18 months and counting until Donald Trump is gone, gone, gone from office. And now, Trump must also pay up!

 

Are we all going to make it until Trump is finally gone?-- "we" being not only Americans. but the entire world?  It often seems like touch-and-go, but then the threat eases up a bit and we all can exhale. Whew! It's certainly been quite a wild ride with Donald Trump recklessly steering the ship-of-state. And remember back when we even considered GW Bush to be pretty scary?!

Wash. Post, Trump approval stuck in the 30s amid pessimism on Iran and economy, poll finds

Americans give the president broadly negative assessments, and support has waned among many Republicans, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll.

 Is Donald Trump still up for the job, with a year and half still left to go? Do voters continue to support him? 

President Trump's overall approval rating has recently hovered between 36% and 39%. This is one of the lowest points of his second term, with his disapproval rating climbing to roughly 60%. Or is that simply just more "fake news"? The Donald seems not to be  overly concerned! 

Trump’s devoted base is really shrinking now

If that's actually case, it's about time! If the guy will now just retire quietly, we'll all be better off. He can play golf every day,

Add Yahoo as a preferr

Trump's prime-time speech on Thursday evening, July 16, was not scheduled to air on all networks. He wasn't very happy about that. I actually didn't listen to the speech. Trump has nothing to say to me. 

ABC, NBC will not air Trump's election security speech on broadcast networks

  
The address, which was expected to center around election security, put ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox between a rock and a hard place: either to air potentially false claims about the 2020 election or risk backlash from the White House and a confrontation with the FCCC. But some chose that risky path rather than give publicity to possible "fake news," this time coming directly from Mr. Trump himself. I did not actually listen to his speech, though I used to always listen to past presidents. With Trump, what's the point? So much of what he says is false anyway, so it's hard to know what actually might be true. The guy has lost all credibility. The 2020 election was not really "stolen." Voters just preferred Biden/Harris. 

Apparently due to the advice of his advisers, Trump's prime time speech was actually pretty vanilla, at least according to those who actually heard it. Trump covered his usual talking points, but not as aggressively as ususal, He apparently had been convinced to tone down

his rhetortic and to avoid controversial topics. It's good that Trump is now starting to listen to his advisers, who just want to help him (and all of us) get through these last remaining months of his presidency. Donald Trump cannot leave office soon enough, as far as I am concenred. I do hope to live to see the day when he is completely gone from office. Then so many of us will just heave a huge sigh of relief. 

================================================

Wash. Post, Hegseth touts a high-testosterone military, as doctors question his claims

The defense secretary said the Pentagon will test the testosterone levels of troops 30 and over. It was unclear if the plan would affect women or military fitness rules.

This matter was mentioned in the previous post. What is actually the point of measuring levels of testosterone, a male sex hormone, in military members? Having too much testosterone is harmful, as is having too little. Should the military get into the business of providing testosterone supplementation? Does Hegseth think giving it to members of the military would make them better combatants? More aggressive? More fearless? Bolder? (Or get them more often killed or injured?)

Testosterone, the main male sex hormone, helps build muscle, strengthen bones, and grow body hair. While mostly made in men's testicles, small amounts are also made in women's ovaries and in the adrenal glands. 

Pete Hegseth's current focus on testosterone is yet another demonstration of his faulty judgment and his utter lack of job qualifications, with the final responsibility resting with Donald Trump, who has named him and still keeps him on the job. Why? Why indeed!?

===========================================================

A retiring Republican lawmaker now feels free to speak  out. 

The Hill
Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), a retiring Republican who has become one of the most vocal critics of the Trump administration in his party, delivered harsh words for President Trump's top-priority, voter ID legislation, on the Senate floor on Thursday, saying he would stall it if the legislation came again to the Senate. "If I see a reconciliation bill come from the House with another failed attempt to confuse this election, I will use every device I have available to slow down the wheels of government until people cop a clue and do the math," Tillis said, nearly shouting, on the Senate floor.

=========================================================================

NY Times. Paul Pelosi Charged With Hit-and-Run in Napa Valley Crash

Mr. Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, crashed into a parked Tesla near his home in California.

Paul Pelosi, age 86, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, should give up his driver's license. From now on, he must walk or take a bus, a cab, even an uber to get wherever he wants to go. No more driving, endangering himself and others. My late father also resisted giving up driving, although representing a risk to himself and others.

Paul Pelosi’s Napa Valley Crash Followed a Series of Driving Violations

Mr. Pelosi, the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had at least eight traffic violations in a 13-year period before his crash this year.

I gave up my own driver's license at age 80 because I no longer had a car, though sometimes I did rent one. I could still drive a stick-shift even then, as that's how I first learned to drive. But with no car of my own, keeping my license seemed unnecessary and numerous tests were required. Better to let someone else do the driving instead.

=================================================================

While she did not achieve a criminal conviction of Donald Trump for actually raping her, still, after a long, hard-fougth battle which took her 3 years to win, E. Jean Carroll walked away with enough cash to set her up for life. And her credibility remains intact, while relatively few folks actually believe that Donald Trump is innocent. 

Trump had even appealed to the Supreme Court to avoid paying Carroll, not because he couldn't afford it, but because he did not want to admit what he had done. But on June 29, 2026, the high court rejected his appeal regarding the $5 million verdict that had been affirmed against him for the sexual abuse and defamation of Carroll, so he finally was forced to pay up.

Supreme Court rejects Trump's push to toss $5 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a push by President Donald Trump to throw out a jury's finding that he had sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her.

The high court had declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. 

Trump's lawyers had argued that allegations leading to the $5 million verdict had been propped up by "highly inflammatory" evidentiary rulings, including those that allowed the testimony of two other women who had accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago. Trump has denied all three women's allegations. (Individual votes by Court justices in this case were not tabulated and are unavailable.)

Trump and his lawyers had fought an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to avoid paying Carroll, but, finally, more than $5 million was transferred to her. 

The disbursement was $5,625,005.48 – the damages awarded plus interest. Carroll has not yet decided what she will do with the money.

As for myself, without any financial windfall to help me, I've had to limit my own largesse to Honduras, my former Peace Corps country. On my annual visits there, I have always taken a new wheelchair, also medications and medical supplies, and several US $100 bills, which I would simply hand out to people, leaving them to cash them as needed. If they were deposited into a bank account, the bank would always take a small percentage, so many folks just hid them under the mattress at home. Over time, the value of those US bills have appreciated vis-a-vis the local currency. So some people have just held onto them as a rainy-day fund.

 

I would really like to go back to Honduras once again. But now at age 88 and living in West Virginia, I am no longer working, not even part-time, and really cannot afford to go there anymore, never mind the danger of traveling there all alone as an elderly woman. I actually never felt unsafe, but probably was still vulnerable, though since I'm told I speak unaccented Spanish, I never revealed being an American unless required to do so, which was probably helpful 

Here I was with a new wheelchair I'd brought to Honduras 2 years ago.

Here now is a message I sent to my kids: About Leonard James Currie, my own father

First, here's something that Google has said:

--
Known as the "Queen of the Hebrides," the Isle of Islay is a rugged, 25-mile-long island in southwestern Scotland. Home to about 3,300 residents, it is globally renowned for its deeply peaty, smoky single malt whiskies and its rich biodiversity, making it a dream destination for nature lovers and foodies alike.

Here then is my own message to the kids: My Dad's father, Andrew Currie, had gone from Scotland's Isle of Islay to Canada, where he met my Dad's mother Florence, the youngest of 12 children in an Alberta wheat-farming family. Florence, by happenstance, unlike the others, had been born on the US side of the border. She had married Andrew and had had 2 sons, first Robert, then Leonard, who was my own Dad, born in Stavely, Alberta, but who later became a US citizen when serving as a US Army officer in Europe during World War II. Many years before that, while flying an early airplane that Grandfather Andrew had built himself, he was killed when his accompanying flight student froze at the wheel, causing a crash,.though the student lived to tell all about it. However, my Grandfather Andrew had been killed. All their money had been tied up in the airplane, so then Florence stayed on in California, where the crash had occurred, going to work at Sears & Roebuck altering clothes for customers, while her boys Robert and Leonard took care of themselves. Only late in life did Florence marry a wealthy man, taking care of him.until he died. She then inherited his home and acreage in southern California, finally living in relative comfort until her own death.      

=======================================================

Colorado Newsline

ICE plans Io deport Colorado priest despite poor health and threats to safety in Uganda

The 78-year-old faith leader, who had worked at a Greenwood Village church for 15 years, has been detained since September. He came to the US 25 years ago on a visa that then had expired. The community is now protestng his pending deportation. 

Many Americans support deportations until they affect someone they know

=====================================================

                                        Now in Iran

A woman in Iran was seen walking by an anti-US mural.
=======================================================

Politico, In a seismic shift, more than 100 House Democrats vote to end Israel aid

Well, it's certainly about time! Of course, that vote was still not sufficient to actually end the aid, but maybe next time! Trump and Netanyahu should now be preparing for that to happen. Though the Donald may have promised Bibi unstinting financial support in perpetuity, he may no longer be able to actually keep that promise. Netanyahu, like Trump, also belongs in prison! Birds of a feather, as I've said before.

====================================================================

Memory speak!  

Dementia patients sometimes regain clear memory and coherent speech just before death. That sudden return is called terminal lucidity or an end-of-life rally. It allows patients to recognize loved ones again, speak clearly, and share final moments. Experts are unsure why it actually happens. 

Patients may wake up and speak full sentences.
They might even remember past events.
They might then display their original personality. 

Family members feel grateful for these final moments, even while anticipating their loved one's own death. 

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

A new species of monkey has recently been discoverd in the Congo. 

Named Colobus congoensis by scientists and "Likweli" by locals, it is smaller than other colobus monkeys and easily distinguished by the orange fur ringing its mouth. 

Hello there, Likweli!