US citizens: call on the Senate to abolish "blue slips" for blocking judicial nominations.

This is the system whereby judges from a state can veto appointment of judges in that state. The Capitol Switchboard numbers are +1-202-224-3121, +1-888-818-6641 and +1-888-355-3588.

If you phone, please spread the word!

Global heating is wiping out ancient settlements in the high Andes because there is no more water.

Idiotic UK bureaucracy incorrectly denied the citizenship of many UK citizens who came there long ago as children from colonies in the Caribbean. The Tory government was pressured to acknowledge these wrongs and set up a scheme to right them. But the Tory inclination never to give a non-rich citizen a break eventually won out over righting wrongs.

As long as the watchword is, "When in doubt, kick them out," it won't do the job.

The Ukraine-Russia border, between Kharkiv and Belgorod, was just an arbitrary line, with similar people speaking the same form of Ukrainian on both sides (often related to each other). The war forced each person to choose a side.

The two states, becoming increasingly different over time, created a superstructure that made the two sites of the line terribly different. Now one side of the line is under a repressive tyranny while the other is under (imperfect) freedom. f

The author recognizes implicitly that Stalin's 1930s famine affected a large part of the Soviet Union — it was not specifically aimed at Ukraine.

US citizens: call on Congress to fund Public Media.

Corporate "sponsors" have too much influence over US public media. As usual, they use that influence to slant coverage and adjust the Overton window. With more public funds, public media could resist their influence more. The Capitol Switchboard numbers are +1-202-224-3121, +1-888-818-6641 and +1-888-355-3588.

If you phone, please spread the word!