I have already posted Saturday, with some odd spaces remaining there, so let's see now about Sunday. Sorry for the gaps. Readers can see that I'm still having a very hard time. Probably the blog should never be uploaded any more in the afternoon. I may have to go back to writing it first as a document, then try to copy and upload it from there. I wish my daughter Stephanie were here to advise me right now, but she may not be coming for another month or so. A big space follows after the next headline, so I'm warning readers right now. Just keep on scrolling down after that.
Trump started this war all on his own, so this now is his war, meaning that he alone will decide when and how to end it. Iran has little to say in the matter.
Here below is a recent message from a former Cuban prisoner who was released 42 years ago, a release which I had facilitated and witnessed back then. He is a man whose memoirs and even poetry I'd then later translated into English completely pro-bono, without ever mentioning my own name there as translator. (No translator is even mentioned.)
In English, we always want to be concise and direct. In Spanish, we would usually not say something so very bluntly, rather would embellish it a bit. I don't know how Google handles such nuances in its online translations. Every language has its own particular style, reflecting the cultural practices associated with it.
So get out your own Google translator right now. I suspect that most translations are done currently by artificial intelligence. So are they also being culturally sensitive?
Ernesto Diaz
Sat, Sep 26, 3:22 PM (19 hours ago)
to me
Querida Barbara: De acuerdo a lo que yo recuerdo, la excarcelación y salida de parte de los presos que habían extinguido previamente la totalidad de sus sanciones, fue debido a una gestión, en 1984, del reverendo Jesse Jackson. Nada tuvo que ver, que yo sepa, ni en eso ni en el traslado a USA del grupo de los excarcelados, la organización Hermanos al Rescate.
.... Un abrazo.
Ernesto Diaz
Yes, I was right there back then. Of course, I still remember Ernesto and he still remembers me.
So, did we make it to end here? Let's stop for now.
Storms continue to batter New England. Here in West Virginia, it's just mostly clouds and rain, with a let-up on Friday evening (September 26), when we took our dog out for a run at a nearby national park. An enclosed dog park inside the main park allows dogs to freely climb up and dash all around there, off -leash. Most evenings my son is away at work at the front desk of CoolFont, a local hotel, but on Friday, he had a day off.
It's still has been flooding, snowy, and windy up in New England, as seen just below. But our rainclouds around here are dissipating at last. I think I need to break this post up into 2 sections, as it's not pasting well. here just now. So first is section 1. Saturday.
Donald Trump seems to really enjoy being president and to be calling all the shots. He doesn't bother consulting with others, just makes up his own mind. He doesn't care a fig about "separation of powers."
He is the big boss right now.
Trump appears to be considering running for vice president on the next Republican ticket and, if it wins, he still expects to be calling all the shots. And if he should actually choose to be vice president on the ticket next time, how could any Republican presidential candidate dare to refuse him?
Donald Trump has now reportedly marked a "Trump Strait" on a map of Iran.
He wants to be remembered in perpetuity. He certainly will be remembered.
White House blocks CNN from covering Trump’s Tennessee trip
Trump just doesn't like CNN's reporting at all, because it's not always favorable to him, although he is obviously the greatest US president ever. Therefore CNN must be blocked from now on. So much for freedom of the press. As Mr. Trump might even say, "Do it my way or it's the highway,"
Now Mr. Trump has declared that he wants to build a baseball field in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, so he may actually be doing so. Isn't that something our country really needs right now?
Nonetheless, while Trump is busy now slashing and burning everything he possibly can, he and Elon Musk insist that their white South African farmers must still be taken care of, to the tune now of $500 million. The president's current national priority is actually white South African farmers, not even Americans living right here, right now. Trump is grateful to Musk for his generous financial support.
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support financial support.
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benefitted him personally., not only politically. but also in the pocketbook.
Please excuse the glitches in this post. The blog deities are definitely being uncooperative. When I try to make corrections, that just makes matters worse. So just try to skim to get the gist. This is not a piece of literature, but I do try to be accurate. A white band that I cannot erase seems to be floating across the post, so I'm not sure where it will end up.
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My passport has expired and I haven't gotten a new one yet. At age 88, I am not as limber or as adventurous as before. Also, I am no longer working and cannot afford traveling all over the world as I once did. Some of my previous journeys were partially financed by human rights organizations, but I am no longer able to carry out such missions any more. Yes, folks, age is more than just a number and I now have hit that senior age.
Someone else feeling his age these days is Donald J. Trump. Though never the shiniest button in the jar nor the brightest bulb in the socket, Donald Trump at age 80 seems to be fading even faster than I am right now.
"Senile man gives 40 minute speech at the UN" references a satirical humor piece published by Andy Borowitz in The Borowitz Report on September 25, 2026.
Donald Trump is making it rather easy to make fun of us older folks.
Storms are battering the US east coast. We've had quite a lot of rain here in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, but are on somewhat elevated ground, so no problem with too much water so far.
White House bars CNN from covering Trump on behalf of major TV networks as he travels to Tennessee
Donald Trump may have a short memory, but he holds a grudge,
About the only folks being welcomed into our country right now are those favored by Trump's close adviser and major donor, South African-born billionaire Elon Musk. Nearlyall others are now being kept out.
The Trump Administration is asserting that white South African farmers face land seizures, racial oppression, and targeted violence amounting to persecution, and also claims that the group will easily assimilate. So here come the white South Africans once again.
The Trump Administration has set a refugee admission ceiling of 17,500 for the upcoming fiscal year, with officials stating that those slots will go primarily to Afrikaners (white South Africans), as reported by ABC7NY.
Justification: The U.S. Department of State and President Donald Trump have asserted that white South Africans face persecution and uncompensated land seizures, citing those as humanitarian concerns.
Cost: The projected cost of this specific resettlement effort is estimated at $500 million.
South African Response: The government of South Africa, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has strongly disputed and rejected allegations of a "white genocide" or of systemic racial persecution against the Afrikaner minority.
While I have nothing against white South Africans, why are they being admitted to our country now when everyone else is being kept out and when so many others are actually being deported--and not even being returned to their countries of origin? Is Elon Musk with his billions of dollars just bribing Donald Trump?. Something really quite strange is going on right now.
After living in Latin America. I am quite familiar with dengue. We always slept there with mosquito nets. There are 4 types of dengue and you have to have survived all 4 to be totally immune. Here is a dengue-transmitting mosquito
Trump urges Supreme Court to restart deportations to countries with poor human rights records
One of the places where President Trump is sending deportees, making it very hard for them to ever get out, is to South Sudan, where I once had a human rights mission. The following travel advisory recommends not even going there at all. Mr. Trump wants to make it very difficult if not impossible for deportees to ever get back home again, trying to punish those who just want to live in our country. He also is making it very hard for them to ever come here legally (unless they are white South Africans) and making it even harder for them to ever get out of wherever he decides to send. Many are being sent to places they've never actually heard of and don't know even where they are, such as Eswatini. Have you ever heard of that country? On what continent? Yes, now about the only folks being admitted here legally are white South African farmers once again.
Some deportees are also being sent to South Sudan, which the State Department advises is too dangerous a destination for American travelers. Times may have changed since I was last in that country some decades ago, as I always felt safe there.
AI Overview
Major international governments including the U.S. Department of State maintain a Level 4: Do Not Go Travel advisory for South Sudan due to ongoing armed conflict, violent crime, kidnapping risks, and landmines.
Here I was in South Sudan back in the day.
I never felt unsafe in South Sudan, though that was quite a few years ago. In fact, I felt quite protected, as a local woman was always holding my arm whenever I went out, accompanying me wherever I went. English was widely spoken then and probably still is. Folks there were always very friendly and kind to strangers--at least to me at that time.
However, times could have changed and South Sudan may now be unsafe for visitors. I really don't know. But I still doubt that deportees would be badly treated there. South Sudan does not have many visitors and those arriving there might actually be welcomed.
The State Department under Donald Trump could just be providing unreliable advice, as is so often the case. We may be able to trust the people of South Sudan more than we can trust our own government now.
Here's another that place that I know quite well is Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
I've been asked online, perhaps by a travel agency, if I have ever been to Quito in Ecuador? The answer is "yes," I certainly have been there. In fact, I've been to Quito quite a few times, but I am not sure just how many, as I had traveled back and forth there routinely from Ecuador's neighboring countries of Colombia and Peru when I lived in Colombia.
The elevation in Quito is 9,350 feet, not quite as high as La Paz, Bolivia, at 11,942 feet, where I have also been. Those unaccustomed to such lofty elevations might feel out-of-breath just walking around there. But I had already lived for some time in Bogotá,Colombia, and was somewhat acclimated. Bogotá has an altitude of 8,660 feet.
Denver, where I have also lived, known as the mile-high city, has an elevation of 5,280 feet. (A mile is
exactly 5280 feet.)
While we are on the subject of high altitude cities, I have also visited Machu Picchu in Peru and with my late younger brother climbed up to the top of the mountain overlooking that ancient Inca city. Back in those days, the only access there was by train; I don't know about that now.
Of course, travelers could always hike into Machu Picchu, as they did in Hiram Bingham's time. Bingham was an American explorer who had brought international recognition to the long abandoned city of Machu Picchu, already well known to local indigenous folks.
Google says:Machu Picchu is an Incan citadel set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru, above the Urubamba River valley, Elevation: 7,972′. Built in the 15th century and later abandoned, it’s renowned for its sophisticated dry-stone walls that fuse huge blocks without the use of mortar, intriguing buildings that play on astronomical alignments and panoramic views. Its exact former use remains a mystery.
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While we are now on the subject of travel, I have been to every state in the US except Alaska and to some 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. I have visited nearly all the countries in the Americas and in the Caribbean, with the major exceptions of Brazil and Venezuela. I looked over the border between Colombia and Venezuela, but never actually crossed because that seemed too risky for an American to do at that time.
Being able to speak Spanish has allowed me to understand much of what's being said also in Romanian, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan, but certainly not in either German or Russian.
See the previous post about this photo that has just popped up now on Facebook. It is of me and my friend Armando standing together in the surf near Havana years ago. Armando now lives in Florida after I brought him out of Cuba via Mexico years ago. Will I ever go back to Cuba after being ejected and told never to return? Probably not, though visitors from the US might be welcomed there now. I really don't want to take the chance.
In any case, at age 88, I see that my passport has already expired, so my international traveling days may be over. I could always get a new passport, but there's plenty for me to do right here in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, so I may never go abroad again.
