IMPORTANT READS

ESSAY--Could Donald Trump end the Afghan war someday? I don’t know if such a possibility has been on your mind, but it’s certainly been on the mind of this retired U.S. Army major who fought in that land so long ago. And here’s the context in which I’ve been thinking about that very possibility.

POLITICS--“We are one of the wealthiest countries in the history of this world. And yet millions of adults in the United States still don’t have health insurance,” Rep. Ilhan Omar told her Minnesota constituents at a July 18 town hall.

TRUMP’S PATH TO VICTORY?-Trump's racist rant about four freshman congresswomen of color is getting a lot of play in the press and from Democrats.

RACE WAR--A racist chant against Rep. Ilhan Omar by backers of President Donald Trump during a rally in North Carolina Wednesday night was countered by an outpouring of solidarity with the Minnesota congresswoman as progressive activists, members of Congress, and ordinary Americans vowed to continue defending Omar against the right's bigoted and dangerous attacks.

WORLD WATCH--At a time when Albania was expected to make significant progress in its accession talks with the European Union (EU), some member states are unwilling to support the negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH--Over the past several weeks, the brutal terror that immigrants face at the hands of our government has come into even sharper focus. 

SOCIALISM OK FOR OUR ELECTEDS--For $3.5 trillion a year, shouldn’t we Americans have a world-class health care system? Yet while we spend the most of any advanced nation in the world to get care — more than $10,000 a year per person — we get the worst results.

OTHER WORDS-One day in late June 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas. They carried some historic news:

WHEN THEY SEE US: Not long ago, a few southern newspapers offered apologies for having vociferously opposed the civil rights movement.

WORLD WATCH-Two weeks ago, a 29-year-old Roma woman was physically attacked in the middle of the day in Kosovo, after a false accusation spread that the victim had been kidnaping children.

ECONOMY--Congratulations on that nice pay raise you got last year. A 7 percent hike — wow!

OTHERWORDS--Happy Pride month! It’s June so it’s time to bust out the rainbows and… actually, I have a lot of conflicted feelings about it.

VIEW FROM HERE--Have you ever stopped in the middle of the cereal aisle and stared blankly at the hundreds of brands to choose from?

WORLD WATCH-The phenomenon of genocide has baffled historians for many generations.

POLITICS--The youth-led Sunrise Movement staged a series of protests on Capitol Hill and across the country to demand lawmakers take urgent action on the climate crisis and back the Green New Deal. (Photo: Sunrise Movement/Twitter)

VIEW FROM HERE-According to a recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans spend an average of 16.8 minutes a day (or 0.28 of an hour) reading on their own volition for purposes other than work or school.

IMMIGRATION 2019 STYLE-Let us now contemplate the morality tale of the Good Samaritan. Not the one in the New Testament, but the one out in the high desert region around Marfa, Texas, just 60 miles from the Mexican border. 

MUELLER REPORT FALLOUT--Robert Mueller may not want to testify to Congress about the findings of his two-year long probe into the President Donald Trump administration's relationship with Russia and the president's subsequent treatment of that investigation, but, as progressive commentators and advocacy groups pointed out Wednesday, that's not really for him to decide.

RAW STORY REPORT--President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist believes a thorough investigation will reveal his family business is a “semi-criminal enterprise” — and ultimately end his presidency. (Photo above: Steve Bannon and Donald Trump (Composite / RawStory)

VIEW FROM HERE-In 2016 a poll was conducted to find out which American the country wanted to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. When it was all said and done, the person who had the most votes was the great abolitionist Harriet Tubman. 

VIEW FROM HERE-I.M. Pei, one of the world's most iconic and prolific architects, has died at the age of 102. Best known for his remarkable transformation of the Louvre in Paris and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, Pei also left his fingerprint of genius on the Flower City.