On Tuesday, December 2, we woke up early here in Berkeley Springs to find white frost (snow?) covering the grass and rooftops. The roads, however, were clear, but wet. The outdoor temperature gauge downtown showed 33 F, a tad above freezing. By afternoon, the air was warmer, the roads were dry, and the grass was still green.
When we drove by the mysterious castle, a green and orange gargoyle out on the roof was flapping its wings, indicating that the occupants were now at home. We took our dog over to CoolFont to let her run free around there. Flags were still flying at half-mast for the 20-year-old West Virginia Guard member, Sarah Beckstrom, killed by a sniper while on duty in Washington, DC. Her home is just a few miles from where we live now.
Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has commented on recent news reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethallegedly had ordered U.S. military personnel to conduct a follow-up strike on survivors of an initial attack on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean.According to an account in The Washington Post, Hegseth had issued a verbal order for all crew members on the alleged drug boat to be killed, then when two people survived the initial strike in September 2025, a subsequent order was given to "finish them off in the water." (Did Hegseth himself actually gave that second order?)
“This rises to the level of a war crime if it's true,” said Sen. Kaine.
Lawmakers
voice support for congressional reviews of Trump's military strikes on boats
Members of both parties support a review.
Pete Hegseth’s self-anointed War Department has so far killed at least 83 people in 21 strikes since September, according to CNN. (No declaration of war has ever been issued.)
White House confirms 2nd strike on alleged drug boat survivors as lawmakers suggest it could be a war crime
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has insisted that "current operations in the Caribbean are lawful."
But then Hegseth joked online about the issue by posting a mock children's book he called Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists, showing Franklin the Turtle shooting at boats in the water.
But killing Caribbean boaters really is no joke. (Hegseth may even find himself on trial as a war criminal.)
Why did he ever even post this? Hegseth seems to lack basic common sense.
According to Google: a lack of common sense is the inability to make wise, logical decisions or apply basic knowledge to practical and social situations. This can manifest as a failure to understand obvious consequences, an unawareness of social norms, or an inability to use knowledge and understanding to solve problems.
Pete Hegseth has had some lucky breaks during his short career. After college graduation, Hegseth joined the Minnesota National Guard He later received an honorable discharge. But why ever did Trump choose him as Secretary of War (formerly of Defense)? That is a mystery, as his military experience has been far less extensive than that of so many others under his command. Maybe Trump considered him someone easy to manipulate? Did his family perhaps make a big contribution to Mr, Trump? Or maybe the 2 of them just hit it off? Donald Trump's judgment and mental acuity do seem to be failing and he often acts on impulse, so his choice of Hegseth may have simply been made on a whim.
The Geneva Convention forbids the intentional targeting of wounded combatants, saying that they should be apprehended and given medical aid.
Several experts who recently spoke to the BBC expressed doubts that the reported follow-up strike could be considered legal under international law.
Hegseth is now blaming "the fog of war" for any concerns.
Google says: "Fog of war" refers to the uncertainty and confusion soldiers and leaders experience during battle due to a lack of information.
It's true that the fog of war and heat of battle may lead to mistakes being made during a war. We saw earlier that 2 Palestinians with hands raised in surrender were shot and killed by Israelis. But is the US at war with boaters? If Pete Hegseth wants to keep his job and to avoid prison, he should just shut up right now. He has said too much already. Of course, if he is indicted, Trump can always exonerate him.
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An estimated 2 million immigrants have reportedly been deported by the Trump administration so far in just this year, most of them working-age folks needed right here, right now, which is actually why they had come. They need jobs and we do need workers. Many of them work in agriculture doing tasks many native-born Americans don't know how to do, nor do they want to learn. Deporting these folks now has resulted in abandoned crops and many other losses
No practical system for screening immigrants has ever been developed either here or anywhere else. Until that happens, we just need to take "potluck" regarding new arrivals, as has already been happening for several centuries now aroud the world and is how many countries first became populated, including our own. And it should be remembered that the wives of both Trump and Vance are irregular migrants, that is, visitors who never actually were admitted here as immigrants, but simply just stayed on after marrying the right men.
How Trump is intensifying his crackdown on every form of immigration to the US
Donald Trump is on an anti-immigration tear. He apparently doesn't want any newcomers at all entering the US right now, except perhaps for Musk's white South Africans. The door is closed; the door even has been slammed shut, the welcome mat is gone, so just stay away--you are not welcome!
Trump is taking his no-immigrants policy to excessive extremes, perhaps under pressure from his harshest donors and advisers. If Melania as an immigrant has a different view, she is not making any headway with her husband.
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CNN,A British nursery worker from London has pleaded guilty to 26 offenses against children, including nine counts of sexual assault, in what the Metropolitan Police has described as “one of the most harrowing and complex child sexual abuse investigations” undertaken by the force. Vincent Chan, a 45-year-old man living in north London, was also found guilty of taking indecent images of children, police said in a statement on Wednesday. He will be sentenced on January 23.
I've said it before and will say it again, namely that while it's not always true, it is still very risky to have adult men working alone with unrelated preschool or even elementary age children. I have seen too many cases of sexual and physical abuse of kids done by men during my long social work and rehab career, and also as a mother of young kids. I have never seen any abuse among much more numerous female caregivers, except perhaps for a very rare swat on the behind from a woman caring for kids in a group setting (something also forbidden). Human males (like males of other species) have high levels of testosterone that may motivate them to seek out sexual encounters, as nature intended, to help perpetuate the human race. Any vulnerable person, including a young child, may be at risk of physical or sexual abuse, especially a child unrelated to the man or a child he has not helped raise from infancy.
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Seen below is a city park, apparently located in a US southern state or perhaps in southern California. Does any reader actually know where? It looks quite warm there, wherever it is. I'd really like to be there right now, as I am known in Spanish as friolenta, someone quite sensitive to cold..
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Dignitas founder dies by assisted suicide aged 92, group says
He had decided that it was time to practice what he preached.
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And now on to Honduras, my former Peace Corps country, where I have undertaken so many projects, and still have so many friends If it weren't for my kids and grandkids living here in this country, I could live there quite well right now just on my social security, and still have money left over for my humanitarian endeavors tere.
People had lined up to vote in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, during the recent presidential election. (Reuters)
After the 2 leading presidential candidates had been running neck-in-neck, Trump interfered by naming his favored candidate, Nasry Asfura, who then began to pull slightly ahead. Honduran authorities and voters may have actually been influenced by Trump's blatant interference in their national affairs during the vote with his strong endorsement of Asfura, thinking it could help their country.
Of course, as "King of the World," Mr. Trump doesn't hesitate to interfere in other nations' internal affairs
Does he even remember the anti-Trump demonstrations held all over the country, taking place just a few weeks ago? Maybe now he really wants to show that he really is king of the world?
Enough said.
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Sri Lanka Declares ‘Largest' Disaster as Cyclone Kills 355
The New York Times
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December 1, 2025
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Pope Leo XIV doubles down on insistence for 2-state solution to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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