There is a proposal to require expulsion of any member of the Labour Party if there is clear evidence that the member is bigoted.

The title of the article is misleading -- mere accusation would not require expulsion. There would have to be "irrefutable evidence."

I am in favor of this rule. I don't think that parties should tolerate bigotry against any group, and that includes Jews. The Republican Party should adopt the same rule.

What I disagree with is the party's decision to adopt a controversial criterion for judging anti-semitism, which was designed to shift the boundary that separates criticism of Israel from anti-semitism.

The bully's ambivalence about bombing Iran could result from a conflict between two inner impulses.

It could also be theater.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of refugees are living in France near Calais and Dunkirk. Thugs regularly chase them around, steal and destroy their tents, break their water vessels, and poison their food with tear gas.

Today powerful tyrants don't merely lie. They attack the idea that there is such a thing as truth.

What made life under the rule of Stalin and Mao so terrifying was that no lie was too much for them. The truth of your innocence meant nothing to them if they found it useful to proclaim you guilty. Today's cruel liars, including the conman, are no better.

Let's compare them with the plutocrats and planet roasters. They don't mind lying, and they lie constantly about their opponents. But they do not attack the very idea of truth.

Senator Warren proposes to eliminate private prisons completely in the US, including immigration prisons.

She also plans to ban gouging prisoners for products and services.

What I like best is that she endorses the idea that certain areas of activity should be off limits to profitmaking businesses. It is not yet the idea that government services should never be privatized.