What I'm reading... June 26, 2025
Only 1,304 days to go...
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” ~ Groucho Marx
'She saw our kids as people, not as disabilities'
"When you think of the number of lives she touched — thousands," said David Axelrod, the former senior adviser for Barack Obama. "Not just the folks who lived in Misericordia, but their families. It changed my daughter's life and it changed my whole family's life for the better. This whole place exists because of the force of her will."
‘You don’t give them a life; you give them a life worth living.’ And she did.
Trump’s Homemade Tourism Crisis: International Travelers Are Growing Skeptical of the U.S.
But they are left with a bad taste in their mouths. "Arbitrary. Banana republic…I can have a visa. I can have solid proof that I really only want to go on vacation. And it still completely depends on the Homeland Security official who is on duty,” says Birgit Kreil. And this despite the fact that the U.S. is like a second home for her. The atmosphere in the country, the food, the warmth – everything is so familiar. Its roots in democracy are also an attraction. "This is not how I want my vacation to start,” she says. Next year, her husband interjects, "we’ll definitely go somewhere else. We won’t be coming back to the U.S. anytime soon.”
The U.S. is becoming a no-go area for tourists….Instead of the 9 percent increase in international arrivals to the U.S. that had been predicted, tourism authorities are now saying that 2025 will see a 10 percent drop in arrivals – a gap of almost 20 percentage points. According to Oxford Economics, the United States is the only one of the 184 economies analyzed that is predicted to see a decline in spending by international visitors in 2025.
A Military Ethics Professor Resigns in Protest
But now she’s leaving her position and the institution because orders from President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, she said, have made staying both morally and practically untenable. Remaining on the faculty, she believes, would mean implicitly lending her approval to policies she cannot support. And she said that the kind of teaching and research the Navy once hired her to do will now be impossible.
Letters to Editor: Iran will retaliate after bombing; praying for peace; oppose war
“When it comes to policy decisions such as the U.S. military bombing targeted sites in Iran, Donald Trump plays checkers. His favorite phrase is "king me.' That's what he believed the morning after the attack on the Iranian installations. Unfortunately for him and for all Americans, on the same board the rest of the world is playing a game of much greater political complexity. That game is chess. President Trump becomes frustrated and confused when he finds himself to be in check. In due time, President Trump will hear the words, checkmate, and his political gaming days will be over. He will be incapable of figuring out why he lost. The answer is simple. Despite what he thinks, his game is not only game being played on the board.”
NC House rejects Senate-backed Helene relief bill. Now millions of dollars are on hold
Millions of dollars in disaster relief funds are stalled in the North Carolina General Assembly as Republican leaders squabble over the details of a proposal to help victims of Hurricane Helene.
Trump Rages Through Night Over Leak of Humiliating Iran Flop
A classified report leaked to CNN and The New York Times on Tuesday revealed that Trump’s much-touted attacks on three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites over the weekend did not kill the country’s nuclear program. At worst, they likely set the program back by a few months, which counters the president’s repeated claims of “complete and total obliteration.” Trump was livid at the two news outlets and let them know that in a late-night Truth Social post.
The National Historic Preservation Act that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law in 1966 requires states and tribes to handle everything from identifying potential historic sites to reviewing the impact of interstate highway projects on archaeological sites and historic buildings. States and tribes are also responsible for reviewing nominations of sites in the National Register of Historic Places, the nation’s official list of properties deemed worthy of preservation.
However, many states and tribes didn’t have the capacity to adequately tackle the mandates of the 1966 act. So the Historic Preservation Fund was formed a decade later to alleviate these costs by funneling federal resources into these efforts.
The fund is actually the product of a conservative, limited-government approach.
Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez are having a luxury wedding. The internet is enraged.
Why Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez's wedding struck a nerve. Though they've been tight-lipped about their nuptials, the billionaire Amazon founder, 61, and former television journalist, 55, are expected to spare no expense for their wedding. Regional governor Luca Zaia estimates the festivities to cost $23-$34 million.
"This is what oligarchy looks like," one X user wrote. "I wonder how many kids could have been fed for the price of Jeff Bezos wedding?" wrote another.
Thought for the day in honor of his birthday…
“Miracles happen to those who believe in them.”
~ Bernard Berenson
Quote of the day:
“We need leadership at this moment and all we’re getting is chaos from a guy who announces his presidential moves on bootleg Twitter. Unacceptable. The incompetence is showing at levels we’ve always known were possible with this idiot in charge, but still didn’t seem likely. Voters need to know how badly this is being botched. When Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson emerge as voices of reason, it’s time to pull the plug.”
~ The Lincoln Project
What I am listening to…
Hank reveals what really keeps him up at night, why he thinks most of us are terrible at predicting the future and how he knows when to abandon a project that's not working.
What I am watching…
What I read every day…
