Opinion

The deadly Texas floods have receded,  leaving lost and shattered lives.  Donald Trump  tells us not to politicize the moment, with spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt calling the floods “an act of God,” meaning no one is responsible.  But because the floods and the climate disasters that will follow them make the costs heart-wrenchingly visible, they give us the chance to talk about root causes and the choices we face. If we don’t have these conversations, these teachable moments will quickly fade.

It’s all over but the official count. Georgia Republicans can’t win the Senate seat now held by Democrat Jon Ossoff — the demographics will drown them: Georgia is now a “majority minority” state with non-whites predominant.  EXCEPT. EXCEPT if the GOP can come up with a way to stop those un-white voters from voting.

And they have. This week, the violently partisan Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, announced that he is removing tens of thousands of voters who live in addresses that Republicans rarely haunt: office spaces used as housing [and] homes with 10 or more registrants.

That’s ON TOP OF the 480,000 voters the State is about to remove as “inactive voters.”

Raffensperger plans to make half a million voters vanish before the 2026 election.

I attend downtown’s Jazz And Ribfest for an hour every year. I attend because I absorb legendary musicians in nature. While I’m impressed our city attracts various vendors who’ve won BBQ competitions. they don’t sell anything I eat.

Hip Hop is why I’m vegan. Wu Tang Wu Tang Wu Tang Wu Tang Wu Tang. “No Pork on my fork. I don’t dine on swine.” Several Wu members are Vegan.

I visit the Jazz and Ribfest because I’ve seen Ramsey Lewis and Roy Ayers. Thanks, Hip Hop. I browse the Jazz and Ribfest’s website every year. Whomz the legend were playing in 2025.

Mavis Staples Sunday. Kenny Lattimore Friday. I didn’t attend Kenny Lattimore. The weekend rained. Sunday, it rained. I debated – is this worth leaving my building if it’s raining?                                        

The Staple Singers, MAVIS STAPLES!

Asawin Suebsaeng at Rolling Stone is out with a vital article that explains who Ayman Soliman is to his friends, community, and the families at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital — and why the government’s “case” against him isn’t a case at all. See excerpts below and read the full piece.

The kind of person Ayman is

The incredible LEV PARNAS tells us an astonishing story of the dark money & deep betrayal that is Donald Trump.

Born in Ukraine, Lev was raised in the mobbed-up corners of Brooklyn, leading to the unlikely depths of the Trump miasma.

As the star of “From Russia with Lev” by Rachel Maddow, Lev answers some of the most critical questions of Trump’s pending demise.

In this is an unforgettable insider hour; Lev gives us unique, powerful insights into the seismic Trumpian madness now shaking our world.

Solartopia co-host MYLA RESON introduces Donald & William Barr into this rogue’s gallery of global embarrassment.

Progressive PR maven ILENE PROCTOR tells us about Ghislaine Maxwell and more.

Alabama Doctor RUTH STRAUSS argues that the “Apprentice” movies goes too easy on Trump.

Long-time activist HEIDI VERTHAILER chimes in.

Co-convenor MIKE HERSH adds a dimension on Watergate.

Health Care activist CHUCK PENACCHIO explains his sterling campaign for the public wellbeing.

Cal Care proponent PAUL NEWMAN checks in from Santa Monica on AB2200 which was killed by Gavin Newsom.

Prostitution is not the “romanticized fantasy from the movie “Pretty Woman,” US Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft recently said after a federal grand jury in East St. Louis indicted two with operating five prostitution-front massage operations in Illinois and Indiana. It exploits and coerces women “into degrading subjugation” and violates the “rights of vulnerable victims across southern Illinois.”

Jianhong Hu Allbright of Indiana and Yalong Cao of a Chicago suburb face money laundering charges related to prostitution and other counts.

The fate of sex workers in Chicago has been grisly. Thirty-nine were killed during the 1990’s before they could avail themselves of the protection from street predators that online “dates” could sometimes afford. Key word, sometimes.

Sex workers in Chicago’s marginal neighborhoods were terrorized by four different mass murderers: Gregory Clepper—alleged to have confessed to killing 40 prostitutes—Geoffrey Griffin aka the Roseland Killer, Hubert Geralds and Andrew Crawford. Thanks to pimps and addictions, few women could stop working despite the lethal risks.

The House of Representatives has approved giving Israel an additional $1.3 billion in “emergency defense assistance” for its Iron Dome missile defense program, another installment of countless billions sent from the United States to intensify a one-sided war against the Palestinian people.

The Iron Dome system intercepts short range rockets (launched from 2.5 to 43 miles) through the joint work of the IDF, Israeli contractors, and U.S. weapons manufacturers like Raytheon. Radar batteries detect incoming missiles, calculate direction and threat level, and, if necessary, target the menacing projectile and speed interceptors to destroy it.

The Iron Dome destroys incoming rockets at high altitude, but, since its emplacement in 2011, the system has also functioned to enable Israel to conduct ethnic cleansing and perpetuate genocide with impunity in Gaza and the West Bank.

It has underwritten an astonishingly deadly campaign of collective punishment, with lengthy, targeted air, drone, and guided missile strikes in densely populated areas. These deadly attacks are carried out against a people who have no army, no shield, and no means of response.