One Woman's Viewpoint

The Israeli pager attack was many things. Terrorism wasn’t one.

Boy, did Israel really put their foot in it with their latest offensive against Hezbollah. Specifically targeting only Hezbollah militants via their pagers and radios to minimize collateral damage – what could the IDF have been thinking?

That seems to be exactly the tone that various international bodies are taking in response to the technologically astonishing synchronized pager and radio attacks against Hezbollah members in Lebanon Sep. 19 and 20. Israel has not openly acknowledged responsibility for the attack, where Hezbollah members’ personal tech devices exploded at a simultaneous signal on two consecutive days, but a U.S. official has confirmed that Israel notified the U.S. about its responsibility for the operation.

I find myself selecting the "Snooze for 30 days" option on social media more and more for my more strident connections as we get closer to the election and the anger from each side gets a little crazier. Democrats and Republicans alike are obsessed with cat-eating memes. J.D. Vance admits to "creating the story."

No thank you.

Early voting in New Mexico starts Oct. 7. It's time to simply make good decisions for your family, community and country. I don't think in this complicated age this means a straight party ticket in New Mexico.

71 years ago, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for espionage. The married couple, members of the U.S. Communist Party, had been convicted of passing American defense secrets, including information about the U.S. atomic weapons program, rocket programs, and radar, to the Soviet Union.

Last week, a Nashville-based PR firm, Tenet Media, was clearly the money-laundering stooge in a Justice Department indictment against two Russian nationals alleged to have funneled nearly $10 million dollars through Tenet to promote Kremlin-sponsored propaganda through prominent American right-wing influencers.

On Aug. 29, the U.S. Army took an unprecedented step in issuing a statement in support of one of its civilian employees. The statement was unprecedented in that in supporting its employee, who works at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), the Army rebuked a presidential campaign and a former president.

Because of the high drama surrounding All Things Trump, sides have been taken. As is so often the case, there is much more to the story, than a simple, "Trump bad, Army good," or the other side of the coin, "Trump was abused, media is biased."

Despite having more watchable programming and better ratings, the Democratic national convention hasn't delivered a notable boost to the Harris-Walz campaign. The lead the Democratic ticket has gained in the national polls following President Joe Biden's departure from the campaign remains steady but has not surged post-convention.

Democrats are excited, and we get it – joyful. Swing voters seem to remain unmoved.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "suspension" of his campaign and endorsement of Donald Trump on Aug. 23 has had a similar non-effect on polls. The only drama the announcement brings is some mild speculation that Trump might prefer Kennedy over J.D. Vance as a running mate.

The Democratic National Committee released its 2024 platform August 18 in conjunction with this week's national convention hosted in Chicago. There are some stark differences from the Republican platform.

First there's length: the Democrats' platform is more than three times as long as the Republicans'— 92 pages compared to 28. And then there is style. The DNC platform is written in a clear style that would hold up well against Strunk & White or the AP Style Guide; the RNC platform is written in Trump-Tweet-Caps-For-Emphasis style.

The targeted assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader, and his bodyguard in Tehran on July 31 has set Southwest Asia on edge again.

According to The New York Times, the assassination was accomplished with a bomb smuggled into a guesthouse run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and remotely detonated once it was confirmed that Haniyeh was inside. Iranian officials and Hamas said Israel was responsible for the assassination, and U.S. officials have concurred with that assessment.

From purely a viewer's standpoint, this has been a fun Olympic Games. After having the U.S. broadcasting rights for years, NBC seems to finally have hit on the right formula for covering the Games (although I could stand fewer celebrity cameos in the stands). I'm getting to see just enough of the only-every-four-years events like fencing and handball, and not missing the important swimming and track and field preliminaries and finals.

Everything is just dandy until I log into social media. Uncredited social media posts have spread manufactured Olympic controversy like a plague that has resulted in global arguments with exactly zero facts.