Wednesday, May 13, 2026

How many more years?

 


Here is my daughter Steph with her beloved pet Franklin. What sort of animal is he? A Guinea Pig, she says. She and her husband live in Hawaii, Franklin always stays outside, as her husband in allergic to furry animals. 

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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5873176-senate-republicans-caution-trump-cuba/

Senate Republicans are cautioning President Trump against ordering military strikes against the socialist regime in Cuba, arguing the U.S. military already has its hands full with Iran. The Trump administration, these Republicans declare, should not be thinking about opening another military front in a midterm election year when voters are already showing their displeasure with the war in Iran. They say finding a conclusion to the Iran war should be the nation’s, and the administration’s, top priority.

So is Donald Trump even listening to them? Does he care any more about what other lawmakers or even what voters think, as he is already in office? He makes his own decisions based on what he feels in his gut is right at the present moment, which then might change just a nanosecond later. He has been described as impulsive, acting without any thought. Medical observers have already identified him as having senior attention deficit syndrome. The world is currently being buffeted by his rapidly changing whims.


The Daily Beast
Doctors Sound Alarm Over Trump’s Rapid Mental Decline
Should a hyperactive Trump still have his finger the nuclear trigger? Should he even be remaining in office? He is putting all Americans and the whole world at grave risk. He also likes spending public money freely, never mind the deficit. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators left a meeting with the director of the U.S. Secret Service on Tuesday saying they need more details on a $1 billion security plan for the White House, including a proposed $220 million to secure President Donald Trump’s new East Wing ballroom Does our country even need a ballroom? 

Well, President Trump definitely wants a ballroom and also an arch, never mind the cost or whether they fit in with what is already there. After all, he is the US president and king of the world. He also proposes putting his image on the $100 bill. 


Mediaite

‘Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba’: Trump Goes On Bonkers Rant Reenacting How US Shoots Down Iranian Missiles


Donald Trump often keeps us all entertained with his crazy antics as Clown-in-Chief. 





Washington Post, Trump: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation."



In the White House, while Trump often stays awake at night, where does he hang out? Wife Melania is sleeping peacefully elsewhere, reportedly on another floor.


Facebook: Trump’s 250-foot gold arch would tower over the Lincoln Memorial. When asked who it honors, he said: 'Me'.



USA TODAY
Trump says he doesn't think about Americans' finances 'even a little bit' in Iran talks
Probably he doesn't care about the cost of his ballroom or of his triumphal arch either. After all, it's not his own money. Trump still has plenty of dough, but he'd like to keep it for himself. He's not actually worried about the cost of the arch or the ballroom because his own money is not involved, These are just ways for our country to pay tribute to him in perpetuity. There's the Washington Monument, also the Lincoln memorial, and then very soon Trump's Triumphal Arch. Just let taxpayers foot the bill, as the president has likely figured out a way to end up paying almost no taxes himself. 

AI Overview
The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, clarifies that if a U.S. President dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the Vice President becomes President. It also sets rules for temporarily transferring power if a president is incapacitated (e.g., surgery) and outlines how to replace a sitting president deemed unfit by their cabinet and Vice President.
like to see him long gone from offiice, but as mentioned before, that would mean that JD Vance would take over and could then run again.
Vance is young, with small children pregnant wife, making a much more appealing picture than Donald J. Trump, not seen often with his family. 



w


living with them 

Now speaking of a pregnant wife:
USA TODAY

Man accused of killing pregnant wife flees to Italy, tells judge he’s innocent


So then, who had murdered his wife? And why did the husband just run away? Didn't he want to help find her killer? In perhaps 99% of cases of women being murdered at home, the killer is never some strange intruder, but actually her own husband or male partner. This particular huband became upset that his wife was pregnant. Was he worried about no longer being her main squeeze, perhaps actually jealous of his unborn child? That happens. Even worse would come when he sees the baby actually sucking at her breast. So he may decide to  kill her, concerned that he will no longer be her number one focus. 
And how many intruders actually enter private homes here in the US? The Guthrie case is a rare exception, involving the home of a woman related to a well-known media personality. Intruders don't just break in to rob ordinary Americans like you and me. To steal what? Sheets and towels? Trash bags? Dishes? On-line thefts are so much easier, so much more common, and so very much more lucrative. 
When I was living in DC, my own on-line thief was a woman I'd never actually met, someone working with credit card or bank transactions. She had stolen several thousand dollars before I'd even noticed. 
Around here where we are living now, we never lock our doors when going out and never once have had an intruder and neither has anyone else we know.

In the third world, it's quite a different story. Houses there must always be guarded. Otherwise, when the owners return, their house will be empty: no more computer, furniture, dishes, sheets, towels, or pots and pans. Even food will gone. Because of extremes of poverty and wealth, well-off folks like my friends in Honduras live in a big house with a guard dog always on duty outside. Their current dog is a female but most guard dogs are male. These dogs never come inside.
Their high encircling fence with a locked gate is topped with rolls of barbed wire and bright lights shining all night. A trusted live-in servant, with her own separate quarters on the property, is always on call, with weekly time off only on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, when she then takes a bus to visit her own kids being cared for by relatives. During her brief weekend break, the home owners just stay at home. If they go away on vacation, she brings her own children to stay with her at the house until the owners return. 


This article predicts a regime change in Cuba, coming sooner than we might expect. 
If that should actually happen, I might even get a new passport and go back there myself. 





Tuesday, May 12, 2026

A few questions now: Is the bald eagle really bald? Who is a natural-born US citizen? How old is too old to hold public office?


Not really bald at all, the bald eagle is our national bird here in the USA. 


 
Bald Eagles Jackie and Shadow, birds of prey, were tending 2 eggs in their nest in 
Big Bear Valley, California, with the whole country watching. Then, lo, the eggs 
hatched and here now are the new babies. 


Once on the brink of extinction due to DDT and habitat loss, Bald Eagles were 
removed from the Endangered Species Act in 2007.

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A natural-born citizen is a person who gains U.S. citizenship automatically at birth, either by being born on U.S. soil (jus soli) or born to U.S. citizen parents abroad (jus sanguinis). This status fulfills the Constitution's Article II requirement for holding the office of President or Vice President. 

But now what about a president's age? Is presidential age just a number? How old is too old?

 The lower age limit for presidential office is 35 but there is actually no upper age limit. 


What about Congress?
As of May 2026, the minimum age requirements for Congress set by the U.S. Constitution are 25 years old for the House of Representatives and 30 years old for the Senate. These candidates must also be U.S. citizens (7 years for the House, 9 years for the Senate) and residents of the state they represent. Like for the presidency, there is no upper age limit.

Should there now be an upper age limit both for the presidency and for Congress? 

California Senator Diane Feinstein's Senate career spanned 30 years. She was a subject of controversy when she remained in the Senate until her death at age 90 in 2023, after appearing to have developed serious memory problems. 



Now what about some other folks?
As of today in May 2026, Chuck Grassley (R-IA, b. 1933) is the oldest serving U.S. Senator at age 92, having taken office in 1981. Joe Biden was the oldest serving President at 83, and Grace Napolitano (D-CA) was among the oldest serving Representatives, retiring at age 86 in 2025.
  • Historical Oldest: Strom Thurmond was the oldest person ever to serve in the Senate, turning 100 while in office in 2002.
                        Next let's consider President Donald J. Trump. 

The rigors of presidential office are starting to wear on Trump now as his 80th birthday approaches. He often falls asleep in meetings, frequently appears confused, and regularly contradicts himself or his advisers. 

  • A recent 2026 Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that 59% of Americans do not believe Trump has the mental acuity to serve effectively as president.



Trump has slashed food stamp benefits

As of early 2026, the Trump administration has implemented significant cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often called food stamps. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law in July 2025, cut roughly $186 billion, marking the largest reduction in the program's history.





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Dead on arrival

Six people (five men and one woman) were 
found dead in a shipping container 
(specifically a boxcar/container on a train) 
at a Union Pacific rail yard in Laredo, Texas,
near the Mexico border on Sunday, 












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Now let's stop here, because of some problems making this post.