U.S. swing toward autocracy doesn’t have to be permanent – but swinging back to democracy requires vigilance, stamina and elections

  The United States is no longer a democracy.

  At least, that’s the verdict of one nonprofit, the Center for Systemic Peace, which measures regime qualities of countries worldwide based on the competitiveness and integrity of their elections, limits to executive authority, and other factors.

  “The USA is no longer considered a democracy and lies at the cusp of autocracy,” the group’s 2025 report read.

  It calls Donald Trump’s second inauguration following a raft of criminal indictments and convictions, combined with the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 2024 granting of sweeping presidential immunity, a “presidential coup.”

Tesla and terrorism nonsense

  The 9/11 attacks provided the U.S. government with one of the greatest opportunities in U.S. history to destroy the freedom of the American people. Declaring a “war on terrorism,” federal officials seized upon the crisis to exercise omnipotent powers, purportedly to keep the nation “safe” from the terrorists who were supposedly hell-bent on coming to get us. In the process, the war-on-terrorism racket became as effective in destroying liberty as the war-on-communism racket had done throughout the Cold War.

  With the war on terrorism, U.S. officials don’t have to bother complying with constitutional restraints and the restrictions in the Bill of Rights. That’s because the U.S. is considered to be at “war.” Therefore, the executive branch is permitted to do pretty much anything it wants without concerning itself with interference by the other two branches — Congress and the federal judiciary. That’s a perfect recipe for the destruction of liberty.

Trump administration seeks to starve libraries and museums of funding by shuttering this little-known agency

  On March 14, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order that called for the dismantling of seven federal agencies “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” They ranged from the United States Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, to the Minority Business Development Agency.

  The Institute of Museum and Library Services was also on the list. Congress created the IMLS in 1996 through the Museum and Library Services Act. The law merged the Institute of Museum Services, which was established in 1976, with the Library Programs Office of the Department of Education.

Free trade raises standards of living

   I find it amazing that there are still people in life who favor trade restrictions and trade wars. If there is anything credible economists agree on, almost 150 years after the publication of Adam Smith’s treatise The Wealth of Nations, it is that free trade is a good thing.

  In every trade, both sides benefit. There is a simple reason for that. Each side is giving up something he values less for something he values more. Thus, at the very moment of the trade, both sides have improved their own respective economic condition. The trade has enabled both parties to the trade to raise their own standard of living.

Emergency alerts and news notifications can make us stressed and anxious — here’s what you can do to cope

  When there’s a disaster, it’s helpful to know what’s going on — and know whether you’re truly at risk. But as essential as emergency alert systems are, they can leave many of us feeling anxious — even when the alert may be a false alarm or test.

  This is because emergency alerts, whether real or tests, can activate the same neural circuits involved in real danger. This can trigger stress, confusion, and anxiety.

Trump’s firings of military leaders pose a crucial question to service members of all ranks

  President Donald Trump gave no specific reason for firing Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff less than halfway through Brown’s four-year term in office.

  Nor did he give an explanation for similarly ousting other senior military leaders, including the only women ever to lead the Navy and the Coast Guard, as well as the military’s top three lawyers – the judge advocates general of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

The past that Alabama chooses to honor says a lot about us

  When you come out from under the rusty monoliths inscribed with the names of lynching victims and the counties that bear the guilt of their deaths at Montgomery’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice, you come to another set of monoliths lying on the ground.

  They’re duplicates of what you’ve just seen. The Equal Justice Initiative, which runs the memorial, has offered them to each American county where a lynching took place. It’s a reminder that the past lines our paths and runs beneath our feet.

Appreciating appreciation

  There’s a song called “Thank God for Dirty Dishes” that makes the point that if you’re lucky to have enough food to make dirty dishes, you should be grateful.

  So instead of grousing about your property taxes, be thankful you own property. When you have to wait in line at the bank or are stuck in traffic, just be grateful you have money in the bank and a car to drive.

The Trump administration is hurting consumers’ wallets by kneecapping the CFPB

  Most Americans can’t afford to lose money to corporations that cheat them or to banks and credit card companies that charge excessive fees, and they need somewhere to turn for help. They may not realize that the fine print on their car loan says the company can repossess the car after one missed payment or that a term buried several pages into their family’s home mortgage could result in foreclosure. They may not understand why their bank is withdrawing fees from their savings account or why they are charged such a high penalty when they overdraw their account a day before their paycheck is deposited. And seniors and consumers with the fewest resources may find themselves the target of financial scams.

Big cuts at the Education Department’s civil rights office will affect vulnerable students for years to come

  The U.S. Department of Education cut its workforce by nearly 50% on March 11, 2025, when it laid off about 1,315 employees. The move follows several recent directives targeting the Cabinet-level agency.

  Within the department, the Office for Civil Rights – which already experienced layoffs in February – was especially hard hit by cuts.