Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, the head of the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), has accused the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) of creating a surreptitious campaign to test the waters to see whether they could attract girls to join them, because their recruitment numbers are falling.
[Read more…]
Roy Wood Jr. explains to Trevor Noah the optics of Donald Trump’s rallies.
One of the many problems with prolonged wars, apart from the intense suffering it inflicts on the people on whose territory it is being fought, is that over time the whole purpose of the war becomes obscure. I am not talking about so-called ‘mission creep’ where the goals keep getting expanded, morphing from a quick effort to achieve a specific goal to becoming broader, such as creating a new government or infrastructure to replace what was destroyed, what is sometimes referred to as ‘nation building’.
[Read more…]
This BBC series is set in the Shetland Islands off the northeast coat of Scotland. It tells the story of a small police department investigating crimes on the sparsely populated islands where everyone pretty much knows everyone else. I found the series to be quite gripping, even though the murder plots did not quite satisfy me, having some serious implausibilities. The first two seasons consist of four two-hour episodes based on books by Ann Cleeves and the third season consists of a single six-hour story that was written by others using the same characters. It is in the portrayals of the gritty life of the people that the series has its strength.
[Read more…]
One of things that, if the issues were not so serious, would be comical about the recent spate of actions by neo-Nazis and white supremacists is how they try to hide their true intent under innocent-sounding explanations. For example, we suddenly find that the people who oppose the removal of statues of Confederate heroes are really just ardent devotees of history, and their only interest is in making sure that the history of the country is accurately represented. Advocating racism? Oh, heavens, no! How could you possibly think that? Then there are those who want to wear or fly the swastika symbol. They stoutly deny that they are doing so to promote Nazi ideology but insist that it is merely a religious symbol.
[Read more…]
As concerns about the adverse effects of burning fossil fuels on our climate became more widespread, the coal industry launched a marketing campaign to try and resurrect the image of coal, the burning of which is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases. So the friendly sounding term ‘clean coal’ was brought in. But the more accurate term is ‘clean coal technology’ because the adjective ‘clean’ really modifies ‘coal technology’ and not just ‘coal. What is being talked about are ways to minimize the release of the greenhouse gases.
[Read more…]
When I look at Donald Trump is see someone who is analogous to a dangerous animal that has got used to being treated cautiously by those entrusted to look after him. But as he feels increasingly under threat, as his former allies either peel away or distance themselves from him and he gets more isolated, he will lash out more indiscriminately. As Matt Taibbi writes:
[Read more…]
Donald Trump is clearly going to make things worse in Afghanistan now that he has pledged an open-ended war there until the US ‘wins’. What winning means is never defined but it is not hard to imagine that as the inevitable stalemate drags on (as even his own secretary of state concedes is the best outcome the US can hope for), an increasingly frustrated Trump, wary of being branded a loser, will simply escalate the carnage, making life even more miserable for the already suffering Afghans. And the US media will praise him for ‘being presidential’ because there is nothing they like better than the killing of people of color overseas by massive military power..
[Read more…]
As I said, I was not that excited about the total solar eclipse that passed over sections of the US yesterday. Maximum totality occurred some distance south of where I live and was reached at 2:30pm Eastern Time. It turned out that I had to take my car in for some recall work and so I was in the waiting room from 1:00pm onwards. The TV set in the room (you cannot escape the pervasive presence of TV in any public area it seems) was tuned to CNN and I was astounded that they talked about nothing but the eclipse for the entire 75 minutes while I was waiting.
[Read more…]
One of the key features of Buddhism is its emphasis on the impermanence of all things and the consequent undesirability of having too great an attachment to material things. I was reminded of this while I was following the current debates raging about the removal of statues and other icons honoring Confederate leaders and others who supported and perpetuated slavery.
[Read more…]