For this week's consideration: Facebook and Russian meddling; gun deaths; overseas visitors; another pardon; United Nations; kindness simply put; "Rocket Man" and the Great Disparager; Ken Burns and Lynn Novick; the modern gerrymander.

Facebook and electioneering. Just what steps did the social media giant take/not take as it earned more than $100,000.00 from ads purchased by fake, Russian-linked accounts? “ 'It’s always a little problematic when you come before a committee and show them documents and then take them back,' said Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. 'My hope is they will be more cooperative going forward.' ”  The Washington Post story continues, "Facebook...[announced] earlier this month that accounts traced to a shadowy Russian Internet company had purchased at least $100,000 in ads during the 2016 election season ."
    The obvious question for other nations: Can/will Facebook avoid these same maneuvers by foreign-based entities in other upcoming elections?

Deaths among the 1-17-year-olds in the US. The third leading cause of death is gun-related. Someone in that age group is very, very unlikely to be felled in a terrorist attack. Her/his front porch is undoubtedly more dangerous than strolling down the street in most foreign cities.

Student exchanges. Learning about America, yes. But just "what" is learned? For eight young German exchange students arriving in Denver, it was all about running into America's growing "nativist wall." One Coloradan writes,

remember[ing] that "[in] the 1920s, Colorado Gov. Clarence Morley won by loudly proclaiming his outright hostility to Italians and eastern Europeans, as well as Catholics, Jews and minorities in general. He called Catholicism a great heresy and insisted that immigrants would seduce our young with ideas about drinking wine and producing it in California (of all places). (emphasis added)  How different is that from President Trump’s characterization of Mexican immigrants today?

Another strange pardon? Most easterners have no clue about Cliven Bundy and his strange very western story from Nevada.  Link to my blog entry, published 9/26/2017. Why this pardon story?

Roger Stone, an on-and-off adviser of President Donald Trump, says he will be in Las Vegas this Friday to demand a pardon for rancher Cliven Bundy and his co-defendants, who are currently awaiting federal trial. Stone also made public appearances in July in Nevada to urge Trump to intervene in the Bundy case, which is centered on the 2014 standoff between armed Bundy supporters and federal employees attempting to round up the rancher’s illegally grazing cattle.

October. It is that time of year: at 10AM on Monday, 2 October, the US Supreme Court will begin its new session and, in mid-September,  (most) world leaders have gathered in NYC to meet/greet/speak at the United Nations, though, interestingly, the leaders of China and Russia chose not to attend.
     At the UN both the President and  Mrs. Trump spoke; he to the General Assembly and the First Lady to a luncheon she hosted for the leaders' spouses. (One wonders if Herr (Mr.) Merkel was invited?) Mrs. Trump's twin themes, anti-bullying and exemplary guidance for the future generation,  are laudable goals, though her remarks did raise eyebrows for obvious reasons.

Be kind. A sign in a local restaurant put it quite simply: "Be the kind of person your dog wants you to be."

Vietnam in 18 hours. Once again, Ken Burns has turned his talents to illuminating a defining period in American history. While Burns is well known, this Washington Post article acquaints readers with his co-producer, Ms. Lynn Novick, "the most important documentarian you've never heard of." The article makes the case that "[Burns] couldn’t have made the film without his longtime co-producer. And Novick isn’t just Burns’s partner on 'The Vietnam War.' She’s the person most responsible for making [it] ...the epic story of two nations, not just one....[Her] insight and insistence that the movie had to tell the stories of the people of Vietnam, both North and South, as well as of Americans." Her involvement is well worth reading about even if you have seen the entire program. 
     Even though I was in the USAF 1964-1974 (a major portion of the conflict) and am a student of American history and international relations, like many viewers I find myself saying, "Yes, but I didn't know that!" That and wondering about the others men I met during my time in-country, with whom I have lost contact.
     The program examines our involvement with a balanced, nuanced eye. One can only wonder, was this conflict a (the?) signal point in America's declining international influence?

Kim Jong Un, aka "Rocket Man." David Ignatius (and others) think there are other rational, less bombastic ways to deal with North Korea. Cornering the leader of an otherwise weak nation, one  with nuclear weapons, is probably not a wise course of action. "Somewhere in this maze of public statements — including Thursday’s announcement of new economic sanctions on North Korea — there’s a nuanced American policy. But the seeming binary options are weirdly reminiscent of the nuclear standoff of the Cold War, when the only choices seemed to be a conflict with massive loss of life — or surrender to the adversary’s demands....Back in 2003, China suspended oil deliveries for several days (blaming the problem on a supposed pipeline malfunction) and North Korea quickly began negotiations....To be cynically honest, we must recognize that sometimes it’s less costly to bribe an adversary than to go to war."
     Everyone has to be somehow "less than" President Trump and, usually. somehow just "off" a bit. Jong Un is a madman, but Trump is OK, even if he has threatened the DPRK with total destruction. Go figure. Incidentally, it may have been an African leader who first used the term "Rocket Man" to derisively characterize Jong Un. Apparently both leaders were unaware that "Rocket Man" sounds cool, like a comic book super hero.

The 21st century gerrymander. The title of this Washington Post story, "How Representatives Choose Their Constituents," seems a bit off, perhaps backwards. An upcoming re-redistricting  case from Wisconsin will be argued before the Supreme Court this term. It will assuredly be closely watched in all fifty states, by both parties. This is the sort of political minefield the Court  would rather not enter. However, modern technologies and extreme partisan politics seem to have forced the issue.

Thank you for reading. Fall has arrived; enjoy!

The topics for this week: holocaust information; the other 9/11 anniversary; notes on reading, non-fiction; that "Russian thing;" a child's view; Pete Domenici (R-NM); post-hurricane construction; a white giraffe; Victor Laszlo; the Cassini mission; US monuments; Green Mountain Reservoir; this week's "Optimist" section.

Holocaust, new data: From the Jerusalem Post, information that Argentina has given Israel a trove (5 terabytes) of holocaust-related documents. At the end of WW II, many high ranking Nazi officials fled Germany to Argentina, including Adolph Eichmann. 

9/11 at Guantanamo. There were many times during the Cold War when the US and its allies inveighed against the abuses heaped on dissidents throughout the USSR and its satellite nations. "Questionable" trials of all sorts -- if there were any -- resulted in guilty verdicts, followed by summary executions or time in the gulag of this or that nation. As deplorable as those times were, at least there were trials. At Guantanamo, the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak. Of 41 prisoners being held, only seven have been charged, all are still awaiting trial.

Notes on reading, non-fiction. 
     The Unwomanly [sic] Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II. Svetlana Alexievich, Random House, 2017. Nobel Prize winner in Literature, 2015. As in her earlier book, Voices from Chernobyl (1997), Ms. Alexievich has conducted an untold number of oral interviews; this time she interviewed women from Russia (and other former Soviet Republics) about their experiences during the Great Patriotic War (WW II). Sometimes she met with both male, occasionally even female, opposition to her efforts. ("Why talk to women?") In the beginning notes she recounts earlier opposition of  Soviet male censors to this work.
     In the "Great Patriotic War" women fought in virtually every imaginable position in the army, navy, and air force. Eye opening for most any reader and only serves to reinforce the tales of the nearly unimaginable Soviet exertions and losses among Soviet women.
     Notes of a Native Son. James Baldwin, Beacon Press, 2012, with a new introduction by Edward P. Jones. Many of Baldwin's prescient comments about the "Negro" condition ring  just as true today as they did when the book was first published in 1955. Interestingly, Baldwin is a favorite, oft-quoted of Suzy Hansen (Notes on a Foreign Country [Turkey]: An American Abroad in a Post American World). Baldwin, African American and gay, spent much time in Turkey, where he once said he felt more "at home" than he did even in Paris.

Russian software banned. No matter what President Trump may think, Elaine Duke, his Homeland Security Secretary, has banned all US agencies from using (directly or indirectly) software from the Russian firm Kaspersky Labs. “The department is concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other [Russian] government agencies...”

The "Wall." The portrait of a child looks over an actual section of the border wall President Trump hopes to expand. "The boy appears to grip the barrier with his fingers, leaving the impression the entire thing could be toppled with a giggle...People on each side of the wall waved to each other." The 65 foot high cutout provided the backdrop for many pictures taken from both sides; the artist, JR, said it was "meant to prompt discussion of immigration."

A congressional life well spent. Former US Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) passed away in Albuquerque this past weekend. The republic would be well served if there were more bi-partisan, "commensurate legislators" of his ilk.   

Post-Harvey and Irma. Elizabeth Kolbert cautions that with climate change deniers now in ascendancy, post-disaster construction may not pay heed to even the most recent past. "[T]he N.F.I.P. [National Flood Insurance Program] has had the perverse effect of encouraging rebuilding in areas where homes and businesses probably shouldn’t have been built in the first place." Indeed. Miami and other low laying coastal area will continue to be flooded by even short, sudden rainfalls of two to three inches and the FL keys are a true disaster area.
     One home in MS has been flooded/repaired 34 times with NFIP claims totaling $663,00.00. When is enough, enough?

White giraffes? Kenyan wildlife experts and tourist alike were delighted by the totally unexpected recent sightings of a white mother and child wandering among other normally colored giraffes. (Only the third known sighting.) Nature continues to spring the unusual.

Casablanca. You might have been reminded of the movie by Donald Trump's comments about Pittsburgh and the late night comedians who resurrected and changed that famous line from the film "Casablanca." American ex-pat Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) persuades his former lover, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), to escape to Lisbon with her husband, Victor Laszlo, an important underground leader. He reminds her, "We'll always have Paris."  Here is the New Yorker tongue-in-cheek link to "Victor Laszlo's" blog.

Cassini and Saturn. This past Friday, the hugely, over successful Cassini space mission came to fiery end as mission control directed the space craft to take a final, fatal dive into Saturn's atmosphere. This choice of a fiery end was meant to avoid any possible earthly contamination should the craft have crashed into one of Saturn's numerous moons.

The spacecraft is running out of fuel, and mission planners didn’t want to let it keep flying right down to its last kilogram of propellant. That would risk having it crash on Titan or Enceladus and contaminate a potentially life-bearing world...But, for many scientists, the end of the mission is far from the end of Cassini’s ability to convey knowledge. 'Now we have this mountain of data that we need to start working our way through' But, for many scientists, the end of the mission is far from the end of Cassini’s ability to convey knowledge... (Christian Science Monitor story)

     This unexpectedly long mission told earth-based scientists much more than they ever envisioned about life in our outer solar system. Links abound with hauntingly spectral photographs of Saturn, its rings, and moons.  Here the link to NPR At the end of the NPR story there are other links including one to NASA  This link to the CSM
     These words, from the Washington Post's "Optimist" story,  are about Cassini's final moments.  "But because Saturn is so distant, Cassini's final heartbeat won't reach Earth until 83 minutes after it's gone. When [mission specialist] Spilker and her colleagues hear the last of their pioneering probe, it will be a whisper from a ghost: one final piece of insight from an alien planet, beckoning to whoever comes next."

Myanmar violence. One has to wonder, how can a country, whose spiritual leader, the Nobel Peace Prize Laurette Aung San Suu Kyi, suddenly find itself embroiled in -- accused of -- violent, ethnic cleansing? Even worse, her nation is being derided by the United Nations and Muslims across the globe.  This story is from the Christian Science Monitor.  "In short, the state-driven violence in Myanmar (Burma), which reportedly has killed more than 1,000 people and driven 370,000 Muslim Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh [90% Muslim], has caught the attention of the Arab world, promoting a rare outpouring of support, solidarity, and activism." The response, however, has been uneven. "[W]hile Arab publics have been moved to action by the Myanmar crisis, the response from Arab governments has been 'underwhelming' at best, observers and pundits say." Social media and a lack of sectarian infighting, though, can quickly change that situation.

Shrink national monuments? Why? A good question. The yet to be released report of Interior Secretary Zinke cites "the need to adjust the proclamations to address concerns of local officials or affected industries, saying the administration should permit 'traditional uses' now restricted within the monuments’ boundaries, such as grazing, logging, coal mining and commercial fishing." States' rights which will only fuel more demand for increased commercial use. "More people, more scars upon the land." John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High"

Lucky number. A US lottery problem?  "In 2014, annual sales reached over $70 billion, and Americans spent more on lottery tickets per year than they spent on books, sports tickets, music, video games and movie tickets combined." Hope springs eternal.

Green Mountain Reservoir. A best friend has a large cabin on this reservoir located near Heeney, CO. The relative silence there is noticeable for we city slickers. The aspens are turning golden and there is even been a dusting of snow on the higher peaks. This Sunday morning, the cabin deck and railing had a thin sheen of ice. John allows as how it is not cold enough yet in the cabin to light the wood stove, but to be spreadablenthe butter did have to be thinly sliced.  As you watch the deer munching in the horse pasture across the driveway, the lowing of the beef cattle drifts down from their higher pastures up the road. It will soon be time for neighbor Jim to "mount up" and herd those "doggies" down to their lower winter quarters. Time, too, for him to bring his horses, Frosty and Winchester, back up from their lower summer pasture along Blue River. Their hay bales, sacks of oats, and heated water trough have been made ready for the winter.

The Washington Post "Optimist" section. Stories of help and sacrifice amid the chaos of Irma, including that now famous "chain saw-wielding" nun and Cassini stories/pictures. Link here

Thank you for reading. Enjoy these early fall days/nights.

This week's topics of note: DACA; Harvey, Irma, & disaster relief; DPRK; Russian meddling on Facebook; nuclear weapons and their non-use; Hillary, the money beat goes on; Juan Felipe Herrera; separation of powers; flight to freedom; wolves in France.

DACA, (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals). The president effectively put the ball in Congress' court by saying the program would be phased out in 6 months time. The conservative view is from the National Review. Was President Obama's executive declaration of DACA extra-constitutional?
     NR: "The problem is the substance of executive action. DACA is defective in two ways. First, it presumes to exercise legislative power by conferring positive legal benefits on a category of aliens... Second, it distorts the doctrine of prosecutorial discretion to rationalize this presidential legislating and to grant a defacto amnesty....Trump could remind the public that President Obama himself publicly admitted he did not have the constitutional power to do what DACA does."
     5 DACA myths:

1. DACA incentivized an increase in illegal immigration.
2. DACA has taken jobs from Americans.
3. Repealing DACA would benefit taxpayers.
4. DACA repeal protects communities from criminals.
5. DACA repeal is just about politics.

     One story involving hurricane-ravaged Houston discusses the question: who is going to do the rebuilding if DACA and other illegals are shipped back? The same may now be asked for all of the  FL-ravaged peninsula.

Harvey, Irma, and disaster relief. This possible one-two punch for the east coast has resulted in unprecedented levels of donations, public and private. It has made many aware of charity watchdogs such as Charity Navigator.  and the lack of transparency on the part of major charities, e.g. the Red Cross and Salvation Army. The better option is to donate to a local charity with a good "track record."
     Superfund toxic waste sites are being secured from Irma's expected rain and storm surge. The EPA reports there are 54 Superfund sites in FL.
     President Trump will experience Irma's wrath "up close and personal" by the president: two of his luxury FL homes are in Irma's path.
     This story from the High Country News: "The term 'climate change' isn't working any more." That "it's happening" is becoming ever harder to deny; the "why," of course, is still debatable from some.
     In the liberal New Republic, Emily Atkin opines that "This weather is not normal and it will only get worse."

DPRK (North Korea) from "down under." Thoughts on the Korean mess from a long-time Korea observer in Australia from the Sydney Morning Herald. A 20 to 25% chance in the nuclear missile age is much different, though, than the 1950's when only the US had a demonstrated delivery capability.
     This article, from the Christian Science Monitor, notes Kim Jong Un's exquisite (planned?) timing, given upcoming events in China. 

Facebook, November 2016, and Harvey. Good news: Facebook users saved lives in Hurricane Harvey. In fact, the uses for Facebook and other internet media will hopefully necessitate a review at all levels of how to make use of this tool in dealing with national disasters. Bad news: Can any nation expect its elections to be invulnerable to outside influence? It now appears that Facebook sold more than 5,000 ($150,000.00) ads to "inauthentic accounts" and Pages, likely from Russia...Facebook says it had given the information to authorities [?] investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election."

Sincerity. From E.J. Dionne's recent column: "One of the most cynical quotations in history is also one of the most widely attributed. Let’s ponder the version associated with Groucho Marx: 'Sincerity is the key to success. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.' " Dionne continues, "The thing he [President Trump] cares about is what others think of him. So he’ll adjust his views again and again to serve his ends as circumstances change. He’s not Mr. Fearless. He’s Mr. Insecure."
     Charles Blow, NYT columnist: "I believe that something similar, but on a much grander and much more consequential scale, happens with presidents. As Michelle Obama said: “Being president doesn’t change who you are. No, it reveals who you are.” That is what is happening with Donald Trump."  Just saying.

Nuclear weapons, past, present, and future. George Will discusses ("Will Trump lower the nuclear bar?") the largely unknown instances when US presidents did/did not consider the use of our nuclear arsenal -- and the probable (unknown?) future given the president's conflicting muttering. He also asks, "Are Congress’s constitutional powers regarding war so atrophied that it supinely hopes for mere post facto notification?"
     Michael Morell, acting director and deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013, begs to differ. He ventures the opinion that the DPRK may already be able to reach the continental US with a nuclear weapon. His viewpoint is shared by some of America's ranking military officials. Morell concludes, "If this darkest of scenarios were to play out, the assumption and assessment that North Korea cannot yet threaten us would be a strategic mistake of historic proportions." To say the least!

Hillary's new book. The lady is obsessed with nothing if not money! Publishing a "score-settling" book does nothing to reverse November 2016. She ran poorly and lost!! The Democratic party is in desperate need of new, young blood! Hillary and Bernie are old news. Senator Warren (nearing 70) works for me only with a young, dynamic VP.  Otherwise, 2020 will be just a re-run.
     "Sanders brushed off Clinton’s criticism in a Wednesday interview with The Hill, saying it’s time for Democrats to 'look forward, not backward.' ” Amen. Here is a link to other tongue-in-cheek "might have been" titles suggested for Hillary's book, What Happened. http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/DenverPost/Default.aspx?olv-cache-ver=1.5.46.0

Juan Felipe Herrera, US Poet Laurette. His recollections and a poem.

Congress "back in the fray?" George Will's column last Saturday had the online title of "Trump may awaken a slumbering Congress." which he judged a good thing, a step back to the separation of powers concept. "The president’s manifest and manifold inadequacies might awaken a slumbering Congress to the existence of its Article I powers and responsibilities."

Freedom from DPRK. How much would you endure, how far would you travel to escape to freedom? North Koreans are fleeing along a circuitous, multi-thousand mile trip to get just little bit further south on their peninsula, to get to  South Korea, where they will instantly become new citizens.

Donald "Lone Ranger" Trump. This NYT article captures the possible effects of President Trump on our long-standing two party system. He demands total loyalty, but may well give none in return. Though one writer opines, "As a presidential deal-maker, Donald Trump is, in Texas parlance, all hat and no cattle....To many congressional Republicans, this was another indication that the president doesn't care about the party, and that his word is transactional, as are his principles"

European wolves. It is not only ranchers in the American west who are worried about these wily canine predators. There are reportedly now 360+ wolves roaming the French country side and mountains.

Thank you for reading.

This week's topics include: Harvey; identity politics; that ubiquitous non-smile; North Korea; our #2 national attic; sports note, name change?; statues in India; Congress' regular order; our two political parties; Myanmar violence; Dreamers; Labor Day.

Harvey. One can only be heartened by the many, many pictures of strangers helping strangers, asking nothing but to help someone in dire straits. One can only wonder how long it will be before former president Jimmy Carter and his Habitat for Humanity crew are seen brandishing saws and hammers somewhere in southeast TX.
     This story in The New Yorker describes the pros and cons of Houston's development and expansion. The title speaks for itself, "Hurricane Harvey, and Public and Private Disaster in Houston." City tidbits. Houston: "[a] locked circular labyrinth when flooded...over 10,000 square miles...larger than NJ...[nearly] 6 million residents...largely unregulated...diverse...minimal zoning... drastically inhibited drainage [due to development]...flat...50 feet above sea level...fourth largest US city...average rainfall of 50 inches [surpassed by Harvey in less than 72 hours]...scrappy sense of humor...very Texan largesse...[vast] settler of refugees."
     This article from Slate notes the nation-wide impact of the storm. "Economies derive their power and influence from their connections to other cities, countries, and markets. And Houston is one of the more connected. It is one of the global capitals of the energy and energy services industries"
     From afar, foreign correspondent Anne Applebaum writes about how local news, via the internet, provides essential immediate news and what might well happen as Harvey's destruction becomes yesterday's old news.

Identity politics. This article, written by James Baker III and Andrew Young, from the Wall Street Journal, "Identity politics are tearing America apart," begins with the painfully obvious observation, "Political leaders should focus on the common good. Floodwaters and rotting bridges don’t discriminate." Neither do vulnerable levies and dams.
     Harvey's massive rainfall has caused rotting levies to fail and dam spillways forced open less the dams fail. Infrastructure upkeep/repair requires ongoing monies that have not been sufficiently forthcoming from federal, state, and/or local governments. You get what you pay for -- or else.
     For untold millions, that "else" has arrived. The article continues, "Somehow, the drumbeat of dissonance seems harsher today. America’s national ideal of “e pluribus unum”—out of many, one—threatens to become a hollow slogan...The country faces a stark choice. Its citizens can continue screaming at each other, sometimes over largely symbolic issues. Or they can again do what the citizens of this country have done best in the past—work together on the real problems that confront everyone."
     Watching Good Samaritans, sometimes risking their lives to save total strangers, one has to believe that the dissonance begins in the halls of government where  being re-elected is often more important than alleviating current/future human suffering.
     Heart-warming human interest stories about Harvey from this week's Optimist. People selflessly helping, sometimes saving, others. Link here.

The president's non-smile. Has anyone seen a truly smiling Trump? Something, that is, besides the smirk that always seems to say, "See this? Can you believe ...." Add your own situation. As in the smirk that looked out behind the convicted, but now-pardoned, AZ sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Trump seeming to say, "You can bet this one is going to play so well with my base, so well!"

North Korea. Kim Jong Un has now fired a missile over Japan, which prompted the appropriate, necessary and immediate response from the leaders in the US, South Korea, and Japan.  Washington Post story here.
     The North said the launch was in response to the scheduled, ongoing US -- South Korean military exercises. The South Korean air force launched two fighter jets that fired precision guided bombs at per-determimed targets in the South. Initial reports from the Japanese defense ministry said that after traveling 1,600+ miles this missile (like several others) broke apart before plunging into the Pacific Ocean.

     The 5 myths about missiles from the Washington Post story.

1. For deterrence, countries must display functional weapons.
2. The U.S. could destroy an enemy’s arsenal on the ground.
3. The U.S. could shoot down enemy warheads in flight.
4. Deterrence can’t work against a country like North Korea.
5. First-generation nuclear weapons are hard to make. 

     Sunday, 3 September: multiple international sources reported seismic activity indicating that NK may well have detonated a thermonuclear device, an H-bomb. Resultant confusion reigns in various world capitals.The president is doing his normal blustery tweeting.

US Attic #2. The Smithsonian Museum is often billed as the nation's attic with a seemingly numberless collection, both what is on display plus those "behind the curtains."  Carla Hayden wants Americans to learn about our other, our #2 attic: the Library of Congress. Ms. Hayden is only our 14th Librarian of Congress; 45 presidents, but only 14 people have headed the world's largest library. She is also the first woman and first African American to hold the position.
     If you have never visited, you should put this on your list of places to experience on your next visit to the nation's capital. The building is impressive, even though you cannot, of course, walk through the entire collection.

What's in a name? One of last week's Denver stories concerned Michael Scanlon, a Coloradan who wants to have the "Colorado Broncos," rather than the "Denver Broncos." He has formed the Colorado Broncos LLC and is on a mission to collect 76,000 petition signatures favoring the name change, as in the (multi-state/city) New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, and Arizona Cardinals. Good luck with that, sir.

Statues in India. In the New Yorker, Steve Coll wrote "Things to think about when taking down statues."  India has its problems, too. What to do with all those statues commemorating people/events when India was the Raj, crown jewel of the British Empire. The rise of Hindu nationalism has given rise to statue controversies not unlike our own current debates.

Reading, non-fiction. Notes on a Foreign Country, Suzy Hansen. Ms. Hansen left the US, moved to Istanbul, and discovered America. In reporting/writing from Istanbul after 9/11, the author finds there is much she does not know about America.

Regular order. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) believes it is time for Congress to return to "regular order."  He writes, "Congress will return from recess next week facing continued gridlock as we lurch from one self-created crisis to another. We are proving inadequate not only to our most difficult problems but also to routine duties...we [in Congress] have to respect each other or at least respect the fact that we need each other." This necessarily means achieve necessary compromise take place by force the Congress to operate as intended through its long-established committee system.

The GOP & the Democrats. The president proceeds to implement his policies and Michael Gerson writes  about  "'Trump forces' and the smashing of GOP orthodoxy." It would seem that one consequence of November's election should be a critical, thorough re-evaluation of what each party stands for -- and who's in charge of each.

Myanmar violence. Sadly, even the presence of a politically powerful, world famous former Nobel prize winner has not been enough to forestall violence between the Myanmar's minority Islamist group and the majority Buddhists. The nation's military still holds the keys to power.   Link here.

2017, Hollywood's floppy summer. This was not a good movie summer, worst in 25 years. So bad that the Labor Day weekend's blockbuster was 40 years old, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Perhaps those friendly aliens could give us a key to solving our manifold earthly problems.

Dreamers. The future status of 800,000+ young Hispanics (minor children brought to the US by their parents) became an immediate political question as the president announced his  intention to let the DACA program expire. But, as is his wont, he will try to lay blame on the Congress by giving them 6 months to fix the situation; they will then "own" whatever fallout occurs. If the House and Senate want, they could use this program as the opening wedge in re-claiming the legislative initiative, by passing the change with the promise to override any potential presidential veto.

Labor Day, 2017. Columnist E.J.Dionne recounts the April 11, 1948, debate between Robert Taft, aka Mr. Republican, and Walter Reuther, head of the then-powerful United Auto Workers. Taft made arguments not unlike today's "trickle down" economics, tax cuts were the key to job and wage growth. Reuther begged to differ, famously warning, “There’s a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box." Which Dionne thinks still holds water and will lead many of President Trump's supporters to question his not-so-new economic policies as they fail to produce his promised economic changes.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy these last weeks of summer.