COVID broke our hearts, and revealed a broken country. Can we build something better?
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The individual stories Jones recounts in the book are bolstered by the voices of authors and thinkers past and present, from journalists like Studs Terkel to fiction writers like Ursula K. Le Guin, all of whose work questions American capitalism and its effects on human beings.
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'Well before COVID in this country, we'd already become accustomed to a certain level of preventable illness and death,' Jones says. 'COVID just brought that reality briefly to the fore.'
Even as our political moment may cause fear or anger, Jones says, doom is not helpful. 'I have to remain hopeful because what's the alternative? Do you just give up on the country, give up on [solving] poverty, give up on working-class people?'
'The way our political economy works now is not the way that it has to work in the future,' Jones says, adding that she hopes the book will encourage readers 'to think about more humane possibilities. I want people to think more seriously about issues like single-payer health care and why we don't have that in the United States, but so many of our peer countries [do],' she says. 'Things could look different.'
Sarah Jones will read at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at
.
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And now for a few recommendations …
Christina Rivera Garza won the Pulitzer for 'Liliana's Invincible Summer,' her memoir about the quest to bring justice, or at least remembrance, to her sister who had been killed by an abusive former partner. In '
On a lighter note, a new romance from Linda Holmes is always a pleasure. In '
Andrea Barrett has won all the prizes for her fiction, and deservedly so. In her new book, '
Another work of nonfiction from a fiction writer is Omar El Akkad's '
Kate Tuttle, a freelance writer and critic, can be reached at
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Hamilton Spectator
35 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
What it would take to convert a jet from Qatar into Air Force One to safely fly Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump really wants to fly on an upgraded Air Force One — but making that happen could depend on whether he's willing to cut corners with security. As government lawyers sort out the legal arrangement for accepting a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, another crucial conversation is unfolding about modifying the plane so it's safe for the American president. Installing capabilities equivalent to the decades-old 747s now used as Air Force One would almost certainly consign the project to a similar fate as Boeing's replacement initiative, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns . Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers Thursday that those security modifications would cost less than $400 million but provided no details. Satisfying Trump's desire to use the new plane before the end of his term could require leaving out some of those precautions, however. A White House official said Trump wants the Qatari jet ready as soon as possible while adhering to security standards. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not provide details on equipment issues or the timeline. Trump has survived two assassination attempts , and Iran allegedly also plotted to kill him, so he's well aware of the danger he faces. However, he seems willing to take some chances with security, particularly when it comes to communications. For example, he likes to keep his personal phone handy despite the threat of hacks. He boasted this week that the government got the jet 'for free,' saying, 'We need it as Air Force One until the other ones are done.' Here's a look at what it would take to make the Qatari plane into a presidential transport: What makes a plane worthy of being Air Force One? Air Force One is the call sign for any plane that's carrying the president. The first aircraft to get the designation was a propeller-powered C-54 Skymaster, which ferried Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in 1945. It featured a conference room with a bulletproof window. Things are a lot more complicated these days. Boeing has spent years stripping down and rebuilding two 747s to replace the versions that have carried presidents for more than three decades. The project is slated to cost more than $5.3 billion and may not be finished before Trump leaves office. A 2021 report made public through the Freedom of Information Act outlines the unclassified requirements for the replacement 747s under construction. At the top of the list — survivability and communications. The government decided more than a decade ago that the new planes had to have four engines so they could remain airborne if one or two fail, said Deborah Lee James, who was Air Force secretary at the time. That creates a challenge because 747s are no longer manufactured, which could make spare parts harder to come by. Air Force One also has to have the highest level of classified communications, anti-jamming capabilities and external protections against foreign surveillance, so the president can securely command military forces and nuclear weapons during a national emergency. It's an extremely sensitive and complex system, including video, voice and data transmissions. James said there are anti-missile measures and shielding against radiation or an electromagnetic pulse that could be caused by a nuclear blast. 'The point is, it remains in flight no matter what,' she said. Will Trump want all the security bells and whistles? If the Qatari plane is retrofitted to presidential standards, it could cost $1.5 billion and take years, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that aren't publicly available. Testifying before Congress this week, Meink discounted such estimates, arguing that some of the costs associated with retrofitting the Qatari plane would have been spent anyway as the Air Force moves to build the long-delayed new presidential planes, including buying aircraft for training and to have spares available if needed. In response, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., said that based on the contract costs for the planes that the Air Force is building, it would cost about $1 billion to strip down the Qatar plane, install encrypted communications, harden its defenses and make other required upgrades. James said simply redoing the wiring means 'you'd have to break that whole thing wide open and almost start from scratch.' Trump, as commander in chief, could waive some of these requirements. He could decide to skip shielding systems from an electromagnetic pulse, leaving his communications more vulnerable in case of a disaster but shaving time off the project. After all, Boeing has already scaled back its original plans for the new 747s. Their range was trimmed by 1,200 nautical miles, and the ability to refuel while airborne was scrapped. Paul Eckloff, a former leader of protection details at the Secret Service, expects the president would get the final say. 'The Secret Service's job is to plan for and mitigate risk,' he said. 'It can never eliminate it.' If Trump does waive some requirements, James said that should be kept under wraps because 'you don't want to advertise to your potential adversaries what the vulnerabilities of this new aircraft might be.' It's unlikely that Trump will want to skimp on the plane's appearance. He keeps a model of a new Air Force One in the Oval Office, complete with a darker color scheme that echoes his personal jet instead of the light blue design that's been used for decades. What happens next? Trump toured the Qatari plane in February when it was parked at an airport near Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort. Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Allvin was there, too. The U.S. official said the jet needs maintenance but not more than what would be expected of a four-engine plane of its complexity. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it would be irresponsible to put the president and national security equipment aboard the Qatari plane 'without knowing that the aircraft is fully capable of withstanding a nuclear attack.' 'It's a waste of taxpayer dollars,' she said. Meanwhile, Boeing's project has been hampered by stress corrosion cracks on the planes and excessive noise in the cabins from the decompression system, among other issues that have delayed delivery, according to a Government Accountability Office report released last year. Boeing referred questions to the Air Force, which said in a statement that it's working with the aircraft manufacturer to find ways to accelerate the delivery of at least one of the 747s. Even so, the aircraft will have to be tested and flown in real-world conditions to ensure no other issues. James said it remains to be seen how Trump would handle any of those challenges. 'The normal course of business would say there could be delays in certifications,' she said. 'But things seem to get waived these days when the president wants it.' ___ AP writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Atlantic
an hour ago
- Atlantic
Sometimes a Parade Is Just a Parade
President Donald Trump has gotten his way and will oversee a military parade in Washington, D.C., this summer on the Army's birthday, which also happens to be his own. Plans call for nearly 7,000 troops to march through the streets as 50 helicopters buzz overhead and tanks chew up the pavement. One option has the president presiding from a viewing stand on Constitution Avenue as the Army's parachute team lands to present him with an American flag. The prospect of all this martial pomp, scheduled for June 14, has elicited criticism from many quarters. Some of it is fair—this president does not shy away from celebrating himself or flexing executive power, and the parade could be seen as an example of both—but some of it is misguided. Trump has a genius for showmanship, and showcasing the American military can be, and should be, a patriotic celebration. The president wanted just such a tribute during his first term, after seeing France's impressive Bastille Day celebrations. Then–Secretary of Defense James Mattis reportedly refused, effectively threatening to resign by telling the president to ask his next secretary of defense. Three secretaries of defense later, Trump has gotten enthusiastic agreement from current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Criticism of the display begins with its price tag, estimated as high as $45 million. The projected outlay comes at a time of draconian budget cuts elsewhere: 'Cutting cancer research while wasting money on this? Shameful,' Republicans Against Trump posted on X. 'Peanuts compared to the value of doing it,' Trump replied when asked about the expense. 'We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we're going to celebrate it.' Other prominent critics of the Trump administration have expressed concern that the parade's real purpose is to use the military to intimidate the president's critics. The historian Heather Cox Richardson wrote on her Substack, 'Trump's aspirations to authoritarianism are showing today in the announcement that there will be a military parade on Trump's 79th birthday.' Ron Filipkowski, the editor in chief of the progressive media company MeidasTouch, posted, 'The Fuhrer wants a Nuremberg style parade on his birthday.' Experts on civil-military relations in the United States also expressed consternation. 'Having tanks rolling down streets of the capital doesn't look like something consistent with the tradition of a professional, highly capable military,' the scholar Risa Brooks told The New York Times. 'It looks instead like a military that is politicized and turning inwardly, focusing on domestic-oriented adversaries instead of external ones.' Even the military leadership has been chary. During Trump's first term, then–Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Paul Selva reflected that military parades are 'what dictators do.' But these critics may well be projecting more general concerns about Trump onto a parade. Not everything the Trump administration does is destructive to democracy—and the French example suggests that dictatorships are not the only governments to hold military displays. The U.S. itself has been known to mount victory parades after successful military campaigns. In today's climate, a military parade could offer an opportunity to counter misperceptions about the armed forces. It could bring Americans closer to service members and juice military recruitment—all of which is sorely needed. The American military is shrinking, not due to a policy determination about the size of the force needed, but because the services cannot recruit enough Americans to defend the country. In 2022, 77 percent of American youth did not qualify for military service, for reasons that included physical or mental-health problems, misconduct, inaptitude, being overweight, abuse of drugs or alcohol, or being a dependent. Just 9 percent of Americans ages of 16 to 24 (a prime recruitment window) are even interested in signing up. In 2023, only the Marine Corps and Space Force met their recruiting goals; the Army and Navy recruited less than 70 percent of their goals and fell 41,000 recruits short of sustaining their current force. Recruiting picked up dramatically in 2024 but remains cause for concern. One possible reason for this is that most Americans have little exposure to men and women in uniform. Less than 0.5 percent of Americans are currently serving in the military—and many who do so live, shop, and worship on cordoned military bases. Misperceptions about military service are therefore rife. One is that the U.S. military primarily recruits from minority groups and the poor. In fact, 17 percent of the poorest quintile of Americans serve, as do 12 percent of the richest quintile. The rest of the military is from middle-income families. Those who live near military bases and come from military families are disproportionately represented. The Army's polling indicates that concerns about being injured, killed, or suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are major impediments to recruitment. Women worry that they will be sexually harassed or assaulted (the known figures on this in the U.S. military are 6.2 percent of women and 0.7 percent of men). Additionally, a Wall Street Journal –NORC poll found that far fewer American adults considered patriotism important in 2023 (23 percent) than did in 1998 (70 percent)—another possible reason that enthusiasm for joining up has dampened. A celebratory parade could be helpful here, and it does not have to set the country on edge. Americans seem comfortable with thanking military men and women for their service, having them pre-board airplanes, applauding them at sporting events, and admiring military-aircraft flybys. None of those practices is suspected of corroding America's democracy or militarizing its society. Surely the nation can bear up under a military parade once every decade or two, especially if the parade serves to reconnect veterans of recent wars, who often—rightly—grumble that the country tends to disown its wars as matters of concern to only those who serve in them. The risk, of course, is that Trump will use the occasion not to celebrate the troops but to corrode their professionalism by proclaiming them his military and his generals. This is, after all, the president who claimed that Dan Caine, his nominee to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wore a MAGA hat and attested his willingness to kill for Trump, all of which Caine denies. This is also a president known to mix politics with honoring the military, as he did in Michigan, at Arlington National Cemetery, at West Point's commencement, and in a Memorial Day post on Truth Social calling his opponents ' scum.' Even so, the commander in chief has a right to engage with the military that Americans elected him to lead. The responsibility of the military—and of the country—is to look past the president's hollow solipsism and embrace the men and women who defend the United States. Being from a military family or living near a military base has been shown to predispose people toward military service. This suggests that the more exposure people have to the military, the likelier they are to serve in it. A big celebration of the country's armed forces—with static displays on the National Mall afterward, and opportunities for soldiers to mix with civilians—could familiarize civilians with their armed forces and, in doing so, draw talented young Americans to serve.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Libertyville's Dunn Museum displaying famed comic book artist's portraits of heroes and villains
One hundred portraits of good guys and bad guys created by celebrated comic book artist Alex Ross will be on display in 'Alex Ross: Heroes & Villains,' June 29 – Feb. 16 at the Dunn Museum in Libertyville. 'We wanted to bring Alex Ross to the Dunn Museum because he is one of the world's most renowned comic book artists, known for his distinctive and powerful visual style,' said Director of Education Alyssa Firkus. 'His work allows us to reach a broader audience — people who might not normally come through our doors.' Firkus noted that Alex's distinctive style is 'influenced by classic American Illustration,' which he studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. 'The exhibition will feature all of the top DC and Marvel heroes and villains,' Firkus reported. Ross, whose work was previously exhibited at the Dunn Museum in 2019 with 'Marvelocity: The Art of Alex Ross,' is such a fan of the museum that he said, 'I was very happy to be back there. They could have me every year if they wanted.' The artist said that he was surprised to learn that this is the largest show of his work that has ever been exhibited. 'I didn't know it was that wide of a show because it's all focused on one subject of work that I've done,' Ross admitted. The subjects included in the exhibit are the prime characters in both Marvel and DC Comics. It's a relief to know that good outweighs the bad in the exhibit and Ross' comic book world. 'The headcount of heroes will always outweigh the villains,' he promised. Ross' personal favorite hero has often been Superman 'because of the way I felt invested in the character when I worked on the comics,' he said. In terms of villains, Ross accorded that honor to Doctor Doom. For the exhibit, Ross is creating three new portraits of Joker and Harley Quinn, 'which are special insofar as I had not done any portraits of DC's villains.' The museum will be selling prints of these portraits as well as several others. Ross' career creating comic book heroes and villains began as an outgrowth of an assignment 25 years ago to create a life-size portrait of Superman that was designed to be a cardboard standup. 'That led to a whole line of life-size figures for DC, which were only released as posters,' Ross said. Twenty years later, Marvel asked the artist to create a mural for their offices. 'I borrowed from the earlier DC idea to do a series of figure shots that when composed together made a mural of life-size paintings,' although the actual mural figures were three feet high. These figures will be displayed at the Dunn Museum exhibit. It seems like a daunting task to create all these detailed portraits but Ross revealed that he can paint one in a day. 'Because there's no background, it makes it considerably easier to focus on executing a single figure a day,' he explained. Ross has worked on many comic book series—some running as long as 200 pages. The artist is currently working on a long graphic novel for Marvel Comics that he said will be his longest work to date 'that will be an original work by me that's written by me as well.' It is obvious that Ross loves what he does for a living. He declared, 'If you make your hobby your career, you're probably always doing it.' The artist will have a chance to mingle with his fans during 'A Night with Alex Ross,' a preview of the exhibit, 5-8 p.m. on June 28. Tickets for $125 are available at The ticket includes early access to the exhibit; a limited edition print by Alex Ross; tickets to three food trucks; complimentary beer, wine, and soda; and entry to the other galleries. Ross relishes the opportunity to meet fans, he indicated, noting that professional artists 'don't get a lot of feedback to our work. So, to engage with somebody and that they care is special.' For further information about the exhibit and the museum at 1899 W. Winchester Road in Libertyville, call 847-968-3400 or visit
