-
States’ Voter Data
Consider the following scenario: You receive a letter in the mail, a few days before a November election, stating that some irregularities have been noticed in your voter registration, making it invalid, and that if you vote in the upcoming election, you would be committing a crime punishable by fine, incarceration, or both. The letter…
-
Iran
It’s been beyond devastating to watch (or at some points agonizingly wait for some news, any news, from) the recent protests in Iran. Seeing the authoritarian government of a country jail, brutally beat and injure, and even in many cases outright kill its own citizens under the pretense of “domestic terrorism,” for only exercising their…
-
Prizes
When I was at grade school age, there were no private schools in my town, probably not even in the entire country where I grew up. Back then, you didn’t need to have rich parents to be able to go to decent public schools, and even kids from middle class families could find their way…
-
Facts, Opinions, and Misunderstandings
In a previous post from over a year ago, I had tried to highlight the differences between facts and opinions. Even back then, my feeling was that that writeup was mostly redundant and unnecessary, as I assumed pretty much every reasonable person knew the difference. So it came to me as a huge surprise when…
-
The Gold Card
The Trump “Gold Card,” a new, fast-track U.S. residency program is finally launched. It allows wealthy foreigners to “gift” $1 million (or $2 million for corporations) to the government for expedited permanent residency and a path to citizenship. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated the program aims to attract “top of the best” immigrants who significantly…
-
Quiet Piggy
Earlier this year, when I shared, in a group chat among former classmates, links to news articles about a couple of our president’s own Truth Social posts, one ending with “Long Live the King,” and the other one envisioning the future of Gaza as a casino town with tall buildings and flashy “Trump Hotel” or…
-
A Shameful Stunt
What a shameful stunt! Now that the pressure has built up and Trump knows he will be losing the House vote on Tuesday, he is suddenly all for releasing the files. Because, you know, he has nothing to hide. Only, so far he has been calling it a hoax (although he and most of his…
-
Cruelty Is the Point, Not a Side Effect
USDA emailed grocery stores around the country telling them not to offer special discounts or deals to SNAP recipients amid the freeze, warning that doing so would violate the program’s “Equal Treatment Rule.” That rule requires stores to sell eligible food items to SNAP-EBT customers at the same prices and under the same conditions as…
-
Fighting Fire with …
When I was in high school, a very good teacher of mine once told me something that I don’t think I will ever forget. Most of my friends have likely already heard me say this, possibly multiple times, but I am going to write it here again, anyways. He said: “Jaber, I think one should…