If enough people say worst, the thing to do is assume the best. In the case of Secretary of State Tillerson, we might want to cut him a bit of slack. He is a mite eccentric it seems. He does not make excuses. He knows the score on oil though he cannot pronounce oil's death on penalty of ostracism from his wealthy circle. Given the shape of the Trump circle, shrunk as he has not appointed tons of people, Tillerson may be among the more stable and sane. Yesterday he said China might hit North Korea with sanctions, a sane idea. Today he is going to the UN Security Council, a sane move.

Is Sanders sane?

Speaking of sanity, there are tons of things Bernie Sanders might say that would make people think well of him. He could come out for Universal Basic Income or propose that armaments budgets be cut in half worldwide. The worst that could happen is that the right would skewer him, but his followers would be fine and so would most Democrats. But all you need to do to discredit a progressive is flag stupid remarks that do not represent anything but dog whistle politics.

The habit of Wall Street is to pay what they regard as chump change to speakers.

That is what they pay. What does not accepting it get you? I will not try to answer. I will say this. Obama is Wall Street's friend. There are real problems with Wall Street and the one percent. When I hear Sanders actually telling us what those problems are then I will propose that he urge Obama to contribute the loot to the effort to bring about universal disarmament and institute universal basic income.

President Obama will probably come around to these positions. Whether Bernie will I have no idea.

Tad Cummins has a big problem

That's putting it mildly. "I'm getting away to clear my head of all this crap.

I love you. Please don't call the police. They'll just think I’m guilty and I’m not. I'm so sorry," are the words of a note Cummins wrote to his wife. The 50-year-old teacher took off with Elizabeth Thomas, a minor, in March and had five weeks before being apprehended in California. Cummins is now awaiting trial on a federal charge of taking a minor across state lines for sexual purposes. In this situation, the abused wife emerges as a sort of spokesperson to the media. It makes the titillating news. But it comes down to a simple but fuzzy truth. A minor or a child is a minor or a child. Treating them as intimate sexual partners is evil because it hurts and harms, not only the persons involved but their families and the general society. It is fuzzy because the US continues to insist that minors (kids under 18) can go into the armed services.
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