The rain in Spain fell mainly on fresh vegetables for sale to the UK, so UK supermarkets will fly in fresh vegetables from the US.

The heavy rain was probably a result of global heating, and flying the vegetables will surely cause more global heating. This is one little example of how civilization can fall.

Looking back over the history of American journalism, we find, about a century ago, that articles based on rumors and lies were common.

The imperialist war against Spain was started through such pressure. The slogan for the war was "Remember the Maine", alluding to a US warship that exploded mysteriously in Havana. The most recent investigtion concluded it was an internal explosion.

Movements for independence in Cuba and the Philippines were both crushed by the US, which turned Cuba into a puppet government, and reduced the Philippines to a colony after years of war and repression.

Obama's last blow against the US independent press: establishing an "anti-propaganda center" for "recognize, understand, expose, and counter" foreign propaganda.

In principle, that's not a bad thing to do; in practice, almost any sort of US state propaganda could be described as "countering" some sort of foreign propaganda. A single foreign article published anywhere in the world could serve as the excuse for a mammoth US government propaganda campaign.

Shi'ite Iraqi Ali Amin Abdullah survived 2 years in Mosul under the rule of PISSI by pretending to be Sunni. He did this so effectively that the Iraqi army put him in prison and his family cannot find him.

There is a rational need to do something to prevent PISSI supporters from remaining underground in Mosul and setting up cells to try to take power again. But it has to be done without terrorizing masses of people because they appear to be Sunnis, or even because they are Sunnis.

New York State will not allow the Trump Foundation to dissolve because it is being investigated for alleged corruption.