On Monday, October 27, we woke up early here in Berkeley Springs to see white frost completely covering the grass outside, signaling the approach of winter. It reminded me of times back in Honduras, where I served with the Peace Corps, where early morning frost in December and January at upper elevations caused much excitement about "nieve" or snow. Extra wood would then be put into the stove or tossed onto the fire in the hearth. Going out to the latrine at night became harder then, but humans have been doing that for eons--or even just aquatting outside in the bush. We owe our current existence to all those folks who came before us, however arduous their life might have been. Thanks to them, we are now all here today.
In December in Honduras, leaves all fall off the trees, sprouting back again in January. In those rural Honduran highlands, we lived much as Americans did over a century ago, with kerosene lamps, outdoor latrines, and jackets worn inside during colder months. I even had special gloves with fingertips protruding for using the computer in our high altitude unheated Peace Corps office in La Esperanza. Although Honduras is located not far from the equator, there are still changes of seasons, felt most acutely at higher elevations.
So let's give Kamala another chance next time. Many of us women are getting tired of hearing what so many male politicians have to say. Let's change the subject now to listen to women candidates for a change.
People, Donald Trump Confuses Dementia Screening for 'Very Hard' IQ Test as He Brags About Results
Former FBI Director James Comey faces federal charges of making a false statement and obstruction of a congressional proceeding related to his 2020 testimony. He has pleaded not guilty to these charges now in October 2025, awaiting a trial scheduled for January 5, 2026. The prosecution was brought by a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia. Comey's lawyers have sought to have the charges dismissed, alleging a vindictive prosecution.
A Cuban rescued himself and his dog after the hurricane.
Peace Corps volunteers in Jamaica sent this image of hurricane damage there.
The Economist, Takaichi Sanae becomes Japan’s first female prime minister Hawkish on security policy, dovish on fiscal policy and traditionalist on social policy, she will move her country to the right..
NY Times, Trump Says He’d ‘Love’ a Third Term, and Recent M.R.I. Was ‘Perfect’
Donald Trump has been looking rather worried lately, understandably so, because his days as president are numbered. His time is almost up. His face will never be on Mount Rushmore, he probably won't be heralded as a great president, and he is unlikely to ever get a Nobel Peace Prize. However, he has been nominated for the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor by his good friend Benjamin Netanyahu who is grateful to Trump for having saved his skin, or maybe for having saved his feathers, as birds of a feather do flock together.
People, Donald Trump Confuses Dementia Screening for 'Very Hard' IQ Test as He Brags About Results 
If Donald Trump now has dementia, which runs in his family, it's easy to get confused, as he so often does. I've taken a common dementia screening myself, a simple test proving quite easy to get 100% right. The test I took was the with
30 questions, probably the same one that Mr. Trump took.
The test asks respondents to draw a clock, identify pictures of animals, and repeat back a list of 5 words. It would be hard to actually "fail" this test. The White House, traditional home of presidents, is only a building, but one of considerable historical significance, so no part of it should be demolished just on a whim. But too late now, as Donald Trump had already taken a wrecking ball to the East Wing before anyone even knew what was happening. No one has ever been able to find the necessary building permit.
"Trump Ordered Secret East Wing Teardown in F-Word Rant" https://www.thedailybeast.com/
Most Americans disapprove of Donald Trump's White House ballroom vision: https://thehill.com/homenews/
White House fires commission charged with advising the president on design as Trump pushes construction projects
Trump now as president has decided to make all decisions by himself, eliminating any interference from pesky advisers.
Daily Beast, Trump’s Tacky Ballroom Plan ‘Looks Like Legendary Haunted House’
SPOOKY
Unexplained quirks in the president’s plans for a glitzy new White House dance venue have prompted comparisons to one of the nation’s most famous haunted houses.
A haunted house located not far from where my son and I live in West Virginia, might serve as an inspiration for Donald Trump.
The White House has now been completely decorated for Halloween.
"Trump Admin Removes Five of ICE Barbie’s Top Goons" https://www.thedailybeast.com//trump-admin-removes-five-of-ice-barbie-kristi-noems-top-goons/?via=ios
Apparently, someone in the Trump administration now wants to see even more deportations, punishing agents for not providing enough. Trump's deportation policies are actually so very counterproductive! We really now need more immigrants, not fewer! Our country just doesn't have enough working age folks. Crops are withering on the vine and rotting in the fields. There are not sufficient child care or food service workers. Illegal entrants have come here now because we really do need them, but just have no practical way to legally screen and admit them.
Trump administration to reassign ICE officials in bid to intensify deportation campaign
More than 2 million foreign nationals have been removed from US in 10 months
We really still need those people here right now, but they are unlikely to ever come back.
Trump says U.S. will immediately 'start testing' nuclear weapons. Here's what to know.
The president says other countries like Russia and China "seem to all be doing testing" — but no country aside from
North Korea has conducted a nuclear weapons test since the 1990s.
Now President Trump’s overall job approval has reached a new second-term low in the latest
This recent poll shows Trump 19 points underwater, with 39% of Americans approving of his
handling of the presidency and 58% actually disapproving.
In another recent Daily Beast poll, a majority of Americans, 57%, still disapprove of Mr. Trump
along with most of his decisions and actions.
Under Trump's orders, not only are American forces blowing up boats and killing people indescriminately in the Caribbean, but now Hurricane Melissa has added to the danger.
Jamaica and Cuba, 2 countries I have often visited on human rights missions, have been
pounded hard by Hurricane Melissa. At least 30 people have been reported killed in the storm.
Trump sets 7,500 annual limit for refugees entering US. It'll be mostly white South Africans
Wash. Post, Israel says truce has resumed after Gaza officials report 104 dead in strikes
Why did Israel resume the military strikes on Gazans, thereby violating the ceasefire, even temporarily?
Apparently this was meant as collective punishment for the killing
of an Israeli soldier, far greater punishment than even the biblical "an eye for an eye." Could all those
killed have stopped the killing of the Israeli? They probably never even knew about it.
Most Gazans probably have no idea why they were attacked.
(Gaza has little medical capacity any more to deal with so many injured.)
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Current US population, according to age and gender
Overall, our US national population has a male-to-female ratio of 98 men for every 100 women, varying according to local distribution and geographic location. As happens all over the world, slightly more boys are born here than girls, but women become the majority at older ages due to their (our) longer average life span. The US average male life expectancy is 76 years, 81 years for women. In the 2020 US census, women made up 50.9% and men 49.1% of the total population. By age 50, American women actually outnumber
men. Many older women no longer have a male partner, so instead live alone, or with other women, or with offspring, as I am doing now with my son.
I just received this email below, as my name is still on the interpreter roster:
Hi, this is Ian Alex with LLS. Are you available for the following job?
-Job# 1660641 on 11/04/25 11:00 AM for 1 hour in Woodbridge, VA 22191.
I wish I could actually take that job, as I really enjoyed being a Spanish interpreter when living back in DC. Every assignment was different and each was interesting. I never knew what to expect. I specialized in hospital interpreting,everything from women in labor to elders in their last days. Sometimes the work spilled over into other venues, like courts. But we were not allowed to make any independant comments, just to make sure the parties were communicating correctly. We were like a humanphone system between people, usually a medical or legal professional and a patient or client.
If we had not been sworn to secrecy, I could recount so many human stories! Actually, after the passage of years, I'd like to mention a couple of illustrative situations. Mind you, whatever I have said as an interpreter goes into the legal or medical record, so must always be accurate and as close to each speaker's words as possible in another language.
In an investigation involving a young Spanish-speaking girl, she was asked to point out ona drawing of the outline of a naked child where her step-father had touched her. Without looking closely at the drawing myself, I repeated the request in Spanish, "Show where he touch you." You might imagine where she pointed.
In another case, where a Spanish-speaking man described a sexual assault by another man, I was asked as the interpreter to wait 15 minutes after the man had left to avoid running into him in the elevator. We weren't supposed to have independant conversations with interpretation clients, though, of course, by speaking Spanish as interpreters, clients immediately felt a kinship with us. So then whenI got onto the elevator, there he was, having stopped to use the restroom after leaving the interrogation. We ended up getting on the same bus and he sat down right beside me andstarted talking again about the assault and asking my advice, which as a former social worker and probation officer, I was tempted to give him. Instead, I tried to steer the conversation in an another direction. I told him in Spanish, "I know all that must have been very hard for you, but now I'd like to ask what country you are from and what work you do here." I won't repeat what he said after that.
There aren't many chances to speak Spanish here in Berkeley Springs, though I have spoken Spanish with staff at the local Mexican restaurant to theirapparent surprise. As mentioned before, they are all from Guadalajara on the Pacific coast, quite distant from us right now, but not so very far from Mexico City.
My son Jon, adopted from Colombia, with whom I am currently living, understands some Spanish, as I tried to teach it to all my kids, butnone of them were eager to learn it then and are sorry now. [Excuse odd spacing here--it simply resists any correction.]
Guadalajara's cathedral appears below.
Here now are the 3 flags of the Mexico/Canada/US free trade agreement.
Finally, now wishing a Happy Halloween to my all friends and family. I'll see you again in November.
Here is my daughter in Florida (L) on Halloween there. 
And more here about Halloween.
