Retribution, risks, and a reckoning

 

OK folks, somehow right now my entire blog, just posted here, disappeared, poof! It has proved impossible to retrieve despite a few hopeful flickers at first. Why? Why indeed? No answers are forthcoming from the blog gods, who have a mind of their own. So let's just start over again with a totally clean slate, including whatever I can remember and whatever else comes up.

I do recall that on a recent evening, my son and I were watching flickering fireflies outside here in Berkeley Springs, W Va. Then suddenly a young doe emerged from among the trees, darted around looking rather lost, and was gone. Not only deer, but wild ducks, geese, and raccoons have all been spotted recently. 

A greeting just came in from my cousin Laura, living in California:

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Wishing U the best celebration of our nation's birthday----as old Ben Franklin said to an inquiry about the form of government devised there as he emerged from the Continental Congress meeting---- the founding fathers had created a republic, if U can keep it. 

          Happy Fourth of July,

                      Dave & Laura

                                                    I immediately replied:

            Trump and Musk are no longer best buddies, alas!   

In the lost posting, I recall that Elon Musk had mentioned he would be starting a 3rd party, after which Trump declared he was considering deporting Musk.

Also, that Trump had held a big military parade in Washington, DC, to celebrate his birthday on June 14.  I didn't see it. 

The Trump Store has now been urging us all to outfit our entire home with Trump gadgets and memorabilia. Never mind any concerns that the President himself might be profiting privately from his time in office. (How much money does one man even need?)

"No Kings" protests held nationwide apparently had really riled up Donald Trump, who recently had likened himself to a king. We even had a protest here in little Berkeley Springs, W Va., where I'm living now, as well as in nearby Martinsburg. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a vocal critic of President Trump, replied with some sarcasm after the president called him "ugly" in a post online.
“I suppose I don’t like being called ugly by Donald Trump but not everybody can live up to his exquisite levels of handsomeness and personal physical grace,” Raskin told MSNBC.

                                                        Would you consider Raskin ugly? 

Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Fed Chair Jerome Powell, appointed by Trump himself, to resign immediately before his term is up. The President had ordered Powell to cut interest rates, which he'd failed to do.

So now Trump has called Powell “terrible” and a “very average mentally person.” Powell says rates would have been cut already except for Trump's tariff threats. 

Powell's current term as Chair of the Federal Reserve expires May 15, 2026. However, his term as a member of the Board of Governors extends until January 31, 2028 when Trump is unlikely to reappoint him. Trump's own term in office ends Jan. 20, 2029, in 3 1/2 years. That seems like quite a long time to wait.

                                                                                    Jerome Powell

Trump signs megabill that slashes taxes, Medicaid while boosting national debt

With some justification, Trump is now claiming victory on his agenda. But he failed to protect Medicaid as he had promised. 

Also, Trump had little voter support for his "Big beautiful bill." According to a June poll from Quinnipiac University, 29% of voters supported the bill, while 55% opposed it.

Poll: Americans favor birthright citizenship by a huge margin — and oppose Trump's efforts to end it

Wash. Post, Supreme Court clears deportations to conflict-ridden South Sudan

I've actually been to South Sudan, which has been conflict-ridden for some years now. It's not a hospitable place, either in terms of the natural environment or of the human environment. The weather is either hot and dry or else pouring rain with flooding. Not a great deal of economic activity takes place there, often just barter. I can readily understand why folks from South Sudan might want to leave and not return there. However, most notably, despite extremes of wealth and poverty, it is usually safe to leave valuables unprotected, even a purse in an open tent, as I have done. 

Wash. Post, Denmark takes rare step of adding women to draft amid Russia war fears

Unless they are pregnant or nursing a baby, there is no particular reason why women as well as men cannot take on military duties in modern times. Direct face-to-face physical combat is usually no longer involved. 

Contemplating the 3 1/2 years left until Trump leaves office, I'm still seriously considering returning to Honduras until his term is up. Why not? A lower cost of living, no winter, friendly people, and also no language problem for me, being totally bilingual--Spanish-English. The main challenge there for anyone is a lack of safety, both personal and in terms of protecting one's possessions. You dare not go out even briefly, while leaving your home unguarded. Some folks even have an armed guard on duty 24.7. That may be due largely to the extremes of wealth and poverty, though the same logic does not spply in South Sudan, mentioned above, where an ethic of never stealing or even touching another person's possessions seems to apply.  I was in South Sudan about 15 years ago and 

 last in Honduras in June of  2024.

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