So even with the votes in Congress, Donald Trump will get his national emergency. The reason: the bulk of Republicans in Congress decided to do what is widely seen as abandoning traditional Republican adherence to separation of powers as outlined in the Constitution to back Trump. The reasons? Some agree with Trump but many fear being primaried and opposed by Trump (i.e. … [Read more...] about Some conservative commentators blast GOPers who backed Trump on national emergency
La Pietà, ‘Handle With Care’
It is interesting how one story can lead to another. In my story about two Italian immigrants -- now dear neighbors -- I wrote how 12-year-old Grace Lasala (now Mrs. Joe Zambito) sailed into “a cold and snowy New York Harbor aboard the S.S. Cristoforo Colombo three days before Christmas 1960.” In reading about the Cristoforo Colombo, I discovered that, four years later, … [Read more...] about La Pietà, ‘Handle With Care’
Mike Peters Guest Cartoon: College Bribery Scandal
OF RELATED INTEREST: --Son defends parents caught in college admissions scandal while smoking blunt --DAUGHTER OLIVIA LEAVES YACHT OWNED BY TOP USC OFFICIAL --Lori Loughlin’s Bail Set for $1 Million; Judge Sets Travel Conditions --TRIGGERS SCORES OF NERVOUS, RICH PARENTS Mike Peters is recognized as one of our nation’s most prominent cartoon artists for his outstanding … [Read more...] about Mike Peters Guest Cartoon: College Bribery Scandal
GREAT MUSIC – Chapter 38
The Great Music series returns with a tribute to my favorite composer, Fredrick Chopin. I always found Chopin’s music emotionally stirring, The piece I have selected is his Nocturne in C minor. I first played this piece when I was 16 years old and as a typical teenager, in an emotional turmoil and was immediately in tune with Chopin’s musical emotions. When I played it ( of … [Read more...] about GREAT MUSIC – Chapter 38
Nov. 3, 2020: The ideal date for Judgment Day
WASHINGTON -- Please, Tom Steyer, stop spending all that money on impeachment ads. If you want to run spots against President Trump, target his shameful 2020 budget. In the meantime, the rest of us should quit pretending there is a big debate among Democrats about impeachment. There isn't. There is actually consensus, which is why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi won broad support … [Read more...] about Nov. 3, 2020: The ideal date for Judgment Day
A Well-Deserved Honor
Last summer, on July 10, the world rejoiced and celebrated the “miracle in a Thailand cave” when 12 young boys and their “Wild Boars” soccer team coach were finally rescued against so many odds after having been trapped deep inside a monsoon-flooded cave complex for 18 grueling days. In a mammoth global undertaking, hundreds of experienced divers, SEALs, pararescuemen and … [Read more...] about A Well-Deserved Honor
Lottascamma U (Cartoon, Column and Video)
If you’re the cynical type who believes students have a much greater chance of attending elite universities, like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, USC, or UCLA if they’re rich, well connected and white, you’re right. Sure. Studying hard, scoring well on your SATs, and avoiding the keggers is all well and good, but it also helps if your daddy donates $2.5 million to Harvard, like … [Read more...] about Lottascamma U (Cartoon, Column and Video)
What will happen to Michael Jackson’s legacy? A famed writer’s fall could offer clues
Norman Douglas, photographed in Florence, Italy in 1935. Carl Van Vetchen/Library of Congress Rachel Hope Cleves, University of Victoria There’s no question that Michael Jackson changed music history. But how will history remember Michael Jackson? Since HBO released the new documentary film “Leaving Neverland,” which detailed allegations by two … [Read more...] about What will happen to Michael Jackson’s legacy? A famed writer’s fall could offer clues
Cartoon: Parents Prepare for College
Democracy and Tribalism
Tribalism is a term used to denote the perceptual categorization of humans into different groups. Some media outlets present tribalism as a new force threatening democracy, which is misleading. Instead tribalism is deeply embedded in human evolutionary history and in the personal developmental history of each individual human being. For approximately 6 million years our … [Read more...] about Democracy and Tribalism
Trump is a prophet!
When President Trump autographed Bibles while visiting an Alabama church last week, some reacted with dismay. They shouldn't have. There is nothing more natural than Trump putting his name in the Bible. The man is a prophet! With the assurance of Jeremiah, the clairvoyance of a seer and the prolificacy of a bookie, Trump has peered into his crystal ball and foretold … [Read more...] about Trump is a prophet!
Trump’s budget is heartless and whackadoodle
By CATHERINE RAMPELL Washington Post Writers Group Fair enough: President Trump's heartless and whackadoodle budget, released on Monday, will never actually become law. Even when his party had unified control of government, he couldn't get Capitol Hill to take major portions of his budget terribly seriously. Still, a president's budget plan is a statement of his … [Read more...] about Trump’s budget is heartless and whackadoodle
Don’t Let the Ilhan Omar Fight Hide Two Essential Truths
Criticism of Israel—and AIPAC—isn't anti-semitic By Michael Winship The other night, I was watching an NBC News report on the thousands of endangered red-crowned cranes whose migration route takes them through the DMZ between North and South Korea. Amidst land mines and other dangers, they somehow manage to survive. Right now, I feel a little bit like one of those … [Read more...] about Don’t Let the Ilhan Omar Fight Hide Two Essential Truths
Whose Your Deity (Cartoon, Column and Video)
Donald Trump’s fifth communications director has quit. Bill Shine was an executive at Fox News, from where Trump does most of his hiring. Trump believed Shine would be able to make all media coverage of him to be more like what he gets from Fox. Failing to get the Tucker Hannity Ingraham treatment for Trump on CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times, Trump soured … [Read more...] about Whose Your Deity (Cartoon, Column and Video)
AMA says hog-tying Title X will catalyze a “national public health crisis”
While Ivanka Trump waxes political about creating more business opportunities for women, her father recently took further action to limit female success by denying them reproductive healthcare access. The Trump Administration recently gutted the ability of millions of women to receive the healthcare and education they need to plan their families — and the inability to control … [Read more...] about AMA says hog-tying Title X will catalyze a “national public health crisis”
Cartoon: Honest Abe
France’s ‘everyday sexism’ starts at school
Smartphones have put the tools for bullying and voyeurism in the pockets of schoolchildren. Baruska/Pixabay, CC BY Bérengère Stassin, Université de Lorraine In France, the #MeToo movement has a livelier name: #BalanceTonPorc, or “Name and Shame Your Pig.” It inspired hundreds of women to denounce sexual harassment on the streets and in the boardroom. … [Read more...] about France’s ‘everyday sexism’ starts at school
Only one thing can save Trump now: Democrats
President Trump has done his level best to tank his presidency. The trade and budget deficits are soaring, his legal woes are mushrooming, his North Korea policy collapsed, Democrats beat him on the border wall and the Republican Senate is poised to rebuke him. There is only one thing that can save him now: Democrats. And, on cue, here they come. Democrats, after … [Read more...] about Only one thing can save Trump now: Democrats
Let’s stay united against bigotry
WASHINGTON -- The polling is imperfect, but it's fair to say that more than 70 percent of American Jews and Muslims vote Democratic. They do so, in part, because Democrats have spoken out strongly against both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. And now, both groups are horrified by Trumpism's embrace of discrimination against Muslims and its trafficking in … [Read more...] about Let’s stay united against bigotry
Netanyahu’s True Colors Now Show
Bibi Netanyahu showed his true colors today with the following statement: Israel “is the national state, not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people.” For those of us who know Israel know that the vast majority of Israelis know this to be true. Whether Jewish or Palestinian, this is the reality of daily life in Israel and even more so in the West Bank and Gaza. … [Read more...] about Netanyahu’s True Colors Now Show