It's a Big World Out There
Here's Recommended Reading
2018
My goal is eventually to call this page "The Daily Read," but here I am, already two days late in posting my first recommendation for 2018. I can't blame my tardiness on excessive New Year's merriment, but rather on a long, cramped, and exhausting day in the air on the 1st of the month and indulging in a lazy "catch-up" day on the 2nd. Ironically, one of the first articles I read today was a Wall Street Journal piece on how the airlines plan to make air travel even less comfortable and inviting as time goes on. This is the only business I know of from which we accept blatantly being charged more and more for less and less. I can't help but wonder about the safety of passengers who need to evacuate in an emergency. Where is that famous government regulation when we need it? Meanwhile, as my favorite CNN commentator, Fareed Zakaria, would say, "Let's get started."
12/24/18: 'A Rogue Presidency': The era of containing Trump is over
12/16/18: The Democratic House is taking on ethics reform first. We need it.
12/13/18: John Kasich: When will we stop ignoring that 21 trillion-pound gorilla sitting in plain sight?
12/11/18: TIME Person of the Year 2018: The Guardians
12/10/18: The false claims that Trump keeps repeating
12/6/18: Freshman Democrats: Legislation, not investigations, should be House priority
12/4/18: What Happens If ...
11/26/18: This photographer wanted to humanize Ellis Island's immigrants. His images are still powerful.
11/23/18: Trump's "America First" means Americans lose
11/22/18: A Thanksgiving without family is no Thanksgiving at all
11/20/18: This is what happens when a stable genius leads a stupid country
11/17/18: Want to topple Trump? Take John Delaney seriously.
11/14/18: Was Amazon's Headquarters Contest a Bait-and-Switch? Critics Say Yes
11/11/18: Twitter Pelts Trump With Photos Of Obama In The Rain After He Ditches Cemetery Visit
11/7/18: Here Are Some Of The Historic Firsts From The Midterm Elections
10/31/18: Trump targeting birthright citizenship with executive order
10/27/18: Republicans are mischaracterizing nearly all their major policies. Why?
10/26/18: When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn
10/22/18: A 14-year oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico verges on becoming one of the worst in U.S. history
10/19/18: The Trump administration's deregulation efforts are saving billions of dollars
10/17/18: "Do no harm" is a poor standard for self-driving cars
10/16/18: How First-Time Voters Could Affect the Midterms
10/14/18: "Welcome to the Jungle"
10/10/18: "Anti-Trump Evangelicals Are On A Nationwide Bus Tour To Flip Congress"
10/8/18: "Liberals, This Is War"
10/6/18: "Has Anything Changed For American Women Since 2016?"
10/4/18: "Democrats, rights groups urge State Dept. to bring back reports on women's reproductive rights"
10/2/18: "Trump's self-made claims challenged by father's tax returns"
9/29/18: " 'Indelible in the Hippocampus Is the Laughter.' The Science Behind Christine Blasey Ford's Testimony"
9/28/18: "Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Fight Exposes Major Problems With the Nation's Most Powerful Court"
9/25/18: "9 Ways Being Single Can Improve Your Life"
9/24/18: "Trump team wildly underestimated the costs of tariffs"
9/21/18: "The Supreme Court Nomination Process Has Become a Disgrace"
9/20/18: "I came to America as a refugee. You took me just as I was"
9/18/18: "Trump could play Scrooge this holiday season"
9/16/18: "Borrowing strategy from NRA, activists quietly overturn knife restrictions across U.S."
9/15/18: "It totally belittled the moment: Many look back in dismay at Trumps tossing of paper towels in Puerto Rico"
9/13/18: "In N.H. election stunner, a onetime refugee knocks off entrenched incumbent"
9/11/18: "The Kavanaugh hustle"
9/9/18: "At U.S. Open, power of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka is overshadowed by an umpire's power play"
9/7/18: "Corporatism is infringing on your backyard like never before"
9/5/18: "20 Years of Google Have Changed the Way We Think. Here's How, According to a Historian of Information"
9/4/18: "8 questions for the midterm elections: A blue wave or not?"
9/1/18: "Elizabeth Warren is giving capitalism the moral rehab it needs"
8/31/18: "The nation mourns Sen. John McCain, and Trump takes it as a rebuke"
8/29/18: "Elizabeth Warren has bold ideas about how to drain the swamp"
8/28/18: "Mollie Tibbetts' father stands up for Hispanic community, saying, 'They're Iowans with better food'"
9/1/18: "Elizabeth Warren is giving capitalism the moral rehab it needs"
8/31/18: "The nation mourns Sen. John McCain, and Trump takes it as a rebuke"
8/29/18: "Elizabeth Warren has bold ideas about how to drain the swamp"
8/28/18: "Mollie Tibbetts' father stands up for Hispanic community, saying, 'They're Iowans with better food'"
8/27/18: "'I Loved Him Like a Brother.' Former Vietnam POW's Share Memories of John McCain"
8/25/18: "Trump's Toxic Friendship: Politics 2018--the wives under the bus"
8/22/18: "How Trump's EPA is planning to gut clean air regulations to prop up coal"
8/21/18: "Lawyers on the Border Still Dealing With Fallout From Family Separations"
8/19/18: "Giuliani: 'Truth isn't truth'"
8/17/18: "This Top-10 Medical School Is Now Offering Free Tuition to All Students"
8/15/18: "The TSA searches me every time I travel. I think I know why."
8/14/18: "Do children have a right to literacy? Attorneys are testing that question."
8/13/18: "This is what the average American looks like in 2018"
8/12/18: "One group that definitely faces prejudice in college admissions"
8/10/18: "Three reasons Trump's new immigration rule should make your blood boil"
8/9/18: "'They have nothing': How a $20 tip cost an immigrant her Dulles job and severed a lifeline to Sierra Leone"
8/8/18: "More Asbestos! More Asbestos! More Asbestos!"
8/7/18: "How to Raise an 'Army of Angry Moms and Women' From Your Own Kitchen"
8/6/18: "Trump wildfire tweets spark bewilderment about California water"
8/3/18: "Detained Fathers Turn To Hunger Strike"
8/2/18: "Is Bannon right that white, college-educated women have given up on Republicans?"
7/31/18: "Trump administration considers tax cut for the wealthy"
7/30/18: "Inflation hits 6-year high, wiping out wage gains for the average American"
7/28/18: "Democrats need a Plan B for the Supreme Court. Here's one option"
7/26/18: "Government Unable To Track Hundreds Of Parents It Separated From Their Children"
7/25/18: "Inside the Cross-Country Journey to Reunite and Undocumented Mother with Her Three Children"
7/24/18: How Trump Spends Our Money: A Partial Compendium:
"Trump's Military Parade Will Cost Taxpayers About $12 Million, Report Says"
"Trump's 'incredible' Air Force One to be red, white, and blue, cost 3.9 billion"
"What a 'Zero Tolerance' Immigration Stance Cost HHS"
7/22/18: "Britain's queen is counting her swans in a ritual with much poop and circumstance"
7/21/18: "Why Dogs and Humans Love Each Other More Than Anyone Else"
7/19/18: "Congrats, comrades on shaking Democrats up the right way"
7/17/18: "The Great CNN Baby Boom"
7/16/18: "'Disgraceful' and 'tragic': John McCain's excoriation of Trump on Russia, annotated"
7/14/18: "Mueller indictment against 12 Russian spies for DNC hack"
7/13/18: "Ronald's out. Donald's in."
7/12/18: "Where the real fight over abortion will take place"
7/11/18: "I'm a British Lawmaker. Here's Why I'm Protesting Trump's Visit to the U.K."
7/10/18: "Roe isn't just about women's rights. It's about everyone's personal liberty"
7/7/18 "Do Americans Understand How Bad Trumponomics us Going to Be For Them?"
7/6/18: "Revealed-full details of Trump's UK trip: Melania WILL come and there will be NO public appearances in London ..."
7/11/18: "I'm a British Lawmaker. Here's Why I'm Protesting Trump's Visit to the U.K."
7/10/18: "Roe isn't just about women's rights. It's about everyone's personal liberty"
7/7/18 "Do Americans Understand How Bad Trumponomics us Going to Be For Them?"
7/6/18: "Revealed-full details of Trump's UK trip: Melania WILL come and there will be NO public appearances in London ..."
7/5/17: "How Republicans Dance Around the Elephant in the Room--and How to Stop Them Cold"
7/4/18: "Japan's Players Redefine Sportsmanship By Cleaning Up Locker Room After Losing at the World Cup"
7/2/18: "Amazon workers 'refuse' to build tech for US immigration, warning Jeff Bezos of IBM's Nazi legacy"
7/1/18: "It Is Happening Here, Trump Is Already Early-Stage Mussolini"
6/29/18: "Booker asks how Trump can pick Supreme Court justice while Russia probe continues"
6/28/18: "Trudeau says Canada will take refugees banned by U.S."
6/27/18: "The Mighty Pen Prevails: In the Digital Age, Handwritten Voter Contact Is a Powerful Secret Weapon"
6/26/18: "American Collapse isn't Just Economic and Political--It's Moral and Ethical, Too"
6/24/18: "The Immigration Law No One Is Talking About"
6/23/18: "Vote against the GOP this November"
6/21/18: "This is what it feels like to be separated at the border"
6/20/18: "Clergy, laity file complaint against Sessions"
6/19/18: "What separation from parents does to children: 'The effect is catastrophic'"
6/18/18: "The heartbreaking photo that shows Trump may have gone too far"
6/17/18: "Editorial: How many more Trump missteps can we tolerate?"
6/16/18: "You don't really know who Bernie Sanders was in the 1960s. Why it mattered then and why it matters in 2018."
6/15/18: "Connecting the dots between natural disasters and climate change in the US"
6/14/18: "Dems say Obama return from sidelines is overdue"
6/13/18: "More than 6 in 10 American children were enrolled in CHIP or Medicaid in 2017"
6/11/18: "TheJustice Department's reputation is in the worst danger since Watergate
6/10/18: "The G-7 summit, summed up in one photo"
6/8/18: "Things that once bothered Republicans and things that don't"
6/7/18: "To my daughter, who taught me not to worry about time"
6/6/18: "This Picture Tells a Tragic Story of What Happened to Women After D-Day"
6/5/18: "March for Our Lives activists to keep movement going with summer bus tour"
6/4/18: "Video recorded by Parkland school shooter released"
5/31/18: "Trump's election made Obama wonder if America was ready to move forward from its past"
5/29/18: "Puerto Rico hurricanes death toll 70 times higher than official government estimate, study says"
5/24/18: "Money Isn't Speech and Corporations Aren't People"
5/22/18: "The Banana States of America"
5/20/18: "The lives lost at Santa Fe High School"
5/16/18: "Proof that online high school can work:My daughter"
5/15/18: "EPA's New Dirty Air Plan Hatched Behind the Scenes"
5/14/18: "A near-universal health-care plan that wouldn't break the bank"
5/12/18: "John McCain is the single greatest political leader of our time"
5/11/18: "Planned Parenthood airs ad during 'Fox & Friends' warning against changes to family planning program"
5/09/18: "Jeff Sessions's breathtaking policy of malice towards migrants"
5/08/18: "California's most powerful voice on Wall Street? Its pensions"
5/07/18: "No wonder there's an exodus from religion"
5/05/18: "Man needed help with son's third-grade math homework--and got it from a stranger on the subway"
5/03/18: "Trump doesn't seem to grasp the electoral college"
5/02/18: "The immigrant doctors who saved Ronald Reagan's life"
4/30/18: "The Trump administration traumatizes children in the name of scaring migrants away"
4/29/18: "How Alfie Evans became the latest weapon in the conservative attack on universal health care"
4/28/18: "The poor don't have a prayer in today's Washington"
4/27/18: "Trump's decency deficit is trickle-down"
4/25/18: "A powerful memorial in Montgomery remembers the victims of lynching"
4/24/18: "If Anyone Can Be America's First Black Woman Governor, It's Stacey Abrams"
4/23/18: "In travel ban case, Supreme Court considers 'the president' vs. 'this president'"
4/20/18: "The United States is mortgaging its future"
4/19/18: "Thanks to Tammy Duckworth, the Senate Just Made a Historic Change"
4/18/18: "This tax from Congress is a bad omen for the nonprofit world"
4/17/18: "Gorsuch joins liberals on deportation ruling"
4/15/18: "On refugees, the Trump administration is competent and malevolent"
4/13/18: "About half of Americans support single-payer health care"
4/11/18: "Here's how political campaigns target you online"
4/10/18: "Sinclair's takeover of local news, in one striking map"
4/8/18: "Why I became a German citizen, 80 years after escaping the Nazis as a Jewish baby"
4/6/18: "Jeff Sessions wants to bribe judges to do his bidding"
4/5/18: "President Trump says his 'beautiful wall' is being built. Nope."
4/4/18: "Somebody just put a price tag on the 2016 election. It's a doozy" (published a year ago, but eye-popping; worth the read)
4/2/18: "I didn't understand male privilege until I became a stay-at-home dad"
4/1/18: "Loyola Chicago, the team NCAA basketball did not deserve, exits stage right"
3/30/18: "The bitter lie behind the census's citizenship question"
3/29/18: "Someone is watching you"
3/28/18: "Trump's despicable decisions look awfully alike"
3/27/18: "Linda Brown Thompson, girl at center of Brown v. Board of Education case, dies"
3/26/18: "Steve Mnuchin Doesn't Know, He Doesn't Care, and He's Not Interested in Reality"
3/25/18: "The second-most dangerous American"
3/24/18: "Andrew McCabe: Not in my worst nightmares did I dream my FBI career would end this way"
3/21/18: "The young voices we aren't hearing in the gun-control debate"
3/20/18: "Stormy Daniels--not Robert Mueller--might spell Trump's doom"
3/19/18: "Sudan, the world's last male northern white rhino, has died, putting his species on the brink of extinction"
3/17/18: "Why aren't these people running the country?"
3/16/18: "Get ready. Republicans want to cut taxes again."
3/15/18: "Larry Kudlow may have been more wrong about the economy than anyone alive"
3/14/18: "'You're fired': A timeline of Trump administration departures"
3/7/18: "Trump administration WILL allow African elephant hunting trophies to be imported--despite president calling practice ................ which his sons love a 'horror show'"
3/6/18: "Fact-checking President Trump's trade rhetoric"
3/5/18: "Gratuitous cruelty by Homeland Security: Separating a 7-year-old from her mother"
3/4/18: "This story about how Trump impulsively launched a trade war is shocking--and shockingly unsurprising"
3/3/18: "Women storm Texas primaries"
2/27/18: "Florida student passes NRA in Twitter followers"
2/26/18: "FCC Comissioner: Our Policy is 'Custom Built' for Right-Wing Sinclair Broadcasting"
2/24/18: "The NRA's solution for school shootings: Make schools battle-ready"
2/23/18: "The best strategy for the Parkland students: Go on strike"
2/22/18: "What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns"
2/20/18: "Don't blame 'Washington.' Blame the GOP."
2/17/18: "Four countries with gun control--and what America could learn from them"
2/16/18: "Maybe 'values voters' will understand why it's important to have a president who has some"
2/15/18: "Las Vegas Autopsies Reveal the True Brutality of Mass Shootings"
2/14/18: "Florida Republicans' Offers of Prayers Invite Accusations of Hypocrisy"
2/12/18: "Distinguished person of the week: He deftly defies Trump"
2/11/18: "The Ones They Left Behind: A Puerto Rican Family Still Torn Apart Months After Maria"
2/8/18: "Legislation would block Trump military parade"
2/6/18: "Class in Session"
(Another "must see" video on Robert Reich's Facebook page which will enlighten you on income inequality and the elements necessary to effect a change.)
2/5/18: "Why Donald Trump Should Fear Norwegian Immigrants the Most of All"
2/4/18: "Paul Ryan celebrated the tax cut with a tweet about a secretary saving $1.50 a week"
2/2/18: "Read the full GOP memo on the Russia investigation"
1/31/18: "'I don't know what the hell happened': Michael Steele on the GOP under Trump"
1/30/18: "Why Amazon built its workers a mini rain forest inside three domes in downtown Seattle"
1/29/18: "Distinguished persons of the week: Unimaginable courage and grace"
1/27/18: "Undocumented and disillusioned, I decided to leave America. This loss is mutual."
1/26/18: "Women's March on Woodstock, New York" (Video courtesy of Tobe Carey)
1/25/18: "LG to hike washing machine prices in response to Trump-imposed tariffs"
1/24/18: "Fast track to stardom"
1/22/18: "Republicans are clueless: The pink wave is cresting"
1/21/18: "Political Parties are Under No Obligation to Operate Democratically"
1/20/18: "Why This Black Girl Will Not Be Returning to the Women's March"
1/19/18: "Is Trump's doctor okay?"
1/18/18: "Sessions doesn't understand America"
1/17/18: "'Our democracy will not last': Jeff Flake's speech comparing Trump to Stalin, annotated"
1/16/18: "How a man's first-ever tweet, about Obama's respect, proved more popular than Trump's bluster"
1/15/18: ""Shithole' wasn't the most offensive part of Trump's Haiti comments"
1/14/18: "The false alarm in Hawaii revealed an abdication of leadership by Trump"
1/13/18: "The important lesson new moms should learn from Serena Williams's scary childbirth experience"
1/11/18: "The future of American democracy is being decided right now"
1/10/18: "This Life: An existence she loves, under a growing cloud of student debt"
1/9/18: "Trump administration ended protected status for 250,000 Salvadorans. These immigrants might be next."
1/8/18: "Dear Very Stable Genius: The ingrates don't deserve you. So quit."
1/7/18: "Trump's foreign corruption problems gets worse--and the GOP's indifference is disturbing"
1/6/18: "If the poor must work to earn every dollar, shouldn't the rich?"
1/5/18: "The GOP is sabotaging this sacred mandate"
1/4/18: "'Forget About the Stigma':Male Nurses Explain Why Nursing Is a Job of the Future for Men"
1/3/18: "Trump is nakedly fragile"