Thursday, July 23, 2026

Birds of a feather

 So, what's new now? Unfortunately, not very much is new, as Donald Trump is still the US president.

Certainly, the fact that Trump is again making war-crimes threats is nothing new. He's not afraid of being prosecuted for actually carrying out any such threats, because he considers himself untouchable, invulneable, even safe after having just survived actually raping E. Jean Carroll, a violent crime with no statute of limitations, yet he is still not in jail, He just paid a $5 million judgment for merely having "defamed" Carroll. For him, that was a minor setback, but one he can easily afford to cover. He is not in prison after all and remains the US president, still admiring himself online and on air, touting his abilities, now judging himself to be one of our nation's very greatest presidents of all time. 

Here's what Google, that universal authority, has to say about Trump's inflated self-assessment: 

A person who considers themselves more talented than they actually are is often experiencing the Dunning–Kruger effect. This cognitive bias causes individuals with limited skill in a specific area to overestimate their competence, largely because they lack the self-awareness to recognize their own mistakes. 
Depending on the exact nature of their behavior, both psychology and everyday language use several different terms to describe this type of overconfidence:

  • Superiority Complex: A defense mechanism often rooted in deep insecurity where an individual acts or claims to be superior to others to overcompensate for real or imagined inadequacies. 
  • Hubris: Extreme pride, self-confidence, or arrogance that often leads a person to believe they are invincible, exceptionally talented, or above the rules. 
  • Delusions of Grandeur: A psychiatric term for when an individual holds an unshakable belief in their own exaggerated greatness, power, or special abilities. 
  • Narcissism: A personality trait characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, and a lack of empathy. 

All that definitely describes Donald Trump to a T, as someone totally lacking in self-awareness with no notion of his own inadequcies or how others might actually regard him. His late father certainly was successful in bolstering young Donald's ego, making him always feel superior to others even when that was hardly the case. His dad's notion of son Donald's superiority has stayed with him thoughout his life,  even though Dad is long gone. And the father's exaggerated sense of his son's capabilities probably propelled Donald to seek the US presidency, as he never had experienced any doubts about his own ability to handle the job nor did he have any worries about the scandals he may have been involved in. Future greatness was always his destiny. So Donald Trump even considers himself actually on a par with Abraham Lincoln, whom he acknowledges as our greatest president. Trump and Lincoln, the 2 greatest American presidents, standing above all others. Those who fail to see that reality are sadly mistaken. So never any self-doubts or regrets for Donald Trump since he is always right. But it was really rather annoying and a bit concerning that he had to pay that $5 million to Carroll, though he could easily afford it. He wanted to appeal to the Supreme Court, several of whose justices he had actually named himself, thus likely to rule in his favor, but when they failed to respond, he had to let it go and just pay that $5 million.

Trump has moved on now, focusing instead on Iran, saying in a post on Truth Social: "From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran.” 

Targeting civilian infrastructure could well be deemed a war crime. In fact, under international law, it actually is a war crime to target civilian areas that are not military objectives. But, so what? If he decides to actually do it, Trump will deal with the consequences later.  After one of his missiles had hit an Iranian girls' school, killing all the little girls and teachers inside, Trump admitted that was a mistake, as the school was not in the intended target. Did that then make it OK? Still sounds like a war crime, 

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Nor are some Trump appointees doing any better than he is, like
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose father and uncle I had once admired.

Our country had already officially removed measles as a threat to American children. Aftr all, measles had been declared eliminated from the United States back in 2000 by the World Health Organization (WHO), based on the success of routine vaccinations. But thanks--or "no thanks"-- to Donald Trump and his Health Secretary RFK Jr., the deliberate undermining of trust in vaccinations, has meant that measles is surging once again.  As of July 16, 2026, 2,260 confirmed measles cases were reported in the US. 

Measles can be deadly or have life-long health consequences. RFK Jr.,Trump's designated  "health czar.," now tasked with protecting and improving Americans' health, has publicly eroded faith in childhoodvaccinations by linking them without any clear evidence to autism. The result has been abandonment by parents of once routine childhood vaccinations, leading to unnecessary deaths and to lifelong disability for many American children whom vaccines would actually have protected. So what about a Health Secretary who simply undermines health and increases the incidence of illness, disability, and death? Maybe he deserves to actually be called the Sickness Secretary. 

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A printed newsletter, Amigos de Honduras, for former Peace Corps volunteers who had served in that country, arrived recently by postal mail. It includes a report of Trump's recent pardon of former Honduran president Juan Orando Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez was the Honduran president who had received a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking after having moved over 500 tons of cocaine to the US, but Trump still completely pardoned him, releasing him from prison. The newsletter report calls this "an incredible travesty." Trump has said about Hernandez, "I like him." As has been mentioned before, Trump and his criminal pals all over the world are often described as "birds of a feather." Natanyahu is another such criminal bird. 

 Trump may actually have been snoozing less often lately, as he has had some visitors.
One recent visitor was Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Wash. Post, U.S. signs nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that gives it path to enriching fuel

The agreement with the kingdom, now signaling it wants a nuclear weapon, has sparked alarm among nonproliferation experts. Congress has 90 days to act on the deal.

The Hill, 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance: Survey


Trump often looks confused, seems at a loss for words, and completely garbles his speech

"Just more fake news!" Trump would simply say about such observations. In any case, there are still 18 months left to go in his term and the guy could do a whole lot of damage in that time. He could do a lot of damage tomorrow, even just today. 
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Daily Beast, Trump, 80, Unravels With String of Mental Slips on World Stage

SAY WHAT?

The gaffes are reminiscent of the flubs Trump once used to highlight the cognitive decline of President Joe Biden.


The Daily Beast points out multiple verbal gaffes and memory lapses by Donald Trump, widely noted as being similar to the flubs once used to mock the cognitive decline of his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Recent incidents cited by the Daily Beast include:
  • Volodymyr Zelensky: Trump repeatedly referred to the Ukrainian president as "President Putin" during a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit.
  • Mixed-Up Nations: He mistakenly confused the Islamic Republic of Iran with the "Islamic Republic of Japan".
  • Nuclear Accronyms: He mixed up Obama's JCPOA nuclear deal with the "JCPOC".
  • Fictional Apps: He bragged about his popularity on a social media app that does not actually exist.
At age 80, Donald Trump is not the only one with memory problems. It happens to us all--our memory begins to fail. We simply forget things! We mix up names, dates, places. It has happened to me at age 88. If it hasn't happened to you yet, just wait. 
On this blog, I've mentioned several elected representatives who seemed to be "losing it." This had inspired a national discussion of having upper age limits for public servants and elected officials, as well as lower age limits for both. Of course, some older elected representatives defy the odds, maintaining fairly clear thinking and speaking abilities even into their 90's, just as some younger folks show abilities well beyond their tender years. But we have to go with the averages, just as with driver's licences, marriages, and voting. So what should be the upper age limit for elected representatives, 80, 85, 90? Senator Strom Thermond (R-South Carolina) lived to age 100 while still in office, but died soon after that birthday. Still, I don't think we actually want to go there, as age 100 seems a bridge too far. Give someone else a chance! What about 90, at least as the limit for running for reelection? Of course, something like 24 current members of the House are 80 or older and more than half are now running for reelecttion. That seems like too many. Maybe 85 should be the limit to run. Of course, people differ. The late California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein in her late 80s and early 90s, faced significant public scrutiny regarding her mental fitness and her memory,
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), at age 92, is now the oldest currently serving member of  Congress, saying that he has not yet decided whether he will run for reelection. At age 86,  Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), the mother of 5 adult offspring, has announced that she is retiring after 40 years and won't be runiing for reelectiom in 2026. She needs to keep tabs  on her husband of the same age back in California, as he seems to be having trouble with driving and probably should simply give it up. 
With Donald Trump, age 80, now making so many gaffes, he should definitely retire at the end of his current term. I'd even say he should retire right now because he could even get our nation and the world into pretty big trouble meanwhile. But then JD Vance would take over and, at his age, he could stay in office for quite a while longer. We certainly don't want that. So, come on Democrats, who do we have now? Who is an up-and-coming younger Democrat ready to inspire the Party? It's hard to actually identify anyone at all. 
We need an FDR, a Harry Truman, even a Jimmy Carter, somone with personality and drive, but preferably a woman this time--can Kamala possibly make a comeback? She's been awfully quiet lately.  




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Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Starting over once again

Whew! The blog dieties had been giving me a whole lot of grief on that last post, so let's see what happens here now. Are today's troublesome blog gods actually descended from those of ancient times?

AFP

Trump's primetime speech rehashes false, misleading election claims


Donald Trump still cannot believe that he actually lost an election--win some, lose some--that's life. It can happen. No one wins each and every single time. 
Trump did win election this last time--not by much, but it still was a definitive win--so he should celebrate that. And, yes, he also had lost an election before that. No one actually stole it from him. That's just a myth. 
So, Donald, stop being such a crybaby! You cannot be a winner every single time. Learn to be a graceful loser; congratulate the actual winner and offer that person your support. Be a man, not just a great big crybaby. Just let it go; you are big boy now, 

President Trump reportedly made $2.2 billion in his first year back in office. Is that anything to cry about? 

The Daily Beast

Trump Faces Deafening Jeers at World Cup Trophy Ceremony

INSTANT POPULARITY CHECK

The president got to hear what people really think of him. Or did he?


Did Trump actually hear the jeers? He said that he thought it was mostly cheers.





The reasom that Donald Trump is not in prison for sexual assault or whatever it was called, is that he paid E. Jean Carroll for "defaming" her, not for the actual rape or assault, a subtle distinction 

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Baby surprise

A woman in Australia has given birth to a rare set of identical quadruplet daughters after a pregnancy her doctor described as "unheard of."

Jenitar Sau Na'amoana, 34, gave birth to her quadruplets via cesarean section on July 14 at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Queensland, according to the hospital. 

Na'amoana and her husband Jortham did not use fertility treatments. All four babies are identical quadruplets, meaning they shared a single placenta, the hospital said


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Tom Joe, my late former husband, as many readers already know, was totally blind and was the receipient of a MacArthur Genius fellowship as the result of work we had done together. His mentor was Jacobus tenBroek, a blind professor at UC, Berkeley. 
Together with tenBroek, we had helped found the disabiloty rights movment and the National Federation of the Blind. I say "we" because I was directly involved, though tried to keep a behind-the-scenes role. 
Dr. tenBroek, like my own Dad, was born in Alberta, Canada. Here are tenBroek's remarks at the founding of the National Federation of the Blind. We actually were there as he spoke, excited to be at the launch of a new disability rights movement.

                                           Dr. tenBroek was seen holding his white cane. 

Here is what he said: These then are the objectives of the self-organized blind, goals freely chosen for them by themselves. And this is the true significance of an organization of the blind, by the blind, for the blind. For the blind the age of charity, like that of chivalry, is dead; but this is not to say that there is no place for either of these virtues. In order to achieve the equality that is their right, in order to gain the opportunity that is their due, and in order to attain the position of full membership in the community that is their goal, the blind have continuing need for the understanding and sympathy and liberality of their sighted neighbors and fellow citizens. But their overriding need is first of all for recognition—recognition of themselves as normal and of their purposes as legitimate. The greatest hope of the blind is that they may be seen as they are, not as they have been portrayed; and since they are neither wards nor children, their hope is to be not only seen but also heard—in their own accents and for whatever their cause may be worth.

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Daniel Ortega. Nicaragua's defacto dictator, says there's no point in even holding elections, because he and his vice president wife will inevitably continue in power. Talk about a "rigged" system! They've found out just how to do it.

But twhat happens after they die? They are human, not immortal, after all. 
Have they designated any successors for when they are both gone? Apparently not.

After so many of us, along with the help of Jimmy Carter, had worked to finally oust Daniel Ortega back in the day and to put opposition candidate Violeta Chamorro into the presidncy, I could not believe that Ortega would so doggedly and systematically manage to work his way back. He does deserve credit for doing that, arousing little alarm at first, even allowing the US Peace Corps to remain in place for a time. Nicaraguans simply took their eyes off the ball, believing Ortega to be a changed man, so now they are suffering the consequences. But I doubt that his reign will survive after he and his wife are gone, as Nicaraguans have really never supported him and will not let his influence continue after the couple's deaths. Mark my words friends, you will see that I am right, even if I am no longer around then to see it for myself.


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https://thehill.com/policy/international/5980042-danon-rejects-mamdani-netanyahu-arrest-jurisdiction/

The Hill--Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) has “no jurisdiction” to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his planned visit to New York in September, dismissing the mayor’s threat as “a stunt.”

In an interview with The New York Times, Mamdani said his administration is in “an active conversation” with the city’s legal department about whether there is legal authority to arrest Netanyahu if he attends the U.N. General Assembly in September, describing the Israeli leader as a “war criminal.”

Danon argued Mamdani lacks the authority to carry out such an arrest, noting that the U.S. is not a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 over alleged war crimes tied to Israel’s military action in Gaza. “The U.S. is not part of the ICC so there is no warrant against a prime minister in the U.S., and there is no jurisdiction for the mayor,” he said.

Of course, many of us do consider Netanyahyu a war criminal, along with Donald Trump, as well. It would be such a relief to have them both behind bars. But it may never actually happen.


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Wash. Post, Mexico, home of the original Mexican food, now has a Chipotle Mexican Grill





Mexico also once had a Taco Bell. but not any more. 

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I just ran across this Halloweem photo of my older daughter living in Florida, I'll have to ask her more about it. I'll just post this now. 


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Monday, July 20, 2026

Our demographic challenges: a birthrate deficiency with extra baby boys then too many old ladies


  

What are our demographic challenges here in the  US of A?
Not enough babies! Not enough kids! Then too few men and too many old ladies just like me. Those are our population imbalances.
So congratulaions to the Vances for their new baby boy!































The Vances are setting an example by having a 4th child, another boy! The country and the world still need more boys, more men,

                                         Congratulations! Wow!
Whoopee!


PBS, JD and Usha Vance welcome a baby boy, the first child born to a sitting 

VP in more than 150 years. Here are the Vances with their other 3 children, 

including their daughter. 

We haven't seen photos yet of their new baby boy. 

Ladies, If you are a woman like me, especially fond of men, our chances of finding a male partner drastically diminish with each passing birthday. I feel lucky to be living right now with one of those increasingly scarce adult males, my son Jon, age 52. Any older woman now partnered with a rare older man needs to take special care of her guy. 

American women begin to outnumber men at age 47. While males outnumber females from birth through age 46, men's higher mortality rates cause the gender balance at that point to flip. Then that gap keeps on widening significantly as the population ages. 
Here is the demographic shift by the numbers:
  • Age 65 and older: There are roughly 82 men for every 100 women.
  • Age 85 and older: Women now outnumber men more drastically, with about 70 men per 100 women. 
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