IMHO

Benedict Arnold (January 14, 1741– June 14, 1801) was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defecting to the British in 1780. General George Washington had given him his fullest trust and had placed him in command of West Point in New York. Arnold was planning to surrender the fort to British forces, but the plot was discovered in September 1780, whereupon he fled to the British lines. In the later part of the war, Arnold was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army and placed in command of the American Legion. He led British forces in battle against the army which he had once commanded, and his name became synonymous with treason and betrayal of the United States.^--Wiki

 

 ^{Donald J. Trump}

In political discourse, critics, political opponents, and some legal scholars use the term rhetorically to describe actions they believe subverted the Constitution, undermined national security, or placed personal interests over allegiance to the nation.

The main arguments raised by those who describe Donald Trump in these terms fall into several key areas:

1. Events Surrounding January 6 and the 2020 Election

Critics argue that efforts to overturn a certified democratic election constituted a fundamental betrayal of his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the U.S. Constitution. Specific points often cited include:

• Subverting the Peaceful Transfer of Power: Attempting to block Congress's certification of electoral votes.

• Pressuring Election Officials: Pressuring state officials and the Department of Justice to alter or delay election results.

• Incitement of the Capitol Attack: Encouraging supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, which led to the January 6 attack, an event described by critics and political opponents as an insurrection.

2. Handling of Classified Documents

Following his first presidency, Trump was indicted under the Espionage Act for retaining sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and allegedly obstructing efforts to retrieve them.

• National Security Risks: Opponents argue that holding highly classified national defense materials in unsecured locations exposed critical state secrets to potential foreign access.

• Alleged Disclosures: Reports of sharing sensitive intelligence with unauthorized individuals raised concerns over disregard for national security protocols.

3. Stance on Foreign Intelligence and Adversaries

Throughout his political career, critics argued that Trump sided with foreign autocrats over U.S. interests and national intelligence agencies:

The 2018 Helsinki Summit: Publicly siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence agency conclusions regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.

• Rhetoric on Alliances: Repeated criticism of traditional democratic alliances, such as NATO, alongside praised relationships with authoritarian leaders (e.g., in Russia, Hungary, and North Korea).

4. The 2019 Ukraine Pressures (First Impeachment)

Trump’s first impeachment stemmed from allegations that he withheld congressionally mandated military aid to Ukraine while asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate a political rival, Joe Biden. Critics argued this leveraged U.S. foreign policy and national security assets for personal political gain.

 

Voting is not just a civic duty.

Voting is no longer just a civic duty; it is an urgent imperative. 

The 60 Minutes broadcast featuring Lesley Stahl investigating FBI raids and ballot/voter record seizures aired on Sunday, October 18, 2026. The Story: Titled "Election officials describe impacts of federal actions on voting, the segment examined federal actions and probes surrounding state election infrastructure. 

The federal government threatened state election administrators with criminal prosecution or jail time if they did not turn over sensitive voter registration data or if they certified certain mail-in ballots. 

Ballot Box Seizures: The segment highlighted an FBI raid on a Fulton County, Georgia election facility (which occurred on January 28, 2026), during which armed agents executed a federal search warrant to seize over 600 boxes of 2020 election records and ballots. 

The situation regarding the ballot seizures featured in the segment has not been resolved, it remains an active and ongoing controversy. 

Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett stated during the broadcast that local officials still do not know where the seized ballots and records are located or what the Justice Department/FBI did with them. Agents executed a valid criminal search warrant, leaving local authorities with no legal recourse to block the raid. 

The primary focus of the segment was on how these federal raids, subpoenas, and pressure campaigns are impacting public trust and official operations ahead of upcoming elections. That, by itself, would be a victory for the administration. 

Lesley Stahl highlighted polling showing that only half of Americans expect the upcoming midterm elections to be "free and fair". 

Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett explained that high-profile FBI raids on election facilities create a psychological effect: when voters see federal agents, search warrants, and armed raids, they naturally assume "something must be wrong there," even if past official audits proved otherwise. 

Now, election officials in California are being threatened. 

Our country doesn't just need our votes; it is crying out for them. The stakes in this election are higher than at any point in our history. If you believe in the good America has brought to our lives and to the world, staying on the sidelines is not an option. We must show up, mobilize, and drive this Blue Wave all the way through November 3rd!

Protest & De Nata visit.

Another day for a No Kings protest. I hope they are successful in getting many people to vote early. That seems to be the main idea of the protest. 

In Albania, the protest is on its fourth day, and they are calling for the entire administration to resign. It's not a protest that will last 2 to 3 hours or even 1 day. It will continue until they get the administration out. That, to me, seems like a more logical reason for a protest. Why is it that in America, the protests last for 1 or 2 hours, maybe 1 day, and do not continue day after day after day with demands? 

There are only 16 days left until the November 3rd election. I think the real danger will occur after the voting is all accounted for. For sure, if the Democrats do succeed in taking back the House or the Senate, Trump will stop at nothing to call it a fraud or to take every election to court, delaying the installation of the individual who won. The question is: how long will the American people put up with this? Hasn't it gone on long enough 

It was a nice enough day to take Joan out and go to the Portuguese pastry shop for a first visit. Inside is a small area for sitting with tables and chairs. Outside, there is a small sitting area, also with maybe six to seven tables. The little round pastries they serve were very good, very tasty, and the coffee was also good. However, for a person using a wheelchair, it is rather difficult to get into. The outdoors have more access with a little ramp for a chair to go up, but even that presents a problem. Personally, I did not like either the chairs or the tables. The chairs are not comfortable, and the tabletop is not a solid piece of wood or marble or anything solid. It is mainly a series of strips of wood put together with spaces in between. If you drop your knife, your fork, or your spoon, it's very easy for it to fall onto the floor. 

Autumn& De Nata

Autumn isn't over yet. Another nice day to sit in the park observing people. Solacz Park is the nicest park in Poznań.  It isn't the biggest park because that honor goes to Citadella Park. Part of the reason that part is so large is because of the cemeteries that it has within it, both for English, Polish, and Russian soldiers. At the south entrance to Citadella, after climbing many stairs, there's a tall obelisk there. When we first moved here many years ago, at the top of the obelisk stood a red star. A few years later, that star was taken down because it was a symbol of communist Russia.

I've discovered a new pastry shop in our area that we're going to have to try, maybe tomorrow or Sunday. It's a Portuguese pastry shop. De Nata is a café located in Poznań's Jeżyce district, at ul. Wawrzyniaka 19. It specializes in Portuguese pastries, particularly pastel de nata, available in various flavors such as classic, chocolate, and raspberry. Freshly brewed coffee accompanies the sweets. The interior features beautiful tiles, creating a cozy atmosphere.  

It is a café inspired by traditional Portuguese pastry shops, where pastel de nata takes center stage, a crisp, creamy tart served in several unique flavor variations. They are baked fresh daily and taste best with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. The interior features Portuguese tiles and warm tones, creating a cozy, sunny atmosphere. In summer, a small outdoor garden opens up, perfect for an espresso, something sweet, and a chat with a friend.

Home & Ukraine

A day at home. Paige was here, and I asked her how Joan was doing with the steps exercise. She said she stopped them because Joan's balance was so bad that she was afraid to continue. I need to add some balance exercises.

In another 16 days, it will be time to be in Golina. I hope I can make that trip this year. I also hope the weather will be good enough to take Joan. It has been too many years since we were last there for that important day.

Meanwhile: Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky began his visit to Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 15, by meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. During the meeting, he urged continued allied deliveries of ballistic missile interceptors and F-16 ammunition, as Russia continues its strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure despite US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire push. According to Zelensky, Russia has launched nearly 1,000 drones since Wednesday, Oct. 14, amid Starlink restrictions that further strained Kyiv-Washington diplomacy.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the EU must increase funding for Ukraine as Kyiv faces a major budget shortfall in 2027. EU leaders are discussing additional support amid intensified Russian attacks, while calls grow to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine. Belgium remains opposed to the proposal.

Merz pushed back against any attempt by the United States to try to get Europe to hand over some of the money as part of Washington’s peace negotiations with Moscow.

“These are assets that are frozen in Europe, and they should remain frozen in Europe. This is our business, and we will decide on it,” he said.

RESIST!!!

Thanks to Trump/Musk, Ukraine has been denied access to the Starlink satellite that gave them early warning of incoming ballistic missiles. Ukrainians have no chance to take shelter. Their military has no defense against them. They have no idea where the Russian army is moving against them. Men, women, and children are dying because of Musk/Trump. We sit here, safely writing posts about how terrible it all is, but what have we done in the last 18 months to stop the dissolution of democracy in our own country?

Have your calls, emails, protests stopped ANYTHING? ICE continues murdering people, healthcare is taken away from many, and our Supreme Court is as corrupt as the “President”. He has used the presidency to enrich himself by 5 billion dollars, started a war with Iran, severely weakened our military, alienated every ally we had, become a laughing stock to every world leader, destroyed the Department of Education, and threatened everyone who stands against him.

If he succeeds in the midterms, what will be left of the real America?

What will you do when they come for you?

All you need is LOVE.

Once upon a time in my life, God put the most beautiful woman in front of my eyes that I have ever seen. It wasn't just physical beauty, although her eyes were the color of a clear blue sky with the sun shining, and there wasn't a cloud anywhere. It wasn't just her eyes that attracted me to her so much. The more I talked with her, the more I understood just how intelligent she was. She could talk about almost any subject, like science, religion, cooking, clothing, housing, anything. It didn't take long to realize after our first meeting that I would fall in love with her and love her for the rest of my life. I knew some things about science, and more about religion, because I had taken a course on religions of the world at DePaul University. Of course, my specialty was in music because that was my purpose at the university. It was probably the only thing I had more knowledge of than she did.

When she was diagnosed 6 years ago with frontal lobe and vascular dementia, I didn't have much knowledge about that disease, but I knew it wasn't good. After doing a lot of research about dementia, I knew what the end result would be.

 I've tried hard over the last six years to take as good care of her as possible. For a couple of years, there wasn't much change during that time. That has changed.

 According to the Mayo Clinic, there are five stages of dementia. Going by their calculations, I would say Joan is in stage 4.      

4. Moderate Dementia

• Confusion deepens, memory loss increases, and individuals require assistance with daily personal care.

• Key signs include difficulty dressing appropriately, trouble managing personal hygiene, confusion regarding time or location, sleep disturbances, wandering, and behavioral or personality shifts.

  Only someone who takes care of a person with dementia can know how this makes me feel. It has definitely affected my own health. My only prayer is that I live long enough to take care of Joan. After that, I would be happy to leave with her. 

Rare

   

Picture-Daughter, Karen, with Illinois Governor.

 

A rare occasion-------REPUBLICAN Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick is actively trying to block purchases of Russian diesel and petroleum imports.

On this issue, he deserves credit.

Key Details of the Legislative Effort

The Bill: Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), co-chair of the House Ukraine Caucus, announced the drafting of bipartisan legislation titled the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Objective: The bill aims to prohibit and block all purchases of Russian oil and petroleum products, directly challenging agreements to allow Russian diesel fuel into U.S. and global markets.
Kyiv Post
Strategy: Fitzpatrick announced plans to force a vote directly on the House floor using a discharge petition—a procedural move that bypasses committee review and House leadership.
LIGA.net
Key Co-Sponsors & Rationale: Co-sponsored alongside lawmakers such as Representative Don Bacon (R-NE), supporters argue that purchasing Russian diesel provides funding for Moscow's war effort against Ukraine and projects weakness on the international stage.

Russia?

It makes me furious that Orange Head has made a deal with Putin to buy its diesel fuel. That money will buy more arms to kill Ukrainians. It's bad enough that the U.S. government is killing its own citizens; now they are in bed with Russia. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

A staggering sell-out of Ukraine by President Donald Trump, with the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announcing a license to allow Russia to sell diesel to the US and on global markets.

This comes in a week when Russia launched brutal attacks on Ukraine, which saw over 70 Ukrainian civilians killed by Russian missile strikes.

Trump is obviously desperate for prices at the pump to drop before midterms, but given the success of recent Ukrainian deep strike drone attacks on Russian refineries and shortages at home in Russia, I question whether Russia can meet the export volumes. Russia has moved from a diesel exporter to an importer in recent months.

President Zelensky responded in a furious post this evening, calling out Trump’s weakness. I would expect Ukraine to now step up deep strike drone attacks against Russian refineries and energy infrastructure. Source: Kyiv Post

Inea.

Let me tell you about yesterday's installation. The man from Inea arrived on time, at 2:00 PM.

That, in itself, was somewhat of a shock that he was on time. He came in, took a look at our setup, and proceeded to install the new router. When he was done, we were able to get all the channels of the Polish TV network. That was fine. However. I noticed at the bottom where the application icons were. I was not able to connect with them. I told him about it; he told me what to do, and he left. 

 I followed his instructions, and each time I did, nothing worked. Of course, that only made me angrier. After several tries, I put John's sandals on, put her in the car, and drove to Inea. Inside, I told the man what had happened and that I was pissed off about it. He told me that I had to set up the connection to the internet by using the password at the bottom of the router. He even showed me a picture of the bottom of the internet router, making it easier for me to find. 

Back at home, I found the password, entered it, and it said, "Cannot connect." I tried it two more times. Each time, it said the same thing: "Cannot connect to the internet." By that time, my nerves were on edge, and I called my friend Pawel, who's a genius at fixing problems for me. Over the phone, he tried to help me correct the problem, but after three or four tries, he decided to actually come to our house and fix this problem for me. Now, Pawel lives on the other side of Poznań, so it's not like he just lives right around the corner from us like he used to. I can't tell you how happy I was to see him again. It seems like the only time we see each other is when I have a problem with one of my computers or, today, with the TV.

 He came in, saw the problems I was having, and within 10 minutes, the whole thing was fixed. I had made a previous offer to pay for him to take an Uber taxi to our house and back home with him, but he declined to accept any payment. When he was done, we set a tentative time to meet next Tuesday at his place, without the computers, without the TV problems, and just talk about normal things for a change. 

I'm Back.

 Last Thursday, as I was writing my blog, my router stopped working.

The next day, I took it to my provider, Inea, to get a new one. When our previous provider's router had problems, they just gave me a new one.

Inea doesn't do that. They said they could email their tech department at another location and try to fix it remotely. The problem was it just wouldn't even turn on. The other option was to sign a new contract, and an installer would come to our flat. I asked how soon, but again I would have to wait for a phone call telling me when. I opted for the new contract, which actually saved me 500 PLN.

Two hours later, they called and said the installer would come on Wednesday, October 7, between 2 and 3 PM. So, for the last five days, I haven't been able to do much on the internet. 

 

Fortunately, my cell provider is different, so I was able to send a few messages. I'm not adept at using the phone, so my messages have all been very short. Today is the day I returned to the net.

 

The last 5 days, the weather has been great for being outside. I took Joan out every day.

 

Today, I did a little preparation for what might be Poland’s near future: war with Russia. I won’t stay here and put Joan’s life in danger.

 

I went to our bank and withdrew enough cash to sustain us elsewhere if necessary. I put it in another location that I could have quick access to. It may sound a little paranoid, but with Putin as the adversary, you never know what will be next. He has already threatened the UK, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Moldova, Romania, Sweden, and Lithuania. Only time will tell what the future holds for the world.

 

Evacuation routes have already been sent to us by the U.S. Embassy. The quickest route would be to Berlin or Frankfort, Germany, but I am sure the roads will be packed to the Polish border crossing points.

Not my fault.

 No posts until Wednesday. Oct. 7. My router is broken and will not be replaced until Wednesday.

Homeless

It's the last day of September, and I can't believe it's 22°C. In all our years living here, it's never been this warm at the end of September. Usually, by now, we've had the heat turned on in our flat for at least two weeks. It's fine with me. The longer it takes to get our heat turned on, the less our heating bills are going to be. I don't want to be surprised next year by an extra 800 zlotys because we used too much electricity. 

This afternoon, on our way home from the center of town, we were driving down Dombrowskiego Street. It's a main street that leads to our apartment complex. There are several crossing areas for people to cross the street, all marked off with white horizontal lines so that you know to stop when anybody enters them. 

There was one man just starting to enter the crosswalk. He was walking very slowly, and when I looked closely at him, I noticed that he didn't have any shoes on his feet. He just had on socks, but the front of his feet was covered in black plastic garbage bags. I felt so bad that he was in such a sad condition. I looked for a place to pull over, but there was no open area. I thought I would get out of the car, walk over to him when he reached the other side of the street, and offer him the pair of sandals that I was wearing. It wouldn't be that hard for me to drive home without shoes on because our flat was not that far away. However, because I had no place to park my car, I wasn't able to do that. I even thought about making a U-turn illegally on the street and going back to look for another place to park close to where he was. It just saddened me so much to see an individual in that bad a condition. 

By the time we got back home, it was time to start putting dinner together for tonight. My choice from the menu that I had made out on Monday was to prepare a mushroom bolognese for dinner. I looked up the word bolognese in several dictionaries, but every one of them related it to the bolognese sauce. This recipe that I have has no sauce with it, so I don't know why it's called a bolognese or a mushroom bolognese. Anyway, I prepared it before, so I know it's a good dinner, and this is served on rice.

JUST BOYS.

 

Lord, how can all this be endured. How

Yesterday, an enemy rocket hit the logistics company branch in Synelnykove, Dnipropetrovsk region.

As a result of this terrible blow, two teenagers - Oleksandr Hubenko and Ruslan Bereshchuk - died

Oleksandr was only 17 years old. Ruslan was only 15.

They were still almost children.

They were just boys.

They were absolutely innocent.

They had not yet seen this life.

They were just starting to live.

They had dreams, were making plans, and believed in the future.

But the enemy came. And in one moment, took everything from them.

It hurts. This is really painful.

Because we are losing our future. We are losing our beautiful youth

Eternal and bright memory to the two innocent souls

Eternal and bright memory to Sasha and Ruslan

Autumn.

I was thinking about what to write today. I'm tired of writing about the war in Ukraine, about the horrible condition in the United States, and any other problems in the world. I haven't had any new discoveries in family research in a long time, so you could say it's almost come to an end.

 

Maybe autumn is a better thing to write about here in Poland. The colors that come into the trees really don't come into full bloom until about the middle of October. It's very different from when I lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and usually by the third or fourth week in September, the colors were incredible. There are not a lot of maple trees here, so the color red is not really dominant. On some streets where they had just one type of tree, it's just a long row of yellow trees on the right and left side, which is very pretty. On others, where there is a mixture of trees, you have the colors brown, yellow, and a reddish-orange. It's still a little early for the colors to be in bloom since it's only September 28th, but within the next 2 to 3 weeks, everything should have changed. 

 

I did take Joan out for a little ride today, up and down some streets to see a little bit of the color that's evident, and she was happy to be out in this beautiful weather. Again, it was sunny, clear, with blue skies, about 74°. It wasn't a long ride because the price of gasoline is very high, and I didn't want to waste too much of it just driving around. In those past days, months, or maybe even a year when the cost of one liter of gasoline was 4 zlotys, we did take longer drives south or north, east or west, just to discover new places we had never seen before. Now the cost of one liter of gasoline is 8 zlotys. I blame it all on that idiot in the United States who started the war with Iran.  

 

The heating in the complex that we live in is controlled by the government, and they only turn it on when there's a sustained period of lower-than-normal temperatures.  Today I checked the radiators to see if the heat was turned on, and it was. There is really no need for it right now, so I turned the radiator off again. Two months ago, I was surprised by a new bill from the heating company for 800 zlotys that said we had used more heat than was scheduled. It was necessary for us to pay the bill. I'm going to be more careful about the temperature in the flat because I don't want to be surprised next year by another bill that I hadn't counted on. 

 

We signed another contract on this flat for the next 3 years, and then after that, I don't know if we'll still be living here. At the present time, we're paying almost half of our income for the flat, plus the extra heating and electricity. If it goes much higher, I think we will be forced to move. We have moved three times since we've been living here, and I'm really tired of moving. I thought that our flat in Strzeszyn Grecki would be the last one we would be living in, but because of Joan's condition and there not being an elevator available in the building, we had to move. 

 

That flat met all of our needs. It was only a one-bedroom flat, but the bedroom was large enough to fit two huge closets, the bed, and two side tables in it. It also has another large room that we turned into a formal dining room, with a door that led out to the biggest balcony I've seen. The kitchen was ample-sized, not large but not small either. The bathroom was adequate. It had a hallway, and it also had a living room. Our landlord was incredible. We lived there for 14 years, and they never raised the rent. In our last year there, they finally said they had to raise the rent. If it had had an elevator in the building, I would have paid whatever the difference was because we really liked living there. 

 

Everything we needed was right across the street from where we lived. There was a convenience store, two bakeries, two butcher shops, another larger food store across the street from us, a post office, and an apothecary. The only thing it lacked, unfortunately, was an elevator, which was something we could not live without anymore.

 

Another benefit was that my friend Radek and our other friends, Kamila & Piotr, and Marcin & Dorota were only a 2-3 minute walk away. 

 

That picture you see above is 7 years old. The field on the left is now covered with many apartment blocks. I imagine in the next few years it will be completely covered over with apartments. Since we moved from there 5 years ago, they have added three major food chain stores and the gas station. When we first saw the road leading into it before, it was covered with two beautiful fields of a lavender-looking plant, but it was not lavender. The odor was completely different. 

Woodrow Wilson Park.

What a beautiful day. 75°, clear blue sky. An excellent day to take Joan out and go to a different park rather than our usual Solacki Park. So, we went to Wilson Park. It's located just south of the main center of town. We have been there before. The Palmeria is located there, as well as an outdoor cafe. 

The Palmeria(Palm House) was built in 1929, according to the S project. Cybichowski, and in the years 1982–92 completely rebuilt. The palm house has a rich collection of plants and is one of the largest such facilities in Europe. About 17 thousand plants of seven hundred species and varieties from countries with Mediterranean, subtropical, tropical, savanna, and desert climates were collected here. There is also a rich collection of exotic fish. The Palm House is closed now for renovations, shut down now for several years.

Wilson Park has something special about it. It’s one of those places in Poznań where you can slow down for a moment, take a stroll, sit on a bench, and just enjoy being surrounded by greenery. There’s a bit of history here, a bit of the city’s hustle and bustle, but above all, there’s a vibe and atmosphere that are hard to find anywhere else. We have been there several times before.

A very nice day.

 Despite what's going on in Poland and the surrounding area, especially in neighboring Ukraine, today was a beautiful day. The temperature was 73°. The sun was shining, and so I took Joan to Cafe Locum for the usual ciasto and café latte. They had a very nice peach cheesecake that I bought for Joan to have a piece of, and I just had a café latte. When we were done, we went to the park to sit, watch people go by, and watch the little kids play soccer. 

My cousin, whom I saw a couple of days ago in the hospital, has been on my mind every day. I just can't seem to stop thinking about him and the condition that he is in.

 Last night, we watched a very old American movie called "The American in Paris."It was surprising that neither Joan nor I had ever watched the whole movie. There was so much dancing and singing in it. It was a really enjoyable way to spend the evening. 

Only the beginning.

When I started this blog 20 years ago the only purpose was to keep my American cousins informed about how our life was in Poland, the progress I was making in the family's research, and what our daily life was like. Now, I have maybe one or two cousins who may look at my blog, but the majority of my readers are people I don't know and from many different countries. My research has not come to a final end, but it has certainly slowed down after all that I have found. Due to Joan's illness of dementia, our travels have been curtailed almost to nothing, so there is not really anything to write about a foreign country we have just visited. 

I am still an American expat in Poland, and I still have love for the country I was born in, so I'm well aware of what's going on there. I can't help but make comments on it. I disapprove of it severely.

 Because almost every news cycle has nothing on it except the things that Orange-head, the would-be king, is doing wrong or has done negatively for the country, I feel that much of America doesn't really know what's going on in Europe except for the war in Ukraine. That is why I post whatever I can find out about the David versus Goliath war. Of course, that's Ukraine versus Russia, but there is much more than that going on. The only benefit I can see from that war is that it has finally taught Europe that it cannot depend on the United States to protect it any longer. Putin had hoped it would divide NATO, and it has done just the opposite. 

Poland temporarily evacuated two border crossings with Ukraine on Sept. 24 as Russia attacked areas near the Polish border, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. The crossings reopened after about half an hour.

The Dorohusk and Zosin crossings were evacuated for around 30 minutes, Polish broadcaster RMF FM reported. Traffic had returned to normal by noon.

Several school classes were suspended in Romania this morning after a drone was spotted over Suceava County in the country’s northeast.

The drone was found in a forest near the town of Solca, which sits roughly 340 miles southwest from the Russian border via Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defence says the drone was in Romania's national airspace for approximately four minutes before falling in the third-smallest town in Romania.

Russia continues to ramp up its threats, with the Moldovan President Maia Sandu confirming that four Russian drones violated Moldova’s airspace last night, with at least one exploding in the north of the country.

"Russia's war endangers all of Europe. We condemn this war and stand with Ukraine," Sandu wrote on X.

NATO jets have been scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Gulf of Finland as tensions between the alliance and Vladimir Putin continue to heat up. Swedish and Finnish fighter aircraft were deployed under a joint framework to monitor and safeguard both countries' airspace on Thursday, the Finnish Air Force said.

Denmark's Defence Intelligence Service also said there is a "low but growing risk" of Moscow carrying out a limited military attack against one or more NATO member states that share its border.

 

Agency chief Thomas Ahrenkiel said Putin could also deploy troops into a NATO border area, ostensibly to protect Russian minorities.

"The aim is not to take over the country, but to divide NATO," he told a press conference this week.

 NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said earlier this month that strikes close to the alliance's territory would only drive an increase in support for Kyiv.

He said Russia is "growing increasingly reckless as it continues its terrible war against Ukraine", adding that strikes "close to NATO territory" show Putin's "desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror".

Mr Rutte also pledged to bolster the 32-nation alliance's defences along its long eastern border with Russia. Source: Express.Co.UK

attac

Shade & New App.

About three months ago. The shade in front of my computer fell down, and because I didn't have time to replace it, I only got around to it today.

I went to Leroy Merlin last week and bought the parts I thought I needed for the shade's end. When I got home, I discovered two parts wouldn't go together, and I had to return them. So that's what my 3-hour break was going to be: going back to Leroy Merlin and getting the right part.

When I got back to Merlin, they told me that I really needed to bring the shade in so they could find the right parts to fit it. I drove back home, got the shade, drove back to Merlin, and went to see the two women who were helping me. One was middle-aged, and one was younger. The younger one spoke enough English so that I could understand her.

I tried a new package of the same parts that I had, but they could not get them to fit. She said they didn't know about this type of shade because all of their newer versions were different. Then the old woman said to wait a minute while she went back to look at some of the other packages of parts. She came back with a different package, opened it up, took the parts out, and figured out how to make them work on the shade that I had. Finally, after about 15 minutes, they had completed the project, and I was able to leave. Before I left, they told me to take my old package and get a refund for it.

 Back at home, I put both ends on the shade and asked Paige, who was with Joan, to come and help me put up the shade. I'm happy to say that now I have a shade in front of this window, so I'm not blinded by the sun when it comes out during the daytime. I'm happy this is finally fixed.

I discovered a new voice-to-text application. It works very well for me now. Instead of using the one that came with the Microsoft operating system, I'm using one called Wispr Flow. It seems very accurate in what I'm saying and writing it out correctly, and it also corrects grammar and punctuation. If you'd like to do dictation when you're writing your messages or your blog, I would highly recommend you check out, Wispr Flow. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy/Sad.

 It was an unusual day for us. It started out well. We had some free coffee coupons from Sowas, so at about 1:30 in the afternoon  I took Joan there, and we had coffee and ciasto. That was pleasant.

About 5:30, I put on Joan's hat and coat, put her into the wheelchair, and took her downstairs to the car. We had a meeting at 6:00 p.m. at a local hospital where one of our dearest cousins was. We haven't seen him for four or five years, and I was looking forward to this meeting. Unfortunately, he is not well, and I didn't know what to expect. He gave me good instructions to get to the floor that he was on and take the elevator; however, when we arrived at the hospital, it was an outside elevator that we had to use because I could not take Joan up the staircase. His directions for the elevator inside the building, but I didn't know that.

We went into the elevator; it took us up to the first floor, and I got out to follow his instructions to get to him. The problem was that the elevator we were in took us to the first floor in a different part of the building, and the directions didn't take me where I needed to go. I stopped at the reception desk and asked where he was, but they told me there was no such person in the building. I knew that was impossible because earlier, when we parked our car, it just so happened that there were two other cousins in the parking area.

At first I didn't recognize them, but when they got out of the car, I immediately recognized them. They told me they had just left him and were on their way home. So, I knew he was in the building; I just couldn't find him.

Eventually, I found a young person who spoke English, and she helped me to get to the floor where he was.

We only spent about 1/2 hour talking with him because his chemotherapy tired him out, and he needed to rest.

We were very happy to see him again, but at the same time, somewhat sad because of his condition.

It's time for YOU.

Independents and non-voters.

Please don't allow this to continue! 

Like you, I have reasons not to vote for a Repub. or a Democrat, but we have a crisis, or chaos, in our country. We can't let it continue. I voted for the Democrat in every category. I hope you will too.

We should have at least one more party in the next Presidential election. This idea of having only one of two choices is outdated.

A two-party system offers stability and clear governance, but it presents several significant structural and political deficiencies:

We are often forced to choose between two broad platforms that may not align with our actual beliefs. This can lead to "lesser-of-two-evils" voting, where people vote against a candidate they dislike rather than for a candidate they support. Only once, in my 82 years, did I not feel that way: 1960-JFK

Politics becomes a zero-sum game: for one party to win, the other must lose. This incentivizes obstructionism, constant partisan conflict, and legislative gridlock over compromise and problem-solving.

Different ideological perspectives, like libertarianism, green/environmental politics, or democratic socialism, are suppressed or co-opted, leaving significant portions of citizens feeling unrepresented.  

Major policy shifts can occur rapidly depending on which party holds power, creating instability for long-term planning in economic, environmental, and foreign affairs. We have the best example of this right now.

Suppression of third parties, like ballot access rules, winner-take-all voting rules, excluded debate stages, and limited funding, makes it nearly impossible for new political movements to achieve mainstream viability.

If the current administration has its way, the midterms may be the last election....EVER!    VOTE!! 

Worried?

I don't doubt that many people here have the war in Ukraine on their minds. There are warning signs from many governments that Putin will test NATO with drone and missile incursions into the Baltic States, as well as into Poland. He wants to see how NATO will respond.

Lithuania’s interior ministry announced on July 14th that the government plans to evacuate residents, but it did not provide details on routes or collection points. One route would be into Poland.

It said three-quarters of people could evacuate independently, while municipalities would help those who cannot leave by their own transport or require additional assistance, with priority given to families with young children, those with disabilities, and the elderly.

Lithuania’s neighbor, Latvia, will get Eurofighter jets from Germany to protect its skies ahead of the Baltic country’s elections on October 3.

NATO fighter jets destroyed a drone that entered Lithuania's airspace on Tuesday morning, the country's president said. 

Poland’s defense ministry said its ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems were put on high alert due to the threat posed by Russian drone attacks on western Ukraine, which the country borders.

On Sunday, a Russian drone struck a train that was within two miles of the Polish border as it traveled between Kyiv and Warsaw, Ukrainian railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) reported. No passengers were injured, but Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the incident showed that Russia was “knocking directly on the doors of the EU and NATO," adding that "Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners." Source: Newsweek

So, yes, there is a reason to be worried. Putin's plan has always been to recapture the countries making up the U.S.S.R. Chwała Polsce!/Слава Україні!/Słava Ukraine

Visit from Gabriela.

Yesterday, Gabriela, a former caregiver for Joan, visited at 4:30. She is a future pharmacist currently doing her internship.

She spent the last three months in Portugal as part of the Erasmus program. She had many stories to tell us of her adventures there, as well as in Kenya, where she went after Erasmus was over.

We spent four hours together before it was time for her to leave. Joan and I were thankful for her remembering us.

The drop-down shade on the large south-facing window in front of my laptop fell down and broke the mechanism that raises and lowers it. The shade was in good condition; just the plastic mechanism broke. I thought I would have to buy a whole new shade, but at Leroy Merlin, the employee told me I could just buy the replacement parts if I knew what model of shade I had. Of course, I didn't. I looked at the different bags of parts and bought one to take home and see if it would work.

After learning how to fit the pieces together, I think it will, but I have to wait for Paige to come next week to put it in place. It is too wide to do on my own.

Meanwhile: Ukraine:

Ukraine’s General Staff reported strikes on an Orion drone control station in occupied Crimea, a drone launch site near Donetsk, and two depots in the Luhansk region. The General Staff said the strikes took place on Sept. 17 and overnight into Sept. 18.

 The General Staff said damaging the ground control station could significantly restrict Russia’s ability to operate Orion systems in that area.

 Ukrainian forces also hit a facility near Donetsk used to store, prepare, and launch Russian attack drones, according to the General Staff.

In the Luhansk region, the General Staff reported strikes on an ammunition depot near Dovzhansk and a military supply depot near Kypuche.

Why?

Why does the world continue to let this happen? 4 1/2 years of this! 

 

They were assassinated for refusing to betray Ukraine.

On September 15, 2023, Russian occupiers abducted Anastasiia and Valerii Saksahanski from their home in the occupied Kherson region.

Their two-year-old daughter, Margarita, was left alone. Anastasiia was found with a gunshot to the head.

Valerii was tortured and killed.

Their “crime”? Refusing Russian passports.

Refusing to serve the occupation.

Choosing Ukraine.

Russia killed them for that.

Anastasiia and Valerii Saksahanski.

Go Blue!

Library & Ukraine.

A warm September day with sun necessitated that I take Joan out after my 3-hourbreak.

During my break, I went to the Raczynski library to see if they had a book with old pictures of the zamek(castle) we sit behind in Cafe Lokum. I'm curious what the stable area actually looked like when there were horses in it.

I climbed the four flights of stairs to get to the information desk. To my surprise, the young lady behind the counter could not speak English. It was a wasted trip. There are so many rows of books that it would have served no purpose for me to find a book I wanted.

Meanwhile: Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued another warning to Europe on Friday, threatening that any deployment of European troops to Ukraine would amount to direct war with Russia.

“Now they are talking about how they might send troops onto Ukrainian territory. That means war with Russia,” Putin said, referring to discussions among European governments over possible security guarantees for Ukraine. Source: Kyiv Post

But it's OK for 50,000 North Korean soldiers to be fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukraine. Call his bluff; send troops to help Ukraine.

EU ambassadors failed to agree on extending sanctions against Russia for a second time on Friday, after France joined Slovakia in demanding the delisting of Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

Four EU diplomats told Euronews on Friday, Sept. 11, that the two countries are seeking to remove Russian-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov, causing “huge frustration” among other members of the bloc. Besides Usmanov, Slovakia has pushed for Mikhail Fridman, a cofounder of Alfa Bank – Russia’s largest non-state bank – to be removed from the sanctions list.

Both individuals are linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the military-industrial complex sustaining Moscow’s war efforts. Source: Kyiv Post

Slovakia is friendly towards Russia, so that is no surprise. France, knowing the word "surrender" very well, is playing the two-faced government, supporting Ukraine but looking out for France first. 

A walk.

My nephew Jeff and his wife, Annmarie, did a 3K walk in support of childhood brain cancer. They also walked in memory of his dad/my brother, Wally. He has been gone for 52 years, but he is never out of my daily thoughts. He would be 86 years old if he had lived. Physically, he is dead, but as long as we remember him, he will never be "dead".

I wasn't planning on taking Joan outside today, but the weather was warm and their are not going to be many more like this, so I took her to the park. It was nice with few people there because it's a workday for most.

Ukraine: Unbelievable. 

Trump urged Zelensky to stop striking Russian diesel facilities and blamed Ukraine for global fuel shortages. The US leader’s demand followed record August attacks and almost daily drone strikes against Russia, with Ukraine hitting refineries and igniting fires visible from space.

The US president, speaking to reporters on Sunday during a visit to the 2026 Amgen Irish Open golf tournament, said that Ukraine’s long-range drone raids against Russian oil refineries were the main reason world diesel prices had spiked, and called on Zelensky to call off the attacks.

“Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing: He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. Let him go after targets – but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel. This isn’t done by the Middle East. This is done by what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine. So we spoke to Mr. Zelensky about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel because that’s hurting the world,” Trump told a gaggle of Irish and international reporters.

 A US-Israeli war with Iran leading to the near total shut down of tanker exports via the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, along with worsening Red Sea tanker export volumes following Houthi capture of the Sea’s southern exit, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, are the main cause for rocketing crude oil and refined fuel prices – currently between $106-$120/bbl – most energy industry analysts say. Source: Kyiv Post

That is the way of the U.S. President, as always. He doesn't admit responsibility for starting the "war" with Iran. It is totally his fault. I hope his followers finally understand that fact and the many other lies he has told them. They could curtail his power this November by voting against his supported candidates. Will they? Probably not. It would be to embarrassing to admit they voted him in as President.

The Bully Speaks.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has claimed that Russia would wipe Lithuania "off the map" if nuclear weapons were deployed on its territory and that its NATO allies would not dare invoke Article 5 on collective defense.

Russia has threatened Lithuania with nuclear weapons as the Baltic nation is eyeing a lift of its nuclear weapons ban.

Lithuania’s parliamentary parties provisionally agreed to the constitutional amendments in July, and the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs voted 7-2 on the proposal on Wednesday, Sept. 9, paving the way for a final decision in early 2027.

The lifting of the ban would allow NATO, of which Lithuania has been a member of since 2004, to deploy nuclear forces in Lithuania.

 Canada’s and the United Kingdom’s engagement in the Baltics is also extensive: Canada is the battlegroup framework nation in Latvia, the UK in Estonia. Canada plans to deploy two battalions of a brigade to Latvia by 2025. The United Kingdom will, in addition to its participation to the eFP Battlegroup in Estonia, earmark a brigade for rapid deployment to the Baltic region.

Medicine.

Today, I have to go back to the Apteka to pick up two of Joan's prescriptions that they didn't have in stock. When I arrived, they brought out one prescription, but then told me they couldn't order the other. They said there was a problem with the wholesaler, and so the order was rejected. I asked if there was an alternative medication, but they said there was none with the same ingredients. She suggested I try a different Apteka. In fact, she gave me the addresses of two of them, which she said had the medicine now, but they only had one box in each store. I buy prescriptions for 3 months. One box would not be sufficient. I looked up a few other Aptekas close to where we live, and I drove to the nearest one. I told him what I needed, asked him to check their stock, and he said they didn't have any; they could order it and have it tomorrow. So tomorrow, I will take you home with me, go to that Apteka, and hope that they were able to place the order successfully. It could be that they just told me they would have it tomorrow and didn't know they couldn't order it. We'll see what happens. tomorrow.

Meanwhile:

Dmitry Medvedev, former president and current deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said Lithuania would “disappear from the map of the world” if it lifts its longstanding nuclear weapons ban.
Medvedev made the remarks on Friday, Sept. 11, after Russia had already threatened Vilnius earlier that same day.

The country’s parliamentary parties had agreed to the constitutional amendments in July, while the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs voted 7-2 on the proposal on Wednesday, paving the way for a final decision early next year.

The lifting of the ban would allow NATO, of which Lithuania has been a member since 2004, to deploy nuclear forces on its territory.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov threatened Vilnius over the plan by saying the Baltic nation – once under Soviet occupation – will be “in the sights of our nuclear weapons.”

“And if there are nuclear weapons on the territory that are aimed at us, then the territory of this country will also be in the sights of our nuclear weapons,” Peskov told Russia’s Channel One on Friday, as reported by state media Ria Novosti.

September 11th

 September 11, 2001-We were attacked by foreign terrorists from Saudi Arabia. 2,996 innocent people lost their lives, but the nation survived.

January 20, 2024-We were attacked again, but this time it was domestic terrorists from our own government. Have the strength to help us survive again.

NFL

Okay, so we did make it to 67 Fahrenheit today, so the weatherman has gotten it right the last 3 days. What a miracle!

Paige came over and sat with Joan today doing her physical exercises, and then both of them watched the NFL football highlights for the rest of her time here. When I left at 11:00, they had just started watching the games, and when I came home, they were still watching them. It surprised me. I know John likes football, but I didn't know thatPaige liked it also.

I spent a good part of my time between the Apteka and the doctor's clinic. Last Monday I sent a request to have some prescriptions refilled, and usually the next day I have the codes to take to the Apteka and fill the prescriptions. On Tuesday, there was no reply to my message. Wednesday, I sent another request, and by Thursday at noon I still had no response. I made an appointment to see the doctor, only to get my prescription refill codes in hand. I also wanted to ask the doctor why two of my prescriptions had to be paid for. They are the same ones I've been taking for years, and they've always been free after I turned 70 years old. The doctor looked them up and said there was a mistake made, and she wrote me out a new prescription for them, specifying that they were free. It's these little bureaucratic things that continue that really piss me off. You have to be persistent when dealing with bureaucracy, and I am.

The picture above is the newest addition to our Rajewski relatives who live in British Columbia, Canada. His name is Nikko.