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Jack Mallory

I spent all of 1981 and a month or so in 1982 in Honduras. Friendly folks, greatly interested in recovering their prehistory. But I never would have thought at the time that the Honduran government might serve justice more reliably than ours.

I hear in Trump’s foul-mouthing of Somalis the same past and future that Joanie hears and foresees. 
 

So I get some comfort through my eyes.

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Beautiful Picture Jack...Thanks for your Posts, Joan and Jack...Its hard to believe that there are still MAGA's defending Trumps drug record as if he Trump, the worse President we have ever had, and Hegseth, the worst Defense Secretary's care anything about drugs in this country because they illegally bomb the tiny boats in Venezuala...the last boat with the second strike by the way wasn't even heading for the US.... Trump has pardoned so many who have brought drugs into this country like the 400 tons of cocaine that Hernandez was convicted of bringing in to the US...Trump seems to like to pardon the worst criminals he can find. I think some of the MAGA's just go along with anything he does. They either don't care or don't see what a ruthless cruel dictator he is. His Homeland Security person Noam, shot a defenseless dog in a pit so she fits right in. Ok, I am not cheering us up. Let me see what I can think of that is cheerful...well, all of you are good folks. We are in this battle together. Carry on and I think there is power in so many of us trying to fight for our Democracy. I enjoy listening to Mark Kelly standing up to Trump and others...the ones who back down and settle, cave, etc. help him gain power...Love again to all, Joanie

Jack Mallory

Most of my life I've been proud to be a citizen of the nation described here.  I hope my kids will be able to say the same 50 years from now, but I'm not at all sure that will be true.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more December 10, 2025 HEATHER COX RICHARDSON DEC 11     READ IN APP   Today is Human Rights Day, celebrated internationally in honor of the day seventy-seven years ago, December 10, 1948, when the United Nations General Assembly announced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In 1948 the world was still reeling from the death and destruction of World War II, including the horrors of the Holocaust. The Soviet Union was blockading Berlin, Italy and France were convulsed with communist-backed labor agitation, Greece was in the middle of a civil war, Arabs opposed the new state of Israel, communists and nationalists battled in China, and segregationists in the U.S. were forming their own political party to stop the government from protecting civil rights for Black Americans. In the midst of these dangerous trends, the member countries of the United Nations came together to adopt a landmark document: a common standard of fundamental rights for all human beings. The United Nations itself was only three years old. Representatives of the 47 countries that made up the Allies in World War II, along with the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and newly liberated Denmark and Argentina, had formed the United Nations as a key part of an international order based on rules on which nations agreed, rather than the idea that might makes right, which had twice in just over twenty years brought wars that involved countries around the globe. Part of the mission of the U.N. was “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.” In early 1946 the United Nations Economic and Social Council organized a nine-person commission on human rights to construct the mission of a permanent Human Rights Commission. Unlike other U.N. commissions, though, the selection of its members would be based not on their national affiliations but on their personal merit. President Harry S. Truman had appointed Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and much beloved defender of human rights in the United States, as a delegate to the United Nations. In turn, U.N. Secretary-General Trygve Lie from Norway put her on the commission to develop a plan for the formal human rights commission. That first commission asked Roosevelt to take the chair. “[T]he free peoples” and “all of the people liberated from slavery, put in you their confidence and their hope, so that everywhere the authority of these rights, respect of which is the essential condition of the dignity of the person, be respected,” a U.N. official told the commission at its first meeting on April 29, 1946. The U.N. official noted that the commission must figure out how to define the violation of human rights not only internationally but also within a nation, and must suggest how to protect “the rights of man all over the world.” If a procedure for identifying and addressing violations “had existed a few years ago,” he said, “the human community would have been able to stop those who started the war at the moment when they were still weak and the world catastrophe would have been avoided.” Drafted over the next two years, the final document began with a preamble explaining that a UDHR was necessary because “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” and because “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind.” Because “the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,” the preamble said, “human rights should be protected by the rule of law.” The thirty articles that followed established that “[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” and regardless “of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs.” Those rights included freedom from slavery, torture, degrading punishment, arbitrary arrest, exile, and “arbitrary interference with…privacy, family, home or correspondence, [and] attacks upon…honour and reputation.” They included the right to equality before the law and to a fair trial, the right to travel both within a country and outside of it, the right to marry and to establish a family, and the right to own property. They included the “right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” “freedom of opinion and expression,” peaceful assembly, the right to participate in government either “directly or through freely chosen representatives,” the right of equal access to public service. After all, the UDHR noted, the authority of government rests on the will of the people, “expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage.” They included the right to choose how and where to work, the right to equal pay for equal work, the right to unionize, and the right to fair pay that ensures “an existence worthy of human dignity.” They included “the right to a standard of living adequate for…health and well-being…, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond [one’s] control.” They included the right to free education that develops students fully and strengthens “respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Education “shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.” They included the right to participate in art and science. They included the right to live in the sort of society in which the rights and freedoms outlined in the UDHR could be realized. And, the document concluded, “Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.” Although eight countries abstained from the UDHR—South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and six countries from the Soviet bloc—no country voted against it, making the vote unanimous. The declaration was not a treaty and was not legally binding; it was a declaration of principles. Since then, though, the UDHR has become the foundation of international human rights law. More than eighty international treaties and declarations, along with regional human rights conventions, domestic human rights bills, and constitutional provisions, make up a legally binding system to protect human rights. All of the members of the United Nations have ratified at least one of the major international human rights treaties, and four out of five have ratified four or more. Indeed, today is the forty-first anniversary of the U.N.’s adoption of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, more commonly known as the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), which follows the structure of the UDHR. The UDHR remains aspirational, but it is a vital part of the rules-based order that restrains leaders from human rights abuses, giving victims a language and a set of principles to condemn mistreatment. Before 1948 that language and those principles were unimaginable. Last year, under President Joe Biden, the White House celebrated Human Rights Day by recommitting to “upholding the equal and inalienable rights of all people.” The State Department bestowed the Human Rights Defender Award on eight individuals who have defended migrant workers, LGBTQ+ individuals, women, and democracy. The recipients came from Kuwait, Bolivia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Burma, Eswatini, Ghana, Colombia, and Azerbaijan. The U.S. government did not recognize Human Rights Day this year. Instead, Humeyra Pamuk of Reuters reported, administration officials are threatening to place sanctions on the International Criminal Court to guarantee it will not investigate Trump and his top officials. “There is growing concern...that in 2029 the ICC will turn its attention to the president, to the vice president, to the secretary of war and others, and pursue prosecutions against them,” a Trump administration official told Pamuk. “That is unacceptable, and we will not allow it to happen.” The official did not tell Pamuk which of the administration’s actions its officials think the ICC would investigate, but said there was “open chatter” that the court might target administration officials. On social media, opponents of the administration have begun to refer to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as “Hagueseth,” after The Hague, Netherlands, where the ICC holds its official meetings. Legal analysts have expressed grave concern that the administration’s attacks on small boats in the Caribbean are unlawful, and many have called a September 2strike that killed shipwrecked survivors from a previous strike either murder or a war crime. Yesterday, Damien Cave, Edward Wong, and Maria Abi-Habib of the New York Times reported that lawyers for the Pentagon proposed sending two survivors from an October strike against a small boat in the Caribbean to the notorious CECOT terrorist prison in El Salvador, where prisoners previously rendered there reported widespread torture and abuse. Defense Department officials were keen to make sure survivors didn’t end up in a U.S. court where the administration’s insistence that the men were an immediate danger to the U.S. because they were trafficking drugs would come under legal scrutiny. Shocked, lawyers for the State Department refused, and the two men were sent back to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador. — Notes: https://www.nps.gov/elro/learn/historyculture/udhr.htm https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/thematic-areas/international-law-courts-tribunals/human-rights-law/ https://www.un.org/en/about-us/udhr/foundation-of-international-human-rights-law https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-against-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/us/politics/pentagon-boat-strike-survivors.html https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-threatens-new-icc-sanctions-unless-court-pledges-not-prosecute-trump-2025-12-10/ Bluesky: thegodpodcast.com/post/3m76kjkcwf22c     LIKE   COMMENT   RESTACK   https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-10-2025?r=asnwm&utm_medium=ios

Jack Mallory

Truly nuts? Truly totalitarian? Truly nutty totalitarian? Truly unaware of the paragraph?

“There has never been a President that has worked as hard as me! My hours are the longest, and my results are among the best. I’ve stopped Eight Wars, saving many millions of lives in the process, created the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country, brought Business back into the United States at levels never seen before, rebuilt our Military, created the Largest Tax Cuts and Regulation Cuts, EVER, closed our open and very dangerous Southern Border, when previous Administrations were unable to do so, and created an ‘aura’ around the United States of America that has led every Country in the World to respect us more than ever before. In addition to all of that, I go out of my way to do long, thorough, and very boring Medical Examinations at the Great Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, seen and supervised by top doctors, all of whom have given me PERFECT Marks—Some have even said they have never seen such Strong Results. I do these Tests because I owe it to our Country. In addition to the Medical, I have done something that no other President has done, on three separate occasions, the last one being recently, by taking what is known as a Cognitive Examination, something which few people would be able to do very well, including those working at The New York Times, and I ACED all three of them in front of large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know. I have been told that few people have been able to ‘ace’ this Examination and, in fact, most do very poorly, which is why many other Presidents have decided not to take it at all. Despite all of this, the time and work involved, The New York Times, and some others, like to pretend that I am ‘slowing up,’ am maybe not as sharp as I once was, or am in poor physical health, knowing that it is not true, and knowing that I work very hard, probably harder than I have ever worked before. I will know when I am ‘slowing up,’ but it’s not now! After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.’ They are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it. They have inaccurately reported on all of my Election Results and, in fact, were forced to apologize on much of what they wrote. The best thing that could happen to this Country would be if The New York Times would cease publication because they are a horrible, biased, and untruthful ‘source’ of information. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”https://substack.com/redirect/c3d682de-4a1b-40aa-a9f0-db6167321974?j=eyJ1IjoiYXNud20ifQ.0kC1KHpVQIsGj1YHcsEL13sTY0sGQRBaHVKr1ID4a3o

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Jack, boy this guy has what is commonly called a swelled head. In reality he is trying his hardest to make American cruel and sick again with so many diseases because he cut out experts and programs abroad that help others. He is trying to destroy the Federal government. He is working hard to turn American into an Autocracy with him, the King heading it... Fortunately we have many fighting back against all this destruction including the lower courts. He does get the top award as the worst President in the History of the US. He always wanted to be first in something. Love, Joanie

Joan Ruggles (Young)

If ever there was a document that shows that the felon is losing it, it would be this. Here is what he looks like with nobody telling him he's repeating himself and protesting too much about his cognitive health. He knows as well as we do that he's got Alzheimer's in his family, so everybody's watching. 

But Jack, how hateful of you to post the man's own words!

Joan Ruggles (Young)

Since we're all the same age as the felon, maybe you'd be interested in what cognitive tests do and don't show. This popped up in my subscription to The Berlkley Wellness letter. It's got a paywall, so here's most of it. Not sure why it posts the BCC header.

The Art of Taking a Cognitive Test

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) first made headlines in 2018 when President Donald Trump, during his first term at age 71, was reported to have received a perfect score on the test. You may recall him recounting about how he was able to repeat all five words presented to him—person, woman, man, camera, TV—and remember them a little bit later.

In a redo of the test in his current term this past April, Trump, at nearly 79 years of age, once more reported that he attained a perfect score—calling the test an “IQ test,” though in fact, it was not assessing intelligence but rather screening for dementia.

Supporters have claimed the president’s performance on the test confirms his mental acuity; critics say the screenings prove nothing about his judgment or fitness to be president. Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, however, you may be interested in knowing more about MoCA.

This routine screening test is widely used by doctors in the U.S. to screen for cognitive impairment in older adults. Although MoCA isn’t intended to prove or disprove definitively whether someone is experiencing problems with thinking or memory, it can be a helpful tool when utilized as part of an overall assessment by doctors or other healthcare professionals trained to diagnose cognitive problems.

MoCA screens for all levels of cognitive impairment, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI). People with MCI have memory or thinking problems that aren’t serious enough to interfere with everyday living. MCI can be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease or other kinds of dementia, but it doesn’t always lead to dementia, and in some people, MCI can revert to normal cognition.

It’s important to note that, contrary to Trump’s claims or what he may have implied, MoCA does not specifically evaluate or reflect one’s intelligence. To assess IQ, more comprehensive testing is needed, and the standard test for that is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) is for children ages six through 17.

How MoCA works

MoCA is a 10-minute test that assesses a range of cognitive skills, including attention, concentration, executive functions, memory, language and verbal fluency, calculation ability, conceptual thinking, and visuoconstructive skills.

There are multiple forms of MoCA to avoid a “learning effect” if the test is given multiple times to the same person. The tasks to perform may include:

• Drawing a line that alternates between numbers and letters of the alphabet printed on a page, in ascending order (1-A-2-B-3-C-4-D-5-E)
• Copying a drawing of a three-dimensional cube as accurately as possible
• Drawing a clock showing a certain time (10 past 11), without looking at your watch
• Naming three animals presented in drawings (a lion, a rhinoceros, a camel, for example)
• Repeating and later (at the end of the test) recalling a list of five words (face, velvet, church, daisy, red, for example) in any order
• Repeating a list of five numbers in the same order, presented verbally by the test administrator, and then repeating a second list of three numbers backwards
• Repeating two sentences verbatim
• Counting back from 100 by sevens
• Naming as many words as possible that begin with the letter “F” in one minute (naming 11 or more gets a top score)
• Categorizing pairs of words (that is, explaining what each pair has in common), such as banana and orange or train and bicycle

The test also asks questions about orientation (what is today’s date and where are you now?). A perfect score is 30, but a score of 26 or above is considered normal. Lower scores are associated with possible cognitive impairment. Higher scores do not, however, rule out the possibility of subtler (yet still meaningful) cognitive deficits that might be detected through more comprehensive neuropsychological testing.

Certain factors may interfere with screening test results. For example, scores may be affected by a patient’s education level, age, language ability, or the effects of medication they may be using at the time of the test. A patient may also score low on this mental status test because of such factors as fatigue, sleepiness, lack of engagement, anxiety or depression, a distracting environment, or ongoing pain or discomfort.

How accurate is MoCA? According to a 2021 Cochrane Collaboration review, it detected dementia in 94 percent of people with the condition, when a cutoff score of less than 26 was used. But it also had a high rate of false positives, meaning that many people without dementia also scored below normal.

Although many doctors rely on screening tests such as MoCA, routine screening of older adults for cognitive impairment is not recommended. In its most recent report, published in JAMA in 2020, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—a federal advisory panel of medical experts that evaluates and makes recommendations about preventive healthcare—concluded that there is insufficient evidence to recommend in favor of or against routine screening. That is, the risk of harm from the screening may not outweigh the benefits for asymptomatic people. “More research is needed,” the Task Force concluded.

Just one of many screening tools

Mental status screening tests such as MoCA certainly have a place in identifying cognitive impairment and memory loss associated with dementia—in people who are having mental difficulties (as opposed to screening those not showing any signs of loss). However, organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association recommend that doctors do a full medical workup because no single test can accurately diagnose dementia.

A full workup includes questions about medical history and current health conditions; a physical exam; a medication review; a discussion about mood, diet, and alcohol use; and a neurological exam, which evaluates coordination, balance, reflexes, mental status, and sensory and motor skills. Laboratory testing or brain imaging may also be recommended before a diagnosis is made.

Cognitive changes in older people aren’t always the result of dementia; other common causes include certain prescription drugs, vitamin deficiencies, or medical conditions such as depression, thyroid disease, anemia, diabetes, infection, and diseases of the kidney, liver, or heart.

A cognitive assessment should also include a discussion with family members, who can provide context about a person’s memory or behavior. Knowing whether a person’s memory or judgment has worsened over time is crucial for a doctor trying to diagnose any kind of cognitive decline.

https://www.wellnessletteronline.com/live_well/the-art-of-taking-a-cognitive-test/?utm_source=active-camp&utm_medium=wnl-umail&utm_term=cognitive&utm_content=wnl-251212-full-ea1&utm_campaign=wnl-article-view&utm_source_platform=&utm_creative_format=&utm_marketing_tactic=&st=email&sc=WNL_251212_UP1

Jack Mallory

I know, Joan. It's unfair of me to use the words of a raving, egocentric, would-be totalitarian with all the moral fiber of Joe McCarthy and Dick Nixon to show that he is, in fact, a raving, egocentric, would-be totalitarian with all the moral fiber of Joe McCarthy and Dick Nixon. Imagine me beating my breast, chanting "Mea cula, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!"

Thank you for posting the info on the MoCa. I take a very similar assessment over the phone on a bi-yearly basis as part of a VA PTSD research program. My brain, when I'm done with it, goes to the VA Brain Bank to be picked apart by grad students to see . . . well, I'm not sure what. I doubt that the research will show that I am as brilliant as our First Felon, but then I've never been treated for bone spurs which clearly is an enormous cognitive enhancer.

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Hi everyone...I can tell that all of you are very sharp...well, that assumes that I am sharp...oh well...anyway, when someone has to tell you how many times they aced the cognitive test like Trump does, then one has to wonder if he really flunked it. He is the President who lies the most of any of the past Presidents. . More importantly we can see with our own eyes that he is out of it, crazy and losing it... Love, Joanie

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Hi again, wow another instance of violence taking two lives in Brown University and injuring so many others. It reminds us too of the horrific shootings that happened on December 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary where beautiful children and teachers were gunned down...this left a hole in the hearts of many. If only there could be laws to outlaw assault weapons and guns in general that are being used to kill innocents.Now we hear of 12 dying in Australia because they were Jewish and it was the start of Chanukah...We really have sick cruel people around..Though some like to say people kill, and not blame it on the guns, if they couldn't so easily get the guns lives would be saved.  Love, Joanie

Robert Hall

Jack Mallory

I have friend whom I've mentioned here, the young woman who was a student of mine and later served as a combat medic in Afghanistan. She lives with the awareness of what humans do to each other, and I try and help. I just sent her this:

"Doc, thinking of you after the Brown U. shootings, the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre, the deaths of our troops in Syria. I suspect, from my own reactions, that you are profoundly disturbed by all this. The madness, the evil, whatever we want to call it.

"All I can do is look for the glimmer of decency, of humanity, of hope out there. In this case, it is Ahmed el Ahmed, the unarmed Australian who attacked and disarmed one of the murderers, getting shot himself in the process. Little or no time to think, just acted, and did the dangerous, righteous thing. There are people like that, focus on them for your own sanity. Thompson, not Calley."

It helps me to think like this, might help all of us. Here in the U.S. these days it seems appropriate to emphasize that Mr. Ahmed is a Syrian immigrant to Australia. One of the murderers was also an immigrant. 

Jack Mallory

One of the worst things about Donald Trump is his ability to bring out the worst in others. Usually, almost always, when I think of another human being as a sick fuck I'm ashamed of myself. When Trump says things like this, I lose my sense of shame.

 

 

 

 

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

 

A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!

 

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Dec 15, 2025 at 8:51 AM

Joan Ruggles (Young)

Once again, the felon's own words after the horrific family tragedy of the Reiner murders. I'm however, pleased to see at least some Republicans willing to condemn his hateful words which clearly shows a total lack of empathy or even human decency. He claims to report the cause of the murder when no evidence had yet been found.  

And no matter what. It's always about HIM, isn't it?

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

"A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Everytime I think that there isn't any lower that Trump could go he comes through as he did with the utterly gross cruel rant about Rob Reiner. This is a man who calls Somalies garbage and wants to ban muslims from this country and loves the white folks in Norway, and the White Afrikaners. We are really in trouble with him at the helm but I have hope as more and more people are pushing back...even ICE sometimes is being pushed away from arresting immmigrants...the people are surrounding the immigrants protectively. Love, Joanie

Jay Shackford

Going, Going, Gone/The Big Shake Up

We need to scrape off the paint covering the wording (I previously suggested “dusting off” but that’s far too tame for cowardly Republicans)  of the 25th Amendment of  the U.S. Constitution in the aftermath of the killings this past weekend at Brown University and the President’s narcissistic, cruel and insane reaction to the tragic killings of Rob Reiner and his wife at their home in Los Angeles. 

President Trump has created a deeply divided country —with the MAGA crowd (perhaps 20% of the country) cheering on as the President  abandons his oath of office  and any sense of human decency.  Along with his sycophants, Trump is demonstrating signs of a bitter old man suffering from dementia or the “Big A” — character traits that make him totally unfit to hold high office of President of the United States with his hands on the nuclear codes.    

The cabinet along with leaders in the House and Senate need to move immediately to invoke the 25th Amendment or the House needs to impeach Trump for a third time and the Senate needs to convict him this time. (If you doubt that, read the Susie Wiles story in Vanity Fair.  Just Google it.). 

Otherwise, we are looking at more and more chaos going into Trump’s second year — including military efforts to carry out regime change in Venezuela in return for a 25% take on all future oil sales after the U.S. helps rebuild their oil drilling capabilities.  Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves.   Trump’s demented mind and his fear of death have melded together to create a monster, Hitler-like desire to become the emperor of the Western Hemisphere. Canada as the 51st state, Cuba, Greenland!  What’s next?  

Trust me, Donald Trump won’t take this most recent criticism lying down.  He will cast blame elsewhere.  

That means bye, bye Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Kush Patel and RFK, Jr. He’s throwing out the guys described as “Junkyard Dogs” by Susie Wiles in her Vanity Fair piece.  

All will be gone before the end of January as a “Take No Prisoners” Donald Trump shakes up his cabinet as a way to blame the Administration’s so—called media-contrived shortcomings on poor advice by his closest advisers.  

As if Old Bone Spurs ever listened to those whispering in his ear on what he should or shouldn’t do. It’s time, Dozy Don will say, for new blood to take the MAGA movement to its next level after achieving unbelievable results in his first year of his second term.  To do that, he’s bringing in new team and pardoning those leaving out the back door with a short note from the President — “thanks for serving.”    

In some ways, it’s surprising that any of these guys and gals lasted this long.  

Jay Shackford

Thanks Joan and Jack for the double-tap on Trump's posts on Truth Social on the murders of Rob Reiner and his wife.  Everyone should read his posts at least twice to get an idea on how mean-spirited and crazy our President really is.  

Clifford Elgin

I haven't posted in a long time in large part because it seems like I have been busier since I retired than when I was working.  Briefly, I am on the board of two NFPs and heading up a committee for my Rotary Club.  I have read back through the most recent comments and find myself in agreement with many o fyour thoughts about our current national situation.  I did find, of course, Trump's comment on the Reiner murders to be completely disqusting.   I inherited an old book, Mission Failure, written by Sir Neville Henderson, British Ambassador to Berlin from 1937 to September, 1939.  He knew all of the Nazi top people including Hitler and was a frequent fishing and hunting guest of Goering.  It is about his attempts to stop the war.  The point is that things he describes happening in Germany in those years are very close to what is happening here now.  I'm not going into more detail now because I orignially intendedt  to return to this forum for some pleasent thoughts and have expressed concerns in my post,https://channelingthomaspaine.wordpress.com/blog/

It is a time of year when many of us remember snippets from our past.  Listening to the oldies radio today, one of the songs was Take Good Care of My Baby which alwayrs reminds me of Nancy Jobe for some reason (I guess we must have danced to it).  This time of year I also think of Kathy Humphrey singing O Holy Night at a school assembly.  I ask that you share some of your happy memories of our times back then.

Kip

Jack Mallory

Sounds like a fascinating book, Kip! And frightening. Except for those who, like the happy Germans of the 1930s, find joy in bigotry and violence.

Speaking of "new blood," I see our hands, all our hands, are stained today with the blood of three new people in boats; murdered with no evidence, no due process at all. All our hands, not just Trump's. 
 

Kip's memory is far better than mine. If I have specific BCC memories, they often involve the Harting sisters, Jennifer and Kat, both of whom remain friends today. 

*******

Jay Shackford

First Impressions of the President's Speech to the Nation 

Trump is delusional and panic stricken -- a deadly combination. Besides that, Trump and his cronies need some help with their math.  At one point, Trump said he was going to cut drug prices by 600 percent.  Now if you cut the price for a drug by 100 percent, the price at the counter would be zero.  This speech will keep the fact-checkers up all night.  Nightly, nighty -- Dead Center. 

Jack Mallory

Jay, the 600% price cut in pharmaceuticals is actually one of Trump's LOWER promises for drug price reduction, which have gone as high as 1000-1500% (https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/23/politics/fact-check-drug-prices-trump). 

This is, of course, mathematically impossible. Unless this is part of the RFK Jr/Bone Head Make America Healthy Again plan. Perhaps they will be PAYING Americans many times more than medications cost to take them? Looking forward to this!
 

Or, sadly, just more evidence that the man at the wheel of our economy is so effing stupid he doesn't understand--what, 6th grade math? When your mathematical understand is less than Mallory's, you shouldn't even use numbers!

I'll give him credit for ONE truthful, accurate statement during his mendacious meandering: "Nobody can believe what's going on." Nor should they. 

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Meanwhile . . . 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/us/jeffrey-epstein-donald-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Hi friends, Now Trump who took over as Director of the Kennedy Center, stuck his name on the beloved Kennedy Center that honored and memorialized John F Kennedy. Kennedy loved and promoted the arts.  How horrible that Trump who blasts free speech and artists who don't say everything he likes, put his name on the Kennedy Center. He fired all the board of directors of the Kennedy Center, and replaced them with Trump sycophants.  Of course they voted to put Trumps name on the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy family are so upset that there wasn't even the decency to leave in place the Kennedy Center name for JFK. Trump is all about himself and furthering his own wealth. He is the most corrupt President of our lifetime.  Love, Joanie

Joan Ruggles (Young)

Let's pretend it's a year ago - December 2024. If I told you I could predict the future and this is what you will see the felon do in the next year, what would you have said?????

My memory isn't good enough to have gathered all these predictions myself so I credit some of the fine folks at The Bulwark. In my case Steve Bannon's advice to "Flood the zone with shit" has worked very well on me, since I can't hold all this shit in my head at the same time. 

As always, just the facts!

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He will hang giant glowering portraits of himself from Federal buildings.

He is going to, without asking anyone, destroy a wing of the White House.

He is going to build a palace-like ballroom which will dwarf the rest of the White House in size and gilt, and will be funded by private businesses who are trying to curry favors from him.

He is going to deploy masked agents into the streets of America to snatch people into unmarked cars.

He’s going to deploy the military into American cities.

He’s going to put his name on the Institute of Peace, which was established by Congress.

He is going to have the Treasury and the Mint create a coin with his face on it in defiance of precedent to not have living people on coins.

He’s going to name himself Chairman of the Kennedy Center. 

He’s going to rename the Kennedy Center after himself.

He is going to wrongly deport people who are allowed to be here, to torture prisons and gulags in other countries in defiance of court orders to turn the planes around.

He is going to sue several media companies in the billions of dollars for printing things he didn’t like (such as the Epstein letter which was released by the Epstein estate).

He is going to challenge the Constitution’s right to Birthright Citizenship. 

He’s going to pardon the guilty January 6th rioters who beat and killed law enforcement officers, some of whom went on to commit other crimes.

He’s going to pardon a convicted drug lord who imported 8 tons of drugs into our country.

He’s going to try (via tweet) to get someone pardoned (Tina Peters) who was convicted of a state crime over which he has no authority to pardon.

He is going to ask the Attorney General, Pam Bondi via direct message to bring charges against his perceived enemies (Comey and James) which will be thrown out of court.

I will add a few of my own observances..

He will claim he hardly knew his known best friend, Jeffrey Epstein, the most reknowned sex trafficer of our time.

He will be lionized by his followers to be the solution to ending sex trafficing in spite of his closeness to Epstein. 

He will promise lower prices on DAY ONE and will then institute tarrifs which cause prices to soar.

He will accumulate billions of dollars in his first year from unknown sources and will not have any oversite. 

He will accept a $400 million dollar gift airplane from Qatar with no questions asked about this illegality of presidents accepting gifts from foreign nations, nor about the felon's business dealings with Qatar.  

He will become the largest stakeholder in a nuclear fusion company (TAE Technologies) posing appaling conflict of intrest concerns.

Okay I give up. I'm running out of steam. 

Another interesting quote by the folks at Lincoln Square.

“What we’re watching with Donald Trump isn’t one scandal, or one bad day, or one dumb executive order. It’s the grinding, daily normalisation of instability, mental illness, medical coverup, personal sadism, and the Republican Party’s deliberate decision to treat that instability like it’s a brief, Spring political sun shower they can ride out.”

Jack Mallory

Apropos of both Joanie and Joan's posts:

55 years ago, with Nixon as president, I came into political maturity in Vietnam. I was deeply ashamed of my country and its actions. Now, nearing 80, with Trump as president, I find myself deeply ashamed again. This article both explains my shame, and increases it. Explosives to enter the home of a US citizen and her young children? She could be one of my former students. 

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010596053/la-raid-immigration-us-citizens-video-investigation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share,

Joan Ruggles (Young)

Jack, thanks for posting this astonishing piece of video. I watched the whole thing. An amazing job by the NYT to put together this story from the hundreds of pieces of video provided by bystanders. No hearsay, just video of exactly what happened. As I try to post, just the facts.

I fear that our country has turned into a Police State, similar to some of the countries from which these immigrants fled. God help us!