Azaleas are blooming.

 

         Azaleas are of all colors here are blooming right now.

The weather is quite mild with so many wild flowers blooming and the trees all leafing out. Spring is such a wonderful season, a season of hope, new growth, 

and the promise of nature's bounty.

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The Hippocratic Oath is a foundational ancient Greek ethical code for physicians, whose basic principle is "do no harm.".

A surgeon who has kept on killing his patients, as mentioned in the last posting, needs to be arrested and prevented from ever practicing medicine again. 

Son of 2nd patient who died after Florida surgeon operated on her describes family’s heartbreak: ‘It’s just not right’

On the previous posting, I wrote that a Florida surgeon named Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky

had tried to persuade his colleagues in the operating room that the liver he had just removed from a 70-year-old patient was actually a spleen. A liver and a spleen are of different sizes and don't look at all the same. That patient died and he was not the only one dying after surgery was performed by Dr. Shaknovsky. There was a second fatality and there may have been even more. Shaknovsky has been charged with these patients' deaths and must no longer be allowed to practice medicine. He now belongs in prison after actually killing his patients instead of improving their health and wellbeing. 

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8 children killed in mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, police say

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Police say the Louisiana gunman who shot up two houses early Sunday had killed seven of his own children and wounded their mother, as well as killing another child. Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said Sunday evening that the suspect, Shamar Elkins, shot the mother first and then killed eight children, seven of whom were his own. The victims ranged in age from 1 to about 12 years old. The mother and another woman are in critical condition. Elkins died after a police pursuit.

On the subject of mass killings, as per my own research, mass killings in the US and Canada have always been carried out by individuals born male, though occasionally by those born male who later "transitioned" to present themselves as female. I have never found a case of a mass murder committed by someone born female. Can someone actually change their birth gender? There are hormone treatments and surgery, but the brain remains in the birth gender. 

As for the "right to bear arms," that so-called "right" urgently needs to be modified for the modern age, with all remaining gun sales outlets, like those right here in Berkeley Springs, given a subsidy to shut down the business. Guns are becoming more dangerous in an increasingly mobile and crowded world. Gun are not even needed any more for hunting, because hunting is no longer required to provide our food. Let the shrinking number of wild animals still occupying our forests remain living there freely. We really don't need to kill them. If gun enthusiasts like to fire weapons, they can always do so at a shooting gallery, as in Switzerland. 

Nor are guns needed for self-defense in the home, since most end up killing the occupants instead. It's actually much safer not to have any weapons at all at home. Most thieves now attack online, not by invading private homes. The man in Shreveport who killed 7 of his children and another child and wounded his own wife, could not have harmed so many without a gun. His gun did not protect his family at all, in fact it actually killed them. Without a gun, he might have become angry with his wife, perhaps hurting her or one of the children, but he would not have killed anyone. 

The National Rifle Association is woefully out-of-date in opposing any and all gun control legislation. 

According to Google: 

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is considered conservative and is deeply aligned with the Republican Party. Since the late 1970s, it has focused on promoting gun rights, heavily supporting conservative politicians and opposing gun control legislation, with about 77% of its members identifying as Republican.

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  Now on to Africa with Pope Leo.

While traveling in Africa right now, Pope Leo has continued speaking out, saying his time on the continent offers a message of peace that the world needs to hear. During a peace meeting in Bamenda, Cameroon, Leo said:  “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters." On hearing those words, Donald Trump has taken great offense. Why would Donald Trump simply assume that Pope Leo was talking about him?  

Pope Leo says remarks about world being 'ravaged by a ​handful of tyrants' were not aimed at Trump: report

Meanwhile, President Trump has continued to believe that Pope Leo's actually was talking about him, though Leo has denied it. So Trump has now taken funding away from Miami Catholic Charities in retaliation. Catholic convert VP JD Vance has been put in an awkward position in this feud of Trump's own making, but Vance needs to step forward now as a peacemaker. Trump must remove the funding block that he has placed on Catholic Charities, taking away $11 million in funding in his anger over Leo's remarks, as many children and refugees are now suffering as a result. 

          Meanwhile, thousands have haled the Pope in Cameroon.

When I was traveling in Africa, I noted considerable enthusiasm for Catholicism there.  

Google says: Catholicism in Africa is experiencing rapid growth, with the continent holding over 20% of the world's Catholics (approx. 288 million by 2026). It is the fastest-growing region for the Church, driven by high fertility rates and young populations, particularly in nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria. The Church is highly vibrant, often integrating local culture, and is a significant provider of education and healthcare.

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Before color photography and film allowed realistic depictions of everyday life, painters through the ages bore witness about how people actually lived.

These intimate paintings by American artist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) are now on display at the National Gallery in Washington, DC. 

Now the leaves are green again.

Here locally in Berkeley Springs, tree leaves are all turning green. Even redbud is now mostly green. In the fall, the leaves will all become red and yellow before falling to the ground, In tropical Latin America, the whole process unfolds just in the last 2 weeks of December, when leaves all fall off, coming back again by early January. 

Wild flowers of every color are now emerging all around West Virginia.

At the state park today (Sat. April 18), I saw a couple walking together: a pale blond woman wearing all black from her cap to shirt to slacks, socks, and shoes; she was linking arms with a very dark-complexioned black man wearing a white hat, shirt, pants, socks, and shoes. It was quite a contrast. Both were smiling broadly.  
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          Donald Trump is so childish in how he responds to what he sees as disagreements. He also carries grudges. He thinks that Pope Leo insulted him. (Does JD Vance dare to try to intervene?)

Trump administration ends Miami Catholic Charities funding. Here's why

In his feud with Pope Leo, Donald Trump abruptly halted $11M in funding for Miami Catholic Charities, leaving the organization unable to support its work with refugees and unaccompanied minors. 

Here was Pope Leo in Cameroon on Thurs. Mr. Trump is still angry with Leo who said his remarks were misconstrued by the President.

What had Leo said that Donald Trump considered so offensive? He had issued a strong message urging leaders to stay out of wars and avoid self-idolatry, which Trump took as a personal insult.

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NY Times, Surgeon Who Removed Wrong Organ From Patient Is Charged in His Death

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky tried to persuade his colleagues in the operating room that the liver he had removed from a 70-year-old patient was a spleen. A liver is a fairly large organ, a spleen, not so much. They really don't look the same at all. Even you and I could tell the difference. Of course, without a liver, the patient died. The careless surgeon has been rightly charged with the patient's death.

A spleen is shown below.

Outdoor restaurants are starting to get busy in Sevilla, Spain. 

Sometimes I'm tempted to return to Spain where I speak the language and have some good friends. But having bought a house in West Virginia where I live now with my son, I need to just stay right here.

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New Poll Names Michelle Obama Most Admired Woman, President Trump Second-Most Admired Man https://time.com/5489158/michelle-obama-most-admired-woman/

Gallup. Barack Obama and Donald Trump tie as the most admired man this year    .Michelle Obama remains the most  admired woman

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Monteverde ("green mountain") in Costa Rica is now accepting deportees from the US in a town founded by Quakers. If folks have the misfortune of being deported, better to go to Costa Rica than sent back to where they came from. And Costa Rica can actually use some new people because its birthrate is far below replacement.

Google says: It remains unclear how much longer the town will be able to support the deportees, or if it can welcome any more of them. Costa Rica signed an agreement in March to accept 25 or more new deportees every week. The latest group arrived last Saturday.

In Monteverde, where mist showers the forests and tourists zip line through the canopy, a few of those cast out by the United States have slowly built a fragile sense of home.

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Seen below is one of many Spanish interpretation requests that I can no longer fulfill. No need for Spanish interpretation right here in Berkeley Springs, but I am apparently still on the DC roster. Interpreting was very interesting part-time work that I performed for several years after returning from the Peace Corps in Honduras. But being sworn to secrecy, I cannot talk much about it. Interpreters are witnesses to a great many intimate human dramas. Some have been so impactful that they are hard to forget, including matters of life and death taking place in hospitals, courts, private homes, and jails. Here is one memorable case: a little girl was asked by the examiner in English to point out on an outline of a naked human figure just where her step-father had been touching her. I said that in Spanish while looking at her, not at the drawing. But you can probably imagine where where she actually pointed.

 Of course, living now in West Virginia, I could not respond to the following job request: You are requested to be available for a 1-hour job in Washington, DC on April 17, 2026, at 10:00 AM, with job # 1779326. Be available for the job in Washington, DC.

When I was working as a Spanish medical interpreter back in Washington, DC, not so very long ago, none of the other interpreters were native English speakers. All were native Spanish speakers, as English speakers were simply unable to learn Spanish well enough to pass very rigorous oral tests. That is probably also true for interpreters of other languages. Most native English speakers just don't have incentives to totally master another language, with English now the universal language. I happen to have learned Spanish at an early age. A few Spanish-English interpreters I met in Washington, DC, had been raised in bilingual households in Puerto Rico. Interpreters of other languages had quite infrequent work, as here in the US, Spanish is the most common second language because of our geographical location. Sometimes, I was given assignments in error for Portuguese speakers from Brazil, but since the 2 languages are similar, we were able to manage. I still miss that very interesting and important work.

Is Donald Trump the Second Coming?

Donald Trump should just forget all about suddenly becoming religious in his most recent appeals to his evangelical base, as he is getting in way too deep right now. He needs to start acting more presidential for a change. Or else he should just retire to let JD take over.

Yahoo News, Trump lashes out at the pope over Iran war criticism

Shortly before posting controversial Jesus images on Sunday, Trump had lashed out at Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, on Truth Social, calling him “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.” Is the Pope actually responsible for crime and foreign policy? He has no military except for a few papal guards, with a fiefdom that is really pretty small.

Pope Leo had expressed opposition to the war in favor of peace negotiations and said in an April 10 social media post that those who are disciples of Christ are “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”

Trump then reacted still further: “And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do," 

It's quite true that Trump had won the popular vote in this last election, but not in a landslide, and, since then, national disapproval has reached record highs, with 51% of Americans saying they strongly disapprove of the president. (Count me among that 51%.)

Trump Yanks Millions From Catholic Charities Amid Pope Feud

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN

The organization has been helping unaccompanied migrant children for decades.

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Pentagon Pete Hit With Impeachment Effort as Scandals Mount

WAR CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS

House Democrats are filing no less than five articles against the self-declared “Secretary of War.”

Yes, let's get rid of Pete now once and for all. He should never have been named Secretary of War, as he has absolutely no military experience and should already have been arrested as a war criminal for ordering the killing of surrendering Caribbean boaters, blaming his lethal mistake on "the fog of war." (The fog only is in your own mind, Pete.) 

House Democrats file articles of impeachment against Hegseth

House Democrats file 6 impeachment articles against Hegseth, accusing him of ‘abuse of office

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on G

                                        Hegseth looked surprised after being indicted. 

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Here below is another guy who needs to be gone sooner rather than later. 

Inside the sudden downfall of Eric Swalwell

Eric Swalwell Appeared on CNN & MS NOW 50 Times Since the Start of 2026

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California), like Congressman Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) before him, has now decided to leave Congress after suspending his campaign for governor. He had attended a Christian college and once may have touted his Christian credentials, but now would have to change his name to even run for dogcatcher. So goodbye Eric Swalwell, farewell Tony Gonzalez, and good riddance to you both. 

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Trees here locally are all starting to leaf out, with pale, tender leaves just emerging. The grass is all green with no more early morning frost. Spring is really here now. A tree out in our yard has burst forth with white flowers. A friend tells me it is a dogwood. 

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This part of a Florida river is not a good place for human swimmers. I have often seen alligators in Florida rivers, but never so many all gathered together. 

Florida alligators are mostly found in fresh water, whereas Florida crocodiles seem to favor saltier water. I asked Google about this, the authority on practically everything, now telling me that I am absolutely right: "American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) prefer freshwater swamps, lakes, and rivers. Conversely, Florida's crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) are primarily found in brackish or saltwater coastal areas, particularly in the southern part of the state."
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Maybe this is also true for you, dear readers. I happen to be privy to some personal secrets about family members and friends in the US, also regarding others in Honduras and elsewhere--including hidden secrets about prior or ongoing sexual relationships, unacknowledged children, gay encounters, legal troubles, etc., matters that their own families (parents, siblings, spouses, offspring) may know nothing about. Maybe that's true for many of us, a whole secret undercurrent that makes everyday society run more smoothly. I could even give some actual examples without being too explicit to protect everyone involved. (No wonder so many authors write fiction!) So now I am wondering if some well-guarded secrets may have been kept from me? At my current age, 88, if that should be the case, maybe I'd really prefer never knowing.