Did I miss having internet and phone connections during my recent almost one-week outage? You bet! It was beyond frustrating to be incommunicado with fellow Americans as well as connections all over the globe. Of course, I could always have knocked on a neighbor’s door to explain my plight, but I kept hoping my service would spontaneously return, as there was an occasional internet flicker, but it didn’t last. When everything died out entirely, I finally had to ask for assistance. My family had already begun worrying, leaving messages on my phone answering service which received no reply. Now, after a live technician came out and installed new wiring in a wall, I’m feeling very appreciative and relieved.

Do we still have to change our clocks twice a year? Why not stick with one time or the other? The original rationale for the twice yearly change was to support farmers, but that no longer applies if it ever did. Farmers have always been free to act independently, regardless of the time on a clock.

Is there any symbolism in the fact that the moon will be on eclipse early on our US election day?

A visiting friend took this photo of a remarkably tall plant growing out of a tiny pot on my rear sun porch.

OK, I gave up trying to report to the post office via phone or email about a sticky substance found last evening all over the surface of the shaft of the mailbox located 2 blocks from my house. It doesn’t fit any of the available reporting options so apparently the postal service doesn’t want to receive messages that don’t fit into those categories. At 9 pm last night, when I went out to mail a letter in the box at 7^th & Independence SE, it got stuck on the metal shaft instead of sliding down into the box. I had to unstick it and reach below that sliding shaft to insert it beyond, hoping that it actually went down. The postal service does have a complicated way to report to the Attorney General about possible postal criminal activity, but this issue doesn't seem to merit that. I will check again to see if the problem persists next time I go by there and, if so, will report it in person to the local post office.

Americans, while still rooting for Ukraine against Russia, seem to be feeling compassion fatigue now about continuing with financial support of Ukraine, which is fueling inflation. Republicans, if they prevail in the midterms, may pull the plug, or at least reduce the flow of aid. Is it time for some sort of settlement to get both sides out of a useless and destructive conflict? Ukraine might need to cede some territory—maybe Crimea--and/or pause its bid to join the European Union at least until Putin is out of office.

Talk about a stroke of bad luck!! Daily Mail, 'I heard this big bang!' Meteor in direct hit on man's rural California home - killing one of his dogs and completely destroying the property in ONE-IN-FOUR-TRILLION freak event

· Dustin Procita and his wife Jeanette lost their home to a fire after officials say a meteor hit their home in Northern California on Friday night

· Around the same time, witnesses say they saw a fireball light up the night sky

· Video captured the fireball flash in the sky and fall rapidly to the ground

· Procita was inside his home when he heard it hit and his house caught fire

· The odds of being hit by a meteor - one in four trillion - are considerably less likely than the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot - which is one in 292.2M

· NASA and the US Air Force will be contacted as the local fire department investigates if the blaze was caused by a meteor crashing down to earth

Daily Mail, Millionaire Lebanese politician goes on trial in Spain for ORGAN-HARVESTING: Ex-mayor, 69, 'tried to buy a liver from poor illegal migrants for transplant'

For a liver transplant, often for a liver ravished by alcoholism, only part of a liver is needed, as the organ will regenerate in both donor and recipient. In this case, a Lebanese politician ended up getting a liver donation from his own son, after first trying to buy one from an illegal immigrant.

Ten Peace Corps trainees have now arrived in Viet Nam— the first group of volunteers ever to serve in that country since the Peace Corps inception in 1961.

Venezuelans were heading for the US border en masse after first crossing the treacherous Darien Gap, when suddenly, the rules changed as too many were coming. Now, before they can enter our country, Venezuelans must first find a US-based sponsor and undergo vetting. We do need many of those folks and other immigrants due to a shortfall of workers. Only more births and more immigration can help fill the gap.

Guardian, Venezuelans who braved horrific jungle trek may now have to repeat it

Some have already started turning back.

NY Times, Abrupt New Border Expulsions Split Venezuelan Families

The U.S. government expanded a pandemic-related expulsion policy in a bid to curb Venezuelan migration. Some families were caught on both sides of the border.

Miami Herald, Cuban migrants arrive in Miami Beach near Deauville hotel, and more in the Florida Keys Cubans are also not as welcome as they once were.

Texas state troopers stop Uber carrying five illegal immigrants in alleged human smuggling operation. | Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-state-troopers-stop-uber-carrying-five-illegal-immigrants-alleged-human-smuggling-operation

By accident, Sat. night, I turned on a radio station airing a live Trump rally in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump, love him or hate him, has a very convincing rhetorical style. He seems to really believe what he is saying. DeSantis, whom he referred to as “Ron DeSanctimonious,” doesn’t come close in exciting his audience. Biden remains far behind on arousing emotions. I listened, just letting Trump’s words roll over me, hearing his faithful react with apparent glee and enthusiasm.

The eight billion humans now occupying our earth are already more than enough, but their total numbers and age distribution in an ideal world would remain balanced and steady, neither increasing nor decreasing over time, with deaths offset by births and with no age group being over- or underrepresented. Of course, that ideal population dynamic is unlikely to actually play out in reality, since human beings as individuals, groups, and citizens will skew the totals in less desirable directions. Also, numbers will inevitably begin to thin out at older ages. It now looks increasingly likely that the population of most developed countries will shrink, or is shrinking already, becoming top-heavy with less productive seniors. This is happening in our own country and I am one among many seniors who have recently left the labor force.

That labor force also keeps evolving. More than 3000 years ago, farming was the main occupation, as in this ancient portrayal of wheat harvesting, probably being done by a slave, since an owner’s hand seems to be guiding him.

In ancient Greece, as below, laborers were often paid in grain. People did not move around so much, partly because they lacked the means to do so.

Now geographic distance is not such an impediment. A long-time friend, originally from Brazil, arrived here years ago with a soccer team. He soon married, became a father, then got divorced. I had initially shown the young couple how to care for and bathe their newborn. Later, I coached this fellow on a bunch of sample citizenship questions. When he became a proud US citizen, he informed me after the ceremony by singing the entire “Stars Spangled Banner” on a phone message, using up all the recording space. My friend, now age 69, called me recently to announce that he’s getting married again, this time to a woman in Viet Nam, though they’ve never actually met in person. He tells me she is 44 and a virgin. Well, I said, congratulations. My friend now lives in No. Carolina, but has promised to bring his new wife to DC to meet me. He hasn’t been back to Brazil for several years now, but if he had been there for the recent election, he said he would have voted for Bolsonaro.

NBC News, Suspect in Paul Pelosi attack was in U.S. illegally, immigration officials say Immigration and Customs Enforcement may eventually deport David DePape back to Canada. Not all immigrants are desirable.

For most of human history, having kids was not a choice; they simply were born to heterosexual couples and not being thus partnered was considered a calamity, especially for a woman. What else was a woman’s destiny, except to be married to a man and have kids? In earlier times, “quickening,” when an expectant mother first felt fetal movement, was when the soul was considered to have been instilled in the unborn’s body. Not all children lived to adulthood, but most did, so the human race continued. Values and habits did not change quickly. Justice, blind or not, was considered immutable.

In the developing world, traditional habits and values may still prevail.

Wash. Post, As climate change worsens, Egypt is begging families to have fewer kids

The Egyptian government sees large families as an existential threat to the country at a time of dwindling natural resources.

Values and habits are now in flux, especially in the "First World," which Wikipedia, states “includes Australia & New Zealand, the developed countries of Asia (South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan), and the wealthy countries of North America and Europe, particularly Western Europe.”

In the First World, marriages between men and women and having children are no longer givens, but rather regarded as matters of choice. Individual choice is highly valued in developed countries. Also, fairly reliable birth control and sterilization are available, so couples may simply choose not to have any children at all. Except for sterilization, no birth control method is 100% reliable, though IUDs seem to work best. Abortion is supported as a “right” and a “choice” by most Americans, at least in the first trimester. I’ve never been comfortable with that position, despite siding with Democrats on most other issues. Most developed countries now allow abortion in the early stages of a pregnancy.

Also in developed countries, marital relationships are less durable now and can be same-sex as well as heterosexual, depending again on personal choice, though only a heterosexual relationship can result in children unless relying on surrogacy, adoption, or artificial insemination. Women are also typically in the workforce now, so are finding it hard to care for more than one or, at most, 2 children, if any. President Biden is trying to increase support for families with children, but has gotten major pushback from Republican lawmakers.

Since having children is currently considered optional in some countries, that means fewer babies are actually being born there. This has resulted in an increasingly older and shrinking population now in developed nations, including in North America, Europe, South Korea, and Japan. Furthermore, more than a million excess deaths in the US have been ascribed to Covid. Might the rise of today’s anti-abortion sentiment in the US partly represent a societal response to the dwindling birthrate? Only immigration from countries with higher birthrates has helped the US stave off overall population loss for now.

Buzzfeed recently sampled a group of contemporary American parents. For them, parenthood is now defined as a choice, when it had been largely considered an inevitability in prior generations. Yet, some of these same parents admitted they had not actually planned on having children, but had had them by “accident.” Most ended up being glad they did, though finding raising children not to be easy, just as it was probably never easy in years gone by. Intimate family relationships, whether between partners or between parents and children, have always been challenging, but now those involved feel freer to express complaints because becoming a spouse or a parent are regarded as choices, implying that there had always been the option to not exercise those choices. However, having and raising children is the only way the human race can continue. Every adult in the world today began as a fetus, a baby, a child, a teen, which are not really distinct human categories, but points along a life continuum. What will happen to our world now if fewer adults choose to exercise the parenting option? No life is easy and relationships, whether between friends, spouses, parents, children, or bosses and workers, are often challenging and have some rough moments, but only hermits can avoid all interpersonal conflicts.

Since having children is now regarded as a choice and a calling, the death of a child, something that our forebears also experienced, has become ever more devastating. I can certainly attest to that, having lost both my older son and my Cuban foster son.

Some folks, currently without any apparent connections or obligations to others, choose to focus all their attention only on themselves. One such individual is Rich Rotella, 38, an aspiring actor, who undertook leg-lengthening surgery in hopes of advancing his career. He was able to increase his height by 3 inches from 5’ 5” to 5’ 8” after a year of costly, painful surgery and treatment. His online recounting of that experience may end up increasing his future acting prospects. Good luck to him on that after he took cosmetic surgery to extremes in a risky gamble that cost him $100,000 and a year of his life. Unless someone has a really disfiguring or handicapping condition, I’m not a big fan of cosmetic surgery. Surgeons’ skills might be better devoted to correcting serious problems, and I don’t consider being slightly shorter than average to be such a problem. After all, people do come in a range of heights and sizes.

Here are some intriguing animals with which you may not be familiar. Certainly, I was not until now. Below is a Guinian Cock-of-the-Rock.

The little guy above is a Tarsier.

Below a Greater Sage Grouse puffs out his chest.

The Blue Dragon Sea Slug is only a little over and inch long.

Around here locally, there are always lost cats. I’m fascinated by cats of all varieties, though hesitant to even pet one because of allergies. Some have been lost, others found