Maslow's Political Blog

In learning about Renee Good's death, I have mostly been surprised at Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who killed her, and his colleague's lack of professionalism.  They are shouting curses, he is handling a phone in one hand and a gun in the other, they leave the scene before any other authorities arrived.  They, of course, are masked, too.  They are full of righteousness - the ends justify their means. I tried to have a discussion with some friends online who were defending Ross.  What I remember now was how much of their argument laid on that righteousness.  Sometimes I'd make a point and I knew it clicked with them because they'd say "I'm not an expert and neither are you" or "you're making assumptions before we know all the facts."  But ultimately it was an avalanche of righteousness. Righteousness is a popular way of talking about things online.  "I may lose followers over this..." "I've been defriended because I think......

OK, a review of my predictions for 2025.  Bold are 2026 comments . Trump: I think Trump's presidency will be a lot like his first: chaotic without many constructive achievements (Tarrifs) . Most achievements will be the undoing of things (Reducing vaccination requirements . Unless you are an undocumented immigrant, your life won't be made worse. If you want to, do what you can to protect the undocumented immigrants you know. Mass deportation is so difficult I don't think it's going to happen. The administration will focus on criminals (as in they've been caught because of non-immigrant laws) and preventing more crossings. The border may become much more dangerous (E.G. more armed guards with more permissive rules of engagement).  If you know someone trying to enter this country, help them do it legally even if that means they have to wait.  You can reach out to your congressperson for help, too - such as the person you know is trying to join the rest of their family...

Man I am so glad 2025 is over so I can now stop doing this.  It was interesting but making these monthly lists was definitely a chore.  It helped me realize, though, how little of the year's news was all that important to my life.  Obviously there are some people for whom much of it was important, but I am not an illegal immigrant in America, a Ukrainian, a Russian soldier, or an Israeli soldier, or a Palestinian.  I'm going to guess that is less than 2% of the world population.  Most of the things that impact me are through higher costs, which is bad for me, but not going to kill or capture me - and certainly not violently. Well, let's wrap this up.  Following through is important.  What were the MAIN things that mattered in December?  What was, and wasn't, worth our valuable attention? Major: Very important, will be impactful. Flu spike !  Getting sick is terrible and affects you directly, and worse if you don't have sick-time to use f...