Israel Passes Controversial Law Reserving National Self-Determination For Jews : NPR

Why we support such segregation and discrimination is clearr; those who claim that the Israeli lobby has a stranglehold on the US have it just about right, however offensive the actions of this country are.

Who Is Bill Browder, Kremlin Foe Singled Out in Putin’s Offer? - The New York Times

It's tough to imagine a more complex picture emerging.

Nights Are Warming Faster Than Days. Here’s Why That’s Dangerous. - The New York Times

We need to make all this a national crisis that demands a crisis response.

Famous Essayists from France | List of Top French Essayists

Compare with this!

Famous Essayists from the United States | List of Top American Essayists

Interesting list.

NBC News poll: Most want vote on Trump Supreme Court nominee before midterms

Unexpected result (for me). Huge split between Republicans and Democrats help explain it, and reinforces fear about how we govern our country in the years ahead.

How do we fix this?

I think this is a much bigger problem than we are ALL willing to admit.

Opinion | Bigoted and Feckless, the Travel Ban Is Pure Trump - The New York Times

It is not the Supreme Court that is most at fault; the wrongdoers are we, and we need to make democracy work by convinvincing our fellow Americans that there is more right in this editorial than in what TRUMP says and does and that the editorial is what we want the US to be, not what TRUMP opines.

Really troubling

This is wrong on every front except making it public and talking about it.

Parents and children

This is from 4 years ago; I sense we have no well-established policy and the country needs one to deal with children of arrested parents at all levels of government and in all jurisdictions.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/31/children-left-behind-parents-arrested/13333909/

Some number of people were focused on this back then at least http://www.theiacp.org/model-policy/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/07/Safeguarding-Children-of-Arrested-Parents-Final_Web_v3.pdf

I continue to believe that this issue of separating children is really two issues and we seem hopelessly unable to resolve either one – either some agreement on how many people we allow into the country each year and how we regulate that process and the other, what our national policy should be when a parent is arrested and detained for any alleged crime.

A good summary.

Who's watching the kids when parents get arrested?

We need to spend a lot more time on this.

White House rips MSNBC's Joe Scarborough for 'Nazi' comment | Fox News

In France, Joe would wind up getting prosecuted for the Nazi reference. But that is not the point; the point is whether we are treating parents and children fairly under all our laws. The White House guy has a point that is getting missed in all this. Bottom line is that we have to come together on a sane immigration policy and enforcement measures. The real fight is over how many people we welcome to the US each year. Everything is "easy" after we reach agreement on that.

Opinion | Seizing Children From Parents at the Border Is Immoral. Here’s What We Can Do About It. - The New York Times

Why has it taken so long for this sort of pro-activist editorial to appear in the Times? I do not recall seeing this previously.

Next in Irish Voters’ Cross Hairs? A Law Banning Blasphemy - The New York Times

There is hope!

Trump torpedoes G7 effort to ease trade spat, threatens auto tariffs

I still have not seen a clear analysis of this.

Samantha Bee Apologizes for a Slur Against Ivanka Trump - The New York Times

This sure gets complicated, but why not as they say, just clean it up a little. Are that many viewers going to walk away if Samantha stays out of the gutter?

Opinion | Roseanne Barr’s Right to Offend and Our Right to Say No - The New York Times

I think this oversimplifies something far more complex and even more frightening: what we don't know about stupidity and mean people. It is a near-deadly mix.

Democratic Candidate Who Criticized Israel Faces Charges of Anti-Semitism - The New York Times

Israel simply does not merit its perceved status. It is just another country with a murky history.

TRUMP

This is good.

Opinion | John Kelly’s Ancestors Wouldn’t Have Fit In Either - The New York Times

I embrace this fully as well.