10/10/2026

 Tuesday, November 10, 2026

1775 U.S. Marine Corps was founded

1793 'Fête de la Raison' in France: Catholic churches, including the Notre Dame Cathedral, are ceremoniously de-Christianized and transformed into Temples of Reason 

1940 Walt Disney began serving as an informer to the FBI; his job was to report back information on Hollywood subversives.

1951 1st long-distance telephone call without operator assistance

1954 "Marine Corps War Memorial" was unveiled in Arlington County, Virginia, dedicated to US Marines who died in defense of the US since 1775 (inspired by the 1945 Iwo Jima photo of servicemen raising the US flag)

1969 "Sesame Street" premiered on PBS TV

2012 The final US presidential election results were declared after Barack Obama won Florida to defeat Mitt Romney 332-206 in Electoral College votes

2025  Donald Trump granted pardons to 77 people, including political allies who are accused of electoral fraud-related charges from the 2020 presidential election, including several who have pled guilty

2025. The Senate voted 60–40 to end the 41-day government shutdown and extend funding for the U.S. government until January 30, 2026, sending the bill to the House of Representatives for a vote. 

In bed at 9:30, up at 5:30; 0545 203.4 118/74/70 120; 48/36/61/43, sunny

Morning meds at 6:45 a.m.   Entresto at 6:50 a.m. and p.m.

Some thoughts from last year's journal on my Marine history.

Today is the 249th  250th 251st Marine Corps Birthday, a time for Birthday Balls and Birthday Dinners (or "messes") at Marine Corps stations around the world.  I don't know for certain, but I don't think any of the Marines' sister services celebrate their founding as the Marines do.  It's truly a big deal for Marines, as the photo I printed on the first page of these notes suggests.  I have deeply mixed feelings about my time in the Marines.  I am embarrassed, ashamed, and guilty about my service in Vietnam.  I am embarrassed by how stupid, naive, ignorant, and gullible I was in those days.  I am ashamed and guilty for what we did over there, the loss of millions of lives, the terrorizing and crippling of so many others.  What does it say of my moral and ethical sensitivity that I so casually and obediently participated in that lethal endeavor?  That I so casually made Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, and Dean Rusk my moral and ethical decision-makers? What does it say of my moral and ethical education, more concerned about masturbation and premarital sex, 'impure thoughts and impure deeds' than with capitalism, imperialism, and nationalism?  Pray, pay, and obey - what was expected of good Catholics, and the "obey" part covered a lot of sinful territory.  On the other hand, I spent a total of 8 years in the military, 4 in the Naval Reserve as a midshipman, and 4 on active duty as a Marine officer.  I worked with many good men during those years.  They were not born or natural killers.  They were very much like me: trusting, patriotic, loyal, good citizens doing their duty.  We, like millions of our neighbors, were all caught up in our sense of duty, patriotism, and good citizenship and we deferred to our leaders.  Good soldiers, good Marines, troopers.  I think of Ron Kendall, Ray Mendoza, Bob Hillary, Bill Space, Pete Peterson, 'Moon' Mullen, Pete Powell, Frank Peterson, Phil Swaim, John Boyan, Dick Coffman, Tom Devitt, Jerry Nugent, Pat Townsend, and so many others, fellow Marines, good people, decent human beings.  I think of Larry Anderson, to whom I sent a "Happy birthday, Jarhead" greeting today.  I wonder what role I may have played in his joining the Marine Corps after graduation from MULS.  Happy birthday to all of them.  

New golden stature of Trump on the National Mall, The Foot Soldier

My FB posting:

Last year on this date, I posted this: "Today is the 250th Marine Corps Birthday, and Marines around the world will mark the occasion in various traditional and respectful ways depending on their locations and their missions.  I still think sadly of my friend in Vietnam, Bill "Moon" Mullen, and of this family.  I learned of his being shot down over Laos after I had been transferred from Vietnam to a Marine base on Okinawa.   Remembering it, I  re-experience the feeling of numbness I had when learning of it.   Our government lied to his wife and children about where he was shot down, because it wasn't admitting that we were bombing Laos and Cambodia as well as North and South Vietnam.  I remember my loss of innocence about being repeatedly lied to by our government during that time, which led to a lifelong skepticism, indeed cynicism, about what we are told by the politicians and bureaucrats who control our government.  Just as I can't believe what I am told by our own government, I am just as skeptical, indeed cynical, about information from other governments, including those involved in the Ukraine/Russia conflict and the Israel/Hamas conflict.  It is truly said that the first casualty of war is always Truth, and that applies whether we are being provided information by our friends or our enemies.  All governments lie to us, repeatedly and regularly.  Our current government, of course, is establishing the gold standard in this regard.  We need to be at least skeptical, if not cynical, especially about information provided by those engaged in warfare."

I'm thinking the same thoughts today, especially about our current government establishing the gold standard for lying to its citizens.  I'm thinking of my fellow Marine, "Moon" Mullen, and his children too.  Moon's name is now on the Vietnam Wall, and his widow, Barbara, is now buried at Arlington National Cemetery at his gravesite, which is only honorary for him because his remains have never been recovered.  I think too of our current Commander-in-Chief, who had someone else, probably a Black or Hispanic kid, sent to Vietnam in his place, because of his "bone spurs.'  I wonder if the young man who was drafted in his place ended up with his name on the Wall, one of the 58,281 names inscribed there.  I think too of our current Secretary of Defense and the 2,067,700 men and women who served under his command.  865 American service members wounded. At least 21 killed in Trump's and Hegseth's unnecessary war. Trump says we haven’t lost anyone, calls it a win and brags about making "a fortune" on Venezuela. oil.  Words fail me in trying to characterize these guys.   Words fail me in thinking of how low our country has fallen during my lifetime.  Let's hope that last week's election signals a turnaround, but this old Marine struggles with his leftover cynicism. 

Visit to the VA.  Dr. Cheng at 8, and NP Kali Kisro at 9:30.  I had enjoyable chats with both and saw much of the C-scan of my thoracic spine with Dr. Cheng, seeing the stenosis in my T-9 vertebra, which is probably causing the nasty pain in my right flank.  He prescribed a mild NSAID and advised me not to take it with my morning meds (aspirin).  Kali put through the general surgery consult to see whether surgery for my bladder extending into an intestinal hernia seems desirable.

Wow.  We were blessed with fantastic October weather in Wisconsin. It was the 4th warmest October on record for the state. Much of the state was 6-8° above normal.  It was also one of the state’s sunniest Octobers on record.  My favorite month in Wisconsin.

A Horrible Hunch.  My hunch is that, just as the Nazis frantically strove to kill as many Jews as possible when they knew that they had lost the war, continuing to cram freight trains with their human cargo destined for the extermination camps, the Trump regime, under the leadership of both Trump and Stephen Miller, will accelerate the capture, detainment, and deportation of immigrants.  It will not get better after last week's election; it will get worse because they see their time coming to an end.  Get 'em while we can.

Signs of what to expect over the next two years.  Trump picked Stephen "Sieg Heil" Miller as Chief of Staff.  House of Representatives Republicans picked Jim Jordan as minority leader in the next Congress.

11/9/2026

 Monday, November 9, 2026

1862 General Ulysses S. Grant issued orders to bar Jews from serving under him

1989 East Berlin opened its borders at Checkpoint Charlie when thousands arrived after a bureaucratic error announced that restrictions on travel to the West had been lifted

2018 Amid California forest fires,  President Donald Trump accused state forest management of "gross mismanagement, ' and threatened to withhold funding

In bed at 9, up at 4; 0430 204.0 119/73/68 118; 35/30/56/35, mostly cloudy.

Morning meds at 5:30 a.m.  Entresto at a.m. and p.m.

Bad back day, a bit out of commission.

One of my favorites, alas.

11/8/2026

 Sunday, November 8, 2026

392 Roman Emperor Theodosius I declares Christianity the state religion

2008 Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested by federal officials for attempting to sell the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama

2014 CIA Torture Report detailed the CIA's use of torture on detainees between 2001-2006

2019 US officials "deliberately misled" the public on the progress of the Afghanistan war, hid that it was a lost cause, according to The WaPo analysis of the "Afghanistan Papers"

2025 The United States announced that it would send no delegates to the 2025 G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, citing accusations of persecution of the Afrikaner minority.

In bed at 9, up at 6; 0620 203.8 120/79/69 118; 39/27/57/39, sunny day ahead. 

Morning meds at 7 a.m.  Entresto at 6:45 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.  From my old friend, Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., introduced to me by Prof. John Pick.  While making my coffee this morning, I looked out the kitchen window and saw that our driveway was blanketed by golden ginkgo leaves and that the tree was bare and ready for winter.  Our north lawn is bestrewn with leaves from the berry trees there, plus from other sources, I guess, some still green, others deep maroon, yellow, and brown.  

Glory be to God for dappled things –

   For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

      For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

   Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;

      And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

   Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

      With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

                                Praise him.

Autumn always brings me back to Hopkins, not Anthony, but Gerard Manley.  When autumn leaves fall, I think of his young friend Margaret, and of myself, and all of us.

Márgarét, áre you gríeving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Leáves like the things of man, you

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Ah! ás the heart grows older

It will come to such sights colder

By and by, nor spare a sigh

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;

And yet you wíll weep and know why.

Now no matter, child, the name:

Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed

What heart heard of, ghost guessed:

It ís the blight man was born for,

It is Margaret you mourn for.

As I sit in my recliner with my fresh coffee and type these words, the neighborhood flock of wild turkeys eagerly runs up to our feeding station and do their best to cleam the ground beneith it of all seeds and hulls.They are feistier in the early morning than they are later in the day, the larget ones with the whitest heads dominating the others, all smaller and with greyer heads.  Ghasson and Athena walk by, he dressed for winter, both walking at a brisker pace than usual in deference to the 27℉ wind chill temp.  On the way back, mirabile dictu, Ghasson keeps Athena walking so fast she can't sit down at the corner at stare down County Line Road.  She looks disappointed, but Brrr.

 I looked through my journal entries on this date for each of the last 4 years.  Very interesting, how very sick I was during this period last year, how distressed I was 2 years ago after the re-election of Trump predicting "We are going to be hit with a firehose of frightening news day after day now.  God only knows the nasty stuff that will occur once he's in office and criminally immunized by John Roberts and his cronies," and how focused I was on Vietnam 4 years ago, and our brutal interference with "the right of the poor to establish societies based on something other than the interests of the rich."

And speaking of 'the interests of the rich," I watched Margaret Brennan interview Calley Means, former senior White House advisor on MAHA issues.  He created a firestorm during his appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast on Friday, accusing now-former White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles of blocking needed public health initiatives solely in order to attract campaign donations from big pharmaceutical, tobacco, and food industry lobbyists for the just-completed mid-term elections.  I didn't listen to the Joe Rogan interview, but I watched all of Margaret Brennan's, which reminded me of just how inherently corrupt American politics is.  Government of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy.  Honest Abe would weep.  So should we.  

I developed a big crush on Margaret Brennan years ago when she was a morning anchor on on of Bloomberg's early morning business shows.  Part of it was because of her thorougly Irish names, a bigger part was her great beauty, and it was completed when I learned how very intelligent and educated she was, including her fluency in Arabic.  She graduated with honors in 1998 from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Connecticut. She attended the University of Virginia, graduating with highest distinction in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign affairs and Middle Eastern studies and a minor in Arabic. She also studied abroad at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan, on a Fulbright-Hays Grant.  Brennan began her business news career in 2002 at CNBC as a producer for prominent financial journalist Louis Rukeyser. She wrote, did research, and booked guests for the weekly Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street program and prime-time specials.  I've never lost my crush on her, even after she married a Marine JAG officer.  The drawing is a pencil portrait of her I drew years ago.

Back to the Brennan-Means interview and the Means-Joe Rogan bombshell, our Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson was interviewed by Fox News yesterday after Means's accustions and joined in the accusation of corruption in the Trump administration.  Johnson said that Means laid out “in gory detail” concerning levels of corruption within government, including corruption “within the Trump administration.”  “This is how government operates on a bipartisan basis,” Johnson charged, claiming that it’s “happening throughout government agency after government agency, captured by the very … corporations that are regulated by government.”  H. L. Mencken alerted us back in the 1920s to "the wealthy bounders who now run the United States."  It's only gotten worse since then, and never as bad as under Trump's Republican government.  Marine General Smedley D. Butler told us the truth in his book, War is a Racket in 1935:

“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”

As it was 100 years ago, so it was before then, and so it is now.  As the (in)famous Emma Goldberg infamously but apochrophilly said, "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."  Whether she said it or not, the thought is just a variation on the theme noted by Thucydides in The History Of  The Peloponnesian Wars:  The powerful do what they will and the powerless suffer what they must.

Images of those who pay, who suffer what they must

11/7/2026

 Saturday, November 7, 2026

1876 President Rutherford B. Hayes and challenger Samuel J. Tilden claimed presidential victory as Tilden (D) won the popular vote, but Electoral College votes were disputed with Hayes (R)

1972 Incumbent President Richard Nixon was re-elected, defeating Democrat candidate George McGovern in a landslide by winning 49 states

2020  Joe Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential race four days after the US election, defeating sitting President Donald Trump.

In bed at 8:35 w/PQPM, up at 6:25; 0645; 203.6 121/73/62 112; 32/49/32, mostly sunny

Morning meds at 8 a.m.  Entresto at 7 a.m. and p.m.

PQPM and Dr. ChatGPT, M.D.  I had troubling back/flank pain most of the day yesterday and was worried about sleeping as I went to bed last night, so I followed my buddy LOA's advice & took a slug of PainQuilPM at bedtime and had a super night's sleep.  The same has happened every time I've used it.  It's a really effective OTC drug.  It's because of the generic Benadryl in it.  I avoid taking it regularly because of warnings that it loses its sleep-inducing effectiveness when used regularly.

I checked on the product again with my everyday doctor, ChatGPT, and got a stern warning against its use, especially because of my age and chronic bladder problems.  The Benadryl component restricts urine flow and bladder contraction.  Additionally, the American Geriatrics Society specifically recommends avoiding diphenhydramine in older adults, even though it is available without a prescription, because of the real dangers of dizziness, confusion, or impaired balance when I get up to urinate. Diphenhydramine/Benadryl can cause these effects even when taken only occasionally.  It's like the old line: Everything I like is either illegal, immoral, or fattening, but in my case, not safe for someone at your age and in your condition.  Rats!

BTW, it has become clear to me that ChatGPT practices medicine without a license.  It doesn't just provide information, as Drugs.com does, or even Wikipedia.  It asks very pointed questions based on its knowledge of the user's medical conditions and history.  The more you tell it, the more it knows, and the more it asks additional relevant questions and gives advice.  If this isn't practicing medicine, I don't know what is.  It's only a question of time before courts will be required to weigh in on whether this practice violates state or federal licensing laws and whether, and to what extent, it may be civilly liable for claims.  Needless to say, it ALWAYS advises users to check with their personal medical provider, but realistically this isn't always possible or even probable.  In many ways, it does a better job than most personal medical providers in explaining things, offering explanations for advice that doctors and nurse practitioners often don't have time for in their crowded office schedules.  Reliance on AI is already becoming one of the predicted revolutionary changes in health care in our Brave New World.  I can attest to it.

Every now and then I get an urge to drive down to Mundelein, IL, to the cannabis store and to pick up some products.  I've known some folks who swear by their regular use of mj gummies or weed.  I was given some gummies a few years ago and got a tad high, or really just nicely calm, from one of them, and had no reaction to a couple others.  I still have the rest of the 'stash' in a little container, long unused.  Marijuana is still illegal in Wisconsin, thanks to our Republican legislatures, and perhaps that will change with the new legislature.  In any event, I'm still left with the problem of whether it's contraindicated for an oldtimer with heart disease and a laundry list of other medical conditions.  Of course, I'd still be free to say, the hell with it, I'm going to use it anyway, I'm going to die anyway, right?  The problem with the devil-may-care attitude is that I don't want to end up in the hospital again for long stays, or get increasingly invalided while I'm still alive.  Rats, again!

Dead Poets Society.  We watched this film last night, a first time for each of us.

Notable development today: Israel's president asked Gadi Eisenkot to form a government, rather than Netanyahu.  Will he be able to do it?

11/6/2026

Friday, November 6, 2026

945 House Committee on Un-American Activities begins investigation of 7 radio commentators

1978 Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi placed the country under military rule

1995 Israel buried Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir who opposed peace with Palestinians 

2012 Barack Obama was re-elected as US President, defeating Republican candidate Mitt Romney

2018 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (29) of New York became the youngest woman elected to the US House of Representatives

2018 In US Midterm elections, Democrats retook control of the House of Representatives after eight years, and the Senate remained held by Republicans

2024 AP called the 2024 election for Trump

2025: Three people were killed in a United States airstrike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. 

In bed at9:30, up at 4:20; 0445 115/75/62 117 201.8; 35/22/46/35, cold & windy, 14-26 mph NNW

Morning meds at 8 a.m.  Entresto at 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.  Trulicity injection at 6:40 p.m.

Remembering.   The Associated Press declared Donald Trump the winner of the 2024 presidential election at 5:34 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, November 6, 2024.  That was 4:34 a.m. Central Time in Wisconsin, approximately 9½ hours after Wisconsin's polls closed.   The decisive event was AP's projection that Trump had won Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes, pushing him past the 270 electoral votes required for victory.  An earlier milestone was at 1:24 a.m. Central when the AP called Pennsylvania for Trump. As I recall, I was awake and watching the election coverage when the AP called Wisconsin.  I was stunned.  I despaired.  I dreaded telling Geri the news.  So much for polls and pollsters.  So much for pundits.  I sure wasn't glad that my sister was gone, but I was glad that she didn't have to live through this low point in American history.

LTMW I see that the big flock of wild turkeys is becoming regular early morning visitors to our feeding station.  I spread plenty of sunflower and safflower seeds on the ground when I replenished the feeders yesterday, but it's hard to believe any seeds are left after these big birds finish.  I notice too that they are becoming feistier as the weather gets colder.  Some of these gobblers are a lot larger than others, making me wonder whether they are hens and their still-growing chicks.  Smaller groups of male "Toms," with their distinctive "beards" or chest feathers,  arrive usually later in the day.

We have a long ravine creek that starts up in Mequon and runs through Bayside and back up into Mequon before emptying into Lake Michigan.  It is densely forested, and I suspect that is where most of the big flock of hens and poults roost at night.  We're separated from the creek area only by the lot to our west.  I think that is where they come from for their early morning visits to our yard.

As I typed the words immediately above, I looked up and out my window to see a young white-tailed deer staring at me from the other side.  

A little before 7, I see Ghasson and Athena walking onto County Line Road.  I'll keep an eye out for their return trip, to see whether Athena sits down at the turn back onto Wakefield and turns to stare fixedly (and wistfully?) back down County Line. . .  Ten minutes later, they return.  Athena stops at the corner and looks down County Line, but does not sit down, perhaps because of the 37℉ air temperature and even colder asphalt.  In any case, her stop is much shorter than usual, and she readily turns again and continues the walk home.

Finally, the small perching birds show up at the elevated feeders, mostly chickadees at first, but then the others.  The black-eyed juncos, or snowbirds, are late arrivals and feed mostly on the ground, but alas, the turkeys beat them to all those seeds I spread yesterday.

Facebook this morning:  Honor Flight Columbus.

There is something powerful about viewing the Korean War Memorial from behind the soldiers. It offers a different perspective, one that captures the reality of following fellow soldiers into battle.

Each step forward meant facing the unknown. Fear, uncertainty, exhaustion, and the very real possibility that not everyone would make it home. Yet they continued forward, relying on one another and the bond shared by those who serve.

As our veterans walked this memorial, we were reminded that behind every statue is a story of courage, sacrifice, and brotherhood. We are honored to share this experience with those who understand that reality firsthand.

Charles Clausen:  This memorial is very moving.  I first saw it on my Stars and Stripes Honor Flight on 10/10/26.  The troops in ponchos reminded me of the extreme weather conditions the soldiers and Marines faced in Korea throughout much of that war, from the extreme heat in the battles around Inchon and Pusan to the extreme cold during the battle for and strategic withdrawal from the "Frozen Chosin" Reservoir.  Learning of those engagements lives on in the memory and heart of this old Marine.

President Trump = President Stephen Miller = President Roy Cohn = Fuck you to the electorate & New Congress.  Whenever we fool ourselves that things could not be worse under Trump, Trump reminds us that we will never plumb the depths of his evilness. Susie Wiles is out as Chief of Staff, and Stephen Miller will take over for the second half of his administration.  Miller will run "our" federal government during Trump's "lame duck" years, years of hostile Congressional investigations.  somTrump is our Samson bringing down the temple.  This will be worse than the end of his first term and January 6th.

The drawing is one I did of Miller a few years ago in a Nazi uniform, a shanda fur die goyim.

My FB post, with image drawn by ChatGPT to my specs:

Trump makes Stephen Miller chief-of-staff.  Here's a depiction of his lame-duck years.  I see a bad moon rising.  I see trouble on the way.

 

11/5/2026

 Thursday, November 5, 2026

921 The Sturmabteilung, or SA (the "Brown Shirts"), was formally established by Adolf Hitler

1968  Richard Nixon was elected President of the United States, defeating Democrat  Hubert Humphrey and Independent George Wallace

1996 Bill Clinton was re-elected President of the United States, defeating Republican candidate Bob Dole

2017 Paradise Papers were leaked; 13.4 million documents from offshore investment firm Appleby, mentioning Queen Elizabeth and Wilbur Ross, US Secretary of Commerce

2019 Actress Emma Watson interviewed in Vogue magazine said she was happy to be single: "I call it being self-partnered," launching a worldwide discussion on the term

2021 NFL Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers admitted in an interview he was unvaccinated and taking unapproved treatment after testing positive for COVID-19.

2024 Donald Trump was re-elected, defeating Kamala Harris, becoming  the oldest elected president

In bed at 8:30, up at 4:50; 0505 120/72/69 126 202.8; 49/44/53/41, cloudy, windy, maybe some rain this afternoon.

Morning meds at 7 a.m.   Entresto at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Vance's tweet & Trump's response.  Much has been made of J. D. Vance's tweet on X about the Iran war being the cause of the massive Republican losses on Tuesday.  It's said he was separating himself from Trump, even though Trump himself said he agreed with the tweet, though he had no choice, but rather 'had to" go to war to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.  There may or may not be some truth in what each of them said, but the political strategy behind their statements seems clear.  It's that Trump didn't lose in this historic anti-Trump landslide because he did anything wrong, but rather only because he was forced by his constitutional, presidential, patriotic duty to do what was right to protect the US and the world from those bad guys in Iran.   Losing political power in the homeland was the price he willingly paid to protect that very same homeland, and the world, from the Iranians.  He's not a bum or a loser (God forbid!), but a hero, a profile in courage!  That will become the party line.  Inflation and affordability were irrelevant.  Temporary discomforts.  ICE, detention centers and deportations to El Salvador and Ghana and the Central African Republic, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, Minneapolis?  Irrelevant.  Corruption, pardons, vindictive prosecutions, NATO, Canada?  All irrelevant.  He got blown away in the midterms simply because he did his duty to protect the country against Iran.  I suspect Trump and Vance are still joined at the hip.

LTMW this morning, I see we have our frequent morning visitors: a flock of 17 or 18 wild turkeys.  Some head straight to the ground under the feeders, while others spread out across the front yard, busy pecking for edibles.  I also see Ghasson and Athena on their regular passeggiata.  As usual, Athena stops and sits down on the pavement when they reach the corner of County Line and Wakefield, and Ghasson waits patiently for her to rest and to see whatever it is she's so interested in down County Line Road.  This morning, Athena, for some reason, is also stopping and staring up into Mequon at the second and third stop and stares.  Each time, Ghasson waits patiently, never pulling her on her leash, but only petting her gently and reminding her it's time to go home.  

The last few days have been November-y: cloudy, cold, windy, and rainy, reminding me of the opening paragraph of Melville's Moby Dick:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

When I was a young professor teaching 1st-year law students in my Property classes, I used to bring my favorite copy of Moby Dick into the classroom on some November morning and read this paragraph to them.  It was a stressful time for them, a month before their first law school final exams, with most of the students having no idea whether they would do well or poorly.  In those days, we flunked out some students, perhaps about 8% of the typical class.  Those days ended when the school got into 'affirmative action' admissions.  In any case, I would read that opening passage from Moby Dick to my 1Ls and give them a 'pep talk' about not letting the stresses of law school get to them.  I forget now what I would say then, but many students told me years later that they remembered those classes in which I read 'Call me Ishmael' to them, and that they appreciated it.  I could use a pep talk myself this November.😝

Five decades and perhaps longer ago, I read Moby Dick in its entirety, and I must say that Ishmael's 'philosophical flourish' in the opening paragraph is the most memorable part of it.   The novel is full, indeed too full, of information about whales and whaling, and it got me terribly interested in whales for a number of years.  It turned me into an opponent of the whaling industry, especially as practiced by the Japanese.  Norway and Iceland also engage in commercial whaling, but Iceland appears to be about to cease it entirely, and Norway exports most of its whaling harvest to Japan, even though whale-meat-eating by Japanese has declined by more than 90% since its peak after WWII.

Mayor  I watched the documentary with this title on MUBI this afternoon, following the mayor of Ramallah, the administrative capital of the West Bank in Occupied Palestine, as he went about his business.  Ramallah is traditionally a Christian city, founded by Christians in the 16th century, and occupied by Christians until it gradually became the residence of mostly Muslims.  Now it's about an 80%/20% split, but strangely, under its governing documents, the city must have a Christian mayor, and 8 of the 15 seats on the city council are reserved for Christians.    Moreover, the city still maintains strong Christian traditions, including a big municipal Christmas tree in the Christmas season.  The film shows, without ever lecturing viewers about it, the great difficulties of living in and trying to govern/manage a modern city occupied by a hostile army, i.e., the Israel Defense Forces.  A worthwhile film, showing what the occupation is like from the Palestinian side, what Yeshayahu Leibowitz warned about in 1967.  The photo shows a Palestinian gathering for the lighting of Ramallah's Christmas tree.

11//4/2026

 Wednesday, November 4, 2026

1958 Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was crowned as Pope John XXIII

1979 500 Iranian students loyal to Ayatollah Khomeini seized the US Embassy in Tehran

1989 Alexanderplatz demonstrations for political reforms drew over half a million people in East Berlin, a significant event that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall

1995 Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir in Tel Aviv 

2008 Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected President of the United States

2025. Israeli major general was arrested a day after resigning, after leaking a surveillance video in August 2024 showing the gang rape of a Palestinian prisoner in a detention camp.

2025 The U.S. government shutdown became the longest in American history surpassing the 2018–2019 shutdown that occurred during Donald Trump's first term.

In bed at 9:45, up at 5:15; 0530 117/70/67 98 202.0; 61/62/51, rainy morning, cloudy afternoon.  Sound sleep, thanks to LOA & PainQuilPM.

Morning meds at 9 a.m.  Entresto at 6:15 a.m. and p.m.

Blue Moon, that is my characterization of yesterday's election results.  It was if almost the entire nation had dropped trou and mooned Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, Todd Blanche, et al.  I suppose there will be the usual Trumpian, Republican claims of voter fraud, dirty tricks, and finger-pointing at scapegoats, but the margins of Democratic victories were substantial in most elections, even in Texas, where in the hastily-created, gerrymandered districts, the Democrats won all of them.  Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswami in the Ohio governor's contest.  Yesterday I predicted David Crowley would lose the Wisconsin governor's race; instead, he defeated Tom Tiffany soundly.  I predicted Ahmed El-Sayed would lose the Michigan Senate race; he defeated Mike Rogers soundly.  Democrats gained seven Senate seats previously held by Republicans, including seats in Texas, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and Maine.  The Associated Press reports that Democrats have secured majorities in both the Senate and the House. Democrats also gained several governorships, including Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, and Texas.

The cartoon was drawn by ChatGPT at my request to illustrate my thought of America finally mooning Trump.  At first, it refused, citing its guardrails against anything "lightly sexual or provocative themes."  My request asked that it show voters 'dropping trousers and mooning Trump". When I asked if it was the word "mooning" that created the problem, it said, "yes" but also this:

Even in a cartoon or editorial style, bare buttocks/exposed nudity used as the central gag can trigger the image system’s restrictions on sexual or provocative content.

If you want, I can still help make the same political point in a safer way. For example, I could generate:

- voters turning their backs on Trump

- voters with trousers half-dropped but no exposed rear

- a cartoon of voters holding signs of rejection

- a satirical image of voters giving Trump a collective raspberry or thumbs-down

- a metaphorical scene of voters “snubbing” him

If you’d like, I can generate an editorial-cartoon image of American voters turning their backs on President Trump in a mocking, humiliating way.

I said, "Please try the image with trousers half-dropped" and it produced the mooning shot on this page, with exposed butts.  Go figure. 

Comment to JJA's FB post: I wondered this morning whether I was as joyous today as I was disheartened the day after the 2016 and 2024 elections and concluded "almost," because the jackal still has huge power as head of the executive branch for two more years and the Supreme Court is still 6-3 bad. Like Creedence Clearwater, I see the bad moon rising, I see trouble on the way, I see earthquakes and lightning, I see bad times today. We still need to gird our loins.  

Plumbing woes.  Our kitchen sink drain was blocked.  Budiac Plumbing was called and fixed the problem, which the plumber said is common in sinks with garbage disposals.  He also said we were fortunate that this was our first blockage in the 15 years we've been in this house. $187.50

Random thoughts about the election.  Texas was the most telling state, the hispanic voters the most telling constituency.  The election of a Hispanic woman to oust Greg Abbot from the governnor's mansion, and a Democratic majority to control the state legislator, and Telarico ov Paxton to serve the next 6 years in the Senate is a response to ICE, to the dehumanization of immigrants and especially Hispanic immigrants and other immigrants of color, which is to say, to Stephen Miller's monomaniacal hostility to immigrants.  The election of the Rev. Adam Hamilton over Dr. Roger Strangelove Marshall, OB-Gyn in Kansas was a rejection of elite professionals and the medical system and establishment.  The election of Amy Acton over Vivek Ramaswami was a rejection of Wall Street, the billionaire class., and male arrogance and insensitivity (the infamous mother ad.). The leftward shift among young voters was a sign of increasing despair about the future of younger Americans unable to buy a house and increasingly worried about competing with AI for employment opportunities.  The leftward shift among non-cikkege graduates reflects an increasing realization that the Republicans serve only the rich, not Joe Lunchbucket and Betty Babushka.

What will the Dems be able to accomplish with their control of the House and the Senate?  In terms of progressive legislation, probably little or nothing against Trump's veto power.  Nonetheless, they can block judicial and other appointments requiring Senate approval,  And, they can pass legislation favored by the public forcing Trump to veto it which will sharpen issues for the next election in 2028.  They also control the federal budgets.  And, they can conduct open investigations and hearings into Republican corruption, and the withholding of the Epstein files.