Trump's Bill Is to America What the Iceberg Was to the Titanic & The Dollar Has Worst Start Since 1973
July 11, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Plato on how sports reveals a person’s true character.
The Dollar Has Its Worst Start to a Year Since 1973: Trump blames Biden; economists blame Trump. Who are you going to believe?
Congress Passes Trump’s Sweeping Domestic Policy Bill: Higher taxes for the poor and middle class, massive cuts in Medicaid, loss of health insurance for 12 million. Beautiful.
Trump Administration Withholds Over $6 Billion for After-School, Summer Programs and More: Another case of illegally withholding money Congress allocated in order to bully schools into political obedience. Who’s the school bully now?
Teen Bullying in Tennessee Now Comes With a New Penalty: Losing Driving Privileges: Addressing bullying among teens is great. But only if it’s part of a larger effort. Otherwise, this is just political posturing.
Kareem’s Video Break: Some days, you need to see a child get a puppy.
Kareem’s Kvetching Korner: “The Myth of Pink Is the Triumph of Brainwashing Over Brain Wiring”: Pink used to be a color for boys. How much of our so-called gender preferences—and therefore status in society—is the result of years of brainwashing?
What I’m Watching on TV: The Old Guard 2 is meh but Heads of State is a funny and charming adventure.
Kareem’s Magical Moments In Sports: I love seeing athletes display their impressive skills that they worked so hard to hone.
Miles Davis Plays “Bitches Brew”: This album is credited with revitalizing jazz and influencing generations of jazz and rock musicians.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
Plato (c. 427-347), Greek philosopher
I’m assuming Plato said that right after a vigorous game of pickleball with Socrates, who was known for bad line calls.
As a person who played sports nearly every day of my life for 40 years, I know exactly what Plato means. There is something about sports that strips away the thin veneer of civility from some people, but in others reveals an admirable depth of character.
I’ll never forget the time I was playing pick-up basketball at a park, and a thirtysomething guy’s team kept losing every game, mostly because he was a weak player. Finally, in anger and frustration, he announced, “I don’t care what happens here because I make a lot of money.” Then he grabbed his stuff and left. That’s the cool thing about sports: It doesn’t matter how successful you are off the court, once you step on, all that matters is how well you play the game. It is the great social class equalizer.
But there’s another aspect that isn’t based on skills but on character. Yes, players want to win, but they also want to enjoy their time interacting with other people. A person who needs to dominate others at all costs exposes their deep insecurity. I’ve played recreational games with great players who insisted on shooting every shot. Even if we won, it wasn’t much fun. On the other hand, I’ve played with great players who were generous in passing and setting picks to allow other members of the team to enjoy themselves, even when they knew that if they did all the shooting, the team would win.
Sports creates pressure, and how a person acts under that pressure expresses who they are at their core. To borrow from Hemingway, the best people show grace under pressure, while the worst display characteristics that make us wary of them off the court.