Irish abortion ban overturned

With most of the votes counted, the people of Ireland have voted to overturn the complete ban on all abortions, including in the cases of rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormality, that had been written into the constitution by a large margin of 68%-32%, pretty much in line with early exit polls but contradicting opinion polls that had shown a close vote. For an overwhelmingly Catholic country, this is a huge deal, and the ‘yes’ vote won in every region, even in the most staunchly Catholic ones. What is astounding, as Robert Mackey informs us, is that it was only as recently as 1983 that the ban was imposed by a huge margin of 67-33%. This is a huge change in opinion in a short time.
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The drug problem is going to get worse before it gets even worse

You may have read of the drug bust that found enough fentanyl to kill 26 million people That is a massive number so I was shocked to lead that the total haul was just 118 pounds, which works out to about two milligrams per fatality. Mark Kleiman explains that fentanyl is one of the most potent drugs, which is why a tiny amount can be so dangerous. He says that fentanyl is just one of a class of synthetic opioids that are far more dangerous than prescription opioids and heroin and also much easier to produce since they do not require an agricultural crop as its starting point but can be made entirely in a lab.
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Terrorist protected by the US has died

News came yesterday that one of the worlds worst terrorists died yesterday. He had successfully evaded prosecution in the US and extradition to the US for his crimes because he had been protected by the US government.

Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban-born veteran of the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, died Wednesday aged 90 at his home near Miami.

“The murderer Luis Posada Carriles, who plunged Cuba into mourning, died with impunity,” the official Granma newspaper said.

Posada went on to plot attacks and assassination attempts against Castro’s government, becoming a hero to many Cuban exiles and a terrorist in the eyes of Havana.
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Adam Lee reads Atlas Shrugged so you don’t have to

Ayn Rand’s paean to capitalism as expounded in this book has commanded a loyal following from many of the worst people in public life, such as former chair of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan and current speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan. Its basic message that wealth equates with virtue is targeted at those who are already wealthy by appealing to their vanity, that they are successful not because of family or luck but because they are smarter and more industrious than everyone else, something that we know is not true.
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The major role that luck plays in success

I think anyone who is ‘successful’ in life (however one defines that word) and is at least mildly thoughtful will have an appreciation of the important role that luck played in them getting where they are. Show me a person who thinks that they achieved their success purely because of their own talent and abilities, and I will show you an arrogant jerk. Where you were born and the circumstances of the family you were born into are two major luck factors but as one grows up, there are so many others such as the friends you happen to make, the teachers you encountered, purely random encounters and events that impinge on your life, and so on. Without much effort I can write down a long list of lucky breaks in my life that have enabled me to be ‘successful’, not in terms of great wealth or fame, but just simply in avoiding disaster or great hardship.
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Don’t expect anything good from Senate Democrats on foreign policy

Jon Schwarz goes into all the terrible positions that Chuck Schumer, whom the Democrats chose as their leader in the US Senate, has taken over the years. Schumer has been an uncritical supporter of Israel and advocated for much of the neoconservative agenda that has brought so much ruin and suffering in the Middle East.

Schumer’s positions on domestic policy leave much to be desired, but not on every issue. By contrast, his views on foreign policy are largely indistinguishable from the Republican Party in general and Trump specifically.
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So taken together, it’s obvious that Schumer does not and never will offer voters an alternative to Trump and Republicans in general on the most important questions of national security. That’s because Schumer truly, deeply and sincerely agrees with them.

As long as Schumer is the leader of the Democrats in the US Senate, we will have a terrible foreign policy.

If this is not who you are, then how could this happen?

I wrote about Aaron Schlossberg, the lawyer who was captured on video when he went on a racist tirade against workers at a fast food restaurant in New York City who were speaking Spanish and said that he would call ICE on them and that he was paying for their welfare. He was quickly identified and received a great deal of notoriety, with public shaming that consisted of mixtures of condemnations and ridicule, one element of the latter being a Spanish-themed street party in front of his apartment, complete with tacos and a mariachi band.
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