Give the religious an inch and they’ll try to take a mile

The US Supreme Court frequently takes up cases involving the Establishment Clause about the extent to which religious elements can be introduced into the public sphere. Rather than unequivocally declare that it should never be allowed and thus ending the debate once and for all, a decision that would likely result in them having to face the wrath of the religious in America, they have instead tried to rule very narrowly, inserting intricate conditions on when such things can be allowed. They have done this with prayers, religious displays, and the like.
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The US-North Korea summit agreement

The full text of the agreement signed by Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Singapore. It is not long.

Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit.

President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a first, historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.

President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive, in-depth, and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
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This man really, really hates this Honda CR-V

What surprises m is that the police are really chill about the whole thing and let him, after he had rammed the vehicle several times, keep jumping on the car for a long time, only moving in when he falls off. I am glad that they waited for him to calm down since there was no one in the other car and it was a wreck already. But as always, I wonder how things might have turned out if he had been black …

There’s more on the incident here.

The US president is not the commander-in-chief of all Americans

A segment on the radio recently discussed Donald Trump’s decision to invite people this year to celebrate iftar, the name given to the breaking of the daily fast by Muslims during Ramadan. This was an annual practice started some years ago but Trump did not have one last year when he was at the height of his anti-Muslim rhetoric and actions. During an interview on the program The World, the question was asked as to who might be invited and what Muslims would agree to go. The person being interviewed, who worked for president George W. Bush on Muslim outreach, repeatedly kept referring to Trump as the “commander in chief for all Americans”, as if this means that we were obliged to accept an invitation from him to come to the White House.
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Why would North Korea believe US assurances?

Much attention is being paid to the summit meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. The one-on-one meeting with just translators present begins at 9:00am Tuesday morning Singapore time which is 9:00pm ET Monday night. Aides and national security advisors will join them later. We know for certain that whatever the outcome, the summit will be a great success. Why? Because Trump will tell everyone that it was. He will tell us that it was the biggest and greatest summit meeting ever, even if the final deal is that the US agrees to give Alaska and Manhattan to North Korea and the meeting ends with Kim mooning Trump.
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The awesome beauty and power of a tornado

This video of a tornado touching down in Laramie, Wyoming last week is awe-inspiring. I had thought that tornados start in the clouds and then touch down on the ground but in this video at the 18-second mark you see that there is also a bottom-up element, a sliver that starts on the ground and joins to the larger part coming from the top. The tightness of the funnel cloud is indicative of the massive destructive power that it can unleash for anyone and anything that has the misfortune to lie in its narrow path.

Now that’s what I call a swearing in

Many people think that before you can hold any public office, you have to swear on the Bible. Some think that any religious text will suffice. But Mariah Parker, who was elected as a county commissioner in Georgia, decided to show that this was false in the most emphatic way. She not only swore on a copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X held by her beaming and clearly proud mother, her other hand was raised in a clenched fist while she did so.

Way to go, Mariah! We need more people breaking these silly traditions.

How progressive challengers help change politics even if they don’t win

The case of Cynthia Nixon, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Andrew Cuomo for the governorship of the state of New York, provides a good window on two different ways of viewing primary elections in the US. The party establishment would prefer to have uncontested primaries so that their chosen candidates can focus on the general election, even if the candidates are like Cuomo who are Wall Street friendly and ideologically center-right. In fact, that is precisely the type of candidate that the Democratic party wants. They also worry that a tightly fought primary race will damage their chances of winning in the general election and so they throw their weight against the challengers, even if the challengers are more representative of the constituencies that party claims to represent.
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