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I own and use a watch that goes tiktok – a present from my dad when I graduated from college. But no one has my watch in mind when discussing whether to ban or regulate TikTok. There is confusion, however, about what the First Amendment does or doesn’t, should or shouldn’t, be taken to mean. That’s partly because the issue is being posed very narrowly. Narrowing discussion to a particular media outlet raises all kinds of questions and fears. Can government ban Fox News or the New York Times?
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The Fed appears to have determined that no further rate hikes will be imposed, nor will any rate cuts be imposed until inflation gets at or close to the Fed’s designated target of 2%.
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While returning from a trip to see family, my wife commented that we were driving through an almost never-ending stream of Civil War battlefields that reinforce the military losses of the Civil War without reinforcing the moral meaning of what happened.
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It’s the season of plenty for sports fans – which others view as exhausting excess: Before we’ve recuperated from the NCAA basketball hoopla and golf’s Masters tournament, we’re launched into the Major League Baseball season even as the NHL and the NBA are just beginning playoffs.
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April 22nd is “Earth Day,” the global celebration of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. History shows that Earth Day was not intended to be about personal actions – planting a tree or recycling one’s garbage, although both are good ideas. Instead, the original Earth Day was a reaction to the enormous environmental damage done by the essentially unregulated discharging of pollution into the nation’s airways and waterways.
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China’s exports are surging, and there is a strong likelihood that there will be a backlash on a worldwide basis. We are certainly hearing it from Mr. Trump who wants to increase tariffs but other countries including those in Europe and South Asia are all likely to lose jobs which will cause them to take action.
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I assumed Jake Samascott had heard everything, at least everything related to apples, when I reported to his family’s sprawling Kinderhook, NY orchard last Saturday morning. The reason was a workshop on apple tree care sponsored by the Columbia Land Conservancy. -
The day I recorded this commentary, the print edition of the New York Times published an OP ED by Michelle Cottle entitled “Inside the MAGAverse on the Eve of Trump’s Trial” (April 17, 2024: A20). In it, Ms Cottle captured the self-satisfaction of the cult-members she interviewed at a Trump rally Saturday, April 12 in rural Pennsylvania.
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It's that time again! Here are this week's highlights from the WAMC Listener Comment Line. -
Of all the differences between American soccer and the sport played around the world, perhaps the most notable is the concept of promotion and relegation. That’s a system where the highest finishing teams from one league move up to a higher division next season, and the lowest teams move down.
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I’m giving my spirits a break with a more light-hearted classically trained musician’s take on immigration.
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The cherry trees that line Washington’s Tidal Basin are not a species bred to yield tasty pies, jams and jellies. Washington’s cherry trees live mainly to display abundant clusters of delicate pinkish-white flowers. I was admiring them a couple of weeks ago, at the peak of what the Japanese call Sakura hanami — the season of viewing the cherry blossoms.
