Why US Suicide Rates are on the Rise While Western European Rates are Declining

by Nomad

Hard Cold Facts about a Difficult Subject 

Despite this public reticence, you might be surprised to learn that suicide now ranks in the top ten leading causes of death in the US. 

Each year 44,965 Americans die by suicide. Roughly 16 out of every 100,000 Americans will take their own life.

To put that in perspective, there were a total of 17,250 reported murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases in the U.S. in 2016. In fact, suicide is 250 percent more common than murder.

"A Cheap Soulless Bully"

by Nomad

During the Kavanaugh hearing when Christine Blasey Ford reluctantly testified about her alleged sexual assault, Trump did not hesitate to mock Ford.
Charles Pierce shared his feeling in a poignant article in Esquire magazine. Here's an excerpt:

"In my life, I have watched John Kennedy talk on television about missiles in Cuba. I saw Lyndon Johnson look Richard Russell squarely in the eye and say, "And we shall overcome." I saw Richard Nixon resign and Gerald Ford tell the Congress that our long national nightmare was over.
I saw Jimmy Carter talk about malaise and Ronald Reagan talk about a shining city on a hill. I saw George H.W. Bush deliver the eulogy for the Soviet bloc, and Bill Clinton comfort the survivors of Timothy McVeigh's madness in Oklahoma City.
I saw George W. Bush struggle to make sense of it all on September 11, 2001, and I saw Barack Obama sing "Amazing Grace" in the wounded sanctuary of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Nixon and Trump

by Nomad

Among Independents, Support for Trump Impeachment is Surging

by Nomad

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week, there's growing support among political independents for the impeachment for Donald Trump.  

To make matters worse for the president, overall support for impeachment has risen by three percentage points since just last week. Overall, 46% of Americans said they supported impeachment and 40% said they opposed it.

Support for impeachment was relatively steady among Republicans and Democrats over the past week but it surged among independents, a group that includes people who neither identify as Democrats nor Republicans and do not favor either party when they vote. Among independents, 45% said in the latest poll they supported impeachment and 32% said they opposed it, the strongest level of support recorded in more than a year.

For Republicans who have been shielding the president from oversight, the news could hardly be worse. The persuadable independent voter has been called the "difference maker" in the presidential election.
Even Trump campaign spokesman and Deputy Communications Director for the Republican National Committee, Rick Gorka has observed:

“It always comes down to who can convince the independent voter..That is how you win the election.”

Democracy's Darker Side and How It Has Been Exploited By Putin and the Far Right

by Nomad

"The Tyranny of the Minorities"

The other night, I was talking to a conservative friend about democracy. He has traveled the world and would be considered to be well-educated and successful. The subject turned to politics, something I loathe to discuss with locals given my delicate situation.
I usually prefer to listen in silence.