News About Obama's Nuclear Deal

First of all, former President Barack Obama didn’t give “150 billion in cash” to Iran.

The nuclear agreement included China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, so Obama didn’t carry out any part of it on his own. The deal did lift some sanctions, which lifted a freeze on Iran’s assets that were held largely in foreign, not U.S., banks. And, to be clear, the money that was unfrozen belonged to Iran. It had only been made inaccessible by sanctions aimed at crippling the country’s nuclear program.

Secondly, $150 billion is a high-end estimate of the total that was freed up after some sanctions were lifted. U.S. Treasury Department estimates put the number at about $50 billion in “usable liquid assets,” according to 2015 testimony from Adam Szubin, acting under secretary of treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The part that the meme gets right, though, is that the deal didn’t get congressional approval. The Obama administration had maintained that the agreement wasn’t a treaty, which would have required approval by the Senate. Republicans did try to block the deal, but they weren’t able to get enough support to pass the legislation in the Senate.

Why are kids today less patriotic?

The first bell of the day rings at a local school, and a voice blares over the intercom, asking students to rise from their seats and say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

This is a familiar practice to students across the United States, since most states currently require schools to recite the pledge at the beginning of each day. And yet, some students opt out of the ritual, choosing instead to remain seated, or stand but stay silent.

Are these students less patriotic than those who stand willingly and proudly to recite the pledge? As someone who studies how young people engage with politics, I think the answer may be a bit more complex than you think. When it comes to the flag as a symbol, a public opinion poll conducted by the Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness suggests that young people see the flag less as a symbol to be proud of and more as a symbol of what is wrong with the country. If more students are associating the flag with flaws in the system, it would explain why some students opt out of standing for the pledge of allegiance or other celebratory acts.

In the end, it’s too simplistic to say that young people who are dissatisfied with the U.S. at present aren’t patriotic. It’s likely that the very students who are refusing to stand for the pledge are exhibiting their patriotism by demanding a better tomorrow, as was seen in the student protest movements of the 1960s and other current student-led protests.

This might provide all Americans with some hope, since it means young people actually care about the future state of affairs. It may also signal it is time to work together to build a country that we can all celebrate.

Hidden Details In Art

We are excited to announce the next book in the Encounter Series will be out in 2020! The title is NO MERCY. I'm currently working on the next cover design and will be releasing it to the public as soon as it is finished. Meanwhile, I have an amazing drawing by Hareston Clay featuring characters Smalls and Stone. Keep an eye here over the next few months for a sneak peek at hidden details inside this intricate art!

(Note that the pub date has not been announced but you can meet Smalls and Stone in Book One TWISTED and get to know them even better when Book 2, NO MERCY is release in 2020!).

https://www.carlalanpublishing.com