Trump Removes Ban on Segregation in Federal Contracts & American Women are Giving Up on Marriage
March 28, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: I’ve returned to ruminating on the nature of our need for pets.
'Segregated facilities' are no longer explicitly banned in federal contracts: Trump has just ordered the removal of a ban on segregation. Welcome to the 1950s.
These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration: Words are how we express concepts. When words are forbidden, those concepts aren’t discussed. The words being canceled will surprise you.
The FBI Is Investigating Attacks on Tesla as ‘Domestic Terrorism.’ Here’s Why That Matters: The implications of this reach far beyond Teslas; it’s a step toward the abuse of our Constitutional rights. Unfortunately, it is being followed by several more steps.
Hegseth suggests judge who blocked trans troops ban abused her power: Hegseth is on a hugely successful campaign to prove he’s the dumbest person in the administration.
White House acknowledges ‘inadvertent’ leak involving top Trump officials: Sure, the leak is monumentally incompetent, but the response to it reveals a much more disturbing threat.
American Women Are Giving Up on Marriage: The effects of this trend have enormous consequences on our culture. It reflects a serious division between what men want and what women want. But with men wielding more political power, women will continue to come under attack.
Kareem’s Video Break: Why do babies and pets seem to have a special connection? Yes, I’m jealous.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: Once again, table tennis offers an amazing display of reflexes and focus that seems inhuman.
Frankie Laine Sings “3:10 to Yuma”: Laine was one of the most popular singers for over 60 years. He was also the king of theme songs from Western movies.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment.
George Eliot (1819-1880), English novelist
Although today’s quote is about dogs, I mean it to represent our relationship with all pets. Americans are pet obsessed with 66% of households owning pets, which is 86.9 million families. We own over 100 million cats and dogs (65.1 million dogs; 46.5 million cats). We spent $136.8 billion on our pets in 2022. We lead the world in pet ownership.
When it comes to pets—or pretty much anything—I’m torn. Part of me considers the downside of pet ownership, starting with the concept of “ownership” itself. Having read animal rights activist Peter Singer’s remarkable Animal Liberation in the seventies, I’ve questioned the right of one animal to own another, remove it from its family, alter its sex organs, and, worse, force it to wear sweaters or Halloween costumes. I also consider the enormous cost of resources to care for pets, from food to waste to cats killing billions of birds each year. The cruel puppy mills, and the abandoned pets that are executed. There is much weight on the con side.
And yet…
I also have to weigh against the massive amount of anxiety, loneliness, and depression that pets alleviate, the suicides they prevent, the services they provide for those with disabilities, and the immeasurable amount of love and joy they generate in the world.
In the end, pet ownership wins.
Having a pet can be a religious experience because we can express love in the same way many people think about loving their god. We love without feeling shame at our openness. We love without feeling vulnerable to being judged or rejected. Love of humans, even spouses or children, comes with emotional conflicts, but not with pets. With them, we can love without reservation, without fear. The opportunity to love like that lifts a lot of heavy burdens.
Once we fully open that spigot of love with a pet, it flows into other aspects of our lives. It reveals the love we have to give and makes us want to experience it even more with humans. Loving a pet trains us to love flawed, sometimes cruel, and sometimes judgmental humans.
I recently read a poem by April Bernard called “Sithens in a Net” with several lines that accurately expressed the healing power of a pet:
Sometimes my dog turns, flops down,
and presses against me with a sigh that
fills the world with peace, makingpermanent what would otherwise fly away
on the lash of a clock’s tick.
Anything that brings more love, joy, and happiness in the world is a good thing.