Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there, including to my own dear son:
And also,
which actually is today.
What is Juneteenth? The meaning behind the June 19 holiday and how it's celebrated.
Juneteenth celebrations include cookouts and community gatherings like parades and festivals.
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After so much empty white space had appeared on the last posting, I'm hoping my daughter, soon visiting here from Hawaii, can advise me on how to fix that and prevent it from ever happening again.
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Hegseth was planning to celerate Father's Day with his blended family.
Although we may question his military credentials and his moral judgment, let's wish him the best now on his special day.
The infamous war criminal Pete Hegseth has just scolded NATO allies for failing to keep up with defense spending--this is a guy who enjoys no credibility whatsoever on military matters, either with Americans or our with our allies. (His own military service had consisted just of National Guard duty.) Why Trump ever named him to be War Secretary and still keeps him on, even now. after he had ordered the illegal killing of surrendering Caribbean boaters, remains a mystery. The speculation is that his family must have given a particularly large donation (bribe?) to the president to name him in the first place.
Wash. Post, Senators target Hegseth’s travel in standoff over apparent Iran school attack, boat strikes
Pete Hegseth certainly deserves more than just a curb on his official travel.
Hegseth has hardly helped keep Trump's voter support from plummeting.
A June 2026 CNN/SSRS poll reveals that 57% of Americans hold a favorable view of Obama, compared to just 34% now for Trump.
Trump had actually reached his peak popularity when he was elected this last time. In 2020, he won 49.8 percent of the vote, not quite winning 50%. Yet Mr. Trump boasted that he had won in a "landslide." Hardly a landslide, but still a respectable win, certainly better than his last presidential victory when he "won" without even winning a majority of votes cast. But that very first Electoral College victory had then put him on the path to the US presidency, apparently much to his own surprise. And here he is now, back once again.
According to Google, Trump's current job approval has been steadily declining ever since his election this time around.
President Donald Trump's job approval rating hovers around 38% to 40% nationwide, with his disapproval rating ranging from 56% to 61%. His net approval now sits at approximately -18 to -20, driven by voter concerns over high inflation, gas prices, and economic issues.
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Now let's completely change the subject.
An in-vitro clinic mixup has sparked headlines.
A couple said they are keeping the baby whose embryo was implanted in a clinic mixup, although
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Changing the subject here once again.
Back in 1798, Thomas Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population. It posed the conundrum of geometrical population growth outstripping the arithmetical expansion of resources. Thomas Malthus, an Anglican clergyman, recommended late marriage and sexual abstinence as methods of birth control. Now various other methods are usually used. While some couples, like the one just described above, will go to great lengths just to have a child, others use commonly available birth control methods to prevent or delay the path to parenthood. Or they may even undergo voluntary sterilization, as is often done in Latin America after a woman has gives birth to 2 or 3 children. Female sterilization is more complicated than a male vasectomy, yet in my experience in Latin America, men there are reluctant to ever undergo the procedure because of unfounded fears of it affecting their sexual performance. Also, some men consider their ability to have many children living proof of their sexual prowess.
After facing a shrinking workforce and a rapidly aging population, China scrapped its one-child policy in 2016, first by allowing couples to have two children, then three in 2021. But birth rates there have continued to slide. The population has now been shrinking for three consecutive years and is still top-heavy with elders, also with men, leaving too many men seeking mates among too few women.
U.S. fertility has also dropped to an all-time low of 1.57 births per woman, falling now below the 2.1 level needed for population replacement.
The average American woman between ages 15 and 44 has given birth to less than 2 children, raising concerns about a potentially shrinking population. Some women have put off having children to first advance in their careers, only to find they may have waited too long.
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Now for some stories about our canine best friends.
A red wolf pup has been found alone without his mother.
Genetic and archaeological evidence indicates that dogs were domesticated between 26,000 and 40,000 years ago, coming from an extinct lineage of gray wolves. As humankind's oldest non-human companions, they were the first wild animals to be domesticated, even before the rise of agriculture.
Does our own dog Willow actually have some wolf genes? She can become fiercely protective of us.
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Then 2 baby giraffes from that private zoo went missing, but were found again after about a year.
The zoo's owners were then charged with animal cruelty for their negligent care. Some of the giraffes were subsequently relocated to the Georgia Safari Conservation Park in Madison, Georgia. where they now roam safely and freely.
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Israeli Supreme Court rejects appeal for release of Gaza doctor held without charge
The reasons for that dccision reportedly are confidential. So how can the doctor's lawyers possibly argue against them? Israel has been rapidly losing credibility from virtually all quarters. Even Donald Trump seems to have cooled somewhat in his support. Without a regular infusion of US money, Israel cannot survive. So how about seeing Israel's leadership show some better cooperation with the rest of the world?
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A cellphone is just a mini computer, right there at the owner's fingertips. For many folks, it is an alter ego, an essential part of their personal identity. Last night, when my son came home from work without his phone, he panicked, rushing right back to find it.
Unfortunately, I was never able to master a cell phone. I first tried in my mid 80's, which may have been too late. To me, it looks too small to master all the functions of a computer.
My sister and her husband get along just fine with being totally off-the-grid, without a cellphone or even a computer. They do write snail-mail letters and still make phone calls, while also avoiding the constant bombardment of on-line advertising. For birthdays and holidays, they mail out actual paper cards. Without even a credit card, they buy their groceries locally, paying only in cash. A newspaper is delivered daily to their front door. It's the way we all used to live, really not so very long ago.
