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21. <title>The Bloated Billionaire Bill is class warfare</title>
22. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/the-bloated-billionaire-bill-is-class-warfare/</link>
23. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/the-bloated-billionaire-bill-is-class-warfare/#respond</comments>
25. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dick Polman, Cagle Cartoons Columnist]]></dc:creator>
26. <pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 04:25:53 +0000</pubDate>
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32. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
33. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
34. <category><![CDATA[Class Warfare]]></category>
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36. <category><![CDATA[Democratic Party]]></category>
37. <category><![CDATA[Democrats]]></category>
38. <category><![CDATA[Dick Polman]]></category>
39. <category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
40. <category><![CDATA[Facism]]></category>
41. <category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
42. <category><![CDATA[Oligarchy]]></category>
43. <category><![CDATA[Republican Party]]></category>
44. <category><![CDATA[Republicans]]></category>
45. <category><![CDATA[Rich]]></category>
46. <category><![CDATA[Robin Hood. Robin Hood in reverse]]></category>
47. <category><![CDATA[Tax Cuts]]></category>
48. <category><![CDATA[Wealthy]]></category>
49. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286309</guid>
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51. <description><![CDATA[<p>What’s most important to remember about the monstrous “big beautiful” bill ginned up by Trump’s Reichstag is that Republicans are just being themselves. They’ve always pined to fatten the fat cats and screw the average citizen – to take from the needy and give to the rich, like Robin Hood in reverse. None of this<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/the-bloated-billionaire-bill-is-class-warfare/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
52. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/the-bloated-billionaire-bill-is-class-warfare/">The Bloated Billionaire Bill is class warfare</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
53. ]]></description>
54. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/aaaaahh-e1751430111747.png" alt="" width="760" height="532" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-286310" /></p>
55. <p>What’s most important to remember about the monstrous “big beautiful” bill ginned up by Trump’s Reichstag is that Republicans are just being themselves. They’ve always pined to fatten the fat cats and screw the average citizen – to take from the needy and give to the rich, like Robin Hood in reverse. None of this is new.</p>
56. <p>What’s different now is the sheer scale of the cruelty, the scope of the destruction, and the spineless fealty to a fascist. And what truly galls me is the Republicans’ repugnant hypocrisy.</p>
57. <p>In 2011, President Obama proposed tax hikes on the rich in order to buttress crucial federal programs that help tens of millions of Americans. In response, the Pavlovian Republicans barked their favorite rhetorical mantra: Dems are waging class warfare!</p>
58. <p>On the Sunday talk shows, House bigwig Paul Ryan (remember him?) said, “Class warfare will simply divide this country more.” Senator Lindsey Graham echoed, “When you say you’re going to tax those (rich) people, that’s class warfare.” And when Obama floated similar priorities in 2015, Senator Orrin Hatch inveighed against “redistribution and class warfare,” while, on the House side, Republicans seethed that Obama was “returning to the theme of class warfare.”</p>
59. <p>If memory serves, the pre-Trump GOP began to chant that phrase, via frequent repetition, some time around 1992. I first heard it that year when Bill Clinton ran for president with a pledge to raise some taxes on the wealthiest Americans. In response, incumbent George H. W. Bush scoffed that his foe was waging “class warfare,” seeking to “divide Americans rich from poor, one group from another.”</p>
60. <p>See how the game works? Republicans have long instinctively understood, far better than their oft-bumbling opponents, that capturing the language is crucially important. When you do that, when you frame the terms of debate, you have a darn good shot at winning hearts and minds. Particularly weak minds.</p>
61. <p>I’ll leave it to the shrinks to diagnose the passivity of the Democratic mindset, to try to fathom why the blue party has long allowed class warfare to become a weapon in the GOP’s arsenal. In reality, the Bloated Billionaire Bill is teed up to engineer the most historic transfer of wealth from middle- and low-income Americans to the richest. It’s the GOP that has waged class warfare with great success, most notably in 2001 when George W. Bush’s top-end tax cuts helped exacerbate the growing disparity between the rich and the lower classes; and again in 2017, when Trump’s tax cuts were rigged for the rich at the expense of us lesser beings.</p>
62. <p>Republicans have long skated relatively unscathed with their insistence that taxing the rich will “divide this country” – when, in fact, the rich have long been reaping disproportionate rewards. I hesitate to cite statistics, because they’re boring and fact-free fools won’t believe them anyway, but here’s something the Wall Street Journal discovered years ago while examining the impact of the Bush tax cuts: “The average tax rate for the top 400 earners in the U.S. fell to as low as 16.62 percent in 2007, from a recent peak of 29.9 percent in 1995.”</p>
63. <p>As billionaire Warren Buffett said in a 2006 interview, “There’s class warfare all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”</p>
64. <p>But the richest Americans always want more – hence the current unholy alliance of oligarchy and fascism – and it’s clear that the only way a Republican can risk telling the truth is to quit the game. Exhibit A is Thom Tillis, the North Carolina senator who announced he won’t run for re-election. Having freed himself from servitude, he’s openly pissed that the MAGAts he serves with are waging class warfare against his constituents – 663,000 of whom are projected to lose their Medicaid coverage because the rich supposedly deserve more money.</p>
65. <p>In theory, Democrats should be well positioned to reap an anti-MAGA backlash in 2026 and “class warfare” should be their battle cry. It’s past time for the blue party to own that phrase and buttress it with the abundant evidence. With that goal in mind, here’s some rhetoric they can use:</p>
66. <p>“The privileged princes of the new economic dynasties, thirsting for power, (have) reached out for control over government itself. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power…In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the Constitution stand for. Now, as always, they stand for democracy, not tyranny; for freedom, not subjection; and against a dictatorship by mob rule and the over-privileged alike.”</p>
67. <p>So said Franklin D. Roosevelt, who waged class warfare against the rich and championed the working stiff.</p>
68. <p>Seriously, how hard should that be?</p>
69. <p><em>Copyright 2025 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes the Subject to Change newsletter. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com</em></p>
70. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/the-bloated-billionaire-bill-is-class-warfare/">The Bloated Billionaire Bill is class warfare</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
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79. <title>From the marriage contract to breaking the glass under the chuppah, many Jewish couples adapt their weddings to celebrate gender equality</title>
80. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/from-the-marriage-contract-to-breaking-the-glass-under-the-chuppah-many-jewish-couples-adapt-their-weddings-to-celebrate-gender-equality/</link>
81. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/from-the-marriage-contract-to-breaking-the-glass-under-the-chuppah-many-jewish-couples-adapt-their-weddings-to-celebrate-gender-equality/#respond</comments>
83. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest Voice]]></dc:creator>
84. <pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2025 02:51:46 +0000</pubDate>
85. <category><![CDATA[Jews]]></category>
86. <category><![CDATA[Judaism]]></category>
87. <category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
88. <category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
89. <category><![CDATA[Women]]></category>
90. <category><![CDATA[Feminism]]></category>
91. <category><![CDATA[gender equality]]></category>
92. <category><![CDATA[Jewish Culture]]></category>
93. <category><![CDATA[Jewish Life]]></category>
94. <category><![CDATA[Jewish tradition]]></category>
95. <category><![CDATA[Jewish women]]></category>
96. <category><![CDATA[marriage]]></category>
97. <category><![CDATA[Weddings]]></category>
98. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286306</guid>
99.  
100. <description><![CDATA[<p>The ketubah is a binding document in Jewish law that traditionally spells out a groom’s responsibilities toward his wife ? but that many couples adapt to be more egalitarian. PowerSiege/iStock via Getty Images Plus Samira Mehta, University of Colorado Boulder Traditional Jewish weddings share one key aspect with traditional Christian weddings. Historically, the ceremony was<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/from-the-marriage-contract-to-breaking-the-glass-under-the-chuppah-many-jewish-couples-adapt-their-weddings-to-celebrate-gender-equality/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
101. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/from-the-marriage-contract-to-breaking-the-glass-under-the-chuppah-many-jewish-couples-adapt-their-weddings-to-celebrate-gender-equality/">From the marriage contract to breaking the glass under the chuppah, many Jewish couples adapt their weddings to celebrate gender equality</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
102. ]]></description>
103. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>      <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676606/original/file-20250625-56-sft4i9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&#038;rect=0%2C110%2C2121%2C1193&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip" /><figcaption>
104.          The ketubah is a binding document in Jewish law that traditionally spells out a groom’s responsibilities toward his wife ? but that many couples adapt to be more egalitarian.<br />
105.          <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/ktuba-hebrew-religious-marriage-agreement-royalty-free-image/1090742846?phrase=jewish%20wedding&#038;searchscope=image%2Cfilm&#038;adppopup=true">PowerSiege/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span><br />
106.        </figcaption><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/samira-mehta-1109963">Samira Mehta</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-colorado-boulder-733">University of Colorado Boulder</a></em></span></p>
107. <p>Traditional Jewish weddings share one key aspect with traditional Christian weddings. Historically, the ceremony was essentially a transfer of property: A woman went from being the responsibility of her father to being the responsibility of her husband.</p>
108. <p>That may not be the first thing Americans associate with weddings today, but it lives on in rituals and vows. Think, in a traditional Christian wedding, of a bride promising “to obey” her husband, or being “given away” by her father after he walks her down the aisle. </p>
109. <p>Feminism has changed some aspects of the Christian wedding. More egalitarian or feminist couples, for example, might have the bride be “given away” by both her parents, or have both the bride and groom escorted in by parents. Others skip the “giving” altogether. <a href="https://www.pcusastore.com/Content/Site119/FilesSamples/180093Inclusive_00000147003.pdf">Queer couples</a>, too, have <a href="https://forward.com/news/507964/lgbtq-jewish-couples-weddings-reinventing-marriage-traditions/">reimagined the wedding ceremony</a>.</p>
110. <figure class="align-center zoomable">
111.            <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676610/original/file-20250625-56-efyxi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="Two women wearing white clothes and prayer shawls dance under a simple canopy in a park as a few people look on." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676610/original/file-20250625-56-efyxi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676610/original/file-20250625-56-efyxi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=391&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676610/original/file-20250625-56-efyxi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=391&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676610/original/file-20250625-56-efyxi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=391&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676610/original/file-20250625-56-efyxi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676610/original/file-20250625-56-efyxi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676610/original/file-20250625-56-efyxi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"/></a><figcaption>
112.              <span class="caption">Mara Mooiweer, left, and Elisheva Dan dance during their socially distanced wedding in Brookline, Mass., during the COVID-19 pandemic.</span><br />
113.              <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mara-mooiweer-left-and-elisheva-dan-dance-during-their-news-photo/1208642339?adppopup=true">Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span><br />
114.            </figcaption></figure>
115. <p><a href="https://www.colorado.edu/jewishstudies/samira-k-mehta">During research</a> for <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469636368/beyond-chrismukkah/">my book</a> “Beyond Chrismukkah,” about Christian-Jewish interfaith families, many interviewees wound up talking about their weddings and the rituals that they selected or innovated for the day to reflect their cultural background. Some of them had also designed their ceremonies to reflect feminism and marriage equality – something that the interfaith weddings had in common with many weddings where both members of the couple were Jewish.</p>
116. <p>These values have transformed many Jewish couples’ weddings, just as they have transformed the Christian wedding. Some Jewish couples make many changes, while some make none. And like every faith, Judaism has lots of internal diversity – not all traditional Jewish weddings look the same.</p>
117. <h2>Contracts and covenants</h2>
118. <p>Perhaps one of the most important places where feminism and marriage equality have reshaped traditions is in the “ketubah,” or Jewish marriage contract. </p>
119. <p>A traditional ketubah is a simple legal document in Hebrew or Aramaic, a related ancient language. Two witnesses sign the agreement, which states that the groom has acquired the bride. However, the ketubah is also sometimes framed as a tool to protect women. The document stipulates the husband’s responsibility to provide for his wife and confirms what he should pay her in case of divorce. <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/465168/jewish/What-Is-the-Ketubah.htm">Traditional ketubot</a> – the plural of ketubah – did not discuss love, God or intentions for the marriage. </p>
120. <figure class="align-center zoomable">
121.            <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676613/original/file-20250625-56-e5iwim.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a blue-gray suit signs a colorfully decorated piece of paper as another man in a white shirt watches." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676613/original/file-20250625-56-e5iwim.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676613/original/file-20250625-56-e5iwim.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676613/original/file-20250625-56-e5iwim.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676613/original/file-20250625-56-e5iwim.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676613/original/file-20250625-56-e5iwim.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676613/original/file-20250625-56-e5iwim.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676613/original/file-20250625-56-e5iwim.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"/></a><figcaption>
122.              <span class="caption">A groom signs the ketubah as witnesses sit beside him in Jerusalem, Israel, in 2014.</span><br />
123.              <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-orthodox-jewish-wedding-the-groom-signs-the-ketubah-as-news-photo/515877046?adppopup=true">Dan Porges/Getty Images</a></span><br />
124.            </figcaption></figure>
125. <p>Contemporary ketubot in more liberal branches of Judaism, whether between opposite- or same-sex couples, are usually <a href="https://ritualwell.org/ritual/egalitarian-ketubah/">much more egalitarian documents</a> that reflect the home and the marriage that the couple want to create. Sometimes the couple <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/how-to-choose-a-ketubah-or-jewish-marriage-contract/">adapt the Aramaic text</a>; others keep the Aramaic and pair it with a text in the language they speak every day, describing their intentions for their marriage.</p>
126. <p>Rather than being simple, printed documents, contemporary ketubot are often beautiful pieces of art, made to hang in a place of prominence in the newlyweds’ home. Sometimes the art makes references to traditional Jewish symbols, <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/9-jewish-things-about-pomegranates/">such as a pomegranate</a> for fertility and love. Other times, <a href="https://dankowicz.com/blog/the-heart-of-your-wedding-designing-your-custom-ketubah/">the artist works with the couple to personalize</a> their decorations with images and symbols that are meaningful to them.</p>
127. <p>Contemporary couples will often also use their ketubah to address an inherent tension in Jewish marriage. Jewish law gives men much more freedom to divorce than it gives women. Because women cannot generally initiate divorce, <a href="https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/agunot">they can end up as “agunot</a>,” which literally means “chained”: women whose husbands have refused to grant them a religious divorce. Even if the couple have been divorced in secular court, an “agunah” cannot, according to Jewish law, remarry in a religious ceremony.</p>
128. <p>Contemporary ketubot will sometimes make a note that, while the couple hope to remain married until death, if the marriage deteriorates, the husband agrees to grant a divorce if certain conditions are met. This prevents women from being held hostage in unhappy marriages. </p>
129. <p>Other couples eschew the ketubah altogether in favor of a new type of document called a “<a href="https://ketubah-arts.com/rabbi-adlers-brit-ahuvim?srsltid=AfmBOoq6NsGlFb6wQYHjdHAQuQWYXpJ6CYv3QKFxXWyTIJ9DT7HE9yna">brit ahuvim</a>,” or covenant of lovers. These documents are egalitarian agreements between couples. The <a href="https://ritualwell.org/ritual/acquiring-equality/">brit ahuvim</a> was developed by <a href="https://huc.edu/directory/rachel-r-adler-rabbi-ph-d/">Rachel Adler</a>, a feminist rabbi with a deep knowledge of Jewish law, and is grounded in ancient Jewish laws for business partnerships between equals. That said, many Jews, including some feminists, do not see the brit ahuvim as equal in status to a ketubah.</p>
130. <figure class="align-center zoomable">
131.            <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676614/original/file-20250625-56-qq0ar8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="A colorful, framed drawing on a white wall, with two older women barely visible sitting on a couch at the back of the room." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676614/original/file-20250625-56-qq0ar8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676614/original/file-20250625-56-qq0ar8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676614/original/file-20250625-56-qq0ar8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676614/original/file-20250625-56-qq0ar8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676614/original/file-20250625-56-qq0ar8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676614/original/file-20250625-56-qq0ar8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676614/original/file-20250625-56-qq0ar8.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"/></a><figcaption>
132.              <span class="caption">Two female ducks are depicted on the ketubah hanging in the sunroom in Lennie Gerber and Pearl Berlin’s home in High Point, N.C.</span><br />
133.              <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/GayMarriage-NorthCarolina/e47f1b031fb04dbfb5c45645abcd91b5/photo?Query=ketubah&amp;mediaType=photo&amp;sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&amp;dateRange=Anytime&amp;totalCount=11&amp;currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Allen G. Breed</a></span><br />
134.            </figcaption></figure>
135. <h2>Building together</h2>
136. <p>Beyond the ketubah, there are any number of other changes that couples make to symbolize their hopes for an egalitarian marriage.</p>
137. <p>Jewish ceremonies often take place under a canopy called the chuppah, which symbolizes <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-huppah-or-wedding-canopy/">the home that the couple create together</a>. In a traditional Jewish wedding, the bride circles the groom three or seven times before entering the chuppah. This represents both her protection of their home and that the groom is now <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4191420/jewish/Why-Does-the-Bride-Circle-the-Groom-Seven-Times.htm">her priority</a>.</p>
138. <p>Many couples today omit this custom, because they feel it makes the bride subservient to the groom. Others keep the circling but reinterpret it: In circling the groom, the bride actively creates their home, an act of empowerment. Other egalitarian couples, regardless of their genders, <a href="https://www.smashingtheglass.com/equality-minded-jewish-wedding/">share the act of circling</a>: Each spouse circles three times, and then the pair circle once together. </p>
139. <p>In traditional Jewish weddings, like in traditional Christian weddings, the groom gives his bride a ring to symbolize his commitment to her – and perhaps to mark her as a married woman. Many contemporary <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/double-ring-ceremonies/">Jewish couples exchange two rings</a>: both partners offering a gift to mark their marriage and presenting a symbol of their union to the world. While some see this shift as an adaptation to American culture, realistically, the dual-ring ceremony is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3790353">a relatively new development</a> in both American Christian and American Jewish marriage ceremonies. </p>
140. <p>Finally, Jewish weddings traditionally end when the groom stomps on and breaks a glass, and the entire crowd yells “Mazel tov” to congratulate them. People debate <a href="https://18doors.org/breaking_the_glass/">the symbolism of the broken glass</a>. Some say that it reminds us that life contains both joy and sorrow, or that it is a reminder of a foundational crisis in Jewish history: the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Others say that it is a reminder that life is fragile, or that marriage, unlike the glass, is an unbreakable covenant. </p>
141. <figure class="align-center zoomable">
142.            <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676615/original/file-20250625-56-3t1ps6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="A man and woman, both wearing white, smile as they raise their joined hands above their heads." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676615/original/file-20250625-56-3t1ps6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676615/original/file-20250625-56-3t1ps6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676615/original/file-20250625-56-3t1ps6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676615/original/file-20250625-56-3t1ps6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676615/original/file-20250625-56-3t1ps6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676615/original/file-20250625-56-3t1ps6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/676615/original/file-20250625-56-3t1ps6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"/></a><figcaption>
143.              <span class="caption">Yulia Tagil and Stas Granin celebrate their union on July 25, 2010, at a square in Tel Aviv. The couple held a public wedding to protest Israeli marriage guidelines set by the chief rabbinate.</span><br />
144.              <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bride-yulia-tagil-and-grome-stas-granin-celebrate-during-news-photo/103083363?adppopup=true">Uriel Sinai/Getty Images</a></span><br />
145.            </figcaption></figure>
146. <p>Regardless of what it means, some contemporary couples both step on glasses, or have one partner place their foot on top of the other’s so that the newlyweds can break the glass together. The couple symbolize their commitment to equality – and both get to do a fun wedding custom. </p>
147. <p>There are many other innovations in contemporary Jewish weddings that have much less to do with feminism and egalitarianism, such as personalized wedding canopies or wedding programs. But these key changes represent how the wedding ceremony itself has become more egalitarian in response to both feminism and marriage equality.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading="lazy" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/229084/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
148. <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/samira-mehta-1109963">Samira Mehta</a>, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies &#038; Jewish Studies, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-colorado-boulder-733">University of Colorado Boulder</a></em></span></p>
149. <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-the-marriage-contract-to-breaking-the-glass-under-the-chuppah-many-jewish-couples-adapt-their-weddings-to-celebrate-gender-equality-229084">original article</a>.</p>
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184. <title>Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations</title>
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206. <h1>Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations</h1>
207. <p>by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski</p>
208. <p><em>ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for <a href="https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/the-big-story?source=reprint&#038;placement=top-note">The Big Story newsletter</a> to receive stories like this one in your inbox</em>.</p>
209. <div>
210. <p>In 2023, while Kristi Noem was governor of South Dakota, she supplemented her income by secretly accepting a cut of the money she raised for a nonprofit that promotes her political career, tax records show.</p>
211. <p>In what experts described as a highly unusual arrangement, the nonprofit routed funds to a personal company of Noem’s that had recently been established in Delaware. The payment totaled $80,000 that year, a significant boost to her roughly $130,000 government salary. Since the nonprofit is a so-called dark money group — one that’s not required to disclose the names of its donors — the original source of the money remains unknown.</p>
212. <p>Noem then failed to disclose the $80,000 payment to the public. After President Donald Trump selected Noem to be his secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, she had to release a detailed accounting of her assets and sources of income from 2023 on. She did not include the income from the dark money group on <a href="https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/E8FA62012957FA1C85258C130032F362/$FILE/Noem%2C%20Kristi%20%20final278.pdf">her disclosure form</a>, which experts called a likely violation of federal ethics requirements.</p>
213. <p>Experts told ProPublica it was troubling that Noem was personally taking money that came from political donors. In a filing, the group, a nonprofit called American Resolve Policy Fund, described <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/932286963/202413209349300031/IRS990ScheduleG">the $80,000</a> as a payment for fundraising. The organization said Noem had brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars.</p>
214. <p>There is nothing remarkable about a politician raising money for nonprofits and other groups that promote their campaigns or agendas. What’s unusual, experts said, is for a politician to keep some of the money for themselves.</p>
215. <p>“If donors to these nonprofits are not just holding the keys to an elected official’s political future but also literally providing them with their income, that’s new and disturbing,” said Daniel Weiner, a former Federal Election Commission attorney who now leads the Brennan Center’s work on campaign finance.</p>
216. <p>ProPublica discovered details of the payment in the annual tax form of American Resolve Policy Fund, which is part of a <a href="https://www.theamericanresolve.com/">network of political groups</a> that promote Noem and her agenda. The nonprofit describes its mission as “fighting to preserve America for the next generation.” There’s little evidence in the public domain that the group has done much. In its first year, its main expenditures were paying Noem and covering the cost of some unspecified travel. It also maintains social media accounts devoted to promoting Noem. It has 100 followers on X.</p>
217. <p>In a statement, Noem’s lawyer, Trevor Stanley, said, “Then-Governor Noem fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law” and that the Office of Government Ethics, which processes disclosure forms for federal officials, “analyzed and cleared her financial information in regards to this entity.” Stanley did not respond to follow-up questions about whether the ethics office was aware of the $80,000 payment.</p>
218. <p>Stanley also said that “Secretary Noem fully disclosed all of her income on public documents that are readily available.” Asked for evidence of that, given that Noem didn’t report the $80,000 payment on her federal financial disclosure form, Stanley did not respond.</p>
219. <p>Before being named Homeland Security secretary, overseeing immigration enforcement, Noem spent two decades in South Dakota’s government and the U.S. House of Representatives, drawing a public servant’s salary. Her husband, Bryon Noem, runs a small insurance brokerage with two offices in the state. Between his company and his real estate holdings, he has at least $2 million in assets, according to Noem’s filing.</p>
220. <p>While she is among the least wealthy members of Trump’s Cabinet, her personal spending habits have attracted notice. Noem was photographed wearing a gold <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/style/kristi-noem-venezuela-prison-rolex-watch.html">Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch</a> that costs nearly $50,000 as she toured the Salvadoran prison where her agency is sending immigrants. In April, after her purse was stolen at a Washington, D.C., restaurant, it emerged she was carrying <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/noem-felt-bag-dragged-thought-grandchild/story?id=121138202">$3,000 in cash</a>, which an official said was for “dinner, activities, and Easter gifts.” She was criticized for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/noem-travel-taxpayers-south-dakota-homeland-security-c2655e00a16d44bba46c60a14a638f5d">using taxpayer money</a> as governor to pay for expenses related to trips to Paris, to Canada for bear hunting and to Houston to have dental work done. At the time, Noem denied misusing public funds.</p>
221. <p>Noem’s personal company, an LLC called Ashwood Strategies, shares a name with one of her horses. It was registered in Delaware early in her second term as South Dakota governor, around 1 p.m. on June 22, 2023. Four minutes later, the nonprofit American Resolve Policy Fund was incorporated in Delaware too.</p>
222. <p>American Resolve raised $1.1 million in 2023, according to its <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/932286963/202413209349300031/full">tax filing</a>. The group reported that it had zero employees, and what it did with that money is largely unclear.</p>
223. <p>In 2023, the nonprofit spent only about $220,000 of its war chest — with more than a third of that going to Noem’s LLC. The rest mostly went toward administrative expenses and a roughly $84,000 travel budget. It’s not clear whose travel the group paid for.</p>
224. <p>The nonprofit reported that it sent the $80,000 fundraising fee to Noem’s LLC as payment for bringing in $800,000, a 10% cut. A professional fundraiser who also raised money for the group was paid a lower rate of 7%.</p>
225. <p>In the intervening years, American Resolve has maintained a low public profile. In March, it <a href="https://www.thedakotascout.com/p/pac-with-ties-to-kristi-noem-behind">purchased Facebook ads</a> attacking a local news outlet in South Dakota, which had been reporting on Noem’s use of government credit cards. Noem’s lawyer did not answer questions about whether the group paid her more money after 2023, the most recent year for which its tax filing is available.</p>
226. <p>The nonprofit has an affiliated political committee, American Resolve PAC, that’s been more active, at least in public. Touting Noem’s conservative leadership under a picture of her staring off into the sky, its website said the PAC was created to put “Kristi and her team on the ground in key races across America.” Noem traveled the country last year attending events the PAC sponsored in support of Republican candidates.</p>
227. <p>American Resolve’s treasurer referred questions to Noem’s lawyer. In his statement, Noem’s lawyer said she “did not establish, finance, maintain, or control American Resolve Fund. She was simply a vender for a non-profit entity.”</p>
228. <p>While Noem failed to report the fundraising income Ashwood Strategies received on her federal financial disclosure, she did provide some other details. She described the LLC as involving “personal activities outside my official gubernatorial capacity” and noted that it received the $140,000 advance for her book “No Going Back.” The LLC also had a bank account with between $100,001 and $250,000 in it and at least $50,000 of “livestock and equipment,” she reported.</p>
229. <p>The fact that Ashwood Strategies is Noem’s company only emerged through the confirmation process for her Trump Cabinet post. South Dakota has minimal disclosure rules for elected officials, and Noem had not previously divulged that she created a side business while she was governor.</p>
230. <p>Noem’s outside income may have run afoul of South Dakota law, according to <a href="https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/04/05/from-fringe-to-foreground-loose-cannon-lawmaker-departs-as-leading-legislative-voice/">Lee Schoenbeck</a>, a veteran Republican politician and attorney who was until recently the head of the state Senate. The<a href="https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/3-8-1"></a><a href="https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/3-8-1">law requires</a> top officials, including the governor, to devote their full time to their official roles.</p>
231. <p>“There’s no way the governor is supposed to have a private side business that the public doesn’t know about,” Schoenbeck told ProPublica. “It would clearly not be appropriate.”</p>
232. <p>Noem’s lawyer said South Dakota law allowed her to receive income from the nonprofit.</p>
233. <div>
234. <div>
235. <p>Do you have any information we should know about Kristi Noem or other administration officials? Justin Elliott can be reached by email at <a href="mailto:justin@propublica.org">justin@propublica.org</a> and by Signal or WhatsApp at 774-826-6240. Josh Kaplan can be reached by email at <a href="mailto:joshua.kaplan@propublica.org">joshua.kaplan@propublica.org</a> and by Signal or WhatsApp at 734-834-9383.</p>
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258. <category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
259. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
260. <category><![CDATA[Supreme Court]]></category>
261. <category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
262. <category><![CDATA[birthright citizenship]]></category>
263. <category><![CDATA[Constitution]]></category>
264. <category><![CDATA[courts]]></category>
265. <category><![CDATA[DACA]]></category>
266. <category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
267. <category><![CDATA[FEDERAL COURT]]></category>
268. <category><![CDATA[injunctions]]></category>
269. <category><![CDATA[Nationwide injunction]]></category>
270. <category><![CDATA[SCOUTUS]]></category>
271. <category><![CDATA[Trump administration]]></category>
272. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286292</guid>
273.  
274. <description><![CDATA[<p>A journalist runs out of the U.S. Supreme Court building carrying a ruling on the last day of the court’s term on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Cassandra Burke Robertson, Case Western Reserve University When presidents have tried to make big changes through executive orders, they have often hit a roadblock:<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/what-the-supreme-court-ruling-against-universal-injunctions-means-for-court-challenges-to-presidential-actions/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
275. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/what-the-supreme-court-ruling-against-universal-injunctions-means-for-court-challenges-to-presidential-actions/">What the Supreme Court ruling against ‘universal injunctions’ means for court challenges to presidential actions</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
276. ]]></description>
277. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>      <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/677127/original/file-20250627-56-5pdnys.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&#038;rect=524%2C55%2C4306%2C2416&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip" /><figcaption>
278.          A journalist runs out of the U.S. Supreme Court building carrying a ruling on the last day of the court’s term on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C.<br />
279.          <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/often-referred-to-as-the-running-of-the-interns-a-news-photo/2222462029?adppopup=true">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</a></span><br />
280.        </figcaption><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cassandra-burke-robertson-343725">Cassandra Burke Robertson</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/case-western-reserve-university-1506">Case Western Reserve University</a></em></span></p>
281. <p>When presidents have tried to make big changes through executive orders, they have often hit a roadblock: A single federal judge, whether located in Seattle or Miami or anywhere in between, could <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48476">stop these policies</a> across the entire country. </p>
282. <p>But on June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court significantly limited this judicial power. In <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf">Trump v. CASA Inc.</a>, a 6-3 majority ruled that federal courts likely lack the authority to issue “universal injunctions” that block government policies nationwide. The ruling means that going forward federal judges can generally only block policies from being enforced against the specific plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit, not against everyone in the country.</p>
283. <p>The ruling emerged from a case challenging President Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship. While <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/what-to-know-about-the-supreme-court-case-on-birthright-citizenship-and-nationwide-injunctions/">three federal courts</a> had blocked the policy nationwide, the Supreme Court allowed it to proceed against anyone who isn’t a named plaintiff in the lawsuits. This creates a legal environment where the same government policy can be simultaneously blocked for some people but enforced against others.</p>
284. <p>Crucially, the court based its decision on interpreting the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/federal-judiciary-act">Judiciary Act of 1789</a> – not the Constitution – meaning Congress could restore this judicial power simply by passing new legislation.</p>
285. <p>But what exactly are these injunctions, and why do they matter to everyday Americans?</p>
286. <h2>Immediate, irreparable harm</h2>
287. <p>When the government creates a policy that might violate the Constitution or federal law, affected people can sue in federal court to stop it. While these lawsuits work their way through the courts – a process that often takes years – judges can issue what are called “preliminary injunctions” to <a href="https://www.aei.org/op-eds/problems-with-universal-injunctions-against-trumps-program/">temporarily pause</a> the policy if they determine it might cause immediate, irreparable harm.</p>
288. <p>A “<a href="https://judicature.duke.edu/articles/one-for-all-are-nationwide-injunctions-legal/">nationwide</a>” injunction – sometimes called a “universal” injunction – goes further by stopping the policy for everyone across the country, not just for the people who filed the lawsuit.</p>
289. <p>Importantly, these injunctions are designed to be temporary. They merely preserve the status quo until courts can fully examine the case’s merits. But in practice, litigation proceeds so slowly that executive actions blocked by the courts often expire when successor administrations <a href="https://aboutblaw.com/bhx7">abandon the policies</a>.  </p>
290. <figure class="align-center zoomable">
291.            <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/659314/original/file-20250402-62-uttgh1.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="Title page of a U.S. Senate bill to ban most nationwide injunctions." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/659314/original/file-20250402-62-uttgh1.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/659314/original/file-20250402-62-uttgh1.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=408&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659314/original/file-20250402-62-uttgh1.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=408&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659314/original/file-20250402-62-uttgh1.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=408&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659314/original/file-20250402-62-uttgh1.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=513&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659314/original/file-20250402-62-uttgh1.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=513&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659314/original/file-20250402-62-uttgh1.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=513&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"/></a><figcaption>
292.              <span class="caption">Legislation introduced by GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley would ban judges from issuing most nationwide injunctions.</span><br />
293.              <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/judicial_relief_clarification_act.pdf">Sen. Chuck Grassley office</a></span><br />
294.            </figcaption></figure>
295. <h2>More executive orders, more injunctions</h2>
296. <p>Nationwide injunctions <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/920-1009_Online.pdf">aren’t new</a>, but several things have made them more contentious recently.</p>
297. <p>First, since a closely divided and polarized Congress <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/going-nowhere-a-gridlocked-congress/">rarely passes major legislation anymore</a>, presidents rely more on executive orders to get substantive things done. This creates <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48476">more opportunities to challenge</a> presidential actions in court. </p>
298. <p>Second, lawyers who want to challenge these orders got better at “<a href="https://www.gwlr.org/get-in-litigants-were-going-judge-shopping/">judge shopping</a>” – filing cases in districts where they’re likely to get judges who agree with their client’s views. </p>
299. <p>Third, with growing political division, <a href="https://lawreview.colorado.edu/print/volume91/seeing-beyond-courts-the-political-context-of-the-nationwide-injunction/">both parties</a> used these injunctions more aggressively whenever the other party controls the White House.</p>
300. <h2>Affecting real people</h2>
301. <p>These legal fights have tangible consequences for millions of Americans.</p>
302. <p>Take DACA, the common name for the program formally called <a href="https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/immigration/daca">Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals</a>, which protects about 500,000 young immigrants from deportation. For <a href="https://www.nilc.org/resources/timeline-daca-in-the-courts/">more than 10 years</a>, these young immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” have faced constant uncertainty. </p>
303. <p>That’s because, when President <a href="https://www.obama.org/stories/daca-10-years/">Barack Obama created DACA</a> in 2012 and sought to expand it via executive order in 2015, a Texas judge <a href="https://www.nilc.org/resources/timeline-daca-in-the-courts/">blocked the expansion</a> with a nationwide injunction. When Trump tried to <a href="https://www.cliniclegal.org/resources/humanitarian-relief/multiple-lawsuits-challenge-daca-rescission">end DACA</a>, judges in California, New York and Washington, D.C. blocked that move. The program, and the legal challenges to it, continued under President Joe Biden. Now, the second Trump administration faces continued legal challenges over the <a href="https://www.nilc.org/resources/latest-daca-developments/">constitutionality</a> of the DACA program.</p>
304. <p>More recently, judges have used nationwide injunctions to block several Trump policies. <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/birthright-citizenship-cases-arrive-at-the-supreme-court">Three courts</a> stopped the president’s attempt to deny citizenship to babies born to mothers who lack legal permanent residency in the United States – the cases that led the Supreme Court to limit the reach of injunctions. Judges have also temporarily <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/nationwide-injunctions-central-trumps-feud-judges/story?id=119990974">blocked Trump’s efforts</a> to ban transgender people from serving in the military and to freeze some federal funding for a variety of programs.</p>
305. <p>Nationwide injunctions have also blocked congressional legislation. </p>
306. <p>The Corporate Transparency Act, <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/small-business-corporate-transparency-act">passed in 2021 and originally scheduled to go into effect in 2024</a>, combats financial crimes by requiring businesses to disclose their true owners to the government. A Texas judge <a href="https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/insights/publications/2024/12/federal-court-suspends-enforcement-of-corporate-transparency-act-nationwide">blocked this law</a> in 2024 after gun stores challenged it. </p>
307. <p>In early 2025, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/01/justices-allow-enforcement-of-corporate-transparency-law-to-go-forward/">allowed the law</a> to take effect, but the Trump administration announced it simply <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/birthright-citizenship-cases-arrive-at-the-supreme-court">wouldn’t enforce it</a> – showing how these legal battles can become political power struggles.</p>
308. <figure class="align-center zoomable">
309.            <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/659323/original/file-20250402-56-k60xdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a dark suit at a desk holding a folder with white pages in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/659323/original/file-20250402-56-k60xdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/659323/original/file-20250402-56-k60xdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659323/original/file-20250402-56-k60xdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659323/original/file-20250402-56-k60xdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659323/original/file-20250402-56-k60xdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659323/original/file-20250402-56-k60xdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/659323/original/file-20250402-56-k60xdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"/></a><figcaption>
310.              <span class="caption">A polarized Congress rarely passes major legislation anymore, so presidents – including Donald Trump – have relied on executive orders to get things done.</span><br />
311.              <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-holds-up-an-executive-order-after-news-photo/2194978801?adppopup=true">Christopher Furlong/Getty Images</a></span><br />
312.            </figcaption></figure>
313. <h2>A ruling that Congress could change</h2>
314. <p><a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf">The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA</a> was notably narrow in its legal reasoning. The court explicitly stated that its ruling “rests solely on the statutory authority that federal courts possess under the Judiciary Act of 1789” and that it expressed “no view on the Government’s argument that Article III forecloses universal relief.”</p>
315. <p>This distinction matters enormously. Because the court based its decision on interpreting a congressional statute rather than the Constitution itself, Congress has the power to overturn the ruling simply by passing new legislation that authorizes federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions.</p>
316. <p>The Supreme Court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, emphasized that universal injunctions “likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts” under the Judiciary Act of 1789. The court found these injunctions lack sufficient historical precedent in traditional equity practice.</p>
317. <p>However, the three dissenting justices strongly disagreed. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, focused on the importance of birthright citizenship, explaining that “every court to evaluate the Order has deemed it patently unconstitutional.” </p>
318. <p>As a result, <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-ruling-injunctions-trump-rcna207129">the dissent argues</a>, “the Government instead tries its hand at a different game. It asks this Court to hold that, no matter how illegal a law or policy, courts can never simply tell the Executive to stop enforcing it against anyone.”</p>
319. <h2>Legislative solutions on the table</h2>
320. <p>Congress was already <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/house-judiciary-subcommittees-holding-hearing-federal-courts/">considering legislation</a> to limit judges’ ability to grant nationwide injunctions.</p>
321. <p>Another way to address the concerns about a single judge blocking government action would be to require <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/blog/2018/01/an-old-solution-to-the-nationwide-injunction-problem/">a three-judge panel</a> to hear cases involving nationwide injunctions, requiring at least two of them to agree. This is similar to how <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/07/opinion/supreme-court-vaccine-mandate.html">courts handled</a> major civil rights cases in the 1950s and 1960s.</p>
322. <p><a href="https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/faculty_publications/2326/">My research on this topic</a> suggests that three judges working together would be less likely to make partisan decisions, while still being able to protect constitutional rights when necessary. Today’s technology also makes it <a href="https://www.zoom.com/en/industry/government/resources/future-of-courts/">easier for judges</a> in different locations to work together than it was decades ago.</p>
323. <h2>What comes next</h2>
324. <p>With the Supreme Court limiting judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions based on an old statute, the ball is now in Congress’ court. Lawmakers could choose to restore this judicial power with new legislation, further restrict it, or leave the current limitations in place.</p>
325. <p>Until Congress acts, the legal landscape has fundamentally shifted.</p>
326. <p>Future challenges to presidential actions may require either cumbersome class action lawsuits or a patchwork of individual cases – potentially leaving many Americans without immediate protection from policies that courts determine violate the Constitution. But unlike a constitutional ruling, this outcome isn’t permanent: Congress holds the key to change it.</p>
327. <p><em>This is an updated and expanded version of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-lone-judge-can-block-a-trump-order-nationwide-and-why-from-daca-to-doge-this-judicial-check-on-presidents-power-is-shaping-how-the-government-works-252556">story originally published</a> on April 3, 2025.</em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading="lazy" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/260040/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
328. <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cassandra-burke-robertson-343725">Cassandra Burke Robertson</a>, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/case-western-reserve-university-1506">Case Western Reserve University</a></em></span></p>
329. <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-supreme-court-ruling-against-universal-injunctions-means-for-court-challenges-to-presidential-actions-260040">original article</a>.</p>
330. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/what-the-supreme-court-ruling-against-universal-injunctions-means-for-court-challenges-to-presidential-actions/">What the Supreme Court ruling against ‘universal injunctions’ means for court challenges to presidential actions</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
331. ]]></content:encoded>
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334. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
337. </item>
338. <item>
339. <title>Honoring Gary––An Alternative to a Traditional Memorial Service</title>
340. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/honoring-gary-an-alternative-to-a-traditional-memorial-service/</link>
341. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/honoring-gary-an-alternative-to-a-traditional-memorial-service/#respond</comments>
343. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jane Knox]]></dc:creator>
344. <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 05:28:16 +0000</pubDate>
345. <category><![CDATA[Death]]></category>
346. <category><![CDATA[Inspiration and Living]]></category>
347. <category><![CDATA[Passages]]></category>
348. <category><![CDATA[Cremation]]></category>
349. <category><![CDATA[Dying]]></category>
350. <category><![CDATA[Inspiration]]></category>
351. <category><![CDATA[memorial service]]></category>
352. <category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
353. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286282</guid>
354.  
355. <description><![CDATA[<p>As you know, my brother, Gary passed away on January 4, 2025. Before he died, Gary expressed his strong feelings that he did not want a traditional funeral. He wasn’t religious, and he was not connected to a church. He wanted to be cremated. Gary wanted his ashes buried in the garden of the home<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/honoring-gary-an-alternative-to-a-traditional-memorial-service/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
356. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/honoring-gary-an-alternative-to-a-traditional-memorial-service/">Honoring Gary––An Alternative to a Traditional Memorial Service</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
357. ]]></description>
358. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/dreamstime_s_32786033-e1751002718577.jpg" alt="" width="760" height="474" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-286290" /></p>
359. <p>As you know, my brother, Gary passed away on January 4, 2025. Before he died, Gary expressed his strong feelings that he did not want a traditional funeral. He wasn’t religious, and he was not connected to a church. He wanted to be cremated. Gary wanted his ashes buried in the garden of the home where he lived for many years and where his son, Ryan, now lives. Gary’s planning stopped there. How we would honor and memorialize Gary, was left to his wife, Andrea, son, Ryan and daughter, Laura, to discover.</p>
360. <p>The first decision was when this remembrance would take place. Andrea chose a date that was meaningful ––April 19th, the day before Easter, and five days before his birthday on April 24th.  Andrea wanted a private celebration for family. It would be held at the once small house he and Andrea had bought, and Gary had redesigned, remodeled and expanded. Recently, they had sold this lovely property to their son, Ryan.</p>
361. <p>In the months between his father’s death and the Day of Remembrance, Ryan created a memorial garden for his dad on the upward slope behind the house. Now, the house and the acreage had a history with the Knox family that made this setting even more meaningful. The house had originally been part of the Earl estate. Mrs. Earl was a Vanderbilt, and our father was employed by her for over 20 years. Our parents and I, for a time, lived on the estate. Thus, the land where Gary now rests is connected to family history.</p>
362. <p>So, we had a date, a setting and a purpose––to bury Gary’s ashes as he wished. Now, who would be involved? Andrea invited members of the immediate and extended family––from Oregon and Florida, northern and eastern Connecticut, as well as local family members.</p>
363. <p>I appreciated Andrea’s idea to gather everyone inside what is now Ryan’s, and his wife, Susan’s home, for coffee and nibbles before the actual ceremony. This was our opportunity to connect before going deeper to create the collective spirit of the ritual. Then, it was time to move outdoors into the garden Ryan had prepared to receive his father’s ashes.</p>
364. <p>Mother nature was beautifully present on this special day. The backdrop was a beautiful spring day and the daffodils and forsythia with their yellow flowers were glorious.</p>
365. <p>The garden was on the upward slope behind the house. Ryan had mulched and planted ornamental trees and bushes. He had placed potted flowers from several of us around the garden. Chairs were arranged in rows on one side. There were twenty of us and three children. We walked up the slope and took our seats.</p>
366. <p>Ryan stood before us and welcomed us to share in this ritual for his father. A tall evergreen tree was planted at the highest place in this memorial garden. It is so fitting the tree is tall because Gary was always the tallest person in the family. Ryan had the container with Gary’s remains beside him. He dug a hollow in front of the tree and placed some of Gary’s ashes into the earth. Andrea and Laura, followed. Next came the grandchildren Jacob, Leah and Anna. The rest of the family members, one by one, also reverently placed Gary’s ashes in the earth. Some used a trowel, others their bare hands.</p>
367. <p>It felt like each one of us was blessing Gary by placing his ashes beneath the tree. His ashes will nourish the living tree.</p>
368. <p>Next, Andrea stood before us and shared about her life with Gary.</p>
369. <p>Andrea talked about the beautifully written love letters Gary had written her every day when he was drafted in the army. She said that when she recently looked them over, one fell out and she chose to read that love letter today to our gathering. Their marriage was a love story that lasted over fifty years.</p>
370. <p>Andrea inspired everyone to share memories of Gary, whether they were spontaneous or prepared. It was amazing how many people mentioned Gary’s generosity to relatives and friends. If he knew there was a need, he would be there to help. Gary tended to quietly take care of things for all of us without making a big deal about it. He was never looking to take credit for all his good deeds.</p>
371. <p>After the ashes and the sharing, it was time for everyone to collect at Venice Restaurant in town. It was always a favorite of Gary’s. We had our own separate dining room and individual menus with Gary’s name on top. Throughout the ages there is something about the practice of eating together, or “breaking bread,” that goes beyond the basic need for food. I wonder if one of the reasons is to feel grounded after such a spiritual experience. People talk, share stories, celebrate love on a worldly level. Also, people acknowledge the efforts of the caretakers who expended so much energy to care for their loved one. Andea’s devotion to her husband was amazing. Laura and Ryan spent hours being with their father before his passing.</p>
372. <p>The meal provides a moment of rest, and an unstated acknowledgment that although a loved one has been lost, the family will go on living. This communal meal brings a recognition, as well, that there are roles that have shifted. Ryan, rather than Gary, is now the elder male Knox of the family.</p>
373. <p>Reflecting back on Gary’s memorial, I am astonished at what we achieved without the formality of a religious figure –– no priest, rabbi or minister was present. It was the blending of hearts that made a special, spiritual experience that nourished us all.</p>
374. <p><em><a href="https://byjaneknox.com/the-ageless-goddess-blog/f/a-lullaby-for-crossing-over">Originally published on The Ageless Goddess blog.</a></em></p>
375. <p>ID <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-seamless-autumn-leaves-pattern-falling-white-background-image32786033">32786033</a> | <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/autumn-leaves.html">Autumn Leaves</a> ©<br />
376. <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/serg_dibrova_info">Serg_dibrova</a> | <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos">Dreamstime.com</a></p>
377. <p><center><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/113.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="420" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-286284" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/113.jpg 650w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/113-300x194.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px" /></center></p>
378. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/honoring-gary-an-alternative-to-a-traditional-memorial-service/">Honoring Gary––An Alternative to a Traditional Memorial Service</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
379. ]]></content:encoded>
381. <wfw:commentRss>https://themoderatevoice.com/honoring-gary-an-alternative-to-a-traditional-memorial-service/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
382. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
385. </item>
386. <item>
387. <title>BOMBS OVER BROADWAY</title>
388. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/bombs-over-broadway/</link>
389. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/bombs-over-broadway/#respond</comments>
391. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Clay Jones]]></dc:creator>
392. <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 05:13:54 +0000</pubDate>
393. <category><![CDATA[Cartoons]]></category>
394. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
395. <category><![CDATA[2021 New York City Mayoral Election]]></category>
396. <category><![CDATA[Andrew Cuomo]]></category>
397. <category><![CDATA[Clay Jones]]></category>
398. <category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
399. <category><![CDATA[F-word]]></category>
400. <category><![CDATA[New York City]]></category>
401. <category><![CDATA[Zohran Mamdani]]></category>
402. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286279</guid>
403.  
404. <description><![CDATA[<p>I gotta be honest with you. I didn’t think Trump’s F-bomb was anything unique or scandalous in the New Normal. Sure, it’s not presidential for a president to say, “They don’t know what the fuck they’re doing” to reporters while standing in the White House driveway, but none of this has been presidential. So, I<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/bombs-over-broadway/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
405. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/bombs-over-broadway/">BOMBS OVER BROADWAY</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
406. ]]></description>
407. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/CjonesRGB06262025-scaled-e1751000204680.jpg" alt="" width="760" height="574" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-286280" /></p>
408. <p>I gotta be honest with you. I didn’t think Trump’s F-bomb was anything unique or scandalous in the New Normal. Sure, it’s not presidential for a president to say, “They don’t know what the fuck they’re doing” to reporters while standing in the White House driveway, but none of this has been presidential.</p>
409. <p>So, I didn’t think it was cartoon worthy, but then I saw one yesterday, and another one today, and then another one, and then another one, which means there are going to be at least 12 more by the end of the day. I decided to use it myself in doing a cartoon on the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, but put a little twist on it.</p>
410. <p>Political Cartooning 101 lesson: Use the F-bomb in your cartoon as a tool, but don’t make the cartoon about the F-bomb…unless it’s too funny to resist.</p>
411. <p>Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was and maybe still is trying to resurrect his political career after resigning in disgrace after being accused of sexual harassment by at least 11 women, which is less than half the number of women who have accused Donald Trump, yet his political career is still going. And former senator Al Franken is now playing a fictional senator in a limited Netflix series.</p>
412. <p>Cuomo was the favorite to win the Democratic primary, but unfortunately for him, it was rank-choice voting, where voters rank candidates for office in order of their preference. This system gave the nomination to young upstart Zohran Mamdani, an Islamic democratic- socialist state assemblyman with very few legislative accomplishments. And this is what I meant when I said Cuomo was/is trying to resurrect his political career.</p>
413. <p>Of course, Cuomo’s bid to become the Democratic nominee for NYC’s mayor is over, but not his bid to become mayor…unless he changes his mind and removes himself from the ballot, as Cuomo is now running as an Independent.</p>
414. <p>Previously, victory in the Democratic primary all but guaranteed a move to Gracie Mansion, as Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-1 in the Big Apple. But now, it may be a five-way race.</p>
415. <p>Rank-choice will not be implemented in the general election, where Mamdani will have to compete once again against Cuomo, but also against current mayor and bribe-taker Eric Adams (who will have Donald Trump’s support), Guardian Angels founder and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa (who had no opposition for the nomination), and former federal prosecutor Jim Walden, who is also running as an Independent. And I’m sure there are a few dozen other never-heard-of-before dingbats on the ballot.</p>
416. <p>While some pollsters may predict that Mamdani will win the general election, you can’t be too sure with his socialist platform, that Cuomo’s still in the race, and NYC has the largest Jewish population in the world outside Israel. If Cuomo does drop out, I’d predict Mamdani to win.</p>
417. <p><a href="https://claytoonz.substack.com/p/f-bombs-over-broadway">GO HERE TO READ THE REST.</a></p>
418. <p><em><a href="http://www.claytoonz.com">Visit Clay Jones&#8217; website </a>and email him at clayjonz@gmail.com.</em></p>
419. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/bombs-over-broadway/">BOMBS OVER BROADWAY</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
420. ]]></content:encoded>
422. <wfw:commentRss>https://themoderatevoice.com/bombs-over-broadway/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
423. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
426. </item>
427. <item>
428. <title>Using TikTok could be making you more politically polarized, new study finds</title>
429. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/using-tiktok-could-be-making-you-more-politically-polarized-new-study-finds/</link>
430. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/using-tiktok-could-be-making-you-more-politically-polarized-new-study-finds/#respond</comments>
432. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest Voice]]></dc:creator>
433. <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 04:53:52 +0000</pubDate>
434. <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
435. <category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
436. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
437. <category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
438. <category><![CDATA[Echo chambers]]></category>
439. <category><![CDATA[Polarization]]></category>
440. <category><![CDATA[research]]></category>
441. <category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
442. <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
443. <category><![CDATA[TikTok]]></category>
444. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286276</guid>
445.  
446. <description><![CDATA[<p>Are you in an echo chamber on TikTok? LeoPatrizi/E+ via Getty Images Zicheng Cheng, University of Arizona People on TikTok tend to follow accounts that align with their own political beliefs, meaning the platform is creating political echo chambers among its users. These findings, from a study my collaborators, Yanlin Li and Homero Gil de<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/using-tiktok-could-be-making-you-more-politically-polarized-new-study-finds/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
447. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/using-tiktok-could-be-making-you-more-politically-polarized-new-study-finds/">Using TikTok could be making you more politically polarized, new study finds</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
448. ]]></description>
449. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>      <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/676642/original/file-20250625-56-srezty.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&#038;rect=0%2C351%2C6720%2C3780&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip" /><figcaption>
450.          Are you in an echo chamber on TikTok?<br />
451.          <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/group-of-teenage-friend-focused-on-their-own-royalty-free-image/1140174168">LeoPatrizi/E+ via Getty Images</a></span><br />
452.        </figcaption><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/zicheng-cheng-2403964">Zicheng Cheng</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-arizona-959">University of Arizona</a></em></span></p>
453. <p>People on TikTok tend to follow accounts that align with their own political beliefs, meaning the platform is creating political echo chambers among its users. These findings, from a study my collaborators, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&amp;user=lGSv_tUAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate">Yanlin Li</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&amp;user=T3VspYkAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate">Homero Gil de Zúñiga</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&amp;user=mtfhEIMAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate">and I</a> published in the academic journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251339755">New Media &amp; Society</a>, show that people mostly hear from voices they already agree with.</p>
454. <p>We analyzed the structure of different political networks on TikTok and found that right-leaning communities are more isolated from other political groups and from mainstream news outlets. Looking at their internal structures, the right-leaning communities are more tightly connected than their left-leaning counterparts. In other words, conservative TikTok users tend to stick together. They rarely follow accounts with opposing views or mainstream media accounts. Liberal users, on the other hand, are more likely to follow a mix of accounts, including those they might disagree with.</p>
455. <p>Our study is based on a massive dataset of over 16 million TikTok videos from more than 160,000 public accounts between 2019 and 2023. We saw a spike of political TikTok videos during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. More importantly, people aren’t just passively watching political content; they’re actively creating political content themselves. </p>
456. <p>Some people are more outspoken about politics than others. We found that users with stronger political leanings and those who get more likes and comments on their videos are more motivated to keep posting. This shows the power of partisanship, but also the power of TikTok’s social rewards system. Engagement signals – likes, shares, comments – are like a fuel, encouraging users to create even more.</p>
457. <h2>Why it matters</h2>
458. <p>People are turning to TikTok not just for a good laugh. A recent <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/17/more-americans-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-especially-young-adults/">Pew Research Center survey</a> shows that almost 40% of U.S. adults under 30 regularly get news on TikTok. The question becomes what kind of news are they watching, and what does that mean for how they engage with politics.</p>
459. <p>The content on TikTok often comes from creators and influencers or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.60625/risj-gfyx-3v66">digital-native media sources</a>. The quality of this news content remains uncertain. Without access to balanced, fact-based information, people may struggle to make informed political decisions.</p>
460. <figure>
461.            <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3vpfKZ-7ir4?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">TikTok is not unique; social media generally fosters polarization.</span></figcaption></figure>
462. <p>Amid the debates over <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-governments-ban-tiktok-can-they-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-the-risks-the-app-poses-and-the-challenges-to-blocking-it-202300">banning TikTok</a>, our study highlights how TikTok can be a double-edged sword in political communication. It’s encouraging to see people participate in politics through TikTok when that’s their medium of choice. However, if a user’s network is closed and homogeneous and their expression serves as in-group validation, it may further solidify the political echo chamber.</p>
463. <p>When people are exposed to one-sided messages, it can increase hostility toward outgroups. In the long run, relying on TikTok as a source for political information might deepen people’s political views and contribute to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055423001211">greater polarization</a>.</p>
464. <h2>What other research is being done</h2>
465. <p>Echo chambers have been widely studied on platforms like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023301118">Twitter and Facebook</a>, but similar research on TikTok is in its infancy. TikTok is drawing scrutiny, particularly its role in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393231178603">news production</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i2.6348">political messaging</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231157452">social movements</a>. </p>
466. <p>TikTok has its unique format, algorithmic curation and entertainment-driven design. I believe that its function as a tool for political communication calls for closer examination.</p>
467. <h2>What’s next</h2>
468. <p>In 2024, the <a href="https://time.com/6694077/president-biden-tiktok/">Biden/Harris</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/08/trump-tiktok-celebrity-videos-/">Trump</a> campaigns joined TikTok to reach young voters. My research team is now analyzing how these political communication dynamics may have shifted during the 2024 election. Future research could use experiments to explore whether these campaign videos significantly influence voters’ perceptions and behaviors.</p>
469. <p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take on interesting academic work.</em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading="lazy" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/258791/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
470. <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/zicheng-cheng-2403964">Zicheng Cheng</a>, Assistant Professor of Mass Communications, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-arizona-959">University of Arizona</a></em></span></p>
471. <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-tiktok-could-be-making-you-more-politically-polarized-new-study-finds-258791">original article</a>.</p>
472. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/using-tiktok-could-be-making-you-more-politically-polarized-new-study-finds/">Using TikTok could be making you more politically polarized, new study finds</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
473. ]]></content:encoded>
475. <wfw:commentRss>https://themoderatevoice.com/using-tiktok-could-be-making-you-more-politically-polarized-new-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
476. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
479. </item>
480. <item>
481. <title>TOTAL OBLITERATION OF THE TRUTH</title>
482. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/total-obliteration-of-the-truth/</link>
483. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/total-obliteration-of-the-truth/#respond</comments>
485. <dc:creator><![CDATA[CAGLE CARTOONS]]></dc:creator>
486. <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 04:38:47 +0000</pubDate>
487. <category><![CDATA[Cartoons]]></category>
488. <category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
489. <category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
490. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
491. <category><![CDATA[Propaganda]]></category>
492. <category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
493. <category><![CDATA[Iran bombing]]></category>
494. <category><![CDATA[Lies]]></category>
495. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
496. <category><![CDATA[truth]]></category>
497. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286273</guid>
498.  
499. <description><![CDATA[<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/total-obliteration-of-the-truth/">TOTAL OBLITERATION OF THE TRUTH</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
500. ]]></description>
501. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bbbbbbbbb.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="598" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-286274" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bbbbbbbbb.jpg 768w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/bbbbbbbbb-300x234.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></p>
502. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/total-obliteration-of-the-truth/">TOTAL OBLITERATION OF THE TRUTH</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
503. ]]></content:encoded>
505. <wfw:commentRss>https://themoderatevoice.com/total-obliteration-of-the-truth/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
506. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
509. </item>
510. <item>
511. <title>Religious Abuse: Divorce Edition</title>
512. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/religious-abuse-divorce-edition/</link>
513. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/religious-abuse-divorce-edition/#respond</comments>
515. <dc:creator><![CDATA[David Robertson]]></dc:creator>
516. <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 00:08:17 +0000</pubDate>
517. <category><![CDATA[Christianity]]></category>
518. <category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
519. <category><![CDATA[Inspiration and Living]]></category>
520. <category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
521. <category><![CDATA[Bible]]></category>
522. <category><![CDATA[Divorce]]></category>
523. <category><![CDATA[Remarriage]]></category>
524. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286256</guid>
525.  
526. <description><![CDATA[<p>If you want to drive people away from churches, then one way to do so is to heap religious abuse on people who are already victims of abuse. Nobody excels at heaping religious abuse more than preachers who are ignorant about the cultural contexts of Bible passages. One sees such ignorance in the way that<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/religious-abuse-divorce-edition/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
527. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/religious-abuse-divorce-edition/">Religious Abuse: Divorce Edition</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
528. ]]></description>
529. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Divorce.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="350" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-286257" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Divorce.jpg 300w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Divorce-257x300.jpg 257w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
530. <p><font size = 4>If you want to drive people away from churches, then one way to do so is to heap religious abuse on people who are already victims of abuse. Nobody excels at heaping religious abuse more than preachers who are ignorant about the cultural contexts of Bible passages.</p>
531. <p>One sees such ignorance in the way that some preachers deal with the topics of divorce and remarriage. An example of such appeared on Twitter/X dot com on 26 June 2025. It was then that <a href="https://x.com/RevKimWChafee/status/1938281521644810324" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rev. Kim W. Chafee posted the following:</a></p>
532. <p><img loading="lazy" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/2da0d83111f762115a4ec430974180f4/7488d302e423dcc7-7a/s540x810/1eae08078ce0b00f1a15e153de95d92a2a3a4d24.jpg" width="540" height="648" class="aligncenter size-full" /></p>
533. <p>This blogger sides with Rev. Chafee on this matter. So does the United Methodist Church, which this blogger joined in Year 2024.</p>
534. <p>From the <a href="https://issuu.com/cokesbury/docs/the_book_of_discipline_of_the_united_methodist_chu?fr=xKAE9_zU1NQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church (2020/2024), Paragraph 162</a>:</p>
535. <ol>&#8220;We recognize that divorce may become a regrettable but necessary alternative when marital relationships are strained beyond repair or become destructive or when spouses become irrevocably estranged. In such instances, we advise married couples to seek appropriate counseling and, if divorce proceedings become unavoidable, to conduct them in a manner that minimizes detrimental impacts on all family members.</p>
536. <p>Fidelity to the marriage covenant does not require spouses to remain in a physically or mentally abusive relationship. We do not support efforts to withhold the church’s ministries from divorced people or to deny them opportunities for leadership in the church, whether clergy or lay. We urge pastors and congregations to provide ministries and programs that support divorced people in overcoming social and religious stigmas that they too often face. Divorce does not preclude remarriage.&#8221; </ol>
537. <p>Prior to joining the United Methodist Church, this blogger wrote the following <a href="https://www.angelfire.com/ok3/dwr/Divorce.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">commentary about divorce and remarriage among Christians</a>:</p>
538. <ol>
539. &#8220;One of the most spiritually gut-wrenching events that a Christian can go through is a divorce. Even after a divorce is legally finalized, its sting can last a lifetime.</p>
540. <p>To make matters worse, it is not unusual for well-meaning Christians to add to the sting by giving alleged “biblical” counsel that condemns, as opposed to giving counsel that heals.</p>
541. <p>Christians who have undergone a divorce don’t need others to speak words of condemnation, because Christians who have undergone divorce often condemn themselves.</p>
542. <p>They do so whenever they compare themselves to the elderly married couple who have been married fifty years or more and who are in church every Sunday morning.</p>
543. <p>Divorced Christians condemn themselves when they read Bible verses about divorce but overlook the cultural context of those verses.</p>
544. <p>Sadly, preachers may also overlook the cultural context of those verses when preaching about divorce, thus adding to the emotional pain that divorced Christians experience.</p>
545. <p>I do not write about divorce as a preacher or as a professional counselor. Instead, I write about divorce as a Christian who has underwent and survived divorce. I write as someone who has been on the receiving end of bad counsel from preachers. I write as someone who has witnessed the pain that other divorced Christians experience.</p>
546. <p>It is not easy for me to write about this topic, but I do so with the hope of helping Christians who have been through divorce.</p>
547. <p>What I have come to believe about this topic is influenced by what the Bible says in Micah 6:8. In the JPS Tanakh, that verse says, “It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord doth require of thee: only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”</p>
548. <p>When talking about divorce, Jesus promoted justice and mercy, and he did so within the context of the ancient Jewish society. He was well aware that Jewish men had the bad habit of divorcing their wives for unjust reasons, and he was well aware that people could be socially condemned for getting divorced for a just reason.</p>
549. <p>In Matthew 5:32, Jesus says, “I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”</p>
550. <p>In Matthew 19:9, Jesus says, “I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”</p>
551. <p>Was Jesus turning a blind eye toward people who are physically abused by their spouses? Was he without mercy for people who have been abandoned by their spouses or who have been harmed by their spouses in ways that threaten their survival?</p>
552. <p>No, I do not believe so. God is just and merciful. It would be out of his character to require people to remain victims of abusive relationships that serve no purpose for his kingdom.</p>
553. <p>When one reads Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9, one sees the mercy that Jesus has for people who have been sinned against by their spouses. In those verses, Jesus clearly permits divorce for victims of sexual sin. Nowhere does the Bible speak against the victims of such sin becoming remarried after a divorce.</p>
554. <p>It is true that Jesus did not mention victims of abusive spouses, but to focus on a strict word-for-word interpretation of his words would be to miss the forest for the trees. Again, Jesus promoted justice and mercy. There is no justice and mercy in telling victims of abusive spouses that they cannot get divorced, or, if they are divorced, that they can never remarry. One can infer from the teachings of Jesus that victims of abusive spouses are under the same umbrella as victims of sexual sin.</p>
555. <p>Even if a Christian has just cause to get divorced, that Christian can still bear the pain of a shattered dream about marriage. We Christians can fool ourselves into thinking that, if only we had done this and that, then we wouldn’t have gone through divorce.</p>
556. <p>I wish that such were true, but it isn’t reality. That is because one cannot control what one’s spouse says or does. We Christians can do our best with the help of the Holy Spirit and still end up divorced. We only harm ourselves by comparing ourselves to an ideal that wasn’t realistic in the first place.</p>
557. <p>Yes, marriage can work between two Christians who are being led by the Holy Spirit and who give their relationship to God priority over their relationship to each other. That is why one can find in churches married couples who have been married for fifty years or longer.</p>
558. <p>Yet, it is wrong and harmful for divorced Christians to belittle themselves because their own marriages didn’t last “until death do us part”. If divorced Christians are divorced because of sin on their part, then they have this assurance from 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”</p>
559. <p>Divorce isn’t the unforgivable sin, and neither is remarriage.</p>
560. <p>Sadly, it isn’t unusual for divorced Christians to be re-victimized by people who take Bible verses out of cultural context, with some of those people being preachers or church elders.</p>
561. <p>As I see it, pastors should acknowledge that divorced Christians <em>have</em> been harmed by bad counsel coming from certain preachers. All too often, divorced Christians will stop attending church altogether because of how they have been treated by preachers or other church leaders. This is especially true when the divorced Christians were victims of sexual sin or abusive spouses.</p>
562. <p>Such Christians need the healing ministry of a local church, but they won’t get that healing if ministers don’t acknowledge <em>all</em> sources of those Christians’ pain, including the pain inflicted by bad preachers or bad elders.</p>
563. <p>I have encountered way too many Christians who have been too scared to set foot in a church because they expect to be condemned for being divorced, even when they got divorced because of an adulterous or physically-abusive spouse.</p>
564. <p>I felt that way after my divorce. While sitting through a church service, I would look at the 2-inch (5-centimeter) scar on my left arm that my ex-wife gave to me, and I would wonder if I was condemned to a life of singleness. I am certain that other divorced Christians have felt condemned, too.</p>
565. <p>Well, I have good news of divorced Christians. They are <em>not</em> condemned. In Romans 8:1, the Apostle Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”</p>
566. <p>God bestows his mercy on divorced Christians as much as he does on non-divorced Christians. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, divorced Christians can recover from divorce, and they can have another marriage, one that is pleasing to God.<strong>*</strong></p>
567. <p>God works to restore the broken lives of all his children. That includes his divorced children.&#8221;</ol>
568. <p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="17" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-270586" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line.jpg 800w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line-300x6.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></p>
569. <p><strong>*</strong>I am not saying that every divorced Christian <em>will</em> find another spouse, but that a divorced Christian <em>can</em> find another spouse. In my case, I met my late wife after my divorce. At the time that I met her, I was involved in a church that had a godly approach to divorce and remarriage.</p>
570. <p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="17" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-270586" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line.jpg 800w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line-300x6.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></p>
571. <p>The preceeding blog post has <em>not</em> been endorsed by the United Methodist Church.</p>
572. <p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="17" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-270586" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line.jpg 800w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Dividing-Line-300x6.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></p>
573. <p><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Le_Petit_-_Alfred_Naquet,_l%27ange_du_divorce.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">This blog post&#8217;s Featured Image is in the Public Domain.</a></p>
574. <p></font></p>
575. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/religious-abuse-divorce-edition/">Religious Abuse: Divorce Edition</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
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582. </item>
583. <item>
584. <title>Kennedy’s Folly</title>
585. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/kennedys-folly/</link>
586. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/kennedys-folly/#respond</comments>
588. <dc:creator><![CDATA[ROBERT A. LEVINE, TMV Columnist]]></dc:creator>
589. <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2025 13:32:28 +0000</pubDate>
590. <category><![CDATA[Extremists]]></category>
591. <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
592. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
593. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
594. <category><![CDATA[avian flu]]></category>
595. <category><![CDATA[CDC]]></category>
596. <category><![CDATA[Measles]]></category>
597. <category><![CDATA[RFK]]></category>
598. <category><![CDATA[vaccines]]></category>
599. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286252</guid>
600.  
601. <description><![CDATA[<p>The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, does not believe in traditional medicine and science. One of the greatest advances in medicine in the last century and a half has been the development of vaccines to prevent a whole host of infectious diseases. Literally, millions of lives have been saved by<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/kennedys-folly/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
602. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/kennedys-folly/">Kennedy&#8217;s Folly</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
603. ]]></description>
604. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/297089_768_rgb-2.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="576" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-286271" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/297089_768_rgb-2.jpg 768w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/297089_768_rgb-2-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></p>
605. <p>The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, does not believe in traditional medicine and science. One of the greatest advances in medicine in the last century and a half has been the development of vaccines to prevent a whole host of infectious diseases. Literally, millions of lives have been saved by these vaccines which RFK has denigrated. He thinks some of the vaccines that have contained compounds with mercury as a preservative (thimerosal) have been responsible for the increase in autism in the United States. Research has shown that thimerosal has no relation to autism but Kennedy refuses to accept the data. He wants new controlled testing to be done before he will accept the results, which could take years. Kennedy also refutes the effectiveness of many vaccines which have been proven without a doubt to work.</p>
606. <p>Because experts at the CDC have disagreed with what Kennedy is doing and favor the use of vaccines, RFK fired the CDC’s panel of 17 vaccine experts, claiming they had conflicts of interest in approving vaccines. These were people who specialized in infectious diseases, including prevention and treatment, and were known as the ACIP- Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. They had been carefully vetted in the past before being appointed. Kennedy subsequently appointed new members of the committee, most of whom had no experience with infectious diseases or vaccines.</p>
607. <p>Vaccines contain killed or attenuated micro-organisms, bacteria and viruses that cause serious diseases. When these benign micro-organisms are injected, the body’s immune system produces antibodies against the particular virus or bacteria, which ameliorates the risk of them causing active diseases. The effectiveness of vaccines has been known since smallpox was blocked by vaccination over 200 years ago. Since then, all the major childhood diseases which have a small mortality, and some long-term adverse effects have been controlled by vaccines. But because of the refusal of a large segment of the population to get vaccinated, there has been a measles outbreak in Texas and the adjacent states. A number of children have been hospitalized and several have died. There is also a late complication of measles that can kill patients called subacute sclerosing pan-encephalitis, that is yet to show up. An outbreak of polio is also possible as the vaccine is not being used by many adults and children. There is a risk of diphtheria, whooping cough, rubella, chicken pox and numerous other diseases because of Kennedy’s campaign against vaccinations.</p>
608. <p>Perhaps even more serious are influenza outbreaks which can kill elderly people, those who are immune compromised and young children, producing viral pneumonia or secondary bacterial pneumonia. Flu vaccines are not 100 percent effective but can reduce the severity of the disease if the right variants are in the vaccine. If avian flu- bird flu, mutates and is more contagious for humans, there could be a devastating pandemic if we are not prepared with the appropriate vaccines. While RFK appears to be doing a good job going after food contaminants, his work with vaccines negates any positive effects he may be having with our foods. Bobby, let the experts handle our needs for vaccines and see a psychiatrist about your vaccine phobia.</p>
609. <p>www.robertlevinebooks.com</p>
610. <p>Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or your local bookstore.</p>
611. <p>Posted at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)</p>
612. <p>Tags: Health and Human Services, Kennedy, measles, RFK, vaccine panel, vaccines</p>
613. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/kennedys-folly/">Kennedy&#8217;s Folly</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
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621. <item>
622. <title>The US has entered the Israel-Iran war. Here are 3 scenarios for what might happen next</title>
623. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/the-us-has-entered-the-israel-iran-war-here-are-3-scenarios-for-what-might-happen-next/</link>
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626. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest Voice]]></dc:creator>
627. <pubDate>Sun, 22 Jun 2025 13:45:33 +0000</pubDate>
628. <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
629. <category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
630. <category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
631. <category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
632. <category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
633. <category><![CDATA[War]]></category>
634. <category><![CDATA[Iran Iran nuclear deal US-Iran World news Israel-Iran War]]></category>
635. <category><![CDATA[Isreal-Iran war]]></category>
636. <category><![CDATA[Nuclear deal]]></category>
637. <category><![CDATA[US-Iran]]></category>
638. <category><![CDATA[World News]]></category>
639. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286243</guid>
640.  
641. <description><![CDATA[<p>Ian Parmeter, Australian National University After prevaricating about whether the United States would enter Israel’s war on Iran, President Donald Trump finally made a decision. Early Sunday, US warplanes and submarines struck three of Iran’s nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, where the Iranians have a uranium enrichment plant buried about 80 metres beneath<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/the-us-has-entered-the-israel-iran-war-here-are-3-scenarios-for-what-might-happen-next/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
642. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/the-us-has-entered-the-israel-iran-war-here-are-3-scenarios-for-what-might-happen-next/">The US has entered the Israel-Iran war. Here are 3 scenarios for what might happen next</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
643. ]]></description>
644. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/aaaas-e1750600010732.jpg" alt="" width="760" height="473" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-286244" /></p>
645. <div class="theconversation-article-body">
646. <p>  <span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-parmeter-932739">Ian Parmeter</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a></em></span></p>
647. <p>After prevaricating about whether the United States would enter Israel’s war on Iran, President Donald Trump finally made a decision. </p>
648. <p>Early Sunday, US warplanes and submarines struck three of Iran’s nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, where the Iranians have a uranium enrichment plant buried about 80 metres beneath a mountain. </p>
649. <p>These strikes have to be <a href="https://www.afr.com/world/middle-east/for-him-it-s-personal-netanyahu-s-relished-war-with-iran-20250622-p5m9ac">viewed as part of an overall continuum</a> that began with the Gaza war following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and then continued with Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah (the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon) and the fall of the Iran-backed Assad regime in Syria.</p>
650. <p>Iran has never been weaker than it is now. And when Trump <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/20/israel-trump-iran-00416193">said it may take two weeks</a> for him to decide whether to bomb Iran, the Israelis likely pushed him to act sooner. </p>
651. <p>We can assume there was a lot of Israeli pressure on Trump to use the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/18/politics/bunker-buster-weapon-explained-dg">massive ordnance penetrators</a>, the 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-bunker-buster-an-expert-explains-what-the-us-dropped-on-iran-and-what-might-happen-now-259508">bunker buster</a>” bombs that only the US can deploy with its B2 bombers. </p>
652. <p>Now that Trump has taken the significant step of entering the US in yet another Middle East war, where could things go from here? There are a few possible scenarios.</p>
653. <p><iframe id="thqvX" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/thqvX/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: 0;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
654. <h2>1. Iran strikes back</h2>
655. <p>The Iranians know they don’t have the strength to take on the US, and that the Americans can do enormous damage to their country and even put the Iranian regime’s stability at risk. </p>
656. <p>This is always the prime consideration of the clerical regime led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – everything else is subordinate to that. </p>
657. <p>To gauge Iran’s possible reaction, we can look at the how it responded to the first Trump administration’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/political-assassinations-were-once-unthinkable-why-the-us-killing-of-soleimani-sets-a-worrying-precedent-129622">assassination</a> of the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in January 2020. </p>
658. <p>Iran said there would be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/iran-vows-revenge-for-soleimanis-killing-but-heres-why-it-wont-seek-direct-confrontation-with-the-us-129440">major reaction</a>, but all it did was launch a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-politics-government-iraq-qassim-soleimani-3353602bd30e683afec45d8c78196886">barrage of missiles</a> at two American bases in Iraq, which caused no US fatalities and very little damage. After that token retaliation, Iran said the matter was closed. </p>
659. <p>Iran’s reaction to the new US strikes will likely be along these lines. It probably won’t want to get into a tit-for-tat with the US by launching attacks against American facilities in the region. Trump has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-22/us-bombing-iran-nuclear-sites-trump-israel/105446704">promised</a> to respond with force: </p>
660. <blockquote>
661. <p>Iran, a bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.</p>
662. </blockquote>
663. <p>It’s also unclear how long Iran will be able to prosecute this war. This depends largely on how many ballistic missiles and launchers it has left. </p>
664. <p>There are various estimates as to how many ballistic missiles Iran may have remaining in its stockpiles. It was <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2025/06/19/israels-blitz-on-iran-is-fraught-with-uncertainty">believed to have</a> about 2,000 missiles capable of reaching Israel at the start of the war. Some <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/17/middleeast/iran-israel-conflict-ballistic-missiles-analysis-intl-latam">estimates</a> say Iran has fired 700 of them; others <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2025/06/19/israels-blitz-on-iran-is-fraught-with-uncertainty">say around 400</a>. Whatever the number is, its stockpiles are dwindling quickly.</p>
665. <p>Israel has also destroyed about a <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2025/06/19/israels-blitz-on-iran-is-fraught-with-uncertainty">third of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers</a>. If Israel is able to destroy all of them, Iran would have very limited ability to fight back. </p>
666. <h2>2. Iran backs down</h2>
667. <p>Before the US got involved in the conflict, Iran said it was prepared to negotiate, but it wouldn’t do so while Israel was still attacking. </p>
668. <p>So, one scenario is that some sort of compromise can now be worked out, in which Israel announces a ceasefire and Iran and the US agree to resume negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program. </p>
669. <p>The big problem is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he doesn’t trust the negotiating process and he doesn’t want to stop Israel’s military actions until all of Iran’s nuclear facilities have been completely destroyed. He’s also been bombing Iran’s oil terminals and gas facilities to put even more pressure on the regime. </p>
670. <p>But the regime has shown itself to be incredibly determined not to lose face. It was under great pressure at different times during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and never considered surrendering until a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/10/16/the-forgotten-story-of-iran-air-flight-655/">US missile mistakenly took down</a> an Iranian passenger jet, killing 290 people. </p>
671. <p>Iran then agreed to a UN-brokered ceasefire. But the Iran-Iraq war lasted eight years, causing an estimated one million deaths. And when the then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, agreed to the ceasefire, he said it was “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-20-mn-6124-story.html">worse than drinking poison</a>”.</p>
672. <p>Given the state of Iran’s military capabilities, Khamenei, the current supreme leader, might surrender simply to try to preserve the regime. But this would be quite a climbdown as far as he’s concerned, and he has been very obstinate in the past. </p>
673. <p>The regime is very unpopular, but the Iranian people, in my experience, are strongly patriotic – loyal to their country, if not the regime. Though it’s difficult to gauge opinion in a country of 90 million people, a lot of Iranians would not want to be ordered to do anything by the US or Israel, and would rather fight on.</p>
674. <p>Netanyahu has said he wants to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/17/netanyahu-israel-iran-regime-change-destruction">create the conditions</a> for the Iranian people to rise up against the regime.</p>
675. <p>But it’s worth bearing in mind that the opposite of autocracy is not necessarily democracy. It could possibly be chaos. Iran has <a href="https://theconversation.com/irans-long-history-of-revolution-defiance-and-outside-interference-and-why-its-future-is-so-uncertain-259270">a number of different ethnic groups</a> and there may be huge disagreements over what should take the place of the clerical regime, were it to fall. </p>
676. <p>At this stage, the regime will probably be able to hold together. And even if Khameini were to die suddenly, the regime <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/world/middleeast/iran-ayatollah-israel-war.html">will likely be able to quickly replace him</a>. </p>
677. <p>Though we don’t know his probable successor, the regime has had plenty of time to plan for this. Those in senior positions will also know that a post-Khamenei succession struggle really would put the regime at risk.</p>
678. <h2>3. The US engagement is limited</h2>
679. <p>According to the new polling by The Economist and YouGov, released on June 17, 60% of Americans <a href="https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52380-donald-trump-approval-israel-iran-ice-immigration-protests-vaccines-robert-f-kennedy-jr-june-13-16-2025-economistyougov-poll">were opposed</a> to joining the conflict between Israel and Iran, with just 16% in favour. Among Republicans, 53% opposed military action.</p>
680. <p>So, these strikes were not an obviously popular move among Americans at this stage. However, if this is an isolated event and succeeds in bringing a swift end to the war, Trump will probably be applauded by a majority of Americans. </p>
681. <p>If the US has to go back with more bombers – or there are serious attacks on US interests in the region – there could be more adverse reactions among Americans.</p>
682. <p>Another question is whether Iran’s <a href="https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/statements/iaea-director-general-grossis-statement-to-unsc-on-situation-in-iran-20-june-2025">400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium</a> have been destroyed in the US attack. </p>
683. <p>If it hasn’t been destroyed, and depending how much damage has been done to its centrifuges, Iran may be able to reconstruct its nuclear program relatively quickly. And it could have more incentive to further enrich this uranium to 90% purity, or weapons-grade level, to build a nuclear device.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading="lazy" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/259509/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
684. <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-parmeter-932739">Ian Parmeter</a>, Research Scholar, Middle East Studies, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a></em></span></p>
685. <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-has-entered-the-israel-iran-war-here-are-3-scenarios-for-what-might-happen-next-259509">original article</a>.</p>
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689. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/the-us-has-entered-the-israel-iran-war-here-are-3-scenarios-for-what-might-happen-next/">The US has entered the Israel-Iran war. Here are 3 scenarios for what might happen next</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
690. ]]></content:encoded>
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693. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
696. </item>
697. <item>
698. <title>IT’S U.S.-IRAN WAR: U.S.  BOMBS IRANIAN NUCLEAR SITES (NEWS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ROUNDUP)</title>
699. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/its-u-s-iran-war-u-s-bombs-iranian-nuclear-sites/</link>
700. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/its-u-s-iran-war-u-s-bombs-iranian-nuclear-sites/#respond</comments>
702. <dc:creator><![CDATA[JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief]]></dc:creator>
703. <pubDate>Sun, 22 Jun 2025 05:15:32 +0000</pubDate>
704. <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
705. <category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
706. <category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
707. <category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
708. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
709. <category><![CDATA[Nuclear weapons]]></category>
710. <category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
711. <category><![CDATA[War]]></category>
712. <category><![CDATA[Bombing]]></category>
713. <category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
714. <category><![CDATA[Democrats]]></category>
715. <category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
716. <category><![CDATA[Nuclear]]></category>
717. <category><![CDATA[Republicans]]></category>
718. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286227</guid>
719.  
720. <description><![CDATA[<p>The United States attacked three key Iranian nuclear sites in a dramatic entrance into Israel&#8217;s war aimed at wiping out Iran&#8217;s burgeoning nuclear program. President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Iran. He said unless Iran moves towards peace, more bombings of its threatening sites will be in the offing. Iran is now claiming<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/its-u-s-iran-war-u-s-bombs-iranian-nuclear-sites/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
721. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/its-u-s-iran-war-u-s-bombs-iranian-nuclear-sites/">IT&#8217;S U.S.-IRAN WAR: U.S.  BOMBS IRANIAN NUCLEAR SITES (NEWS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ROUNDUP)</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
722. ]]></description>
723. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cccc-1-e1750566946651.jpg" alt="" width="760" height="428" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-286229" /><br />
724. The United States <a href="https://www.memeorandum.com/250621/p60#a250621p60">attacked three key Iranian nuclear sites</a> in a dramatic entrance into Israel&#8217;s war aimed at wiping out Iran&#8217;s burgeoning nuclear program. President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Iran. He said unless Iran moves towards peace, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/06/21/trump-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites/84303364007/">more bombings of its threatening sites will be in the offing.</a></p>
725. <p>Iran is now claiming the Fordow site survived the bombing and Israel acknowledges there&#8217;s a slim chance that the site has not been obliterated.</p>
726. <p><a href="https://www.memeorandum.com/250621/p62#a250621p62">The bombing</a> came after a slew of reports and social media speculation and reporting that suggested a)Trump was all in and would trigger the bombings, b)Officials in his government and intelligence agencies were against bombing c) Trump was going to live up to the TACO nickname his critics gave him:  Trump Always Chickens Out. Memes and videos of him saying he would decide in two weeks and then nix an action were all over social media and CNN.</p>
727. <p>It now appears that the &#8220;two weeks&#8221; was a ploy to catch Iran off guard.</p>
728. <p>Here is Trump&#8217;s statement announcing the bombings:<br />
729. <center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IlojC-_EHc0?si=gZodwKS82-59qQuW" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><br />
730. <a href="https://abc7.com/post/transcript-president-donald-trump-addresses-nation-us-strikes-iran/16812140/">Here is the full text of his remarks.</a></p>
731. <p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9r4q99g4o">The BBC on how this all started: </a></p>
732. <blockquote><p>Israel launched a surprise attack on dozens of Iranian nuclear and military targets on 13 June. It said its ambition was to dismantle its nuclear programme, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would soon be able to produce a nuclear bomb.</p>
733. <p>Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are peaceful. In retaliation, Tehran launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel. The two countries have continued exchanging strikes since, in an air war which has now lasted more than a week.</p>
734. <p>Trump has long said that he is opposed to Iran possessing a nuclear weapon. Israel is widely believed to have them, although it neither confirms nor denies this.</p>
735. <p>In March, US national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard said that while Iran had increased its uranium stockpile to unprecedented levels, it was not building a nuclear weapon &#8211; an assessment that Trump recently said was &#8220;wrong&#8221;.</p>
736. <p>On the campaign trail, Trump had criticized past US administrations for engaging in &#8220;stupid endless wars&#8221; in the Middle East, and he vowed to keep America out of foreign conflicts.</p>
737. <p>The US and Iran were in nuclear talks at the time of Israel&#8217;s surprise attack. Only two days ago, Trump said he would give Iran two weeks to enter into substantial negotiations before striking &#8211; but that timeline turned out to be much shorter.</p></blockquote>
738. <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/21/world/iran-israel-trump">The New York Times: </a></p>
739. <blockquote><p>American warplanes and submarines attacked three key nuclear sites in Iran early Sunday, bringing the U.S. military directly into Israel’s war and prompting fears that the strikes could lead to more dangerous escalations across the Middle East.</p>
740. <p>President Trump said the objective of the strikes “was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror.” He claimed success, saying in a televised address from the White House that the nuclear facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated.” That claim could not be independently verified.</p></blockquote>
741. <p><a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-few-thoughts-on-trumps-bombing-raid">Talking Points Josh Marshall: </a></p>
742. <blockquote><p>Trump has referred to this as very successful and – if I’m understanding his statement – essentially done. I don’t think that’s how it works. My understanding is that there’s real uncertainty about how many strikes it would take to destroy especially the Fordow facility, which is buried deep in a mountainside. So I think we should be skeptical about how we know how successful this was. You need after action reports to have any sense of what actually happened. The geography here, the composition of the mountainside, how it interacts with these particular munitions. These are incredibly complicated and make outcomes uncertain. (I’m going from memory since we’re reacting to breaking news. So keep that in mind.) The US has conducted extensive testing on these “bunker buster” bombs. And there has been extensive planning going back a number of years on how this attack specifically would be carried out. The Pentagon produces and maintains war plans on almost everything. But this specifically has been planned out in great detail and over many years.</p>
743. <p>Has Fordow been destroyed as Trump seems to be saying? I very much doubt the military planners would be stating that so confidently at this point.</p>
744. <p>Let me add a political judgment where, unlike with munitions, I feel like I have understanding of the situation. Trump’s statement on Truth Social was very much: ‘We did it. It worked. It’s done.’ I think Trump felt like he’d gotten himself far out on a limb with his threats and was now in a position where if he didn’t act he’d again be mocked as someone who always caves in response to fear or pressure – TACO, as they’re now saying. So he was stuck there and it was weighing on him. Now he feels like he’s addressed it. He acted. </p></blockquote>
745. <p> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/lawmakers-both-parties-question-legality-trumps-iran-strikes-rcna214316">There is some bipartisan sentiment in Congress that Trump&#8217;s action was unconstitutional since he didn&#8217;t asks Congress&#8217; permission, but Trump has strong support from GOP Congressional leaders.</a><br />
746. <a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-bombs-iran/">Responsible Statecraft</a> offers <a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-bombs-iran/">this excellent roundup</a> of Congressional reaction to the bombing.</p>
747. <p><em>GOOGLE AI offers these reactions from Jewish groups:</em></p>
748. <p>World Jewish Congress (WJC): The World Jewish Congress views these strikes as a &#8220;meaningful step toward securing peace&#8221; and sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a &#8220;grave threat&#8221; to Western civilization and global security.</p>
749. <p>Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations: This organization described the strikes as &#8220;defensive&#8221; and necessary to prevent Iran from reaching a nuclear threshold.</p>
750. <p>Jewish Federation of Greater Washington: They are closely following developments and emphasize their support for Israel&#8217;s right to self-defense in the face of a nuclear-armed Iran.</p>
751. <p>AIPAC: AIPAC has publicly thanked political figures who support the strikes, viewing them as an act of self-defense against Iran&#8217;s nuclear proliferation efforts.</p>
752. <p>Anti-Defamation League (ADL): The ADL views the attack as an act of self-defense, citing Iran&#8217;s history of violating nonproliferation commitments. They see a nuclear-armed Iran as a serious threat to Israel and the global community.</p>
753. <p>International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ): The IFCJ has launched an emergency campaign to provide support to Israel, including installing bomb shelters and offering aid to victims of Iranian missile attacks.</p>
754. <p><em>GOOGLE AI also offers these perspectives: </em></p>
755. <p>Iranian Jewish Community: The Iranian Jewish community has condemned the strikes, calling them &#8220;savage Zionist aggression&#8221; and expressing support for the Iranian response. However, it&#8217;s important to note that these statements likely reflect the limited freedom of expression for minorities in Iran.</p>
756. <p>Jewish Organizations with Differing Views: Some Jewish organizations may not have signed the joint statement supporting the strikes due to various reasons, such as being apolitical or having different perspectives on the effectiveness of military action.</p>
757. <p>Focus on Diplomacy: Some individuals within the Jewish community believe that diplomacy, rather than military action, is a more effective way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. </p>
758. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
759. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">CNN: Top Democrats on the intelligence committees were kept in the dark. Their Republican counterparts were briefed, even though they all are members of the gang of eight, who are usually almost always notified before major U.S. Military engagements. <a href="https://t.co/pUtY2H6ZG3">pic.twitter.com/pUtY2H6ZG3</a></p>
760. <p>&mdash; Acyn (@Acyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1936624011246719325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
761. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
762. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
763. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Iran says Fordow survived the strike untouched. Israeli Army Radio admits there’s a slim chance they’re right.</p>
764. <p>So either the U.S. just dropped $300 million worth of bunker busters for theatrics…</p>
765. <p>Or someone’s lying and we’re about to find out who, the hard way.</p>
766. <p>&mdash; Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) <a href="https://twitter.com/allenanalysis/status/1936639708240437328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
767. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
768. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
769. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">According to sources, the VP, SecDef and DNI advised against getting involved. </p>
770. <p>Why have them if you’re not going to listen to them??</p>
771. <p>&mdash; Doug Stafford (@dougstafford) <a href="https://twitter.com/dougstafford/status/1936589004419317878?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
772. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
773. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
774. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Donald Trump, a weak and dangerously reckless president, has put the United States on a path to a war in the Middle East that the country does not want, the law does not allow, and our security does not demand. </p>
775. <p>Our president knows nothing about history. And history tells us…</p>
776. <p>&mdash; Chris Murphy ? (@ChrisMurphyCT) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1936633089087709223?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
777. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
778. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
779. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is why Trump immediately saying it was “completely destroyed” while offering zero proof of this may end up being a massively embarrassing blunder even for him &amp; just his usual pathological lying and bluster. I’ll never understand why *anyone* ever believes anything he says. <a href="https://t.co/Ql0Z6wh3XZ">https://t.co/Ql0Z6wh3XZ</a></p>
780. <p>&mdash; Spiro’s Ghost (@AntiToxicPeople) <a href="https://twitter.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1936629921654477242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
781. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
782. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
783. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">I was briefed on the intelligence last week. </p>
784. <p>Iran posed no imminent threat of attack to the United States. Iran was not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon. The negotiations Israel scuttled with their strikes held the potential for success.</p>
785. <p>&mdash; Chris Murphy ? (@ChrisMurphyCT) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1936647850672210338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
786. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
787. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
788. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">? JUST IN — CNN now confirms the scale was far larger than first reported:</p>
789. <p>• 6 U.S. Air Force B-2A “Spirit” Stealth Bombers</p>
790. <p>• 12 GBU-57A/B 30,000 lb “Bunker Buster” bombs dropped on Fordow</p>
791. <p>• 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from U.S. Navy subs at Natanz &amp; Isfahan</p>
792. <p>• 2…</p>
793. <p>&mdash; Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) <a href="https://twitter.com/allenanalysis/status/1936630331655741625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
794. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
795. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
796. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">? Message from Iran:</p>
797. <p>&quot;The IRGC didn&#39;t think Trump would do it. They&#39;re shocked and in disbelief&quot;</p>
798. <p>&mdash; ???? ???? ? ?? (@NiohBerg) <a href="https://twitter.com/NiohBerg/status/1936577488525697165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
799. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
800. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
801. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">The US attack on the nuclear facilities is, in my opinion, the right call. We will see what the results are, but now the key is suppressing surface to surface missile fire, and then negotiate to end the fight with Iran.</p>
802. <p>Good call by the President</p>
803. <p>&mdash; Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) ???? (@AdamKinzinger) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1936574348422492207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
804. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
805. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
806. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Five things to remember about war:</p>
807. <p>1. Many things reported with confidence in the first hours and days will turn out not to be true</p>
808. <p>2. Whatever they say, the people who start wars are often thinking chiefly about domestic politics</p>
809. <p>3. The rationale given for a war will change…</p>
810. <p>&mdash; Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1936642958989615307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
811. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
812. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
813. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sean Hannity, and many others, are posting this video claiming it is the explosion at Fordow after the US military bombed it. </p>
814. <p>Its not. </p>
815. <p>This is from Syria in December 2024. <a href="https://t.co/JrFlVObfRB">pic.twitter.com/JrFlVObfRB</a></p>
816. <p>&mdash; Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1936604044736508128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
817. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
818. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
819. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">CNN guest and retired General Mark Kimmitt on President Trump bombing Iran: &quot;Well, I&#39;m fascinated and candidly, I&#39;m impressed. I never really could understand what the two week pause meant or what it was for, what was left to negotiate. What were we going to expect the Iranians… <a href="https://t.co/Zb8UURYix9">pic.twitter.com/Zb8UURYix9</a></p>
820. <p>&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1936586975043043489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
821. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
822. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
823. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump made a difficult but necessary decision to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed state. The world cannot afford another regime with nuclear weapons. This action reinforces a clear message, “diplomacy backed by strength keeps peace.”</p>
824. <p>&mdash; Travis Akers ?? (@travisakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1936594627194409188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
825. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
826. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
827. <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Observations:</p>
828. <p>1. It’s not possible to fairly assess the wisdom of the U.S. strikes on Iran without access to information that intelligence agencies would have. </p>
829. <p>2. This was an act of war, and arguably, if not likely or certainly, illegal under domestic and international law.…</p>
830. <p>&mdash; George Conway ???? (@gtconway3d) <a href="https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1936591849235599678?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
831. <p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
832. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/its-u-s-iran-war-u-s-bombs-iranian-nuclear-sites/">IT&#8217;S U.S.-IRAN WAR: U.S.  BOMBS IRANIAN NUCLEAR SITES (NEWS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ROUNDUP)</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
833. ]]></content:encoded>
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836. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
839. </item>
840. <item>
841. <title>From ‘Rocket Man’ to ruins: Between the skies of Tehran and Tel Aviv</title>
842. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/from-rocket-man-to-ruins-between-the-skies-of-tehran-and-tel-aviv/</link>
843. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/from-rocket-man-to-ruins-between-the-skies-of-tehran-and-tel-aviv/#respond</comments>
845. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest Voice]]></dc:creator>
846. <pubDate>Sat, 21 Jun 2025 05:20:59 +0000</pubDate>
847. <category><![CDATA[Authoritarianism]]></category>
848. <category><![CDATA[Dictators]]></category>
849. <category><![CDATA[Dictatorships]]></category>
850. <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
851. <category><![CDATA[Hamas]]></category>
852. <category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
853. <category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
854. <category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
855. <category><![CDATA[War]]></category>
856. <category><![CDATA[Authoritarian]]></category>
857. <category><![CDATA[Ayatollah Ali Khomeini]]></category>
858. <category><![CDATA[Dictatorship]]></category>
859. <category><![CDATA[Nik Kowsar]]></category>
860. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286224</guid>
861.  
862. <description><![CDATA[<p>by Nik Kowsar “It’s a little bit funny… the feeling inside.” I found myself humming Elton John’s “Your Song” as I watched the first videos of Israeli jets bombing the homes of the Islamic Republic’s top generals. Honestly, like many Iranians in exile, I felt a flicker of joy. We have a saying: when a<a class="read-more" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/from-rocket-man-to-ruins-between-the-skies-of-tehran-and-tel-aviv/"> [&#8230;]</a></p>
863. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/from-rocket-man-to-ruins-between-the-skies-of-tehran-and-tel-aviv/">From ‘Rocket Man’ to ruins: Between the skies of Tehran and Tel Aviv</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
864. ]]></description>
865. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/aaaaab-1.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="512" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-286225" srcset="https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/aaaaab-1.jpg 768w, https://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/aaaaab-1-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /><br />
866. <strong><br />
867. by Nik Kowsar </strong></p>
868. <p><em>“It’s a little bit funny… the feeling inside.”</em></p>
869. <p>I found myself humming Elton John’s “Your Song” as I watched the first videos of Israeli jets bombing the homes of the Islamic Republic’s top generals.</p>
870. <p>Honestly, like many Iranians in exile, I felt a flicker of joy. We have a saying: when a wicked person dies, a flower blooms. So naturally, we dream of a world blooming into one vast garden — one flower for every petty tyrant sent to hell.</p>
871. <p>Then came the rockets — Iran’s response, pounding Tel Aviv. Suddenly, another Elton anthem took over in my mind: “Rocket Man.”</p>
872. <p>“I’m not the man they think I am at home… Oh no, no, no…”</p>
873. <p>Watching missiles rain down on Tel Aviv shook me. I’ve always admired that city —  a vibrant mosaic of diversity, energy, and life. I have friends there. One dear friend is visiting the area right now, and I can’t help but worry for their safety.</p>
874. <p>But then come my own contradictions.</p>
875. <p>I’m from Tehran. Born and raised. Went to college there. Married there. I spent most of my life in Iran’s capital before I was forced into exile.</p>
876. <p>Tehran was where I was arrested over a cartoon. Where I was interrogated. Threatened with death.</p>
877. <p>And yet, even after 22 years abroad, Tehran still lives in me. I miss it — its chaos, its warmth, its scars.</p>
878. <p>As I scanned footage of the Israeli airstrikes, something hit harder: some of the commanders taken out were men who had lived in my old neighborhood. I recognized the street corners. I recognized the fear. The stunned silence of people gathered around bombed buildings — unsure of who had died, unsure of what would come next.</p>
879. <p>And just like that, I was back inside my own childhood.</p>
880. <p>I wasn’t even 11 in September 1980 when Saddam’s MiGs first attacked Tehran. I remember standing on the rooftop, watching smoke rise from Mehrabad Airport — just four miles from our home. Two weeks later, we fled to Shiraz, hoping it would be safer.</p>
881. <p>It wasn’t.</p>
882. <p>An Iraqi MiG-21 bombed a spot not far from my grandfather’s house. He was a retired general, unfazed by the chaos. But I remember the sirens. The blasts of anti-aircraft guns so loud they shook our bones. And the darkness. Night after night, the lights went out so Iraqi pilots couldn’t find their targets. We lived in fear, lit only by silence and flashes in the sky.</p>
883. <p>In high school, there was an apprenticeship program. One day a week, we’d shadow professionals. In 11th grade, I was assigned to an orthopedic surgeon who worked in an operating room sometimes filled with wounded soldiers. The scent of dried blood, shattered bones, and trench infections still haunts me. Watching the latest videos from Tel Aviv and Tehran brought it all back — not just the memories, but the smells, the noise, the dread.</p>
884. <p>Back then, we teenagers turned war into ritual. We’d bet on the types of jets flying overhead — MiG-23, MiG-21, or the rare, thunderous MiG-25. We could distinguish the shrieks of F-4 Phantoms, F-5s, and Tomcats by ear. We were adrenaline junkies by default. But we also knew loss. Our classrooms felt like morgues on some days — boys waiting to hear whether their father, or brother, or cousin had returned from the front lines… or not.</p>
885. <p>Here we are again. This time, it’s not Saddam Hussein dragging us into war. It’s our own government.</p>
886. <p>The Islamic Republic has suspended Iran in a permanent state of crisis. A country with breathtaking landscapes, deep culture, and immense human potential, wasted by a regime that chooses death over dignity. Ayatollah Khamenei’s obsession with nuclear power has scorched every opportunity for diplomacy. He has traded the nation’s future for uranium and ideology.</p>
887. <p>This isn’t strategy. It’s madness, wrapped in religious garments and fueled by oil money.</p>
888. <p>To build nukes and spread fear across the Middle East, Khamenei stripped Iranians of freedom, life, and love — unleashing his ruthless thugs on the nation, much like Scar seizing the Pride Lands with his hyenas after murdering Mufasa in “The Lion King.”</p>
889. <p>Khamenei and his hyenas have built fortunes on fear. And the cost has been borne by tens of millions of Iranians — people who could have thrived in peace, but instead have suffered for decades under a system designed to exploit, not serve.</p>
890. <p>Now, many of us are feeling the same dread that people in both Tel Aviv and Tehran are experiencing: fear, uncertainty, and a flood of unanswered questions.</p>
891. <p>What is Netanyahu’s endgame? How does this conflict actually end?</p>
892. <p>He’s already severed the heads of many of Khamenei’s serpents — Hamas, Hezbollah, and others. But when the dust finally settles, the real question may not be who takes the throne — but whether there’s still a throne worth taking.</p>
893. <p>Maybe the real battle isn’t about power at all. Maybe it’s about walking away from the whole illusion.</p>
894. <p><em>“Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies… beyond the yellow brick road.”</em></p>
895. <p><em>Copyright 2025 Nik Kowsar, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Nik Kowsar is an award-winning Iranian-American journalist, cartoonist, and water issues analyst based in Washington, D.C. He was exiled to Canada and the U.S. after his arrest for a cartoon satirizing a powerful cleric.</em></p>
896. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/from-rocket-man-to-ruins-between-the-skies-of-tehran-and-tel-aviv/">From ‘Rocket Man’ to ruins: Between the skies of Tehran and Tel Aviv</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
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904. <item>
905. <title>TRUMP’S TWO WEEKS SIGNATURE</title>
906. <link>https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-two-weeks-signature/</link>
907. <comments>https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-two-weeks-signature/#respond</comments>
909. <dc:creator><![CDATA[CAGLE CARTOONS]]></dc:creator>
910. <pubDate>Sat, 21 Jun 2025 02:57:57 +0000</pubDate>
911. <category><![CDATA[Cartoons]]></category>
912. <category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
913. <category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
914. <category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
915. <category><![CDATA[Two weeks]]></category>
916. <category><![CDATA[War]]></category>
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919. <description><![CDATA[<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-two-weeks-signature/">TRUMP&#8217;S TWO WEEKS SIGNATURE</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
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922. <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-two-weeks-signature/">TRUMP&#8217;S TWO WEEKS SIGNATURE</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://themoderatevoice.com">The Moderate Voice</a>.</p>
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