Bad Bunny for president!

Poll Surprise: Bad Bunny Comes Out Ahead of Trump When U.S. Adults Are Asked,

 ‘Who Better Represents America?’

This result is not really so surprising. Although Donald Trump won the presidency by a small majorty at the last election. his support has been going down down down ever since. Meanwhile, Bad Bunny has been surging in popularity. So how about Bad Bunny for president next time? We could do worse--in fact, we've already done worse. Three years seems much too long to wait for Trump to leave office. He can do a lot more damage during that time. Voters, you made a misake! 

CNN Polling Guru Blown Away by Trump’s Disastrous New Lows

NO BOTTOM

“At this point, I don’t really know who to even compare Donald Trump to because he’s just so low.”

                        But Trump is still collecting prizes from foreign leaders. 

              Here is a new prize to add to Trump's private collection, FIFA's Peace Prize.

  

World Leader Sounds Off on Trump’s Unhinged Nobel Peace Prize Text

Donald Trump cannot stop complaining about not being awarded the Nobel Prize. He would really like to add it to his personal collection of prizes. Sweden, not Denmark, awards the Nobel. Greenland, a territory which Trump has threatened to seize in reprisal, belongs to Denmark, not to Sweden. At one time, hundreds of years ago, the 2 countries were united, just as present-day Canada, the USA, and Mexico once had no boundaries between them. 

As Google says: 

• The Kalmar Union (1397–1523): Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were united under one monarch, largely dominated by Denmark. Sweden broke away permanently in 1523 under King Gustav Vasa.
• But if the US actually now "owned" present-day Greenland, a territory belonging to Denmark, that would not bring Trump any closer to winning a Nobel from Sweden, a prize he really would like to add to his collection. 
• Instead, Japan has awarded Trump a brand new trophy, invented just for him, a replica of an ancient gold crown. 

Facebook, Trump Now Accepting All Trophies

The word is out that Donald Trump will put his own name on all donated trophies to display and add to his growing collection. 

One man says, "I’ve decided to give President Trump my bowling trophies from 7th grade.

Look for them in the Oval Office soon."

Jesse Jackson, a civil rights icon, dies at 84 following illness

Tributes pour in for Jackson, a protégé of MLK and central figure in the Democratic Party for more than six decades.

Some years ago, I heard Jackson speak at an outdoor event.

Wash. Post, Hegseth forces ouster of senior Army spokesman in latest internal clash

Col. David Butler, who had been selected by senior Army leaders for promotion to brigadier general, will instead retire, officials said.

Without knowing the details of this conflict, since I consider Hegseth woefully unqualified, having been promoted by Trump way beyond his meager capabilties, and a man also responsible for outright murders of boaters in the Caribbean, I must side with Col. Butler in this case. 

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My son and I go out for a drive almost every day, including today Feb, 17, 2026, when

we went to nearby Winchester, Virginia. I do enjoy visiting that town.

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So how does our dog know to fetch a ball or a stick to bring back to us? A dog just knows. If the owner throws a stick, the dog will always bring the stick back. Our dog seems to like fetching sticks and balls or anything that we throw. 

An abandoned house we often pass here in Berkeley Springs no longer is abandoned. Vines have been removed and dark stains are gone. So it may soon be occupied once again, a really nice-looking 2-story house with a roofed front porch, located right along the main drag. To the new occupants, I say: "Welcome neighbors!" who are perhaps newcomers to our little town. 

A friend living near my former home on DC's Capitol Hill now tells me: "The National Guard is still patrolling Massachusetts Avenue in front of our house."

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At the home of Nancy Guthrie's mother in Arizona, police and media are still staked out. Nancy is a co-anchor of the NBC Today Show

Here is an image of the intruder who apparently kidnapped Guthrie's mother. 

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3 killed, including suspect, in shooting during Rhode Island youth hockey game

It's way past time for the US to jettison the NRA's so-called "right to bear arms." Fewer 

guns in circulation mean fewer gun deaths. As has been mentioned before, possessing a 

gun in the home is not protective, but a grave risk to the actual occupants. Just look

at the statistics about who gets killed by guns kept at home--the people living there. 

How often do intruders enter a dwelling to rob or harm the occupants? Almost never. 

The Guthrie case is a rarity, based on Nancy Guthrie's public persona.

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Americans, not other countries, paid Trump's tariffs in 2025

Most households paid an extra $1,000, despite Trump's

claims that other countries would pay the tariffs. 

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Here's the opening, in both English and Spanish, of a recent address by Marco Rubio. Before he became Secretary of State, I once chatted with him in both languages on a flight from south Florida to Washingon, DC. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you very much. We gather here today as members of a historic alliance, an alliance that saved and changed the world.  When this conference began in 1963, it was in a nation – actually, it was on a continent – that was divided against itself.  The line between communism and freedom ran through the heart of Germany. The first barbed fences of the Berlin Wall had gone up just two years prior. 

SECRETARIO RUBIO: Muchas gracias. Hoy nos reunimos aquí como miembros de una alianza histórica, una alianza que salvó y cambió el mundo. Cuando esta conferencia comenzó en 1963, había una nación, en realidad, un continente, dividido contra sí mismo. La línea entre el comunismo y la libertad atravesaba el corazón de Alemania. Las primeras alambradas del Muro de Berlín se habían levantado apenas dos años antes.

Here's message now from Senator Mark Kelly:

Pete Hegseth decided he's going to censure me, and is threatening to demote me and reduce my pension. I got shot at in service to this country. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission and launched to the International Space Station while my wife recovered from a gunshot wound to the head. My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. Generations of servicemembers have done the same. Pete Hegseth wants to send a message to every single one that he will come after them if they say something he doesn’t like.   You swear an oath to the Constitution when you join the military — including the First Amendment right to free speech. We swore to defend the foundational principles of this country. I took that oath seriously 40 years ago, and I still do. Pete Hegseth can threaten to reduce my rank and my pension. But I am not going to let him intimidate me, or anyone else. He is not going to stop me from defending our democracy from a president who is hellbent on destroying it ====================================

In February 2026, researchers announced the discovery of the Lac La Belle, a luxury steamship that sank in Lake Michigan over 150 years ago. The ship has been found by a team led by veteran shipwreck hunter Paul Ehorn, ending a 60-year search for the vessel. 

Here's a report about the sinking of the long lost ship:

On Oct. 13, 1872, with 53 passengers and crew on board plus a cargo of barley, pork, flour and whiskey, she departed Milwaukee when, about two hours into her trip, she began leaking uncontrollably from an unknown source. While the captain tried to turn her back, the weather deteriorated and huge waves extinguished the ship's boiler fires. At around 5 a.m., the Lac La Belle went down stern first as passengers and crew watched on lifeboats.

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A friend living in DC tells me that "the Washington Post has cut 1/3 of their employees, and shuttered major reporting sections including Sports and most Foreign Desks." That's terrible news! I read the Post and NY Times online almost every single day.  

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                                        Here I was in Honduras back in June 2024.

The world has gone through so many transitions during my long life, it almost makes me dizzy to even think about them. I went to Cuba under Fidel Castro, to Nicaragua under the Sandinistas, and to East Germany after the wall. I went to Czechoslovakia when it was still one country. All these events have not been mentioned here in chronological order because I don't remember them that way. But I do recall them as clearly as if they'd happened only yesterday.