A Paperwork Status Update and Other Thoughts

 

In the past, I have mentioned that I have applied for entered in another nation's Foreign Birth Registry.  Today, I checked on the status of my paperwork, and found out that things are in progress, and I should expect an update towards the end of March.  Once I'm officially registered, I will say more about this country, and more about my feelings about doing this, as there is a part of me that feels as if I could have conflicting loyalties.

- - - - - -

Unlike many TGs, I am very lucky that I can still go stealth in my gender assigned at birth.  In today's America, this is an asset, as we have a federal government hostile to transgender people.  I don't travel as a female when I have to show my paperwork (passport, etc.) to a federal government employee.  Instead, I present as my assigned gender.  Hopefully, a Democratic Party wave will sweep the upcoming elections and force the MAGAloons out of power.  Then, we may just have sanity return in how transgender people are treated in America.

RQS and I have an Iceland Cruise scheduled for next year.  But we're very concerned about the price of the flights going even higher than they are now.  Jet fuel prices, like other fuel prices, have gone up 50% (or more) since our president started this illegal war against Iran.  Note that I am not a fan of Iran's cruel regime, and would love to see it fall.  The regime has a legitimate reason to be upset at the USA, as we overthrew Iran's elected leadership in the 1950's.  And Iran's actions are responsible (as a legitimate military response to America's actions) for the spike in oil prices. After our election day, I feel that things may change with oil prices, as our president will have much less power to screw things up.  Only time will tell.

My brother has told me that my nephew intends to propose to his girlfriend soon.  Assuming that my brother is right, it will be a small wedding.  Hopefully, it will allow us to facilitate taking another Alaska cruise, this time from Seattle, before or after the wedding.  Although Seattle is a city I want to visit, I've given it a low priority.  This wedding will temporarily give Seattle a higher priority on the "Cities to Visit" list.

We were looking at cruise videos and found a few CHEAP bucket list trips we could take.  One problem: RQS can't afford to take any of them.  Without a viable business to take these cruises, I will not book any of them.  But damn, I wish I could do so without hurting my relationship with her.  She is way too good a partner to have to risk the relationship for one trip.

As you can guess, both of us are itching to travel again.  We simply just don't know where and for how long.

 

Politics - I hate all the ads

 

Not many of us would recognize the above snapshot from a political ad from the 1960's.  It only aired once, and its impact was devastating.  This ad implied that if Barry Goldwater was elected, we'd have World War 3. It was one of the best ads to air only once, as it scared people into NOT voting for Goldwater.  And, in many ways, it led to many of the scare tactic / "vote against" ads we see today.

Lately, my TV has been bombarded with ads for the Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress in NY-17.  The incumbent, a Republican, does very little for our district, and his only accomplishment is to have increased the SALT (state & local  tax) deduction  to $40k for the next 3 years.  At the same time, he voted to gut much of the federal government safety net that takes care of many of America's poor and unemployed.  His opponent will get my vote, simply because she is Anti-Trump, where the incumbent is solidly Pro-Trump.

Although this is a mid-term election, it is as important as most presidential elections, as it may give the Democratic party the power to check our current president.  I'm hoping for this, as I'm tired of our Orange Monster blaming all of his failures on everyone else.  Given that we're in an illegal war with Iran, our president needs to stop the monster before he goes completely bonkers (if one could say he hasn't done so already).

I expect that in 2 years, our presidential election ads will make it impossible to watch TV without getting disgusted by the ads.  The Democrats will bet everything to regain the presidency when the monster is supposed to leave office, and the Republicans will be fighting to retain the presidency.  Given that virtually no one in the Republican party was willing to check the monster when they could, I expect that they will continue the culture wars that the monster made part of his toolkit.  

It'll take a lot of money, time and effort to undo the damage our president has done to our country and the world.  I hope that this mid-term election becomes America's start to undo the harm the Orange Monster has visited on all of us. 

British Isles Cruise 2026 - Sea Day #3 (09/05/26)

 

Another sea day, and it's time to do some laundry before we leave the ship.  Tomorrow, the ship may empty when it makes port at Le Havre, but we won't be taking any excursions from that port.  It's a long trip to either Paris or Normandy, and I'm not in the mood to suffer another bus ride to see any part of France right now.  Bur, if I had to make a choice, it would be the D-Day beaches at Normandy, where America last did something worthy of our ideals. But then, I am a little disgusted at the current VPOTUS who claimed that POTUS (also known as the Orange Monster in this blog) has won the war with Iran, while claiming we're not in an undeclared war.  (I'm glad I qualify for a second citizenship in a land which is both free and respectful of human rights.)

For the most part my back and my legs have been behaving.  I shudder to think what will happen if they give out before I return home.  But I'm not going to think much about that for now.  Instead, I'm going to think back on this trip, and be thankful that I was able to enjoy it as much as I did.

- - - - - -

RQS sent me a Facebook post about a lady who made an authorized deviation from her cruise itinerary, and got burnt because of it.  Yet, she may have an amazing adventure to talk about when she returns to the ship....

One lady made arrangements with the cruise line to depart the ship in Greenock and board again in Edinburgh. This would give her an extra few days in Scotland to be with her friends.  One problem: We couldn't make port in Edinburgh due to high winds.   So, she was stranded, even though everyone did everything according to the rules.  So now, she had to find a way to make it from Edinburgh to London, London to Paris, and Paris to Le Havre before the ship leaves for Southampton.  I hope she makes it.

This is why I'm extra careful about shore excursions.  They can and will go wrong.  Somehow, a person must be able to get back to the ship as planned. 

 

PS: I met this woman as she was at guest services while in Le Havre.  She ended up flying to Paris and then took the train to Le Havre to get back on the ship.  Hopefully, she'll post more of her story online soon. 

 

  

And now, for something different (or it should be)

 

A shortened version of a post I made in a different blog....

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The war with Iran has been going on for several months now, and what do we have gotten for it?  As I write this, we got 18 service members coming home in body bags, a depleted munitions stock, an aircraft carrier coming to port due to an under-supplied, emotionally exhausted crew, and hundreds of billions of dollars deeper in dept.  We did not get regime change in Iran.  We did not eliminate the potential nuclear threat Iran poses.  And we did not vanquish our "enemy".  Instead, we have shown that the US is a paper tiger, and that Iran has the power to shut off 20% of the world's oil supply.

If you ask our president, he'll say we're winning the war, and that the Strait of Hormuz is open for shipping.  Yet, he'll act like a little child when someone asks him a question which holds him to account for his mistakes.  His ego is so fragile, that by not admitting any of his failings, he is unable to learn from his mistakes.  As a result, he keeps doubling down on his lies, and no one trusts him anymore.  Yet, people are afraid of him due to his ability to rally members of his cult to attack his enemies.

America is now $40,000,000,000 in debt.  For the first time in history, we are now paying more in debt service than we pay for defense.  This can not last for long.  This president would cut social spending in order to preserve our war machine.  But what good would that do?  We can't even defeat an enemy like Iran.  Our military is not nimble.  We still act as if we need to fight the wars of the 20th century, instead of those we need to fight now.  Instead of retreating into 1940's military technology, as our president would do with our aircraft carriers, we should be at the forefront of 2020's military technology, as Ukraine has exhibited with its use of drone technology.

Unmanned vehicles (air, land, and sea) are the future of warfare, as they can enable militaries to fight wars while keeping their service members well behind the scenes in relative safety.  For those near the front lines of battle, they can provide the tools for defense that older, more expensive military tools and weapons can not provide.  Unmanned vehicles are cheaper and more effective than older military technology.  They have allowed Ukraine, a nation without a navy, to defeat the Russian navy and make it an almost useless asset.

Given the cost of proven drone technology vs. the cost of our overpriced military technology, I see a potential to kill several birds with one stone.  First, we can no longer afford to enforce a "Pax Americana" as we did for the second half of the 20th century.  So, let's wind it down to areas we can defend, and have other nations form healthy regional alliances for defense.  Second, let's take she savings from winding down the "Pax Americana" and do three things with it: (a) develop drone technology with Ukraine and build up stockpiles which both countries can use, (b) plug up holes in our social safety net (especially in healthcare, and (c) pay down our national debt.

The British empire fell because it couldn't afford to maintain it.  America is well on the same path to a similar national failure that could cripple us for generations.  And yet, our president's incompetency has given us an opportunity if we are wise enough to seize it.  Things are so FUBAR (F'd up beyond all recognition) that radical change may just be possible.  Licensing Ukrainian drone technology might help our military become more nimble and cost effective.  It may help America rebuild its industrial logistics, so that we can again build civilian products in the US, as we did with the aircraft and space industries.  We can learn from the past, and choose to take a different path than those who preceded us.

The big question is:  Will we learn the lessons of the past and make good choices.  I'm hoping that America will follow the lead of a wise woman (Mae West) who said: "Whenever given the choice between two evils, I'll choose the one I haven't chosen before."  It's time for something new, and even a bad choice of something new is better than the continued choices of something old we have been making as of late. 

We're about to enter another "Forever War" - and I'm Afraid!

 

We've been at war with Iran since February and we have nothing to show for it save 16 dead bodies so far. The Orange Monster (as usual) said that we must defeat this enemy without defining what an American victory looks like.  Like our mistaken involvement in Vietnam, the Monster is on track to sending in American soldiers to fight and die on foreign soil.  And, like Vietnam, America will have a hard time getting out of this war.

 

There is a totally incompetent man holding the office of US President.  He has no concept of any idea of how to end this war.  The Gulf nations who pay for America's troops to fight and die for their oil now demand that we keep fighting this war, as they know that Iran will become much too powerful if America pulls out of this war.  Like Vietnam, pulling out is politically impossible to the powers that be, because they are unable to admit defeat.

 

So, what is likely to happen?  Like Vietnam, America will continually escalate things, thinking that its obsolete war tactics and technology will be enough to defeat Iran.  And, like Vietnam, America will run the financial printing press to pay for this war, destroying the value of the US Dollar.  The UK had a similar problem after WW2, and found that it couldn't afford to be a colonial power any longer.  With America, the debasement of our currency will eventually end the era of our "Pax Americana" - we will no longer be able to maintain the "Peace" around the world that benefits everyone.  World commerce will suffer, and people around the world will suffer because the world order will not provide the stability and safety needed for people to prosper.

 

In eras of instability, our species has tended to make wars.  The US is at war with Iran.  Ukraine is at war with Russia.  Will China finally attack Taiwan?  I see this happening while America is distracted in Iran.  Assuming that this war starts in the next couple of years, what will happen to our computer chip supply?  We have a big problem with data center construction sucking up as many chips as TSMC (and others) can fabricate.  What will happen to our economy if we can't get the computing power we need to facilitate a modern economy?

 

Making war is similar to smoking cigarettes.  Before a nation starts a war, they can have millions of dollars worth of munitions that can be used, just like a smoker who has bought a few cartons to be smoked.  Once used, munitions are like cigarettes - totally worthless.  Both have done their damage, with little value to show for it.  Was may be necessary at times, but should be avoided save for the most extreme of reasons.  One may need to fight to resist bullies, as a nation may need to fight for its survival.  But it doesn't need to fight wars to feed its ego.  We don't need to prove that we're the biggest power in the global playground.  We need to prove we ready to fight when needed, but avoid fights we don't need to fight/

 

Right now, we're in a war we didn't need to fight.  The Orange Monster can not admit that he made a mistake, and that America has lost this war.  Until this happens, things will continue to get worse around the world.  Let's hope that things change soon.... 

The three biggest lies ever told

 

The three biggest lies ever told are:

1. I'm from the IRS and I'm here to help you.
2. I won't cum in your mouth.
3. My name is Donald J. Trump, and I, alone, can fit it.

How much has he ever delivered for the American people?  Yes, he gave the alienated lower caste whites a feeling that their grievances would be addressed.  But this was done while he grifted billions from the American public, and pocket more billions from businesses willing to make a few payoffs to get things done for them.

- - - - - -

Recently, the Orange Monster has made so many conflicting statements regarding the war with Iran that only a person addicted to the monster's Kook-Aid can make any sense (if any objective sense can be made) of his statements.  First, he says we're at war.  And then he doesn't, so that he can avoid being accountable to Congress.   His administration said that we neutralized Iran's nuclear program, and now the same administration claims that we must eliminate it.  Of course, he claimed we defeated Iran, and yet, they control the strait of Hormuz.  In short, we get more real coverage of the war from Iranian propaganda than from anything said by our administration.

Yet, the monster continues his screeds against America's transgender population.  In addition to my European citizenship by descent, I am going for a third citizenship via my maternal line of descent.  My objective is to be able to leave the United States if I have any inkling of "trans vanishings" occurring due to the ICE Gestapo.  

Soon, the family homestead will be sold.  And I will be looking for a place to put my money.  Ideally, I want to get money outside the US in a way that is legal.  I am comfortable with the idea of holding funds in an overseas bank, filing appropriate paperwork with the IRS when required.  But if the crud hits the fan, I want much of my money out of Uncle Sam's greedy hands.

So, my thoughts keep going back to the Monster.  He's broken all of the promises (formal and informal) we have given around the world.  I just wonder what will happen between now and our November election.....

The war has been going on for 2 months now....

 

I find it hard to believe that after 2 months, the Orange Monster is claiming that the war (oops, police action, according to government doublespeak) is over.  Doesn't the GOP understand that the war isn't over until Iran agrees that it's over?

Lately, I'm finding the Iranian propaganda videos to contain more truth than what is coming out of the regime in power in Washington.  No one of sound mind believes what the monster is saying.  Yet, the GOP is enabling his irrational actions.  Americans have been both wounded and killed in a war that is resulting in hobbling the world's economy for the sake of Israel and its war criminal prime minister.  But then, war criminals have an interest in sticking together, lest they are held accountable by their citizenry.

What have we gained from this war?  Higher gas prices, and likely disruptions in the food supply caused by a lack of fertilizer impacting this year's crops in the field.  Without our normal supply of grains, we will also see shortages of meat, as farmers will not be able to support the herds of cattle, pigs and chickens we depend on for animal protein.  It's only a matter of time.  

So, what can we look forward to this year?  I see rats leaving the ship - the same people who enabled the monster to gain power are cutting off their support as his ratings tank.  They see the need to keep the attention of their audience, and the only way to do so is to reflect something more resembling the reality their audience is experiencing.  

If the GOP wants even a small chance of staying in power, it must find an acceptable off ramp for the Orange Monster to "gracefully" leave office and keep his illicit gains.  But will they do so?  Right now, no one is able to get the monster to see anything that resembles an objective reality.  The monster lives in a bubble of his own creation, and more weaknesses in that bubble are showing up every day.  His mental and physical health is failing, and it's only a matter of time that someone has to act.

But back to the war....

We will likely see a real deal cut behind the scenes, where the monster gets to claim victory, but no one will believe him.  Iran will get control of the Strait of Hormuz, as the US will not be able to block Iran with America's obsolete technology. Israel will be a riskier place to be, as the war they started couldn't bring down the Iranian regime.  The whole mess saddens me, as what would be my children's generation will be paying for this war long after I'm gone.

If you don't think Trump is responsible for inflation....

 

If you don't believe that Trump's actions are causing inflation, look at the sale price of this dress.  Normally, it has been selling at Target for $50.99.  Today, it is listed for $76.49.  What has changed in the past week?  Not much.  But what has likely happened that Target's warehouses (or those of an intermediary who sells on Target's website) has just received a new shipment of these dresses, and has marked them to their current profitable price.

Let's assume that it is Trump's tariffs that account for the price hike.  Do we have a domestic industry large enough to maintain a price-competitive supply chain?  I doubt it.  Opening up our market to cheap Chinese goods 35 years ago destroyed much of American industry, its logistics and supply chain.  And we don't have what it takes to bring it back.  

Sadly, we never had a transition for those workers being displaced by cheap overseas labor.  Our capitalists acted as, if by magic, their consumers/workers would find other work so that they could afford to buy goods produced by cheaper labor.  For a while, this happened, as displaced labor was limited to a few rural towns.  But more and more people were affected over time, and both blue and white collar workers have been affected by these misguided policies.

No, I am not arguing against competition.  Instead, I am arguing against opening the doors to competition without a clear path for labor to have its needs taken care of.  European nations would never allow this to happen to its labor force, as they do not want social unrest and alienation.  They believe in a well educated people, with regular access to a relatively under biased news media still focusing on presenting objective truth to its consumers.

Trump has taken advantage of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution in ways our founding fathers couldn't conceive.  Political lies have been protected by the courts, and Trump has never been anywhere close to telling truth to his followers.  He lies, knowing that his cult will ingest anything he says.  In short, he is Orwell's "Big Brother" to his followers, and can do no wrong.  To the rest of us, he is an autocrat who has broken all social conventions, and has few checks and balances to stop him from destroying America.

So, why are tariffs so important?  In short, they are sales taxes on the economy.  They only serve to slow things down.Is this dress worth 50% more than it was a week ago?  No.  Could the price hike have been caused by the recent Iran war?  I doubt it.  There is no clothing industry of note in the Middle-East. But there is one in Southeast Asia and China. And their industries are being affected by Trump's tariffs and his war.

The prosperity of nations depend on constancy and predictability.  For generations, farmers knew that they'd plant crops in the spring, tend to them in the summer, and harvest them in the fall.  To increase yields, farmers have added fertilizer to their land for ages, much of it now being derived from Middle-East oil products.  Now, much of the fertilizer supplies we'd use are no longer available because of the war.  Many of the markets for American farm products no longer exist due to Trump's trade wars.  And yet, many in the rural states have yet to signal that they want this buffoon to be removed from office.  The infallibility of their cult leader overrides objective truth.  People are afraid of reality.

For those not part of Trump's cult, we see his cruelty destroying the friendships between America and its friends.  Canadians are largely avoiding the US, as well as tourists from many other nations.  Trump's Gestapo (read: ICE) rounds up people solely based on skin color and puts them into prison camps without due process.  Trump's CBP agents at our borders often harass travelers with proper documentation, and have put them into prisons as well.  Why should any nation want to be friends to America, much less help it in an illegal war?   Losing tourists from these nations is causing economic problems for many tourist areas in the US, and I don't see this happening soon.

This leaves us with a declining American workforce that has to suffer with increasing inflation.  It will take a generation or two to undo what Trump has damaged - it it can be undone at all.  If I were young, I'd have already left the US for countries which protect labor better than we do, inform and educate its people better than we do, and protect freedom better than we do.  But I am old, and stuck on America's roller-coaster.  For the rest of us, it will take come time for America to collapse.  And it is time for those with marketable skills to leave America.  Just be careful choosing where to go to.... 

 

World Affairs: Can the Orange Monster find a way to end his war?

  

I'm hoping that this needless war doesn't come to using weapons like the one above.  It is effective, but a weapon of last resort.  Sadly, the Orange Monster has gotten himself into a war with no way to get out.  If he wanted to cut and run, he'd have only made the current Iranian regime more extremist, and more of a danger to the world.  So, we're likely stuck fighting an army of at least 1,000,000 men if we decide to put our boots on the ground.

There are conflicting claims on both sides regarding negotiations.  Are there are aren't there any negotiations going on?  As much as I can't trust Iran's statements, I trust anything coming out of today's White House even less.  Anything the current administration says has been proven to be a lie, including the words "And" and "The". Given that Israel and the US started this war while negotiations were going on, Iran has no reason to believe that we will negotiate in good faith.

I expect that we will get stuck in a war that will last for months at best.  If we pull out now, Iran can and will continue to cause trouble for us and our allies in the Middle East. They will have many scores to settle, and they won't stop until those scores are settled.  So what options do we really have?  As I see it, not many.  We will need to crush both military and civilian resistance in Iran for years to come.  Our boots on the ground will likely be fighting a guerilla war for many months, as it's now in Iran's interest to cause as much trouble for the US as possible for as long as possible.  There will be many bodies coming back to America in Body Bags (oops, I mean "Human Remains Pouches"), coffins draped by flags, men and women dying in a war which could have been avoided.

America is being led by a senile, self-aggrandizing simpleton with ADHD who doesn't have the capacity or interest to being a wartime president.  He acts as if all he needs to do is post something in his money-losing social media platform, and things will happen by magic. Hopefully, this will be the quagmire that he can't escape, and that his base will finally see him for what he is - a grifter with no class in an office he is not qualified to hold. 

 

I prefer to see reality than live in a fantasy world

 

The other day, RQS sent me some links to various "meetup" sites whose purposes are simply to enable people to make new social connections.  A couple of these sites were geared for females to make social connections.  So, I asked RQS how passable I am, and she noted that there are some telltales that I am TG.  In short, I am not 100% passing, but that's OK for most purposes - just not for all.

It's hard for people to see reality these days, much be comfortable with reality.  We live in an age where the people we once could count on to tell us things resembling truthful opinions now tell us lies we want to hear.  We have a president who is a pathological liar, and who is totally disconnected from reality.  We are in a war that no one wanted, save for two people: Bibi Netanyahu and Donald Trump.  And now, Trump is telling lies which conflict with themselves:  "We have won the war with Iran." and "We need more money to win the war with Iran."  Where is our objective reality here?   Trump is the leader of an American cult which, unfortunately, has taken control of our government.  At a macro level, much of America is stuck living in a fantasy world.  But what about us as individuals?

As an individual living in a society which has become untethered from reality, I find it harder to maintain a solid connection to reality. First, I need to find objective information about myself and the world I live in.  As a TG, I need to know many things: How well do I present? What can I do to improve my presentation? Where can I travel safely in my preferred presentation? How do I keep informed of significant events that could affect me?    Second, I need to make reasonable decisions based on the information I gather.  In the case of travel, I have to be absolutely sure of how well I pass, as I could be committing a felony in some states.  (I was in one Southern state where I had to go to the loo and relieve myself while presenting as Marian.  Technically, I committed a felony just by needing to take a bio-break.  Luckily, no one cared where I was.)  Even worse, I can't visit many countries as Marian, as my assumed gender preference would be considered illegal and punishable under their laws.  (We're seeing that in some American states today.)  I have to be sensitive to the fact that we now have a federal government hostile to TGs and the rest of the LGBT community.  So, I am glad that I sent information to a nation where a grandparent came from, so that I have an exit route available in advance.

One TG individual I know has been corrupted by the media she consumes.  Although she has lost the desire to get her passport renewed in her identified gender due to Trump's executive order, she still refers to his political enemies by the childish names he uses for those people.  Yet, she can't identify why these people are bad.  She sees the word "Socialist" and identifies all evil to this word and those who identify with it.  Yet, she can't identify what is bad about the word itself.  Even though she's unhappy with the cult leader, she still identifies with the values of the cult - even when the cult would treat her like crap.  This transgender woman is not alone in her fantasy views of identity.  Another transgender woman I met belonged to a conservative religious denomination.  When she moved to upstate NY, she went to attend another church of that sect.  The pastor said that she shouldn't attend again because she was TG.  Her identity conflicted with what others saw that her identity should be,  We all can make similar mistakes.  This is why we need to always seek objective reality, instead of seeking to feel comfortable living within our fantasies.

Rule of Acquisition # 34: War is good for business.

 

A wise scriptwriter once wrote something like this: 

"Rule of Acquisition # 34: War is good for business"

"Aren't you confused? Rule of acquisition # 34 is: Peace is good for business."

"Yes, it's  easy to confuse the 2 rules."

Corollaries to this include: "War is good for business, but less so closer to the font lines you get."

- - - - - -

The "Special Military Operation (read: War) in Iran is proof of this.  Once America burns through its stockpile of arms, we will be placing orders to refresh our supplies - with kickbacks going to the Orange Snowflake and his family (of course).

Right now, I'm very glad that my nephew is long gone from the military, and has built up a nice civilian life.  Soon, this war will become very asymmetrical, and I expect to see terror attacks occur around the world.  (God, I hope I'm wrong about this.)  But when one side has outgunned the other, what other way can there be to inflict pain upon an enemy?

I believe strongly in the law of unintended consequences.  The orange snowflake keeps making errors which would force normal politicians out of office.  But, as the leader of a cult, he has the support of a lot of under educated Americans  who hold grievances against the society that has left them behind.  Closing the main business in a "One Horse Town" often results in unemployment and a town that can no longer provide needed services to its residents.  With no opportunities available, this class of people becomes economic surplus and not worth investing in.  These people become alienated from the larger society, and will follow any "leader" who promises this group a new prosperity and the restoration of their social class and its privileges.

Many Americans see the Iran war for what it is - a distraction from the Epstein Files.  With a submissive House and Senate, there is no effective check and balance on this demented megalomaniac. He only wants to be able to say "I AM the State!"  So far, he has had a good run towards his goal.  But this comes at a cost - he has destroyed all of America's soft power, as well as people's faith in a government that would work for the people.

Luckily, and I hate putting it this way, he will likely trigger a world-wide recession.  Americans will not be able to afford foreign goods, and America's role as the "Consumer of Last Resort" will have ended.  America will cease to be first among many democracies.  Instead, it will be a lesser power among the democracies of the world, as we will need to regain the trust of the world.  Yet, the entire world will have a large price to pay for the snowflake's aggression. People will starve because they can't afford food. Nations will need to build up their militaries because we no longer live in a rules-based world.  And freedoms will be curtailed because authoritarian regimes will have more power over people.  Does the end justify the means?  I don't think so.

- - - - - -

The current administration is floating the idea of resurrecting the draft.  If I were of draft age and had a useful skill, I'd visit a few foreign lands (Canada being one of them) and look to leave the US for these countries.  Being TG, I'd get as far away from the US as possible, as I fear that the snowflake will seriously consider annexing Canada before his term ends.  I hope that Canada takes this threat seriously, as the snowflake is following the 1930's German History map which includes Austrian Annexation.  (You may want to translate the page into English first.)  

Although part of my family background comes from the Caribbean, it is way too close for comfort.  Most of the Caribbean is inside America's "Mare Nostrum",  So I wouldn't feel safe there as a cisgender person, much less a TG.  All I can say is that I have my exit route planned, and am waiting on paperwork to make it easy to do so in a hurry.

- - - - - -

Last night, I was talking with my friend Vicki about current events, and she sees the danger we are now facing.  I mentioned the movie "Casablanca" and its cast, mostly made of European exiles forced out of their countries by the Nazis.  Right now, I expect to have my "Letters of Transit" soon, and I hope my readers in America are making similar plans. 

What happens when the highlight of the day is bed time?

 

As I write this, the US war against Iran is in its 3rd day.  Our president has made the major mistake of having peace talks while preparing to bomb a country.  America is about to get into another Vietnam, without any of the support it could have had if this were a just cause.  To make things worse, it feels like the war was started to cover up the Monster's presence in the Epstein Files. I wonder how many people will die because this madman wants to have a legacy that survives him

Why did I open with this?

Over the weekend, the most common thing in our YouTube feeds were talking heads and their discussions about the war.  It's hard to escape the insanity that is going on in the "Real World" when a madman's fancies are destroying everything America stood for.  I'm glad that my nephew is out of the military, as he'd be part of the cannon fodder the Monster is using to achieve his goals.

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Neither RQS nor I bothered getting dressed today.  It rained a little and the snow has melted a bit.  Soon, parking will be "easy" to find as before the snow storms hit.  Today was one of our relaxation days where we did nothing, save for having breakfast and dinner.  I shouldn't say we did absolutely nothing - RQS finished the reorganization of her storage shelves, and things are much easier for her to get at.

Part of me is looking forward to going home tomorrow.  My reasons are simple - I want to get back to work on my cruise cost calculation spreadsheet, and I can only work on it at home.  This has been a fun project for me, and something I will likely keep playing with as time progresses.  I already have some enhancements I'd like to work on that would make the spreadsheet much more useful.  But it will take some time to implement them.

My brother looks like he'll have a new job, and it looks like we have new tenants for the family homestead.  Although we will have money coming in, we will either need to reinvest it in the house, or let the next owner do so.  I'd have rather sold the property, but the timing of everything is fouling that plan up for now.  Assuming he has the new job, I'll get together with him for a last dinner before he moves out of town.  Yes, he'll be returning home to check on things now and then, but things won't be the same as before.  I'll likely get stuck managing the property - something I don't relish doing.

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At least, we caught up on our sleep for a change....  

A trip into the city for a play

 

No, we did not pass through Grand Central today.  But it would have been nice if we were able to do so.  Instead, our route brought us to a subway station I've never used before, as well as an area of the city I've never been to before on foot.

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When we woke up, neither of us had an idea of what we wanted to do.  So, RQS looked up the "Freebies" available on Club Free Time to find something cheap.  Settling on a play called "The Giggling Granny", we planned our day around our evening's entertainment.

RQS wanted to reorganize her kitchen a little, and have me help with fixing shelving that needed fixing.  (Its fourth corner was improperly supported, and could collapse with the right force used against it.)  So, we took everything out, and I inserted the support which leveled things out.  Now, RQS can reload the shelves at her own convenience.

What I haven't mentioned yet, is that the Orange Monster started an illegal war today against Iran.  Yes, it is a desperate attempt to distract people from the Epstein Files, but it poses great risk to the USA and to the world.  Both RQS and I are appalled - even though the Iranian government deserves to be destroyed.  Yet, it shows something else - the Orange Monster never negotiates in good faith.  The Iranians believed that they were close to an agreement.  (Too bad for them that they never read Ambrose Bierce and his Devil's Dictionary.  They'd see that Peace is only a period of treachery between two wars.) 

With all of this in mind, we both got dressed and went into NYC.  Sadly, I was semi conscious during the play, and missed most of it.  On the way back to the subway station, we stopped for gelato.  And then we passed by two one-dish restaurants - one selling pasta, and the other selling Mac & Cheese.  Both of these are places I want to try some time in the future.

Soon, we were on the train back home, and back in the apartment for SNL's cold open.  One could tell that they had to rewrite everything to account for the big news of the day, and they referenced themselves in the skit.  Once Weekend Update (the Real Fake News) was over, we turned off the TV and went to bed for the night.