Opinion

Greed: The Survival of a Primitive Emotion

Trump and people clapping

Congressional passage of Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” provides the latest evidence that human greed, despite its primitive nature, remains alive and well.

Perhaps most noticeably, the legislation provides for over $3 trillion in tax cuts that disproportionately help the wealthy and their corporations.  This largesse is facilitated by slashing over $1.4 trillion in healthcare and food assistance for low-income Americans and increasing the national debt by $3.3 trillion.  Estimates reveal that at least 16 million Americans will lose health care coverage and 7 million people (including 2 million children) will lose food aid or have their food aid cut significantly.  Meanwhile, according to the Yale Budget Lab, the nation’s top 0.1 percent―people with an annual income over $3.3 million―will receive tax cuts of $103,500 on average.  Condemning the legislation, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declared simply that it “takes from the poor to give to the wealthy.”

Run for Your Life! The Muslims Are Coming!

The cry echoes up and down New York City’s crowded streets. Out of nowhere has emerged a malevolent Muslim candidate for mayor named Zohran Mamdani. He’s 33 years old and born in Uganda to Indian parents. Uganda was also home of the late Idi Amin. To many horrified New Yorkers, it looks as if he may win!
Jewish old timers on the Upper West Side and Wall Street are having apoplexy, muttering about the Holocaust.

Let My Robots Vote!

What if the AI bots figure that out? I can imagine R2D2 and Amazon warehouse robo-pickers trundling across the Pettus Bridge in Selma, chanting, “No vote, no work!”  

If the robots go on strike, we can survive the loss of same-day delivery of pantyhose and air-fryers – or maybe not. But after two weeks, humans will begin to starve. Worse, millions will go crazy with the lack of entertainment options and unfilled orders of anti-depressants.

Now the truth is, I would vote for a robot over JD Vance. And let’s face it, humans haven’t done such a good job of picking our presidents.  

And we also have to consider the possibility that they are already taking over electoral politics. Is there any indication at all that Gavin Newsom is a human being? Ask Siri and she barely stifles a giggle.

Democracy, after all, granting the vote to every dickwad, MAGA-naut, crypto-Nazi and cryptocurrency grifter, is a terrible method for choosing our leaders.

Maybe it’s time to turn over these choices to G.O.D., that is the GenerativeAI Overseer of Democracy.

Can Israel Survive without the West?

The Israeli genocide in Gaza, along with the escalating regional wars it has ignited, has brought two chilling truths into our focus: first, Israel is deliberately and aggressively undermining the security and stability of the entire Middle East and, second, Israel is utterly incapable of surviving on its own.

 These two assertions, though seemingly distinct, are inextricably linked. For if those who relentlessly sustain Israel—militarily, politically, and economically—were to finally withdraw their support, the Middle East would not be the powder keg it has been for decades, a situation that has catastrophically worsened since October 7, 2023.

There is nothing wrong with singing the National Anthem in Spanish

People get upset over the smallest, most inconsequential things in America. That is what happened last month when singer Nezza performed the US national anthem in Spanish at the Dodger Stadium. It was the same words but in a different language. Yes, the majority of people in the US speak English and we are supposed to be a melting pot of cultures. So, people should stop being butthurt over every single little thing and we will be all much happier.
 
Nezza explained later that her decision to perform it in Spanish was a response to the current atmosphere in Los Angeles where recent ICE raids against immigrants and international students that have sparked public outcry and protests. Besides, it should be noted here that the Spanish-language version she performed was originally commissioned by the U.S. State Department in 1945 during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration.
 
Nezza, who is a 30-year-old artist whose full name is Vanessa, sang the Spanish version on the field before the Dodgers faced the San Franciso Giants.

Intended and Unintended Consequences

Wade Rathke

The devastation embedded in the Trump-Republicans big bad budget bill for lower income families has been a drum that I’ve been beating for weeks now, but as it nears the finish line additional impacts are becoming clear. This bill has become a “whose on first, what’s on second” house of horrors. Like many other initiatives of this administration, most of its consequences are intended when it comes to its war on the poor, minorities, women, and others, but some are even surprising its fanboys, like the former Trump BBF Elon Musk, and not at all because of deficits. Ideology, not common sense or basic prudence is now running the government.

Thailand's Prime Minister Zapped By Court & Suspended

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's politically powerful Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on July 1 after accepting a case of alleged "ethical misconduct" against her because she criticized a Royal Thai Army commander in her leaked phone call with Cambodia's de facto leader Hun Sen during their deadly border feud.

Ms. Paetongtarn's suspension came after the two countries briefly clashed on May 28 and Thai troops shot dead a Cambodian soldier in the Emerald Triangle where eastern Thailand, northern Cambodia, and southern Laos meet.

Ms. Paetongtarn apologized to the public and insisted she had "no ill intentions" when she clumsily tried to "negotiate" with Cambodia's battle-hardened Senate President Hun Sen .

The Constitutional Court gave her 15 days to defend herself.

Meanwhile, to run this increasingly troubled Southeast Asian nation, she appointed her Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit to become caretaker prime minister while the court decide during the next several weeks.

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