Betraying Our Afghan Allies

The United States provided a haven for translators and soldiers who aided U.S. forces in the Afghan War and managed to get out of Afghanistan when things fell apart.  They and their families were legally admitted into the United States to protect them from certain imprisonment but more likely death from the Taliban.  

Now they and their families are being deported.  They have been given a choice.  They can go back to Afghanistan, or they can go to the Congo, an unstable country where they have no connections and which the U.S. has bribed to take them.

I don’t understand this cruelty for the sake of cruelty.  I don’t understand why my country has so little honor.  I don’t understand why members of Congress don’t do something.  I certainly do understand why countries do not trust our government and do not wish to cooperate with our President.

Satisfaction guaranteed or money back?

The environmental group Save Carbon County ordered an air quality monitor.  It was fairly expensive, but it was also quite sophisticated, able to monitor and record six different kinds of air pollution.  The monitor was imported from New Zealand.  Then Trump slapped his tariffs on goods from countries around the world, including New Zealand.  The price went up $600.

The Supreme Court subsequently ruled that the tariffs were illegal.  Money had to be returned.  The New Zealand company should get the $600 back.  What do you think the chances are that Save Carbon County will get its money returned?  

Protecting Big Oil from lawsuits

Congress in 2005 passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that shielded companies that manufacture guns from getting sued.  We saw how that worked.  Hey, we just make the guns.  Not our fault if they are used to shoot up schools.

Now oil companies want the same protection from lawsuits that involve climate change.  In March Utah enacted a law that shields oil companies from any climate-related damage lawsuits.  Republicans have introduced similar bills in Louisiana and Oklahoma.  And the Trump administration wants the same policy at the Federal level.  

We will pay additional insurance and deal with climate change while the oil companies continue to rake in profits and wreck the globe.  Over 100 Republican members of the House agree.

See Dave Jones, “Oil CompaniesWant What Gun  Manufacturers Have,”  New York Times, (April 19, 2026), p. SR8.

The "Annoyance Economy"

I hadn’t realized there was a term for it until I read about it in the Times.  The Annoyance Economy consists of a whole group of costs and fees that have been estimated to add up to about $165 billion.  Not a typo–billion.

How many minutes did you spend last week on hold?  How many robocalls did you answer?  How many hours did you wait in line at the airport?  How much spam did you need to delete?  How many minutes did you take to fill out the medical forms in the waiting room that you had just filled out the week before?  

And now, with AI, you will get more of this.  More robocalls.  More spam.  More political ads that lie to you.  More frustrations.  More time wasted.  Annoyance economy is such a great term.

No Mow May

Lawns are environmental deserts.  They are over fertilized, often sprayed with weed killer, and don’t provide any food for insects or birds.  In some areas people have embraced “No Mow May,” an effort to allow weeds like dandelions to flourish in the early spring.  I tried this, but No Mow May is suitable for more northern states like Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Here in Pennsylvania No Mow April is more realistic, and even here if I don’t mow for the entire month of April, I would need more than a mower to cut the grass at the end of the month.

Today, when I mowed for the first time, I didn’t cut some patches of dandelions and some small blue flowers.  The lawn looks a bit raggedy, but I noticed that a number of bees seemed happy, if bees can be happy.

The Gospel according to Quentin Tarantino

In the past few days the Secretary of the Treasury said global warming was a creation of the “elite,” Lee Zeldin of the E.P.A. pushed the use of “clean coal,” Trump appeared in a post as Jesus healing a sick man while armed angels flew overhead, a “Door Dash Grandma” delivering food to the White House was found to be a propaganda set-up, recent convert to Catholicism J.D. Vance lectured the Pope on theology, Todd Blanche said all the Epstein files had been released, Trump delivered an eight-minute lecture on Peruvian snakes, and Pete Hegseth quoted a Bible verse from the Gospel of Quentin Tarantino.

I am not making this up. 

Scott Bessent isn't that dumb

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the meeting of the International Monertary Fund said it was difficult to determine the causes of global climate change and said global warming was a belief of the “elite.”  He said global institutions should emphasize economic growth.  He said emphasizing measures to fight warming would harm the poor.

He is the goddam Treasury Secretary.  He knows that the world’s poor will (and are) suffering the most from climate change.  Jeff Bezos won’t be affected by forest fires and tornadoes and loss of cropland.  Scott Bessent won’t be harmed either.  He will be dead before the worst effects are felt, but he will die rich.  That seems to be what motivates these people.  They want to die rich.  The hell with the rest of us.  They will live like kings, and the hell with the rest of us.

See Alan Rappeport and Lisa Friedman,”Bessent Questions Climate Change Cause and Financial Toll,” New York Times, (Apr. 15, 2026), p. A19.