Time to Think

A Game Changer in The Middle East    #313 By Hank Silverberg  The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has changed the entire picture in the Middle East. I am not an expert on the subject; in fact, there are very few of those, but from what I have seen over the years, I can write this. No one is mourning the overthrow of the brutal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, except maybe Russia's Vladmir Putin, who had extended a helping hand to al-Assad for decades and has now lost that bargain.  The rebels in Syria who deposed al-Assad are not a cohesive bunch. Some had been Al-Quida, some are Kurdish insurgents, and still others had different motives. It is not clear if they will be able to form any kind of stable government there in the near future, making things a bit more dangerous in the region for all their immediate neighbors and the allies who support them. Those direct neighbors with common borders include Iraq, which has a fragile government; Lebanon, which is still in...

Tarriffs Are Trouble                               #312    By Hank Silverberg                                 Commentary We have heard a great deal over the last few weeks about President-Elect Donald Trump's plan to impose tarriffs on foreign imports into this country. He has talked about a tarriff as high as 25% on goods brought in from China, and 10% on goods brought in from our direct neighbors-- Mexico and Canada. Some people think that's a great way to raise revenue, and it will allow the President to then reduce taxes across the board for most Americans.  Two problems here, though. The tax cuts imposed during Mr. Trump's first term benefited mostly the very wealthy, and the average taxpayer received very little relief.  Trump's theory, which he hopes will be aided by suggested spending cuts by bil...

Journalists and Politicians                  #311 By Hank Silverberg  Commentary The growing plethora of partisan "news" agencies   and the growing number of news deserts across the country have combined to take away one of the major roles of journalists--as a balance against secretive government or unresponsive elected officials.  (The 1st Amendment) On the national scene, cable and streaming on the internet has allowed just about anyone to claim to be a journalist, even though they do not know the rules of journalism or the non-partisan nature of the traditional profession.  Real journalists, those trained in the profession and dedicated to nonpartisan reporting, need to better define who they are and why they exist.  Meanwhile, in small towns and large sparsely populated counties almost everywhere, local government pretty much does whatever those elected to office want without public scrutiny or transparency, ...

Interegnum                                            #310 By Hank Silverberg Commentary  When the election results were final last week, I started to think, okay, Trump doesn't take over until January 20, 2025, Biden is unlikely to anything controversial in the next two months and the holidays are coming. So, November and December are going to be nice, tranquil months. We can all sit  back and relax with some eggnog, and turkey and a few hours of watching nestolgic classic movies like "It's a Wonderful Life" and forget all the nonsense of the last year or so.   My wife and I took a trip to DC this past weekend to see "A Funny Thing Happended on The Way to The Forum," and it was with a group on a bus, so I didn't even have to worry about driving. We have a lot of birthdays coming up in my family this month includindg mine, so lots of celebration should make t...

Life Goes On                                                                                                              #309 By Hank Silverberg  I am flabergasted. My first reaction to the election results came right from the lyrics of Paul McCartney  "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da  Life Goes on! Brah Lala how life goes on"  Anyone who has read this blog before knows I am not a fan of Donald J. Trump. But he won the election and unlike his followers when Biden won four years ago , I am willing to accept the results. So let's move on.  But I need to point out one thing that I find extremely frustrating about the vote.  They are still counting votes in some insolated districts as I write this which...