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When Joe Biden’s ABC News interview aired on Friday night, it made clear that he should not be running for re-election. Rather than reduce the concerns sparked by his abysmal debate performance eight days earlier, the interview underscored that the president is in denial about his current political standing and unable to offer reassurance that his mental capacities are unimpaired.

 Notably, Biden kept dodging and refusing to reply in the affirmative when journalist George Stephanopoulos asked whether he has had “a full neurological and cognitive evaluation” and if he would “be willing to have the independent medical evaluation.”

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand is allowing 5,000 impoverished Thais to fly to Israel to work for better-paying jobs in desert "safe areas," and wants to send 40,000 more, despite the deaths of 41 Thais and 31 kidnapped during the October attack by Hamas and other Palestinian fighters.

Six Thais remain among the hostages in Gaza.

“Thai nationals must be only employed in safe areas, or green areas, confirmed by Israeli authorities and the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv,” Thai Labor Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said.

Mr. Phiphat traveled on May 26 to Tel Aviv to lobby for an increase in their quota for how many Thai men and women, aged 25-41, can go to Israel for work, mostly at agriculture and construction sites.

"Even though it is their choice to return to Israel, it can't be denied that Thailand's economy is not appealing enough to keep these workers here," Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said in April.

Israel never learns from its mistakes. 

 What Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to implement in Gaza is but a poor copy of previous strategies that were used in the past by other Israeli leaders. If these strategies had succeeded, Israel would not be in this position in the first place. 

 The main reason behind Netanyahu's lack of clarity about his real objectives in Gaza is that neither he nor his generals can determine the outcomes of their futile war on the Strip, a war that has killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians. 

 And, no matter how hard he tries, Netanyahu will not be able to reproduce the past. 

. . . Your soul comes out of hiding.
I understand
that you are blessing me.. . .

I find myself — still — groping in wonder. What a coincidence this was. About a week ago my friend Mike emailed me, telling me he and his wife had been going through boxes and drawers and files in their house, and one of the items they came upon was an old poem I had written — twenty-plus years ago, while I was still grieving my wife Barbara’s death.

I had reclaimed poetry at that point in my life because, as I put it at the time, the narrative of my life had been shattered. I was a writer and I needed to write. I needed to put my feelings into words in order to keep on with my life — and poetry allowed me to do so: to reach deeply into the unknown that is grief, to connect with the unknown without “understanding” it.

While walking through the woodlands of the Black Hills, Chase gives us an astonishing narration about the need to free Leonard Peltier.

In a brilliant, uniquely moving discourse, Chase takes us through the ordeal of Indigenous people at the hands of European settler-colonialism.

He also makes up close and personal Leonard’s tragic imprisonment and the need to get him paroled and free.

VINNIE DESTEPHANO, WENDI LEDERMAN, LYNNE FEINERMAN, STEVE CARUSO contribute beautifully to the dialogue.

We are then honored by ANA MALINOW and her spectacular presentation on MEDICARE and the scam of for-profit national health care.

DR. NANCY NIPARKO joins with Ana in dissecting the American decline in life expectancy and quality of care, a true human and national tragedy.

We hear further on this vital topic as MIKE HERSH, PATRICK HEARNDON, SANDY BOLZENIUS, DAVID SALTMAN, DR. RUTH STRAUSS chime in with their usual genius.

This great two hours remind us of why we love to get together. See you next Zoom.