Longer Step: Ideas for Justice and Sustainability

 Answer: Everything. This Presidential election was probably won before it even started. It is a winning strategy to weaponize the media to make its viewers believe lies. The truth is that crime is down; the economy (by most measures) is very strong; 99.9% of illegal immigrants across the southern border are peaceful and contribute significantly to our society; COVID and other vaccines are safe and necessary; liberal policies are good for ordinary people. And yet more than half of US voters believe the opposite, and are highly motivated to return the former president to office. I'm afraid that, when so many people are so easily brainwashed and led by fear, then it's just about over (this Freedom experiment) for all of us. I sure hope I'm wrong. But there is only so much "stupid" and "evil" that a fragile republic can withstand. A republic requires, for its very existence, citizens who are educated and know how to think critically, and who stay involved a...

Honor to the defenders and supporters of Ukraine. In such a major geopolitical struggle, it's wise to ask: Are we seeing it correctly; is our media presenting it fairly? Kruschev's daughter, who lives in the US and keeps in touch with Russian sentiment, says that Russians don't want the war; they see the body bags coming back but are told not to talk about it; they are imprisoned if they complain about the war, so they have to outwardly support it; but they also see the war as "Putin v Biden"--a political dispute--with both of them at fault. What we see is naked aggression and war crimes committed by a dictator desperate to become a Russian hero leaving a great legacy. That he invented a false narrative to justify his mass killing. That he will fail, if the US and Europe remain committed to Ukraine's defense. An entire city administration in Karkhiv has been moved to a big basement, where mostly middle-aged and older women run everything (as most of the men an...