Is Trump thinking of retiring as president? It's a dangerous job.

 

Trump safe after shots fired at White House Correspondents' Dinner; suspect in custody

Thanks or no thanks to the so-called "right to bear arms," long promoted by the NRA, as well as by gun manifacturers and sellers, those attending public gatherings here in the US are always at risk of being shot. That same risk does not threaten those in other developed countries, because of their much stronger firearms control laws, freeing their citizens from the constant dangers of our own gun culture. Nor are guns needed for hunting any more, as we no longer need to kill wild animals for food. Fewer guns in ordinary hands means fewer gun deaths. Firearms in the home are not protective--that's a fact,  just look at the statistics. The guns end upkilling the home's occupants, not intruders. (How many homes actually have intruders? (In decades of being a homeowner, I've never had an intruder.) 

The President is always being guarded, meanwhile other Americans are being killed or harmed by guns. (My son still has problems with his foot, injured when he was age 11, after another boy dropped a family's bedside gun that fired.) Guns put everyone at risk, even you and me, even our neighbors, even the US President. The "right to bear arms" puts us all in danger. 

The would-be shooter (would-be assassin) at the Correspondents' dinner certainly acted with "malice aforethought" by checking in as a hotel guest beforehand. My sympathies go out to Charlie Kirk's widow who was present there and must have been traumatized after her own husband was shot and killed.

                Guests hastily left the dinner after the shooter was subdued. 

=====AThe more gunsdd Yahoo as a preferred source to

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Do you think that Donald Trump, soon age 80, may now not only feel worried about being shot, but also be getting tired of actually being president? He often looks tired. And he knows that his life may be at risk. Is it really all worthwhile?

 Is President Trump actually dozing here below or just "resting" his eyes? He often seems to be snoozing on the job.

Donald Trump went to Florida last Friday, planning to return to the White House for the correspondents dinner that he had never attended before. He had skipped the event in years past, saying that the press had been "extraordinarily bad" to him. Now, apparently, Trump thinks the press is improving in its coverage. But the man has really been looking increasingly fatigued lately.

Some prominent names in conservative media, including Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson, have turned completely against the president ever since he launched his war against Iran on Feb. 28. Lots of political churning has been going on, as has been reported in the media. Trump may have started to view the media more favorably now, thinking it is actually helping him.

Trump’s Own Voters Turn on Him in Shock New Impeachment Poll

The media may now be viewed more favorably by Trump because he considers it less critical of him. However, his most faithful voters are actually expressing less support. Is Donald Trump possibly trying to become somewhat mainstream and more moderate? Hard-core voters don't really like seeing that.

MAGA REVOLT

The new numbers put Trump at the same approval as at the “peak of the Watergate scandal,” a pollster has said, no longer showing very high approval among his previously faithful supporters, but possibly gaining more non-Maga fans.  

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Trump DOJ’s Alarming New Plot Against U.S. Citizens Exposed

Donald Trump has indicated that he wants to "de-naturalize" all US citizens not actually born here. If so, let's start first with Melania and her son, Barron, born to Melania as perhaps a non-citizen mother? (Melania, who came here on a tourist visa that had expired,  then got herself pregnant by Donald Trump.) And what about de-naturalizing Trump himself, since his own mother wasn't born in this country? How far back might we want to go? Even those tracing their ancestry to the Mayflower might become de-naturalized, according to Trump's current whims.

Google now says: 

The U.S. population is experiencing a significant slowdown in growth and is projected to start declining by roughly 2056, or potentially sooner, due to declining birth rates and reduced immigration.

Reducing immigration and deporting people are signature Trump policies. Now he is thinking about "de-naturalizing" folks who have already become citizens. Is that even legally possible? He apparently thinks that having fewer immigrants and fewer residents overall would somehow boost his own popularity. In fact, reduced population growth, perhaps even a decline in overall population, usually has negative national consequences. This problem had never before faced our country until Donald Trump came on the scene. Trump supporters may believe they will do better if more immigrants are deported. I don't have time or space here to explain why that simply is not the case. It might require me to write a whole other book.

NY Times, Iran and U.S. Sink Into Awkward Limbo of ‘No War, No Peace’

Each side is betting it can last longer than the other, analysts say. But there are risks in a stalemate without a deal.

As long as the 2 sides are not killing each other, l say let the stalemate continue. If it goes on long enough, they may even forget why they were fighting. 

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The next article is by a Cuban man whom I actually know. He was mentioned on the blog years ago, also in my Confessions book. Luis Manuel has never given up the struggle. 

The New York Times, April 24, 2026

I’m One of Cuba’s Political Prisoners. When Will I Go Free?

By Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

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A few days ago, on the blog posting entitled To blog or not to blog?  That is the question.  I posted this photo of my Cuban friend Sirley who was attacked on her farm in Cuba by a man with machete, saying he was punshing her for efforts in trying to keep a local school open. I facilitated her arrival in the the US and invited her to give testimony at the Amnesty International office in Washington, DC, when I was the organization's volunteer Caribbean Coordiantor. She now lives in Miami. 

She has just told me:

Gracias, Barbara, tus recuerdos me hacen honor, eres una mujer valiente y tienes un hermoso corazón.

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Another long-time friend no longer answers emails, though I've recently sent her several, asking for a reply. She lives or was living in Canada. Did she die or did she just move away and change her email address? She had mentioned the possibility of moving back to Britain, her own birthplace, so maybe she has gone there now. Another friend living in a nursing home wasn't responding. Then someone there answered her phone and told me that she had died. But unless someone else answers the phone for a deceased person or checks on their email, we'll never know what might have happened.

So now I need to give instructions to my kids about answering email queries after my death. I've already lost my older son and a Cuban foster son, so no one else in my family is allowed to die before me! No one else! God, fate, destiny--do you hear me! And we all should leave instructions with a family member to check our email after we have departed this mortal coil.

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I keep on getting online ads in Spanish. So how does the internet know that I speak Spanish? Of course, this ad, like any emphasizing big savings, first requires actually spending money. It takes spending money to save money.  

Paga $0 durante 2 meses.

Solo en línea: Obtén 2 meses de internet de fibra óptica 100% gratis al contratar Fibra 500 y 1 Gig. Empieza a ahorrar hoy mismo.

To blog or not to blog? That is the question.

 

Let's see now if the blog is working again, as it was stymied for the last 2 days. with some kind of glitch which I hope is gone now. I tried trashing and erasing some items which seems to have helped. We shall soon see. Otherwise, I am tempted to give up the blog  altogether. But several readers have urged me to continue. The follwing is one.

looking at online news all around, it’s very crazy how one man can create so many difficult situations for so many.  and we are witnessing it, not only here but also around the world; resonance!    

     i m thinking that you may be lucky residing far away from the maddening crowd!  have u thought of it that way?

    please keep posting! we need you!

Several readers have urged me to continue with the blog, so I am doing so, at least for now. 

Most Americans say there was not sufficient reason to start war in Iran: Polls

Just to delay Netanyahu's corruption trial was definitely not a good enough reason. 

Wash. Post,  Appeals court clears way for U.S. to reopen border for asylum seekers

A federal appeals court found President Donald Trump’s declaration of an “invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border was illegal, effectively reopening the U.S. to migrants seeking asylum.

Politico, President Donald Trump has refused to rule out the idea of seeking a constitutionally prohibited third term in office, telling NBC News’ Kristen Welker in a phone call that “there are methods” for doing so. “You have to start by saying, I have the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years,” Trump said. “We’re in the high 70s in many polls, in the real polls, and you see that. And, and you know, we’re very popular. And you know, a lot of people would like me to do that."

                    Here is a recent cartoon from the Washington Post. 

A display on DC's National Mall of thousands of tiny teddy bears seeks to help abducted  Ukranian children be reunited with their families.

Millions of Americans may now also be considered Canadian under new law

Yes, for me, becoming a Canadian might not be so hard, as my late father was actually born in Stavely, Alberta. His mother was the youngest of 12 children growing up there on the family's wheat farm. However, my Dad renounced his Canadian citizenship as was required to serve in Europe as an officer of the US Army during World War II. Our family must have many relatives still living in Canada.

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US is adding firing squads, electrocution and gassing to federal execution methods

As already mentioned, I support life from womb to tomb, so oppose any execution methods whatsoever. However, it is hard to argue against executing this next guy. 

Rex Heuermann, age 62, a former Long Island architect, pled guilty in April 2026 to murdering eight women, including victims in the long-unsolved Gilgo Beach serial killer case. Heuermann, arrested in 2023, admitted to strangling the victims—many of whom were sex workers—between 1993 and 2010. 

Heuermann will not face the death penalty because he entered a plea deal on April 8, 2026, admitting to murdering seven women and killing an eighth, in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, thus avoiding a long and contentious trial. 

Heuermann's wife and daughter have said they had no knowedge whatsoever of the killings.

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Here is a message now from my Cuban friend Sirley Ávila León, who has invited me to visit her in Miami. I actually had helped her get to the US over ten years ago. A regime supporter had been harrassing her because of her efforts to keep a local school open. He then started killing her farm animals,and destroying her crops. After that, he had attacked her with a machete, slashing her legs and cutting off her right hand, throwing her hand into the mud to contanminate it so it could not be reattached. Of course, he was never punished, having been protected by Cuban state security which had actually sent him to harass her. After bringing her here to the US, I held several events for her in Washington, DC, including at the Amnesty International Office. Here is the message she has just sent me now. 

Querida Barbara que Dios te siga bendiciendo, con salud y larga vida. 

Yo sigo en Miami, porque no he aprendido inglés.

Sabes que esta es tu casa, si quieres o necesitas venir, puedes hacerlo.

Saludos para toda la familia y los amigos, Sirley

In 2016, here below I was with Sirley after inviting her to the Amnesty International office in DC. Her left arm with her missing left hand is not visible there. She was walking with a cane due to machete injuries inflicted on her legs and knees when her hand was cut off.  Now she has invited me to visit her in Miami.

Here is a brief summary of her history and previous testimony after her arruval in Miami.

Sirley Ávila León, is an ex-delegate of Cuba's People’s Assembly of Majibacoa. She joined the democratic opposition after she was driven out of her position for trying to keep a school open in her community. Official channels ignored her, and when she went to the international media she was removed from office. Following escalating acts of repression by state security, the mother of two, aged 56, was gravely wounded in a machete attack on May 24, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. The enforcer was Osmany Carrión, who had been “sent by state-security thugs,” Ávila León explains, for an act of aggression that “was politically motivated.” Ávila León suffered deep cuts to her neck and knees, lost her left hand, and could still lose her right arm. Although Carrión was the principal assailant in the coordinated attack, his wife forced Ávila León’s hand into the mud to compound the injury with infection. Sent home from hospital, Ávila León remained in this critical state without the proper medication. Five months have passed, and she still needs medical attention, completely incapacitated, demanding justice, and denouncing irregularities in the judicial process against her assailant. On September 2, 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concurred that she was in a “serious and urgent situation, since her life and physical integrity are at risk.” On March 8, 2016, she arrived in the United States to give her testimony and obtain medical care from the Miami Medical Team.

Whenever donating money to individuals or organizations anywhere in the world, if I am actually there in person, I prefer to hand over cash in US dollar bills, just in paper money, usually in denominations of $50 and $100 and let the recipients exchange them however they can. That way, I am never left with local currency when I leave and US dollars are usually good anywhere. In some places, they are really preferable to the local currency. US dollars if kept in a safe place may actually increase in value over time. The friends to whom I gift this US paper money know they can trust that I am not handing them any counterfeit bills. 

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My friend in Barcelona has sent some photos: 

Today in Barcelona we celebrate Saint Jordi’s day (April 23). It is a fairy tale, but is so beautiful because all the City celébrates with gifts of flowers and books. 

Do you ever wonder if the universe has always existed? Or whether it actually only came into being with the big bang exploiding from nothing to somthing a zillion eons ago, for reasons that humankind may never know? And are there any other universes out there? What about other living and thinking beings? If individual humans even live to their thousanth birthday, it's something they might never, ever know. Indeed, human knowledge is always limited and never will be complete. 

nly 

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