Valentine's Day was a highlight. Hope you all enjoyed the day with your friends and loved ones. We all made it through Friday the 13th, and so far, our country is surviving, but just barely now, with Donald Trump still as our president. Three more years left to go.!
¡Hola! Special request to all my readers: For many years now, because we have lost contact (and cannot even remember her name) with the woman who uploaded my books on Amazon years ago, we cannot collect proceeds from my book sales. As a result, while I am notified online of whenever my books are sold and what my small cut would be, I don't have access to the money and cannot collect it. We've tried to do it various ways without success. The online notification of a book sale does not allow contact there.
Not of a lot of money is involved, though by now some hundreds of dollars which would be very useful. I don't have a cell phone myself but recently I put my name on my son's cell phone as we live together. We also opened a small joint account in both our names locally near our home in West Virginia. So any funds could go to our new joint account and my name is now on my son's cell phone, though I never answer it.
If anyone reading this has any contacts at Amazon or with a reporter at the Washington Post who might be willing to highlight my plight (elderly author flummoxed trying to collect on Amazon book sales), please let me know.
I am thinking of also going in person to Amazon in Arlington and asking someone there what I should do now, so if you know anyone there, please give me their contact information.
Gracias, siempre muy agradecida, Barbara
Lincoln tops presidential rankings; Trump records most ‘poor’ marks: Poll
More now of what Donald Trump will want to call "fake news."
Judge gives US 2 weeks to retrieve student deported to Honduras while traveling for Thanksgiving
So far, while admitting that she was deported in error, the Trump administration has refused to bring her back.
The Hill, Latest US strike on alleged drug vessel kills 3 ‘narco-terrorists’
Family members of those killed say they were just fishermen going about their usual daily business. They were murdered without any warnnig in international waters without a declaration of war. And when boaters have survived the first strike and are surrendering, Pete Hegseth, Trump's grossly unqualified Secretary of War, has authorized a second strike as if this were all just a game. Hegseth is a blatant war criminal for directing these lethal strikes and deserves at least life in prison for his crimes. He also should be relieved of duty and go on trial immediately.
Below is what has appeared on Facebook:
- Hegseth posted an AI-generated, altered image on X (formerly Twitter) showing Franklin the Turtle in combat gear, standing on a helicopter and firing a bazooka at a boat. The image was titled "Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists" and captioned "For your Christmas wish list." The post was made amid allegations that the U.S. military, under Hegseth, was involved in "extrajudicial murder" or potential war crimes during a campaign against drug traffickers in the Caribbean.
Hegseth's display of Franklin's exploits,.
The Hill, Party balloons? FAA’s surprise El Paso airspace closure fuels questions
This seems like a simple mistake with a big overreaction. (As a child, I lived for a time in El Paso.)
Spirit Blossom is the name of a female baby elephant just born at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
Fact File: No evidence of trans shooter 'epidemic' in Canada, U.S.
Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press
Most mass shooters are born male, including trans shooters. but fortunateky, they are few in number in any case. Those born female do not engage in mass shootings, only perhaps shooting a single sexual predator. Of course, as mentioned before on these pages, women may kill unwanted offspring. .
And now on to "clean coal?!"
Donald Trump has just been awarded the "Clean Coal" Trophy. He also has lauded "beautiful clean coal." Since when has coal been considered a "clean" fuel? (I am living in West Viginia coal country right now,)
Russia killed opposition leader Alexei Navalny using dart frog toxin, UK says
He was killed by a powerful poison produced by tiny South American dart frogs.
Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya is still speaking out. She has 2 children by her late husband.
What will happen now in Cuba? More than 25 years ago, I was a frequent visitor to to the island but never went inside the US Embassy in Havana, seen below. In a remote rural town in Cuba's far east, I found the mother of my late foster son, Alex, who was gay and had died of AIDS. Then after numerous visits and travels all over the island, I finally was interrogated and expelled by the Cuban government and told never to return. Dare I attempt to go back there even now?
I've been told that I don't speak Spanish with a gringo accent, but not with a Cuban accent either. In my travels to Cuba, which for Americans at one time were forbidden, I was often mistaken as being from another part of Latin America when we talked.
Donald Trump has upped his pressure against Israel's President Isaac Herzog as he seeks a pardon for his ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .
Bravo for Isaac Herzog! Netanyahu is a blatant war criminal!
Now let's go way back in time.

Old woman frying eggs, painted by the Spanish artist Diego Velasquez in 1618 when he was only age 18, is now on display at the National Gallery of Scotland. Before the invention of photography, paintings like this depicted life in bygone eras.