Category: Racism & Bigotry

Meanwhile, in Washington, DC

Here are some snippets of just a few of the things that have taken place in and around Washington, D.C. in the last ten days or so. Most of them aren’t getting much coverage by the mainstream news media.

I’m sorry this is so long. I’m only the messenger, and it’s only Wednesday night as I put the finishing touches on this. It just might be my longest blog post ever. That in itself is indicative of the state of things in America today.

Photo of the White House, Washingon, D.C.
The White House, Washington, D.C.

Another mass school shooting in America

Yesterday’s mass shooting at a school in Minnesota was met with “thoughts and prayers” and flags lowered to half-staff at the White House. Isn’t it a shame that is all politicians can do? Their “thoughts and prayers” are not stopping the bullets.

Cruelty at the highest level

I mentioned the mysterious influence that Laura Loomer has over President Trump in my August 19, 2025, blog post, Trump and one of his “advisors”.

It seems Loomer has not gone away or tamped down her hatred for certain groups of people. She was upset that a few severely injured Palestinian children from Gaza were being brought to the United States for medical care. Children who were missing arms and legs, children with severe burns, etc. Loomer called them a “national security threat” and “Islamic invaders.”

On Friday, August 15, Loomer spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the next day the State Department announced it was pausing all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza.

Guns for National Guard Troops in Washington, DC

Last Friday evening, U.S Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC to start carrying their weapons.

National Guard troops are trained for war, not for everyday crime control on the street of America.

Trump has turned our nation’s capital into a police state and his followers think it is a beautiful thing. To them, the ends always justify the means.

That’s how far we have moved away from understanding the Constitution of the United States of America, the law, and the spirit of the law. The “party of law and order” has lost its way and lost sight of the law and is only interested in their idea of “order.”

The Posse Comitatus Act limits the federal government in the use of U.S. military personnel in the enforcement of domestic policies within the United States. First signed into law in 1878, the bill has been updated in 1956, 1981, and 2021.

The Posse Comitatus Act does not prevent the Army or the Air National Guard from acting in a law enforcement capacity in its home state or in an adjacent state if invited by that state’s governor.

But, at the invitation from Trump, various state governors have fallen in line and sent their National Guard troops or promised/offered to send their National Guard troops to Washington, DC or wherever Trump chooses to send them. The letter of the law: “home state or in an adjacent state if invited by that state’s governor” has fallen by the wayside.

In the meantime, National Guard personnel are being called upon to leave their families, their businesses, and their jobs to deploy to Washington, DC to do whatever Trump decides they should do.

The National Guard is being turned into a political pawn, which absolutely goes against the United States Constitution and all federal laws regarding the military.

I’ll have more about the National Guard and various other topics in my blog post tomorrow.

Hegseth fires more top military personnel

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, Head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. It just so happens that Gen. Kruse issued a report saying that the U.S. airstrikes against Iran several months ago only set back Iran’s nuclear program by months. His report contradicted Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that Iran’s nuclear program had been “obliterated.”

This is proof once more that Trump does not want the truth. He wants unquestioning loyalty like he sees dictators in North Korea, China, and Russia getting.

Hegseth also fired Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore and Rear Admiral Milton Sands. Lacore was chief officer of the Navy Reserve. Sands oversaw Naval Special Warfare Command and was a Navy SEAL.

No reasons were given for the firings, and no public announcements were made by the Defense Department. They were just quietly done late on a Friday when the public is not supposed to be paying attention.

600+ cuts at CDC

More than 600 researchers and other employees of the Centers for Disease Control are expected to receive their notices of termination this week. This is all part of the Trump Administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.

It is ironic that the entire CDC Division of Violence Prevention is being eliminated as part of this wave of firings just days after a gunman who thought the COVID vaccine had made him sick sprayed the campus of the CDC with more than 500 bullets.

New CDC Director fired

Centers for Disease Control Director Susan Monarez was fired yesterday just four weeks and one day after obtaining Congressional approval for the position. In her confirmation hearings she seemed to struggle to champion vaccines, knowing that was contradicting the long-held beliefs Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., holds.

New CDC Director fired

Centers for Disease Control Director Susan Monarez was fired yesterday just four weeks and one day after obtaining Congressional approval for the position. In her confirmation hearings she seemed to struggle to champion vaccines, knowing that was contradicting the long-held beliefs Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., holds.

Within minutes of Monarez’s firing, Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Demetre Daskalakis, and Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases turned in their resignations.

Established on July 1, 1946, the Centers for Disease Control has saved countless lives around the world. It is truly a global tragedy to see what the Trump Administration has done to it.

Threats of ABC and NBC broadcast licenses revoked

On social media on Sunday, Trump all but called for ABC and NBC to lose their broadcast licenses. He said he would support that move by the Federal Communications Commission. He called the two TV networks arms of the Democratic Party and claimed that their reporting is 97% negative about him.

We are moving into extremely dangerous territory as Trump wants to eliminate the free press.

Meanwhile, my Congressman’s newsletters get more disgusting

My “Representative” in the U.S. House of Representatives is on a tear now to stop parents from taking their minor daughters across state lines to get an abortion. It is called the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. He says, “this should be the first of many steps Congress takes to end the tragedy of abortion and preying on the vulnerable.”

If he cared one iota for that pregnant minor child, he would work on legislation to go after the low life man who got that child pregnant. But no! He wants to go after her parents and he wants to force that child to have a baby.

In the same newsletter he claimed that Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” will result in “annual wages in North Carolina rising by roughly $5,500 to $10,500 in the long term.” He does not explain how the “big, beautiful bill” will make that happen, nor does he define “long term.” Ten years? 45 years?

That probably sounds great to his constituents who hang on his every word and trust him since he is a Southern Baptist preacher.

This is the same man I could not email about the starving children in Gaza or any of my other concerns while Congress was on vacation the last week of July and the entire month of August because there was “no server available to receive your email.”

He disgusts me.

Russia bombs American manufacturing plant in Ukraine

Two Russian missiles hit an American-owned electronic manufacturing plan in Ukraine.

Ever the tough guy against Russia, Trump responded: “I told [Putin] I’m not happy about it.”

Wow! Putin will be afraid to do that again!

$4 billion wind farm halted by Trump Administration

Trump continues to spit in the face of sources of renewable energy.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management cited “national security interests” when it ordered the developers of Revolution Wind to “halt all ongoing activities” off the coast of Rhode Island.

The Department of the Interior does not recognize windmills as a “reasonable use of the exclusive economic zone.”

Plans to the 65-turbine windfarm were approved on November 17, 2023, and the project is 80% complete.

If the windfarm’s construction had been allowed completion, beginning in the spring of 2026 it would have generated enough electricity to power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Another crypto scheme

I use the word “scheme” in the true American use of the term. In the U.S., the word “scheme” carries negative connotations.

It seems that Trump keeps tricking his supporters into investing in crypto. I do not feel sorry for them. The pattern is that he promotes a new crypto investment, calling it a “crypto treasury” firm. People invest, Trump cashes out, and everyone else loses.

The Wall Street Journal commented that there is a pattern here.

Trump invests in corporate and government bonds

It has been reported that Trump has invested more than $100 million in corporate and government bonds since January 20. No wonder he keeps pressuring The Fed to lower interest rates. When that happens, he will make out like a bandit.

Can anyone say, “blackmail”?

Democrat Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, invited the President to came to Baltimore and join in a “public safety walk” with him and the city’s mayor and other law enforcement officials. In response, Trump said Moore needed to clean up the crime in the city or he would send in the National Guard and possibly withhold federal funds for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key bridge that was rammed and heavily damaged by a barge last year.

Trump quietly stations U.S. military off the coast of Venezuela

Three U.S. Navy Aegis guided-missile destroyers and other military ships and planes have been sent to the coast of Venezuela. The official White House explanation is that it is an anti-illegal drug operation, but it is no secret that Trump wants to overthrow the Maduro regime. After all, this month he issued a $50 million bounty for Maduro’s capture. Trump tried unsuccessfully to overthrow Maduro during his first term in office.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security in violation of the law

In violation of the Federal Records Act, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is not maintaining any text messages generated since April 9, 2025. All federal agencies are required to keep all records of government operations and transactions. So far, though, there are no ramifications.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wanted her own plane several months ago. Now she wants the department to have its own fleet of planes to use to deport people.

Alligator Alcatraz closing?

The “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in Florida was built and operated at a cost of $400 million. After being operational for two months, Gov. DeSantis says it isn’t needed any more because Homeland Security has done such a great job of deporting people.

I plan a blog post on Tuesday about one of those individuals who has been forced to leave the United States.

Federal Reserve Board of Governors

On Monday, Trump attempted to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Board of Governors of the quasi-private Federal Reserve. She said she isn’t leaving her position and is suing the Trump Administration. Ms. Cook is the first African-American woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

FEMA employees put on administrative leave

A letter signed by 180 current and former employees of the Federal Emergency Management Administration went to the FEMA Review Council and Congress on Monday. The letter sounded the alarm that recent cuts to FEMA staff and programs have greatly diminished the government’s capacity to respond to a major disaster.

On Tuesday night, at least two of the signers of the letter were placed on administrative leave indefinitely.

Still attacking Harvard University

On Tuesday, Trump instructed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to get $500 million from Harvard University and not to negotiate that figure.

Union Station in Washington, DC

A week after Vice President Vance, Defense Secretary Hegseth, and White House Assistant Chief of Staff Stephen Miller were booed at a photo op with National Guard troops at the train station in Washington, DC, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced that the federal government is taking control of the train station.

White House Tours Suspended

Without any advance warning, all public tours of the White House have been halted indefinitely.

The White House tours webpage of the National Park Service has been taken down and replaced with, “We’re working on this page. Please check back later.”

This means that school groups and tourists will not be allowed inside the White House until further notice. It does not matter to Trump that these tours are usually schedule months in advance.

There is speculation this came about due to the start of construction of Trump’s 90,000-square-foot $200 million ballroom slated for September 1.

So, “The People’s House” is now closed to “The People.” I can’t help but wonder if it will ever be open to “the people” again. If Trump can figure out a way to charge admission, I’m sure he will.

Just when we thought the baseball caps couldn’t get worse…

Last Friday, Trump paraded around Washington and inside the Oval Office in front of TV cameras wearing a new edition of his baseball caps. “Make America Great Again” wasn’t bad enough.

Trump’s new bright red cap screams out in all capital letters, “Trump Was Right About Everything.”

How sad it is to see a U.S. President wearing a baseball cap so much of the time. Apparently, his wealthy up-bringing failed to tell him that men should not wear a hat inside a building… much less a baseball cap with a ridiculous falsehood on it – inside the Oval Office. I cannot un-see it.

This is the same man who publicly berated Ukrainian President Zelenskyy earlier this year for not wearing a suit to the White House. Yet, he thinks wearing a bright red baseball cap with a huge lie on it while wearing a navy blue suit and sitting behind his desk is appropriate attire for the U.S. President. The only thing that could make it worse would be a bright red suit.

There is apparently a new MAGA cap. It says, “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again.” MASGA. Please tell me this is a joke.

How embarrassing for those of us who see all this for the farce it is. This is tackiness on steroids.

My apologies for the things I forgot to mention, the things I don’t know about, and the things that happened since I scheduled this post last night.

Janet

Another Roundup of Odds & Ends

I seem to be falling into a routine of writing a Friday roundup of happenings in the U.S. Government. Since I have some good and exciting news to blog about tomorrow, I’ll get this week’s roundup of Washington, DC happenings out of the way on Thursday.

It might seem petty for me to comment on the “little” things Trump does, but when you look at them all together you can’t help but see a pattern. All the “little” distractions are intended to make us not see the big picture.

Here we go…

Painting the wall black

Photo of vertical streaks of black paint on the white background
Photo by Kilian Seiler on Unsplash

Trump not only appoints and hires the best people. He also gives them the best jobs to do. A case in point is that he has ordered his “big, beautiful wall” that separates part of the United States from part of Mexico black to make it hotter.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has been unable to report how much all that black paint is costing the American taxpayers, much less people being paid to do the painting.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Where is the Department of Government Efficiency? DOGE has gone quiet.

More White House redecorating?

Apparently, destroying Jackie Kennedy’s beautiful rose garden and replacing it with a concrete patio replete with gutters made in the image of the U.S. flag was not enough.

Building a 90,000-square foot $200 million ballroom on the White House lawn will not be enough.

It appears that the West Colonnade – the iconic walkway that connects the residence quarters of the White House with the West Wing presidential offices – is Trump’s next target.

White House West Colonnade. Photo from the Library of Congress.

With the help of Jeanine Pirro, a former TV personality who Trump appointed to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, it looks like the beautiful colonnade is being transformed into another picture frame gallery since every inch of the Oval Office wall is now covered in picture frames and there’s not room for one more gaudy gold frame.

Trump must own stock in a company that makes gaudy gold picture frames.

Since the West Colonnade walkway is open to the elements of nature, it doesn’t seem to me to be an ideal place to hang pictures, but nobody asked me.

This is wrong on many levels, and it begs the question: “Why do the President of the United States and the new U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia have time to redecorate the White House?

It’s almost as if Trump plans to never leave.

Did Trump forget the name of the Pacific Ocean?

I do not watch Trump’s favorite TV network. Never have. Never would. Never will. I prefer to get my news from reliable sources and not from puppets of the Trump Regime.

That being said, I saw a quote from Trump’s conversation on that network on Tuesday morning where he appeared to forget the name of the Pacific Ocean. He has a clever way of covering up his gaffes. He does that by never speaking in complete sentences.

Here’s what Trump was quoted as saying on Tuesday after he called in to his favorite TV network’s early morning show:  “You know we have an ocean that’s separating us, right? A thing called…. an ocean. A big, beautiful ocean. And, uh, they don’t, they’re right there. So it’s a different kind of a thing for them.”

It is embarrassing that all other world leaders have a better command of the English language than the President of the United States.

It reminds me of the time during his first term when Trump discovered that Puerto Rico is surrounded by water.

Trump proclaims himself “a war hero”

Donald Trump, who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War by paying a doctor to claim he had bone spurs, has proclaimed himself to be “a war hero” because he sent planes to help Israel bomb Iran.

On a TV show on Tuesday night, Trump started out talking about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but his attention quickly turned to himself, as it usually does. Trump said, “[Netanyahu is] a war hero because we work together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am too. Nobody cares, but I am, too. I mean, I sent theses planes.”

I’ll just leave it at that.

Continuing war on renewable power

Photo of the top of a modern windmill
Photo by Tom Arran on Unsplash

As the rest of the world pursues a future using renewable energy, on Wednesday Trump vowed that his administration will not issue permits for any solar or wind power projects.

Trump said that wind and solar energy are a scam. He wrote, “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!”

I guess the days of the United States leading the way into new and better sources of power are over.

(I can’t let this go without quoting my high school senior English teacher, Mrs. Cline, saying, “One exclamation point is sufficient.” Maybe Trump never took an English class. There’s certainly no evidence that he did.)

Mail-in ballots, anyone?

After taking Vladimir Putin’s advice on how to run an honest election, on Monday, Trump said he would issue an Executive Order to stop all mail-in voting in the United States.

Photo of part of a mail-in voting envelope
Photo by Obi on Unsplash

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to walk that back on Tuesday by saying that what Trump meant to say was that he would work through Congress to make such a change.

My first thought on Monday was that Trump’s plan/threat would mean our military personnel deployed outside the United States would no longer be able to vote. Is that really what Trump wants? He claims to love the military when he’s not calling them suckers and losers.

Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey threw himself into the fray on Tuesday when he said, “Other times, people who are passed away—these are real people I spoke to, large numbers of them, and it’s indicative of what happened around the country.” This brings to mind that famous quote from a movie, “I see dead people walking.” New Jersey has a U.S. Representative who talks to them.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but public education in Oklahoma has taken another turn

Photo of the alphabet on a dark background
Photo by Jessicah Hast on Unsplash

Most of us can be glad we don’t live in Oklahoma or have children attending the public schools there. You may recall that I paid my respects to Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters in my August 13, 2025, blog post, We can only hope other states don’t follow Oklahoma!.

Walters continues to make the news as he has now put in place what he called an “America First” Test for teachers moving to Oklahoma from predominantly Democratic states.

You read that correctly. Only teachers moving into Oklahoma from states that voted for Kamala Harris instead of for Donald Trump in the 2024 election are required to take this test.

You can’t make this stuff up!

The test is based on Walters’ assumption that everyone who lives in a “red state” supports everything Trump says and does and everyone who lives in a “blue state” disagrees with everything Trump says and does. At least he’s only in charge of public education in Oklahoma and not the entire country!

I understand there were 50 questions on the test ranging from which chromosomes determine a baby’s sex to how many United States Senators there are, to one about freedom of religion being important to a nation’s identity.

That’s bizarre, considering it is the Republican Party that seems hell bent on making all Americans conservative right-wing Democrat-hating Christians.

Under the U.S. Constitution, we currently have freedom of religion, which also means we have freedom from religion. The government cannot dictate which religion I practice and I am free to practice no religion at all.

Walters was quoted as saying this about the test: “You’re not going to come in here and teach that there’s 27 genders. There’s boys and girls. That’s in our science standards. You’re going to come in, and you’re not going to undermine American exceptionalism by teaching anti-American, anti-Semitic hate.” 

Where do these Republicans get off accusing “woke” people as being anti-Semitic? It has been my experience that Trump supporters are more likely to be anti-Semitic than anyone else, but maybe my personal observations are wrong.

The most bizarre part of all this is that Donald Trump shows no signs of believing in God or any power higher than himself. Why conservative right-wing Christians have fallen under his spell will forever baffle me.

Back to the “woke” test in Oklahoma… Is it not important for Republican teachers to know about chromosomes, the US Senate, and freedom of religion? I guess not.

The objective in Oklahoma is clear. It is not to attract good teachers. It is to attract narrow-minded, easily-influenced teachers who are willing to profess they only vote for Republicans.

Another issue we hoped was dead, but it isn’t

Trump has vowed to double down on all museums in the United States because he thinks they are “too woke” and they spend too much space and time talking about “how bad slavery was.”

Does this mean that museums will now have to tell us how good slavery was?

Photo of a black person's fist with a rope tied around it
Photo credit: Tasha Jolley on unsplash.com

If nothing else, this points to two things: (1) Donald Trump is a racist and (2) he can only view slavery as being good for the economy. How else can anyone human being see slavery as a good thing?

He says he is going to send lawyers into the museums to get rid of all the “woke” exhibits. He says he will start with the Smithsonian Institution.

This is either insanity, dementia, or pure evil.

Regardless of the root of Trump’s problem, it is the rewriting and literal white-washing of American history.

If we cannot depend on the Smithsonian Institution to present our history – the good, the bad, and the ugly – then there is nothing we can depend on.

Can’t someone make him stop?

Janet

The militarization of police in the United States

After seeing pictures of armored vehicles patrolling the streets of Washington, DC last week, I was pleased on Friday that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) issued an “Action Alert” called “Call to Action: Lamenting Increased Militarism on our City Streets.”

The Call to Action for members to write letters opened with two Bible verses:

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares… neither shall they learn war anymore.” —Isaiah 2:4

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” —Matthew 5:9

PC(USA) Call to Action

Church members were encouraged to personalize the letter and send it to President Trump, Vice President Vance, their U.S. Senators, and their U.S Representative. The letters sent out by the denomination read as follows:

“As followers of Jesus Christ and members of the Presbyterian Church (USA), scripture calls us to speak with moral clarity in times of injustice. Today, we lament the increasing militarization of our cities and public spaces—a trend that undermines public trust, deepens racial and economic injustice, and distracts from policies that criminalize poverty, target immigrants and vulnerable populations, and threaten democracy. 

“In recent years, law enforcement agencies nationwide have increasingly utilized military-grade weapons, advanced surveillance technologies, and patrolled our city streets with marked and unmarked armored vehicles. Under the first Trump administration this trend reached new and dangerous heights. In June 2020, peaceful protestors in Lafayette Square were violently dispersed with tear gas and riot control tactics, clearing the way for a photo opportunity misappropriating the Christian religion as a justification for authoritarian control. Federal agents were deployed to cities like Portland without the consent of local officials—actions condemned by civil rights organizations, faith leaders, and international observers alike.

“While these images drew public outcry in years past, the patterns of state violence have not only continued but evolved in recent months under the current Trump Administration. This misuse of policing is not impartial as it disproportionately targets Black and brown communities. Children and teenagers have become primary targets in federal crackdowns masquerading as public safety efforts. In major cities, ICE enforcement actions have significantly increased. Sweeps targeting immigrant and unhoused communities are being conducted with tactical units, not housing specialists or social workers. 

“This month, despite violent crime in Washington, D.C. being at a 30-year low—with violent crime down 26%, homicides down 12%, carjackings down 37%, and overall incidents down more than 35% from 2023— President Trump declared a safety emergency and invoked a little-used clause of the D.C. Home Rule Act to seize control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy 800 National Guard troops under federal authority for 30 days. City leaders, legal experts, and faith communities have denounced this action as politically motivated, unlawful, and an attack on local governance. Nevertheless, President Trump has publicly threatened to expand this strategy to New York City and Chicago, even hinting at the potential use of martial-law-style control.

“As people of faith, we affirm that every person is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). This sacred truth means that each life carries inherent dignity, worth, and agency, not to be denied by the state or reduced to a security threat. When the state targets our youth and treats Black neighborhoods with hostility, it violates not only human rights but the divine imprint each person bears. 

“Our Christian faith and Reformed tradition speak clearly in this moment. We must faithfully resist the idolatry of power and bear witness to God’s peace. God’s vision for peace does not involve militaristic city takeovers, riot shields, or forced sweeps. Proper public safety arises from access to affordable housing, mental health care, community-led safety programs, and accountable, demilitarized law enforcement. The prophet Isaiah envisions a world where tools of war are transformed into tools of growth. Jesus declares that “peacemakers will be called children of God” and teaches that answering violence with more violence and showing overwhelming force are not the ways of Jesus. 

“The PC(USA) has taken strong, faithful stands. The 224th General Assembly (2020) called for an end to the transfer of military equipment to local police forces and a shift toward nonviolent, community-centered public safety approaches.

As Presbyterians, we must not remain neutral in the face of injustice. We must act with moral clarity in this moment.

“1. Tell Congress today to end militarized policing, defund inhumane enforcement, and reject the Administration’s unnecessary federal authority to control cities within 30 days.

“2. Support local organizing by joining or supporting immigrant justice and housing coalitions.

“3. Engage congregations by hosting a discussion, worship service, or prayer vigil on militarization, racial justice, and immigration using PC(USA) resources. 

“Let us be the peacemakers Jesus calls us to be. Let us resist the machinery of fear and stand for a world rooted in justice, compassion, and hope.”

What I did

In response, I emailed U.S. Senator Thom Tillis and U.S. Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina.

Then, I attempted to email my Congressman, U.S. Representative Mark Harris. The first problem I encountered was that Mr. Harris does not accept emails longer than 2,000 characters. I edited my letter to meet those limitations.

The second problem I ran into was that when I hit the “send” button, I received a message saying that Representative Harris’ office did not have a server available to receive my email.

I guess while Congress is on an extended five-week vacation, my Representative’s office decided to give its email server a break, too.

I am well aware that contacting the offices of my two U.S. Senators and my U.S. Representative are futile wastes of my time and energy, but these are just about the only options I have to try to save our democracy. I won’t get a chance to vote again until November 2026, if Trump lets us have another election.

Just thought I’d let you know how we’re doing here in the United States.

Hurricane Helene Update

As of Friday, of the 1,457 roads that were closed in western North Carolina last September due to Hurricane Helene, 34 were closed, which is one less than reported the week before. As in the previous Friday’s report, the NC Department of Transportation reported that 39 roads have just partial access.

Progress is slow, but I will point out that here in western and the piedmont of North Carolina, we’ve had rain for the last two weeks. I’m not exaggerating. The sun came out on Friday. The sun and the blue sky were a welcome sight!

Of course, I-40 in North Carolina at the Tennessee border is still just one lane in each direction with a 35 mile-per-hour speed limit for the foreseeable future

On a positive note, on Friday, the National Park Service reopened an 8-mile section of the Blue Ridge Parkway from Milepost 221.8 to 229.7 in North Carolina near the Virginia border. There was a landslide at Milepost 224.9 due to Hurricane Helene.

Friday’s opening makes it possible for visitors to once again drive on a 20-mile stretch of the parkway from Virginia to Doughton Park, including access to Doughton Park campground and The Bluffs restaurant.

Janet

Odds and Ends from the Past Week or So

We started this week with Trump’s announcement that he is deploying 800 National Guard soldiers to get rampant crime under control in Washington, D.C. in spite of the fact that major crimes there are at a 30-year low. Could it be that Monday’s announcement and nearly two-hour news conference were meant to distract us from the Epstein files and everything else that’s going on?

Trump announced on Wednesday that he is putting forth a crime bill which will in the beginning only pertain to Washington, DC. He said he will need National Guard troops in the district for more than 30 days and he will declare a national emergency if he has to. In other words, that’s all part of the “plan.”

In the last seven months, Trump has mastered the practice of solving problems that didn’t exist by declaring emergencies that weren’t happening.

Today, Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska to discuss the future of Ukraine. Too bad Ukraine was shut out of the negotiations. Trump and Putin are both so arrogant, that makes perfect sense to them. What could possibly go wrong?

Here are a few other highlights from this week. I can’t keep up with everything.

Transgender members of the U.S. Air Force

On August 7, 2025, the U.S. Air Force announced that all transgender members of that branch of the military are being forced out of the service. Service members with 15 to 18 years of service were allowed to apply for an exception, but they were all denied.

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the Pentagon permission to ban transgender troops. The Air Force is the first branch of the military to follow through. Even those who have served for 18 years are being forced out without retirement benefits. Their only options are to take a lump-sum separation payment or be removed from the service with nothing. Their service records are being reverted to their birth gender.

This is no way to treat members of our military. A PBS report quoted a master sergeant with 15 years of service including a deployment to Afghanistan as saying, “I feel betrayed and devastated by the news.”

National Weather Service needs people

Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash

You’ll recall that a few months ago, the Trump Administration said we didn’t need the National Weather Service any more, so hundred of employees were fired. Now it seems that after a record-breaking hot summer and a summer filled with floods in places that have not had floods before… the Trump Administration now wants to hire 450 people.

Someone must have told them this is hurricane season?

Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge

A 2023 land protection plan for the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge provided for the refuge to be expanded by 700,000 acres in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, but the Trump Administration cancelled those plans so the land will be available for energy development and agriculture.

White House Protocol Snubbed

It is White House protocol for the official portraits of the three preceding Presidents to be displayed in the entrance to the building so visitors can see them.

In a typically petty move, Trump ordered the portraits of President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, and President George H.W. Bush to be moved to locations where they cannot be viewed by visitors.

President Obama’s portrait was moved to the top of a staircase that is only used by the First Family, Secret Service, and certain staff. The portraits of both President George W. and George H.W. Bush were moved to the same staircase area.

Trump has snubbed them and moved their portraits, but that doesn’t mean I can include their pictures in my blog.

President Barack Obama Photo from the Library of Congress

President George W. Bush Photo from the Library of Congress

President George H. W. Bush Photo from the Library of Congress

Trump Golf Resort in Vietnam

As Vietnamese farmers are being paid a pittance for their land, the Trump Organization plows forward with construction of a golf resort in Vietnam. Trump wants us to think that the recently negotiated tariffs with Vietnam and the progress toward building the resort have nothing to do with one another.

He wants us to think it is coincidental that the trade tariffs on Vietnamese goods dropped from 46% to 20% at the same time his golf resort plans were being approved.

The 54-hole golf course for VIPs, luxury hotels and villas received swift approval in Vietnam as no fewer than six mandatory procedures, including environmental impact assessments, were ignored.

Reuters quotes the White House as stating, “the business deals of the Trump Organization are entirely separate from trade negotiations.” After all, President Trump’s personal assets are in a trust managed by his children>

Yeah, right!

Trump’s Impeachments & the Smithsonian

USA Today reports that Trump’s two impeachments have been reinstated in the Presidential Impeachments exhibit at the National Museum of American History. The report says, “Some text was changed between displays, specifically concerning Trump’s involvement with the Janu. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and accusations of election interference.” The article did not explain whether references to the attempted coup on January 6, 2021, and Trump’s election interference were included in the revised exhibit or omitted from it.

Kennedy Center Honors

Trump announced the 2025 recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors on Wednesday during a long, rambling press conference. He said he will serve as master of ceremonies for the nationally-televised show even though he claimed that he does not want to do it. It seems the White House Chief of Staff convinced him that, even though he is the President of the United States, he should serve as the master of ceremonies. He went on to say that the TV ratings will be higher if he does it, so he has agreed to do it.

What a joke!

He say $257 million will be spent to rehabilitate the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He claims it has fallen into disrepair. Of course, that’s what he says about the White House, too.

He said new grass will be planted at all the parks in Washington, DC because the grass there is “old.” He says he knows grass because he owns golf courses. In other words, chemical fertilizer will be running freely through the parks in Washington, DC and I suppose sprinkler systems and grounds keepers with Ph.D.s in grass will have to be hired. Anything to keep a park from looking like nature!

He couldn’t leave well enough alone at his announcement and prese conference, though. He had to one again refer to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas,” and he had to rant again about how he actually won the 2020 election but it was “rigged.”

He was able to find the silver lining in being denied the Presidency in 2020, though, because it allowed him to win in 2024 and now he will preside over the World Cup in 2026 and the Summer Olympics in 2028.

He managed to sneak into his comments that he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

One has to wonder if this manic state he’s been in all week will continue through tomorrow’s meeting with Putin. If Putin flatters him, it will only get worse.

Continued crackdown on Smithsonian

Photo of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC
National Portrait Gallery, a member museum of the Smithsonian Institution
Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash

Trump announced that eight institution members of the Smithsonian will initially be targeted for a thorough review of all exhibits. It is no accident that the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture are two of the eight museums Trump singled out for scrutiny.

The other six museums are the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Trump’s August 12, 2025, letter to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institutions stated, “This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Frankly, Trump’s intrusion into the exhibits at the 21 Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo just destroyed the confidence I’ve always had for the Smithsonian.

He is rewriting history. This is un-American. This is an authoritarian act.

Janet

MASA? The Reimaging of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

“Make America Safe Again” appears to be the new slogan of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but I’ve never felt less safe in my life.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) thugs with masked faces in unmarked vehicles are turned loose to supposedly apprehend “the worst of the worst” among us. The Trump Administration’s catch phrase, “the worst of the worst” can be translated to “immigrant,” except for those who have married into Trump’s family.

In his ramblings at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts yesterday he mentioned not letting people into the country if you don’t like what they look like. That pretty much sums up the outlook of his Presidency. He doesn’t want them counted in the U.S. Census either.

I have not seen ICE thugs in person. I live in a semi-rural area. But I’ve seen enough photographs and news reports. All this heightened militarization of the federal government only scares me, even though I’m white and was born in the United States. What’s to say ICE nabs me by mistake?

I keep procrastinating getting a new passport to prove I’m a citizen. It seems like I shouldn’t have to pay $195 just to have a document to prove I’m a citizen. I could just carry a copy of my birth certificate everywhere I go, just in case; however, that merely proves I was born here, and that’s not going to be sufficient after the U.S. Supreme Court lets Trump do away with the 14th Amendment.

What’s to say they nab me because I write uncomplimentary things about Trump? Come to think of it, my passport won’t do me any good if that happens. Maybe I don’t need a passport after all.

The Department of Homeland Security website

Something told me to visit the website for DHS (https://www.dhs.gov/) yesterday afternoon, but I wish I hadn’t. Now I can’t un-see it.

At the top of the home page is a stern-looking image of “Uncle Sam” pointing his finger at the person viewing the computer screen. The text: “AMERICA NEED YOU! America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out. JOIN ICE.” The words, “JOIN ICE” are in a clickable button for your convenience.

I’ve seen photographs of the “Uncle Sam Needs You!” posters that were used in the 1940s, but that was during World War II. “Uncle Sam” needed every American to sacrifice and serve in some way to defeat Nazi Germany and Japan.

Uncle Sam "I want you U.S. Army" poster
Photo from the Library of Congress

For a government agency to use that image today to target immigrants minimizes the importance of the country’s need in the 1940s. To conflate the immigration problems of 2025 with a World War is a slap in the face to my parents’ generation who survived The Great Depression and World War II.

But the DHS website only got worse.

Under the red, white, and blue banner of Uncle Sam pleading for your help is a photograph of Secretary Kristi Noem all decked out like a cowboy atop a horse. She is surrounded by more cowboys on horses like a posse tracking down the bad guys in a B-grade movie set in the 1800s out in the mythical “wild West.

The photo brings back memories of the “Gunsmoke” TV series from the 1950s. Not what I want to see in the United States in the 21st century – not even in a movie or TV program – much less in real life.

I suppose it is all part of the Trump Administration and MAGA’s fascination with guns.

Too many meaningless slogans

Under that bizarre photograph it says, “Making America Safe Again.” Just what we needed: one more “Make America _____ Again!” This has turned into a multiple-choice exercise in which you can fill in just about any adjective that comes to mind.

I would say this “Make America _____ Again” is a broken record, but there’s a whole generation of people out there who wouldn’t have a clue what that means.

I consider it a privilege of birth that I was born and have lived my entire life in the United States of America. I didn’t do anything to deserve that, and I have considered it a blessing.

But I have apparently been living under the misconception that America was a great country. Now, at the ripe old age of 72, I find out it was all a hoax!

This land of opportunity and freedom I have happily lived in all these years which afforded me a free public education and an affordable public university education and gave me the opportunity to earn a living as I chose was all smoke and mirrors! What a shock!

My entire life has apparently been a joke. I only thought I was happy. I only thought I was free. Little did I know all this time I’ve been living in a hell hole, according to President Trump.

Make America Great Again. Make America Healthy Again. Make America Safe Again. For about 24 hours back on July 20, we even had Make Indians Great Again because Trump wanted the Cleveland Guardians baseball team to revert to being the Cleveland Indians.

Frankly, I’m sick of every bit of this. All of these bombastic slogans being made by a failed but somehow famous convicted felon businessman who is running roughshod over the United States of America ring hollow.

What does “great” mean?

Trump’s idea of “great” is equivalent to money, lies, a façade. It’s all a house of cards and it will collapse.

Money does not equate with greatness, to my way of thinking. Greatness is found in how you treat other human beings – how you treat all human beings.

Greatness is not found in calling people stupid, idiots, lunatics, scum, criminals, etc.

Building yourself up by making all manner of false claims about your intellect and accomplishments is not greatness; it’s a sign of weakness and insecurity.

Here we are.

Janet

Trump Continues to Attack Universities and Our Health

It’s hard to feel sorry for a wealthy university like Duke University that has an enormous endowment; however, the Trump Administration’s current little-publicized attack on the institution raises a larger issue.

Duke University will survive without federal grants, at least for a while. Its endowment can pick up the slack, at least for a while.

Exterior of Duke Chapel. Photo credit: Chuck Givens on unsplash.com

The larger issue is the Trump Administration’s continual attack on education on all levels. I believe Trump has no interest in education. He has no interest in what any school, college, or university teaches. He says, “I love the uneducated.” It might be the only truth he has ever spoken.

In a democracy, a president does not dictate university admissions or curriculum in public schools or private schools. In today’s United States, though, Trump believes he has that authority.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent Duke University a letter. Specifically, Kennedy and McMahon threatened the Duke University Medical School and Duke Health (the entire Duke Health healthcare system). If writing letters to threaten universities for having diversity, equity, and inclusion is the only thing the U.S. Department of Education is going to do now, perhaps it needs to be abolished.

The letter alleges that the medical school and healthcare system engage in “wrongful racial preferences” in hiring and admissions. The letter reportedly states, “This vile racism carries a host of excuses and hides behind a smug superiority that such ‘benefitted’ races cannot compete under merit-based consideration.”

Furthermore, the letter says, “Like all racism, ‘affirmative action’ undermines America’s commitment to merit-based justice and violates the nation’s civil rights laws.”

North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC, reports, “Kennedy and McMahon urge Duke administrators set up a ‘Merit and Civil Rights Committee’ to review its diversity policies ‘to avoid invasive federal engagement.’ The secretaries warn the university’s federal funding could be at risk if it doesn’t change course. ‘It is our hope that Duke Medical School and other components of Duke Health will either demonstrate that they merit the privilege of receiving taxpayer support or will enact reforms that make further enforcement efforts unnecessary,’ the letter said.

“McMahon and Kennedy ask the university to respond to the letter within ten business days.”

Earlier this year, nearly 600 Duke employees took voluntary buyouts after Trump slashed research funding. According to WUNC, “Cuts at the National Institutes of Health, along with reductions in Medicare/Medicaid funding could cost the university $350-600 million annually.

Duke plans to lay off more employees between August 5 and August 19.

That’s not just what Duke as an institution and business will lose: Duke Health operates Duke Children’s Hospital, Duke Health Lake Norman Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, and Duke University Hospital, as well as 12 urgent care facilities.

But that’s not the only attack on Duke University

The U.S. Department of Education also sent Duke University a letter last week threatening the Duke School of Law’s student-edited Law Journal.

It seems that the law students are too open to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We have gone from recognizing that the playing field is not level to declaring that it is so level that to give anyone a hand up is a violation of everyone’s civil rights.

The playing field in the United States is not level, folks. For an alleged billionaire living in the White House to proclaim that it is level does not make it so. Someone who was born with a silver (or gold?) spoon in his mouth does not have the right to say that every person in America has an equal opportunity.

Those who say that white privilege does not exist are only fooling themselves. This falls into the category of “alternative facts” that the first Trump White House was famous for giving us.

Want to learn more? Here’s a link: https://www.wunc.org/education/2025-07-30/duke-university-dei-federal.

Janet

More Matters of Concern

Here are some items I did not have room to include in this morning’s blog post.

Artist cancels showing at Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

Photo of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC
Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash

The artist of a 2018 portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama has withdrawn from her schedule showing at the National Portrait Gallery after being told one of her paintings was not acceptable in light of President Trump’s March Executive Order regarding museums.

Amy Sherald’s painting “Trans Forming Liberty” depicts the Statue of Liberty as a transgender woman. After being told she could not include the painting in her show, Sherald informed the secretary of the Smithsonian in writing that, “it has become clear that the conditions no longer support the integrity of the work as conceived.”

This would have been the first National Portrait Gallery’s showing… ever… by a Black contemporary artist.

The Smithsonian is “disappointed,” but not as disappointed as I am about what the Trump Administration is doing to free expression, science, medical research, and the treasure that was the Smithsonian Institution.

Columbia University caved in to Trump

Photo of part of the Columbia University campus in New York City. Photo by Tobias Pfeifer on Unsplash

So it can continue to admit international students and receive federal funds, Columbia University caved in to the bully. Under the guise of being concerned about Jewish students being discriminated against on Columbia’s campus, the Trump Administration strong-armed the university into bending a knee and paying $220 million for alleged violation of U.S. antidiscrimination laws.

In the agreement last Wednesday, Columbia is supposed to get to keep billions of dollars for research grants. Columbia must revise its admissions policies, campus protest policies, and its curriculum.

The university’s acting president, Claire Shipman, says the agreement protects Columbia’s values and autonomy, but it isn’t clear how that is possible with the Trump Administration dictating admissions, protests, and curriculum.

The Trump Administration calls the agreement “a road map for settlements” as it eyes other colleges accused of not addressing antisemitism.

When the students return to camp in September, it will be interesting to see if they are allowed to protest Israel’s bombing of Gaza and starving the Gazans by restricting food aid.

As I recall, that’s what started this whole thing.

And now Trump has turned his sights on the medical and law schools at Duke University. Anything to disrupt medical care and medical research, I guess. Some 600 Duke University staff have taken early retirement buyouts so far.

A reversal from the U.S. Department of Education

This is the first positive thing I’ve been able to report about the U.S. Department of Education since Inauguration Day. After North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 19 other state attorneys general and governors sued the U.S. Department of Education for freezing $5.5 billion nationally, the Department Secretary caved! That means North Carolina will get the $165 million it had counted on until the Trump Administration pulled the plug.

U.S. Aid to Gaza

While in Scotland on Sunday, Trump whined for several minutes because nobody thanked the United States for giving $60 million in aid to Gaza. He claimed that no other country had given Gaza anything.

No one wants to see a U.S. President whine. Of course, he also cheated at golf while in Scotland, too. And he bad-mouthed President Biden, the mayor London, and a bunch of other people.

Is Netanyahu delusional or what?

Netanyahu says there is no starvation in Gaza. The whole world sees it. Even U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia admits it is true. It has to be pretty horrific for Marjorie Taylor Green to admit something.

Sadly, the United States is complicit because it continues to support Israel in its war on Gaza. This stopped being “self-defense” a long time ago, Netanyahu. It stopped with the indiscriminate bombing of schools, hospitals, and residential areas. It stopped being self-defense when Israel stopped allowing food and medicine to enter Gaza. The food drop last week was too little, too late – and that’s the nicest thing I can say about it. Israel only did that to try to appease the growing public outcry about the starving children.

Meanwhile, U.S. Representative Randy Fine of Florida, who happens to be Jewish, put this on X on June 2: “Tell your fellow Muslim terrorists to release the hostages and surrender. Until then, #StarveAway.” As far as I can determine, he has not changed his anti-Gaza stance. He would probably say he is just anti-Hamas, but it is the total population of Gaza that is bearing the horrors of this war.

How can someone who is wealthy enough and well enough connected to be elected to the United States Congress and live in the richest country in the world – and probably never missed a meal in his life — have no compassion for starving children?

The level of white privilege and hatred in so many Americans who are in positions of power boggles the mind.

The First Lady Melania Trump Opera House at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Photo of Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Photo by Santeri Liukkonen on Unsplash

Yes, you read that correctly. U.S. Representative Mike Simpson of Idaho is chair of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. He tucked the provision into the fiscal year 2026 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which passed the Committee on Appropriations 33 to 28.

The proposal was written into the fiscal year 2026 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The measure was approved by the Committee on Appropriations with a vote of 33 to 28.

One has to wonder how long it will be before the name “TRUMP” will be plastered on the outside of the building in giant gold letters. How long will it be before the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is painted gold? 

Two Items of Good News

President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is not running for the United States Senate from North Carolina in 2026.

Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is running for the United States Senate to fill the seat vacated by Thom Tillis in 2026.

Until my next blog post

I hope you are reading a good book.

Don’t forget the people of Ukraine and western North Carolian.

Janet

Books Banned at U.S. Department of Defense Schools

Not to be outdone by the State of Tennessee (see yesterday’s blog post: https://janetswritingblog.com/2025/07/24/public-school-libraries-in-texas-and-monroe-county-tennessee/), the U.S. Department of Defense is doubling down on books in the schools it operates for children of military personnel.

Black and White photo of an old outdoor sign that says, "Books"
Photo by Paolo Chiabrando on Unsplash

On July 14, 2025, the Defense Department banned 596 books from its schools.

Here’s an article about it: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/07/14/here-are-596-books-being-banned-defense-department-schools.html.

Here’s a link to the court case with a list of the 596 books: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iKxUEllBpsap4cmH_vfWtzv0h069jkSc/view. (If this link does not work, you can get to it through the military.com article linked above.)

If you don’t have time to read the complete list, here are 70 of them:

(I guess it goes without saying that many books on the list were obviously about gender identity, but the following are books that don’t all into that assumed category.)

A History of Racism in America, by Craig E. Blohm;

A Smart Girl’s Guide to Racism & Inclusion: Standing Up to Racism and Building a Better World, by Deana Singh and Shellene Rodney;

Ab(solutely) normal: short stories that smash mental health Stereotypes, by Nora Carpenter and Ricky Callen;

All You Need is Love: Celebrating Families of All Shapes and Sizes, by Shanni Collins;

Anti-Racism: Powerful Voices, Inspiring Ideas, by Kenrya Rankin;

Be Your True Self: Social Justice and You, by Maribel Valdez Gonzalez;

Better Than We Found It: Conversations to Help Save the World, by Frederick Joseph, Porsche Joseph, and Taylor Denise Richarson;

Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Thinks, and Do, by Jennifer L. Eberhardt;

Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person, by Frederick Joseph;

Black Lives Matter, by Marty Gitlin;

Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir, by Walela Nehanda;

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson;

Confronting Racism, by Scientific American Editors;

Critical Perspectives on Social Justice, by Jennifer Peters;

Discrimination, by Jacqueline Langwith;

Equality and Diversity, by Charlie Ogden;

Equality, Social Justice, and Our Future, by Sabrina Adams;

Gender Inequality in Sports: From Title IX to World Titles, by Kirstin Cronn-Mills;

Heads Up Sociology, by Chris Yuill and Christopher Thorpe;

How to Be a (Young) Antiracist and How to Be An Antiracist, by Ibram W. Kendi;

I Am An Antiracist Superhero, by Jennifer Nicole Bacon and Leticia Moreno;

It Doesn’t Have to Be Awkward: Dealing with Relationships, Consent, and Other Hard-To-Talk About Stuff, by Drew Pinsky and Paulina Pinsky;

Male Privilege, by Duchess Harris and Heidi Deal;

Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad;

Racial Bias: Is Change Possible? by Barbara Diggs;

Racial Discrimination, by Peggy J. Parks;

Racial Justice in America: Topics for Change, by Hedreich, Leigh Ann Erickson, and Kelisa Wing;

Racism in America: A Long History of Hate, by Meghan Green;

Say the Right Thing: How to Talk about Identity, Diversity, and Justice, by Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow;

So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo;

Symptoms of Being Human, by Jeff Garvin;

The Antiracism Handbook: Practical Tools to Shift Your Mindset and Uproot Racism in Your Life and Community, by Thema Brayant-Davis and Edith Arrington;

The Antiracist Kid: A Book about Identity, Justice, and Activism, by Tiffany Jewell and Nicole Miles;

The Book of Radical Answers: Real Questions from Real Kids Just Like You, by Sonya Renee Taylor;

The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap, by Matt Taibbi and Molly Crabapple;

The Dog Knight, by Jeremy Whitley and Bre Indigo;

The Feeling of Falling in Love, by Mason Deaver;

The Feminism Book, by Georgie Carroll and Hannah McCann;

The Greatest Superpower, by Alex Sanchez;

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander;

The Other Talk: Reckoning With Our White Privilege, by Brendan Kiely;

The Ship We Built, by Lexie Bean and Noah Grigni;

The Sociology Book, by Christopher Thorpe, Chris Yuill, Mitchel Hobbs, Megan Todd, Sarah Temley, and Marcus Weeks;

The Sum of Us: How Racism Hurts Everyone: Adapted for Young Readers, by Heather C. McGhee;

This Book is Anti-Racist, by Tiffany Jewell and Aurelia Durand;

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation, by Lind Villarosa;

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, by Ta-Nehisi Coates;

What is Anti-Racism? by Hendreich Nichols and Kelisa Wing;

What is the Black Lives Matter Movement? by Hendreich Nicols and Kelisa Wing;

What is White Privilege? by Leigh Ann Erickson and Kelisa Wing;

When Women Stood: The Untold Story of Females Who Changed Sports and the World, by Alexandra Powe Allred;

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, by Robin J. DiAngelo;

White Privilege, by M.T. Blakemore;

White Privilege Unmasked: How to Be Part of the Solution, by Judy Ryde;

J is for Justice! by Veronica Arreola;

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, by Beverly Daniel Tatum;

How Can I Be an Ally? by El-Mekki Fatima;

Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America, by Michael Dyson;

How to Fight Racism: A Guide to Standing Up for Racial Justice, by Jemar Tisby;

Racial Justice, by Virginia Loh-hagan;

An ABC of Equality, by Chana Ewing;

Coping with Hate and Intolerance, by Avery Elizabeth Hurt;

Confronting Racism, by Maryellen Lo Bosco;

Respecting Diversity, by Anastasia Suen;

Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, and Identity, by Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi;

What is Diversity, by David Anthony;

When a Bully is President: Truth and Creativity for Oppressive Times, by Maya Christina Gonzalez;

This is Your Brain on Stereotypes: How Science is Tackling Unconscious Bias, by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and Drew Shannon;

Prejudice, by Izzi Howell;

You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Government and Deliver Power to the People, by Elizabeth Rusch;

There were also seven AP Psychology books on the list.

In conclusion

There is a definite pattern here.

The very topics that are tearing our country apart are being banned from Defense Department schools, grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

Ignoring that racism, diversity, gender inequality, and gender identity exist will not make them go away, no matter how much the white supremacists, misogynists, history deniers, and evangelicals want them to.

If we as citizens of the United States cannot read about our problems and differences, face them, acknowledge them, and have an honest conversation about them, how will we ever overcome them?

Until my next blog post

Find a book on this list and read it!

Remember the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina.

Janet

Public School Libraries in Texas and Monroe County, Tennessee

I was flabbergasted a couple of weeks ago to learn that a law had passed in Texas that will turn public school library book selection on its head.

Photo of opened books scattered on the floor
Photo by Vrînceanu Iulia on Unsplash

As of September 1, 2025, school boards in Texas will select all books for public school libraries instead of professional librarians. I’ll bet the Texas state legislators thought it would be easy-peazy, so let’s just let the local school board members do it.

Local school board members tend to be just regular people. Most of them do not have college degrees in library science. Dare I go out on a limb and say that none of them do? How many course hours have they studied library collection development?

Why is it that humans assume their job takes a high degree of training and skill, but no one else’s job carries any requirements?

Since I live with a retired public school librarian, I have a ton of questions.

Can all the local school board members in Texas read on a 12th grade level?

What do they know about reading levels?

What do they know about age appropriateness?

Do they know how time-consuming the book selection process is?

Do they know anything about book selection, such as where to even get a list of books available for school libraries?

Do they know how to balance book selection against a budget?

Do they know who the award-winning authors and illustrators are?

Do they know what books are already on the shelves in all the schools in their district so they can avoid duplication and maintain a balance of subject matter?

Do they know everything that is taught on every grade level so they can be sure to order books that will supplement or enhance what is being taught in every classroom?

Does a school board have to be unanimous and vote on each book?

I could list more questions. Those 10 are just the ones that came to me immediately when I read the news report.

What are they thinking in Monroe County, Tennessee?

I read on Sunday that in a report from PEN America that book banners are going after books about cats. No one seems to know why book banners have a vendetta against our little feline friends, but it is happening in Iowa, Florida, and in Monroe County, Tennessee.

Monroe County has banned almost 600 books from its public schools. The Complete Book of Cats and The New Encyclopedia of the Cat are just two of the cat-related titles being pulled from the school library shelves.

I don’t even know what to say about that. I love dogs. I don’t like cats very much (aside from being fascinated by the beauty of tigers), but I would never want books about cats to disappear from libraries.

But wait! On Monday, I learned that one of the books banned from schools in Monroe County is The Complete Book of Dogs, by Rosie Pilbeam! Now they have gone too far!

You can’t go around banning books about dogs! You just can’t! That’s un-American. Dogs are love universally. Every library in the world should have books about dogs – and even cats.

Why in the name of everything reasonable is Monroe County, Tennessee banning cat and dog “encyclopedias” from school libraries? What if that 8th grader or 12th grader aspires to be a veterinarian? Is that student not supposed to learn about animals until they get to college? How ridiculous!

In what universe does it make sense to ban books about cats and dog?

In what world does it make sense to ban ANY books?

Digging deeper into this on the internet, I found that this is the result of Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act, which went into effect this summer.

In addition to apparently any book about cats or dogs, the usual book banners’ target are on the list: To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, Grapes of Wrath, Hidden Figures, Brave New World, Animal Farm; and Aztec, Inca, and Maya.

In my opinion the book above all others that should not be on anyone’s banned books list is Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterley. Heaven forbid a young black girl (or brown girl, or white girl) reads that book and is inspired to be a mathematician!

All kidding aside about dogs and cats, how dare they take Hidden Figures off the public school library shelves! How dare they!

There is such a thing as age appropriateness, but books should not be banned anywhere.

What are they afraid of?

Fortunately, Monroe County, Tennessee, only has a population of 46,250 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, so it’s book banning decisions won’t affect a huge number of children. But, since the Tennessee Age-Appropriate Materials Act applies to the entire state, will other county school systems follow Monroe County’s lead and ban the same 574 books?

North Carolina has some faults, but I’m so glad I don’t live in Texas or Monroe County, Tennessee! How embarrassing for the people there.

A bit of good news out of Washington, DC!

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced on Monday that the U.S. Department of Education decided to unfreeze the money it froze a week or two ago that was earmarked for after-school programs. This means North Carolina will get $36 million of the $165 million the Department of Education originally said it was freezing.

Jackson vowed he will see the U.S. Department of Education in court to try to recover the other $130 million.

Until my next blog post

Read anything and everything you can get your hands on.

Don’t let anyone tell you what you should not read.

Look for my blog post tomorrow about the 596 books the U.S Department of Defense has banned this month from the schools it operates for the children of our military personnel.

Remember the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina.

Janet

The Immigration Debacle in the United States

I couldn’t say all I wanted to say in yesterday’s blog post. Ready or not, here comes more….

Photo of a paper with "Immigration" printed in bold capital letters
Photo by Metin Ozer on Unsplash

Immigration was not handled well during the first Trump Administration (i.e. people put in cages and children separated from their parents without a means of identification). Immigration was mishandled by the Biden Administration (i.e. too lax about enforcing border security). But immigration is a disaster during the second Trump Administration.

Where is the voice of reason? Where is common sense?

Deployment of California National Guard

A full month after the major protests against ICE in a Los Angeles neighborhood, Trump decided it was finally time to let thousands of California National Guard members return to their families and their jobs. Some of them have started speaking out about that experience.

The New York Times is reporting that some of the National Guard personnel have voiced serious concern over being deployed by President Trump. They are calling it a “fake mission.”

The New York Times reported, “Six member of the Guard – including infantrymen, officers and two officials in leadership roles – spoke of low morale and deep concern that the deployment may hurt recruitment for the state-based military force for years to come.”

There are reports of some members of the California National Guard voicing misgivings from the beginning about the deployment.

For Trump to keep them in warehouses in Los Angeles for a full four weeks after all threat of civil violence was over, is the icing on the cake.

It is still beside the point that Trump did not have the authority to deploy a state’s National Guard under the existing circumstances. That authority rests with the state’s governor.

“The moral injuries of this operation, I think, will be enduring. This is not what the military of our country was designed to do, at all,” one member of the Guard told The Times.”

The piece reported that National Guard personnel of Hispanic heritage were especially uncomfortable being deployed to assist ICE in rounding up illegal aliens.

Just one more instance of the chipping away of our democracy and rule of law.

“Take the rest of ‘those people,’ but don’t take my neighbor”

Nicholas Kristof wrote an op-ed in The New York Times last Saturday. Here’s the link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/19/opinion/immigrants-ice-deportation.html.

The situation he wrote about is a case-in-point of how people voted for Trump because he promised to get the violent immigrants out of the United States. They claim now that they didn’t think he meant ALL immigrants.

(My question to them is, “Why did you believe anything he said?”)

Kristof lives in a farming community in Oregon where the majority of people voted for Trump for president all three times. But now that community is upset because Trump is deporting immigrants they know. He wasn’t supposed to deport local immigrants like Moises Sotelo.

Mr. Sotelo has lived in the community for 31 years, established a vineyard, and employed 10 people. He is a pillar in his church. He is a respected businessman.

But ICE picked up Mr. Sotelo and deported him to Mexico. Kristof says the community is now up in arms. They have raised $150,000 to help with Mr. Soleto’s legal expenses. Good luck with that.

Photo of a man's hands grasping the wire fence he is being held behind.
Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash

The way I see it, many people voted for Trump because he voiced a hatred for immigrants and that appealed to his base. They hate immigrants, too, so Trump is their man. Trump called immigrants names, and that appealed to his base.

Trump said immigrants were a drain on our economy, that they didn’t pay taxes, and – worst of all – they are all violent criminals. He convinced his base that those things were true, even though they are all false.

Trump’s base refuses to accept the fact that immigrants – illegal as well as legal — pay income and sales tax. If they get a paycheck, income and Social Security taxes are deducted from that paycheck. When they purchase anything, they pay state and local sales tax — just like Americans. Who knew?

After Trump and his ICE thugs remove all the immigrants from the United States, the people in Trump’s base are going to be surprised that most crimes in America are committed by Americans. Many of them have white skin, and that’s going to be the biggest surprise of all for them.

The Case of George Retes, U.S. citizen, U.S. Army Veteran

George Retes is a United States citizen and a veteran of the United States Army. When he drove up to the Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, to report for work, his car was approached by ICE agents. They broke a car window, sprayed him with pepper spray, and dragged him out of his car – all while he was telling them that he was a U.S. citizen and veteran just reporting for work.

ICE detained him for three days.

Photo of a U.S. Army soldier in full combat uniform from behind
Photo by Oleg Ivanov on Unsplash

I saw Mr. Retes interviewed on TV, and this is what the Associated Press reported:

“Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where he said he was put in a special cell on suicide watch and checked on each day after he became emotionally distraught over his ordeal and missing his 3-year-old daughter’s birthday party Saturday.

“He said federal agents never told him why he was arrested or allowed him to contact a lawyer or his family during his three-day detention. Authorities never let him shower or change clothes despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes said, adding that his hands burned throughout the first night he spent in custody.”

I am embarrassed for the United States of America. Such federal police action is not “Making America Great Again.”

This is even worse

Eighty-two-year-old Luis Leon from Allentown, Pennsylvania had been in the United States LEGALLY for 38 years since being granted asylum from the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship in Chili in 1987. He was a victim of torture by the Pinochet regime.

Unfortunately, in June Mr. Leon lost his wallet which contained his green card.

Thinking all he had to do was request a replacement green card, Mr. Leon and his wife made an appointment to get that taken care of.

But when he arrived for his appointment, Mr. Leon was handcuffed and taken away. His wife was held for 10 hours until a granddaughter could pick her up.

For a month, Mr. Leon’s family had no idea where he was. His name never showed up on the immigration tracker list. ICE had no answers for them. The family looked for him in local prisons, hospitals, and morgues, but they could not find him.

A relative in Chile found him in a hospital in Guatemala and called his family in Pennsylvania on Friday. Mr. Leon had never been to Guatemala before the United States Government decided to disappear him to that country. ICE still won’t confirm their thugs had anything to do with this. ICE claims they are “investigating” the case.

Black-and-white photo of the back of an older man in a wheelchair beside a hospital-type bed.
Photo by Annabel Podevyn on Unsplash

In conclusion

I am at a loss for words to describe how angry I am and how embarrassed I am today to be an American – even though I did not vote for Trump.

Trump campaigned on the promise to deport illegal aliens who were criminals, but now Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) snatches people off the street, from their homes, from their places of employment, and occasionally (what seems like daily) they make egregious mistakes and kidnap the wrong person.

ICE agents are under pressure to arrest 3,000 immigrates every day. So what if they nab a few legal citizens or immigrants who are guilty of nothing more than a traffic ticket?

It is un-American for ICE agents to cover their faces, wear no badges, and not identify themselves. The excuse that they have to cover their faces because they are scared of retribution doesn’t hold water. Local police officers might fear retribution, too, but they don’t wear face masks.

If you voted for Trump, you voted for this. You knew he was a horrible man and you voted for him anyway. I don’t know how you sleep at night.

At least I don’t have to live with the shame of having voted for any of this.

Until my next blog post

Keep up with reliable news reports

Keep reading good fiction and nonfiction books.

Remember the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina.

Janet