The Idle Chit Chat Game - Round Two

by Nomad

Last month, I tested out a diversion called the "Idle Chit-Chat Game. Its aim was to encourage a bit of discussion, outside the doom and gloom of the current times.
And I have to say I was really impressed with the results. You all put a lot of thought into your answers. The mini-discussions were fascinating and insightful.
I understand that a lot of nomads are stressed out by the possible outcome of the mid-term elections and thought you might enjoy another round.

Weekly Review (Oct 29 - Nov.4) and a Vintage Musical Sanity Break

by Nomad

Weekly Wrap-Up of American Politics
Here's a review of the events that happened in this the last week before the mid-term election. It is brought to you by WTF Just Happened Today? read by Joe Amditis.
Saturday's review is supplied by PBS NewsHour.

Persecution in East Africa: Light a Candle for a Gay Tanzanian in Hiding

by Nomad

This rather cryptic message was found on Reddit:

pray for us

there is an order from our RC (of the capital city ) that all gay people should be reported & will undergo medical test and if they are confirmed to engage in gay sex they gonna die in jail..some of the famous gays from instagram are already caught! being gay is illegal in my country but i never thought they would go this far! i've been single since forever & nobody knows that am gay but this has really broke my heart..it is the most talked topic at school to the point that am afraiding to go to school..pray for us yall.. and sorry for my english

edit: until now 12 suspected gay men are already arrested

Why America's Survival Depends on Rejecting Trump's Nationalism

by Nomad

(From Mad Magazine, 1968)

The Beneficiaries of Hatred

Blind hate has been around since the days of Cain and Abel. According to that story, Cain's hate caused him to murder his own brother and as a result, Cain was cursed and marked for life. In some respects, we all wear that mark. It sometimes seems as though humanity will never be able to extinguish it. People hating other people is just part of our DNA.

From the Archives: When Nazis Marched on the Streets of New York City

by Nomad

Back on November 21, 2015, Nomadic Politics posted an article about a historical event which, at that time, had received very little attention. 

After the election which saw Donald Trump rise to power, quite a few other news outlets recounted the event. Then came the incident in Charlottesville and Trump's attempt to equate Nazi thugs with the people who protested them. Those recent events brought more coverage of the events of 1939. 

In memory of the 11 victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on Saturday morning, I have decided to reprint this particular post. I hope you find it interesting reading.

Fascism Made in the USA: The Night Nazis Fought on the Streets of New York City

The United States has had its share of fascist groups that have come and gone. One of those was the American Nazi Party, the Bund Party. Here's the story of its 1939 rally and how it led to its collapse. 

A "Pro-American" Rally

On the night of 20 February 1939, something occurred that became an interesting footnote in American history. Today it is mostly a forgotten bit of the history of New York City. And for many, it could be a period they would rather not recall.

Putting this Week to Bed (October 22- 28)

by Nomad

Top Story

This week, unsettling news on a national level wiped clean last week's story about the gruesome murder of Saudi exile Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.

Five Letters to the Editor from Red States

by Nomad

Scouring local newspapers around the nation, I found that even in predominately Republican-controlled states, there is still reason for hope. Many of the letters to the editor show signs that dissatisfaction with the current management of government is a bipartisan (or non-partisan) issue.

Dirty Lies: How Donald Trump Suckered Coal Miners to Win the 2016 Election

by Nomad

The story of how Donald Trump lied to coal miners to win an election and continues to lie to them today. 

UnBelievable Promises

All through the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump fired up his crowds with promises to revive the coal mining and restore mining jobs in places like Kentucky and West Virginia. In speech after speech, he pledged to end Obama's attack on the coal industry and in coal country, that's an idiot-proof way to get a standing ovation.

Weekly Review (Oct 15- 21) Plus the Sanity Sunday Musical Break

by Nomad

Weekly Review
The main story this week was, of course, the same one as last week- the appalling and gruesome murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
A timeline of statements from the Saudi authorities show repeated changes to their narrative- meaning, lies- ever since Mr. Khashoggi walked into the consulate and mysteriously disappeared.

Podcast: The Palin Interviews, 10 Years Later

by Nomad

It's really hard to believe that an entire decade has passed since John McCain's vice presidential candidate stepped up on the nation's political stage. So much has taken place since then. McCain has met his maker but Sarah Palin is holed up in Wasilla still flinging inane remarks via twitter and Facebook.

Why the Trump Administration's Attack on Public Libraries Should Worry all Americans

by Nomad

From Page to Ashes to Dust

Apart from genocide or the intentional extinction of an animal species, nothing, in my opinion, is sadder than the destruction of a library.

The Search For My Grandfather in the KGB's Ukrainian Files

by Bernie Neufeld, Guest Contributor

One of our nomads, Linda, recently asked me if I would be interested in posting an article written by her brother in law, Bernie Neufeld and his quest to learn the facts about his grandfather's fate. I think you will find his story engrossing.

Jared Kushner, Son-in-Law and Trump's Hidden Genius

by Nomad

Nikki's Non-Sarcastic Remark

A most extraordinary thing happened this week. Oh, I know. You are saying, "But Nomad, you say that every week." Every week I mean it, too. It is usually something extraordinary mixed with a dollop of ridiculousness combined with a whole septic tank of nastiness.  

When U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced her resignation, she lavished praise on the president's daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner. But that wasn't the extraordinary thing.

After all, sucking up to this president is a full-time job. That and swiping documents off his desk, coming up with the appropriate lies to explain the inexplicable, and finding a way to tell the man there is a tiny bit of you-know-what stuck to his heel.

Halley said

"I can’t say enough good things about Jared and Ivanka [Trump]."

That pithy remark has remarkable pivoting power if you cared to analyze it. Enough good things? Claiming Jared and Ivanka are well-washed and smell nice is probably sufficient for any half-way honest person.
Ambassadors, as we all know, are trained to say the most absurd things without blinking and Nikki, as incompetent as she is, has picked up that talent along the way. She added:

"Jared is such a hidden genius that no one understands."

Repost: With One United Voice: The First Stirrings of the Women's Rights Movement

by Nomad

(This post was originally published on December 5, 2015.)

When the Founding Fathers declared that a government earns its true legitimacy from the consent of the governed, they hadn't counted on women taking it to the next logical step.

The 1850 Women's Rights Convention

Recently I uncovered this interesting quote by an early American reformer/activist named Frances Dana Gage. Ring any bells? Probably not. Her name isn't as familiar to the general public as it should be. Even among modern feminists, she is a largely obscure figure. 

I think that's a pity.

A Nomadic Diversion: The Idle Chat Game

by Nomad

With all that went down this week, all of it low-down and unbecoming a nation that was once so proud, I really didn't think you were up for a weekly review. I don't know about you all but I feel like a wet rag that been rung out and put on a clothesline. Enough already, say I.

So, after having consulted my experts, I decided that a proper diversion was in order. 

The Slow Death and Unexpected Rebirth of Civic Duty

by Nomad

What is a "civic duty" and why has the idea become so important in recent days?

A Quaint Old Fashioned Phrase

When Professor Christine Ford sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee, she must have anticipated that her motives for reporting her accusations against Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh would be treated with suspicion.

Some on the Republican side were very interested in who might have paid for her travel expenses and polygraph, implying she was being supported by enemies of the administration. Others -perhaps those who have spent decades wallowing in the Washington swamp- were simply unable to imagine anybody without sinister ulterior motives.

Special People: Why Listening to the Disabled is One Way to Combat Bullying

by Nomad

I hope you won't mind that I decided to take a small break from politics in order to share a recent YouTube discovery. I have literally spent hours in the last week, watching video after video, sometimes laughing and sometimes with eyes full of tears.

I feel enriched- for want of a better word- as a result of meeting some pretty awesome people. If you have the spare time to watch some of the videos, it will be worth every second.

How to Enable Bullies

For many of us, as jaded as we think we are, it is still difficult and depressing to understand that we live in a world in which bullies (and villains) often go unpunished.
It offends my sense of justice.
We live in a world where such people can even become presidents and still worse, where their perverted and intolerant notions can become public policy.

The Week in Review (Sept.24- 30) and a Musical Sanity Break

by Nomad

Calling this an "incredible" or a "historical" week just doesn't do justice to the political roller-coaster ride that Nomads endured in the last seven days. I am sure that most of you feel a more than a little "shell-shocked" by the events. 
So, here, in all its glory, is a record of the events as they unfolded. 

3 Pertinent Quotes on the Rights of Women

by Nomad

The Fascinating Story of the Fig Tree in the Cypriot Cave

by Nomad

On a divided island was a fig tree that grew where it shouldn't have.

Cyprus Divided

Since the summer of 1974, the Mediterranean island of Cyprus has been partitioned by an artificial border running east and west. The details about that division came about is still a very sensitive subject for both Greeks and Turks.

How the Kavanaugh Fiasco is a Test of the Ideals of the Women's March and MeToo

by Nomad

Despite the worldwide marches and the Me Too movement, the Kavanaugh confirmation debacle has shown in stark terms how little has changed when it comes to Republican respect for women.

Women's March

On January 21, 2017, something spectacular occurred. A worldwide protest, the largest single-day protest in U.S. history, as one source said, "to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change."

Women’s March is committed to dismantling systems of oppression through nonviolent resistance and building inclusive structures guided by self-determination, dignity and respect.

In the US, between 3 to 5 million people put on their comfortable shoes and took to the streets. The message: the privileges of a male patriarchy- the old order- would no longer be blindly accepted. Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights. And those rights must be respected.

Sanity Sunday Musical Break - Pat Metheny

by Nomad

With permission, I decided to forgo the usual weekly review for this week. The news was dominated by one major story and as important as that might be, it was covered ad nauseam by every newspaper, radio, and TV news outlet. Ultimately, the Kavanaugh confirmation fiasco is still in limbo so I will pick up the thread next week.

Ken Starr and Brett Kavanaugh: Where Hypocrisy and Karma Collide

by Nomad

On Sunday, former independent counsel, Kenneth Starr appeared on CNN to offer his two cents on the sexual assault allegations against  SCOTUS-nominee Kavanaugh. 

The claims were, he said, an "unfortunate, serious allegation." (Unfortunate, but for whom?)
He was outraged by the timing of the leaked report and how the whole thing was handled. Furthermore, to his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, Starr said:

"You had your opportunity to come forward and you failed to do that year after year after year."

Weekly Recap (Sept. 10-16) and a Musical Sanity Break

by Nomad

For most of this week, the nation's eyes were turned to the Carolinas as monster hurricane named Florence threatened East coast devastation. It was the first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. 

For a moment, Americans were offered a chance to talk about something besides Trump and his latest shenanigans. Unfortunately, that respite was short-lived and by mid-week, Trump managed to elbow his way back into our lives.

Our Obligation to Call Out Unjust Things

by Nomad

Face Value: Why It's Time for a Congressional Face Lift

by Nomad

Here are two very similar faces. Even though they could be identical twins, the differences between them are quite subtle. You have to look carefully.

The Week in Review (Sept 3-9) and a Musical Sanity Break

by Nomad

Three stories dominated this week's news: Bob Woodward's expose on the Trump White House, the disastrous Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings, and the anonymous op-ed piece in the New York Times.

Monday seems to be the day in which everybody in Washington takes a deep breath and waits for the baseball-sized hail to begin pelting the rooftops. Nothing much seemed to happen so we will continue on to Tuesday.

The Kavanaugh "Sham"

Tuesday was unquestionably a historical day of political fireworks. Not the kind of display that makes audiences coo in awe. More like the kind that makes people shudder and grow red-faced in fury.

Even before the confirmation hearing began in the Senate on Tuesday morning, things got off to a rocky start. In question was the manner in which potentially-damaging information about the nominee was withheld from Senate committee members until the last minute. 

Good News Round Up for September 2018

by Nomad

What with all of the rigmarole, brouhaha, and hubbub in the last few months, my monthly feature offering good news somehow completely slipped my mind. An appalling oversight on my part, to be sure.

Helen Keller once said:

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.

In this spirit, I offer this good news post for the month of September to counter-balance the perfectly hissable sleaze who resides in the White House.  

Food for Homeless a Form of Free Speech

A judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Adalberto Jordan ruled last week that sharing food with the homeless could be considered a form of constitutionally-protected free speech. Jordan's ruling flies in the face of numerous local ordinances criminalizing food-based outreach throughout the country. 

Sanity Sunday: The Weekly Review (Aug 27-Sept 2) and a Musical Break

by Nomad

Considering Trump's past antics, this week was seemingly tranquil. One reason for that was the McCain funeral to which President Trump was cordially not invited. Despite the sting of the shunning, Trump still managed to find ways to draw attention and, in doing so, make a complete ass of himself.

A Reflection on the Impact on We Have on Others

by Nomad

On Saturday, 8 January 2011, at ten minutes past ten in the morning, U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and eighteen others were shot in the parking of a supermarket in Tucson.

Six innocent people were murdered. The list of victims included including federal District Court Chief Judge John Roll, a nine-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green and three people all past the age of 75.

Another person who died that day was 30-year-old Gabe Zimmerman, the director of Community Outreach for Giffords. As his obituary noted:

He was outgoing, interested in other people and had a knack for connecting with folks, according to his friends and colleagues. He died doing his job.

Over seven years have passed since his senseless murder and yet the impact he had on the people who knew him, who worked with him and who loved him endures to this day.

The Seth Rich Case: A Conspiracy Theory Inside a Conspiracy Theory

by Nomad

Most of us have at least heard of the Seth Rich story even if we are not too familiar with the details. I never really looked into it too much.
There were too many other stories that served as examples about just how low Trump and the right-wing news outlets were prepared to go to slander Hillary Clinton.
Yet, in the wake of what we have learned in the last year, it is worth a second look.

Murder on the Street 

On Sunday, July 10, 2016, at 4:20 a.m., a young man named Seth Rich was shot in the back by two assailants. As he made his way back home from having a night out, Seth Conrad Rich was chatting with his girlfriend. He was nearly home when gunshots rang out.
He was found lying on the ground only a block from his apartment.

Sanity Sunday -Weekly Review (Aug 20- 26) and Nomadic Playlist

by Nomad

Things moved fast and furious this week. In terms of entertainment, the news of the week offered Nomads a lot of pulse-pounding excitement and stunning plot twists. It was the worst week of his presidency. We said that many times and every time it was true.

The lawyer to Stormy Daniels, (and Leadfoot's love interest) Michael Avenetti summed up the week's tumultuous events like this:

"The criminal enterprise that Donald Trump managed for so many years and was at the center of is quickly unraveling and I anticipate that it is going to pick up considerable momentum in the coming days and weeks ahead."

We can only pray he is correct.

Why Michael Cohen's Plea Arrangement Likely Also Implicates Donald Trump Jr.

by Nomad

It's hard not to view yesterday as a turning point in the Trump debacle.
At the trial of Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight felony charges, five tax fraud charges, one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts and two counts of bank fraud. He faces a maximum of 80 years in prison.

Meanwhile, in a Manhattan court, Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen yesterday pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws. He told the District Court judge that the payments to the women were made “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office.”
And that candidate was not Hillary "Lock 'er up!" Clinton.
Altogether, it was a terrible day for Donald J. Trump and a terribly good day for the rule of law in America.

Paula White, the Prosperity Gospel and the Evangelical's Faustian Bargain

by Nomad

Since somebody had to do it, I have been reading- ok, skimming- through Omarosa's book, Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House. I won't go through a full review of the book but there was one scene from the transition period that caught my eye.

Sanity Sunday - Weekly Review (Aug 13- 19)

by Nomad

Hillary Clinton famously described Donald Trump as "a man you can bait with a tweet" and this week, Trump seemed to go out of his way to prove her remark was an understatement. In what seemed like a desperate attempt to hold onto control, the president spent most of the last seven days attacking his critics or trying to silence them.

Revenge Served Cold

The news this week was pretty much dominated by Omarosa Manigault Newman. The fired aide to the president- nobody was ever quite sure what her job actually was- revealed that she had secretly taped conversations during her stint at the White House. 

Why the Anti-Abortion Dream of Evangelicals Will Be a Nightmare for Young Women

by Nomad

With the confirmation of arch-conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, one of the long prayed-for dreams of the evangelical movement will very likely be attained: the overturning of 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

Sanity Sunday - Weekly Review (August 6-12) and Nomadic Playlist 5

by Nomad

Paleobiologist, J. William Schopf, once pointed out that "for four-fifths of our history, our planet was populated by pond scum." Looking back over the last week, it's hard to see much sign that things- at least in the noxious world of politics-  have evolved all that much. Despite Trump's campaign promise to drain the swamp, the week proved that the levels of scum are not receding in the slightest. 
So it's time to put on our hip waders and take our weekly march into the muck. 


Trump Tweets about Secret Meeting
On Monday, President Trump admitted in a tweet something which will, legal experts said, be extraordinarily problematic for his defense against the charge of Russian collusion.