Welcome to Heather’s Homilies
US Politics of Single-Payer Healthcare and Abortion
As regular readers know, I've written multiple posts over the years about why I think the US needs a single-payer healthcare system. The most recent was less than two months ago: 'The Benefits of a Single-Payer Healthcare System'. As the only OECD country without such...
Is the Democratic Party Nicer Than Republican Party?
Over and over again the attitudes of the US Republican party shock me. I just don't get how they can even propose some of their policies, let alone enact them. From the point of view of the majority of the First World, the Republican party is simply cruel. It doesn't...
The Auto-Fill and Reply Button Problems
A reader brought up the issue of the failure of auto-fill for some people on WordPress on my last post. It's an issue I have myself, but was too lazy to do anything about it. However, it is a pain in the neck, and as it's affecting someone else I thought I should make...
The Christchurch Massacre
It was two weeks on Friday since a self-confessed white supremacist changed New Zealand forever. Friday 15th March 2019 is a day many New Zealanders, including me, naïvely thought would never come to this country. It's the day a terrorist committed mass murder on our...
The Mueller Report: Part I
This won't be my only post on the Mueller Report, so it will be a short one. However, there are a few things I think need to be said at this early stage. Firstly, that we are at an early stage. In relation to the report itself, the most important thing to say is this:...
The Benefits of a Single-Payer Healthcare System
On 29 January 2019 we saw the first CNN Town Hall for a candidate for the 2020 US presidential election. Kamala Harris, a Democratic senator from California, is one of the more impressive members of what promises to be a huge field. CNN is reporting the Town Hall had...
Our Planet: Antarctica
I have very little progress to report on proper posts today. (Finding the leftovers of a several-days-old bird murder in the garage didn't help.) However, I do have a new release from TimeStorm Films to show you. I love their stunning time-lapse films of various...
Campaigning in the USA
I'm in the middle of writing a post about the benefits of a single-payer healthcare system. The inspiration for that came from a CNN Town Hall with Senator Kamala Harris (Dem., California) last week. Senator Harris is running for president in the 2020 election. It's...
Trump’s Southern Border Wall
This Twitter thread from "@Stonekettle" was brought to my attention by reader Ann German. It's the best thing I've ever seen about Trump's insistence that the US requires a southern border wall. It's better than anything I could write about the situation and covers...
Recipe: Potatoes To Die For
Happy New Year! It's 2019 in New Zealand, and has been all day. As the rest of you catch up, I wish you all the best for whatever this year brings. For the US, it brings the first major Democratic candidate to announce for the 2020 election: Elizabeth Warren. I like...
Trump Fiddles While Rome Burns
The military might of the modern US has been compared to that of the Roman Empire. Donald Trump appears to imagine himself in the role of its emperor. If there is a way he can exercise power without abiding by his country's norms, he will use it. For example, despite...
Christmas Cartoons
I'm currently writing a post about the resignation of General Mattis and US Special Envoy Brett McGurk over Trump's dreadful decision to withdraw US troops from Syria. However, it's Christmas Eve in New Zealand and I still have a lot to do to prepare for tomorrow....