The St Louis thug department is being criticized for publicly warning about toy guns that look real.

The advice was not a threat, and it was wise. People should not give children toy guns that look real, unless the children are mature enough and trained enough to handle a real gun properly — to do so invites many kinds of trouble, starting with scaring people, even if thugs do not get involved.

This is independent of the many cases where thugs have wrongfully killed adults and children.

Australia has given one minister arbitrary total power over boat people. He can order that they be secretly deported to be tortured, or abandoned at sea. I wonder if he has the power to order they be secretly shot.

Refugees sent by Australia to Nauru are nearly prisoners even if they are granted some sort of "refugee status".

The UK Tories now propose drastic further spending cuts. This could make the center-right Labour appear comparatively better, but that only means it won't attack the poor quite as much.

The effects are likely to be disastrous. And that's aside from the recession it can cause. The worst harm will fall on the poorest.

Most people that view images depicting sexual abuse of children will never do anything to real children. However, they are all likely to be imprisoned.

Many cruise ships dump poorly treated sewage into the ocean, and now they refuse to answer questions about this practice.

Unless you're shallow in your approach to life, I suggest you avoid taking a cruise as a vacation. I went on one once, invited to give a talk, and found it to be more "Here's the next thing you're supposed to enjoy" than truly enjoyable.