Dead end

 

Are we now at a dead end in this country? Can we still turn things around? Not once have I ever voted for Donald Trump; I voted for Harris last time, so don't blame me. The question is, what can any of us do now? The man is clearly not up to the job. What can and should I myself be doing right now to help remedy our nation's very dismal situation? If it were not for my kids and grandkids living in this country, I would be somewhere else these days, very far away. Having had missions to some 40 other countries, I'd choose to be in any one of them right now rather than still here in the USA. Trump as our president is not only an embarrassment, but a real calamity! I don't want to be responsible.

At age 87, I do hope to survive until Trump is out of office so then I can die happy. Has he done anything in office that I would approve of? I'd really have to think very hard about that, as nothing whatsoever comes to mind. I feel like I'm at a dead end living here now. How can just one mortal human being, Donald J. Trump, so negatively affect so many others? (And, worse yet, my son even voted for him, as did all our West Virginia neighbors!)

One of my correspondents says: "we are segueing into Fall temps, mercifully.  hopefully the cooler weather will bring more sanity into a country led by ultra insanity.  i can’t imagine how much more ‘brokeness’ our country can endure without, or before falling apart; tho’ it’s realistic to say that we'd have fallen apart anyway." 

Are we going to just keep falling apart, or can we now start reversing the trend? No one is more than one person, so I'd like to do whatever I can myself. For starters, I need to register to vote here in West Virginia. But after my recent move, I cannot find the necessary documents. I've never had a birth certificate nor can I get one now since the hospital where I was born, Boston Lying-In, is long gone. So I'm walking around here now with no proof of my own existence.  

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Charlie Kirk has almost been elevated to sainthood in Republican circles after being assassinated, more famous in death than in life. He was well known in Republican politics before, but his name is now recognized worldwide. 

Kirk and his family took a family photo before he was killed. 

His widow has now vowed to carry on his work. It's hard to argue against the death penalty in this case.

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Donald Trump recently appeared in public displaying an odd face droop. At age 79, it would not be surprising if he has some fairly concerning health issues. US male life expectancy is 76, while for US females, the average is 81, so Trump has already survived beyond our national average male life span. And he still has more than 3 years left in office.

Certainly no Nobel Peace Prize for Mr. Trump! What a ridiculous idea! (No face on Mount Rushmore, 

either!)

Daily Beast, ‘This Isn’t Normal’: Psychologists Sound Alarm on Trump Dozing Off

ALIVE AND UNWELL?

Two clinical psychologists point to evidence on their podcast that the president might be showing early signs of dementia. He fell asleep in a recent meeting.

Mr. Trump should probably retire, based strictly on his own health prospects and personal well-being, even though he still has 3 years left in his term. Of course, he is unlikely to do so. 

Another elected official past the usual retirement age is DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. 

Eleanor Holmes Norton is 88 years old, one year older than I am. She should probably not seek another 2-year term, rather, instead of working, she should now enjoy her well-earned retirement, as she may not have many years still left. And quite possibly, she is no longer optimally representing DC. So now let's give someone else a chance!

Political commentator Donna Brazile advises her not to run again; Brazile may have seen and talked with Holmes Norton recently.

Wash. Post, Donna Brazile: Eleanor Holmes Norton should not run for reelection

Give someone else a chance now and enjoy what's left of your retirement years, Eleanor. 

 

Bloomberg, ICE Arrests Dozens in Boston as Trump Hints Chicago Is Next

NY Times, Arriving in Israel, Marco Rubio Meets Benjamin Netanyahu at the Western Wall

The secretary of state is visiting to consult with the prime minister and officials on issues including the war in 

Gaza, which is testing relations with the U.S.

As probably was mentioned before on this platform, I once sat across the aisle from 

Rubio on a flight from Florida to DC, chatting with him in English and Spanish, long before he 

became Secretary of State. It would have been sometime after 2000, when I joined the Peace Corps 

in Honduras, maybe while coming back to the US to visit my family or perhaps when returning from 

another Latin American visit. Rubio got my bag down from the overhead bin and wished me 

"buena suerte," good luck. I well remember that. 

Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza, U.N. Inquiry Says

The New York Times

U.N. commission concludes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

In earlier reports, the commission found that Israel had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in its conflict with Hamas, but stopped short of calling it genocide. Israel denounced the accusation as “fake.”

The UN has issued a 72-page report. 

Israel dismisses the report and claims self-defense. 

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Reuters, Trump had triumphantly announced some days ago that a boat carrying narcotics near Venezuela had been sent to the bottom of the sea, but there was no evidence whatsoever that any narcotics were actually on board. So that defenseless crew were sent to their deaths for no reason. 

Isn't that a war crime, just like Israel's attacks on Palestinian civilians?

Israelis continues to be able to attack with impunity because

our tax dollars are now funding their attacks on Palestinian civilians. Our country and Donald 

Trump are therefore complicit in these war crimes. You and I are also complicit there and for the

murders in Venezuelan waters unless we take corrective action. 

Understandably, now in Israel, Netanyahu seems to be just trying to save himself and to

avoid a war crimes trial and Mr. Trump is certainly helping him to do that. And a war crimes trial 

for Trump himself would seem warranted now as well. 

Certainly no Nobel Peace Prize for Donald Trump! What a ridiculous idea! (No face on Mount Rushmore, either!)

Los Angeles Times

Israeli strikes on Yemen's Houthi rebels damage residential homes, forcing families to live in ruins

Israel justifies killing Palestinian civilians by declaring that Hamas operatives are "hiding" among 

them, which would not be surprising since civilians probably consider the Hamas military to be defending them, against Israeli attacks. So Hamas is not actually hiding or "embedded" among civilians as Netanyahu alleges, but is simply part of their society, just as the Israeli military is now "embedded" in Israel. Is killing civilians considered a war crime or not?  

Although anti-Semitism has been around for centuries, that doesn't mean that any and all criticism of    Israel's government actions is ipso facto anti-Semitic. 

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Today's world and the events happening right may seem unprecedented and monumental, as 

viewed from our current front-row seats. But many thousands of years ago, human beings existed on this earth, living in what they considered to be extraordinary times. They had their own languages and culture and probably viewed themselves as pioneers at the forefront of human civilization.

NBC News, 

Mummies found in China and SE Asia buried up to 14,000 years ago are still intact. 

We now know that fairly sophisticated and advanced human civilizations have existed for several thousand years. Our own times are just a blip in the trajectory of human history. 

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 The Emmy Awards were just given out.

                                                            

                                                            Here are some of the winners. 

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I still get online ads in Spanish. How do advertisers know that I speak Spanish? Few folks living 

in West Virginia actually do, not even my son born in and adopted from Colombia, though I tried to 

teach Spanish to him and to all my kids. I even tried holding daily at-home Spanish classes for them before school, but they resisted. I remember myself at age 4, coming back from a extended visit to Central America and refusing to speak a word of Spanish at the moment when our family crossed that border into the USA.