This posting is getting rather lengthy, so time to post it right now! Put on your
readung glasses once again. I'm praying that it comes out alright this time. I seem to be
unable to copy and save it, so fingers crossed.
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Whenever my son and I go out for a drive, which we do every morning, the vista keeps changing with the hues becoming ever more dramatic.
Fall foliage is bursting forth in full color now in West Virginia.
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Listen here as my daughter Stephanie in Hawaii gives testimony in support of joining The American Federation of Government Employees
https://drive.google.com/file/
A neighbor back in Washinton, DC, when I told her that I really miss living there on Capitol Hill, advised me,
''well, ‘bloom where u r planted!’"
Even here in our own small town of Berkeley Springs, a vehicle can be found parked daily in a central location selling Trump memorabilia. Is this happening all over the country? Presumably, the sale proceeds will all go to Mr. Trump and his family.
Back in Washington, DC, Donald Trump really likes to talk, but maybe now he should just shut up.
Daily Beast, Trump Aides Panic After His Monumental Mistake
Trump keeps right on talking, out loud and often, also posting weird comments daily on social media, thereby probably undermining his own legal prospects. He seems to enjoy the attention his spoken and written words arouse--the more outlandish and provocative his speech, the better, as far as he is concerned. He seems to like evoking reactions and getting everyone all riled up, apparently believing that no one would dare arrest the president. So far, that has been true. But his aides really wish that from now on, he would simply shut up.
In terms of voter support, a current 43% poll figure is the lowest so far for Trump this year. At the start of his second term, Trump had a 48% approval rating, which, in fact, was a high for him, as he never has even reached 50%. His approval then dropped to 46% in March and to 45% in July before hitting the recent new low just in September. Furthermore, some 57% in the September poll now say they actually disapprove of Trump, compared with only 52% who disapproved of him at the beginning of the year.
Donald Trump seems unconcerned, probably dismissing his sagging poll numbers as just more "fake news."
"Trump Plots Social Security Overhaul That Could Cut Benefits for Hundreds of Thousands"
https://www.thedailybeast.com/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/
With the government shut down during the funding crisis, Trump went out as usual to the golf course.
Now indicted, James Comey has called Mr. Trump "morally unfit to be president." Donald Trump has asked publicly for a criminal prosecution of Comey, who had served as his FBI director duirng Trump's first term.
Daily Beast, Comey Investigator Could Aid Defense in Major Blow to Trump
Daily Beast,Murdoch Paper Shreds Trump’s ‘Self-Destructive’ Fiasco
SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS
The Wall Street Journal blasted the president’s tariff policy as benefitting only the infamous D.C. “swamp.”
Now, here's an article to read in full:Why Trump’s speech to US military top brass was such a disaster | Sidney Blumenthal | The Guardian
Hegseth fires top Navy official
Wash. Post, SNL mocks Hegseth, Trump as it returns with 51st season premiere
Trump and his appointees have opened themselves up to being satirized simply by their own ridiculous
words and erratic behavior. (SNL doesn't even have to make things up!)
Late-Night Trio’s Groundbreaking Step for Independent Journalism: Kimmel,
Colbert, and Meyers Pledge $1 Million to NPR –
Donald Trump has not only been going after Democrats, but after their donors as well.
Trump sets sights on liberal megadonor George Soros:
‘A chilling message to other donors’ | Trump administration | The Guardian
Now the Trump administration has begun thoroughly investigating Democratic megadonor
George Soros, trying to come up with something--anything--to accuse him of doing.
a law prohibiting coins and currency from bearing the image of a living person.
Trump official bypassed ethics rules in criminal referrals of Fed governor and other foes,
sources say | Reuters
NY Times, "I'm from here": US citizens are caught up in immigration dragnet
A man was recently
arrested for making bomb
threats outside the church.
USA Today, 2 children killed, 2 critically injured in Texas shooting,
Here are more victims once again of the so-called "right to bear arms."
Gunmen kill two, injure 12 in a shootout in a crowd in Alabama capital city's downtown
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Mr. Trump has been loudly campaigning for a Nobel prize, making repeated public
requests to be named a Nobel Laureate, though his efforts actually are unlikely to increase
his chances of winning the coveted award.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -As scientists ready for next week's Nobel Prize announcements, one awarding
body is warning academic freedom is under threat in the U.S. and elsewhere, with political interference risking
long-lasting negative effects.
U.S. President Donald Trump has introduced or proposed a swathe of measures in his second term that critics
argue will hamper education and scientific research.
Ylva Engstrom, Vice President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the prizes for chemistry,
physics and economics, said the Trump administration's changes were reckless.
US urges allies to shun Havana at UN | Reuters
At the UN, Cuba got a cold shoulder.
Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla addresses the 80th United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA), at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 27, 2025. REUTERS
Remember those days
when Nicaragua was always in the news?.
More than 30 years ago, back in 1990, as an election observer in Nicaragua, I met then-president Daniel Ortega and his wife. He actually lost that
election when Violeta Chamorro won it in a surprise upset. I was there with the late US President Jimmy
Carter at Violeta's home on the evening of her victory when he advised her (in his twangy Spanish) to delay
her victory announcement, as is recounted in my books.
Seventeen years later, in 2007, Ortega ran again for Nicaragua's presidency. Apparently now a changed man,
he initially allowed the US Peace Corps to continue to operate in the country. Then slowly, with each
successive election, he tightened his grip until Nicaragua, now for all intents and purposes, has become a
full-blown dictatorship once again.
So at age 79, Ortega has essentially become president-for-life. The semblance of an election was conducted
recently in which the wife, Rosario Murillo, 74, was named co-president along with her husband for
a 6-year term.
AP, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was among those detained in Gaza
Israel intercepts the last boat from the Gaza flotilla as Israeli minister mocks the activists
NBC News
Israel orders Palestinians to leave Gaza City saying those who stay will be considered militants
Protests against Israeli actions in Gaza have erupted all over the world, including, above, in Brussels, Belgium. As Netanyahu's only protector and funder, Trump could easily influence the prime minister's actions in Gaza, should he actually choose to do so
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US Strikes Alleged Drug Smuggling Near Venezuela, Killing 4 People
US struck another alleged drug boat off Venezuela coast, Trump says
Not only is US support for Israel being challenged internationally, but there is growing criticism
of unprovoked American attacks on boats navigating near the Venezuelan coast. Such attacks have occurred ever since Trump authorized the US military to destroy boats found operating around Venezuelan waters. Boaters from Venezuela and other Caribbean countries are no longer even daring
to go out.
Since September 2025, the U.S. military has conducted multiple lethal strikes on several vessels off the coast
of Venezuela under Trump's specific orders. The administration has described these attacks as part of
a newly declared "armed conflict" with drug cartels now designated as terrorist organizations. The strikes have drawn significant criticism and raised very serious questions regarding their legal and moral justification. Have these boats really been transporting drugs? Maybe they were only engaged in fishing,
commerce, or sightseeing.
Who can tell once the vessels are down at the bottom of the sea?
OK, so how about conducting a war crimes' trial now for Donald Trump himself? No one is above
the law, not
even the US president.
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Once while traveling in rural Africa, I ran into Jane Goodall, barely managing to even say, "hello".
Not expecting to see her there, I'd suddenly felt at a loss for words. The same thing happened to me when I came upon Mother Teresa (such a tiny woman!) praying at a hidden jungle shrine in Nicaragua during Sandinista times. I just nodded to her as I knelt down beside her. Walking out of the area afterward, I asked my Nicarguan companion, "¿Sabes quién es ella?" [Do you know who she is?] He nodded, "Sí, la Madre Teresa."
Of course, folks actually considered authorities or famous are just like you and me, as their special qualities exist mainly in the eye of the beholder. In fact, in times past, such trust actually has been invested in me, as when I've just finished a talk about Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, or Honduras and am signing copies of my books afterwards for audience members. I then answer folks' questions in either English or Spanish when listeners finally reach the front of the line, asking me to sign their book in a rare private moment with me one-on-one.
Now the very countries that I once wrote and talked about have vanished from public discussion. Fame is fickle and fading, not that I myself was ever particularly famous, but I did once have my own 5 minutes in the spotlight, along with those same countries just mentioned. Now at age 87, as an anonymous "little old lady" living in rural West Virginia, I no longer find anyone seeking out my opinion or advice about anything. Don't folks around here know that I am an author and speaker once of some modest renown? When I went to DMV to get my West Virgina ID, no one there seemed to recognize me or remark on my name.
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Another ad in Spanish has come in about sending remittances:
Envía dinero por Internet desde los Estados Unidos con Remitly
And for my readers in Miami, I'll jsut pass along this notice:
Here now is a group of Honduran girls living today in a rural town without any electricity or running water. (Such towns can still be found all over the world.) These girls had made their own dresses using a pedal sewing machine--remember those? In this little town, when evening falls, folks then light candles or kerosene lamps, just as our own forebears did. Residents carry on with daily life there expressing no sense of deprivation.
In case you may have forgotten, remember that Halloween is coming up later this month. And the Apple Butter Festival here in Berkeley Springs will actually take place beforehand, on Oct. 11-12.
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