This posting, being the last for 2022, will include a little bit of everything, then I will try to be more organized and disciplined from 2023 and beyond.

First, Happy Kwanzaa, a week-long holiday starting the day after Christmas, ending on New Year's Day

Then some photos from DC's past.

After I spent Christmas with my son in rural W. Va., he decided that I had to leave shortly because there had been a murder/suicide in the parking lot of the CoolFont hotel where he works. It had actually happened the day after my arrival, on the Friday night before Christmas, but I didn’t know about it at the time. My son and his colleagues considered me too old and delicate to reveal that to me, so I only found out from another town resident after returning home. The murdered couple left behind a 20-year-old daughter. Such a tragedy does the hotel's slowly reviving reputation no good. The current owner bought it only in 2019 after it had been abandoned for some years. He owns another hotel in town and is trying to revive CoolFont, which includes 100 acres of surrounding woodland. My son rents a house on the property. His house is located about a mile and a half from the main lodge with its adjacent hotel, gym, and tennis courts. Will ghosts now be imagined there? There has been a wedding since the murder-suicide and a good crowd arrived for New Year’s, so those are good signs.

These photos were taken before I left when my son knew of the murder-suicide, but kept it a secret from me.

You see above that there was some snow.

As we were driving away when I left, 10 young does traveling together in a pack surged out of the woods, crossing the road in front of us. We passed by the “castle,” a mysterious stone fortress flanked by gargoyles, including a green gargoyle flapping its wings. Leaving town, we passed by the Moose Lodge with its empty parking lot. Such male-only organizations are losing the next generation.

Meanwhile, almost half a world away in Honolulu, my younger daughter and her husband were hosting his mother and aunt now living in upstate New York, though both originally from Ukraine. The Ukrainian flag was hanging outside the garage to greet them.

Below is an outdoor decoration in our neighborhood.

Package thieves have certainly been having a heyday this season Videos on the DC neighborhood website show individuals brazenly walking up onto porches to steal packages without knowing their contents, contents perhaps to be discarded later, or maybe even offered for sale later on the neighborhood website? I haven’t received many packages this season and have known of only 2 packages previously stolen, not that I get many packages anyway, as I already have more of almost everything than I need.

Above is a tree outside my house

This also comes from the neighborhood website: “[A] new bar will open its doors in D.C.’s historic H Street corridor, but this bar is making history because no alcohol will be served.” Apparently, it will just be a place to hang out and meet new people. The non-alcoholic drink market is surging in popularity.

Also, this came from the website: “I spotted a mangey fox skulking around 8th and A SE last night— didn’t look too healthy.” (That’s right on the corner nearest my house.)

Here’s a really tragic and chilling notice posted on the neighborhood website: “My girlfriend was killed on Saturday 12/17/2022 between 7:30pm-8:30pm in front of the Hanover apartment building 3201 8th st ne.” She was apparently run over 2 days before her birthday.

Wash. Post, At least 77 people died homeless in nation’s capital this year

Sorry to report that the Peace Corps has not yet been fully restored. This comes from the National Peace Corps Association: “Despite tremendous progress in both the House and Senate, and hard-fought negotiations right up until the closing hours of the 117th Congress, passage of the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1456; S. 4466) fell short. While the bills had significant bipartisan support — passing both the House and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — objections from some Republicans led to a watering down of the bills, removing key provisions to support Volunteers and RPCVs that came with a financial cost. Even with those provisions removed, the Senate was unable to pass its version of the Reauthorization Act in the closing hours, due to a hold placed on the bill by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who prevented the bill (along with other pieces of legislation) from being passed by Unanimous Consent despite the strong Republican backing for it.”

In Washington, DC, Sen. Mitch McConnell has observed: “The former president may have other things to do” than run again for president.

Ignoring McConnell’s assessment, Donald Trump has launched yet another presidential bid. He's a guy’s whose emotional/mental development seems to have halted when he reached 5^th grade, leaving him blithely unaware of his deficits. His 30% base remains loyal but the rest of the Republican Party is moving on. Having only 30% of the Republican electorate is not a winning strategy.

The January 6 Committee report is pretty damning and may even result in criminal charges against The Donald. He has been getting away with fraud and lies for so many years now, but may have reached the end of the line. He once bragged that paying very few taxes was a “smart” move on his part (including paying none at all in the final year of his presidency), but maybe it was not so smart after all. For a peaceful retirement out on the golf course, he would have been better off not to have pursued the presidency ever again. As it stands, his failure to exit the race may end up dividing the Republican electorate and also the party’s lawmakers, many of whom dare not speak against him.

Mr. Trump might have envisioned becoming a dictator along the lines of the leadership of Russia and China, something which certainly simplifies life for everyone, but also allows discontent to fester. It’s not a model to emulate. Trump’s tactic now may be to try to stave off legal challenges and continue to collect money for his defense and pay off debts.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke before a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday evening, Dec. 21, before my son arrived the next morning to take me to his place in W Va. Zelensky bravely gave the whole speech in English, struggling a bit at times, but appearing very forceful and genuine. He wants more aid for his country’s defensive battles and for continuing assurances under the new Congress. “Your money is not charity,” Mr, Zelensky told Congress, but rather an investment in “global security and democracy.” A man who might have been considered an almost accidental president, a comic only later turned politician, Zelensky has certainly risen to the occasion.

Who would have ever thought that Vladimir Putin would have undertaken a war of aggression against Ukraine to try to keep that country within the Russian political orbit? Zelensky may regret ever having mentioned wanting his country to become closer to western Europe.

This war seems almost like throwback to World I and II, with much of it being fought in the trenches and nightly bombing raids sending citizens to underground shelters, though also with more modern unmanned drones dropping missiles from above. If Russia should prevail, it will preside over a ruined country of bitter, uncooperative citizens.

The Hill, Biden to meet with leaders of Mexico and Canada in Mexico City next month

In Iran, though the US seems to be keeping hands-off, protests have entered a 3^rd month despite continuing arrests and executions.

People, Parents of 19-Month-Old Nonuplets Introduce Their 5 Girls, 4 Boys: 'Not Easy to Put Them to Sleep'

Here again is the nonuplet family, the parents with all 9 babies, but without the slightly older sister who appeared last time. When the children begin walking, talking, using the bathroom, and feeding themselves, the physical burden of care will diminish.

Planned Parenthood ads appeal to women by stressing “rights” and “freedom,” but just for the would-be mother, not for the would-be offspring. “Forced pregnancy” is another frequent slogan, though pregnancy is only forced in the case of rape. Otherwise, a woman willingly--often eagerly—engages in intercourse; it’s not a case of an immaculate conception.

Wash. Post, Red states that banned abortion consider expanding Medicaid for mothers

It's high time they consider doing that.

Palm Beach Daily News, Senator Lori Berman vows legislation over athlete menstrual questions. Here's why. That information does not belong on students’ athletic records, Berman contends.

High school volleyball team.

Here’s a man belatedly deciding to use birth control because raising kids is getting just too darn expensive. In Uganda, where he lives, polygamy (a man with more than one wife) is legal. This guy has 12 wives and carefully guards them all to make sure they don’t have access to any other man.

Blavity-News, 67-Year-Old Ugandan Man Who Has 102 Children And 568 Grandchildren Says This Is Why He's Done Having Kids

This image of an Egyptian mummy mask was one I was looking for before and could not find.

Locally, pets are still being lost and found. Are some of these the same animals, lost by someone and found by someone else?

Here are some places where I've already been and a few that I've never seen. Given unlimited time and money, I'd like to visit or revisit them all.

Amsterdam above, Barcelona below

Basel above, Bruges below

Here below, Dubai, Seoul, Stockholm and Tokyo

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Job recruitment ads:

Cherokee Nation, Resilience Analyst

Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corporation, Gaithersburg, MD

Peace Corps Honduras
"The blog continues"

Saturday, December 31, 2022

Happy New Year, Feliz Año Nuevo