Smoke and Mirrors

“Code red” says today's weather report. Eye-irritating smoke has come back again to DC from the Canadian wildfires after 2 rainy days tamped it down. What must be the air quality in Canada closer to the fires? A friend living in New Brunswick, not so far away, has experienced no effect whatsoever. It all depends on the prevailing winds. It’s terrible that those fires are still consuming so many acres of forest and killing wildlife. CNN, More than a third of the US population, from the Midwest to the East Coast, under air quality alerts from Canadian wildfire smoke.

CNN, More than a third of the US population, from the Midwest to the East Coast, under air quality alerts from Canadian wildfire smoke

[For  new readers, I have no idea why sometimes the Washington Post shows up in all-caps, but sometimes, not.]

Wash. Post, Wildfire smoke puts Chicago among cities with worst air quality in the world Smoke attributed to Canadian fires diminished here in DC with rain in recent days, but Chicago remained hazy. And after the rain had cleared it in DC, the smoke was back again.

Wash. Post, Canada wildfire smoke is drifting from the Midwest to the East Coast Yes, we here in DC already knew this.

Wash. Post, Heat, smoke smother most of U.S., putting lives at risk

Politico, D.C. issues Code Red air quality due to Canada wildfires

Aerial view yesterday of the capitol, 7 blocks from my house, shows haze. 

According to another article in the Washington Post, people over 75 (that’s me) are likely to still have landlines, which have certain advantages. Cellphones are harder to operate (I never got the hang of a borrowed hand-me-down cell) and are not as useful in an emergency. Of course, with only a landline, I have no phone service when away from home, but I can live with that, as I’m always with someone else with a cellphone. And I do have a computer for internet access, also for posting this blog.

 A landline has the disadvantage of ringing whenever a call comes in. My phone had been blessedly quiet all weekend, but just like clockwork, at 9 on Monday morning, spam calls started up again, just like on the week before. But this time, only a few triggered my answering machine. I left the phone off the hook for a while to stop the annoying ringing, though I’ve mostly gotten used to it. This week, calls have all been coming from (202) 933—, (202) 985--, and (202) 899--. Those callers should stop wasting their time! My older daughter is trying to get my private home number on a Do Not Call List, but it may take 2 or 3 weeks to become effective. Since I plan to be away for a few days, the phone may continue ringing incessantly in my absence.

What else has been happening in our neighborhood?

First, there was a fire only a few blocks from my home that added to the smoky air. These and subsequent photos were all posted on the neighborhood website. 

                            Below, a local family celebrates the arrival of a summer visitor.

         Hawks are also visitors, as well as vultures; can wildlife and humans coexist in a city?  

                                                    A neighbor shows off her garden. 

Home grown vegetables are sold at local farmers' markets.

                                A neighborhood artist artist entitled his piece "Mother Africa."

Creative hairstyles have been on display.

Malaria has been found in the US after being gone for 2 decades. A person can get malaria more than once and I’ve had it more than twice, but hope never to get it again.

A friend in Canada told me about Canada Day celebrated on July 1^st. She sent me a link, but I never got to see it, since when I clicked on it, very aggressive spyware took over my whole computer. I had to call a technician, as shutting the computer down didn't help. After that, I Googled Canada Day and found this: "Celebrates the anniversary of the Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867.” 

Friends in Honduras sent me photos of their son's kindergarten graduation at a bilingual school.

NY Times, How Migrants Flown to Martha’s Vineyard Came to Call It Home Florida flew 49 migrants from Texas to the liberal enclave last year. Some of them have found work, friends and a new life on the wealthy island.

Telegraph, Gender dysphoria emerging five years sooner than in 2017

This is happening mainly happening in the US and Britain, countries where gender changes have started being initiated at even younger ages and with ever greater frequency. Gender dysphoria is quite rare or even non-existent in a country like Afghanistan and uncommon in many developing nations, as it was also in our country until just recently. Now social contagion has made transgenderism a popular personal  option for ever more young people. If you are unhappy in life, being born into the wrong gender could seem to be the cause, so switching genders may seem the best remedy. Yet even famous sex-change pioneer Christine Jorgensen tried going back to being male after "transitioning" before returning again to a female presentation. So even someone like Jorgensen, world famous for making a gender change, who wrote a best-selling autobiography about, and often appeared in public and on TV, still sometimes had doubts about his/her true gender identity.

CNN, Transgender people face significantly higher suicide risk, Danish study finds The study did not pinpoint a cause. Is it because those who feel compelled to change their gender expression are already emotionally unstable or is it because they face social isolation and rejection, or both? It would appear that a gender change may not have given many the satisfaction they had hoped for. ("Multi-gender” has also become a recognized  term.)

 

Very rarely, someone is actually born with ambiguous physical gender traits, which parents often try to have remedied early on, thereby making a gender choice for the child. Hermaphrodite animals with organs of both genders have rarely conceived spontaneously but, in those few cases, have given birth to male offspring. This has not happened in humans, who usually have been surgically assigned to one gender early on and are often sterile.

Reuters, Mexico City holds mass celebration for same-sex weddings, gender ID changes

Mexico City seems to be leading the way for social changes that may spread throughout that country, then beyond to the rest of Latin America. Humans are social beings and social trends are typically adopted via example and advocacy. The internet has made that advocacy much easier than ever to find and to attract adherents 

Defense of abortion has become widespread here in the US and also in some other developed countries, but that could change due to countervailing pressures to keep overall national population growth steady and avoid letting population become top-heavy at older ages, as previously mentioned. Abortion laws have now been tightened in some states, creating a sharp divide.

A six-week abortion ban is being proposed in some red states. That limit would still allow most of today’s abortions, being done at home privately with pills. Those would be hard to stop anyway. Medical necessity may then be spelled out for other abortions performed in hospitals or clinics. Some states are moving in that direction.

Joe Biden has seized on “abortion rights” as a promising re-election campaign issue. He now lost my support with his very aggressive ”Restore Roe” campaign, although my own vote may not be missed. He was not always “pro-choice,” but considers that a winning issue now. Maybe so. He is riding a wave, but probably as more becomes known about fetal development, a fetus will come to be increasingly recognized as human, although Biden has indicated he does not consider a fetus human until a live baby is actually born. Does breathing air make a baby human? I voted for Biden last time, but since I won’t vote Republican, I’ll just sit out the vote this time. Not all Democrats are “pro-choice,” Mr. Biden.

 

To maintain a steady US population, Biden needs to let up on the abortion rhetoric after the election and also find ways to offer more support to families with children, something he actually has tried to do. Guaranteed parental leave for pregnancy and birth would help female workers who don’t feel able to afford taking time off for a pregnancy.

Wash. Post, D.C. bill would mandate insurance, Medicaid coverage for infertility Such a measure would aid population maintenance, as well as help individual families. There seems little danger of ever incentivizing population growth to reach Malthusian levels.

It would also be helpful for maintaining US population and increasing talent retention if foreign students attending our universities were provided with more leeway and pathways to remain in the US should they want to stay rather than often being forced to leave the country. I’ve known and hosted many such students myself, very reluctant to leave but who would have benefited our nation. Some had even contemplated entering sham marriages, but were unable to find willing partners.

The DINK lifestyle now trending on social media has been made possible by modern contraception, as well as voluntary sterilization.

AP Moneywise, No kids to feed, but lots of money': This 'DINK' couple went viral after showing off their $253 Costco haul — included popcorn, shrimp and cookies. Childless couples can sleep in on weekends and afford to splurge on simple pleasures. But some critics find their behavior shallow and overly self-centered.

 AP Moneywise, ‘Good luck dying alone’: Young couples are showing off their fabulous 'double-income, no-kids' lifestyles — and suffering harsh backlash for it. Here are the pros and cons of being a DINK

While being childless allows couples more freedom with fewer financial constraints and obligations, apparently life becomes harder for childless folks as they retire and age, especially after one partner dies or they become unable to take care of themselves anymore.

Moving on now to the international sphere, where, as everywhere, what people actually  believe constitutes their reality. Thus, the fairly widespread idea that Vladimir Putin has suffered a defeat in the Wagner affair has diminished his authority and his standing in the world, and perhaps even inside Russia, although nothing concrete has really changed for him. Putin has been revealed as just one mortal man, only as powerful as others think he is. The same goes for Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, a former Putin ally. He was leading 25,000 soldiers on a "march for justice" to Moscow when they all turned back, then Prigozhin announced that he was moving to Belarus. The rumor is that Putin had threatened Wagner leaders' families, so Prigozhin decided to pull back. Will he be safe in Belarus? What is he planning now? Are his rank-and-file followers, since been integrated into the Russian army, still with him? Putin, who had been laying low for a few days, would like to see him dead. As long as Prigozhin is still alive, Putin won’t feel safe himself. Likewise, Prigozhin would probably want to see Putin dead, so each is plotting against the other. This surprise setback may also cause Putin to double down on Ukraine, but without Wagner support, that may be harder to do now. Putin is seeking to restore his image of invulnerability. Time will tell if he proves successful. I’m reminded of the story of the emperor with no clothes, with his associates probably telling Putin that nothing has changed and that he’s still doing great. 

 

CNN, Wagner Group chief will move to Belarus after his rebellious march challenged Putin

Reuters, Russia's Putin says he let mutiny continue to avoid bloodshed  Is that really believable? Putin has been trying to appear nonchalant and unconcerned, feigning business as usual.

New York Times, In Kremlin Stagecraft, Putin Tries to Rewrite the Mutiny in Russia Vladimir Putin appeared only once during a mercenary’s daylong mutiny against the military. But he was all over Russian TV on Tuesday.

Popular Mechanics, The Wagner Mutiny Hit Russia's Air Force Hard. Really Hard. There is evidence of an exchange of hostilities between Wagner and the Russian air force.

 

Wash. Post, Rebellion shakes Russian elite’s faith in Putin’s strength After mutiny, Putin says Wagner can go to Belarus, go home or fight for Russia. Prigozhin’s rebellion raises questions about Wagner’s African footprint.

NY Times, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s deep connections among the Russian elite are complicating Vladimir Putin’s response to his revolt

Wash. Post, Lukashenko claims he persuaded Putin not to kill Wagner boss Prigozhin

 NBC Universal, Prigozhin won’t last 60-90 days, says retired Admiral James Stavridis

 Key events are happening elsewhere. After the killings and deaths in a women’s prison in Honduras, the government there is conducting a major crackdown against the gangs controlling so much inside the prisons and just in daily life, but not yet undertaking such draconian measures as in neighboring El Salvador.

Wash. Post, Millions of Muslims head for Hajj pilgrimage as covid restrictions lift Muslims circle the Kaaba in Mecca and head to Mount Arafat as the annual Hajj pilgrimage gets underway, with visitor numbers approaching pre-pandemic levels.

Reuters, Scuffles, arrests as Israelis protest judicial overhaul Many Israelis are not ready to give up their protests.

CNN, Land deal in Jerusalem pits Armenian Christians against religious leader Christian leaders agreed to a deal that their followers reject. They fear losing their homes and way of life.

 

Finally, local dogs and cast still manage to get lost, with some being found by kind strangers.

 

                                 These kittens are not lost, just looking for a "forever" home. 

 

Birth, death, youth, old age, all comprise our shared destiny [6-20] June 21 was the longest day of the year in our northern hemisphere, so now it means ever shorter daylight hours until December. Then the whole cycle starts over again. There is comfort in the absolute dependability of this rotation in an everchanging world. School is out now, but since most American parents work, children will probably attend day care or summer camp until school starts up again. Most local kids are excited about the change.  Here are a few more neighborhood photos. Below, local brothers sit on a bench. A local artist posted a sketch based on a local scene..  Then she revealed herself as Michelle Turner, seen holding one of her creations. After a baby is born, maternal post-partum depression can unexpectedly flare up, probably due mainly to hormonal changes. While most mothers welcome their new babies, as I certainly did, I myself experienced a passing thought of jumping out my second-floor bedroom window with my newborn in my arms. That scared me, so I asked a neighbor to take over for a few hours with the baby and my other children while I rested in a quiet room alone. Hormonal fluctuations can certainly affect mood and cognition. For an unfortunate few among new mothers, the problem is more severe. ABC News, Husband speaks out about postpartum depression after wife dies by suicide  Ariana Sutton, 36, died by suicide just nine days after giving birth to twins This new mother had experienced post-partum depression after her first pregnancy, but this second time, it came on much sooner, before she and her husband had expected it and even before the babies had come home from the hospital, so sufficient preparations for thwarting it were not undertaken. Today, Newborn baby left in Safe Haven Baby Box was adopted by the firefighter who found her While Ariana Sutton’s story serves as a warning on post-partum depression, sheer destiny provided a welcome surprise for other would-be parents in Florida. There, a firefighter surely must have thought that Lady Luck had gifted him and his wife their long-desired child when he found a newborn in the fire station baby box. One woman’s voluntary loss was this couple’s totally unexpected good fortune. If the birth mother should see the story about the baby she left at the fire station, she must be pleased that the child has found a good home where she is cherished.  NY Times, The U.S. Population Is Older Than It Has Ever Been New census data shows that the country’s median age is now over 38. In 1980, it was 30. Here’s why that matters. What was once a US population age pyramid has now become a mostly straight-up column, with newborns at the bottom and successive ages rising above in fairly even numbers until about age 65 when successive losses start to appear, somewhat more rapidly on the male side, until by age 100 at the very top, the few survivors are mostly female. It would become really concerning if an inverted age pyramid started appearing, becoming larger at later ages. So far, recent population distribution changes indicate a need to keep the children coming. Think of all human life as a river that starts somewhere, sometimes just as a stream that gathers strength as it flows to join with other tributaries. Childbearing/rearing needs to gain momentum and more immigrants must be welcomed to make sure our own nation remains viable over time. Wash. Post, A year after Dobbs, the pro-life side is making huge gains However, pro-lifers here have not taken the next step to assure both more moral and material support for parents of young children, as has been done in Scandinavia. Our country and our world need to sustain people of all ages, now and into the future, starting with the initial conception and birth of babies. Our nation and others where birthrates have fallen must take concrete steps to encourage the birth of more children for long-term societal survival, especially now when it is possible for couples to have regular heterosexual relations without producing any offspring. Except for expressing myself on this blog, I’m not sure how to help facilitate the desired outcome. In a counter-productive move for population growth, the Biden administration has been doubling down on “abortion rights,” considering that a winning strategy for the upcoming elections, as, indeed, it may be. Planned Parenthood and the Democratic National Committee have been running big “anti-choice” ads online and also in the Washington Post online, depicting the faces of possible Republican candidates in lurid pink. It was genius by abortion advocates to have coined such slanted terms as “pro-choice,” “reproductive rights,” and “anti-choice” instead of simply saying “abortions” and to have focused stories on rare cases of pregnancy anomalies rather than on the much more common abortions for convenience. The pro-abortion side emphasizes women’s rights and choice, while not according any rights to pre-born women—or men. What if a Planned Parenthood client actually expressed the desire to continue her pregnancy, what help would be given to her for that “choice”? She would probably be told she was in the wrong place. If we asked anyone when their own gender had originally been determined, they would have to concede that it was at the moment of conception when sperm penetrated ovum, also when other personal characteristics were determined. Do you or I believe we ourselves had no right to go on living then until after actually being born? That is the logical conclusion of what abortion supporters advocate. President Biden, for whom I voted last time, is a fairly recent prochoice convert. He has made remarks since becoming president indicating that he believes that the unborn is not “human” or deserving of rights until after actually emerging from a mother’s body. So, although a lifelong Democrat, I may have to sit out the vote next time. As both a bio and an adoptive parent, I would not support abortion except in cases of serious risks to the mother or fetal conditions incompatible with life. I would not consider the risk of a child’s disability sufficient to justify an abortion. During my 24 years of marriage to a man who was blind, involved tirelessly with him in promoting disability rights, then after 16 years at the Occupational Therapy Association, followed by 3 1/2 years in the Peace Corps working in health and rehabilitation in Honduras, and after that, returning there annually as a medical brigade volunteer, while also serving as a Spanish medical interpreter in the US for 16 years, I have met countless people of all ages with a variety of disabilities over a span of more than 60 years. Those with disabilities have not considered their lives worthless, though they often have needed help and encouragement—as we all do. Surely there are individuals who may wish they had never been born and also some who have even taken their own lives or have overdosed on drugs, but their malaise was not evident when they were born or even during childhood in most cases and the majority have been able-bodied. (As I write this, someone on the neighborhood website is asking for painless suicide tips. Most responders try to talk them out of it.) I’d like to share something now from my experience as an interpreter. Sometimes when I arrived at an interpretation assignment, the therapist to whom I had been assigned did not show up. In those instances, I often stayed there chatting with the client, just waiting. I remember one girl about age 13 using a wheelchair who always arrived by special transport with her mother. She had a whole series of regular sessions scheduled. However, the therapist who had requested my services often did not show up to work with this girl and her mother, so we spent our time in conversation, with the mother serving as a spokesperson for her daughter, who was non-verbal but who sometimes wrote out words on a tablet, though with some difficulty. All our exchanges were in Spanish. When we were nearing the end of our series of scheduled assignments, again without the therapist present, I gave a small purple velvet purse to the girl, which she clutched with difficulty as she had little use of her hands. Direct exchanges like that between an interpreter and a client were not allowed, as the interpreter was supposed to be there only to convey spoken words between a health worker and a client. But, in this case, the therapist was often absent, so we had developed a personal bond. I told the girl and her mother before they left that day that I would see them next time, on our last scheduled session together. But when I arrived at the specified time for that final session, neither the therapist nor the girl were there. Since I had the family’s phone number, I called, learning from the mother that their regular transport had never arrived, so they had no way to get to the clinic. She said her daughter was crying because she had so enjoyed our sessions and was looking forward to the very last one. I was more of a therapist for that girl than her often-absent assigned therapist and, after 16 years at the occupational therapy association, I knew something about what was appropriate. I was so glad that I had given her the little purse the last time we had met and not saved it for our final session. That young girl, as with many other disabled clients, had a life and relationships that were meaningful to her despite her severe disabilities. Unlike some able-bodied people, she seemed to cherish what few exchanges she had with others. And I also found Hispanic mothers to be especially patient with their disabled children. The point of this aside is that it’s not always easy for others to judge when a disability would make someone else’s life not worth living. Having and raising children, like everything in life, is a gamble, with sometimes unexpected results. Most results of having children are favorable, but some folks may react badly after a birth (such as the woman with post-partum depression cited before) or really are not cut out to become parents over the long haul. However, if enough people avoid the gamble and the challenge of becoming parents, our nation is in trouble. Not so long ago, heterosexual couples simply expected to have children and lamented when they could not. Having children has been an expected outcome of a heterosexual couplings since time immemorial. Only in my own lifetime has the desire for children in a marriage waned substantially, while it's also becoming possible for couples to completely avoid procreation. Today, some folks who choose to be childless like to brag online about their carefree lifestyle and many freedoms, yet they still depend on others to produce and raise children to provide them with support in times of trouble and old age, as well as to make up the very society that we all belong to. The childless also need to remember that their own existence has resulted from an actual pregnancy and a birth. Even the militantly childless did not arise full grown from the ether, but once were babies and children themselves, born and raised by someone who was not childless. Fewer babies and longer life expectancy does mean there are ever more elders, with relatively fewer workers supporting them/us. Folks surviving into old age are now becoming a demographic force. Starting in 2030, not so far away, older Americans will make up 21 percent of the population, up from 15 percent today. How will everyone then live and thrive? How can seniors best contribute? I myself stopped working fulltime at age 62 when I joined the Peace Corps, although the Peace Corps was still work, just not for pay. After3 ½ years in the Peace Corps (an extended term), when I returned to the US at age 65, I started working part-time as an on-call Spanish interpreter right up until the pandemic. Now at age 85, I am fully retired, but still helping out my kids and grandkids financially as much as possible.  Wash. Post, Lobster Lady’ turns 103, has been hauling traps for 95 years Keeping active and engaged is probably a key to this woman’s longevity. Among other newsworthy items, Cyndi and Bret are 2 recent Caribbean storms, with meteorologists struggling to come up with new names during an epidemic of tempestuous weather events. Since records first started being kept in 1851, there have never before been 2 tropical storms in the Caribbean region both occurring in June. Is that just a fluke or an indication of climate change? Wash. Post, Rare summer snow in Canada’s west won’t pause heat and fire threat long Weather is really going bonkers. NBA draft prospect Victor Wembanyama is a 19-year-old French basketball player, 7’ 2” or 7’ 3“ tall, apparently still growing, so his height is changing. He has now joined the San Antonio Spurs. His older sister Eve at 6’ 1’ also plays basketball professionally.   Yahoo News, Titanic submersible: 5 passengers on missing sub likely dead following ‘catastrophic implosion’ Five adventuresome folks suddenly had their lives cut short. The US Coast Guard found tell-tale debris on the ocean floor after an international search failed to locate the missing vessel. Wash. Post, Titan’s experimental design drew concern even before its doomed dive For years, experts had voiced concern about the design and upkeep of Ocean Gate's Titan submersible. Until this last dive, passengers have been lucky. CBS News, Supreme Court allows Biden administration to limit immigration arrests Texas and Louisiana had challenged the administration’s immigration guidelines. Given limited resources, the Court said it will allow ICE agents to continue to prioritize the arrest of immigrants with serious criminal records, those who are national security threats, and recent illegal entrants. Here is a release from Amnesty International: Cuba:Release Yoruba Prisoners of Conscience Share the video on Instagram - Twitter – Facebook Hundreds of Cubans remain imprisoned for participating in island-wide protests on 11 July 2021. The Cuban judiciary, which is not independent of the government, routinely rubberstamps politically motivated accusations without regard for fair trial guarantees. Among those unjustly convicted are Black activists, and leaders of the Yoruba religion, Loreto Hernández García and Donaida Pérez Paseiro, who are prisoners of conscience detained only because of their political beliefs, and who should be immediately and unconditionally released. Read the urgent action: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/6902/2023/en/  Cientos de personas cubanas siguen encarceladas por haber participado en las protestas que se produjeron el 11 de julio de 2021 en toda la isla. El poder judicial cubano, que no es independiente del gobierno, valida sistemáticamente acusaciones por motivos políticos sin celebrar juicios con las debidas garantías. Entre quienes han sido condenados injustamente se hallan las personas activistas negras y líderes de la religión yoruba Loreto Hernández García y Donaida Pérez Paseiro, presas de conciencia, recluidas únicamente por sus convicciones políticas, que deben ser puestas en libertad de manera inmediata e incondicional. Other Cuba actions are available from Amnesty International. AFP, Over 40 dead in gang violence, fire at Honduras women's prison At least 46 female prisoners were killed and the security chief has been fired. The riot was allegedly planned in advance by street gangs with guards’ full knowledge and failure to stop it. Apparently, male gangs were also involved. Riots in women’s prisons are rare, so no one was prepared. A friend living in Honduras told me: “It appears some gang members from outside got into the prison. There was gunfire and a fire set in the women's prison. Many young women have died, some possibly awaiting trial. Very sad as human rights do not exist for prisoners, especially gang members. The prisons have had other incidents recently, but I believe this is the first at a female prison.”   AP, Mix of bravado and access to guns contribute to mass shootings by teens in St. Louis, other cities AP, Judge rejects transgender plaintiffs' bid to change their birth certificates in Tennessee The judge said the birth certificate records “external genitalia at the time of birth.” Changing birth certificates retroactively would create many complications for sports’ competitions, for prisons, bathrooms, and dressing rooms, and for medical care. A trans person, even after surgical and hormonal changes, still displays basic physical differences from others of their chosen gender.    US mortgage interest rates have now soared to almost 7%. That should tamp down the home sales’ market. Back in January 2021, mortgage interest was only 2.65%; with most of those lucky folks still holding onto their mortgages. I recall paying over 8% interest back in 1969 when we first bought the home I still occupy today. Following the OPEC embargo in Oct. 1981, interest rates peaked at over 18%   HuffPost, 'Just Confessed': Viewers React To Donald Trump's 'Incoherent' Fox News Interview Tongues wagged on social media, morning television and even Fox News after the network aired Bret Baier’s interview with former President Donald Trump on Monday...the Fox News host pressed Trump to explain details from the grand jury’s 37-count indictment, which stemmed from his handling of sensitive documents after leaving the White House. At one point, Baier confronted Trump about a July 2021 recording from a meeting in which the former president acknowledged holding on to a classified document about a potential attack on Iran, seemingly contradicting his defense that he declassified everything he took. Trump’s answer was difficult to decipher, but he initially said that he couldn’t declassify it “because I wasn’t president” at the time, echoing what he said in the recording. He then pivoted to saying that “there was no document” at all. Has Donald Trump now actually incriminated himself? He loves publicity, but should he even be doing interviews when he cannot be trusted about what to say on his own behalf? Yahoo News, Trump really 'toast' in documents case?

A big question in this case is the assignment of Judge Aileen Cannon, who received a lifetime appointment from then-President Donald Trump in 2020. So can she be impartial?   Are we, the public, actually experiencing Trump fatigue now? Certainly, many of us have had it for some time.

AP, Russia says Wagner Group's leader will move to Belarus after his rebellious march challenged Putin Vladimir Putin did not emerge very well from this episode.   Wash. Post, Wagner forces stand down; Blinken says rebellion shows ‘cracks’ in Putin’s leadership NBC News, Biden warns of 'real' nuclear threat from Putin in Ukraine President Biden denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin's move to station nuclear weapons in Belarus as "totally irresponsible."

Russia’s planting of landmines in Ukraine will also pose a threat for years to come.

In Israel, West Bank violence has resulted in the killing of Palestinian Americans, bringing the US into the conflict on the Palestinian side.

NY Times, Spiraling Violence in the Occupied West Bank Signals a Loss of Control The Palestinian Authority is absent from the hotbeds of militancy while Israeli forces have failed to prevent violent reprisal attacks by Jewish extremists.

Now for a few remarkable but less consequential developments.

 

Yahoo, Mama Orangutan Breaks Into Guy's House in Indonesia She brings her baby inside, helps herself to items in the fridge, and even cleans the floor. All this was filmed. Her actions verged on what might be expected from a human home invader. How far have we come from higher order primates?

 

Experiments regarding lab-grown meat have now moved forward in California with USDA approval, but, so far, the meat is too expensive to produce for regular consumption. Still, the promise of meat not requiring the killing of animals is something that many of us semi-vegetarians would welcome.

 

Christine Jorgensen was a sex-change pioneer who spent 2 years in Denmark having surgical and hormone treatments after serving in the US army as a man. She embraced celebrity and also wrote a biography, then died just short of age 63. I remember reading that bio, including about a period when Jorgensen reverted again to being male by having breasts removed, then went back to female once again, but was unable to regrow breasts. Some individuals now undergoing gender change surgery and treatment have had similar experiences with fluctuating gender identity, also finding that some changes cannot be reversed. Some female to male trans persons have actually given birth, but are unable to nurse their baby without breasts. Does the child call the parent "Mom" or "Dad"?

 

An explanation of some of this blog’s idiosyncrasies may now be in order, as I’ve been asked about certain odd quirks. Blogspot does allow postings to be made for free but gives authors no guidance whatsoever, as a whole army of staff would probably be required to answer user questions. However, bloggers do sometimes share tips; otherwise, it’s pure trial and error. It would be wonderfully convenient if a prepared text with photos could be pasted wholesale onto the blog, just as-is. But it doesn’t work that way. That would result in a very jumbly, topsy-turvy document, virtually unreadable. Instead, the text needs to be carefully pasted in first, followed by the separate insertion of each photo. Written items or headlines copied directly from the Washington Post are automatically converted by Blogspot into all-caps. Why? Sometimes, that can be changed, sometimes not. Any written or pictorial post may get distorted when pasted, but the distortion can only be corrected off-line, not while you are actually looking directly at it. Instead, you have to guess about correcting it “blind,” then check back to see what actually appears. Sometimes multiple correction efforts prove fruitless, as often happens with the Post’s all-caps, so then I just leave them. A lot of guesswork is involved. I am not describing the whole process very clearly, as it really must be demonstrated, but you get the idea. So, I ask for readers’ indulgence as quirks are not under my control and are very hard to correct. My readers are mostly family and friends, so I trust you all to be forgiving. I’m certainly not trying to attract a whole bevy of viewers or readers, just to communicate with folks I know all over the world.

 

On June 21, between 4 and 5 pm, I received a total of 25 scam phone calls on my unlisted number--with a constant ringing. Some calls overlapped and a few calls even left brief recorded messages. Why did that happen? Was my number suddenly posted somewhere? Even though I did not pick up, the ringing phone was very annoying, so I finally left it off the hook. The calls continued into the next day, but I continued to ignore them. Some callers kept accessing my answering machine, requiring extra work to erase messages. What happened to cause this sudden avalanche?

 

My quick-thinking older daughter then put my phone number on a “no call” list, which she said would take about a week to become totally effective. As I told her on the third morning: Thank you so much! I have had only 3 calls in the half hour since 9am, which is when they usually start, so I was bracing myself for the avalanche, but, so far, only those 3 calls have come in during the last half an hour, so maybe your effort has already started working. I'll keep you posted. Two days of those non-stop calls, even if I haven't answered any, has been quite annoying. When I've left the phone off the hook, many have accessed my answering machine, not often leaving a message, but even their simple access still has to be erased as they stay on the answering machine for several seconds, using up space. 

 

My daughter reported: “Website says they are Social Security Scammers.”

Local dogs and cats keep getting lost; some of these pets may have been lost and found before.

 

                                  Pup above looks like one reported lost before, now apparently gone again.

                           

Although only a few days have passed since the last posting, with so much happening, it's time now for this one to go online.