Is justice really blind? Is justice also deaf?
Maybe like Helen Keller, justice is both blind and deaf. Young Helen had lost her sight as well as her hearing after suffering a high fever as a baby. After that, she was unable to communicate for a time. When water was poured over her hand, she couldn't see it flowing; she couldn't hear it splashing; but as the letters W. A. T. E. R were being spelled out in her hand, she realized that water had a name.
Helen couldn't remember what seeing and hearing were like, so it was hard for her to even imagine those senses. But she still learned to communicate, which was the most crucial ability, so she went on to have many friends and even to write books.
Justice is depicted as being blind to symbolize impartiality, objectivity, and fairness.
But justice should not be deaf to our entreaties as citizens-- to our appeals as members of a human family, a community, a nation, and the world.
Yes, --and while we now have a national community with a common language, an elected leadership, written laws, and political borders-- still our country is also part of the world community, past, present, and future. This year, we are celebrating our nation's 250th year since its original founding. And thus may Lady Justice rule over us all from now and on into the future.
Wash. Post, Mamdani: Democratic socialists ‘going back to what the party used to be.'
Mamdani seems to be referring the Democratic Party in the past.
Wash. Post,
Trump signs executive order on birthright citizenship
Yes indeed, Donald Trump isn't giving up now, still trying to limit birthright citizenship, even though his previous efforts have failed. Why? Doesn't he know we need all the babies we can get, even if born to immigrants? And that we also need more immigrants here as well? His mother was an immigrant, so should that make Trump illegal? Then let's just deport him back to Scotland, his mother's birthplace, if they will take even him there.
Wash. Post,
State Department says it has revoked more than 175,000 visas under Trump
Not only is Donald Trump on a deportation spree, but he is revoking visas already granted. What is the reason for his mania against newcomers? Our nation has a long history of welcoming strangers. Remember the Statue of Liberty?
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The famous monumental bronze and gold-leaf horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial—known as The Arts of War and The Arts of Peace—underwent a high-profile $5.1 million re-gilding project in 2026 using 23.75-karat gold leaf.
Why was that a priority of the Trump administration? (Hint, Donald Trump loves everything gold.)
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NY Times, Trump Said to Have Secretly Used Military Jet to Leave Turkey Amid Threats
President Trump hid in an airport catering container and was taken to a military jet for a secret flight out of country after the NATO summit last month.
Trump had hidden inside a shipping container to board his flight.
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Donald Trump doesn't support "separation of powers." He believes that as president, he is like a king and should have the last word on absolutely everything.
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Trump signs order calling for spacing out childhood vaccines, against medical groups' guidance
Under the influence of his ill-chosen health secretary, long-time anti-vaxxer RFK Jr., Trump has ordered spacing out vaccines to children, leaving them unnecessarily vulnerable until they become fully vaccinated. RFK Jr. seems to actually favor administering no vaccines at all, allowing kids to get very sick and, if they survive, they will probably be immune to the return of that illness for the rest of their natural lives. That was the system--or non-system--for centuries before vaccines were ever even invented. RFK Jr. would really like to return to those no-vaccine days, so this is his compromise--to delay and space out vaccines putting children at risk. So is he really a health secretary or an anti-health secretary?
Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and RFK Jr., instead of protecting Americans and providing us with useful and helpful advice, are now offering harmful recommendations, such as taking testosterone supplements and avoiding vaccines. We simply cannot get rid of these guys soon enough! Voters, we need to get all these guys out ASAP.
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“The one existential threat I think we face as a country is Donald Trump. I’m not this believer that Trump is merely the symptom of a disease. I believe Trump is central to why this disease has gone from a local epidemic to a pandemic," Biden told Carlson.
Hunter Biden also laid into Netanyahu.
“If it’s anti-semitic to point out that Bibi Netanyahu is evil incarnate then I don’t know what to say to people anymore."
NY Times, What to Know About the Cuban Mafia in Quintana Roo
A group of Cuban men in Mexico was charged with smuggling people to the United States. One of its leaders said Raúl Castro’s grandson helped, according to interviews and court records.
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A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicts Bishop Odo rallying Duke William's army during the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
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An earthquake has now devastated parts of in Colombia, my son's birthplace, and is also
where I graduated from high school.
CNN, Death toll rises to 132 with hundreds more injured in Colombia earthquake
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Wash. Post, Netanyahu rejects Trump-backed Gaza plan for Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawal
Netanyahu doesn't want the war to end because then he will have to go to trial. How about showing a little tough-love now for Israel and for Netanyahu in the form of reduced aid? Even some American Jews are becoming impatient with Netanyahu. Is he the tail wagging the dog?
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NY Times, What to Know About the Cuban Mafia in Quintana Roo
A group of Cuban men in Mexico has been charged with smuggling people into the United States. One of its leaders said Raúl Castro’s grandson helped, according to interviews and court records.
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Wash. Post, 7 killed and more than 20 injured in Thailand school shooting
Guns should be restricted everywhere, as they are lethal, not protective.
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Below is something called a tapper, but is not the Bruce Tapper I've actually been looking for.
Whatever happened to Bruce Tapper, whom I last saw some years ago with his wife and 2 young children?
Bruce was formerly the editor of a magazine called OT Week, which several of us had created for occupational therapists, although neither he nor I actually were therapists ourselves. I am a former social worker, juvenile probation officer, disability rights advocate, prolific ghost writer, social researcher, Spanish medical interpreter, and Spanish translator. (An interpreter deals with spoken words, a translator with written words.) I am also a former Peace Corps volunteer, election monitor, and international humanitarian who has served in some 40 countries all over the world, as well as a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
These days, at age 88, I am getting rather tired now, my passport has expired, and I'm living with my son in West Virginia in a house that I've bought for us here. So I may just stay home from now on, remaining involved only "virtually" with family and friends all over the world, thanks to the magic of email and the internet.
But if anyone knows how to reach the Bruce Tapper whom I am looking for, please advise.
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Iran is now taking a hard line on negotiations with the US and even has resumed public executions.
With a different approach, our country might have been able to become allied with Iran and even to have softened its treatment of its own citizens,
just as happened with former enemy nations like Japan, Cambodia, and Viet Nam.
But no. Attacking Iran for no reason and killing the Ayatollah has now immersed Trump and our country into a war that is proving difficult to exit and certainly has not made Israel any safer. What was Donald Trump thinking? Was he even thinking at all? Is this how most wars actually start? By accident, not really by planning, foresight, and design?
