The International Whaling Commission is pressuring Japan to justify its claim that its whaling operations are for scientific research. Japan's response is to stall by giving inadequate answers.

In an act of racial hatred, a white supremacist shot 9 blacks in a church in South Carolina. He reportedly said he wanted to "start a race war."

It is certain that this was racist murder. Does that mean it is "terrorism"? Here is an argument that it is.

I am not sure. If terrorism means anything, it is violence against innocents meant to intimidate people so as to serve a political cause. We don't know whether these murders fit that.

We don't need to squeeze them into the word "terrorism" to say they were a heinous crime.

Another article argues that systematic repression of American blacks is "terrorism".

Systematic repression of blacks exists, and is very bad, and maybe in some cases it has been terrorism, but the two are not the same.

The word "terrorist" has ceased in practice to mean anything other than a smear.

Ukraine is at the edge of default, so it simply told its creditors, "Write down debt or don't get anything."

Contrast this with the situation of Greece.

Qatar Airways treats flight attendants as slaves, in effect. They are forced to stay inside their dormitory.

They can be fired for things as personal as marriage or pregnancy or hidden tattoo, or for things as minor as posing for a picture. Then they are trapped in Qatar.

The first simple thing we can do is never use that airline. I already won't, since I distrust Qatar's government so much I don't want to even transfer there.

Clinton talks about tackling Wall Street, but we can't believe this given the money she and her private foundation have accepted in recent years from banksters and other big business.

When Bernie Sanders says these things, his life shows he means them.

By the way, I don't believe most of the people who are appointed or elected in the US government, or in lobbying companies, are seriously looking for the way to do good in a corrupt environment. I think they are looking for the way to make the most money, and trotting out silly excuses to pretend their actions are good.