First Atlantic hurricane of 2025 season

 Erin 

has strengthened Friday evening to

a Hurricane-class tropical storm.

6:55 p.m. Eastern

August 15 2025

Putin - War Criminal - last 2015 visit to the U.N. General Assembly in New York - since then world pariah

 V. Putin

dictator for life (Russia)

has NOT set foot on American

territory / city/state

since Sept. 2015 address to

the U.N. General Assembly.

He and Obama shared a "terse"

handshake at that moment.

Inflation up 2.7% -- Trump overall approval falls to 38% across Polled VOTERS (Pew Research Center)

+ 2.7%

month of July 1 - 31, 2025

______________________

Pew Research center --

only 38 percent of voters

approve of the job of

POTUS Trump 2.0

15 August 2025 12:15 noon hour

Downtown Anchorage, Alaska -- Flag display of Ukraine's Blue & Yellow FLAG

Sewn message on the

two blocks of Blue

and Yellow was message:

Alaska Stands with UKRAINE !

Those who sewed were a trio of

septuagenarians :

Barbara Hood, age 70

Colleen Ray, age 73

Linda Jamidlo, age 72

nytimes.com/live/2025/08/15/world/trump-putin-meeting-alaska

Washington Week in Review with the ATLANTIC (PBS weekly series) - August 15 episode

 August 15, 2025

Host is Jeffrey Goldberg

Panelists are:

David Ignatius, WASH. POST

Zolan Kanno-Youngs, NY TIMES

Scott Macfarlane, CBS NEWS

Happy 62nd Birthday to Alejandro G. Inarritu !

 Director of

21 Grams

Babel

Birdman

The Revenant

Castel Gandolfo

While on Summer Retreat / vacation from Rome - Vatican City,

POPE LEO XIV (first American-Peruvian

to hold that R. Catholic office)

prays today (August 15) for a peaceful

end to the "increasingly deafening violence"

heard around the world -- today also on the

Catholic saints' day calendar is

assumption of the Virgin Mary

STAND UP TO CANCER [Dolly Parton & Sheryl Crow, hosts] - Friday August 15 (check local listings)

 Stand Up to Cancer

ABC - Disney announce

August 15, 2025

one-hour BENEFIT

concert to help with

Cancer Research

billboard.com/music/music-news/

stand-up-to-cancer-benefit-dolly-parton-

sheryl-crow-1236012472/

the JONAS BROTHERS,

CECE WINANS,

others of country-gospel-bluegrass, et cetera

Berrien County Youth Fair (Fairground at Berrien Springs, MI) -- week of August 11 - 16, 2025

Berrien County (Michigan) Youth Far - at Berrien Springs

Friday August 15, 2025

8 a.m. judging of Equine

9 a.m. Large animal auction; sheep

10:30 a.m. Overall small animal showmanship sweepstakes

Noon Large animal auction

2 p.m. Auction

8 p.m. Van Dyke Revue in the Mall stage

8 p.m. Demolition Derby

__________________________________

Saturday Aug. 16, 2025

8 a.m. Judging of equine

9 a.m. Judging of communications classes

9 a.m. Judging of Youth Tractor Operators

9 a.m. Still exhibit auction at the Rabbit Tent

Noon "Elvis" at the Main Stage

Overall Large animal showmanship sweepstakes at the mall arena

2:30 p.m. Ag-Olympics

4 p.m. judging of Equine

5:45 p.m. Parade of Champions

8 p.m. "Harbor Town" at the Mall Stage

7 p.m. "Bullmania" at the GRANDSTAND. 

FAIR is concluded

Alexander Lukashenko -- received Aug. 15 Thank-You call from POTUS Trump 2.0

En route to Alaska

Trump 2.0

thanked the Belarusian dictator for

his prisoner releases :

an opposition activist and

13 others held in prisons in Belarus.

AUGUST 15, 2025 mid-morning

Peter MacDonald and Thomas Begay

Two lone

Navajo Code Talkers

who survived in 2025

(World War II intelligence

officers who stymied the

Japanese cryptographers):

PETER MACDONALD, 96

and THOMAS BEGAY,

now 100 --

Navajo Code Talkers

day is celebrated by 

NAVAJO NATION !

PBS slashes budgets 21% after Senate-House send recission measure to Trump's desk for signature

August 15, 2025

see further NY TIMES dot-com

"PBS Slashes its budget 21%

after Federal Funding Cuts"

_________________________

the public should blame MAGA

senators and GOP members of

the House of Repr. (very, very few

exceptional Congress representatives

have a "spine") who passed a 

rescission_ measure clawing back

the already approved funding from 2024

legal actions of that session of Congress

Judge Stephanie Gallagher struck down Trump 2 admin. actions that sought to eliminate D.E.I.

mlive.com/  Thursday August 14, 2025

Judge Gallagher of Federal court in Maryland

found that the Dept. of Education violated law

when it threatened to cut federal funding from

educational institutions that continued to 

implement D.E.I. initiatives

2025/08/trumps-2-efforts-to-eliminate-DEI-in-schools-

colleges-blocked-by-federal-judge.html

Trump - C-Span and others to cover press conference 2 p.m. Friday 15 August 2025

c-span.org/

2 p.m. Eastern -- US Time Zone

_____________________________________

David Sanger - NY TIMES (White House beat)

This is the first meeting of a sitting POTUS with a

Russian dictator since his invasion with now amassed

troops of N. Korea, Belarus, other client-states . . .

Trump 2.0 had claimed over numerous Campaign Rallies (2022 - 4)

that he would "stop / solve" the Ukraine / Russia invasion

on Day 1. . .if he comes out of the Alaska conference without

a cease-fire or imminent movement toward lowered 

bombings / civilian attacks by missiles-drones,

it will not be obvious that he "won" anything.

trump-putin-alaska-meeting-stakes.html

Thursday Aug. 14. . .

August 12 -- in three days, Trump will travel to Alaska

for a two (not three-)way summit between Ukraine

and Putin/Russia as well as Trump (representing U.S.

interests) . . . he was telling the world press Monday

8/11 that he has set the "bar" low going to the 

world powers summit to "SEE WHAT PUTIN HAS IN MIND."

_________________________________________________

August 7, 2025

At a venue that has been decided "in principle,"

incumbent POTUS Trump 2.0 and incumbent-for-life

Putin of Kremlin/Russia will meet

"to show progress in reaching the end of the

Russian Ukraine and all-out war against Kyiv and

all of Ukraine's borders / major areas of population.

____________________________________________

May 19, 2025 (Monday) after return from

initial (actually 2nd) trip abroad for

Trump 2.0 with current VP Vance --

POTUS Trump 2.0 will telephone Vladimir Putin

then make a call to Ukraine and also European

allies . . .

ONGOING is Ukraine - Russia negotiation talks

in Turkey (Istanbul). . .

__________________________________________

REUTERS agency calls the Russian delegation

an aide, a diplomat, a spy

Thursday May 15, 2025

Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelinsky has called the

so-called negotiating team from the Kremlin sent to

the official U.S. - Ukraine - Russia talks in Istanbul,

Turkey

phony

CNN.com/ May 15, 2025 posting

Zelinsky is meeting today

with Erdogan of Turkey

and will address the world

press at 9 a.m. US Time zone.

Minneapolis, MN race for mayor in November includes incumbent, winner of Dem. primary, 13 others

 mprnews.org/

Minnesota Public Radio (NPR) August 14, 2025

The Minneapolis-Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

has endorsed Omar Fateh who is a Democratic

Socialist while incumbent Jacob Frey remains in

the race for a 4-year-term.

which is Best Candidate for NY City Mayor's office : incumbent Mayor Adams, disgraced former Gov. of NY Cuomo, Dem. Socialist Mamdani

 Eric Adams, independent candidate

(incumbent since 2021: sort of MAGA);

Andrew Cuomo, independent of a political

party, disgraced from sexual harassment

convictions;

Zohran Mamdani, Democratic Socialist,

Working Families Party;

Irene Estrada (Conservative Party);

Joseph Hernandez (Quality of Life Party);

Curtis Sliwa (GOP a.k.a. Republican):

he founded the "Guardian Angels"

Sliwa is NOT endorsed by Trump, pointing

instead at incumbent Eric Adams;

Jim Walden, anti-corruption candidate;

__________________________________

+ more minor candidacies / political parties

House of David - - Berrien County history

Mary's City of David Hotel

is back on the market as a real

estate investment / resort property

Benton Harbor, MI

see HeraldPalladium.com/

August 14, 2025 online article 

__________________________

DOCUMENTARY Oct. 15, 2022

Buchanan, Michigan Public Library 128 E. Front Street

contact them at 269-695-3681

m.paulette@buchananlibrary.com

Documentary Movie Night

Enjoy a showing of a new documentary film exploring the 

origins and history of Benton Harbor's HOUSE OF DAVID

The film covers every aspect from their amusement park, 

baseball team, leader Benjamin Purnell's sex scandal.

Publicity at BUCHANAN CHRONICLE

https://thebuchananchronicle.com/2022/10/08/buchanan-district-library-october-2022/

Trump - Putin meeting (9:30 a.m. White House Time Zone) - Military Base ELMENDORF - RICHARDSON, Alaska

Friday August 15 (24 hours from now)

UPDATE: Trump is now downplaying the

importance of the Aug. 15 face-to-face

"dialogue" with Dictator Putin : calling it

"a listening exercise."  -- so tragic for Ukraine

as a people / culture with a future . . .

CNN reporting -- Trump will meet by video

conference duly elected President of Ukraine

Zelinskyy two days before his in-person

conversation/s with Dictator-for-Life Putin,

the recent dictator of Russia who invaded

the sovereign nation of Ukraine and continues

to barrage its  civilian and cultural targets

unmercifully . . .

_________________________________

Early a.m. Saturday August 9, 2025

Trump - Putin meeting (details to be

finalized) in Alaska, time/s uncertain, agenda

being considered, a deal to "emerge" (?) - unknown

SEE Details in reliable sources:

Washingtonpost.com

NY Times

______________________________________

BREAKING NEWS - 1 p.m. Thursday Aug. 7

Trump spokesperson / Witkoff / others

establishes to PUTIN that he must FIRST meet

with Ukrainian democratically leader, before

Trump - Putin "deal-session" to take place

ABC News.go.com/ 2025-08-07

In replying to

Trump 2.0,

President-for-life

Putin suggests UAE

as their meeting place

next for settling the

Russian invasion of

democratic nation of

Ukraine.

Who acclaims Trump as NOBEL PEACE PRIZE - worthy? junior Senator ALABAMA / Senior Senator OHIO / all concerned that Ukraine rebuff Russian invasions/bombardments

June 24, 2025 -- AP NEWS reports 

Katie Britt -- calls Trump 2.0

Historic! The President of Peace

Bernie Moreno [as recently as Nov. 2024

Cleveland auto dealership magnate]

Moreno defeated incumbent D. Senator from

OHio Sherrod Brown; the car dealer will next stand

for re-election in 2030.

"nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize for Peace"

apnews.com/article/iran-strikes-israel-congress-trump. . . .

Artisan Market

 Mid-August (annually)

Lawrence, Michigan

(Van Buren County)

Come down to the Park

for the Artisan Market

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Variety of vendors

Food Truck

Animal Shelter (meet & greet)

Saturday August 16, 2025

Putin on day before US - Russia summit floats nuclear arms treaty

 CNN. com

reports that the Russian leader is offering

a major Arms Control measure

August 14, 2025 9 a.m. Eastern US Time Zone

The meeting will take

place in Alaska (U.S.

49th State)

Rubio rolls back usual "Human Rights" report, in favor of "streamlining"

 The National Security Adviser / U.S. Archivist / U.S. AID Administrator

took time from his schedule to act as

Secretary of State (historic office

since 1787 : see U.S. Constitution)

and bring out the winter month

report on an ANNUAL HUMAN

RIGHTS REPORT (at mid-August),

cutting it back by dozens of pages

from its usual length, erasing and

watering down entire categories

of human rights abuses. . .

see ABC NEWS .go.com/

state-department-rolls-scales-back-human-rights-report

AUGUST 12, 2025 10:37 p.m.

David Barnes

 family of Texas man still incarcerated behind

bars in Russia hopes that Trump will bring

their son home -- following his conference

to stop the invasion of Ukraine where heightened

offense by Russian and N. Korea and Belarusian

troops takes severe tolls among the Ukrainian

urban and rural populations and their national

infrastructure.

see

ABC News .go.com trump-putin-summit-nears-family-American-held-Russia

Barnes was charged in Russia by prosecutors for crimes committed

in the USA.  Held in custody 3 yrs. 7 mos. and his punishment was a

21.5 year imprisonment.

Bhattacharya - NIH director stumbles when trying to axe mRNA vaccine research

Who is Bhattacharya?  see below. . .

on Wed. August 13, 2025

the NIH director for Trump 2.0 - Vance

spoke out of both sides of his mouth

saying the mRNA platform is

"promising" while admitting

RFK, Jr. and company are "winding down

mRNA Vaccine development research

activities."  MSNBC.com/

protesters from Cancer

Society officials as well as

ALZ-families & lobbyists

fill the Hearing Room. . .

cnn.com/2025/06/10/

health/NIH/bhattacharya-

budget-hearing

_______________________

at National Inst. Health

he brings "Chronic Illness"

axe to grind. . .

the bureaucrat seeks to require foreign 

scientists to directly apply for

grants rather than at "sub-award"

level . . .

Science.org covers his first

"Town Hall" -- he deflects

responsibility for firings of

2,500 of former 20,000 employees;

Read about his rationale to

oppose vaccine mandates and

closing of schools during

COVID-19 outbreaks :

science.org/content/article/nih-director-faces-pointed-questions-first-staff-town-hall

20 May 2025

Trump / Vance / Project 2025 moved him from being a 

Health Economist at Stanford University to

Bethesda without ever before working

for the Federal Government . . .

Pop Superstar on boyfriend's and his brother's PODCAST

see details

"Taylor Swift announces

The Life of a Showgirl 

on a rare podcast Appearance"

August 13, 2025

Release date is

October 3, 2025.

Her co-producers are

Max Martin & Shellback.

98 percent involved

SPEAKER : POTUS, the leader of the free world,

Commander-in-Chief, TV Celebrity of the 1980s,

reminisced of his first

trip to the Broadway musical

The Phantom of the Opera

(Andrew Lloyd Webber) :

"They were treating me good,

because I was a young star,

for whatever reason, this is

a crazy life I've had . . ."

Second POTUS with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

and the winner is . . .

Donald John Trump

-- celebrity star of TV

and Mark Burnett's

THE_APPRENTICE --

twice-elected (once with

a popular vote majority),

twice-impeached by the

House of Representatives,

the only convicted felon to

serve in 2 non-consecutive

terms as Commander-in-Chief

(see Constitution, Article II).

see August 13 Press Conference

[review in NY TIMES / us/politics/trump-kennedy-center-pop-culture.html ]

original POTUS with "STAR" on walk of fame

was Ronald Wilson Reagan (two consecutive

terms during 1981 - 88)

Trump is "a profane, authoritarian man who delights in attacking his critics"

from David French's

[ New York Times OPINION / douglas-wilson-evangelical-hegseth.html ]

denunciation of 

Douglas Wilson, a

paleo-Confederacy

theologian / activist

now ascendant in the

circles of the SBC-aligned

branches of American

conservative/fundamentalism/

misogynist subverters.

Christian Nationalism has its

Savanarola here . . .

Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (Moscow, ID)

David French,

renowned author

NY TIMES columnist (Opinion)

discusses how a Paleo-Confederacy

pastor is spreading far enough abroad

to be getting "re-tweeted" by

SECY. of DEFENSE Pete Hegseth

(Confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a 50-50

tie to head the Pentagon and to start off

running by demoting several admirals,

leading generals of the Military branches,

firing some officials for being too "woke"

as he would put it, see further his

own FOX NEWS weekend anchor diatribes /

published screeds)

TODAY -- August 14, 2025

nytimes.com/opinion/Douglas-Wilson-evangelical-hegseth.html

Texas stand-off resolves as Democratic legislators return after Abbott ends "Emergency" gerrymander session

 Greg Abbott (2-term governor of Texas)

has ended his called "emergency session"

before ramming through a gerry-mandered

map likely upsetting the legislative political

party balance of the Lone Star State.

See details at

abcnews.go.com/politics/Texas-Democrats-to-

return-after-governor-ends-special-session

August 13, 2025

6:47 p.m.

Bezalel Smotrich (March and August updates) -- BBC interview

UPDATE: August 14, 2025 BBC.com/news/articles

"Israeli Settlement plans will

Bury

idea of Palestinian State say B. Smotrich

in a BBC interview today

_________________________________________

Far-right combative Finance Minister in

the Netanyahu Cabinet (Israel),

Bezalel Smotrich,

met Wednesday March 6, 2025 with his counterpart

in the Trump-Vance administration,

Secy. of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

They issued a joint statement

to enhance collaboration between Israel

/ Jerusalem and Washington / Mar-a-lago

on issues such as economic policy,

technology, and financial regulation.

Smotrich gave wholehearted approval

for Trump's announced "Riviera on the

Mediterranean" plan for the forced

dislocation of Gazan residents ahead of

America's "owning" the Gaza Strip and

erecting a new district of condos and

Trump casinos as well as luxury accommodations.

Smotrich holds a powerful role in distributing

for the West Bank / Palestinian Authority

and a role in the defense ministry that

has allowed him to advance Jewish settlement

in the West Bank.

Vaccine Safety (June and August 2025)

TASK FORCE on Vaccine Safety

RFK, Jr.'s HHS has reinstated a federal

panel on vaccine safety after 27 years;

this congressionally-mandated had been

created to monitor child safety issues.

The revival of this "safety" monitor/scrutiny

aspect is part of the anti-"Deep State" mistrust

/suspicion of vaccine Orthodoxy. . .RFK

will put this kind of  anti-vaccine populist, 

anti-science rhetoric front and center.

________________________________________

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

meeting on June 25 - 26

delayed due to

RFK, Jr. (Cabinet Secy. HHS)

firing the 17 members of ACIP

and replacing them with 8

new members some of whom have

questioned vaccine safety

June 2025.

Many of these RFK associates

lack significant experience in

relevant scientific fields.

Senator Cassidy of Louisiana,

who is himself an M.D. voted

to confirms RFK, himself an

environmental lawyer 

and conspiracy-theory author

/previous Presidential

candidate.

Trump mentioned 8 times in Private Plane "Flight Logs"

TRUMP in "Epstein Files"

8 mentions of him travelling on Epstein's private

plane -- there are investigative records of

substance during investigations of 2006 and

2019 -- neither Obama, Comey, Biden were

in office at those times -- instead George W. Bush

and TRUMP 1.0 were the POTUS at those

times.

________________________________________

Trump has "in common" with Epstein

rolling stone.com/politics/politics/news/Trump-denies-birthday-letter-drawing-1235388615

__________________________________

Louis DeJoy

the former Logistics / Transportation magnate

who served the Trump-Pence administration

appointed June 20, 2020 (height of COVID-19)

and then continued in office during Biden-Harris

four years has announced his resignation

March 24, 2025.

The Post Office will soon be subject to lay-offs

and firings as well as budget cuts and program

cessation.

Farewell POSTMASTER #75 since before

1776 and the independent founding of the 

Constitutional republic that is the USA.

(First postmaster in 1775 was Ben Franklin

of Philadelphia, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania).

12:12 AM on August 12, 2025 : new Album's title announced: THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL

details from

NY TIMES

published early this morning

article by Julia Jacobs

Taylor Swift

Tuesday 12th of August

12:12 a.m. as a countdown

clock on her website

reached its fruition

arts/music/taylor-swift-the-life-of-a-showgirl.html

Heavy rains pound regions around South Korea's capital (Seoul) -- AP News coverage

 August 13, 2025

apnews.com/article/seoul-region-hit-by-heavy-rains-

flood

7:45 a.m. Eastern Time Zone (USA)

NSF Grants -- Trump handed terrific loss

 UCLA's $324 million

terminations of NSF grants was 

misleadingly framed when it

wouldn't restore the grant money

to the California University --

JUDGE RITA F. LIN

orders payout and asks for report

back next Monday --

nytimes.com/ Today Aug. 13 2025

"Trump Admin. Violated Order on

UCLA Grant Terminations, Judge Says"

NSF must reinstate the millions of

dollars that Trump had tried to

break rules to please his MAGA

and anti-science cronies / enemies

of research and truth.

The Main Draw of the U.S. Open Tennis Championship

 Begins

August 24, 2025

at the Billie Jean King

Tennis Center, Flushing

Meadows, NY

Wild Card entry 

among others

will be

Venus Williams 

(past champion).

Elijah taken away from his disciple Elisha (II Kings 2:11 - 12)

 excerpt from MAXIMUS THE
CONFESSOR:

Selected Writings (1985) Paulist

Press CWS edited George C. Berthold

Commentary on the 'Our Father'

#4. . .and this is the

mystery which the great

Elijah clearly shows in

the actions which he

accomplished by way of

figure.  For during his

rapture he gives Elisha

his coat/cloak (that is,

mortification of the flesh

in which the magnificence

of the good moral order

is firmly grounded) as an ally

of the Spirit in the struggle

against any enemy force

and as a blow against the

unstable and flowing nature

figured by the Jordan so

that the disciple be not held

back from crossing over to 

the Holy Land by being

swamped in the mud and

slipperiness of the craving

for matter.  As for himself,

he (Elijah) advances toward

God free and uncontrolled by

any attachment to beings at

all, simple in his desire and

uncomplicated in his intention,

and makes his dwelling with the

One who is simple by nature

through general virtues

spiritually harnessed to each

other as fiery horses. . .

(Pages 108 - 109).

Matthew 6 "May Thy Kingdom Come"

 The parallel to this verse of the

LORD's PRAYER

in the Synoptic Gospel (Luke)

Lk 11:2  is quoted in Maximus

the Confessor's Commentary on the

Our Father #4 is termed

"May your Holy Spirit

come and purify us".

[ translation in CWS

Volume Maximus the

Confessor: Selected

Writings , 1985 Paulist Press].

page 106 middle. see also

page 122 footnote 45 : "Maximus

got this reading from Gregory

of Nyssa The Lord's Prayer  #3"

"The reading is also found in

Tertullian in the West -- De  Baptismo

#8"

Secretary of Treasury (April and August updates)

Trump 2.0 Secy. of Treasury is admittedly

deficient in following Ethics admonitions

to avoid conflicts of interest

"Bessent has yet to fully divest 

assets, raising concern at ethics agency"

NYTimes.com/2025/08/13/us/politics/scott-bessent-conflicts-of-interest.html

___________________________________________

Three-legged expectation

Trade / Tax / de-regulation

One, "beautiful" omnibus will be the target

to get funding for the Trump - Vance

financial package that seals up the Tariff /

Fiscal Year funding into a giant "to-do" 

overturning of the regular separated budget

appropriations. . . comments by Scott Bessent.

politico.com/live-updates/2025/04/28/scott-bessent-

reconciliation-deadline-gop-megabill . . .

April 29, 2025

Yes, I expected KISS & Sylvester Stallone

Entertainers named by Kennedy Center

Committee [chief of staff Suzie Wiles] for the Dec. 2025 "Honors" are

KISS,

Sylvester Stallone,

George Strait (country singer),

Michael Crawford (British actor of stage

and films: Original "Phantom" title singer),

Gloria Gaynor (singer).

Host of the December ceremony

will be Donald John Trump,

who imagines himself a great

patron of the entertainment

arts . . . variety.com/

08/13 9 a.m. Pacific Time Zone

[in comments he relished saying

"NO" to wokesters / whatever

that refers to in TrumpSpeak ]

Sylvester Stallone - "Alarum" 2025 feature film

 Global Box Office

$220,529

see BOXOFFICEMOJO.com

Lead Singer / Front Celebrity for the Shock Rock / Heavy Metal group "KISS"

Paul Stanley (b. 20 Jan. 1952 in Queens, NY - USA)

as Stanley Harvey Eisen (mother fled Holocaust,

father's ancestry is from Poland)

______________________________________

Likely such stars as:

his Hollywood advisers : 

Mel Gibson

Sylvester Stallone

Jon Voight

also Trump has called for

recognizing Babe Ruth,

Elvis Presley.  However,

it has never been allowed 

for honoring someone long-

deceased.  The Center will spend 6 X the

funding of a normal year = $257

million due to the Omnibus line

item just passed in House & Senate.

Jon Ossoff (Senior Senator, sworn in Jan. 20, 2021)

The Georgia senior Senator

Jon Ossoff of Atlanta

has a long record of supporting Israel

in contested and roll-call votes at

the U.S. Senate where he has

served since Jan. 2021 following his

defeat of David Perdue, incumbent

GOP Senator. . .

see further August 13, 2025

ajc.com (Atlanta Journal-Constitution )

at age 38 6mos. he is the

youngest Senior Senator

in the U.S. Senate (a former

documentary film maker/

producer).

Receive Apple, Donut, Apple Cider : after 5K or 1 Mile

If you want an "APPLE FESTIVAL 5K"

experience, 

cross the state line and enjoy:

Nappanee (IN)

APPLE FESTIVAL 5K

and 1 mile run that

begins at Missionary Church

2 miles north of Downtown

Nappanee -- date this year

September 20, 2025 , 8:30 a.m.

Eastern Time

findtherun.com/race/14960/nappanee-apple-festival-donut-dash-5k-and-1-mile-donut-dash

Sept. 2025 Four Flags Area Niles (MICHIGAN) Apple Festival

 Details

fourflagsfestival.org/

Saturday 1:30 p.m. Grande Parade

from Downtown to High School, 17th street

near

Apple Festival Grounds /

parking area ($5)

FREE ADMISSION to

Craft Fair, Festival Stage

(concert performances)

Apple Pastries, Cookies,

Pie, Cider -- no pets,

no concealed weapons/knives,

only explosives will be

FIREWORK display on Sat.

after dusk / sunset

BANDS who've performed

in past Festivals : Hey Annie,

Touch of Texas, 1985 Band

Paul Stanley is a fan of classical opera, had hip replacement in 2005 at age 53

 BIOGRAPHY

imdb.com/name/nm0822571/bio/?ref_=NM_OV_BIO_SM

his nickname / persona is

Star Child

now age 73, 7mos.

first time he toured outside the USA was in 2007 at age 55

for his "new" album Live To Win

KISS (Shock-rock heavy metal band of 1970s)

Paul Stanley

Gene Simmons

Eric Singer

Tommy Thayer

Q: are original members/founders all Americans?

have they all had lifelong careers as musicians?

were they songwriters? composers?

is their music unique and representing a Zeitgeist? 

did they sire many out-of-wedlock children?

were they ever involved in charity fundraisers?

did they evade taxes in countries where they resided?

did they make most of their album sales from touring or "Greatest Hits" tracks?

standing in BILLBOARD / Rolling Stone lists of "greatest" / Grammy statistics

nominations versus wins in categories

Sept. 7, 2025, Phil Keaggy concert (re-scheduled) - Howard Performing Arts Center, Berrien Springs, MI

 September 7, 2025

7 p.m. rescheduled from

April 6 (due to hand surgery)

Part of "HOWARD CENTER

PRESENTS" series

One of the most talented

guitarists in music today, 

Phil Keaggy continues to 

delight audiences across the U.S.

He has been an audience-pleaser

for more than 40 years. . .

Ticket prices primarily

$10 - 30 but upper level seating

starts at $49 and up to around $200+

Web connection = hpac@andrews.edu

phone 269-471-3560

Maryland's former Confederate statuary -- to be displayed for public

 This October (2025)

in Los Angeles, CA

see further Baltimore sun.com/

2025 August 11 coverage

/baltimore-former-confederate-statues-

will-go-on-display-this-fall-in-la/

Proposal for a "new" Doctor of the Church

 John Henry Cardinal Newman

1801 - 1890

canonized in steps, 2011 (beatification)

2019 (canonization) by two popes,

Benedict XVI & Francis

see details ncronline.org/

"Pope to bestow one Catholic

church's highest honors on 

Birmingham England theologian

doctrinal historian as

a Doctor of the Church"

article posted 31 July 2025

Trump lies about homicides and youth crime -- Inaccurate data about crimes - actual or reported-solved

"Trump Misstates D.C. Crime Data 

to justify National Guard and FBI

Takeover "

nytimes.com/2025/08/12/us/politics/trump-dc-crime-data-fact-check.html

Tuesday August 12, 2025

Linda Qiu reporting there at Washington, DC

where the murder rate is NOT (!) the highest anywhere in the world . . . . . .

VIDEO shows Uvalde School Shooting Massacre negotiation (Robb Elementary) - May 2022

AUGUST 12, 2025

Court Evidence released 3yrs, 3mos. later

shows Uvalde Sheriff negotiating with

gunman barricaded with students,teachers.

NYTimes.com/2025/08/12/us/uvalde-documents-video-arrendodo.html

________________________________________________

18-yr.-old gunman opened fire

killing 19 elementary students

and 2 teachers.  The gunman

a former student at the school

was also killed.  It was the 

deadliest school shooting since

the 2012 attack on Sandy Hook

Elementary in Connecticut in

2012.

May 24, 2022 -- three years ago

Country Musicians - solo, duo, group, ensemble

Carrie Underwood (sang at Inauguration - Jan. 2025)

Jewel (also part of music 20 Jan. 2025)

Nelly (sang and performed on stage - Inauguration ball/s)

Opera singer Christopher Macchio

The Village People ("YMCA")

Billy Ray Cyrus

Jason Aldean

Rascal Flatts

Parker McCollum

Gavin DeGraw

the Marine Band (U.S. Armed Forces)

Trump himself DJ'd a rally at a point when

one / two people were carried away on 

stretchers due to heat stroke :  He played his

favorite opera arias by Luciano Pavarotti (deceased)

Prayers for relatives - friends - in military & NASA astronaut James Lovell, Apollo 13 leader/commander

 LAKE FOREST, Illinois

Astronaut (NASA) James Lovell, age 97,

has died Thursday Aug. 7, 2025 according to a statement

from NASA.

James A. Lovell Jr., NASA Astronaut

who settled in Lake Forest, IL

obituary published in CHICAGO Tribune

08/08/2025

chicagotribune.com/

His wife Marilyn preceded him in death, passing away 

in 2023; he leaves two sons James III and Jeffrey, 

his daughters Barbara and Susan, 11 grandchildren,

and 9 great-grandchildren.

Edward Coristine, DOGE "Strike Force" Assaulted in D.C. August 2025

POLITICO is reporting on August 5, 2025

that the Musk "Raider" was assaulted in D.C.

when attempting to stop an apparent carjacking.

POLITICO.com/ "Trump Administration

Staffer Known as 'Big Balls' assaulted in DC"

_________________________________________

The online magazine WIRED reported in June 2025 that

Edward Coristine, highly noticed

member of Musk's DOGE "strike

force" -- has resigned and his accounts

de-activated (June 24, 2025).

He graduated H.S. last year from Rye, NY

and was enrolled as an engineering student

at Northeastern U. before he was hired

by DOGE.  Coristine had already worked

at a data security firm but was fired.

______________________________________________

Newsweek.com reported in online

article that he is the great-grandson 

of a KGB Defector [ Valery Fedorvich

Martynov ]  -- Coristine has already

founded 5 companies across multiple

jurisdictions (2 states and United Kingdom)

newsweek.com/elon-musk-edward-coristine-

big-balls-kgb-agent-2036250

_________________________________________

 H.S. graduate named as Dept.

of Govt. Efficiency (DOGE)

senior advisor by Elon Musk

along with other <25-yr.-olds

in State and Homeland Security

departments : details at

msn.com/en-us/news/us/

elon-musk-s-19-year-old-

lieutenant-sparks-fury-after-

taking-new-role

Feb. 10, 2025 MSN website

FEB. 22 update: while at Path

Network as an INTERN, he 

leaked proprietary information and 

was fired; he claimed he maintained

access to their network's systems

even after his termination at PATH

Network. . .

Psalm 126: "we were like dreamers" 21st Century Bible translation (2009)

from Psalms of the Jewish Liturgy (Avi Press)

transl. Miriam Glazer, Ph.D:

When Adonai restored Zion, we were like dreamers.

Laughter filled our mouth and

Our tongues sang with joy.

Then the nations of the world said,
"Adonai has done great things for them!"

Adonai did do great things for us -- and we were glad.

O Adonai, rest our well-being now, like streams that flow in the Negev.

So those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy --

and those who walk along weeping, bearing a bag of seeds will surely come home

singing with joy, bearing sheaves!

originally posted on 

"SEEKING FAITH & UNDERSTANDING" Google Blog

in 2015

faithfor2008.blogspot.com/

Compromise made by Harvard University (August 12, 2025 announced "deal") - $500 million

Further details (Week of August 11 - 15, 2025)

ahead of Fall Semester 2025

_________________________________________

Monday August 11, 2025 Reporters

Alan Blinder, Michael Bender, Michael S. Schmidt

NY TIMES collaborative NEWS / Politics story

"Harvard nears a deal with the $500 million settlement

that it will pay by means of educational measures -- no 

cash- payoff to Trump - Vance . . ."

/us/trump-harvard-settlement-negotiations.html

Wed. April 23, 2025

Harvard University will NOT bend to

the Trump - Vance (graduate of Yale) 

administration's demands to change 

several of its academic and administrative

policies (particular ones on student protest

and admission of international students and

any student misbehavior).

See details at THE HILL.com/homenews/education/

5265069-harvard-trump-fighting-lester-holt

U2 - each current member voices their own stance on GAZA vis a vis Israel and neighbors

U2

Irish mega-group (Rock - Folk)

released a 20-part

Instagram

post critiquing Israeli policy on Gaza

on Sunday August 10, 2025.

BUT,

they also condemn HAMAS 

and the group calls for the release

of the hostages, and question the

hypocrisy of those who ignore

humanitarian crises_ around the world

and only voice outrage when Israel is involved.

jpost.com

Jerusalem Post (August 10, 2025

23:47 time post)

/international/article-863833

Ongoing World Expo 2025 (Osaka, Japan)

From APRIL 13, 2025

until OCTOBER 13, 2025

the Expo Osaka 2025

marks the 20th year

anniversary as a return 

since the Aichi Expo 2005.

see further

www.japan-guide.com/event/expo-2025/

ALSO coverage on

NHK (Japanese Public television network/platform)

Rick Perry - spokesman/promoter of Ibogaine at age 75

 More about the powerful

Psychedelic

Ibogaine

and the political charlatan 

and where he ended up in 2025 :

Keynote Speaker at

Denver CO in June for

"Psychedelic Conference"

and allied with Kyrsten Sinema (I)

former U.S. Senator representing

Arizona -- she is using it as a

preventative ahead of genetic

dementia which killed her grandmother

NYTimes.com/2025/08/11/us/politics/rick-perry-drug-psychedelics-ibogaine.html/

Alcatraz (in 1934 an abandoned military prison) operates next 29 years until 1963

ON THIS DATE

August 11, 1934

the to-become infamous

prison "home" to gangsters and

the "bird-man" of Alcatraz

marked the arrival of

the first prisoners on

the S. F. Bay island prison.

over the next 3 decades

1,500 prisoners would call

it their prison-address.

apnews.com/today-in-history/august-11

Kindred (Sci-Fi Novel / Time-travel) : by Octavia E. Butler (1947 - 2006)

Who was Octavia Butler?  NBC News Platform

posted this "Why The Internet Remains

Obsessive with this Sci-Fi Writer: Octavia Butler"

NBC News.com/news/nbcblk/

octavia-e-butler-internet-biography-positive-obsession-susanna-miller-

rcna223730/

______________________________________________

 nileslibrary.com/single-event/

readers-circle-book-club-4/2025-08-20

________________________________

biography

Susana M. Morris Positive Obsession:

The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler 

All Eyes On -- trade war between China and U.S.

Markets will be watching -- investors large and small

story posted Noon

August 11, 2025

nytimes.com/2025/08/11/us/politics/us-china-trade-tariffs-deal.html

Gallup World Poll ranks world-class leaders at 57%, 52%, then trailing at 41%

 Pope Leo XIV (American-Peruvian)

Vlodymyr Zelinskyy

. . .Trump . . .

ncronline.org/news/pope-leo-tops-trump-

and-zelinskyy-gallup-world-leader-poll.html

Bezalel Smotrich threatens to withdraw from "War Cabinet"

August 10, 2025

Finance Minister and RZP Party

head to send Knesset election with

dissolution of Cabinet if the Gaza

decision stands -- after vote forced

by Netanyahu : 

Bezalel Smotrich --

see JERUSALEM POST

jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-863759

NOAA understaffed, desperate to re-hire - National Meteorologists firings (second month of Trump-Vance-Musk)

CNN is reporting at noon, August 5, 2025

that the Weather and NOAA services will have to

re-hire 100s of those DO G.E. fired rampantly --

this undoes some of the employee ill_ will done

to American meteorologists in the post-Inauguration

attack on the government workforce by Elon Musk

and his DOGE_ raiders.

CNN.com/ 2025/08/05

Update (ABC News dot-com) 580 staffers

have been fired as of March 8, 2025

UPDATE: 500 resignations on Friday 2/28

follow hundreds of firings that last week

of Feb. 2005.

800 Probationery staff were fired by Musk

in one fell swoop :

NYTimes.com/2025/02/28/climate/noaa-trump-staff-cuts.html

FEB. 28, 2025 update:

Mass layoffs are to begin at NOAA --

the pseudo-rationale is that

climate research is

"harmful to future

U.S. prosperity" - MAGA

propaganda / Project 2025

__________________________________

Secretary of Commerce

Howard Lutnick-nominee

disclosed Tuesday

Jan. 29, 2025

that he will NOT

recommend NOAA be disbanded.

Democrat interrogators did

not ask any further questions of

the billionaire nominee, friend

of #DJT about "climate science."

August 9, 1945 : 11:02 U.S. Army drops "Fat Man" Plutonium bomb

The FAT MAN bomb was dropped at

11:02 a.m. local time

at an altitude of 1,650 feet

above the Urakami valley.

Nagasaki, a coastal city, well-known

where

Portuguese traders had made

trade and inter-religious

contact in the

16th Century C.E.  Nagasaki

during the 20th century Asian

was a key port city 100 miles

away from Kokura where

the Japanese military

operated one of their

biggest ordnance factories,

manufacturing among

other things, chemical

weapons.  As a target,

Nagasaki was larger than

Kokura with a population

of 263,000 including two

Mitsubishi military

factories.  A B-29 named "Bock's Car"

dropped the plutonium bomb

only belatedly as clouds 

had obscured visibility.

Major Sweeney prepared

to turn back due to diminished

fuel for the return flight.  Its

explosive yield was 21 kilotons,

about 40% more than Little

Man (the uranium Atomic

Bomb dropped on Hiroshima).

More coverage of 2025 Aug. 9

memorial activities in Japan

abcnews.go.com/2025/08/09/

International/WireStory/nagasaki-marks-80th-anniversary-survivors-put-hope

124500770

When did Portuguese traders introduce firearms and Christianity in Japan?

The Muromachi period --

the heyday of the samurai, the

Muromachi period was one of near 

constant civil war.  Feudal Lord's known

as daimyo consolidated their power in

local fiefdoms.  Peasant rebellions

and piracy were common.  Nevertheless,

trade flourished.  The movement

of armies required daimyo to build

roads, while improved communications

gave birth to many merchants and artisan

guilds.  Trade with China grew,

and in 1543 Portugal began trading

with Japan.

This period of time

included the West

introducing firearms

and Christianity.  Noh

theater and the tea 

ceremony were founded, 

and Kyoto's most famous

temples were built in this

period (1336 - 1568 C.E.).

Richard Stearns, Judge who blocks Trump from diverting disaster prevention grants

At REUTERS dot-com

Tuesday Aug. 5, 2025

Federal Judge Richard Stearns at his

court in Boston, Mass. blocked the

Trump administration's $4 billion

"grab" of already designated and allocated

funds for Building Resilient and Infrastructure

and Communities program.

reuters/legal/government/us-judge-blocks-

trump-administration-diverting-disaster-prevention-groups

Contraceptive Devices - Rubio (State Dept. / National security adviser) tells staff to Destroy $9.7 million dollars worth

NYTIMES coverage of the European nations attempting

to stop this burning of supplies (figured to cost $160,000)

NYTimes.com/2025/08/07/world/Europe/usaid-contraceptives.html

Alarm in Brussels, Belgium and nationwide in France . . .

This waste and unnecessary drop of promises made to

under-developed and developing nations is a 

$9 million

boondoogle !

 UPI

July 27, 2025

The aid to foreign nations (predominantly African

states and regions) in the form of birth control will

be destroyed

nearly 2 million doses of injectables;

900,000 devices

and +2 million oral packets

see Washingtonpost.com/ 

No HIV medications or condoms are

being destroyed.

Rubio's destruction will cost $167,000.

Both the United Nations Population Fund

and International Planned Parenthood

Federation were interested in receiving

the contraceptives.

Visit of a sitting POTUS to Hiroshima

In 2016,

then-President Barack Obama

visited the A-bombed city

Hiroshima, Japan

On a bright, cloudless morning,

death fell from the sky

/ / / / / / / / / / /

Obama said in remarks given

during the visit to Japan.

Hibakusha (6 August 2025) - 80th Anniversary article on Pacifism's decline and SHOGANAI

Discussion of

shoganai

(Japanese term for 

"it can't be helped") that

is a kind of phrase being

used in rebuttals to the

pacifist calls for total

disarmament as well as dialogue

over a growing feeling

among 21st century 

Japanese youngest citizens

who seek discussion about

future defense against

nuclear-armed neighbors 

(Russia, N. Korea).

nytimes.com/2025/08/06/world/asia/hiroshima-japan-nuclear-peace.html

TODAY - Hiroshima 80th anniversary

Tulsi Gabbard, DNI -- misinformation update August 6, 2025

August 6, 2025

She continues to declassify 2016 documents so as

to satisfy her boss who wants to defame those

ahead of his and VP Pence Term (Jan. 20, 2017 -

insurrection 2021) : her release of the House intelligence

committee (chaired by then Congressman Rubio (R))

multi-page report

about investigating the CIA consensus on Russian/Putin

interference in the election between Trump 1.0 and 

then-opponent Hilary Clinton.  

By doing this leak herself Gabbard could reveal top-secret

spying techniques and sources. Washingtonpost

online exclusive (2025/08/06)

_________________________________________

Tulsi Gabbard de-classifies pre-election memos

from Oct. 2016 about election confusion --

Russian release of Hilary Clinton - Tim Kaine

campaign

emails -- Russia Did NOT directly "vote"

for Trump - Pence in Nov. 2016.

_________________________________

CBS news May 23, 2025

is reporting that the Counter-terrorism

nominee for Tulsi Gabbard, DNI

is "under scrutiny" for ordering a

re-write of a memorandum concerning

TGA (Venezuelan gang and gang Lord's)

and the Venezuelan government.

cbsnews.com/news/counterterrorism-nominee-

joe-kent-emails-edits-intelligence-assessment

May 22, 2025 -- 6 a.m. video includes

Gayle King, CBS Mornings

Voice of America leader fired August 2025

Washingtonpost online notice:

VOA Director fired after refusal to

take lower post (August 5, 2025)

online article-investigation

_____________________________

District Court Judge of D.C.

rules that Radio Free Europe/

Radio Liberty CANNOT be shut down

since Trump-Vance cannot shut down

the Congressionally established news media

that is an anti-Russian broadcaster unilaterally,

deadline March 28 -- NYTimes.com/live/2025/03/26/

us/trump-news

MONDAY -- Trump withdrew the nomination of

L. Brent Bozell III to run the RFE/RL

platform 

POTUS closes this agency

Employees all fired: 

UPDATE: Six V of A staff

sue Kari Lake and the Trump administration

alleging that their moves to shut down

and eliminate the U.S. funded network

were

unlawful and unconstitutional.

More than 900 full-time workers

were placed on indefinite leave

last weekend (March 15- 16);

550 contractors were terminated

from their jobs.

VOA is effectively shut down.

npr.org/2025/03/21/nx-s1-5336351/

voice-of-america-trump-lawsuit-

kari-lake-voa

Rev. Joseph M. Kitagawa

born March 8, 1915 in Osaka, Japan

died October 7, 1992

Episcopal Priest, Dean of Univ. of Chicago Divinity School

from 1970 until 1980

founder of the American Society for the Study of Religions

Professor emeritus

author of many articles, books, monographs on Japanese religion

died of pneumonia following a stroke that same year

obtained degrees both in Japan and the United States

upon his arrival in the United States, he was taken to internment camps

for 3 1/2 years in New Mexico and Idaho

after an early academic career, he became a U.S. citizen in 1955

Jess Glynne, songwriter

Her song

"Hold My Hand"

is being abused in a Trump-Vance

video used by ICE (Immigration

Customs Enforcement) in the 

midst of an "X" / Twitter posting

that depicts handicapped people

being loaded onto a jet for

deportation -- disclaiming that

the song supported division &

hate ----- see further BILLBOARD.com/

music/pop/jess-glynne-blasts-trump-white-house-hold-my-hand-jet2-post

1236033367/

the song is from 2015 and the songwriter took to INSTAGRAM

with her rebuttal and denunciation on Wed. July 30, 2025

Yet another example of Trump

message-crafters who elude

known copyright - permission

channels to opt in previously

performed/recorded music into

their extremist messaging . . .

Woody Guthrie's song "This Land is Your Land" -- co-opted for Trump DHS "protecting/defending" social media post

 CNN discovered in early August 2025 that

a promotional online / social media POSTING

from Dept. Homeland Security is subverting the 1940s message

of the Woody Guthrie copyrighted song "This Land is Your

Land".  Amid slick Madison-avenue images and a horse-drawn

American Flag,  DHS image-makers use the background

audio - instrumental version to make an anti-immigration message :

TRICIA McCLAUGHLIN, DHS

assistant secretary answered CNN

in a statement defending the post :

We're Confident . . .

CNN.com/2025/08/05/us/this-land-is-your-land-trump-dhc-cec

the Dept. Homeland Security "music video spot"

was posted on "X" / formerly Twitter

Hiroshima Bomb Drop Anniversary (80 years ago) 8:15 a.m. local time JAPAN

NHK News Line

special coverage of

that commemoration involving

the hibakusha (survivors) as well

as family memorializing those who

have died on the Aug.6 1945 date

as well as those who died of radiation

poisoning and long-term cancer / 

radiological diseases & fatalities.

August 6, 2025

REUTERS.com

world/hiroshima-warns-against-nuclear-

weapons-it-marks-80-years-since-a-bomb-2025-08-06

Solar Power - Trump EPA to "claw back" $7 billion in grants for climate change solutions

 see further on

EPA MOVES TO CANCEL $7 billion

in grants for solar energy

nytimes.com/2025/08/05/climate/epa-cancels-solar-energy-grants.html

Eight Summer "contenders" who wanted to be #1 at the Box Office weekend reckoning (April - August this year)

Jurassic World: Rebirth

opens July 2, 2025 (a Wednesday before Indep. Day USA)

$91.5 million opening on July 4-6, 2025; as of 7/11 $184.6 million

as of August 3 $317 million

Superman (2025) - DC comics

opens July 11, 2025 (Friday)

$122 million opening 48 hours (12:01 a.m. Friday

and all day Saturday sales in theaters)

by early AUGUST, 2025 -- reported total box office in U.S. is $316 million

Mission : Impossible - Final Reckoning

eighth in FRANCHISE

$122 million from May 23 - June 1, 2025

June 4: $125.1 million total reported to BOX OFFICE MOJO

Total up to $192.2 million by July 4, 2025 

by July 13 $193.9 million; by July 26 $196.3 million

Thunderbolts

$189.8 million from May 2 - July 1, 2025

June 4: total reported to BOX OFFICE MOJO = $182.3 million

as of July 26, 2025 -- $190 million in box office

Lilo & Stitch

$ 183 million from May 23 - 25, 2025

$ 63 million more for weekend of May 30 - June 1, 2025

$ +38 million for week June 2 , 3 , 4 plus another $32 million June 7-8

By August 3 -- grand total ticket/box office of $421.2 million

Karate Kid : Legends

$21 million initial release

June 4: $21.6 million reported (BOX OFFICE MOJO)

up to $52.5 million by July 19

A Minecraft Movie

$418 million from April 4 - 30, May 1-22, 2025

$423.9 million by July 19, 2025

___________________________

How to Train Your Dragon

opening weekend June 15 - 16 sold $83.7 million

total gross

$160.4 million by June 22, 2025

$186.3 million total by June 29 (Sunday reported #)

$215.8 million July 4 reported statistic 

weekend from July 4 - 6 was additional $11 million

by August 3, 2025 $260.3 million

Hegseth's tenure has been marked with . . .

 abrupt firings,

personality clashes,

threats,

other dysfunction.

An early choice Hegseth

made for "Chief of Staff"

was JOE KASPER

who voluntarily departed

for return to work in the 

corporate world.

Hegseth and Buria have repeatedly

clashed with top generals and

admirals serving in some of the

senior-most positions.

Ricky Buria (Hegseth chief staff) tried to oust White House liaison to Pentagon but FAILED

MSNBC & Washingtonpost.com

are reporting that Buria is frustrated

in not getting consent and agreement

over who will be promoted in the

Hegseth Dept. of

Defense

msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-hegseth-aide-

tried-to-oust-senior-white-house-liaison-from-Pentagon

Matthew McNitt, coordinates

personnel policy

August 4, 2025 (start of

new week)

What do "M*A*S*H" (1970 feature film) and "Woman of the Year" (Spencer Tracy - Katharine Hepburn film of 1942) have in common?

One was Oscar-worthy for

Ring Lardner, Jr.

in the category of Best Screenplay - Adapted material

while the winner at the 15th Academy Awards (March 1943)

for the category of Original Screenplay was presented to

this pair of screenwriters :

Ring Lardner, Jr. and Michael Kanin.

Final Tour - singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper

COVERAGE at Michigan Live!

see information from August 1 press

coverage

MLive.com/life/2025/08/cyndi-lauper-

bids-tearful-farewell-at-last-michigan-show-

goodbye-i-love-you-guys.html

____________________________

Her Michigan appearance was at

Pine Knob Music Theater,

Clarkston, MI

August 1, 2025

"Girls just

want to have fun" Tour

May - August 2025.

before her induction into the Rock & Roll

Hall of Fame ceremony during 2025.

She is 72 years old.

Ring Lardner, Jr. Memoir I'D HATE MYSELF IN THE MORNING (2000)

 (Page 75 excerpt)

Making my discomfort worse

was my inability to simply 

refuse to answer the HUAC's

questions or assert that my 

membership, in either the

Communist Party or the Screen

Writers Guild, was none of their

business.  But the lawyers of

the ten of us, in an exercise

of logic that seemed persuasive

at the time, had insisted that

such a stance could leave us

vulnerable in court at a later

date.  We were instead supposed

to maintain that we were making

an attempt, in our own way, to

answer the questions we felt the

HUAC had no right to ask.

In recent decades, feelings in

Hollywood, among other domains

of American Culture, have turned

sharply in our favor.  As the

sole survivor of the "TEN" I have

been in a position lately to 

receive many expressions of respect

and admiration from actors,

actresses, and other denizens

of the New Hollywood who sometimes

have only a sketchy idea of what

really happened to us.  Since I

enjoy a little adulation as much

as the next man, I don't always

make a point of filling in the

gaps in their knowledge or 

correcting the points of confusion.

But from time to time I try to

suggest that we weren't as heroic

as people make us out to be.  It 

would be more analytically precises,

it seems to me, to say that

we did the only things we could

do under the circumstances,

short of behaving like complete

sh*ts. .

Like the other 9 who testified 

with me, I couldn't yet know just

how much life and property and

comfort I was going to lose and

for how long. . .

CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) - going bankrupt after July 17 fight on U.S. Senate Floor, D.C.

August 3, 2025 CPB no longer has funds for

future and present. . .

________________________________________

On July 17, 2025 on the floor of the U.S. Senate,

Women GOP hold-out votes (2) were the only

defections for the Senate Majority leadership

jamming through the Rescission bill depriving

NPR - PBS of its already appropriated earlier

$1.1 billion of funds promised to CPB

as well as Foreign Aid of $8 billion.

The last such RESCISSION bill was in 1999,

during the Clinton-Gore second term.

In order to gain near unanimity, the leadership

(John Thune of South Dakota) agreed to

strip out a line item of $400 million for

PEPFAR (a Bush-Cheney era program to stop

Global AIDS spread) -- it is unclear for how many

Republican U.S. Senators this mattered.

Also shielded were massive funding for Jordan

and Egypt, allies of Israel, another major concern

of the Trump-Vance administration, in these days 

of bombing strikes that returned to Damascus, Syria

as well as early summer massive devastation to

Teheran, Iran and other Iranian military and nuclear

sites.

IN FURTHER UPDATES: members of both

parties must meet a Sept. 30, 2025 shutdown

deadline or else the entire government will

lack funds for basic services such as the National

Parks and civilian workers in Federal branch

offices both in D.C. and in satellite locations.

This is the first "Shutdown" test that the 

bipartisan appropriations funding will face

since the Capitol Rotunda inauguration swearing-in

of Donald John Trump and VP JD Vance on

Jan. 20, 2025.

1977 biopic of Muhammad Ali : adapted screenplay by Ring Lardner, Jr. titled "The Greatest"

 The Greatest (1977) biopic

autobiographical memoir by

Muhammad Ali of his early life

when he was a young adult boxer,

Gold Medalist in Rome Olympic Games

representing U.S. Boxing team

through the Ali-Frazier world

championship fight in Zaire.

Tom Gries was the Director of this film

based on Ali's own best-selling memoir

The Greatest.

This feature made with complete cooperation 

of the boxing great -- was in theaters in 1977 

and the next year it won

the IMAGE Award (NAACP) for best

feature film.  Sadly,

Tom Gries (Director) sustained a fatal heart attack

and the studio replaced him

by Monte Hellman.

Incidentally, James Earl Jones plays the role of

"Malcolm X" for several initial sequences of

Ali's young adult period.

Ballroom $200 million - McCrery Architects

August 3 -- NY Times story -- McCrery Architects

tapped as lead architect plans to preserve the "elegance"

and historical importance

NYTimes.com/2025/08/03/us/politics/trump-white-house-

ballroom-renovations-concerns.html

______________________________________________

Trump covers this $200 million Ballroom expansion to

allow for dancing crowds in the hundreds . . .

 The addition to the historic residence would allow him to

host events for +650 people.  

He has already paved over the White House Rose Garden

and restyled the Oval Office with baroque gold trim,

befitting Mar-A-Lago, his Florida golf course resort.

Many workers will be evicted from the East Wing

during construction.

Details : NYTimes.com/us/politics/white-house-ballroom-trump.html

July 31, 2025

Joseph's Dreams (Genesis 37 - 50) and Daniel's Dreams (Book of the Prophet)

 from

The Dream Theophany of Samuel: its structure

in relation to Ancient Near Eastern Dreams and

its Theological Significance  (1983)

by Robert Karl Gnuse

cites 1956 work by A. Leo Oppenheim

The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient

Near East: with a Translation of an Assyrian

Dream Book  (1956)

Page 91 forward =

"The symbolic dreams in the Joseph

story are simple, pictorial

prefigurations of coming events which

present a silent scene with no divine

address and a worldly content.  Despite

the simplicity of the dreams, Joseph 

alone is able to understand his dreams

and the dreams of the Egyptians.  They

are not an oracular revelation but they

have a meaning in themselves which is

open to human interpretation.  These

dreams, simple though they may be,

require an interpreter.  Joseph is this

interpreter, "The Master of Dreams." . . .

The Joseph dreams have symbols taken

from real life, which express their

meaning by extraordinary activity, but

the Daniel dreams have fantastic symbols,

which are the product of a frenetic

imagination.  Daniel seems to have been

patterned after Joseph to be the servant

of God who can decide the symbolic

dreams sent by God to a gentile king. . . .

The dreams of interest are in chapters 2 - 4.

By chapter 7 the dreams have really become

visions, and Daniel receives and interprets

them.  In chapters 2 - 4, "visions of my

head upon my bed," is the description,

which may be non-Semitic terminology.

There seems to have been a division in the

views of post-exilic writers concerning the

value of dreams as revelation ( page 101 ).

Aeschylus - - And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart. . .

from Blog discussing "Blue Bloods" as a CBS drama series:

During the family dinner scene of this episode "Unbearable Loss," Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) reveals that he has been asked to speak at the funeral and shares the quote that he plans to use –- a quote from Aeschylus’ Agamemnon (lines 179-183):

“And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

The main purpose of this reference, on the surface, is to convey through the evocative language of Aeschylus the intensity of the suffering and grief that accompanies a loss. Frank had intended to share this quote at the funeral of his eldest son Joe, who died in the line of duty, but couldn’t find the will to do so at the time. Now, by making use of this quote, Frank demonstrates his understanding and sympathy for the reverend’s loss through an expression of the pain and suffering he himself has gone through.

https://windswaves.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/the-awful-grace-of-god-blue-bloods-robert-kennedy-and-aeschylus-agamemnon/

Kid Rock (a.k.a. Robert James Ritchie, b. Jan. 17, 1971 in Romeo, MI)

His Summer 2025 tour (June 20-21, July 11, 18, 25) 

dates have ended

see kidrock.com/pages/tour

____________________________________________

July 31 at small town (Milford, MI) Kid Rock and

associate "Uncle Kracker" sing a cover of "Drift Away"

at a benefit fundraiser for an ALS patient

details - Mlive.com/life/2025/08/kid-rock-uncle-kracker-surprise-

at-small-town-concert-in-the-park-with-performance.html

31 July 2025

part of Milford's Thursday Night Concert Series through

Summer weeks 2025

______________________________________________

Trump told the Iowa crowd -- "on the White House" lawn

"We have a lot of land there"

Hollywood reporter.com/business/business-news

July 3, 2025 7:46 p.m.

year of 2026 to include many kinds of 250th

anniversary events hosted by POTUS 

The White House will be the venue for 

a Mixed Martial Arts UFC-sanctioned match

between contenders / fighters as invited

by POTUS & FLOTUS Trump next year

see details in USA TODAY.com/ 4 July 2025

trump-ufc-octagon-fighting-us-anniversary

____________________________________

UPDATE: Kid Rock and Jason Aldean

will be among the singers / entertainers

to fete the Inaugural events Jan. 20, 2025.

Singing "God Bless America" will be

American Idol winner Carrie Underwood.

Jewel

Nelly

entertainers for the Inaugural balls.

Theme Song: YMCA by the Village People

____________________________________

March 2025

Update: Kid Rock (age 54-year-old entertainer)

recently broke up with his fiancee of 7 years,

Audrey Berry; he divorced his wife, Pamela

Anderson in Feb. 2007 after marrying her in Aug. 2006.

The two had been linked after dating since

2011.

he was born Jan. 17, 1971 and gained fame

in Hollywood after co-starring in Joe Dirt

a 2001 feature film.

_____________________________________

March 26, 2025

People Magazine online reports that

Nelly has married Ashanti so that

"she won't be a baby mama" (I.e. she

is pregnant by him and expecting this year)a.