While out driving this morning, we saw a wild turkey run cross the road. Turkeys seem to stay around all winter, not like the wild ducks that go south, but returning here soon.
On St. Patrick's Day, Donald Trump wore a green tie.
In a meeting with Japan's prime minister, Donald Trump made a lame joke about Pearl Harbor. Everyone remained stony-faced. No one laughed.
Republican leaders reject demands for public hearings on Trump's war with Iran
Gabbard avoids answering whether Iran posed an 'imminent threat'
The answer, if she were truthful, would probably be "no".
AP, Through lectures, scoldings and outright threats, President Donald Trump and his aides are ratcheting up the pressure on journalists to cover the war in the Middle East the way the administration wants.
The Republican president has fumed on social media about stories he doesn't like and berated a reporter on Air Force One. The government's top media regulator has warned that broadcasters risk losing their licenses if they don't stay away from “fake news.” Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have questioned the patriotism of news outlets because of their reporting.
The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is asking for an additional $200 billion for the war. Hegseth did not directly confirm that number, but said, "it takes money to kill bad guys." Is he even more of an idiot than Donald Trump himself?
Pete Hegseth is, of course, no true patriot himself, just a blatant liar and a shameless war criminal now being protected full-stop by Donald Trump. Do we have to wait nearly 3 more years to jettison that whole wretched bunch? The midterms will soon give us a head start, so we need to get out the vote, making it a referendum on the current administration.
Trump has plunged our country into an unnecessary war which former allies are unwilling to join. (Donald, you broke it, so you alone must fix it.) Trump says never mind, he doesn't need their help anyway.
Trump Hits New MAGA Enemy With Unhinged Truth Social Post
Even MAGA is no longer supportive.
Donald Trump used Joe Kent’s own words against him after the National Counterterrorism Center director quit over the Iran war. Kent, 45, is the first senior member of the Trump administration to leave his post as a result of the war, angering Trump’s “America First” supporters. In his resignation letter, Kent, an Army veteran and former CIA paramilitary officer, wrote that Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."
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“They jammed through a Big Ugly Bill to help billionaires, they defend Trump’s tariffs that are raising costs on working people, they continue to cover up for the predators in the Epstein files, and now they are backing another illegal war in the Middle East that is costing over a billion dollars a day in taxpayer money,” that is what Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said of House Republicans. “Over a billion dollars a day in taxpayer money. But they’re not talking about any of that.”
Instead of assassinating Iran's leaders, what about extending an olive branch, starting right now with a temporary truce?
Israeli Journalist Gets Death Threats After Reporting Missile Strike
On March 10, an Iranian missile struck a field near Jerusalem, but no one was injured.
Bets had been placed and a journalist was threatened but he stood by his story. He is now getting death threats.
Trump says ‘taking Cuba’ could be next
"I could do anything I want with it."
Cuba is now pretty vulnerable without any more Russian support. I asked a friend for comment. He is someone, like me, who had visited Cuba back when the Soviets were sending lots of money and advisors. Here is what he said:
Trump's foreign policy (including policy toward Cuba) is in a state of total confusion. I am opposed to overthrowing the current regime, although I support openly announced aid for civil society groups who are enduring repression. The Cuban people need to assume responsibility for the government of their own country. The civic lethargy of the majority of Cubans has been a disappointment, but the Cuban people are responsible for creating their own future.
He may be right, that Cubans need to create their own future, but they have no experience in doing that.
As for the war in Iran, another correspondent urges that we all call our senators, asking them to stop this war right now.
*MAKE URGENT CALLS TO YOUR SENATORS TODAY:*
1) Call the Congressional switchboard at *202-224-3121*
2) Ask to be connected to ONE OF your senators' offices, and repeat
for your other senator. Make 2 calls!!!
3) Once connected, give them this message (in as many of your own words as
possible):
*“Hello, my name is _________and I’m a constituent from __________[City,
State]. I’m calling to urge the Senator to vote for SJ Res 118, the Iran
War Powers Resolution that Senator Booker is calling to the floor for a
vote. The Trump administration has launched an illegal war of choice with
Iran that has already killed children in their classrooms and harmed
countless civilians. The vast majority of Americans continue to oppose
Trump's reckless war of choice with Iran.*
The message continues:
*Amnesty International is calling for accountability for the school bombing
and other unlawful strikes, and Congress has to be part of that
accountability. This vote will determine whether the Senate will allow this
war to continue without authorization or finally step in and say no. Please
support the War Powers Resolution today and speak out publicly against any more
war with Iran."
I sent the following message to another friend my age, as we both now speculate about the end of our own life.
Hello old friend, I'm relieved to know that you are still with us here on planet earth. A few friends around our age have been lost recently and I'm not so sure about several others who no longer answer emails. I'd be happy to reach 90 and perhaps a bit beyond, hopefully without much more decline.
My Dad died suddenly of a stroke at age 81. Mother just refused to eat when she reached 92, only taking tiny sips of water, so she essentially starved to death. She really didn't want to go on living.
The mother of friends in Vermont actually first met their father when he was traveling in Egypt, as it was love at first sight. He brought her back to Vermont and they had several children. He died young, but she lived to age 104, though she told me over the phone that the years after age 100 were actually pretty hard and she would have preferred going out on her 100th birthday. She had female Hispanic caregivers who somehow had made it to Vermont--I spoke with them in Spanish by phone. I am not sure I really want to live to age 100 myself, but if and when I get closer to that age, I might well change my mind. My Dad had the right idea, just drop dead one fine day as he was getting out of an indoor pool after a short swim--no long decline. I'd like to go to sleep one night and simply never wake up.
In other correspondence with a female friend, we got into the subject of post-partum depression. I said:
As for post-partum depression, which I have experienced myself, the hormonal shifts,
over which we have no control, can really mess up your psyche. I felt like jumping out of my second-story bedroom window with my new baby in my arms. I had absolutely no control
of my own thoughts or emotions. Logic and experience were useless. Maybe that's what it feels like to be mentally ill? A partner or family member should keep a 24-hour watch on a new mother for the first few days, especially after the birth of her first child.
Fortunately, my suicidal thoughts did not last very long. Many women never get them. My
paternal great-grandmother, living out on the Canadian prairies, gave birth to 12 children
who all lived to adulthood, and she never complained about post-partum depression as far as we know.
I thought spring had actually arrived until we then had snow again.
But now winter really seems to be over.
