Category: USA

Hole in the global energy supply…

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The idiot crew around Donald Trump may have been so focused on personal enrichment schemes that they didn’t bother to examine the medium- to long-term effects of waging war on Iran. Patrick Boyle makes a key point when he talks about “…the hole in the global energy supply that no amount of diplomatic pressure can fill…”

More shocking American behaviour

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I receive plenty of emails drawing attention to information and news stories from around the world. I’ve been busy, so few of the recent ones have prompted me to look closely. But one by David A. Graham immediately led me to an article in The Atlantic, my favourite U.S. publication. Titled “A Horrible Throwback to the Early 2000s,” it reveals some shocking American behaviour.

More American crime

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Over the past decade, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (Ice) has amassed millions of data points that it uses to identify and track its targets – from social media posts to location history and, most recently, tax information. And there’s been one, multibillion-dollar tech company particularly instrumental in enabling Ice to put all that data to work: Palantir, the data analytics firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, the rightwing mega-donor and tech investor.

Words come back to bite

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Cole Bennett correctly wrote that Kirk’s murder will not advance any of the causes he opposed. Violence against leaders is most often a consequence of damaged trust in political and social systems. It is perpetrated by isolated and disenfranchised people who live outside the rules of society. Kirk’s organization had plenty of those, so the immediate future is a dangerous time for moderate American political figures.

Gray Lady up

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I cancelled my subscription to the New York Times when the newspaper seemed to easily accept the horrors inflicted on two million residents of Gaza. Of course, that was not the only fault I perceived in what should be America’s finest newspaper. However, the Gray Lady does produce some compelling material. There is a fine Times piece by Larry David, the brilliant creator of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and the co-creator of “Seinfeld.” It was directed at Bill Maher after the arrogant former comedian dined with Donald Trump, whom Maher called “gracious.”

Points to ponder

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I’ve been working with a group of people to launch CANADA WEST FORUM. Busy days are further complicated by the recent onset of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL). It is easing with treatment. For me, the discomforts of advancing age are more than balanced by observing young family members reach or near the age of majority. It is gratifying when they show themselves to be people of high character. Nevertheless, deafness has not stopped me from reading widely. Anyone not anxious about our future is not paying attention.

Now is not the moment to remain silent

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Facebook has plenty of flaws, but as a stopped clock does twice a day, it can provide useful information. It was on Facebook that I saw a quote by American writer and editor Naomi Shulman. That led me to a piece she published ten days after Trump was elected President in 2016. Emboldened by Congressional cowardice and a corrupt Supreme Court, America’s Oligarch-in-Chief is even more dangerous than when Shulman warned her nation eight years ago…

Rule by a dangerous narcissist

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A fundraising group led by Republican Kevin Grantham commissioned a portrait of Donald Trump by Sarah Boardman. The painting was unveiled in August 2019 and hung in Arizona’s rotunda gallery until the President complained about it in 2025. Republican politicians immediately demanded it be removed from the state’s capitol building. A painting that hung on the wall for 68 months was suddenly said to be “purposefully distorted” and part of a plot against the dear leader “never seen before.”

Kakistocracy again

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I complain about rich people owning important media properties when they use those to benefit holders of extreme wealth. Billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs controls The Atlantic magazine and she allows her journalists to be effective critics of Donald Trump. The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans by editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg ought to amaze us. Instead, it is just another illustration of dangerous incompetence among the rulers in Washington DC.

America’s kakistocracy

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I mentioned kakistocracy in the article Impoverishment of thought. The Cambridge Dictionary defines this as “a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens.” Peter Navarro is 78-year-old Donald Trump’s 75-year-old counsellor for trade and manufacturing. Navarro provides just part of the evidence that the President’s kakistocracy is now in place.

Just because the corruption plays out in public doesn’t mean it’s not corruption

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A week ago, Senator Chris Murphy said the Trump White House was “on its way to being the most corrupt in the history of the country.” That statement is wrong. The White House is not on its way; it has already arrived. Today’s car show at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is additional evidence. White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino livestreamed the event on X, the social media app owned by Musk. The Tesla share price increased more than 7% today, so the stunt added $55 billion to the company’s market capitalization. Members of the Trump crime family who knew about the car show likely profited immensely.

The rule of law matters

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Chris Murphy is the junior United States Senator for Connecticut. In 2024, The Guardian newspaper named him one of the Democratic Party’s rising stars, active in several policy areas, particularly healthcare, foreign policy and gun safety legislation. He delivered a scathing speech in the U.S. Senate about unprecedented corruption in the current administration. Canadians should pay attention to Senator Murphy. Trump has no desire for the continued independence of Canada. He views this country as a home for hewers of wood and drawers of water. It doesn’t matter that the phrase became outdated about 70 years ago. Canada has its own plutocrats waiting to steal from the common people. They may be inspired by the easy success of the Trump/Musk crime family.

Patrimonialism

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Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow at Brooking’s Center for Effective Public Managment wrote in the Atlantic about the USA’s regime change. Rauch says that even those who expected the worst from Trump’s reelection expected more rationality. Instead, they got an administration that operates like a crime family, “divvying up the spoils, sometimes quarreling, but helping each other when needed.”