Author: nick

[ad_1] Photograph Source: The White House – Public Domain The conclusion of the high-stakes Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 14 marked a critical pivot in the structural architecture of the international system. This meeting matters profoundly because it introduces an unexpected floor to a relationship that many analysts predicted would enter a terminal downward spiral under a second Trump administration. Rather than a standard diplomatic gridlock, the summit produced a relatively coherent framework for what Beijing is calling constructive strategic stability. For global policymakers and volatile international markets, the event signals a systemic pause in aggressive…

[ad_1] Photo by Chela B. The shooting deaths of teen perpetrators and adult victims at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, recently are horrific. This horror, part of the 121 gun deaths (homicides and suicides) in the U.S. daily, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2024, demands drastic measures. In brief, now is the time to call for an immediate ban on the production of guns stateside. Decisive action to prevent the chronic problem of firearm deaths in the U.S. is long overdue. How? The answer seems plain as day: ending the for-profit production of…

[ad_1] Politics Where’s the Hype For America250? We’re not the nation we were just 50 years ago. America has a big birthday this summer, but the nation doesn’t seem that hyped for it. The Bicentennial 50 years ago was a huge event, with TV networks running specials to honor the occasion and small towns across the country organizing massive spectacles. One had to live under a rock to not notice it. But times have changed. That’s not to say there’s nothing planned for the Semiquincentennial. Boston and a few other cities have notable events planned for the week leading up…

[ad_1] Few think tanks have enjoyed more success with the Trump administration than the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the pro-Israel lobby group founded and led by Clifford May, its president. FDD has aggressively lobbied for sanctions and military action against Iran for years. This week, as the government pursues the very strategy he prescribed, May admitted that he has no idea what to do about its consequences. May was otherwise bullish at the Thursday, May 21 lunch event. When asked what the Trump administration should do next, he said the U.S. needs to finish the job with military…

[ad_1] As President Donald Trump concluded his three-day state visit to China on May 15, the world witnessed the birth of a new diplomatic doctrine: “constructive strategic stability.” In essence, China has offered a lifeline of economic support and diplomatic mediation to a crisis-weary Washington, in exchange for what Beijing has long craved: a definitive de-escalation of the trade war and, more importantly, formal American recognition of China’s strategic space. With the U.S. economy grappling with the fallout of the Strait of Hormuz closure and the domestic pressure of the 2026 midterms, Trump arrived in Beijing needing “wins” that were…

[ad_1] In the leadup to Thomas Massie’s primary defeat last week, I was struck by how popular the Kentucky congressman had suddenly become among people who don’t vote in Republican primaries—indeed, among people who don’t like Republicans, don’t like Kentucky, and until the day before yesterday never liked Thomas Massie. This, I thought, didn’t augur well for the congressman’s reelection, which would depend on actual Republicans voting in the Republican primary. The results were worse than I would have guessed, however: a 10-point blowout. Massie’s explanation for his sunken popularity with the voters of his own party and his own…

[ad_1] The latest New York Times-Sienna poll has Donald Trump’s overall approval rating down to 37%, which combines with 59% disapproval to make him 22 points underwater. Sixty-five percent of the population, including 73% of “Independents,” disapproves of Trump’s arch-criminal war on Iran. Trump is 31 points underwater on his handling of the economy, with 64% disapproving of that. No pollster would dare ask the question of course, but the chances are good that “happy” or at least “relieved” would trounce “sad” if Americans were asked how they would feel if Trump drew his last breath. Having paid reasonable attention to US…

[ad_1] Google co-founder Sergey Brin is spending $57 million to defeat a proposed billionaire tax in California. “I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union,” he explained. “I don’t want California to end up in the same place.” Months before it collapsed, my family and I also fled the Soviet Union. But that experience led me to support both the 5 percent tax on California billionaires and a national wealth tax. We need to reduce the power that billionaires like Brin have over our economy and democracy. There’s nothing “Soviet” about a…

[ad_1] Russia has begun implementing border controls and other measures to keep hantavirus at bay. These precautions aim to prevent the potential spread of the deadly Andes hantavirus strain, the country’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has said. As a precaution, “Rospotrebnadzor – together with the Russian Border Service – has taken measures to strengthen border controls,” it said. Automated information systems are being used at the border to assess and minimize risks, it added, according to a report by RT. This current outbreak was discussed during a Rospotrebnadzor video conference on Tuesday, where the discussion centered on preventative measures. Hantaviruses are a…

[ad_1] Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair One way or another, the American taxpayers always get screwed by politicians eager to spend our hard-earned dollars on programs and projects that do little to improve our lives, safeguard our freedoms, or secure our future. Donald Trump—the billionaire trust-fund baby/reality TV showman who transformed himself into a populist champion of working-class Americans—has proven to be no different, and in many ways worse, than the politicians who came before him. Trump has given new meaning to government corruption, graft, grift, profiteering, self-dealing and pay-to-play politics. From the proposed White House ballroom and its taxpayer-backed security…