Salem-News.com Articles written by Daniel Johnson

Now You See It, Soon You Won`t.

Ten countries that could disappear in the next twenty years...

(PENDER ISLAND, British Columbia) - Thomas Edsel writes in the NYT that Trump is so ignorant, he is not even aware of his own ignorance. Edsel concludes his column with:

Given the magnitude of the problems that lie ahead and the embedded contradictions that make them difficult to solve, we face precisely the kind of world President Trump is least equipped for, mentally and morally.

Is America Circling the Drain (updated)?

I live in Canada, beyond the reach of Donald Trump's deportation forces. I have no plan to ever visit the U.S. in the rest of my lifetime.

(Pender Island, British Columbia) - I was 15 in October 1962 when the Cuban Missile Crisis overwhelmed much of the world's consciousness.

As Oliver Stone commented in his series The untold history of the United States: “Children watched the news, their parents full of fear.” In my experience, the fear was palpable and seemingly everywhere.

Excess Snow Plus East Village Residents With Limited Mobility and Community Involvement = Success!

Snow really builds up in the main East Village Calgary intersection making it difficult for the many people who live in the area and who use walkers, scooters, wheelchairs and canes, to walk safely...

(CALGARY) - This story is a good example of how ordinary people on the ground can cooperate locally to benefit their larger communities.

It is this principle that can be applied almost anywhere in the world. It's the kind of idea that can expand and become unstoppable to make the world a better place.

Virginia Citizen`s Defense League Inadvertently Supports Gun Control

The more guns there there are in America, the greater the likelihood that people are going to get shot. (Philip Van Cleave) John Oliver That's my point!

(CALGARY) - Phillip van Cleave is the President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. He surprisingly makes an argument for gun control.

My original thought was to post this a a short humor piece, showing how gun nuts are so mentally confused that they can't even argue effectively. Look at the first part at 5 minutes where Van Cleave makes Oliver's point for him.

America: Death by Republican

The GOP has brought America, a once proud nation, to its knees and so many millions of Republican supporters don't understand how, for the last thirty years or so they have been voting against their own best interests and the interests of the nation they claim to love.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Congressman Louie Gohmert from northeast Texas told a House hearing that the trans-Alaska oil pipeline improved the sex lives of some wild animals.

“When the caribou want to go on a date,” he said, “they invite each other to head over to the pipeline.”

Untied States of America

States' Rights are a recipe for chaos and eventual tyranny.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Despite the Constitution, not all Americans are equal. The rights you enjoy—or don’t enjoy—depend on where you live.

Colorado has decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. Cross into Wyoming and you can get a year in prison. Maryland has repealed the death penalty. Across the border in Delaware there are 17 inmates on death row, awaiting lethal injection.

Is the Second Amendment Even Still Real?

"Every constitution, then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19 years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force and not of right." (Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison September 6, 1789)

(CALGARY, Alberta) - It is unusual for gun rights to be included in a constitution.

In an historical study of constitutions, only 15 constitutions in 9 countries ever included an explicit right to bear arms.

Who Elected the NRA? You?

American culture does not give women much more protection or respect than the Taliban.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Last year, Stephanie Holten obtained a temporary order for protection from her ex-husband Corey Holten, who had threatened to kill her if her new boyfriend “gets near my kids.” She wrote on the form: “He owns guns, I am scared.”

The judge prohibited him from going within two blocks of her house. What the judge did not do was require him to do was surrender his guns. Twelve hours later he was outside her home...

Hey, America! Revolution, Civil War or Tyranny--Take your pick!

America has moved backward over the last half century. There is now representation without taxation, the opposite of the nation's founding philosophy.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - I read a comment to a news story recently:

"Every one of ‘We The People’ is an equal owner in this thing we call the US of A. The land, the water, the sky. The government is our family business."

Capitalism`s Children

Children are the demographic most heavily targeted by advertisers and are society's most vulnerable members.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - While the U.S. has only 4.5% of the world’s population, America’s children consume 45% of global toy production. Sales to the four- to twelve-year-old market was $6.1 billion in 1989.

Today, it’s more like $30 billion, an increase of nearly 500%. Teen spending is even greater—$170 billion/year.