Monday's show: The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda

Monday's video: "Cautiously optimistic" about Colombia

Cautiously optimistic about Colombia: https://t.co/GOKlAxSpHC via @YouTube

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) May 28, 2018

Fathers is what our kids need!

  

As we approach Father's Day, let's chat about the "father crisis" in many communities in the US.

Years ago, Juan Williams, author and Fox News contributor, wrote The Tragedy of America's Disappearing Fathers:

"The extent of the problem is clear.

The nation's out-of-wedlock birth rate is 38%.

Among white children, 28% are now born to a single mother; among Hispanic children it is 50% and reaches a chilling, disorienting peak of 71% for black children.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly a quarter of America's white children (22%) do not have any male in their homes; nearly a third (31%) of Hispanic children and over half of black children (56%) are fatherless.
This represents a dramatic shift in American life.

In the early 1960s, only 2.3% of white children and 24% of black children were born to a single mom.

Having a dad, in short, is now a privilege, a ticket to middle-class status on par with getting into a good college."

Fathers' Day is around the corner.   Let's remember a simple truth: We need men to be responsible fathers.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

May 2007: Remember when Democrats were very rude to President Uribe?

A post from May 2007

Colombia's President Uribe is one of the most responsible leaders in Latin America.   Like Mexico's Pres. Calderon, Uribe enjoys strong support back home because he is dealing with the problems.

Yet, the Democrats treated Pres. Uribe poorly during his recent trip to the US.

Why? Because Uribe believes in making decisions and solving problems. The Democrats believe in making speeches and non-binding resolutions.

What are the Democrats thinking?

Robert Novak had a great article about Uribe and the Democrats:

"The first Colombian president to crack down on his country's corrupt army officer hierarchy, and to assault both right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing guerrillas, last week confronted Democrats wedded to out-of-date claims of civil rights abuses and to rigidly protectionist dogma.This is remarkable U.S. treatment for a rare friend on the South American continent, where Venezuela's leftist dictator Hugo Chavez can only exult in Uribe's embarrassment as he builds an anti-American bloc of nations.

A former congressional staffer, who in 1999 helped author Plan Colombia against narco-guerrillas, told me:"President Uribe may be the odd man out, and that's no way to treat our best ally in South America." (How to Lose an Ally)

In the real world, we choose to support men like Uribe or we will create more room for men like Chavez.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

President Hillary Clinton?

What if Hillary Clinton had won the election?    

Michael Goodwin has a few ideas in his new post:    

"Coupled with her breathtaking sense of entitlement, it is hard to see her presidency lifting the ­nation’s self-confidence, at home or abroad."

Goodwin raised some very good points.   

I would add that Hillary Clinton would have continued the devastation of the Democrat Party, i.e. they lost 1,000 seats under President Obama's two terms.

President Hillary Clinton would have faced serious threats from the party's left on domestic spending and the cultural issues, such as LGBT and abortion.

Add to all of this that Mrs. Clinton has "zero" personalty and you would have had a very unpopular president.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

May 2008 and those Josh Hamilton homers!

Ten years ago, Josh Hamilton was the talk of baseball.

Like Roy Hobbs, Hamilton came back from rock bottom to play major league ball.

Hamilton took the Rangers to a couple of World Series but never won the big one like Hobbs in that great movie, "The Natural".     To be honest, it was not Hamilton's fault.   It was the Rangers' bullpen who couldn't get the last strike in back to back innings.

This is how Albert Chen started his May 2008 article about Josh Hamilton:

"During his darkest hours -- after he had been banished from baseball in 2004 and was doing coke, downing a bottle of Crown Royal a day and burning through his entire $4 million signing bonus -- Hamilton had recurring dreams that he was "fighting the devil, an awful-looking thing," with a stick or a bat, swinging but always missing."

Like Chen wrote:

"Three hours before game time at Rangers Ballpark, fans are already gathering in the stands to watch the home team take batting practice, but the show doesn't really start until it's Hamilton's turn to step to the plate."

The Hamilton story ended abruptly in spring training 2016 when he couldn't  overcome injuries.    He is out of baseball now.   Nevertheless, his performance in 2008 and for the next few years made baseball a lot of fun in Texas.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

Bloody weekend in Chicago but does anyone care?

It happens every weekend but no one seems to care:   "8 people killed, 25 wounded in bloody weekend in Chicago".

It happened on the heels of a conflict of words between the police union and Mayor Emanuel.    

Many fear that the violence and shootings will increase with summer on its way.

By the way:   "In December 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau released data confirming Illinois had dropped below Pennsylvania as the sixth most populous state in the country, due to four consecutive years of population decline.  Even more troubling was the fact that Illinois’ population loss was primarily driven by Illinoisans relocating to other states at the rate of 1 person every 4.6 minutes."

That's a lot of people and taxes heading out!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.