Six Facts about Antisemitism in the US Today 

1. Roughly seven in 10 (69%) Jewish adults report experiencing antisemitism online or on social media – including those who say they have been personally targeted and those who say they have seen or heard antisemitic incidents. This increases to 8 in 10 (83%) among young Jewish adults.

2. While far-right and White supremacist hate remains a very serious threat in the United States, more American Jews say the extreme political left is a very serious antisemitic threat compared to 2021. “The vitriol coming from the progressive left, which I once identified as my community, has been truly shocking,” said one respondent, a Jewish woman from the South. “At this point, there isn’t really a space in which it feels safe to say the words ‘I’m Jewish.’”

3. Roughly half (48%) of US Jewish college students say that they have felt uncomfortable or unsafe at a campus event because they are Jewish; avoided wearing, carrying, or displaying things that could identify them as Jewish; or avoided expressing views on Israel on campus or with classmates because of fears of antisemitism.

4. Half (50%) of American Jewish college students say they noticed anti-Israel protests or demonstrations, and about 4 in 10 (42%) noticed pro-Palestinian encampments. For those who had noticed demonstrations, roughly half (51%) said those demonstrations made them feel very (25%) or somewhat (26%) unsafe.

5. 81% of American Jews said that caring about Israel is very (51%) or somewhat (30%) important to what being Jewish means to them.

6. 85% of American Jews and the US general public believe that the statement “Israel has no right to exist” is antisemitic.

(Source: American Jewish Committee Report, Feb. 12, 2025)

Five Possibly Surprising Facts About Lions 

* All wild lions (Panthera leo leo) live in Africa except for a small population of Asian lions (Panthera leo persica) that live in and around the Gir Forest National Park in India.

* The average male lion weighs about 420 pounds. The average female weighs about 280 pounds.

* Most, but not all, male lions have manes. They get longer with age. Manes tend to protect them from the intense African heat.

* Lions are big eaters, able to eat up to a quarter of their body weight in a single feeding.

* There aren’t as many lions today as there were when Tarzan was in the movies. About 80 to 100 years ago, their population in Africa was in the hundreds of thousands. Today, it is dangerously low at only about 23,000.

Four Possibly Surprising Facts About Scavengers 

* Scavengers are animals that feed on decaying organic matter, and are divided into sub-groups depending on what they eat. Vultures are in the sub-group that feeds on dead animals. Squirrels and racoons are in the sub-group that feeds on refuse.

* Scavengers play a role in the ecological system by reducing the accumulation of decaying matter.

* There is such a thing as a scavenger insect. Burying beetles and vulture bees are two examples.

* Some scientists believe that Tyrannosaurus Rex was a scavenger that preyed on hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, and juvenile sauropods.

Five Facts About Violent Crime in US Cities 

* 50% of the murders committed in the US each year are committed by African Americans.

* About 50% of those are committed by Black men between the ages of 16 and 30. In other words, 50% of the murders committed in the US each year are committed by less than 5% of the total population.

* If you include Hispanics in these calculations, the percentage increases to about 65%.

* More than 90% of Black and Brown people killed in US cities are killed by other Black and Brown people.

* In large US cities, more than 80% of murders, rapes, and other violent crimes are committed in Black and Brown neighborhoods.

Conclusion: The vast majority (more than 80%) of murders, rapes, and other violent crimes committed in large US cities each year are committed outside the purview of visitors and miles away from the residences of the people that run the cities and the wealthy city dwellers that voted them in.

(Sources: the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program and the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey)

* WNBA attendance dropped from an overall average of more than 10,000 in the late 1990s to a little under 7,000 just after the pandemic. (Note: It has increased since Caitlin Clark entered the franchise.)

* Expenses have gone up, most notably a $25 million per year commitment to fly WNBA teams by charter planes rather than on regular flights, as has been the case in the past.

* The WNBA salary cap has also risen incrementally, from $622,000 in 2003 (inflation-adjusted to 2025: $1.1 million) to $1.5 million in 2025. The league had one more team (14) in 2003 than it has now (13), although expansion teams are on their way, so the total cost of player pay has gone from a maximum of $15.4 million to $19.5 million.

* Generally, the less a league makes, the lower the share of revenue its players get – 50% of $1 billion is less of a chore to pay than 25% of $100 million.

The Bottom Line: You can’t compare an established billion-dollar business that has been profitable for decades with a startup business that is less than one-tenth the size and is – except for handouts from another organization (the NBA) – losing tons of money every year.

If you ask me – based on the one game I saw – if the WNBA players and their audiences (in this case, NYC) are on par with the NBA, I’d say yes. But product quality in business is only a small part of its financial value. On a P&L basis, the WNBA players are being paid fairly. On a percentage-of-franchise-equity-value, they are underpaid. But the value of the WNBA is make-believe. It’s not based on business economics, but on the perceived value of owning a prestige asset among a small group of multi-billionaires.

The positive news: if the WNBA can take its head out of its corporate ass and double down on the popularity of Caitlin Clark, it will be better for everyone – the owners, the fans, and the players.

Have the CIA and the US Military Been Involved in Massive Heroin Trade Between the US and Afghanistan? 

As I admitted above, I haven’t read Seth Harp’s book yet – but judging from Tucker Carlson’s interview with him, and from a bit of research I asked Nigel to do, it’s pretty clear that members of the US military and the CIA have been involved in importing heroin into the US for about 40 years.

Here are some of the facts:

Historical Background 
Since the Soviet Afghan War (1979-1989), Afghanistan has become the world’s largest producer of opium, the raw material for heroin. Despite US claims to eradicate drug production, the heroin trade has persisted and even expanded over the decades.

CIA’s Alleged Role 
Multiple investigative reports and whistleblower testimony suggest that the CIA has maintained secret relationships with drug traffickers in Afghanistan. The most cited example is its support for the Mujahideen fighters, who allegedly turned a blind eye or directly profited from heroin trafficking to fund their military efforts against the Soviets.

Operation Mockingbird & Ongoing Allegations 
Historically, critics and some whistleblowers, like Gary Webb, claimed the CIA intentionally allowed or engaged in drug trafficking to fund covert operations, including during the Iran-Contra scandal. Webb’s 1990s reporting linked CIA-supported Contra rebels to cocaine trafficking in California, and reputedly involved drug money helping fund operations in Central America and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan After 2001 
After the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the country once again stabilized its position as the world’s top opium producer. Despite NATO’s anti-drug efforts, reports suggest that elements within the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, and local warlords continued to profit from opium cultivation and heroin trafficking, often with tacit or active support.

US Military and CIA Ties 
Some declassified documents and investigative reports point to the CIA’s continued ties with Afghan warlords, some of whom are deeply involved in heroin trafficking. Evidence indicates that these relationships allowed traffickers to operate with minimal interference, and some officials have alleged that the US tolerated or indirectly benefitted from the opium trade as a stabilizing tool.

Whistleblower Testimonies & Reports 
* Gary Webb’s 1990s reporting claimed that the CIA-funded Contras supported drug trafficking. His work was heavily criticized but remains influential among skeptics.
* Ron Paul, in various speeches, alleged that American military and intelligence support in Afghanistan has helped drug traffickers grow their influence.
* Recent investigative journalism (e.g., by Brown University’s Watson Institute and independent researchers) highlights ongoing concerns about the drug trade’s persistence and possible complicity or actions by US agencies.

Official Denials & Lack of Transparency 
The US government and CIA officially deny any direct involvement in drug trafficking. However, a lack of full transparency and ongoing classified operations keep suspicions alive. Many experts argue that the drug trade in Afghanistan remains, in part, fueled by clandestine relationships that serve strategic or financial interests of certain powerful actors.

The Official Data 

* There were 29,348 crimes reported in Washington, DC, last year, including 3,469 violent offenses, 1,026 assaults with a dangerous weapon, 2,113 robberies, and 5,139 motor vehicle thefts. So far in 2025, there have already been nearly 1,600 violent crimes and nearly 16,000 total crimes reported in Washington, DC.

* Between 2023 and 2024, crime categories fell between 2% (theft not related to cars) and 64% (arson). But 2023 also saw 274 homicides reported, higher than any year since 2005, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

* Washington’s rate of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was 25.5 per 100,000 people in 2024, according to a USA TODAY analysis of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program data. That places Washington at No. 5 among more than 30 cities with more than 500,000 people.

* National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform figures show that 95.8% of homicide suspects in the District are male, and 96.8% of those are Black. Over 70% of suspects are between 18 and 34 years old. To look at the victim numbers, 89% are male, of whom 94.1% are Black. Over 62% of homicide victims are between 18 and 34 years old.

Re the Ever-Growing US Debt Problem 
(from Nigel)

Generally, the federal debt is an accumulation of budget deficits over time. The federal debt in the most recent month of data, June 2025, was $36.2 trillion. This is 1% higher than in June 2024 and up 31% from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

* For several years, the nation’s debt has been bigger than its gross domestic product, which was $26 trillion at the end of 2022.

* Debt-to-GDP is a useful metric for analyzing the debt over long time spans, as it puts the debt into relative terms by comparing it against the size of the national economy. Looked at this way, debt as a share of GDP has gone through three main growth phases in recent decades.

* While US government debt is perhaps the most widely held class of security in the world, 21.8% of the public debt, or $6.87 trillion, is owned by another arm of the federal government itself.

* That includes Medicare; specialized trust funds, such as those for highways and bank deposit insurance; civil service and military retirement programs; and Social Security.

* Today, the Federal Reserve System is the single largest holder of US government debt.

* The Federal Reserve bought massive quantities of debt during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to keep the US economy afloat despite the incredible damage done to it by the shutdowns.

* At its peak in April 2022, the Fed held more than $6.25 trillion in US government debt, more than double its holdings just before the pandemic hit in March 2020.

* Servicing the debt is one of the federal government’s biggest expenses and one of the greatest problems for the economy. According to the OMB, net interest payments on the debt are about $400 billion this fiscal year. That’s 6.8% of all federal outlays, and $100 billion more than the government expects to spend on veterans’ benefits and services and more than it will spend on elementary and secondary education, disaster relief, agriculture, science and space programs, foreign aid, and natural resources and environmental protection combined.

Five encouraging facts about happiness… 

* Happiness helps your immune system fight back. 

Positive emotions don’t just feel good – they do good. A study in Psychosomatic Medicine found that people with a happier outlook were less likely to catch a cold after virus exposure. Smiling may be your cheapest health insurance. (Cohen et al., 2003)

* Hourly workers may be happier than salaried ones. 
A 2010 study found people paid by the hour tend to be more satisfied with their work. When time is money – literally – it may boost your sense of control and value. (DeVoe & Pfeffer, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin)

* Happiness reduces pain.
Positive emotions help people with chronic pain cope better. In one study, happier arthritis patients reported significantly less discomfort. (Zautra et al., 2005, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology)

* Happiness is catchy. 
According to a longitudinal study published in the British Medical Journal, happiness is contagious. If your friend is happy, your odds of being happy rise by 15%. (Fowler & Christakis, 2008)

* Happy people live longer. 
A long-running study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that happier people had lower mortality rates – even when controlling for health, income, and age. (Diener & Chan, 2011)

* In theory, 150 countries grant free speech to their citizens. That’s the current number of countries that have signed and bound themselves to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which grants free speech “unambiguously” to the citizens of the signatory countries.

* It should not have surprised me, but there are several international non-profit groups that rate countries by how free citizens are to speak their mind, and not all of them agree. Rankings, therefore, do vary, but some countries – the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Finland, and Sweden) – are always in the top 10.

* On the bottom of most rankings, I found Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Afghanistan. But the other slots were taken up by an odd mix of seemingly random (or perhaps biased) selections, including China, Nicaragua, and Russia. I’ve spent time in and had businesses in all those countries and have a good sense of how free I felt to speak my mind, compared to the four others mentioned or any of the North African countries or really any of the Muslim countries. And what about Singapore?! I don’t know.

* England and the US used to be in the top 10 in the rankings I found that were publishing in 2010. Since then, they have both been moving down. And by some ranking systems, neither is in the top 20.

Those are some facts. Here is my opinion: The UK, right now, is actively policing not just speech but thought. By Orwellian standards – or any reasonable standards – a government can’t be more restrictive than that.

South African Genocide: Is It Really a Thing?

I’m sure you’ve heard about President Trump’s meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, on May 21. Trump booby-trapped the former businessman by showing him a photo of crosses, symbolizing the number of White farmers who, Trump said, were murdered by Black South Africans who apparently want to Make South Africa Black Again.

Trump was chastised by the Leftist/Liberal media for embarrassing the guy. And he was subsequently criticized by the same for giving political asylum to 50 White South Africans who’d rather live in the US than continue living down there.

Now, there’s a debate about whether these killings are part of a policy of genocide that some South Africans are undeniably promoting, or whether they are the just rewards dealt to colonizers who have no right to be in South Africa at all.

One of the members of the Monday afternoon discussion group I belong to is South African, and he says the term genocide is not correct – that, for the most part, the country is still a country of laws and that these murders were being prosecuted and that he for one doesn’t feel particularly unsafe living there.

I’ve been to South Africa a half-dozen times for meetings with a business we’ve had there for nearly 25 years. I never felt unsafe. But to be fair, I’ve always been in the business and/or tourist zones of Cape Town and Johannesburg, not in the isolation of the rural countryside where the murders have taken place.

To be sure, our South African employees (90% White) do take precautions when driving to and from work. The same sort of precautions that our employees in downtown Baltimore take when they pass through neighborhoods where the bulk of muggings take place.

But my friends and colleagues in South Africa say that, although they don’t believe the government is in any way engaged in genocide, they are concerned that since Ramaphosa took office, life for all the citizens of the country has been getting worse, with a near-bankrupt government, a failing educational system, a failed social support system, and an economy that is getting weaker every day.

Here are some of the facts:

* South Africa has and has had the largest White population of any settler state in Africa.

* 73% of privately owned land in South Africa is White-owned, despite White people comprising about 7% of the population.

* There are two White populations in South Africa. Dutch descendants who have been there for 400 years and see themselves as South Africans, not Dutch. And descendants of British settlers who came to South Africa in 1820.

* Whites are indeed being murdered. However, the actual numbers are more modest than some claims suggest. There were 32 farm murders in 2024, down from 50 in 2023. In the most recent quarter, only 12 farm murders were recorded, with just one victim being an actual farmer.

* The revolution to overthrow the White-dominated government was violent, but the overthrow itself came through a political process that was bipartisan. White South Africans, as well as Blacks, supported Nelson Mandela as a move towards a multiracial politic.

* Close to 70,000 South Africans have expressed interest in moving to the US following Washington’s offer to resettle people from the country’s Afrikaner community.

* Crime in South Africa is indeed crazy. The country has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with an average of 72 murders a day in a country of 60 million people. However, as in the US, most of the victims are Black. Murders of White farmers represent less than 1% of all the murders.

With all that information in mind, I was interested in this take on the question by Lara Logan, who was a supporter of Nelson Mandela and has been a journalist in South Africa since Mandela came to power in the 1990s. (Start watching at minute 4:30.)