Category: Politics

I’m back!

When I blogged on November 7, I had no idea I would not blog again until November 22. My sister is recovering nicely from her surgery. The jury is still out on the condition of her sole caregiver. (LOL!) The main reason I haven’t blogged in 15 days is that my desktop computer went rogue on November 11. I did not have time to call for help for it until late yesterday. My new best friend/computer guy came today and I am now back in business as a blogger and a writer.

The timing couldn’t have been worse for computer problems with my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, just being released. All the publicity memes and ads I created in advance on Bookbrush.com (I love Bookbrush!) could not be accessed and posted on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Bluesky. I can still use them, of course, but the dates I labeled many of them with have now passed. I’m living in a time warp of sorts.

Photo of the paperback of Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, by Janet Morrison
Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, by Janet Morrison

I have not been able to mail 85 book publicity postcards in the metro area because the local independent bookstore has not received her shipment from IngramSpark yet. Another case of hurry up and wait.

I’m not one to always look for the silver lining in a black cloud, but (1) my sister is improving each day and (2) I’ve gotten some much-needed exercise putting ice packs on her wound every 20 minutes all day every day. I’ve averaged walking more than three miles-a-day, which is probably 2.5 miles more than my usual.

All of this came at an inopportune time. Some of you have, no doubt, missed my daily political rants. Others of you have probably thanked God for the absence of them.

“Let them eat cake!”

During my absence from the blogosphere this month, President Marie Antoinette ordered the U.S. Border Patrol to leave Chicago and descend upon us here Charlotte. I watched local and national news programs as the masked and heavily armed Border Patrol Agents roamed Mecklenburg County and beyond (including very small mountain towns more than 100 miles to the west) and randomly round up anyone who looked or sounded Hispanic — regardless of their citizenship status.

They came without coordinating or communicating with the Sheriff of Mecklenburg County or the Charlotte Chief of Police. Standard protocol is that a federal law enforcement agency alerts local law enforcement of their operations so local police do not interfere with the operations. It just helps for local police to be aware of what the feds are doing, but that’s not how U.S. Border Patrol works.

They pointed high-powered weapons at unarmed men, women, and children, broke out car windows, and detained people for days without their families knowing where they had been taken. I understand some were taken hundreds of miles away to Georgia.

Photograph of Charlotte skyline at dawn or sunset with light shining yellow and purple through clouds
Skyline of Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo by Daniel Weiss on unsplash.com.

The general terrorism in sections of Charlotte with high Hispanic populations resulted in Hispanic- and Latino- owned businesses closing shop all week in an effort to keep their customers safe. Grocery stores and other businesses offered home deliveries to customers who were afraid to leave their homes.

Some 30,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg school students stayed home from school out of fear of either being picked up in transit or out of fear that if they went to school their parents would be arrested and taken away before they got home from school that afternoon.

A teacher at East Mecklenburg High School was interviewed. She eloquently described what last week was like in the school system with 21 percent of the students being afraid to go to school. She did not use the word “terrorized” lightly. She spoke of teachers making home visits to their scared students to reassure them and to deliver food and toiletries to their homes.

What we have now in America is students not only having to worry that a shooter is going to come into their school and murder students and teachers, they also have to worry that the United States Government is going to send men in unmarked vehicles and wearing full military garb plus masks and sunglasses that completely hide their identities to harass them and possibly zip tie them and haul them away to parts unknown as they just attempt to attend school.

It did not help the situation for Assistant White House Chief-of-Staff Stephen Miller to announce that those 30,000 school students stayed home this week because they were all illegal aliens. Stop lying, Mr. Miller! Most of those students are American citizens. They just don’t have a white face like you have, Mr. Miller. That’s all they are guilty of. Since you don’t appear to be Native American of indigenous ancestry, Mr. Miller, I assume that you have immigrants in your family tree. Most Americans do.

When all was said and done in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, in less than a week, more than 370 individuals were arrested out of a population of 1.2 million. President Antoinette enjoyed his Great Gatsby-themed party in Florida as he sent Border Patrol Agents here under the guise of arresting “the worst of the worst.” The final report isn’t out yet, but the last I heard only two gang members were arrested. Of the first 170 people arrested, only 44 had police records (including such things are parking tickets and speeding tickets.)

At least one U.S. citizen’s truck window was broken out by Border Patrol. He was taken miles away. Border Patrol kept his truck keys. At least two women from Puerto Rico were accosted, questioned, zip-tied, and led away to an unmarked vehicle. The Trump Administration hasn’t learned yet that Puerto Rico is a U.S. Territory. Its residents are U.S. citizens. I can’t un-see the video of Trump throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria in October 2017. It was when Hurricane Maria hit that Trump told us that Puerto Rico is an island surrounded by water. Duh!

Before I close, I want to emphasize how the U.S. Border Patrol Agents are dressed. The word “mask” is woefully inadequate to describe what they are wearing. These so-called masks are heavy knit fabric. It reaches from their throats to their eyes and encircles their heads. Dark sunglasses cover their eyes. They wear hats. (I can’t help but compare them to the Ku Klux Klan… cowardly white people afraid to show their faces.)

They are dressed in fatigues with bullet-proof vests. Wads of zip ties hanging from their belts or one of their numerous pockets. They are heavily armed. They appear to be very short on patience and totally void of empathy for their fellow American citizens. They have been filmed stopping in the street in a residential neighborhood, jumping out and accosting two Hispanic-looking men who were hired to put lights on a resident’s outdoor Christmas tree.

It has come to this: random racial terrorism being practiced by the United States Government at the direction of the United States President.

They seem to have left Charlotte, although the website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicated they would be here until December 4. Is that a trick?

New Orleans, apparently you are next on Trump’s hit list. Remain calm and vigilant. Remain calm and vigilant. Be on the lookout for unmarked SUVs bearing Illinois license plates.

Update from Chicago

Marimar Martinez, the teacher in Chicago who was shot five times by U.S. Border Patrol, is recovering from her injuries and is returning to the classroom. She had been called a “domestic terrorist” by Border Patrol after she blew her vehicle’s horn to warn residents that the agents were in the neighborhood, but all charges against her were suddenly dropped this week.

Border Patrol accused her of ramming their vehicle, but video of the incident proved it was their vehicle that sideswiped her care. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security continues to publish falsehoods about her though, even as the department has dropped all charges after their case fell apart in a hearing.

Trump calls for execution of lawmakers

In other news here in America, when six Democrat lawmakers dared to make a video to remind all U.S. citizens that members of the U.S. military are not required to obey an illegal order, Trump called for the six to be arrested and executed.

Republicans told us that Trump did not mean it, and that’s supposed to make it okay.

As a writer, I know that words are more powerful than the sword. It is frightening and embarrassing that we have a U.S. President who is reckless with his language. It is also frightening that no one in a position of authority is holding him accountable for anything he says or does.

Resignation of U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene

Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia surprised everyone last night when she announced her resignation from the U.S. Congress as of January 5, 2026. Trump calling her a “traitor” was a bridge too far for this staunch ex-supporter of him and his administration. Perhaps other politicians who have sold their souls to the devil should take note. When he turns on you, you are dead to him.

This gives me a glimmer of hope that there are cracks in Trump’s armor.

Mozambique

It is being reported that ISIS has quickly gone into Mozambique since USAID has halted. ISIS is not filling the gap in aid. They’re filling the gap of influence. They’re recruiting the young men. They are beheading people who don’t comply with their demands.

People with decades of experience in the U.S. State Department warned us that in addition to millions of people starving to death, the halting of USAID would result in radical terrorist groups rushing in to take our place. It appears those decades of government service meant they knew a lot more about international relations than Trump and his minions will ever know.

All Trump could see was we were spending money to help Third World countries and he detested that policy. He couldn’t be bothered to understand that much of that food aid was a product of American agriculture. Even in his second term in office, Trump doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

All those people who thought it was not in our national interest to ship American grain and other agricultural products to other countries, how do you like the prospect of ISIS spreading its hate for America among “the least of these.”

Most Trump supporters pride themselves in being Christians. This continues to baffle me. What version of the Bible tells you to hate the foreigner? I’ve never read that version.

In closing

That’s my rant for today. Maybe it’s a good thing I haven’t been able to watch or listen to as much news this month as my usual! I hope to blog about my new book in a couple of days.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

When you have a minute, please look for my books on Amazon.

Remember the brave people of Ukraine, as it appears Trump has been played like a fiddle by Putin.

I am fortunate that the U.S. Constitution protects my right to criticize the U.S. President.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Janet

It’s been one of those weeks

Sometimes the best-laid plans just don’t pan out. Such is life.

This is Janet’s Writing Blog, so today I start my post with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into my life this week as a self-published writer.

If you read my blog on Tuesday, Traveling Through History is released today!, you know I was celebrating the release of the e-version of my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, but I mentioned that the paperback was not being released that day as planned.

Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, by Janet Morrison

I thought I had everything in place for the paperback’s release worldwide by Ingram-Spark.

I sent handwritten notes to various independent bookstores along with a detailed information sheet about the book. I told them they would be able to order the book from Ingram-Spark and have it in stock in their stores on November 4 or very shortly thereafter.

The e-book is available – and I’m over the moon about that! But as of today, I still don’t know what the hold-up is for the paperback. Perhaps I will learn something today.

I decided to go ahead and self-publish the paperback on Amazon in the United States, and I expect it to be available here on November 11. I hope Ingram-Spark will release it for worldwide distribution next week – which will include Amazon in countries other than the U.S. — but that remains to be seen. Bookstores will not order it from Amazon. I needed Ingram-Spark for that.

Such is the life of a self-published author! This glitch is not the end of the world. It was just something I had hoped to get checked off my to-do list on November 4.

Thank you to those of you who have congratulated me on the release of the e-book. And a huge thanks to those of you who have purchased the book! I understand that Ingram-Spark has distributed the e-book to Amazon.UK, so I assume it is also available on the worldwide e-markets of Amazon.

Meanwhile, in Washington, DC…

The government shutdown continues as I write this on the night of November 6. One result of the shutdown is that the air traffic controllers and TSA agents who keep the flying public safe are not being paid. They are expected to show up for work and give their undivided attention to all the details their jobs entail… without pay.

To try to force Congress to do its job and pass a federal budget, the White House gave the airlines less than 24 hours’ notice that they had to start cancelling flights at the forty busiest airports in the country. A certain percentage of flights must be cancelled with each passing day beginning today.

But none of this will interfere with Trump’s weekly trip to play golf in Florida.

Since an alleged “businessman” is President of the United States, it baffles me that the order came from the White House (or what’s left of it) with no regard for the chaos such a sudden order will cause airlines, airports, passengers, and the employees of the airlines and airports.

It appears “President Marie Antoinette” knows no more about business than he knows about a democratic government. Throwing a Great Gatsby-themed party at his mansion in Florida last week while federal employees are not receiving paychecks is the height of being tone deaf. He is completely out-of-touch with the average American.

President Antoinette says commercial aviation in the U.S. is “100% safe,” even though air traffic controllers work without pay and some have had to take a second job and are working exhausted.

And why was a large “The Oval Office” sign installed at what’s left of the White House this week? Can President Antoinette not find his office?

Yesterday, the President announced that he will force the price of weight-loss drugs down because they are too expensive. Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Medicare and Medicaid programs announced that Americans will lose 135 billion pounds before the mid-term elections next November. I’m not good at math, but the population of the United States is around 343 million. That means every American would have to lose 394 pounds to make Dr. Oz’s statement true.

Something is very, very wrong in Washington, DC, and it is being denied by the members of Congress and by what’s left of the White House.

A cheaper Thanksgiving Dinner?

Trump and various Republicans in Congress have bragged this week that they talked to the CEO of Walmart and he told them that everyone’s Thanksgiving Dinner will be 20% cheaper this year than it was last year while Joe Biden was US President.

What Trump and none of the Republicans have explained is that the Walmart CEO based that on the fact that this year Walmart decreased the number of items it considers to be a Thanksgiving dinner. Slick move, Walmart!

Of course, Trump has changed the 20% to 25% because that is what he does. He exaggerates or decreases statistics in whichever way serves his purpose.

The Walmart CEO’s hocus-pocus with the facts has led many Republican lawmakers who have never set foot in the grocery store to announce that grocery prices have plummeted since Trump took office on January 20, 2025. They really do think American citizens are stupid and will believe the politicians instead of their own wallets.

Until my next blog post

I will be caring for my sister as she recovers from surgery over the coming weeks, so I might not blog as often as I have in the recent past. We expect everything to go smoothly, but I will have added responsibilities vying for my time and attention.

The time you take to read my rants and blog posts is appreciated more than you know. Your “likes” and comments are what keep me going.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

I’m grateful that I still have the freedom of speech guaranteed to me by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I am very aware that some of the people reading my blog in other countries cannot imagine having the freedoms we have in America. Even though our form of government is under attack from within, I believe there are enough of us who love democracy to save our country and put things right someday.

Janet

I’m not represented in the U.S. House of Representatives

I may as well live in the 7th Congressional District of Arizona.

I’m not represented in the U.S. House of Representatives any more than the residents of the 7th District of Arizona. That’s the district in which Adelita Grijalva was elected on September 23, 2025, but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refuses to install her because she is a Democrat and she will vote to have the Epstein files released.

Johnson might lose his position as Speaker of the House if he allows the truth to come out. At the very least Trump will have him “primaried” in 2026. But that’s enough about him.

Photo of dark clouds over the dome of the US Capitol Building
Photo by Kyle Mills on Unsplash

My Representative in Congress

Three weeks ago, on October 10, I blogged about some of my frustration with my U. S. Representative: My Congressman sent a newsletter.

I’m still frustrated with him. I requested a response from him when I emailed him on October 10, but I haven’t received a reply yet. Of course, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson gave my Congressman a nice paid vacation the last week of September, all of October, and the foreseeable future.

My Congressman’s newsletters set my hair on fire. At least I know where he stands. He stands with Donald Trump. And he despises the likes of me because I don’t stand with Donald Trump. No doubt about it.

His newsletter on October 18 opened this way: “Dear Janet, Pro-crime Democrats continue to release dangerous criminals onto the streets to roam our neighborhoods.”

This guy represents me in no way, shape, or form.

Any U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative who spews hate against everyone in their opposition political party has no right to “serve.” Such people have lost sight of their job description and oath of office.

My Congressman went on in his October 18 newsletter to call on the City of Charlotte to ask for the National Guard to descend upon us.

The subject line of his October 25 newsletter was “The Democrats are Using the Troops as Leverage!” That pretty much set the tone for the entire newsletter.

In the meantime, I will not receive a response to my October early October letter to him. My Congressman will keep preaching. (Jesus must be so proud!) After all, that’s his “calling” and I guess he will represent the people of the 8th District of North Carolina in his spare time or whenever he decides to take that $174,000-a-year job which also gives him a $79-per-day food allowance and lifetime retirement and health insurance seriously.

I don’t think the mothers with young children or the elderly individuals who get the equivalent of $6.00-per-day in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits are the problem – especially since SNAP benefits end at midnight tonight, thanks to President Trump refusing to turn loose the $6 billion “rainy day” fund Congress earmarked for SNAP in the event of a government shutdown.

I don’t think the members of Congress know how disgusted Americans are. This “Mexican Stand-off” between the Republicans and Democrats must stop! I think both parties are to blame for the shutdown.

Starting tomorrow, a lot of people aren’t going to have any money for food, here in the richest nation in the world. The “Pro-Life” Republican Party is obviously only interested in babies being born. They don’t care whether they have anything to eat once they exit the womb. We’ve always known that, but starting tomorrow it will be blaringly obvious for the whole world to see.

I wonder what my Congressman and President Trump are eating this weekend.

Janet

More brazen attacks on the U.S. Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is a living, breathing document. It is at the same time sacred yet amendable.

However, we ignore it at our own peril.

The 2028 Presidential Election

Donald Trump started handing out “Trump 2028” baseball caps a few months ago. His supporters think things like that are hilarious. On Tuesday, he said on Air Force One that he might run again. He claimed he hadn’t thought about it, so what are the “Trump 2028” baseball caps about?

Trump and his supporters have a strange sense of humor. It would be unconstitutional for Trump to be elected three times. Keep in mind, they already think he has been elected three times. He and they are in denial that he lost the 2020 election.

When he took the oath of office on January 20, 2025, he swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, so running for a third term as President would break that oath.

The only ways Trump and his supporters knew to react to more than seven million Americans protesting in the streets on October 18 was the (1) call it “fake” news; (2) claim they were being paid to protest; (3) call them names like “left wing lunatics” and “ANTIFA”; and (4) support an AI-generated video put out by the White House in which a crown-wearing Donald Trump piloted a fighter jet that dumped feces on American protesters.

Photo of peaceful demonstrators carrying "No King" signs in Brooklyn, New York
“No Kings” protest in Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Bradley Andrews on Unsplash

All that was easier than taking the protests seriously. All that was easier than giving just one day of respect for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You know the one. It’s the one that gives U.S. citizens the right to exercise free speech. That includes peacefully assembling and protesting. It also guarantees that we have a free press, even though we no longer have a free press at The Pentagon. It also guarantees that we are free to practice any religion or no religion at all and our government will make no laws regulating religion.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Everything that’s being said and done is to distract us from the destruction of the East Wing of the White House and the fact that the Epstein files, which were on the desk of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago, have not been released

Then comes Steve Bannon

Last Thursday, Steve Bannon, who likes to think he is responsible for getting Trump elected in 2016, said that Trump will be elected President again in 2028 and will serve a third term. In other words, — the United States Constitution be damned. He said, “We have a plan.”

I guess he had plenty of time to think and make plans while he was in prison for Trump.

You remember Steve Bannon — the Steve Bannon who went to prison for defying a subpoena in the Congressional investigation of the attempted coup on January 6, 2021, and the Steve Bannon who misled thousands of Trump campaign donors into thinking they were paying for the wall along our border with Mexico. That’s not where their contributions went. Bannon got caught and charged, but Trump pardoned him.

That’s what Trump does. We’ve lost count of how many criminals Trump has pardoned and put back on the streets all while accusing other countries of emptying their prisons and sending their criminals to America.

No, Mr. Trump. A lot of those criminals are your friends, and you are a felon.

So now, what better way to get in the good graces of Trump but to start in 2025 proclaiming that he will be re-elected U.S. President in 2028 even though that’s unlawful.

The law means nothing to these people and it, apparently, means nothing to their supporters. Otherwise, their supporters would be up in arms. Otherwise, their supporters would have been demonstrating in the streets. Otherwise, their supporters would be doing something beside happily going along with everything and anything Trump and the likes of Steve Bannon do or say.

Everything that’s being said is to distract us from the fact that the East Wing of the House was demolished last week and the Epstein files, which were on the desk of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago, have not been released.

Then comes U.S. Representative Randy Fine of Florida

Congressman Randy Fine, who represents the 6th district of Florida is calling for the 22nd Amendment to be repealed for Donald Trump because he brokered a peace settlement in Gaza.

I guess any excuse will do.

Everything that’s being said and done is to distract us from the month-long federal government shutdown, the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, and fact that the Epstein files, which were on the desk of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago, have not been released.

Wording of the 22nd Amendment

Section 1 of the Twenty-Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is easy to understand. It reads as follows:

“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.”

The Twenty-Second Amendment was ratified on February 27, 1951, so it has been the law of the land for nearly 75 years.

Where we are

So here we are. We have a sitting U.S. President talking about breaking the Constitution by running for a third term.

We have a sitting U.S. President who took a wrecking ball to the East Wing of the White House just because he wanted to destroy it.

Everything he destroys is a test. If he gets away with it, he destroys something bigger the next time.

Everything that’s being said and done is to distract us from the month-long federal government shutdown, the bombing of boats in international waters, the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, and fact that the Epstein files, which were on the desk of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago, have not been released. In other words, the men and women in charge of our government couldn’t care less about the trafficking of girls and women by the rich and famous for the purpose of sex.

They are all counting on us not paying attention. They are throwing so much at us every single day that they think we will stop watching and listening. Well, they don’t know me!

Trump is calculating, but he is also a loose cannon. No one knows what he’ll do or say next. It is all a game to him. It is the way he has conducted business all his life. He just runs over people. He makes empty promises.

He says he cares about the poor and the middle class as he laughs all the way to the bank. He says he cares about the American farmer as he slaps tariffs on foreign governments and overnight cut off the farmers’ markets and laughs all the way to the bank.

He sees no difference between business and government – and that, my friends, is the root of the problem. Too many American voters in 2016 and 2024 did not grasp the difference between business and government. They said, “We need a businessman in the White House.” How’s that working for you?

Business is profit driven. Government is not.

Business is by the owner, for the owner, of the owner.

Our government in the United States of America is by the people, for the people, of the people.

Anyone who does not see the difference between business and government in America is woefully uneducated. (Trump famously said, “I love the uneducated!”)

Anyone who thinks the federal government can operate like a business is shortsighted. Show me where in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution where it says the purpose of government is to make a profit.

Sadly, his followers also see it as a game. They have no respect for the 249 years it took our ancestors to build this nation. No respect.

They value nothing but the laughs Trump can supply them with today. They gleefully repost the ludicrous and disgusting AI-generated memes Trump and his minions post on social media, not caring for one minute the hurt and damage those memes are doing to their fellow Americans. They repeat his lies, never questioning the validity of anything he says.

Little-by-little, our rights are being eroded. Laws are ignored. We have a sitting U.S. President who believes and operates as if he is above the law, and his followers think that’s wonderful. No matter what he does or says, they stand by him.

How they have such little regard for their children and grandchildren is beyond my imagination but, since I have no children or grandchildren, I have been told more than once that I do not understand such things, I have no responsibilities, and I do not have a right to an opinion.

As a single woman with no children or grandchildren, I say the U.S. Constitution was nice while it lasted. I’m really going to miss the 22nd Amendment. I’m already missing the promise of The Preamble, most of the 1st Amendment, and many of the guarantees promised in the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments.

And in my heart, I miss the East Wing of the White House even though CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson has been quoted as saying that CNN viewers like me are not interested in that story.

I have said it before and I will say it again: I used to wonder how Hitler brainwashed the people of Germany in the 1930s and accomplished what he did. I no longer wonder. I don’t say that lightly.

I don’t say any of this lightly.

Janet

They erased his words

In case you live in a so-called “Blue State” – one that is not controlled by the Republican Party – you might think that most of the authoritarianism exists on the federal government level.

I live in a state that elected a Democrat for Governor last year (thank goodness!), a Democrat for Lt. Governor (and, therefore, President of the State Senate), and a Democrat for State Attorney General, but our General Assembly – State Legislature – is dominated by Republicans.

Last week, to ensure that President Trump will endorse Phil Berger in the 2026 election, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to redraw/re-gerrymander the U.S. Congressional Districts in our State. Phil Berger is President Pro-Tempore of the N.C. State Senate. He represents the 26th District in the State Senate.

Photo of part of hte North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh
Photo by Elijah Mears on Unsplash

Before last week, North Carolina had 10 Congressional seats held by Republicans and four seats held by Democrats. That wasn’t good enough for Trump, even though he only received 50.86% of the popular vote in North Carolina on November 5, 2024. Trump and his supporters call 50.86% “a mandate.”

Before last week’s vote to blatantly gerrymander North Carolina “because California redrew its map in favor of the Democrats” Don Davis, who just happens to be one of only two black North Carolinians in the U.S. House of Representatives. Under the new map, it will be nigh unto impossible for Don Davis to keep his seat in Congress in the 2026 election.

Before last week, I did not know who Michael Garrett was.

North Carolina State Senator Michael Garrett of Greensboro, who represents the 27th State Senate District in the General Assembly, made a speech on the floor of the Senate chambers. Since the Republicans in the North Carolina Senate voted to strike it from the record, it has been put on YouTube. I invite you to listen to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY8KNA-qTdg (Sen. Michael Garrett Delivers Powerful Speech Against Republican Rigged Maps.)

Senator Garrett’s response to his speech being stricken

In response to his speech being stricken from the official government record, I will share what Mr. Garrett wrote on his NC Senate Facebook page. I copied the following from https://www.democraticunderground.com/106913604. That website says it copied the following “from Michael Garrett NC Senate FB page on NC redistricting,” and I am bringing it to your attention today. Here it is:

“They Were So Afraid, They Erased the Words.”

“Yesterday, I stood on the Senate floor and spoke truth about what happened in North Carolina. About democracy being stolen in broad daylight. About rigged maps and broken promises. About betraying every sacrifice ever made for the right to vote.

“Then something extraordinary happened.

“Senator Grafstein moved that my remarks be spread upon the journal, entered into the permanent record of this body. This is routine. It happens constantly. It’s almost always done without objection, a simple courtesy extended across party lines for speeches on both sides.

“The Republicans immediately objected.

“They forced a vote. And on a straight party line, they voted to keep my words out of the permanent record.

“In my entire time in the Senate, I have never seen this happen.

“Let that sink in for a moment.

“They rigged the maps. Then they voted to erase any record of someone calling them out for it.


“This isn’t about me. This is about what their fear reveals.

“They weren’t afraid of my words because they were false, they were afraid because they were true. They weren’t blocking the record to protect themselves, they were doing it because they know history will judge them harshly for what they did yesterday.

“They stood on that floor, voted to rig our elections at Trump’s command, and then, in the very next breath, tried to memory-hole anyone who dared to say it out loud.

“That’s not the behavior of people confident in their principles. That’s the behavior of people ashamed of their actions.

“If what they did was righteous, they’d want it documented. If their cause was just, they’d welcome debate for the permanent record. If they believed they were serving North Carolina, they’d let history judge them on the merits.

“But they don’t believe any of that. They know what they did was wrong. They know they sold out democracy. They know they chose Trump over the people of North Carolina. They know they stole voices and rigged maps and betrayed their oaths.

“And they’re so ashamed, so terrified that future generations will read what was said and render judgment, that they won’t even let the words stand in the record.

“But you can’t erase truth by blocking it from a journal.

“You can’t make democracy’s defenders disappear by parliamentary procedure. You can’t memory-hole a movement by refusing to record it.

“Those words were said. Thousands watched online. The press reported it. North Carolinians heard it. And now millions more will hear about it, because their attempt to silence it only amplified the message.

“They tried to bury the truth. Instead, they proved it.

“Their fear is our proof. Their shame is our vindication.

“Because you don’t try to erase words from the record unless those words have power. You don’t vote on party lines to block routine motions unless you’re terrified of what they represent. You don’t abandon decades of Senate courtesy unless you know, deep in your bones, that history will not be kind.

“They are losing, and they know it.

“Not today’s vote, they won that. They got their rigged maps. They’ll steal their seats. They’ll cling to power for a few more years.

“But they’re losing the war that matters. The war for legitimacy. The war for history’s judgment. The war for the hearts and minds of the next generation watching this unfold.
“This weekend, millions marched saying “America has no kings.” Yesterday, North Carolina Republicans proved exactly why those marches were necessary. They rigged our elections, tried to erase any record of opposition, then went home thinking they’d won.

“They have no idea what’s coming.

“Because every time they silence a voice, ten more rise up. Every time they rig a map, a thousand more people organize. Every time they betray democracy, a million more Americans understand: this is the fight of our generation, and surrender is not an option.

“Their fear means we’re winning. Their desperation means our movement has power. Their need to erase us from the record means they hear us perfectly, and what they hear terrifies them.

“So we get louder. We organize harder. We fight fiercer.

“They can block words from a journal, but they cannot block the march of justice. They can erase speeches from the record, but they cannot erase the promise from the hearts of a people who refuse to bow to kings.

“They were so afraid of the truth, they voted to erase it from history.

“That tells you everything about the weakness of their cause and everything about the power of ours.

“Yesterday, truth was spoken. Today, they’re still trying to silence it. Tomorrow, we rise louder than before.

“The fight continues. The promise endures. And every desperate attempt they make to silence us only proves we’re saying exactly what they fear most:

“Their time is ending. Democracy’s reckoning is coming. And no rigged map, no stolen vote, no erased record can stop a people who refuse to be silent.

“We’re just getting started.

“#NoKings #NCPolitics #DefendDemocracy #TheyreAfraid #Democracy #WeAreWinning”

Take courage from Michael Garrett’s words

No matter where in the world you live, take courage from Michael Garrett’s words, even though the Republicans in the North Carolina State Senate did not want you to hear them.

As NC Senator Michael Garrett said, the politicians are choosing their voters instead of the voters choosing their politicians.

The wheels are falling off the bus rapidly.

Janet

#OnThisDay: Teddy Roosevelt’s birthday, 1858

With President Trump still bombing boats in international waters in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and sending an aircraft carrier to the coast of Venezuela, it was difficult to settle on a topic for today’s blog post.

I decided to blog about President Theodore Roosevelt’s interest in conservation on the 167th anniversary of his birth. You’ll see why later in this post.

Photo from the Library of Congress of a statue of Teddy Roosevelt on a horse as a "Rough Rider" in the Spanish-American War.
Statue of Theodore Roosevelt as a “Rough Rider” at Roosevelt Park in Minot, North Dakota. (Photo Source: Library of Congress)

United States President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York City. He and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, had a daughter named Alice.

His wife and his mother both died on the same day in 1884, and he went to his ranch in the Badlands of the Dakota Territory to grieve for two years. He hunted big game and drove cattle.

He returned to New York, married Edith Kermit Crow, and they had five children together. Roosevelt began his political career being elected mayor of New York City in 1886. He became well-connected in the Republican Party and was appointed Secretary of the Navy.

He left his post to become a colonel in the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, famously known as the “Rough Riders.” He led the Rough Riders in the Battle of San Juan in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

After the war, Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York. He was selected to be William McKinley’s Vice-Presidential running mate. McKinley became U.S. President in 1900.

When President McKinley was assassinated on September 6, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became the U.S. President.

The main thing Roosevelt is remembered for, in addition to being a “Rough Rider,” was his conservation efforts. During his time in office, he set aside nearly 200 million acres of land for national forests, reserves, and wildlife refuges.

Unfortunately, he wanted Native Americans removed from many of their ancestral territories to create those preserved lands. Some 86 million acres of Native American tribal land became national forests.

He was re-elected U.S. President in 1904.

Since Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for his conservation efforts, it is only right to also blog today about current U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to destroy the environment.

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

On Friday, the Trump Administration announced that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is now open for drilling.

This is what https://www.fws.gov/refuge/arctic said about the Refuge on Oct. 24, 2025. The website had not been updated due to the federal government shutdown, so I decided to cut and paste the following before someone decides to update it and replace all the positive details with glowing descriptions of Trump’s famous mindset of “drill, baby, drill!”:

“Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sustains people, wildlife, and fish in the northeastern corner of Alaska, a vast landscape of rich cultural traditions and thriving ecological diversity. It is located on the traditional homelands of the Iñupiat and Gwichʼin peoples.

“Approximately the size of South Carolina, the refuge has no roads or facilities. The lands and waters are a critical home to migratory and resident wildlife, have unique recreational values, and contain the largest designated Wilderness within the National Wildlife Refuge System. Many people may know of the refuge by an abbreviation: ANWR (pronounced an-whar). The full name reminds us that the refuge is part of our national heritage, designated for wildlife conservation.

“A trip to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge can be an inspiring, life-changing experience. Whether you want to photograph, fish, hunt, challenge yourself with travel in the backcountry, or just spend quiet time in an immense and humbling landscape, this is a truly remarkable place.

“All refuge lands are open to the public, and there are no visitor fees or specific entry points. Visitors plan and arrange their own transportation, trip locations, and itineraries; careful preparation, and self-reliance are a must. There are no roads, established trails, or facilities of any type within the refuge’s 19 million acres. Most bring their own food and gear, and access the refuge by air taxi, flying in from nearby communities. First-time visitors may wish to participate in a guided trip. Even experienced visitors may wish to use the support of commercial recreational services (see Tours for information about authorized recreational guides, hunting guides, and air taxi operators). Although there is no cell phone coverage, satellite phones do work in many areas. Explore the Activities section and see Rules and Policies for additional helpful trip planning information.”

The underlined words are clickable on the website and there is also an interactive map.

I decided to cut and paste so much of the description because it will never be that way again.

With oil drilling taking place all over the place, areas will be closed to the public.

With drilling taking place all over the place, it will no longer be a safe refuge for the amazing wildlife of Alaska.

Shame on Donald Trump and his minions!

I naively thought that once a piece of land was designated as a national park, national forest, national seashore, national wildlife refuge, etc., it was safe from a future President destroying it. Of course, I also thought the East Wing of the White House was safe from destruction by a U.S. President.

Janet

Demolition of East Wing of White House

This is what the United States Liar-in-Chief said in July about the construction of his $250 million 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House: “It won’t interfere with the current building…. It’ll be near it but not touching it — and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”

The demolition of the East Wing of the White House started yesterday.

In my search at 7:30 last night for a photograph of the East Wing that was in the public domain so I could share it on my blog, I ended up looking at what Wikipedia had to say about . (By the way, I didn’t find a photo I had the right to use.) I discovered that Wikipedia’s page about the East Wing had already been updates. It was worded in the past tense, as follows:

“The East Wing of the White House was a two-story structure that served as office space for the first lady and her staff, including the White House social secretary, White House Graphics and Calligraphy Office and correspondence staff. On the ground floor, the East Wing included the visitors’ entrance and the East Colonade, a corridor connecting the body of the East Wing to the Executive Residence. Along the corridor was the White House theater, also called the family theater….”

The East Wing of the White House was completed in 1942 to cover the underground Presidential Emergency Operations Center.

I have no words.

Well, actually, I have a lot of words, but I cannot put most of them in print.

Can anyone say, “Madman” or “Dictator?”

Trump has accomplished what the terrorists on September 11, 2001, were prevented from doing.

In case you think this cannot possibly be true, please check out the photographs and reports from six online news resources:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-begins-demolition-of-part-of-east-wing-for-trumps-ballroom/ar-AA1OQbUI?ocid=BingNewsSerp

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/part-of-white-house-demolished-in-trump-ballroom-construction/ar-AA1OQCFH?ocid=BingNewsSerp

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/demolition-begins-to-replace-white-house-east-wing-with-trump-s-ballroom/ar-AA1OQuy5?ocid=BingNewsSerp

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2025-10-20/trump-begins-demolition-to-prepare-for-white-house-ballroom

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ced6np51532o

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-demolishes-part-of-white-house-as-he-builds-his-tacky-ballroom/ar-AA1OPTDI?ocid=BingNewsSerp

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/portions-of-white-house-east-wing-being-demolished-amid-ballroom-construction/ar-AA1OQdUj?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Janet

Some good news from Massachusetts Institute of Technology!

I rarely have good news to blog about, so I’m delighted to dedicate my entire post today to some good news that came from President Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) last Friday.

Photo of the seal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technoloy
Photo by Mohammed Shonar on Unsplash

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has recently invited nine colleges and universities to sign a compact to change admissions policies and the way they hire faculty. By signing the compact, the colleges and universities give up their right to make public a stance on societal or political events. They must be neutral, as in no opinion, no free thinking, no thoughts whatsoever. You know, sort of like operating in an authoritarian nation.

They must also agree to define sex as “male” and “female.” They must do all this while they ensure there is “a broad spectrum of viewpoints” on their campuses. I’m not sure how you can do that while meeting the other requirements. Some of the requirements appear to negate the others.

In return for signing the compact, a college would receive preferential treatment for federal funding. It seems like a high price to pay.

Photo at one of the iconic buildings on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Photo by Muzammil Soorma on Unsplash

On Friday, October 10, 2025, in a letter to Secretary McMahon, MIT President Sally Kornbluth rejected the promised preferential treatment and refused to sign the compact. It was reported that in her letter, Kornbluth indicated that MIT disagrees with principles set forth by the Trump Administration in the compact and signing it would restrict the school’s freedom of speech and independence.

MIT is the first of the nine colleges to respond to Secretary McMahon’s offer of preferential treatment. Other schools that received McMahon’s offer for preferential treatment in return to selling their souls to the Trump Administration include are Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Arizona, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University.

It seems to me that most of the people who have stood up to President Trump have been women. My mother would be so proud of them!

Here’s a link to the ten-page “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”: https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/compact-for-academic-excellence-in-higher-education-10-1-68de9071401bf.pdf .

I think any school that signs the compact needs to remove the word “university” from its name.

Janet

This is why there’s no compromising in the US Congress

Last Friday, October 10, 2025, my blog post was “My Congressman sent a newsletter,” and as much as I hate giving him free publicity, I will blog today about his October 11, 2025, newsletter.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, I believe his October 11, 2025, newsletter illustrates the current standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the United States Congress.

By the way, Representative Harris still has not responded to my email to him on October 4, even though I requested a response and his newsletter on October 11 states, “We are always here to serve YOU!”

Photo of The US Capitol Building
Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash

These are the opening statements in U.S. Representative Mark Harris’ October 11, 2025 newsletter to his constituents in the North Carolina 8th District:

“Dear Janet,

“Week three of the Schumer Shutdown, and the radical Democrats are still holding America hostage!

“House Republicans have already done our job by passing a clean, no-fluff, no-strings-attached spending resolution to fund the government. But the Left, obsessed with its woke agenda, is refusing to fund the government unless they get free healthcare for illegal aliens and funds for transgender surgeries. This is an assault on American values!

“Enough is enough! If Democrats want to play dirty, we’ll use this opportunity to continue advancing the America First agenda by cutting wasteful federal departments and programs. If they’re not critical now, they don’t belong in our budget. 

“I applaud the OMB Director Russ Vought for already slashing and exposing the waste, fraud, and abuse in our government. He’s already cancelled $8 billion in Green New Scam funding. He also halted $18 billion in New York City projects tainted with unconstitutional DEI principles. This is what draining the swamp looks like!

“If Chuck Schumer and his cronies keep stonewalling, we’ll keep cutting. Director Vought should continue to use this opportunity to cut wasteful programs and departments.

“But I want to make it clear, despite the shutdown, my office is open and still working for YOU. If you have questions about this issue or need assistance, please contact my office! We are always here to serve YOU!”

Those opening remarks were followed by a section titled, “Obamacare is a scam!” Next was “Bring them home. End the War” about the war in Gaza. That was followed by a section called, “Here are some other news stories of what I’ve been up to lately” which included seven links.

Rep. Harris continued Saturday’s newsletter with “Constituent Corner: This week, I had the profound honor of preaching at GraceWay Baptist Church, right here in the heart of North Carolina. It was a truly uplifting experience to worship alongside a congregation so deeply devoted to their faith, reflecting God’s love and obedience in their daily lives. Their commitment to living out Christian values was inspiring, and I am grateful for the warm fellowship we shared.”

My thoughts

What Mr. Harris does on his own time is not my concern, as long as it’s not illegal. After all, the founders of the United States wanted our Senators and Representatives to be citizens and not professional politicians. So, Mr. Harris preaching is not in and of itself a problem, as long as he did not use his sermon as a campaign speech.

I worry about the blurring of the lines between church and state. The separation of the two is a foundation and strength of our country. Americans are free to practice any faith or no faith. Our government does not have the right to make laws regarding the practice of religion.

Out of curiosity, I visited the website of the church at which Mr. Harris preached last week. I immediately noticed they offer no Sunday morning groups for single adults ages 30 through 54. Everything for those ages is labeled for couples. Any church that sees its mission as providing activities/support only for married people in any age category is lacking in its vision. I don’t recall that Jesus Christ held gatherings just for married people, but I digress from the point of this blog post.

Janet

It was an interesting Friday

When I planned my blog’s editorial calendar for 2025, I thought I would be writing today about the 233rd anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the White House.

I thought I would write about the construction of the White House; how it survived the flames at the hands of the British on August 24, 1814; and its current transformation during the Trump Administration.

That’s what I thought until Friday. So much happened on Friday, I decided to ditch my earlier plans and focus today on more pressing concerns. I also want to catch you up on some of my writing projects.

Ramifications of the federal government shutdown

Photo of a sign that says, Sorry. We're closed."
Photo by the blowup on Unsplash

More than 4,000 federal government employees were fired on Friday by the Trump Administration as the White House continues to blame the Democrats for the shutdown. President Trump announced that the “layoffs” would be “in Democrat programs” and the Democrats need “a dose of its own medicine.”

I’ve always thought that federal programs were for all Americans, regardless of their political leanings or voter registration. In 2025, though, it appears that the programs and services provided by the federal government are being labeled as “Democrat” and “Republican.”

The ones seen by President Trump as being “Democrat” are now fair game for being slashed and the employees who implement those services will be fired.

I thought it was against federal law for government employees to be fired based solely on the existence of a government shutdown, but I guess I was misinformed.

As the federal government shutdown continued and neither side showed the will to compromise, we entered the weekend anticipating something we usually don’t see during a government shutdown: 1.3 members of our military not getting a paycheck on the 15th of the month. However, President Trump said on Saturday that he had found the money somewhere to pay the military.

Democrats in Congress attempted to bring a bill to a vote on Friday for the military to be paid, but Republicans blocked the vote. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the Republicans voted three weeks ago on the budget, which would have provided pay for the military. Johnson’s paycheck not being affected by the shutdown, he seemed unable to consider the hardship his actions/inactions would cause most military families.

The weekly newsletter I received from my U.S. Representative on Saturday plainly illustrates the standoff between the two political parties in the U.S. Congress. I will share that newsletter with you in tomorrow’s blog post as we sink deeper into this shutdown and all the uncertainties and hardship it causes.

The Nobel Prize for Peace

Photo of letters spelling PEACE on a quilted white fabric background
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

President Trump will whine about the Nobel Peace Prize for the rest of his life. He claims Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan woman who won it on Friday, called him that day and told him he “really deserved it.” He claims to have ended eight wars since January 20.

A detail that seemed to be missed by Trump was that nominations had to be submitted by January 31, 2025. That was just ten days into his second term. He has campaigned to receive the Nobel Prize all year. Most people who are awarded the prize don’t do that. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of anyone else who has openly begged for it.

True to form, a few days ahead of the announcement of the award, Trump said that it was rigged and he probably not receive it. After the announcement on Friday, Trump said that the Nobel Committee “put politics above peace” in awarding it to Maria Corina Machado. He also once again claimed that President Barack Obama received it “for doing nothing but destroying our country.”

Has anyone ever seen a 79-year-old be such a sore loser?

Qatari Air Force coming to Idaho

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made a stunning announcement on Friday. He said that Qatar is going to build an air base at Mountain Home, Idaho. These was shocking, especially in light of the fact that in 2027 President Trump called  Qatar “a big funder of terrorism.”  

A few hours later, on Friday night, Hegseth had to clarify his announcement – which had been heard around the world. Actually, Qatar is NOT building an air base in Idaho or anywhere else in the United States. They will send fighter pilots to the U.S. Air Force Base in Idaho to train.

Whew! That’s a relief!

We knew there would have to be a payoff after Qatar gave Trump that $400 million plane that the U.S. taxpayers are paying $1 billion to rehabilitate so Trump can take it with him if he ever moves out of the White House. Perhaps this is the beginning of the payoff.

I don’t think Hegseth majored in communications in college.

President Trump’s semi-annual annual physical

Photo of a white clinched fist coming out of a solid black background because Donald Trump often raises his fist deviantly.
Photo by shahreboye on Unsplash. (I tried to find a picture of an x-ray of a fist. That would have been more appropriate!)

President Trump had his second “annual” physical exam on Friday and was once again pronounced to be “in excellent health” even though he doesn’t appear to be and he doesn’t speak like a person in “excellent health.”

Additional tariffs on China

President Trump announced tariffs imposed on China amounting to 130%. Since most things American buy were manufactured in China, the coming months or years should be interesting.

I’m fortunate because I already have everything I need. I shouldn’t need to buy anything but food and medicine for the foreseeable future.

As an aside, I noticed last week that the cereal I often eat for breakfast came from Germany instead of Canada. It’s been coming from Canada for years. I’m still trying to figure out how it can be cost effective for a box of cereal to be shipped all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps it is grown in Germany and packaged in the United States. It is a wheat product. I don’t have anything against Germany, but I’d prefer to get my wheat from farmers in the United States or Canada. It just makes more sense.

A Quote from Sunday

If I hadn’t heard it, I wouldn’t have believed it. The 4th Congressional District of Ohio must be so proud of their U.S. Representative, Jim Jordan. Yesterday on TV, Representative Jordan said, “I think the ICE agents are doing the Lord’s work.”

What a horrible thing to say about Jesus Christ!

The Christ that I worship would never condone masked men going around snatching people on the street or out of their beds in the middle of the night, pepper spraying a Presbyterian pastor who was praying for them and their detainees, detaining people for months on end, then deporting them (or not – perhaps just detaining them indefinitely) to random countries where they don’t speak the language.

I think Mr. Jordan needs to read the New Testament. He has been misinformed if he thinks ICE agents are doing “the Lord’s work.”

My writing projects

I continue to try to spread the word about my devotional book and the companion Journal and Diary on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. I Need The Light! 26 Weekly Devotionals to Help You Through Winter AND I Need The Light! Companion Journal and Diary are available on Amazon and from your favorite bookstore. We need all the help we can get as we navigate the next six months.

Photo of the front cover of I Need The Light! 26 Weekly Devotionals to Help You Through Winter by Janet Morrison
I Need The Light! 26 Weekly Devotionals to Help You Through Winter, by Janet Morrison

Photo of the cover of I Need The Light! Companion Journal and Diary, by Janet Morrison. It features a clump of bare trees on a hilltop covered in snow. The sun is shining through the top tree limbs.
I Need The Light! Companion Journal and Diary, by Janet Morrison

I edited several of the historical short stories I have written for my upcoming book: Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. My sister and I are doing one more proofread. I created a bookmark for the book on Bookbrush.com. I also created an information sheet about it to distribute to independent bookstores and the public library system here in Cabarrus County.

Want to see what part of the cover looks like?

This is a partial image of Janet Morrison's upcoming book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories
Partial cover of Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories

I hope to have the book ready to self-publish through IngramSpark and Kindle Direct Publishing before the end of October, so stay tuned!

See – I don’t spend ALL my time tracking the political news. Each of us must find a way to put one foot in front of the other every single day as we navigate unchartered ground.

Janet