The president committed attempted extortion

November 14, 2019 It appears that the president of the United States committed the crime of attempted extortion on July 25, 2019, during his call to Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky. During public testimony in the House of Representatives yesterday, Congressman Joaquin Castro asked Ambassador Taylor, “Is attempted extortion and bribery a crime?” Taylor had already […]

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Christian Ethics and Immigration

Both Democratic and Republican American political leaders have taken a ‘tough on immigration’ stance over the past 20 years. In part they are responding to constituents. Both voters and leaders are engaged in a misguided attempt to prevent terrorism in the U.S through increased immigration restriction. One reason that it is misguided is that most

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Escapism and Warfare

You might think, from the title of this post, that it will be about violent video games. Actually it is kind of the opposite: it is about dramas that are ostensibly escapist, but actually engage in real warfare. What provoked me to write this essay is episode 12 of season 2 of The Orville, entitled

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Storytelling as Jazz

A year ago I posted about my enthusiasm for Seth MacFarlane’s show the Orville. I have just watched Season 2, Episode 8: “Identity, Part 1”. If you have not seen the episode yet, I highly recommend that you do so. This posting includes spoliers. ** Spoiler Alert ** In my previous post I described the

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Leadership from the Arena

The one thing that will make American football continue to have relevance is when all players, on both teams, led by their quarterbacks, take the knee during the singing of our National Anthem. Taking the knee, a practice of soldiers honoring their fallen comrades, is an act of respect. Taking the knee during the Anthem

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A Call for Answerable Socialism

The candidacy of Bernie Sanders in 2016 and the election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018 have demonstrated that Americans are reconsidering Socialism carefully, and that Socialist candidates can get elected. The problem for Americans is that Socialism is an ambiguous term. It can mean political economies ranging from Denmark and Sweden to the USSR and

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A proposed Constitutional Amendment: Rights of the People

Note: this Amendment was drafted by some friends of mine. I like it, and believe it deserves wide consideration. I will comment on it below the text. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT XXVIII: “Rights of the People” Section 1 The Federal Government shall mandate and provide free, universal, “single payer” healthcare to any and all US citizens, or permanent residents,

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