Sunday, August 16, 2026

At a loss for words

 


What can we say? What should we say? What might we say? I hardly know what to say anymore. 

Folks will be reading this blog, expecting me to write something here. So we might ask some topical questions,

One question might be: Can the lived human experience of folks all over the world actually even improve? Can it ever get better? Is it possible to be hopeful for humankind? Does anything really matter any more? Are people happier now than in previous eras? Is the life of human beings here on Mother Earth actually more enjoyable now? I don't  really know. Maybe "progress" is just a mental construct. These are all questions I simply cannot answer. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My son Jon is at work right now and has sent me a few photos just from today. This morning our dog Willy was out on the screened porch, where you see my son's bare foot right there in the photo.

 Then I was eating a salad for lunch, wearing a shirt from the Coolfont Resort where my son works,. 

                                                And this is son Jon later today, at work at Coolfont. 
====================================================================

Once again, there are more victims of the NRA's "right to bear arms." Other modern nations don't have this problem to the extent that it is afflicting us right here in the USA.  


A 13-year-old girl — the only survivor of a shooting rampage in rural Michigan — called 911 on Friday after she was shot four times, state police official and her family said Saturday. The girl was found in a home in Lake Township, in Missaukee County, where three other people were found dead ...The suspected gunman, Chad Hickman, 39, is believed to have killed five people across three locations. He was later found dead next to one of the victims in a wooded area after police launched a manhunt for him. The girl was taken to a hospital in critical condition but was stable by Saturday, police said.

=======================================

Here's a topical question. Donald Trump has been traveling across the country, trying to rev up support of Republican candidates among primary voters, but is he helping or perhaps actually hurting the prospects of Republican hopefuls? 

So many questions! So few answers! We may just have to wait to see what ends up happening to find out what actually will happen after all. 



The Hill, The Memo: AOC 2028? Dems feel trepidation and excitement over Ocasio-Cortez  Her time may have come. In politics, the prospects can turn on a dime. Nothing stands still. Hillary and Kamala have both had their 15 minutes of fame, so now maybe it's AOC's turn. 

===================================

CNN

Bulldozers rip into Big Bend National Park, driving anger and heartbreak


Donald J. Trump, would you please just stop all this destruction right now? Voters did not support you to do so much damage! Only a fraction of those who voted for you really wanted you to be so heartless, so ruthless, so mean and so cruel. 
How about trying now to be kinder, gentler, and Mr. Nice Guy instead? If you want to be remembered in the history books, such a big change of heart might actually get you there and also could win you high praise for becoming a genuine humanitarian after all. That should get you closer to Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, whom you so much admire and so often compare yourself to. It's not too late now, but please hurry up, as not very much time is still left in your own presidential term. 



Donald Trump is on his way out now, in terms of political influence, but he doesn't quite realize it yet.


=================================================================

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, slammed President Donald Trump's executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccines and splitting some immunizations into separate medical visits

Cassidy, who lost a primary for reelection in May, told CNN during an Aug. 16 interview that dividing the childhood measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three shots could take a toll on families and increase insurance costs − but not offer health benefits for children. Cassidy, a physician and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said that instead of parents taking their children to get vaccinated twice, they could have to go to a doctor's office six times, potentially missing work for the additional appointments. "This is inconvenient. It's going to contribute to an increased loss of income. And by the way, instead of the insurance company paying for two doctor's visits, they're paying for six, which is going to ultimately drive up premiums."

Since Cassidy is not running for reelection, he feels quite free now to speak out. 

============================================================
Now on to Nicaragua

The husband of the pregnant asylum seeker, seen here below with her young child, was just deported to Nicaragua, a country currently under a dictatorship, as was reported earlier on this blog. President Daniel Ortega and his wife will remain in power now until both have died. Ortega decided that the Nicaraguan presidency was rightfully his, so slowly, quietly, methodically, Ortega began to work his way back. 



In 1990, I was in Nicaragua celebrating the presidential victory of Violeta Chamorro.

But after that, Nicaraguans took their eyes off the ball while Daniel Ortega methodically worked, step-by-step, to rehabilitate his image, at first even allowing the US Peace Corps to continue to operate in his country. He slowly regained Nicaraguans' trust and is back once more as their president, never letting go ever again. 
Ortega is now in full control and his wife is his designated successor, so they won't be giving up power as long as they live. Of course, once Ortega and his wife are both gone, Nicaragua will no longer be a dictatorship, but some folks will have died after having lived only under their oppressive rule. 

Nicaraguans should not be deported back to their home country, as it's not a safe for them to be there. Donald Trump should not be deporting them there, as he is now doing.

Daniel Ortega appears here with his wife, Rosario Murillo.

AP, Ortega moves to extend his 20-year rule and says no more elections.
=========================================================================
The Iran war is not over yet. Trump got our country into this war but doesn't seem to know how to get out. 


==================================================================

We former Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) often end up as citizens of the world. 

Here is a former PCV, now an independent journalist, Terrell Jermaine Starr, reporting from Georgia, the country, not the state.



                       Starr may have something important to tell us, so we should now pay attention. 

No comments:

Post a Comment