News Roundup

 This is a copy of something I posted on Facebook today.  It's a news/current events roundup, mostly written off the top of my head.

Documentation about current events will not be provided here, but I believe that what I’m summarizing is easily verifiable with rudimentary research. 

1.  The US economy is in good shape, both when compared to the record of the recent past and when compared to global economies. 

2.  A major earthquake hit Japan on Monday.  However, the death toll and the resulting tsunamis were far less devastating than the one in 2011.  The epicenter of this one was in the Japan Sea.  In 2011, the epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean.  Hiromi does not know of any personal connections that he has with any of the people in the most affected area.

3.  Court decisions in two states (Colorado and Maine) have ruled that former president Trump is ineligible for the presidential election ballot, based on the fourteenth amendment to the constitution, which prohibits anyone (broadly speaking) from holding office if they have engaged in rebellion or insurrection. Challenges are pending in nine other states.  A number of the remaining states have either ruled differently from Colorado and Maine, or cases have been filed and then voluntarily dropped by plaintiffs.  Kansas is one of the “dropped cases” number.  This matter will almost certainly end up in the US Supreme Court.  Three members of the court were appointed by President Trump, and the court has an overall Conservative majority.  A Christian lawyer and journalist whom I trust writes that he believes that a very strong case exists for applying the 14th Amendment to Trump.  He states further that no fear of “consequences” should keep anyone from embracing or pursuing faithful application of clear constitutional principles. 

4.  Former president Trump received millions of dollars from foreign governments (at least 20 of them) while he was in office.  This is expressly forbidden in the first article of the US Constitution.  No money received by President Biden has been documented to have come from foreign governments, although his son has received such money.  The investigations that show both of these outcomes were conducted by a committee in the House of Representatives.  The investigation into Trump’s foreign money sources was abruptly halted when Republicans gained a slim majority there–when the investigating committee had only a fraction of the records they sought..  Nevertheless, those few records show a damning picture.  Soon after an investigation into President Biden was opened, impeachment proceedings against President Biden began.

5.  Presidential candidate Trump’s rhetoric has become increasingly extremist.  From my perspective, it seems maniacal and incredibly repugnant and dangerous–not to mention indecent and ignorant.  Many in the populace seem to have stopped listening (I do have sympathy with those who are too exhausted to keep on listening).  Nevertheless, many Republicans appear to be poised to vote for Trump if he becomes the Republican Party's candidate for president.  

6.  Widespread agreement seems to exist that a second Trump presidency would be almost nothing like the first, the main reasons being that he would fill all appointed positions with extremists (often those with almost no experience or qualifications other than their fealty to Trump), pardon all who have been convicted in the courts so far (in relation to January 6 and other Trump-related cases especially), destroy the institutions and traditions that have provided a check on authoritarian rule, disregard laws that apply restraints to him, and actively seek to punish or destroy his enemies.  He states many of these things himself, clearly and publicly. This kind of rule could not accurately be described as Democratic.  Authoritarianism would fit, and other more shocking labels might fit too.

7.  US military support for both Ukraine and Israel is being held up by some in Congress (a minority of Republicans in the House) who insist that they will not vote to support it unless they first secure a promise to impose draconian immigration policies at the southern border.  Meanwhile, Russia is making gains in Ukraine.  

8.  US government funding for some of its major programs runs out on January 19, so action before that is needed if services are to continue uninterrupted.  Other programs have later “expiration” dates