protection of democratic and legal rights, old and new, within the context of family life. It’s a revision of the Family Code contained in Cuba’s Constitution of 1976. The impulse for a new one stemmed from...…Image by Juan Luis Ozaez.The Cuban people, voting in a national plebiscite on September 25, approved a new Family Code. According to the National Electoral Council, showed that of almost six million Cubans casting a valid ballot, 66.9% voted Yes; 33.1% voted No. The new Code was left-over business from a new Cuban Constitution approved on April 10, 2019.The Code promises all Cubans protection of democratic and legal rights, old and new, within the context of family life. It’s a revision of the Family Code contained in Cuba’s Constitution of 1976. The impulse for a new one stemmed from...WW…