IMPORTANT READS

WORLD WATCH--As Turkey’s President Erdogan runs out of money, he is now, more than any time before, using religion to exploit the Balkans, especially the states that are more susceptible to Islamic influence.

 MY TURN-“In order to know how good you are at something requires exactly the same skills as it does to be good at that thing in the first place,” Cleese elaborates, “which means — and this is terribly funny — that if you are absolutely no good at something at all, then you lack exactly the skills you need to know that you are absolutely no good at it.”

NEW GEOGRAPHY--Where do we go after Trump?

CONSIDER THIS-For an administration adept at peddling conspiracy theories, here is one that would surely impress the president because it involves his favorite subject.

MY TURN-For a short moment in time, the country listened to President Obama and we felt refreshed, renewed, and almost “normal” again.

AT LENGTH-I was never a fan of Arizona’s Sen. John McCain. It is only belatedly that I’ve come to admire him for his reputation as “maverick” given his thumbs-down vote preserving the Affordable Care Act against the Republican Senate majority.

GUEST WORDS--Observers say that confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to become President Trump’s second pick for a lifetime job on the Supreme Court will make the Court more conservative.

TRUE RESISTANCE-On Wednesday afternoon, The New York Times published an anonymous op-ed from an author only identified as “a senior official in the Trump administration” who claimed that they were part of a group of individuals who are determined to thwart the President’s “agenda and his worst inclinations.” 

MY TURN--As everyone watched and listened to the heart wrenching moments in honor of Senator John McCain, we cannot help the tears the flow.

SCOTUS POLITICS--Delaying the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been written off as a lost cause by virtually every court confirmation watcher.

MY TURN-The image above exemplifies a picture that is SO “white” that they had to dial down the lighting so the glare didn’t reflect into the camera.

RECYCLED SCHEMES-It was only a matter of time. Traditional swindlers have discovered cryptocurrencies. They are using their old techniques to fleece new investors. 

“YOU’RE MAKING ME THINK SOMETHING FUNNY’S GOING ON”--Congress may be taking a break, but stupid racist cops are evidently still hard at work.

THE WORLD TURNS--My relatives are losing their minds. Literally. There’s a mother whose strokes in her hippocampus have left her with no short-term memory.

MY TURN-If you talk to anyone from a variety of other countries on the topic of Trump and his wacko supporters, you will get just about the same opinion: They think that Americans have lost their minds.

WORLD WATCH--In my last CityWatch article, I argued that the ultimate solution to the Palestinian refugees’ right of return rests on resettlement and/or compensation.

RESPECT--The Queen of Soul, the “voice of black America”, Lady Soul, arguably the greatest singer in living memory –

MY TURN-In only a few years we will hit the one hundred-year milestone for American women achieving the right to vote.

THE VIEW FROM HERE--As a cheap political slogan, I detest “drain the swamp.”

GUEST COMMENTARY--With overnight crowds outside the White House chanting, "Jail to the Chief!", Richard 'I Am Not A Crook I Just Act Like One' Nixon resigned his beleaguered presidency 44 years ago this week in the name of hastening "the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." 

CONTROLLING THE MESSAGES-Last year, representatives of Facebook, Twitter, and Google were instructed on the U.S. Senate floor that it is their responsibility to “quell information rebellions” and adopt a “mission statement” expressing their commitment to “prevent the fomenting of discord.”