When the U.S. Guts the State Department
The new diminished Department of State showed this slide at a recent global conference, which misplaces every single African Country. Take a look. The Côte d’Ivoire, like it’s name, has a coast. The map shows it is landlocked. The nations are scattered. In Africa, right enough, but with no concern for their actual location. The Department of State took full responsibility and pointed the finger at a young person who OK’d an AI reprentation of the map, and who clearly had no idea where the nations really were.
State Department professionals were once educated. They were once conscientious about presentations. This map is more than inaccurate. It is disrespectful.
Please. Bring back professionalism. Please. Bring back real facts, data, and respectful behavior. Bring back a focus on creating and maintaining diplomatic relationships. Our current representation brings shame and disrespect upon our country.
We are neither feared nor respected “like never before.” The world looks in horror at our tasteless, ignorant, ill-mannered leader’s infatuation with trophies, gilt, flattery, and explosions, at the cost of dignified, peaceful relationships with our allies.
Life is so much smoother with friends, allies, and good will.
If nothing else, get the maps right.
How a Grown Up Ends a War and Wins
It is not my intention here to give our current president a strategy for a gracious exit from the War with Iran. I am writing this only because I believe he is incapable of adopting my solution.
Years ago, my very smart husband, AdventureMan and I played strategic board games. One time, I beat him in only six moves, at which point he stood up and stomped his foot (a very strong statement from a normally restrained man) and yelled “You can’t do that! It’s unorthodox!”
And that’s how wars are won. Yes, you can waste billions on sophisticated weaponry, and have a lot of fun with bombs and destruction. High T at work. You can also waste lives, and I believe that is a crime against your country. Our young people are not expendable.
We’ve all started fights we can’t win. It’s wired into us as human beings. What is the way out?
“I’ve made a big mistake. I take full responsibility. I’m sorry I got us into this mess, and now, I am going to do everything in my power to make it right.”
Those words, and the humility it takes to say them, save relationships, re-establish peace, and a firm foundation for moving forward.
It takes a grown-up to say them. It takes a grown-up to even think them. To continue on a losing path is wasteful and self-destructive.
We are not winning.
It’s time to own up, exit, and begin rebuilding our alliances.
New York’s Participation Trophy for Trump and his Iranian debacle. Everyone invited to contribute; no achievement too paltry to commemorate. The more gilt, the merrier.
CrisisGroup.Org
Because I follow – or try to follow – piracy in Somalia, I go down rabbit holes. Some rabbit holes lead you to the most amazing places, including a comprehensive update on an upsurge in Somalian piracy and root causes.
The rabbit holes led me to this fascinating group, Crisisgroup.org. I’m always curious who is behind these organizations – this organization, out of Brussels, seems to keep watch on some far-flung and, to U.S. readers, sometimes obscure potential events, which, when they explode, we wonder why we never heard of these fomenting conflicts.
Alaska 2026: A Bonus Day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center
This was an odd day, as we packed out of the Alaskan Jade B&B. Our flight wasn’t leaving Anchorage until 8 that night, so we had time to visit the Alaskan Native Heritage Museum.
As we arrived, a demonstration of traditional games had just begun, and following that, a dance demonstration, with descriptions of the costumes, how they were made and how they were used.
All this was done by a group of young people who were having great fun as they shared their culture and heritage.
We spent an hour watching the games and dances, then toured the museum, and did the walk among the tribal dwellings. I’d forgotten, it was raining lightly. We don’t remember rain on this trip. The photos remind us.
Leaving the Alaskan Native Heritage Museum we headed downtown, looking for the historical museum and for a place to eat lunch.
We walked to the Snow City Cafe, which we had spotted earlier, and were in for one last very Alaskan experience. The place was packed, and we sat at the bar.
Almost all the customers were young people eating breakfast foods (at noon) so we did, too. There was this great party vibe, great coffee, good food in generous portions, and a lot of energy. We were out in our allotted hour, picked up our car and headed south, to find a filling station and head to the airport.
How Do We Celebrate the 4th of July?
Today’s Lectionary provided a prayer for today, along with today’s saint, Saint Moses the Black:
PRAYER (contemporary language)
Almighty God, whose blessed Son guides our footsteps in the way of peace: Deliver us from paths of hatred and violence, that we, following the example of your servant Moses, may serve you with singleness of heart and attain to the tranquility of the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
It brought to mind a troubling conversation in a meeting with a group of women I greatly admire. One said “I’m having a problem with knowing how to celebrate the 4th of July without compromising my belief that our nation is on a very wrong path.”
In a brief discussion, we agreed that no one party owns the flag, or fireworks, that those are the influence-free celebrations of our freedoms, but that gatherings that involve political speeches and practices that support beliefs we find repugnant are contrary to our well-being.
I think we all came away from that discussion with a troubled sadness.
My family has a history of service to our nation. Much of what we have built, and what we have worked so hard to accomplish, has been wrecked. I love our nation, I love the American dream, I love the Statue of Liberty welcoming those who arrive with little but hope, and a desire to live free in a land of opportunity. I love our freedom to disagree with leadership and for the tools to fight unjust practices. I love that we have lived a life of service: serving our country, building alliances, and building a network that fights the evils of tyranny.
This morning, I put out our flags.
“You Watch, Gas Prices Will Drop Like a Rock!”
I filled my tank this morning with gas about 60 cents cheaper than last week.
I am very puzzled; gas prices fell “like a rock” the day after Trump said that as soon as peace was achieved, prices would drop like a rock. So quickly! I’ve seen prices go up overnight, but I have never seen prices go down so quickly!
We have a Memo of Understanding, not a peace treaty. We have identified areas of discussion (undisclosed) that the US will negociate with Iran over. We are in a poor position for negotiating.
From Wikipedia: Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on May 8, 2018.
Which Iranians? Are they all on board? Are they the leaders of the country?
How will this treaty be any better than the Obama treaty Trump withdrew from in 2018?
How much will this cost the American taxpayers?
Who has made money off of this war? Who has been hurt?
How much has this war cost the world? How has it damaged our Trump-punched alliances?
I filled my tank because I know our strategic reserves are nearing depletion. I filled my tank because I don’t believe the truce will hold – it hasn’t held so far – and I filled my tank because I believe it is more wires and mirrors, trying to fool us into thinking things are better than they are.
Happy Anniversary, AdventureMan
Today I received this.
At first, I thought it was some friend reminding me and wondered who it was, but I think it is a WordPress function, giving me material to post.
Truly, it’s the whole reason I started this blog, twenty years ago. We are human. We forget. As I read, I was back in that earlier time, early COVID, and I forgot how restricting it was. I had a wonderful, brave real estate friend who showed us houses, and then my sweet daughter-in-law called and said “Are you still interested in THIS house?” It was the house we had sold to them ten years before, but now, with a growing family, they wanted something larger and were happy to sell the house back to us, with one condition – that they inherit the house when we move on. We happily agreed.
And here we are, 6 years later, doing what we love to do – travel, see new things and talk with people. We have had the most amazing adventure, back to Alaska. We love stories, we love to hear how people came here, how people live. Yesterday, we had the joy of finding ourselves on board a small ship with just four passengers, one of whom was a Jordanian man, almost our exact age, and we had so many friends in common, and we had so much fun together.
As he introduced himself to us, he said “You will notice I have an accent, I am from Jordan.”
AdventureMan, always quick, responded in Jordanian Arabic, asking which part of Jordan. The look on the doctor’s face cracked us all up, and from that moment, we were not fellow passengers, but family. We ended up having lunch together after the excursion; we couldn’t stop talking.
Tomorrow, we have dinner with a man I graduated from high school with, lo, those many years ago, and who is, in my eyes, a hero. He is a doctor with his own airplane, and he spent his career flying to outlying Alaskan villages and providing medical services to those who otherwise would not have access.
Life is sweet.
Once I get the photos organized and the trip written up, I will share with you. Meanwhile, thank you, WordPress, for the prompt.
When Lies Control the Narrative . . .
Truth disappears.
Today, National Pulic Radio reports the following:
The Trump administration has mass-deleted information regarding prosecutions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including cases involving defendants who assaulted police officers. This move marks the latest attempt by Trump to alter the narrative surrounding the violent riot. Last week, Justice Department news releases that detailed guilty pleas, jury verdicts and prison sentences disappeared from government websites. An NPR review found that the deletions included information about some of the most serious assaults on law enforcement that happened that day.
We all watched the attack on the Capitol happen in real time, with our own eyes, and much of it filmed by the insurrectionists who had been told the election was stolen. Mike Pence didn’t believe it and did not do as he was instructed to do. He supported the truth of the 2020 election of Joe Biden,
And now, we have a Trumpian edict of “non-disclosure” for all Federal Employees.
We used to take pride in the transparency of our government – not even that long ago! Less than one presidential administration ago! What happened to oversight (DOGE’D out of existence) and whistleblowers calling out corruption?
Calling out corrution is inconvenient for this regime. Bringing corruption into full view should make the corrupt squirm, but this administration has no scruples, no embarrassment.
And now, we have a new corrupt senatorial candidate out of Texas, Ken Paxton. Paxton has been charged with scandal and corruption by his own fellow Republicans, and is a welcome addition to the shameless corruption of the Trump Administration, bellying up to the trough, feeding off the taxpayers.
Did you know that “Tromper” in French is to fool? Si je ne me trompe pas.
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