Will I even survive Trump's presidency ?

What's the countdown now for the end of Donald Trump's presidency? Will I even live to see the day? Now with more than 2 1/2 years still left to go, if I live long enough, then I will be age 90 when he is finally gone, gone, gone. Then I can actually die in peace, unless he ends up next as a Republican vice president, something he has also contemplated. Then pity the poor president on the same ticket. Just imagine what that unfortunate person's life might be like, having someone always looking over their shoulder and posting about it on social media.  

 I once considered GW Bush a terrible president, but he now seems rather harmless compared to Donald J. Trump. Could any future president actually be worse than Trump? I don't even want to imagine it. Maybe a President Pete Hegseth would actually be worse

Thanks (or no thanks) to Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, a blatant war criminal, is still on duty as US Secretary of War, still drawing a hefty salary, despite his scanty military experience consisting only of National Guard duty, and also despite having given orders to murder Caribbean boaters raising their hands in surrender, an actual war crime. None-the-less, seasoned military officers are required to salute him and stand at attention in his presence. And he is trying to demote and censure an actual war hero, Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), a retired Navy Captain, for saying that service members can refuse to carry out illegal orders.

Pete Hegseth left the Army National Guard in 2021 after being flagged as an "insider threat" by a fellow service member, according to reports.

Earlier in his tenure as Secretary of War, Hegseth had posted on-line his re-writing of the children's story Franklin the Turtle, which did nothing to burnish his military credentials. Remember that episode? But ultimately Trump as president is responsible for naming him in the first place and for still keeping him on the federal payroll. I have speculated that Hegeth's family must have given a sizable donation (bribe?) to Mr. Trump to get Pete on the federal payroll to begin with. 

Hegseth is obviously out of his depth, in way over his hed, just swimming upstream. Nor has he seemed to learn very quickly on the job. He never has really gotten his footing. But he still fits in well with Trump who now displays serious senile dementia. So there they are, 2 mentally disabled guys who may somewhat understand each other. Trump has been trying to put some of the blame for the Iran war on Hegseth, who none-the-less is going with him to China. 

What if Trump should decide not to retire when his presidential term ends, but instead to run as vice president on a ticket with JD Vance at the top? Vance could then hardly refuse. Then if they won, Trump would always be looking over Vance's shoulder, telling him what to do and threatening him with MAGA if he fails to listen. 

Vance and his wife are now expecting their 4th child.

Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration is withholding $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California and is threatening to suspend federal funding to all states if they don’t aggressively prosecute fraud in their Medicaid programs. As part of his role as the fraud czar, Vance said that the administration is targeting California because the state isn’t taking fraud seriously.

 Do you really believe that California isn't taking fraud seriously or that fraud is the actual reason the state is being targeted? After Kamala didn't quite make it, Democrats may  hesitate to back her or another woman again. Now California's Governor Gavin Newsom  seems to have his eye on the presidency, so the Democratic Party might consider him a safer bet. Therefore we might wonder if there is really a problem prompting the Trump administration to suspend Medicaid payments to California, or, as is much more likely, whether Trump, Vance, and their associates are just to try to stop Newsom's forward momentum? The Trump administration is certainly quite willing to play dirty.

Wash. Post, Meet Merla, the beagle who busted two air travelers for 100 meat sandwiches

She is a detector dog with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Beagle Brigade.

Apparently meat sandwishes, at least in bulk, are not permitted in air travelers' carryons. This traveler, with over 100 meat sandwishes, had brought them from Thailand without actually declaring them. 

My son Jon, a dog lover, found this story. We'd always had dogs when he was growing up and we now  have a dog named Willow. She keeps me company while Jon is away at work. She would be quite capable of sniffing out meat sandwiches, but would probably take a few bites herself,
Here now is Jon with Willow.

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An Ecuadorian website asks if I've ever thought of visiting Quito.

            ¿Has pensado viajar a Quito? descubre su magia y alrededores.

 

Actually, I have visited Quito. 

The altitude in Quito is over 9,000 ft. so it takes some time to adapt there. In neighboring Peru, I've been to even higher elevations, such as 11,000 ft. in Cuzco, then in La Paz, Bolivia at almost 12,000 ft. I've also lived in Bogotá, Colombia at an elevation of 8,600 ft.,

 the 3rd highest capital in the world after La Paz and Quito. Then there is Denver, where I've also lived as a child, hailed as the Mile-High City at over 5,000 ft. As can be seen, I've moved around a lot, living at various elevations, beginning with Copán, Honduras in 1940 when I was only 2, being bathed back then by our live-in maid. with my a baby brother (now deceased) looking on. But now at age 88, I do hope to spend the rest of my days right here in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, where the elevation is about 2,000 ft., the same as Copán.

Longtime DC neighbors have just told me about plans by the current owners to raise the basement ceiling of my former DC house by at least a foot or more. Probably these new owners of "my" DC home want to raise the basement ceiling to the standard height for legal rentals, then to put in a whole rental apartment down there. There is already a full bathroom in the basement. Raising everything up above will be a very delicate tricky operation for such a large house with 4 fireplaces and pocket doors, built back in 1895 and with 3 full floors still above. If it should be dropped in the process, then it's goodbye house! 

This is what Zillow says: 720 A St SE, Washington, DC 20003 is currently not for sale. The 4298 Square Feet single family home is a 7 beds, 5 baths property. $1,400,000.00.

"My" house is the red brick one with a white door seen just behind the tree. I had lived in my DC home for more than 50 years, raised my kids there, and had planned to stay until my death. It is detached on the side being hidden behind the tree above, with a side yard and some open space between it and the next house on that side.  

Seen below was the music room, situated between the living and dining rooms, where I had a player piano and also the ancient pump organ still seen there. There were 3 fireplaces on the first floor, another fireplace in my master bedroom on the second floor, and a wood stove up on the 3rd floor. There were pocket doors on the first floor and in my bedroom, also lots of stairs, which I navigated by holding tightly onto the railing.  

Yes, my friends, I had planned on living there until my dying day, but my kids insisted that I move out. Now I live in West Virginia with my son in a new one-story house with no fireplaces or pocket doors, a very comfortable abode with a living room furnished with 2 couches and a desk, and with 2 full bathrooms, 3 bedrooms--one of which serves as an office, and a kitchen/dining room.

There is also an enclosed garage, as well as a screened porch and a basement.

This below is the house I've bought here in West Virginia,

How many more years?

 

Here is my daughter Steph with her beloved pet Franklin. What sort of animal is he? A Guinea Pig, she says. She and her husband live in Hawaii, Franklin always stays outside there, as her husband is allergic to furry animals. 

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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5873176-senate-republicans-caution-trump-cuba/

Senate Republicans are cautioning President Trump against ordering military strikes against the socialist regime in Cuba, arguing the U.S. military already has its hands full with Iran. The Trump administration, these Republicans declare, should not be thinking about opening another military front in a midterm election year when voters are already showing their displeasure with the war in Iran. They say finding a conclusion to the Iran war should be the nation’s, and the administration’s, top priority.

So is Donald Trump even listening to them? Does he care any more about what other lawmakers or even what voters think, as he is already in office? He makes his own decisions based on what he feels in his gut is right at the present moment, which then might change just a nanosecond later. He has been described as impulsive, acting without any thought. Medical observers have already identified him as having senior attention deficit syndrome. The world is currently being buffeted by his rapidly changing whims.

Doctors Sound Alarm Over Trump’s Rapid Mental Decline

Should a hyperactive Trump still have his finger the nuclear trigger? Should he even be remaining in office? He is putting all Americans and the whole world at grave risk. He also likes spending public money freely, never mind the deficit. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators left a meeting with the director of the U.S. Secret Service on Tuesday saying they need more details on a $1 billion security plan for the White House, including a proposed $220 million to secure President Donald Trump’s new East Wing ballroom.  Does our country even need a ballroom? 

Well, President Trump definitely wants a ballroom and also an arch, never mind the cost or whether they fit in with what is already there. After all, he is the US president and king of the world. He also proposes putting his image on the $100 bill. 

‘Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba’: Trump Goes On Bonkers Rant Reenacting How US Shoots Down Iranian Missiles

Donald Trump often keeps us all entertained with his crazy antics as Clown-in-Chief. 

Washington Post, Trump: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation."

In the White House, while Trump often stays awake at night, where does he usually hang out? Wife Melania is sleeping peacefully elsewhere, reportedly on another floor.

Facebook: Trump’s 250-foot gold arch would tower over the Lincoln Memorial. When asked who it honors, he said: 'Me'.

Trump says he doesn't think about Americans' finances 'even a little bit' in Iran talks

Probably he doesn't care about the cost of his ballroom or of his triumphal arch either. After all, it's not his own money. Trump still has plenty of dough, but he'd like to keep it for himself. He's not actually worried about the cost of the arch or the ballroom because his own money is not involved, These are just ways for our country to pay tribute to him in perpetuity. There's the Washington Monument, also the Lincoln memorial, and then very soon Trump's Triumphal Arch. Just let taxpayers foot the bill, as the president has likely figured out a way to end up paying almost no taxes himself. 

AI Overview

The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, clarifies that if a U.S. President dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the Vice President becomes President. It also sets rules for temporarily transferring power if a president is incapacitated (e.g., surgery) and outlines how to replace a sitting president deemed unfit by their cabinet and Vice President. 

Why is a review of the 25th Amendment being undertaken right now?

Is it because Trump's behavior in office is becoming just too very bizarre? Many of us 

would like to see him long gone from offiice, but as mentioned before, that would mean that JD Vance would take over and could then run again.

Vance is young, with small children and a pregnant wife, making a much more appealing picture than Donald J. Trump, not seen often with his family. 

w

living with them 

Now speaking of a pregnant wife:

Man accused of killing pregnant wife flees to Italy, tells judge he’s innocent

So then, who had murdered his wife? And why did the husband just run away? Didn't he want to help find her killer? In perhaps 99% of cases of women being murdered at home, the killer is never some strange intruder, but actually her own husband or male partner. This particular huband became upset that his wife was pregnant. Was he worried about no longer being her main squeeze, perhaps actually jealous of his unborn child? That happens. Even worse would come when he sees the baby actually sucking at her breast. So he may decide to  kill her, concerned that he will no longer be her number one focus. 

And how many intruders actually enter private homes here in the US? The Guthrie case is a rare exception, involving the home of a woman related to a well-known media personality. Intruders don't just break in to rob ordinary Americans like you and me. To steal what? Sheets and towels? Trash bags? Dishes? On-line thefts are so much easier, so much more common, and so very much more lucrative. 

When I was living in DC, my own on-line thief was a woman I'd never actually met, someone working with credit card or bank transactions. She had stolen several thousand dollars before I'd even noticed. 

Around here where we are living now, we never lock our doors when going out and never once have had an intruder and neither has anyone else we know.

In the third world, it's quite a different story. Houses there must always be guarded. Otherwise, when the owners return, their house will be empty: no more computer, furniture, dishes, sheets, towels, or pots and pans. Even food will gone. Because of extremes of poverty and wealth, well-off folks like my friends in Honduras live in a big house with a guard dog always on duty outside. Their current dog is a female but most guard dogs are male. These dogs never come inside.

Their high encircling fence with a locked gate is topped with rolls of barbed wire and bright lights shining all night. A trusted live-in servant, with her own separate quarters on the property, is always on call, with weekly time off only on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, when she then takes a bus to visit her own kids being cared for by relatives. During her brief weekend break, the home owners just stay at home. If they go away on vacation, she brings her own children to stay with her at the house until the owners return. 

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5874142-trump-regime-change-cuba/

This article predicts regime change in Cuba, coming sooner than we might expect. 

If that should actually happen, I might even get a new passport and go back there myself. 

Add Yahoo as a preferr