Free Newsletter Day: New Poll Shows We Have Less Pride in America & Iran's Ban on Dog Walking May Be Its Demise
July 4, 2025
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What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Some thoughts about what distinguishes the small mind from the great mind.
Americans Have Never Been Less Proud of Their Country: Trump’s lack of shame has made Americans ashamed.
MAGA Rep Demands Deportation of NYC Dems’ Pick for Mayor: If he’s so dangerous to America, why didn’t they call for his deportation before the election?
MTG Reveals the ‘Greatest Threat’ to American Women: Greene once again proves herself to be the greatest threat to American women. And to rational thought.
Here’s What Will Cause the Real Downfall of Iran’s Government: Dogs. Iran’s attempt to ban dog-walking in public will eventually erode the government’s power. Never come between a person and their dog.
Iceland Approved The 4-Day Workweek In 2019. Nearly 6 Years Later, All The Predictions Made Have Come True: Americans are grossly overworked. Here’s a possible remedy.
What I’m Watching on TV: Smoke is an intense crime drama about arson, and the final season of Squid Games is pure excitement and suspense.
Kareem’s Video Break: Goats climbing a near-vertical cliff. Stunning to watch.
Kareem’s Magical Moments in Sports: An amazing victory is spoiled by rigid sports officials.
Poco Sings “Crazy Love”: Sometimes you feel like a sappy love song with beautiful harmonies.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher
Since I have neither a small mind (I hope) nor a great mind (I know), I’m concerned with both the extraordinary and the ordinary. But I get what Pascal meant. Some people are focused on the extraordinary because it makes them feel part of something special, even magical, rather than just another blade of grass in the endless lawn of time and space.
Poet William Blake said, “To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower/Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.” For those who look closely enough, the entire universe can be understood in a single grain of sand, a wild flower, or one blade of grass. That is why so many artists throughout the centuries have created masterpieces that are nothing more than close observations of flowers, fruit, a meal, people doing mundane things. Monet painted 250 paintings of water lilies. (FYI: Last year, one water lily painting sold for $65 million.)
Some people’s concern for the extraordinary can take the form of obsessing over fame and recognition, chasing being a social media influencer or reality star or some other form of fame. They feel that being recognized on the street will lift them above the masses, shield them from pain, allow them to float beyond the anxiety of daily life and anonymity. It won’t. I know.
Others seek the extraordinary through their version of spiritual pursuits. Tarot cards, crystals, holy books. So many embrace a strict dogma of a religion or cult that they think will reward them with the eternal happiness that they are unable to achieve in their daily lives. They are so worried about the extraordinary—heaven, hell, God, etc.—that they fail to be joyful and compassionate here and now. Instead, they must fake happiness to prove to others and themselves that they are on the path of enlightenment. That is the path to misery. They know.
Those who focus on the ordinary, on the other hand, are able to find the joy in the things and people they interact with daily. In Porgy and Bess, Porgy sings, “I got my gal, got my song/got heaven the whole day long.” I’m not so naive to think that’s enough for bliss. We also need social justice, equal opportunity, not to be exploited by the rich and powerful. Maybe that’s what Porgy means by “got my song.” His song is his collection of beliefs and commitments that he’s willing to fight for to make the ordinary better for everyone.
My song of the ordinary consists in getting up, reading The New York Times, promoting social justice on Substack, talking with friends, watching a show on TV, listening to music, reading again, visiting family.
Heaven the whole day long.
Quick Takes
Americans Have Never Been Less Proud of Their Country (Daily Beast)
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT: This poll takes the temperature of Americans and finds us feeling a bit sick when it comes to our country’s actions in defiance of our values.
SUMMARY: Donald Trump’s election has seen national pride crater to its lowest- ever level among Democrats, with only 36 percent feeling proud of their country.
Polling data released by Gallup shows the gap between Democrats and Republicans ahead of July 4 is at its widest since 2001, with younger generations also increasingly out of step with their elders.
Only 4 out of 10 members of Gen Z expressed pride in their country, while just 6 out of 10 Millennials felt the same. Both fall significantly behind older generations, who average out at 7/10.
Meanwhile, the divide along party lines has never been more stark. Ninety-two percent of Republicans have stated they feel “very” or “extremely” proud of their country, with the gap between voters at its widest since records began in 2001, including the entirety of Trump’s first term.
MY TAKE: Republicans and Democrats have a different definition of patriotism, which is revealed in this poll showing 92% of Republicans “extremely” or “very proud” of being an American and only 53% of Independents and 36% of Democrats feeling the same way. Most of the country is not proud right now.
Republicans cling to the notion “My country, right or wrong,” first uttered in 1816 in a toast by naval officer Stephen Decatur after defeating Barbary pirates: “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!” Sounds great—unless that country is enslaving people, committing genocide, and oppressing their own poor.
Democrats ironically follow a version of that sentiment modified by Republican Congressman and civil rights advocate Carl Schurz, and delivered to the Senate in 1872: “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.”
Republicans respond to the question of pride by thinking about the idealized movie version of America in their heads. Democrats and Independents respond to the reality of what is actually going on in America at the time. They are more focused on the difference between the promise of America and the reality today of the broken promise—and how to fix it. In reality, all three political groups have about the same pride in America. They are like parents who have raised children with strong moral values and a great education, only to have one of them sent to prison for defrauding the elderly. The Republican defiantly announces how much they love their child no matter what they’ve done. The Democrat loves their child just as much but expresses disappointment in their behavior and works toward restitution for the defrauded.
But the real revelation is how less powerful both major parties are becoming, as Independents rise and as younger generations become disillusioned with both parties. In a 2024 Gallup poll, 28% identified as Republican, 28% as Democrat, and 43% as Independent. The last 25 years have seen both parties shrink as Independents grew.
The difference between Republican and Democrat response to the question is that Republicans conflate love with pride. Democrats love America as much as Republicans, but pride is based on actions compared to our values. Since January, the Trump administration has systematically perverted our values about equality, freedom of speech, and compassion for those in need to variations on the theme, “Greed is good.”
MAGA Rep Demands Deportation of NYC Dems’ Pick for Mayor (Daily Beast)
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT: The GOP fears that the victory of a liberal socialist may signal bad news for them in the mid-term elections and are trying to defy the voters’ choice by sabotaging democratic elections.
SUMMARY: Tennessee Republican Andy Ogles has joined the right-wing outrage over Zohran Mamdani‘s impending victory in New York’s Democratic mayoral primary by demanding his deportation.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Ogles cited a New York Post article about how Mamdani, in a 2017 rap song, praised the “Holy Land Five,” members of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a now-defunct Muslim charity. Its five founders were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas in a 2008 trial—one which Human Rights Watch and some civil rights attorneys and law professors called unjust.
…In a social media post accompanying his letter, Ogles referred to Mamdani, who would be New York’s first Muslim mayor, as “little muhammad.”
Mamdani was born in Uganda and lived in South Africa for a few years before moving to New York when he was 7 years old. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018, two years before he was elected to the New York State Assembly, in which he represents part of Queens.
MY TAKE: Just for context, Ogles is also the congressmen who proposed legislation to allow Trump to run for a third term as president, and he issued the notorious Christmas family card that featured his two small children holding guns (because the best way to celebrate Jesus’s teachings is by being armed). Other MAGA lawmakers, like Rep. Nancy Mace, have also called for Mamdani’s denaturalization and deportation.
Also joining the attacks on Mamdani is Marjorie Taylor Greene, who never misses an opportunity to display her capacity for being factually, morally, and logically clueless. She posted the above image of the Statue of Liberty in a burqa. Later, she explained her post: “I’m an American woman, and I have all the freedoms in the world to never have to bow to a religion that would force me to cover my body up and only see my eyes and my fingertips. And that is a major threat for all American women, and I think that’s something that hits hard for all women.” She also expressed her concern about a “Muslim takeover, or possibly Sharia law. That is a great threat to every single American woman.” (“MTG Reveals the ‘Greatest Threat’ to American Women”)
What Greene doesn’t comprehend is that what makes Sharia law so repugnant is that it establishes laws based on a single religion that everyone is forced to follow. Greene is comfortable with the concept, which is why she supports policies of Christian nationalists who would do the same thing in America, but based on their interpretation of the Bible. She is perfectly happy using her religion to restrict women from making life-and-death decisions about their bodies. Her hysteria that Mamdani’s victory means a Muslim takeover of the entire country that will result in all women covered except for eyes and fingertips is beyond reason, since: 1. One Muslim running for mayor is not a takeover of the country, and 2. Of the one million Muslim women in America, 43% wear a headscarf and 48% do not cover their hair. A very small percentage wear a burqa, which is a cultural, not religiously mandated garment.
So, it’s not lack of freedom Greene opposes, it’s the dress code. And that kind of illogical, unconstitutional thinking in a public figure is what’s really bad for women. She perpetuates the stereotype of the irrational woman who is all feeling and no thinking. Any woman voting for her is harming their own status in society and that of their daughters. She’s already shrouded in an intellectual burqa.
BOTTOM LINE: This is not an endorsement or defense of Mamdani or his policies. I’m not debating how good or bad he is. Rather, this is a defense of the people selecting their own representative through the democratic process of voting and not having the opposing party threaten to deport that person. I doubt that even the MAGA loyalists believe they can denaturalize and deport Mamdani. That isn’t their ultimate goal. What they want to do is whip up enough Islamophobia by emphasizing that he’s a Muslim and a socialist, to prevent him from being elected mayor. That is a lot easier than arguing specifics about his policies.
Here’s What Will Cause the Real Downfall of Iran’s Government: Dogs
Forget the Israeli/U.S. missile strikes. What will really bring down Iran’s oppressive regime is its hostile attitude toward pet dogs. Iran recently expanded a ban on dog-walking to at least 18 cities, supposedly out of concern over public order, health, and safety. (“Iran expands dog-walking ban, citing 'public health, peace and comfort' concerns.”) Some cities even ban transporting dogs in cars.
This disdain for pet dogs is based on two issues: 1. Religious scholars claim that petting dogs or coming in contact with their saliva is ritually impure. 2. Dogs as pets is seen as a detrimental influence of Western culture. In 2021, dog ownership was condemned by about 75 politicians as a “destructive social problem” because it might “gradually change the Iranian and Islamic way of life.” Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei argued that keeping dogs for reasons other than herding, hunting, and guarding is “reprehensible.” He reportedly said, “If this practice resembles that of non-Muslims, promotes their culture or causes harm and disturbance to neighbours, it is deemed forbidden.” Owners have been arrested and their dogs taken away. Advertisements for pets or pet-related items have been banned. Legislation was introduced to flog dog walkers, though it didn’t pass.
Nevertheless, dog ownership in Iran is on the rise, especially among young people who see it as a form of rebellion against the restrictive laws. The power of people’s love for their dogs cannot be successfully legislated. People need to express love in many ways. We need romantic love, family love, parental love. But sometimes we need to express love in a non-complicated, non-judgmental way that brings out the best in us. Pets allow us to do that. Eventually, Iran will be forced to accept what, as they fear, may be the beginning of the end of the people allowing such repression.
Kareem’s Video Break
You can talk about GOATs in sports as much as you want, but these goats are truly remarkable.
Iceland Approved The 4-Day Workweek In 2019: Nearly 6 Years Later, All The Predictions Made Have Come True. (Farmingdale-Observer)
SUMMARY: In 2019, Iceland made headlines by becoming one of the first countries in the world to adopt the four-day working week, not through a general law, but through agreements allowing workers to negotiate shorter weeks or reduced hours. Five years on, the results are indisputable.
The Icelandic experiment began in 2015, with a pilot phase involving around 2,500 employees, or just over 1% of the country’s working population. Following the resounding success of this initiative, with 86% of the employees involved expressing their support, the project was made official in 2019. Today, almost 90% of Icelandic workers benefit from a reduced working week of 36 hours, compared with 40 hours previously, with no loss of pay. Initial concerns about the four-day week were widespread, both in Iceland and elsewhere in the world. There were fears of a drop in productivity, increased costs for businesses and difficulties in adapting to maintain service levels. However, the Icelandic experience has swept these fears under the carpet.
Icelandic reports show that productivity has remained stable, and even increased in some sectors. One of the keys to this success lies in improving the mental health of workers, a crucial aspect highlighted by Generation Z. The reduction in stress, combined with a better work-life balance, has had a significant positive impact on employee well-being.
MY TAKE: Iceland isn’t America. Their population is 396,976 while ours is 340.1 million. Their entire population is about the same as Anaheim, California, or Aurora, Colorado. They are a nimble sailboat: we are a lumbering oil tanker. That means that implementing such a program in the U.S. could take longer, and achieving the same results would take more time and even a few adjustments on the voyage.
But society should always be aspirational, reaching to become better rather than remain stagnant. To modify poet Robert Browning, a society’s reach should exceed its grasp, or what’s a heaven for? And America definitely needs, if not a heaven, certainly a haven. Here’s why:
Americans work 1811 hours a year, which is more than Italy (1694), the U.K. (1532), Switzerland(1529), France (1511), Sweden (1440), and Germany (1341). This means that compared to, say, Switzerland, we Americans work 7 weeks more each year!
A significant benefit to Iceland’s four-day work week is greater gender equality. Men have become more involved in their family life, from raising the children to household chores. That makes for a healthier society.
During the Industrial Revolution, workers typically endured 80-100-hour workweeks. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant gave government workers eight-hour work days. The drive to seek legislation to change this was popularized in 1926 by Henry Ford when he discovered that increasing working hours produced only a small amount of productivity that lasted a short time. The 40-hour workweek became U.S. law in 1940, nearly 80 years after it was proposed.
That’s a lot of years of overworking. As our Congress prepares to pass Trump’s bill, which will funnel more money to the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class while also cutting Medicaid and health insurance for millions, work hours will only increase as people struggle to maintain what they have. It’s as if American workers have been furiously treading water for years, but now Republicans want to also empty the sewage line directly onto them.
What I’m Watching on TV
Smoke (Apple TV)
Smoke is a very intense crime drama created by best-selling crime writer Dennis Lehane. Taron Egerton (Kingsmen) and Jurnee Smollett (Lovecraft Country) investigate two serial arsonists in the compelling, twisty story that is as much about how people burn down their own lives out of powerlessness and frustration as it is about criminals setting fires. Thoroughly compelling and surprising. (Grade: A)
Squid Game, Season 3 (Netflix)
The third and final season of Squid Game is less social metaphor than the first season, but still pure adrenalin-fueled action and suspense. It’s melodrama at its best, with clear villains and heroes and a lot of exciting scenes. Yes, it’s violent and brutal at times, but it’s also sentimental and touching. No deep thinking required—just plenty of snacks, because this is binge-worthy TV. (Grade: B+)
Kareem’s Magical Moments in Sports
Today, I’m combining my Magical Moments in Sports with my Kvetching Korner. Clara Adams, 16, won the 400-meter state final and was stripped of her win because of her post-race celebration which imitated American sprinter Maurice Greene’s famous post-race celebration. There have been no other disqualifications for unsportsmanlike behavior in the past 20 years of state championships. I understand how important rules are in sporting competitions, but I’m also aware that there can be some flexibility, especially for kids. As there should have been in this case. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) officials acted hastily and did damage to the sport, as well as to Adams. At the very least, they should reverse their hasty decision.
Kareem’s Jukebox Playlist
Poco: “Crazy Love” (1979)
Country rock group Poco was founded in 1968 by former members of Buffalo Springfield after the band broke up. It took 11 years for them to have a hit single, which they did in “Crazy Love.” The song was written by band member Rusty Young, who said he composed the entire song in 30 minutes: “[I]t was all there. It was kind of a gift.” In a 2008 interview, Young told the interviewer that “The only reason we're talking now is ‘Crazy Love.’ That was our first hit single. It's a classic, and it still pays the mortgage.”
Sometimes I’m in the mood for a simple song about unrequited love with classic harmonies. No deep meanings. No long guitar riffs. Just the sweet sound of a pleasant melody and memorable refrain. This song can soften the edges of a hard day. That’s something.
Your patriotism comment brings to mind Robert Kennedy (who's probably rolling in his grave about the exploits of his son). Often repeated during his presidential campaign (albeit paraphrased from George Bernard Shaw):
"Some people see things as they are and say, 'why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'why not?'"
Thank you for being a voice of reason.