Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, one of the more obscure members of Donald Trump’s cabinet, has suddenly come into the news since being named in the Paradise Papers as having dealings with companies that shield the profits of the wealthy oligarchy from taxes by passing them through off-shore companies set up in various small island nations. Normally, people might be embarrassed by such a disclosure but in Ross’s case he might actually welcome this news that links him with other wealthy tax avoiders since he has been fighting a different battle, to try and convince people, and especially Forbes magazine, that he is wealthier than he is.
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There is something very strange about the way that the senator from Kentucky was attacked by his neighbor while he was cutting the grass using his riding mower. First reports had Paul’s spokespersons downplaying the scale of the attack, saying that the injuries were very minor, suggesting mere bruises, and that the senator would be back at work soon. But that story changed later and it was revealed that Paul had five broken ribs suggesting a quite brutal attack.
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The US seems to be joined at the hip with the nation of Saudi Arabia, even as that country takes a much more vigorous and deleterious international role and spreads its poisonous brand of Islam around the world. Hence the dramatic events of Saturday, where there were mass arrests of nearly fifty people that included high-ranking businessmen, media figures, and even members of the royal family, bear some scrutiny
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A new leak of a massive trove of documents being called the Paradise Papers (this post edited to add this link) reveals how the global wealthy used offshore accounts to hide their money, their financial entanglements with shady figures, and avoid paying taxes. This video explains what these documents are about and what to expect from them in the coming weeks.
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This morning most of the US went through the dreary routine of setting their clocks back one hour to revert to what is called Standard time, after having set it one hour forward in the spring to create Daylight Savings Time. This biannual routine is inevitably accompanied in the media by various explanations for its origins plus complaints about it and demands that we stop this disruptive practice that seems to produce little benefit.
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I think that we can agree that there are no depths to which Donald Trump will not sink so we should no longer be really surprised when he does something that is appalling. But one thing really grates on me and that is when he, on issues that we can be sure that he does not really care that much about, goes out of his way to harm people purely because he now realizes that it will please his slowly shrinking core of supporters, the ones he needs to attend his rallies and feed his ego, and anger his opponents, which pleases his base even more.

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Vice News has produced an excellent documentary that gives voice to the people in the antifa movement to explain who they are and what they are doing and why. Given that so much of media coverage has been from the authoritarian establishment that condemns antifa, this is a much-needed and welcome alternative perspective that anyone who is concerned about understanding recent political developments should watch.
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On election day on Tuesday, there will be two constitutional amendments on Ohio’s ballot that voters will have to decide on. This business of voting on changes to the state constitution is inherently problematic because a constitution should be changed only after careful deliberation. Off-off-year elections, like this one, tend to produce very low turnout. Highest turnouts tend to be when a presidential election is on with around 70%, next highest is on other even years when Congressional elections are on where you see 40-50%, and odd-years are the worst, with rates dipping down to as low at 26% in 2013. So you can have a small fraction of the voting public deciding the fate of major issues that affect everyone.
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