From this week's news: Optimist; notable dates in US history; Hitler's early intentions; freedom of speech; Trump giveaway; Brexit; birth tourism; Watergate and Mueller; Mueller and cyber security; CA and disaster; Israel's election.

Optimist. Link here. Unneeded immigrants. You may remember President Trump's odious remarks about countries from which we did not need immigrants: Haiti, El Salvador, Africa. (The latter, of course, is an entire continent, but that is but a small matter for a geographically-challenged President.) The Washington Post Magazine sent a team to visit and report.
     The Temptations. The musical story of another rock and roll group hits Broadway.
     The Washington Wizard's dance group. You are never to old to dance, but you do have to be 50 or over to dance for the crowd.
     The joy and benefits of a company's happy hour.

Notable dates in US history: 
     20 March 1976: Kidnapped heiress, Patty Hearst, was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 7 years in prison. She served 22 months and was pardoned in 2001 by President Clinton.
     21 March 1981: Michael McDonald was abducted, tortured, and killed by the KKK in in Mobile, AL. His mother's subsequent law suit bankrupted the Klan and she was given possession of their sole position, the Headquarters. 2006: Jack Dorsey, created and sent his first Tweet.
     22 March 1765: The British parliament passed the Stamp Act. 1990: In the Exon Valdez oil spill case, the captain was found innocent on three charges and guilty on a minor charge of negligent discharge of oil.
     23 March 1933: The German Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, insuring Hitler's dictatorial power and Americ's eventual involvement in WW II. 1942: One of the US's most shameful acts began as the first Japanese-Americans, the majority of whom were US citizens, were taken to an internment camp in Manzanar, CA. Later, Camp Amache would be opened one mile west of Granada, CO. At Heart Mountain, in Wyoming, one of the bright spots was the lifelong friendship forged between two Boy Scouts, internee Norman Mineta and WY resident, Alan Simpson. Mineta (D) would later represent CA in the House and serve as two presidents as Secretary of Transportation; Simpson (R) would be a US senator.
     24 March 1989: The Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound releasing an estimated 11M gallons of oil. 1999: NATO, with US assistance, launched air attacks on Yugoslavia, the first time in the organization's fifty year history that it had attacked a sovereign nation.
     25 March 1931: The case of the "Scottsboro Boys" began as nine young African Americans were taken into custody and charged with raping two white women. The nine were imprisoned, sentenced to death, and eventually vindicated.
     26 March 1979: The White House was the site of the peace treaty signed by Israel's Manachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat, witnessed by President Carter and the world. The peace treaty would later be key element in Sadat's assassination in 1981.

Chinese cheating scandal. Foreign Policy reports that parents in China see their child's education in the US as a big plus. Hence, they are not above following the recently exposed model of some US parents. "If you know where to look, ... [$90,000] can also help buy your way into a U.S. college—by any means necessary."

New Zealand. African American columnist, Leonard Pitts, writes about the massacre "down under."  "...[T]he road goes where the road goes. Meaning that this butchery is the predictable result of rising international intolerance, of singling out this group or that and declaring that these people are the source of our misery, the monster in the dark, that they are not like us, do not share our humanity and are undeserving of our compassion," No nation is any longer alone.
     The New Zealand parliament quickly passed a law banning military-style automatic assault rifles, high capacity magazines, and any device which would convert a still-legal rifle to an automatic weapon.There will also be a buy-back program put in place.
     A Foreign Policy article looks a just what white supremacy is/is not. "It is reasonable that we would want to cast such an attack outside the realm of rationality, to tell ourselves that expressions of evil are random and unpredictable..." 

Hitler, early on. In this Atlantic article, Adam Server discusses how the astute New York Times assured its readers that Adolph's Nazis were using their anti-Semitic rants to simply build the base for the time when his followers could assume control legitimately. The Times said, “there is no present basis for assuming that the Nazis will attempt to make anti-Semitism [sic] a militant issue in their legislative program.”
    However, in January 1942, the Wannsee Conference was held near Berlin where planning began for the "Final Solution," the Holocaust.

First Amendment. The Great Tweeter signed an executive order dictating freedom of speech in all colleges that receive federal research funding. Me thinks that "what the captain meant to say" was that he was responding to claims that conservative views are being suppressed/denegrated on college campuses. For example, here at home, is Colorado University (often said to be in the Republic of Boulder) too liberal, too Democratic, too hostile to conservative students/groups/views?
     In reality, it cannot be doubted that there are more than enough wrong-headed views bandied about on all sides; reasoned, civil discourse too often falls victim to shouted absurdities, left and right, conservative and liberal.

Trump on the Golan Heights. With one Tweet, President Trump reversed US policy by endorsing Israel's take over and subsequent occupation of the Golan Heights. Can President Putin expect a similar declaration regarding Crimea?

Brexit. A note from the Economist that in an unusual move, the normally non-political Speaker of Britain's House of Commons, "...intervened in the Brexit process, ruling out a third vote on the withdrawal deal unless it changes in substance. The European Union granted Britain a short reprieve to avoid a no-deal exit, postponing the March 29th deadline by a couple of months, but only if Britain’s Parliament approves the withdrawal deal next week."

Birth tourism. Seems that if you are a pregnant Russian woman of above average wealth, there is a high degree of probability you will visit the US.

Every year, hundreds of pregnant Russian women travel to the United States to give birth so that their child can acquire all the privileges of American citizenship.

They pay from $20,000 to more than $50,000 to brokers who arrange their travel documents, accommodations and hospital stays, often in Florida.

While the cost is high, their children will be rewarded with opportunities and travel advantages not available to their Russian countrymen. The parents themselves may benefit someday as well.

For all his bluster on Twitter regarding all that is wrong with the notion of birthright citizenship, the President has not yet weighed in on this particular niche!

The reminder from Watergate. Senator Patrick Leahy (D, VT) examines the handling of Watergate to suggest parallels as to how the Mueller report should be handled. Full disclosure, he suggests, is the best course of action. I would add that unless a series of statements reveal actual classified information, sources or methods, the public should have the right to read the report.
     The late President Nixon has no luck suppressing information about Watergate and, besides, there may be another Chelsea (Bradley) Manning lurking in the brush.

Mueller and cybersecurity. Columnist David Ignatius writes that in the long run what is most important about the Mueller investigation is not Trump's shenanigans, but, rather, the need for greater cybersecurity.

Even after all the uproar that has surrounded Mueller’s inquiry, the U.S. government can’t do much to protect most private citizens or organizations against attacks. There’s better security now for election systems and critical infrastructure, but that doesn’t help the banks, hedge funds, law firms and other companies with sensitive data — which are basically on their own...U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency have already gone on the offensive against Moscow. Last fall, their joint Russia Small Group secretly “hacked back,” in effect, against Russia’s Internet Research Agency, briefly shutting down some of its computers. The aim was to deter the Russians from meddling in the 2018 midterm elections, and it seems to have worked.

Ignatius goes on to note that in our formative years, America had a very weak navy, so Congress granted "letters of marque and reprisal" to privateers to capture foreign vessels. Michael Chertoff, former head of Homeland Security, suggests that Congress could do much the same with "letters of cyber-marque."As for you, dear reader, you are on your own!

Mueller Report. Take your pick of articles and/or news or pod casts. The report will be long debated.

CA and disasters elsewhere. New studies of climate change indicate what might be experienced along the CA coast in the coming years as weather disturbances become more severe and sea levels rise. The projections are alarming. Yet, the general literature says nothing about one aspect of the problem that will surely be felt not just in CA but nationwide: the catastrophic levels of payouts necessitated by insurance bills yet to be submitted as disasters worsen. Rising payouts will necessitate higher insurance bills which customers may/may not be able to afford.

Israel's election. Very bad: The Russians meddle in our 2016 election. Oh, ho hum: President Trump inserts himself into Israel's upcoming election by hosting a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu and issuing an official proclamation recognizing the legitimacy of Israel's claim to the Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 War and annexed in 1981. In Israel, Netanyahu has been indicted on charges of corruption.
     "Trump in a recent interview denied the connection to [pleaded ignorance of] Netanyahu’s electoral prospects. 'I wouldn’t even know about that. … I have no idea. I hear he’s doing okay,' he said." Astute observers may well take the ever abominably out of touch man at his word. After all, he may well have missed it in the often unread Daily Brief!

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article228159084.html#storylink=c

Thank you for reading. I hope your spring has begun in good order. Be certain to check on your friends in the flooded mid-west.  Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell. Joan Crawford

From this past week's scene: Optimist; notable US dates; students on climate change; death on the streets; tourist destinations and Airbnb; Fox News; military spending; Russian censorship; US censorship; Russian land-grab; MRGA; nuclear weapons; nuclear power safety; white nationalism;  
finally, C-SPAN anniversary.

Optimist. Link here. The Dali Lama on breaking the cycle of hatred.

Notable US dates: 
     13 March 1954: Though the long-term consequences were not clear at the time, battle of Dien Bien Phu began, pitting the Vietnamese against their colonial masters, the French. In response to the French loss, Vietnam was divided (North and South) and Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy furthered  President Truman's initial military involvement in south east Asia. The rest is history.
     14 March 1964: A jury in Dallas, TX, found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald. The verdict and death sentence were later overturned, but Ruby died before he could be retried.
     16 March 1968: The infamous My Lai massacre by American forces took place in South Vietnam. The story was first reported by Seymour Hersch in the New Yorker article in January 1972.
     17 March 1776: The British evacuated Boston. 1804: Jim Bridger, later renowned western explorer and  mountain man, was born in Richmond, VA.
     18 March 1776: Parliament passed the notorious Stamp Act, setting in motion the US War of Independence. 1852: Wells Fargo was formed in NYC. 1925: Some 695 people died when the US's worst tornado storm erupted in eastern MO, southern IL and southern IN. 1937: Nearly 300 students died in New London, TX, in a natural gas explosion.    
     19 March 1931. Gambling became legal in NV. 2003: President George W. Bush ordered the start of the Iraq war.

New Zealand. Yet another nation/city is in the news for the wrong reasons. The seemingly now eternal question arises: How to inform without playing to a mass shooter's desire for notoriety? How to lessen/dissuade the possible copycats?
     Ever since 1999 and the Columbine high school shooting in suburban Denver, Coni Sanders has pondered that question. (Coni's father Dave, a teacher, died saving countless Columbine students.) His role quickly disappeared from the news from all but the local news, while the two student-killers became well known and were much studied. There are no good answers/hard-and-fast rules.

Students on climate change. Some in the next generation are concerned and student walkout were held around the world calling for action while there is still time. They question if  "[a]t the heart of capitalism is a vast and scarcely examined assumption: you are entitled to as great a share of the world’s resources as your money can buy."
     Luisa Beck from Berlin on the young people who are protesting to save their futures. "They’ve gathered to show the grown-ups that they will no longer play by their rules, and to demand that adults protect their future from climate-change disasters." 
     Two mantras much noted on students' signs/placards: "There is no Planet B" and "Make Our Planet Great Again."

Deadly streets. Sobering statistics from The Guardian article. Even after strenuous efforts at improvements and a declining overall death rate, why do so many pedestrians (and cyclists) die on our city streets? It is a problem in Denver and across the nation. Some jurisdictions, including CO, are increasing the penalties for vehicular homicide.

New Orleans, Airbnb. A cautionary tale of how this new short term housing resource is changing entire neighborhoods/cities. New Orleans now boasts 6,500+ short term rental units and entire neighborhoods are now owned by investors, many non-residents. Neighborhoods are virtually empty except for 3-4 day weekend party-goers.

Fox News, too close for comfort? As the Chinese and North Koreans might say, Fox is a close to the White House "as lips and teeth." So why is a news channel that is pulling in $1.5B/quarter in trouble? Primarily, it appears, because many advertisers have pulled their ads from several of Fox's most prominent opinion shows, Hannity and Tucker Carlson. Surveys show that an increasing number of viewers now turn to Fox only for its straight news programming, not its commentary, resulting in lost advertising dollars.

Military spending. Not all that long ago, US representatives and senators of either party would move heaven and hell go get military contracts/projects into their districts/states. Now, however, "[t]hey would sooner take away money already promised to military families and constituents than anger Trump." Here in CO, "Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) will decide whether to put on the chopping block six projects at Buckley and Schriever Air Force bases and at Fort Carson worth more than $100 million." Senator Gardner has received White House assurances that no 2019 funds destined for CO would be impacted.

     For better or worse, it looks more and more as if America's two-party system is (alpha order) not Democrat and Republican, but Democrat and Trump. If you are a Republican, crossing swords with the President will guarantee you a primary challenge by an even more hard line, right wing challenger.

Russian censorship. From the Economist. 

Russia’s parliament passed bills that would impose fines on those who insult state officials, the flag and the constitution, or spread fake news online. Repeat offenders could be jailed. The bills need President Vladimir Putin’s signature to become law. Human-rights groups say that the vaguely worded laws open the door to direct censorship.

One can only imagine how much President Trump would love to have similar ability to deal with "fake" news -- i.e. whatever he does not like. One can only hope Congress would never pass such a bill. Though.......

US censorship. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced that the US will not issue visas to employees of the International Criminal Court who are investigating charges of war crimes by US service personnel -- nor those of any our valued allies (e.g. Israel).

Russian land-grab. This Foreign Policy article examines President Putin's slow, persistent moves in Europe to acquire territory/control access to areas in Europe.

MRGA, Make Russia Great Again. President Trump may well want to take a page from President Putin's playbook. Vladimir is using an expanding infrastructure building program to MRGA.

Nuclear weapons. This article from the CSM discusses the current situation. It is not all that rosy now, even though the Cold Was is supposedly over. The charts present a sobering picture. The article from Foreign Policy notes that the Pentagon has begun working on heretofore banned missile systems.

Nuclear power safety. Wondering about the safety of your nearby nuclear plant? In keeping with the administration's desires to cut back on regulations and oversight, the nuclear power industry is pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cut back on inspections AND throttle back what it tells the public about plant problems. Which is worse: a badly performing plant or a badly performing plant you do not know about?

White nationalism. As American as apple pie? This Atlantic article by Adam Serwer really does bear reading. "The president’s rhetoric about “shithole countries” invites dismissal as crude talk, but behind it lie ideas whose power should not be underestimated." Witness Robert Powers' recent pogrom at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

“Massive demographic changes,” Laura Ingraham has proclaimed, mean that “the America we know and love doesn’t exist anymore” in much of the country: Surely this kind of rhetoric reflects mere ignorance. Or it’s just a symptom of partisan anxiety about what those changes may portend for Republicans’ electoral prospects. As for the views and utterances of someone like Congressman Steve King (“We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies”), such sentiments are treated as outlandish extremism, best ignored as much as possible....What is judged extremist today was once the consensus of a powerful cadre of the American elite, well-connected men who eagerly seized on a false doctrine of “race suicide” during the immigration scare of the early 20th century.

Sewer's review makes clear that racism was endemic nationwide, as well as up and down the economic spectrum.
  This Atlantic article draws comparisons between White-Supremacist violence and other forms of terrorism.

C-SPAN. It debuted to mixed reviews. Old timers in the US House predicted chaos, mayhem, even worse: letting the public see what went on behind largely closed doors. Those in the Visitors' Gallery rarely stayed long. Columnist Karen Tumulty looks back at the history (sometimes hilarious, some not) of C-SPAN (House) and C-SPAN2 (Senate). The article's subtitle: "We need you more than ever."



Thank you for reading. "The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and a thousand other things well." Hugh Walpole (British novelist, 1886-1941)

This week's stories of note: Optimist; notable dates in US history; sexual assults in the armed forces; the news desert; the vaccination debate; FOIA news; antisemitism; a new name; needed: new travel visas; protest and be fined; a judge's lament.

Optimist. Link here.  Alex Trebek and serviving pancreatic cancer. Stay'n alive, when you are lost and only 5 years-old. Stop, stay put, keep dry, and wait. A special feminist club: When your school is all male and you want to see change. A new field of study, pregnancy. Reading the fine print paid off well for Donelan Andrews, $10,000 and more for several charities.

Notable dates in US History.
      6 March 1857: The US Supreme Court issued the deplorable Dredd Scott vs. Sanford ruling, declaring 7-2 that Scott was a slave, not a US citizen, and, therefore, could not sue for his freedom. 1912: the Oreo sandwich cooked debuted on grocery shelves.
     7 March 1965: The civil rights march in Selma, AL, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge was violently broken up; the day became known as "Bloody Sunday."
     8 March 1983: President Reagan first referred to the USSR as the "evil empire," a moniker that stuck. 2019: International Women's Day, celebrated worldwide. At the top, in America's   increasingly crowded Democratic presidential race, a myriad of choices abound with varying ideas and concerns. Women who are (alpha order here): business-oriented, office-holders, of color, older, white, younger. Surely with more to come.
     9 March 1862: During the Civil War, the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimac) clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Va.
    10 March 1913: Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, NY, she was in her 90s. She was a former slave, famed as an abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor.”
     11 March 1888: The eastern US was inundated by a record-setting blizzard that resulted in more than 400 deaths. This was just a year after the blizzard of 1887 that resulted in the death of up to 90% of range cattle on the great plains. 1918: The US had its first deaths of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic among soldiers stationed at Ft. Riley, KS.
     12 March 1912: Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, GA, formed the Girl Scouts of America. 1923: Lee De Forest demonstrated Phonofilm, a sound on movie film system in NYC.

Sexual assaults in the armed forces. A congressional committee heard testimony from US Senator Martha McSally (R, AZ) about having been raped year ago by a superior USAF officer. McSally, now retired was a decorated 26 year veteran, a squadron commander and the first woman to fly fighter combat missions. She said she suffered in silence because she did not trust the system and referred to herself as a "military sexual-assault victim." She is not alone with her memories.

The news desert. This story from Waynesville, Pulaski County, MO, discusses a situation faced by more and more Americans: the dearth of local news coverage as their local newspapers are been shuttered. When their Daily Guide closed, Facebook blogger Darrell Todd Maurina became their sole source of local proceedings.
     For example, Maurina became

"...the only person who has come to the Pulaski County courthouse to tell residents what their commissioners are up to, the only one who will report on their deliberations about how to satisfy the Federal Emergency Management Agency so it will pay to repair a road inundated during a 2013 flood....[Indeed, many other]Americans no longer have someone watching the city council for them, chronicling the soccer exploits of their children or reporting on the kindly neighbor who died."

Vaccinations. This national debate got a new face, when 18 year-old Ethan Lindenberger, of Norwalk, OH, testified before a US Senate health committee, explaining how he did his own research and, when he reached 18, obtained his vaccinations against his mother's wishes.

Freedom of Information in the church news. Congressional push back has been notable, even among Republicans. This is good news. The Roman Catholic Church tried to stifle the Copernican and other heretical scientific news, unsuccessfully in the end, thank goodness.

Bankruptcy changes? At present, when large company X (e.g. Toys 'R US), of municipality, maybe even state (IL comes immediately to mind) declares bankruptcy, the first group shafted, left out in the cold, are the company's employees and pensioners. Thankfully, that may change. But, of course, not without a fight, as the wealth-holding stockholders will surely balk, demanding to be pushed to the front of the "gimme-line."

Antisemitism. If I note that America was the first nation to recognize the state of Israel (1 May 1948), can I be said to be pro-Israel? Similarly, can I be said to be either pro- or anti-Israel if I note that the America Israel Public Affairs Committee is unabashedly pro-Israel? However, when Ilhan Omar (D, MN), spoke about Americans who are too tied to Israel, who exhibit "dual-loyalty," the antisemitism button was pushed. The Democrats seemed to have touched a so-called "third rail" in American politics.

Democrat/Democratic. President Trump says it is not the Democratic, rather the Democrat Party. What's in a name, you ask? Others have used the term as he is. He may not realize that many think it equally likely that the Republican Party is slowly morphing into the Trump Party. For The Supreme Narcissist, though, that is undoubtedly just fine. 

Too noisy? Now, "what's in a sound, you may ask?" A congressional panel was hearing testimony about the use of extremely loud underwater seismic blasts in the search for oil and natural gas deposits. One committee member gave the room a blast of 120 db from an over-the-counter air horn, loud enough for one pregnant staff member to report that her unborn child kicked her. When the industry official could not offer a guess as to how loud the underwater testing blasts actually were, the congressman replied they were 16,000 times louder.
     The recent sighting on the Atlantic coast of several endangered right whales and their calves have reignited the debate about the effects of the industry's sonic search tools.

A "missed" presidential candidate? Senator Sherrod Brown (D, OH) has announced that he will not be a presidential candidate in 2020. Columnist Karen Tumulty says he will be missed. Elsewhere, it was noted that 206 US counties twice voted for Barack Obama and then in 2016 voted for Donald Trump, more than 10 were in OH. Explaining/reversing that "flip" may be a key to Democratic chances in 2020.

Your new travel visa requirements. Soon you will need a visa to travel to "...Europe’s Schengen Zone, an area comprising 26 countries, including France, Germany and Spain, but not Britain." Hopefully, these visas will be as cheap and easily obtained as advertised.

Fined for protesting legally? This story from High Country News notes that the SD legislature recently passed laws to permit fines for those who deemed "riot-boosters." Legal challenges are sure to follow.

Legal access. From the Denver Post, "Michael Martinez, the chief judge overseeing the Denver District Court bench, got choked up as he recalled an exchange he overheard between a daughter and her elderly father one day a couple of years ago as he was leaving the courthouse downtown. The woman looked at her father and said, “Let’s just go. There’s nobody here that can help us.” 

     That struck Judge Martinez as just wrong. “We’re here to dispense justice for everyone and want to ensure equal access to everyone,” [but, too over loaded calendars are] a problem not just limited to Denver." In an growing and increasingly litigious society, the legislatures and city councils that fund courts have to step up!

Thank you for reading.  "A mind that has been stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

This week's thoughts: Notable dates in US history; DPRK - US summit; Trump v. Cohen; India -- Pakistan; voter fraud; forgotten history; blame game; American myths.

Notable Dates. 27 February 2009: The Denver-based Rocky Mountain News ceased publication; it began publication on 23 April 1859.
     28 February1849: Regular steamship service began taking adventurers to the CA gold fields. Earlier President Polk had had to jump start the Gold Rush by  assuring the public that, indeed, gold had been discovered at Sutter's Mill; it was not just a rumor. 1995: Denver International Airport opened, 16 months behind schedule and with $3.2B in cost overruns. The opening did not go well; the automated baggage sorting system was eventually scrapped; literally, sold as junk metal.
     1 March 1893: NicolaTesla first demonstrated radio, wireless communications. 1932: The Lindbergh kidnapping took place.
     2 March 1962: Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points as the Philadelphia Warriors defeated the NY Knicks. The record still stands!
    4 March 1913: The buffalo nickel went into circulation. 1974: People hit the newsstands; 1994: 4 terrorists were convicted after bombing the NY World Trace Center; 2019: The US consulate in Jerusalem, which had been established in 1844, closed as the American embassy was moving to the city.
 
National Popular Vote compact. The CO legislature has passed and Gov. Polis has said he will sign the bill making CO one of the states that agree to give their electoral votes the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.

DPRK -- US summit. Paul Waldman notes,

[T]he central dilemma in these negotiations and North Korea’s relationship with the world: No matter how much we want them to give up their nukes, no matter what benefits we might dangle in front of Kim, no matter how much Trump extols the potential of North Korea’s beaches for hotels and condos, Kim has always seen nuclear weapons as key to his survival. He saw what happened to leaders such as Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi who didn’t have them: They were deposed and killed.

     It clear (except to President Trump) that Kim Jong Un knows precisely how to play him. Jong Un's nation may be the weaker, but it does have nuclear weapons and its leadership does know how to size up, play to, all its opponents' weaknesses.
     Jong Un's demands that UN-sponsored sanctions be completely removed, finally scuttled the talks. Both parties will, of course, try to play the outcome to their advantage.

The pot and the kettle. Today, President Trump's former lawyer testified before the House Oversight and Reform committee. Cohen's first day of testimony was behind closed doors before the Senate's Intelligence committee. Who is lying: the pot or the kettle? ¿Quien sabe? Though a huge number of the President's past  comments have "fact checked" as partially or totally incorrect.

India, Pakistan, and Kashmir. While the world seems largely focused on President Trump and Kim Jong Un, a 72 year-old off/on again conflict in the disputed region of Kashmir is back in the news, between two very bitter nuclear-armed enemies, India and Pakistan. Bitter, yes, but knowledgeable of what could occur if things "come unglued."
     Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, acknowledged as much on Wednesday. “"I ask India: With the weapons you have and the weapons we have, can we really afford a miscalculation' he said. 'It is imperative that we use our heads and act with wisdom.' He suggested the two sides talk out their differences, which are mainly focused on control of a Muslim majority in Kashmir by largely Hindu India."

Voter fraud. This has been a constant theme among Republicans and, yes, there have been some small instances of illegal voting uncovered, but nothing on the grand scale alleged. Here is what has happened: large voting irregularities in NC has resulted in that state's Board of Election ordering a new election for the one yet-unfilled US House seat and a NC political operative has been indicted for his part in those irregularities.

History, forgotten? Is the study of history declining? Columnist Max Boot discusses the current state of the and finds it unpromising. "Today, fewer than 2 percent of male undergraduates and fewer than 1 percent of females major in history, compared with more than 6 percent and nearly 5 percent, respectively, in the late 1960s....History education in schools is so poor that students often enter college ignorant of the past — and leave just as unenlightened."

Vatican Summit on Child Protection. Columnist Marc Thiessen believes that the just completed conference on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church was long on excuses, very short on concrete actions. One prelate was ousted from the priesthood, but Pope Francis "...still refuses to tell us which bishops and cardinals did the covering up. It’s true that, just days before the summit, he removed disgraced former archbishop Theodore McCarrick from the priesthood. But Francis still refuses to explain: What took so long? Who knew about McCarrick’s alleged serial predations and did nothing? When did Francis know? And why did he not punish McCarrick until his crimes — which were repeatedly reported to the Vatican — were publicly exposed by the media?" Well noted.
     In Australia, "Victorian state County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd revoked Cardinal George Pell’s bail at the end of a sentencing hearing in a packed, standing room-only courtroom. Kidd said he would deliver his sentence March 13." In the meantime, Pell will remain in prison.

United Methodists. The church is the nation's third largest Christian group (after Roman Catholics and the Southern Baptists). The church's General Conference just voted (53%) for the so-called Traditional Plan, i.e. to not condone gay marriage or allow the ordination of LGBTQ members. As has happened with the split in the Lutheran church, chaos will not doubt ensue among Methodists regarding church properties and ordination questions. Those who favor diversity hearken back to their founder, John Wesley: “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?” The United Methodist hierarchy seems to have parted ways with their church's founder.

Blame game. Now that various US House committees have begun inquiring into multitudinous activities of the Trump campaign and presidency, the familiar phrase sure to be head will be whatever tuneful variation is necessary of "blame it on the Stones." This is surely the first of many such stories: the Korean summit did not work out "because of the testimony of Michael Cohen," the President's former lawyer, his self-proclaimed "fixer."

“For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the ‘walk’...”

Left unsaid, of course, was any notion that yet again the President, as the elderly knight errant said in Indiana Jones' "Last Crusade." had "chosen poorly"and suffered accordingly. Damn those Stones! 

Coal contamination. This should really not be a startling news story: "A new analysis has found the almost all the coal-fired power plants in the US are contaminating groundwater with unsafe levels of pollution from coal ash, including arsenic, a carcinogen." Coal ash has been a known carcinogen for years, a by-product with which the industry still does not want control.

4 myths. "Trump has perfected the art of telling a fake story about America. The only way to counter that is to tell the real story of America." However much he may not like it, "Trump wants us to believe he’s the Triumphant Individual. But in fact he’s a conman [man] who inherited his wealth."

Thank you for reading. "Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered." Dr. Seuss  Words to live by, Mr. President!

	John S