The possibility of going to war with Iran is looming and it has become a stronger possibility as days have progressed. Trump came into office with many promises, and one of them was no more wars. Since Trump took office, he's most definitely limited our confrontations with other nations. In Syria, he began to pull US troops from the conflict earlier this year. With North Korea, whether I agree with his approach in dealing with Kim Jong-un or not, he managed to de-escalate the conflict with the Asian...

For the past 3 years, ever since he was running for President, Trump has been talking about China and its unfair trade practices. Few can argue with that. Trump is right to note China's unfair trade practices. However, given its size (1.2 billion people), it can talk softly while carrying the fastest-growing stick (economy) at its side. China's economy is not as beholden to the U.S. as it used to be. It is for this reason that if you want to do business in China, and everyone does,...

Everyone with and without kids has watched Nemo. It's a great movie with plenty of adult comedy thrown in to make it enjoyable for the whole family. Like all kids movies, it shows a very idealistic way of the world, with a few exceptions. GetYarn.io One of those exceptions is a scene where the neighborhood bird comes to the dentist office to catch up with the fish on the day's news. Suddenly it notices Nemo and realizes he's a new addition to the tank. Nemo is introduced as...

I have always maintained the scariest trait of Trump is not just what he says to the crowds to rile them up, or his narcissism, or lack of mastery of language, or his fake orange-tan, or lies. While all of those are scary on their own, it is his lack of shame I fear most. Most of us do not give shame the credit it deserves. Shame is one of the most effective tools we, the people, have to keep powerful people in check. The focus of shame...

Recently I posted the list that psychologists and psychiatrists use to diagnose NPD, or Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I posted it as a reflection on how this diagnosis fits our President so closely and how two of those symptoms or traits scared me (#9 and #10 on the list). Today I want to talk about how #8 can be equally dangerous. As you may know, Congress and the Trump administration (the White House) are currently at war on at least two fronts; Trump's taxes and a copy of the...

It has been about 2 weeks since the Special Counsel Report by former FBI director, Robert Mueller, was released to the public. The report was made public, in redacted form, about 3 weeks after Attorney General William Barr had sent a summary of the report to congress. The full report is close to 450 pages, hence when the AG (Attorney General) summarized it in 4 pages, there was considerable uproar and pressure for the eventual release the full report (in redacted form). The AG maintained the report does...

NPD, or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, is a diagnosis that has been playing around for a while as related to President Trump. I recall the first time I heard about it during the campaign. It was then, when much noise was made about the legitimacy of a candidate with NPD. Campaigns are weird, ugly, and seldom represent reality. All candidates stand there and try to present an alternative persona of themselves. A persona that will get them elected. For this reason they often promise things they know they cannot...

In the late 90s, another President was under Investigation, Bill Clinton. The genesis of the Mueller Report was the Starr Report. The Starr report was known as the Independent Counsel Report. Unlike the Special Counsel Report from Mueller, the Independent Counsel Report had much more latitude and fewer restrictions in their investigation. In fact, it was thanks to this wide-ranging and lengthy (4 years) investigation that politicians decided to limit the scope of any future such investigations and the Independent Counsel Investigation turned into the Special Counsel Investigation....

Communication is a tricky skill. Humans begin to communicate even before they are born. A baby will communicate to the mother if she's uncomfortable with a kick or punch. Once the child is born, they'll communicate through sounds (mostly crying), and their actions (sleep). As mother and child grow closer, their communication also becomes more effective. Crying becomes more nuanced. Crying grows from "what does this kid want?" to "She's hungry" or "She's sleepy", etc. As we get older, we lose this effectiveness. This is partly because we...

According to the second part of the Mueller Report, James Comey's account of his interaction with the President is accurate. This is in spite of the many denials from the President about the matter. After Comey's account of the President's request to "let[] Flynn go" became public, the President publicly disputed several aspects of the story. The President told the New York Times that he did not "shoo other people out of the room" when he talked to Comey and that he did not remember having a one-on-one...