Thursday, December 26, 2019

Current Events Discussion Topics

An on-line "Zoom" discussion is conducted every Monday morning at 9:30am Chicago time through the North Shore Senior Center hosted by Ron Mantegna. You can enroll in this discussion session at   https://www.nssc.org/

Ron conducts a Northbrook Library zoom discussion every 1st and 3rd and 5th Thursday, 10-11:30am. Open free to all who enroll.  Contact the Northbrook Library to connect with Ron Mantegna.                                                                                         

How much is Trump’s Peace Plan a step in the right direction? Will Hamas demilitarize? Can a Board of Peace run Gaza? How does Israel deal with decades of children taught to hate Jews?

 

Trump campaigned for, but didn’t win, the Nobel Prize. Did he deserve it more than Obama’s?

 

Is Latitia James indictment justified on merit? Do most Americans feel it’s OK for A.G. Bondi to fully support Trump in attacking his enemies and protecting his friends? After all, Trump made no secret that he would seek retribution against his enemies if he won the election.

 

Is “lawfare” something real in a country ruled by Law, due process, and our Constitution?

 

How do you see the Gov. Shut-Down ending?  Will Republicans go for The Nuclear Option?

 

Do Democrats risk being seen as opposing Law & Order by not supporting Trump’s National Guard and Military deployments? Does Trump risk losing public support by creating chaos?

 

Bari Weiss now heads CBS News. Is this a step toward more balanced reporting? Was CBS Nightly News Left Leaning, or just Factual? How will we know if it’s become more “balanced”?

 

Do tough words from Trump matter to Putin without tough actions backing them up? After talking with Zelensky, Trump backs Ukraine “taking all its land back”, says his relationship with Putin “didn’t mean anything”, and is considering sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.

 

Are national parks and museums wrong to cover how bad Slavery was? Does History need to be more positive? What’s more harmful: not covering full details, or covering it all?

 

What should we make of RFK jr. and Trump saying Tylenol causes Autism…and circumcision?  How confident are you with who is in charge of America’s Health?

 

Do most people accept that “Epstein is just a Democrat hoax”? Do we need to know more via all the files? Or is this story being overblown?

 

Is our Economy doing well, or are we in trouble?  Job Market is stalled. Unemployment ticking up.  We’re in a “no hire, no fire” mode. Prices are going up. Interests rates lowered by .25%. Are Tariffs creating new alliances that help China? Has “America First” become America Alone? Is China the winner from distancing ourselves from our Allies, and abdicating soft power?

 

Does Cashless Bail put more peace-loving Folks at risk while putting Law Breakers back on the street?

 

Would you be OK if mail-in balloting was no long allowed, and voting machines not allowed? Would 100% paper ballots be safer? Would Voter I.D. assure that only American citizens voted?

 

What more should be done to avoid repeating what led to that tragic Charolette stabbing? A young woman was killed by a mentally ill man with multiple arrests, yet multiple releases. Should we change our Justice system and not strictly follow “Rule of Law”? If not, what do we do?

 

Does Mayor Adams dropping out of the NY race change the race in any significant way? Trump says he will stop sending Federal funds to NY City if Mamdani wins.

 

How excited are you about Swift and Kelce getting engaged? Why are Conservatives critical?

 

Are things going too far in pushing back against “Woke”? Cracker Barrel is accused of being “woke” after their flap with their logo to “erase the White guy”?

 

The Justice Department will conduct a Grand Jury to look at “Russia-Gate”.  Muller, Durham and Rubio’s Senate Committee have found no wrong-doing. Does that matter?

 

Is a “Christian Soldier” heading our Military? Hegseth is openly aligned with Christian nationalist, Doug Wilson. Wilson believes in a patriarchal society: stop women from voting, criminalize homosexuality, build a government ruled by Christ.

 

What about the 2025 Melonia (Kennedy) Center awards. Trump as MC?

 

Good move? Trump has directed the Commerce Department to start working on a new census, noting that illegal aliens in the U.S. will not be included in the count.