One of the first things people learn about microwaves ovens is to never put any metal objects in it. So I was surprised to see a microwave oven with a metal rack in the center, like those you find in regular ovens. Naturally I tried to find out how the manufacturers had achieved this and under what conditions metal could be used.
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The Republicans made the issue of US deaths in the Libyan town of Benghazi the centerpiece of multiple investigations of Hillary Clinton as part of their sustained effort to discredit her and thus undermine her candidacy. But this news item has received surprisingly little coverage from US media.
When four US special forces soldiers died in an ambush earlier this month in scrubby desert in western Niger, attention was suddenly focused on one of the most remote and chaotic war zones on the planet.
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Donald Trump has decided to cut the federal subsidies that helped make the insurance premiums on the health exchanges more affordable. But the people who will be most adversely affected by this move tend to live in states that voted for Trump last year.
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So the Cleveland Indians, the baseball team of my hometown, was eliminated from the championship playoffs by the New York Yankees, losing 3-2 after winning the first two games. Last year they made it all the way to the World Series before losing to the Chicago Cubs.
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The stories of the ghastly behavior of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein are suddenly pouring out like a gusher, revealing someone who is completely beyond the pale. Yeah, yeah, these are just allegations at this point and nothing has been proved but in cases like this, there can be little doubt of his guilt. If even a fraction of the charges against him are established, that would be bad enough.
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In a post a few years ago, I mentioned how Australia and New Zealand had next to no players of color in their teams, even though both countries have quite a sizable proportion of immigrants from the cricket-mad Indian sub-continent. Usman Khawaja, the child of Pakistani immigrants who entered the country when he was five, is one of the few players who did make it into the Australian national team and in an article he describes the racism he experienced growing up, often in the form of ‘sledging’, the term given to verbal abuse hurled at players on the opposing teams.
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It used to be considered that the phrase ‘Israel lobby’ was considered too hot to mention in the US media. The activities of the Israel lobby in the US, once also considered an untouchable topic, are now being reported on more openly. Aida Chavez and Ryan Grim at The Intercept write about what happened when Al Jazeera sent reporters undercover to expose the workings of the lobby both in the UK and in the US. The Israeli government complained to the UK media watchdog, which cleared Al Jazeera of all the charges.
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Donald Trump hates it when others look down on him and it is clear that Rex Tillerson calling him a moron rankles deeply. In an interview, Trump challenges Tillerson to an IQ test, which is the kind of response one has come to expect from this man-child. But it is interesting how Trump worded it: “I think it’s fake news, but if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.” (My italics)
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Among the many tax benefits that religious clergy get is that any housing allowance that they are given is exempt from taxes. But if they buy a house and then use that allowance to pay the mortgage they can then, like the rest of us, deduct that mortgage interest from any taxable income that they might have. This is a form of double dipping.
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