Ordinarily, July 4 would be a time to celebrate the virtues of America. But whatever virtues we once possessed, Donald Trump and his inner circle of family and sycophants have abandoned them. Blind ambition, greed, and notorious self-promotion of the would-be king stand in their place. Today I want to focus on what those three negatives point to: a President who is out of control.
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The momentum is building. Last September, Kazakh President Tokayev stated that now is the time to have a “serious conversation about UN Charter review.” Kazakhstan and The Gambia officially endorsed Article 109 at that meeting, during which 148 countries, representing 78% of the UN’s Membership, called for the UN to be reformed. Brazil, India, and South Africa have also jointly urged “the convening of a review conference, in accordance with its Article 109.”
Imperialism, of course, had severe drawbacks. For the colonized, these drawbacks included genocide, enslavement, exploitation, and the looting of resources. But the colonizers, too, despite the vast riches acquired by a small minority among them, suffered losses. They perished in imperialist wars, died of starvation and diseases, and became infected by arrogance, brutality and racism. Above all, imperialism denied people in the colonies the right to self-government and, therefore, the right to determine the future of their own nations.
History offers no perfect blueprint, but it does offer wisdom. The experiences of Rwanda, postwar Germany, Chile, and South Africa reveal different approaches to accountability and reconciliation. Each illuminates both the promise and the limitations of pursuing justice after mass violence.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) mission extends far beyond any single jurisdiction, municipality or neighborhood. For decades, BSO has safeguarded some of Broward County’s most critical facilities. From Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades to the Broward County Courthouse, our highly trained professionals protect the infrastructure that millions of residents, visitors and businesses rely on every day.
The $64,000 question for America is will it heal from the Big Beautiful Bill, Trump lies, Court rulings and an emasculated congress as fast as Trump’s ear?
A cult evolves as a group whose members become intensely devoted to a leader, ideology, or belief system, often surrendering independent judgment in favor of unquestioning loyalty. Cults typically flourish during periods of fear, uncertainty, social change, or perceived threats to a group’s identity and status. Individuals who feel displaced, marginalized, or anxious about the future may become especially vulnerable to messages that offer simple explanations, clear enemies, and promises of restored greatness.
War has been an integral part of human history for some 11,000 years or so, depending on the definition of war. Iconic anthropologist Margaret Mead wrote an essay in 1940 that declared that, like so many other human practices, war is an invention—we are not doomed to wage war simply because of human nature. She proved her hypothesis simply by describing peoples that not only didn’t ever wage war, but often didn’t even have a concept of what war is.
I liken my roller coaster rides to what is happening in American politics today. There are ups and downs, detours and roadblocks. One day you are up and the next day you are down.
The ineffectiveness of such bombing, despite its destructive power, has been known for many years. At the end of WW II, the economist John Kenneth Galbraith led a large staff in a government report on the effectiveness of the Allies strategic bombing. In 2004, he summarized his conclusions from nearly 60 years before. Attacks on German arms factories “were sadly useless” as “fighter aircraft production actually increased in early 1944 after major bombing” due to factory and machinery relocation and determined management. The resulting death and destruction in German cities “had no appreciable effect on war production and the war.” This lesson, he opined, was ignored when the United States initiated wars in Vietnam and Iraq.