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US must exert real pressure for relief to come to Gaza

At the end of July, President Donald Trump announced that a “monumental” U.S.-backed deal had been struck on Gaza, securing the phased disarmament of Hamas in parallel with Israeli military withdrawal. Three days later it was reported that another 18 people had died in Israeli airstrikes. Not for the first time, it appeared that Mr. Trump’s rhetoric had only a distant relationship with the reality it purported to describe. Such suspicions were duly confirmed. Under pressure from far-right members of his coalition, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, explicitly rejected ...

America’s budget on the precipice of catastrophe

The budget of the federal government is the largest of any organization in human history. It’s larger than the entire economy of every foreign country except China. And it mostly grows automatically, without regular input from elected officials. In the past, huge surges in the national debt were largely caused by wars or recessions. They were temporary. When the war concluded or economic growth resumed, debt as a share of the economy would fall. That’s not how it works anymore. The debt increases due to demographic trends as the bulk of spending goes to programs that serve an aging ...

Highlighting emergency management in August

BOUQUET: As Michigan continues to face increasingly frequent and complex disasters that require coordinated response efforts across all levels of government, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared August as Emergency Management Awareness Month. The Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division is recognizing the dedicated emergency management professionals who work year-round to help communities prepare for, respond to, recover from and mitigate disasters. Throughout August, the MSP/EMHSD will highlight the critical work of emergency managers and the ...