Words Fail Us     
    
   Inflation in Venezuela exceeds 1 million percent. Citizens who haven't already fled the country are in dire need of food, medicine and other necessities.

  The U.S. has promised $20 million in aid, Canada, $53 million.

  The dictator wants none of it. "We aren't beggars," he boasted, and blocked off a major highway coming in from Colombia.

Dems for Diversity, Except in Thought  
     In the Wall Street Journal, Jason Riley notes that Sen. Kamala Harris, who is biracial, and Mayor Cory Booker, black, among racially diverse presidential candidates, once held sensible views.

   Harris was San Francisco DA. As recently as 2016, she had a "fundamental problem" with "liberals" and "progressives" who complain that we should build more schools and fewer prisons. 

   While agreeing conceptually, she added, "You have not addressed the reason I have three padlocks on my front door." She also believed "the way to help poor communities is to hold them to the same standards as everyone else." And, "Criminal-justice reform too often plays down the reality of violent crime and neglects its victims." Don't look for those comments on the campaign trail.

   As Newark's mayor, Booker emphasized public safety and education. He promised to "be relentless in the enforcement of the law."

   Booker once stood for school choice, charter schools and vouchers. Then in 2017 he opposed Betsy DeVos, even though he worked closely with her for years to promote educational options for low-income kids, through her philanthropy. 

Coming Monday
     Your Life & Mine begins Monday. If you want to print any of the segments, remember to set your printer to "1" or "current page," or it will keep printing prior blogs until you run out of paper. 

      Jimmy