We have recently seen two horrendous attacks on innocent Jewish people. The attacks expressed continued hatred of the Jews by many Americans. This coupled with a 360% surge in anti-Jewish hate in the U.S. according to the ADL, and a rise in political violence in the U.S. as evidenced by the assassination of Melissa Hortman, means we must condemn antisemitism and all forms of hatred and bigotry.
In this hurricane season, NOAA has predicted 13-19 named storms with 6-10 as hurricanes and 3-5 of those as major. Musk’s DOGE has begun the decimation of NOAA by firing probationary employees and impounding (illegally) Congressional appropriated funds. Many wonder if the U.S. will be able to handle this storm season or if lives will be needlessly lost by the administration’s decisions and incompetence. Texas will not fare well with these decisions so contact your reps and senators.
Kindness is simply being friendly, generous, and showing compassion towards others, without expecting anything in return. It’s about thinking and acting with consideration and caring for our fellow humans on our journey through life. When I feel an unkind thought start to emerge, I try to think of the folks who are my kindness heroes: Kurt Vonnegut, Lady Gaga, and Willie Nelson.
In the 40 years since manufacturing employment peaked, industry has struggled to regain the prominence it once had. Sizeable job losses occurred within durable goods manufacturing. CEO compensation has shot up over 1000% versus a typical worker who has seen only a 24% increase. The current administration’s attacks on workers’ rights and dismantling of critical federal agencies have left workers with fewer rights and have put the U.S. economy on a path toward an economic downturn.
Trump’s tariffs constitute an enormous tax on Americans and will result in higher prices, reduced choice, and likely loss of jobs in America. harm every American consumer, but particularly the hourly and middle-class worker, with higher prices. The tariffs harm the average American worker planning for retirement and those already retired, by destroying the value of the very investments relied on by those workers.
The National Park Service has the most favorable rating of any government agency, has bipartisan support, reported their highest visitation in history, and puts billions of dollars back into the economy. Nevertheless, the new administration has conducted massive firings and threatened to close visitor centers. Contact your reps to oppose these cuts.
DEI initiatives are the right thing to do, but the current administration is using them as an cynical excuse for almost everything that goes wrong in the country and to distract us from ongoing efforts to willy-nilly dismantle government and government regulation. DEI efforts are needed as extremists strive to give the executive branch unchecked power.
The Texas Legislature is about a month into its every-other-year session, and they are considering quite a few awful bills, including school vouchers, but also an elimination to countywide voting and the SAVE act which requires all Americans to provide a birth certificate, passport, or one of a few other citizenship documents every time they register or re-register to vote.
Texas workers are not supported by the Texas Legislature as evidenced by the state government continuing to hold teacher pay hostage to approve vouchers, not requiring companies to provide workers compensation insurance and not providing adequate minimum wage or health insurance for the people who make the Texas economy vibrant and successful in spite of government efforts to minimize their contributions and protections.
Texas efforts to conserve whooping cranes and Kemp’s Ridley Turtles have bolstered these animals’ numbers and been a great success. The author also remembers Cecile Richards, who died of brain cancer on January 20. Cecile founded the Texas Freedom Network (TFN) and was a fierce advocate for women’s rights, abortion rights, and social justice.