Three and a half more years! Whew!

 

Let's open now with some good news from my older daughter, who just started a new job: Hi Mom, expressing gratitude for your assistance and sharing my excitement about future career opportunities.

=

Her message continued:  We had a tornado here in Florida on Wednesday that decimated a trailer park; weather past few weeks has been horrendous. Hail bigger than quarters, pop-up thunderstorms with really strong winds, and downpours that soak you in minutes if you're outside.  

Was that just a spate of bad weather or evidence of climate change? Let's see if it continues. 

I told another daughter who is a federal employee, "Glad you are hanging in there on the job. The Trump administration seems less eager to slash the federal workforce now that Musk is gone. Maybe they have seen that federal job layoffs not only might save money, but also have some negative effects." 

A longtime friend, an avid reader, commented about my Confessions book, I think about your human rights trek across Cuba as akin to the pilgrimage of a "holy fool."  As you say about your adventures in Nicaragua, people mistook you for a "harmless little old lady" which allowed you to hide in plain sight.  

Another longtime friend, Salvador from Brazil, tells me he finally was able to bring his fiancée here from Vietnam after 2 years, so now they are married and living in North Carolina. He is 20 years her senior. Bringing her here in this fraught political climate, with so many restrictions on immigration, required a lot of perseverance, patience, and just plain good luck. 

 Parabéns, congratulations! Salvador! 

Earlier today, while we were driving around, a mother goose and her goslings, were crossing the road. Where was father goose? Where, in fact, is papa buck whenever we see a passel of does, sometimes with fawns, all passing by together? Or daddy duck when mom is out swimming with the ducklings? These absent fathers must live somewhere. Even among humans, I often see a woman out with her child or children with no dad around. 

Now let's consider something else we already know only too well, namely that American voters by a rather small margin recently chose Donald Trump as our nation's president. As a result, we are all currently facing the consequences of that vote. 

Should I go back to Honduras now ? I am seriously considering that possibility. I don't care to live under another Trump presidency. l

Yahoo, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Is in Big Trouble

Apparently, a lot of the bill's math is quite shaky and much of the debt is hidden. Trump still calls it 

"beautiful." 

Bloomberg, How a GOP accounting maneuver hides $3.8 trillion in red ink from Trump's 

'big, beautiful bill'

Despite laments and pleas from the public and even from Republican voters, Donald Trump says he can simply do whatever he wants whenever he wants, so, not only does he support the GOP budget, but he is going ahead to pave over the iconic White House Rose Garden to facilitate holding press conferences out there. And he doesn't care what people think as he is in charge now, so nobody can tell him what to do.

The US has a serious worker shortage these days, exacerbated by immigration restrictions and border closures. Again, Mr. Trump apparently doesn't care. He seems to feel free to do whatever he wants, just like monarchs of old. Those who oppose him are in for a big fight. The man often simply ignores court orders. Is there any way to make him comply? No one is going to arrest the president and he may not care if his appointees get arrested. (He is now king of the world, after all.)

Who Is the Mad King Now? NY Times.

Atlantic, How Trump is using his power to profit and why no one will stop him Most presidents wait until they leave the White House to cash in, but President Trump takes a different approach. Crypto deals, hotels, golf courses, 747s, everything is on the table. The panel discusses the ways Trump is treating the White House, and Mar-a-Lago, as a place to make sure his children are even richer than he is.

Although the President takes credit for a term he used recently, actually it was Roman Emperor Hadrian who came up with “peace through strength” about 2,000 years ago, not Donald Trump.

Fortune, Trump’s war against Fed Chair Jerome Powell is crushing the value of the U.S. dollar   Donald Trump has called Fed Chair Jerome Powell "stupid" for not lowering interest rates as he has demanded. But no one is paying much attention, because Trump's pronouncements often make no sense.  Powell's term is not up until May, 2026, and he has indicated that he has no plans to step down early. It is Trump, not Powell, who is reducing the value of the dollar. 

CNN, Trump administration scrambles to rehire key federal workers after DOGE firings  

High time to start rehiring again, though no one admits to having made a mistake. 

US health secretary Kennedy says he brought back 722 CDC employees, 220 at NIH | Reuters

No matter what, Mr. Trump makes sure he remains at the center of attention.

"Struck by lightening" refers to a very rare event. But if such a strike should happen to land on you, then your own odds are 100%. Is that what's happened to us Americans with Trump's election? 

The bride in the following case must feel that fate had doomed her marriage when she lost her new husband on their honeymoon when, yes, he was struck by lightening. 

Fox, Honeymoon ends in tragedy as lightning strike claims newlywed's life on Florida beach

So now that young woman is a widow and we Americans are stuck with President Trump for 3 and a half more years. 

Then on June 25, our high temperature here in Berkeley Springs rose to 99 F and we received an emergency weather alert. And the heat has continued, finally cooling off with rain.

                                                        Wildflowers are in full bloom. 

Orange flowers like these below adorn W Va. roadways. 

Wash. Post, In West Virginia, Medicaid is a lifeline. GOP cuts could devastate the state.

GOP states are particularly reliant on a program that President Donald Trump and other Republicans have targeted for deep spending reductions

W Va. has many Medicaid recipients who voted for Trump, the man who now wants to slash their benefits.  

Cutting off any federally funded program completely and abruptly not only affects current recipients directly, but also impacts providers and the whole interconnected economy beyond. If federally funded programs are to be cut, then that should be done for a sound reason and only gradually over a period of years to allow all those affected time to adjust. (It's very hard to cut funding for a program that people have already come to rely on, much harder than never starting the program to begin with.)  . 

Politico, Trump is ‘not all there,’ Newsom says amid Los Angeles fight

The California Democrat is dinging the president on his mental acuity.

 [Trump once bragged that he had "aced" a mental acuity test. Apparently that was just a routine screening for Alzheimer's. So was he really ever "all there"? I've taken that simple Alzheimer's screening myself and also "aced" it. No big deal.]

NY Times, Fears Run High as Iran Weighs Response to U.S. Strikes

ISRAEL, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION HALT THE EVICTION OF SALEH DIAB AND HIS FAMILY Saleh Diab and his family are at risk of unlawful transfer from occupied East Jerusalem after the Israeli District Court rejected their appeal against eviction from their home in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in February 2025. These forced evictions, led by settler group Nachalat Shimon, are part of a continuing pattern of dispossession in Sheikh Jarrah. In May, the Israeli Supreme Court granted the family a leave to appeal this decision, marking their final legal lifeline against displacement.

A few years ago, the Dalai Lama and I met in Washington, DC. We didn't shake hands, just bowed to each other and had a brief conversation in English. Now he is 90, and I am 87. And soon he is due to make an important announcement about his succession. 

As my readers already know, I am not a supporter of "abortion rights" because I believe that the lives and rights of 2 individuals are involved. We all started out as embryos and fetuses. Nonetheless, I acknowledge that abortions and also miscarriages are common everywhere, with not every conception resulting in a live birth, so that many potential persons never get to experience life. Whether that is a blessing or a curse depends on what sort of life they might have had. Although infanticide is not uncommon, the deliberate killing of an already born child through either abuse or neglect is usually legally punished, while killing an unborn often is not.

Speaking now from personal experience, I have found it somewhat disconcerting to feel something? someone? moving around independently inside during a pregnancy. Is that another person? Once he or she emerges, then personhood is fully recognized and must be legally protected, but not necessarily beforehand. I disagree with making this distinction, which threatens someone's very life and future survival before they've even had a chance 

Even though every human life is characterized by both joys and sorrows, with both positive and negative consequences, both for each person and for all others sharing his or her life on earth, I would still support giving everyone a chance to keep on living, even before birth, regardless of their particular stage of development. Of course, every life necessarily is also finite and for some people, their own life becomes not worth living, as is evidenced by suicides and euthanasia. Some individuals may create so much pain and havoc, that others, even parents, might wish they had never been born. But I would say, let's give everyone a chance and also leave it up to each and every one of us to make our own life and that of others worth living to the extent of our ability. Does that make any sense? This is not a simple matter, so I'd welcome any readers' comments and feedback.

I also do not support biological males' participation in women's sports, especially after "transitioning" at later ages. Quite a few "transitioners" have reverted back to their male birth gender after winning monetary prizes in women's sports. 

                                        Here I was on a previous visit to Honduras, back in 2022.

Go back on this blog to July 23, 2024 to see photos of my previous visits to Honduras and more about my humanitarian visits to some 40 countries all over the world. The first version of this blog began in 2009 and continued until Sept. 27, 2019, when it abruptly stopped. 

I then started  https://honduraspeacecorps2.blogspot.com

You can also read more in my books. Most people I've met here in W. Va. have lived here ever since their birth and I have yet to meet another author. 

So, yes, folks, I've seriously considered going back to Honduras until the end of the Trump presidency, just for my own sanity and peace of mind. But since my kids and grandkids have asked me to please stay here in the US, I'll be staying on at least for now. 

Celebrating Juneteenth and Beyond

If you were puzzled about the meaning of the Juneteenth holiday, June 19th celebrates the end of slavery.

Juneteenth was originally celebrated in Texas on June 19, 1866. That was the day that black people there first learned of the Emancipation Proclamation, more than two years after it was initially issued.

According to Wikipedia:Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday's name, first used in the 1890s, is a portmanteau of the words June and nineteenth, referring to June 19, 1865, the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War.

The day after Juneteenth this year was also a special day. 

Northern Hemisphere · Eastern Time

        

The 2025 summer solstice fell on Friday, June 20, according to NASA and the Old Farmer's Almanac. This marks the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, when the earth's tilt positions it closest to the Sun. From now on, our daylight hours will be getting shorter. 

Wash. Post, U.K. lawmakers vote to legalize assisted dying

Has human life been extended too far in some places and for some people, especially those who may be living now without purpose, relationships, or physical wellbeing?  Some people may feel they have lived ra bit too long and are now ready to call it quits. 

Cartoonists had a field day when Mr.Trump declared himself the final arbiter of the US Constitution. 

CNN, Trump: ‘I don’t know’ if I need to uphold the Constitution

                           A US bill honoring Trump has been proposed. Is this guy a king or a president?

After his loud complaints that he had never been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he felt he so richly deserved, someone finally listened to Mr. Trump's repeated grievances.

The Government of Pakistan Recommends President Donald J. Trump for 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

Pakistan nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize, praising ‘stellar statemanship’

    If Trump should actually be awarded the Peace Prize, then that prize will no longer have any value. Donald Trump may want desperately to be loved and admired by the rest of

the world and even by generations to come, but it's not going to happen. Unfortunately for him, the harder he tries to promote himself,

the more he fails. He is a pathetic, insecure human being whom history will judge rather harshly.

 Wash. Post, 

Trump reports over $600M in income, $1.6B in assets

The President's income comes from many sources beyond his presidential salary: crypto, wallets, golfs clubs, and Bibles among numerous other goods. Trump is not shy about using the presidency to enrich himself and his family. 

He also seems to enjoy appearing on camera.

As July 4 approaches, Trump has declared that there are too many federal holidays. (Workers would disagree.)

President Trump wants reporters to only ask question that show him in a positive light. At a recent press conference, Trump raged at a reporter: “Do you ever ask a positive question at CNN? My supporters are more in love with me today, and I’m in love with them, more than they were even at election time.” (He did not answer the question.) 

And Mr. Trump also carefully avoided using the world "erected" when flagpoles were being installed outside the White House. Instead, he said he was "putting up" the flagpoles. 

Donald Trump likes posing with military hardware to show that he means business.

Israel has now struck Tehran with no end of that war in sight. 

     NY Times, Heavily Armed Man at ‘No Kings’ Protest Had 13 Bombs at Home, Police Say

        Is testosterone what makes so many men more aggressive and more dangerous than most                   women? In 2023 in the US, there were 14,327 murders by men, 1,898 by women. American                women are many times more likely to be murdered by men than men by women. 

        And men's own victims are most often other men. Even in the animal kingdom, males fight                each other physically much more often than females do, and they usually only fight other males.         Female animals fight mainly to protect their offspring. 

         NY Times, The Feminist Case for Spending Billions to Boost the Birthrate Fertility decline                         is a devilish  problem. What if the only solution is to treat parenting as a public service worth paying for?

          These countries all now pay baby bonuses: 1 Argentina · 2 Australia · 3 Canada · 4 Czech                      Republic · 5 France · 6 Italy · 7 Lithuania · 8 Luxembourg 

        Besides considering giving out baby bonuses, the US would have another easy way to boost    

        fertility and increase the working age population, that is, by simply admitting more refugees and                         immigrants, but Mr. Trump and his advisors have nixed that idea. 

        

        Guns remain the leading cause of death for American young people. It's way past the time to revise         the "right to bear arms". The NRA no longer holds sway. 

 

        We've had a whole lot of rain here recently in W Va., with many cars and homes having been                 flooded.  At least 8 people have been killed. Our own house, located on a hill, is partly raised up             on stilts, so no water came inside. 

     Women's sports are now getting their due, but haven't caught up yet in popularity with men's sports. 

        

.

                 NY Times, The Senegal women's national basketball team cancelled a 10-day training                              camp after the U.S. rejected visas .

El Centro in DC's Georgetown where I have dined is closing its doors as their lease was not renewed. 

Here's a note I just sent to former Capitol Hill neighbors:

Hello Jean and Greg, 

Greetings to you and your family. I really miss everyone on Capitol Hill and wish I could still afford to live in my old house there now. Nor is anyone rushing in to buy it, as would have happened before Trump's election this time. In our present economic climate, there are many more home sellers than buyers. So these days, as a retiree and a social security recipient, I am supporting 2 houses, which is not easy. 

No doubt you have more on your mind than whether [daughter] Alison speaks unaccented Spanish. But she actually does, which is quite remarkable, especially given that she learned Spanish later in life and has never lived in--or even visited, as far as I know--a Spanish speaking country. [Alison had just stopped by to see me.] 

On my blog, I mentioned the case of Nixon adviser Henry Kissinger, who came to the US at age 15, but was never able to ditch his German accent. Most Americans I've met in Honduras, likewise speak Spanish with a gringo accent. The only reason that I do not is because I learned both Spanish and English when I was only 2 when my family went to Honduras while my dad was doing archeological work there. ​

Here above was my Dad back in 1940, putting                together a  statue in Copan, Honduras. We rode into that site on horseback. 

Here I was in Honduras back in            2022. I don't know if or when I might go back there again.

I'm passing along this next message received in Spanish regarding Haiti, even though Spanish is not a major Haitian language. (Use your Google translator.) 

Mujeres haitianas: Agentes de cambio en la reconstrucción de la gobernanza local

Aunque no estén en el foco de atención de la crisis que lleva años atravesando el Estado caribeño, diversos espacios y organizaciones se han mantenido a lo largo del tiempo trabajando para que la mujer haitiana sea el agente de cambio necesario. La resiliencia de estas mujeres es lo que ha trascendido en la historia de Haití, a pesar de los problemas sistémicos arraigados a los que se enfrentan en todas las áreas de sus vidas.

    

     Yes, folks, I've been to Africa and walked amid giraffes, and mingled with both animals and people all over the world, altogether visiting some 40 countries in every continent except  Australia, if that can be considered a continent. My international travel is over as, at age 87, I plan to stay put right now in Berkeley Springs, W Va., with enough to see and do all around here. 

                              Here are some W Va. seasonal fruits, many growing wild, just ready to be picked. 

                              There are both wild and domestic cherries in W Va.. Wild chrries are rather sour. 

    

                                      Many local fruits are ripe now, including cherries. 

  I'd still like to go back to Honduras to visit, but would need to get a new passport, as mine has expired.

 

How about having antique furniture in your home? I do love old furniture myself, with several items from my DC house now here in W Va. My son, sharing our home here, really doesn't care. If I had a place for these, I might even consider buying them. 

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I've just found out that a very good friend, someone I have known my whole life, has died in California. She was 94. 

Dearest Pat, I will miss you. 

We had kept connected thanks to a regular visitor with a cell phone, as Pat had never used a computer nor a cell phone or even looked at the internet.  

Patricia C. Ostrow

August 16, 1930 – June 5, 2025