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.                                                                        

No other President had the balls to do what Trump has done.” Is our willingness to use our Military offensively in America’s best interests? Are we safer today because we took bold action?

 

“Regime change has occurred.” What does that mean if Iran’s national strategic goal against America and Israel doesn’t appear to have changed? Do we really know who runs Iran today?

 

How does this War end? Can we walk away without opening the Strait? Without addressing The Bomb? Can we end and accept the consequences of an Iran who is greatly weakened militarily, but controls the Strait, and has weapons and programs that threaten the region and our interests?

 

Our allies reject fighting in a War they feel is unjust. Is “America Alone” in our best interests? “This is not just America’s problem. You will need to learn to fight for yourself. Get your own oil.”  Are our allies making a mistake? Or was it a mistake to not seek a buy-in before attacking Iran?

 

What was achieved with thousands of “No Kings” protests, 8M participating? Do you believe demonstrations like this change anything important? What message was sent? To who?  

 

Which Party do you feel is primarily to blame for the hours-long lines at airports? The impasse involves Homeland Security. How inviting a soft target are huge lines at airports?

 

Should all Undocumented Immigrants be deported, or just the bad guys? Is Birthright Citizenship a mistaken interpretation of the Constitution? The Administration wants the Supreme Court to end it. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

 

Hegseth blocked promotions for two Black and two Women officers approved by Military Panels.  Is “merit” being used as a cover for ideological, racial, gender-based filtering? Or did “affirmative action” go too far and it’s time we begin to look at issues of Race more fairly?

 

Would taking over Cuba be in our best interests?  Would most Americans want this?

 

Do you support our return to the moon, building a base, and then going to Mars?

 

How much is the President turning America’s 250th Anniversary into a celebration of him? Does blatant self-promotion—the images, statues, monuments—help or hurt Trump politically?

 

Should we revisit the issue of Presidential Pardons? There are repeat offenders.

 

Efforts to strike or rename events honoring United Farm Workers leader César Chávez are accelerating after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused girls and young women.

 

What’s the risk a nut-case takes this to heart and “kills for God”? Hegseth’s closest spiritual adviser repeatedly attacked Talarico on a podcast hosted by a former pastoral intern at their church. After calling the Texas Democrat “a wolf,” a “demon,” a “snake” and an “enemy,” the two talked about what they hope becomes of Talarico. “I pray that God kills him,” one said. “Ultimately, that means killing his heart and raising him up to new life in Christ.” The other concurred. “Right, right. We want him crucified with Christ.” He repeated that he wants “death and new life” for Talarico. “And if it would not be within God’s will to do so, stop him by any means necessary,” he said.  (ANY means? Really?)

 

Trump’s focus is on securing the Western Hemisphere.  Is “Shield of the Americas” the start of the “Don-roe Doctrine”? Is his foreign policy approach: “You take yours. And we’ll take ours.”

 

What does it mean if the U.S. government is insolvent? That’s the conclusion drawn by the Treasury Department’s own consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2025, released to near-total media silence. $6.06 trillion in total assets against $47.78 trillion in total liabilities as of 9/302025.

 

Michael Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI. Trump pardoned him. The Justice Department moved to dismiss the case. Our Government then gave Flynn $1M for “wrongful conviction”. Can every J6 felon pardoned by Trump look into suing America for “wrongful conviction”?

 

Sunlight at night via mirrors: a big Night Light in the Sky? A Start-Up Wants to Launch a Space Mirror. The company is seeking F.C.C. approval to test an idea to reflect sunlight to Earth at night, possibly powering solar panels. Is it worth the risk? What could go wrong?

 

What do you think? "I'm going to sign an executive order to ensure that the second Saturday in December is preserved exclusively. Nobody's playing football – not Ohio State against Notre Dame, not LSU against Alabama – nobody's going to play football for four hours during that very special time of the year in December. It's preserved forever for the Army-Navy game."

 

Will Netanyahu be pardoned? Trump wants President Herzog to pardon Netanyahu "today”. "Every day I talk to Bibi about the war. I want him to focus on the war and not on the f*cking court case. I want the only pressure on Bibi to be the fighting against Iran.”

 

How useful an idea is Trump’s Board of Peace? Can it make an important difference?

 

Stats show Crime falling. But, do you feel Crime is truly on the decrease? Violent crime dropped significantly in 2025. Big cities saw murders down 19-21%. Robberies and aggravated assaults also down, with some metrics falling below pre-pandemic levels to 100-year lows. 

 

Is eliminating all standards for greenhouse gas emissions in our best interests? How smart is it to totally disregard the concerns of scientists vs. moderating how standards apply?

 

Re: Trans Sports. Do you Agree, or Disagree? Sport already accommodates biological variation. Hormone therapy can mitigates advantage so there is no clear evidence of systemic unfairness, and excluding Trans athletes from women’s sports is inconsistent, unnecessary, and ethically unjustified.

 

Can Mayor Mamdani effectively help “the poor” by super-taxing “the rich”? “Replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”

 

What good comes out of raising skepticism about Vaccines? RFK jr.’s new “whole foods pyramid” focuses on Proteins and Fats. (Have you tried Tallow?)

 

$3 meals? Agriculture Secretary  Rollins claims their revamped food pyramid leaves plenty of room for us to maintain a healthy diet for as little as $3 a meal. Just eat “a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli”, “a corn tortilla” and “one other thing”.

 

NY Times: Are there any limits to your power? “My own morality. My own mind. That’s the only thing that can stop me.”