Well, I have been absent for far too long. My last post was in 2023, and the time just flies by. All this time, I have been promising myself that I would get back here and update my site. Intentions be damned, I did not make it until over two years passed.

Now, it is May 3, 2025, and the United States (or, to me, the Untied States) of America is in the midst of something I never expected to experience–a second Donald John Trump presidency. The country has experienced chaos from day one, with federal employees being fired or laid off; heads of agencies replaced; funding for crucial agencies ceased; and a new man in town, Elon Musk, tasked with running a Trump-created department– the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE as it is commonly known.

There is something new to ponder every day and to worry about as well. Will Social Security be on the chopping block or Medicaid for the poor? PBS and NPR are slated to lose funding. NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, just laid off most of its remaining staff, because who needs oversight and research to prevent work-related, injury, illness, disability, and death. Who cares about toxic chemicals anyway? Are you an immigrant? Legal or otherwise? Watch your back or you might be deported to an unfriendly prison in another country. There is no longer a Gulf of Mexico; it is now the Gulf of America. pResident (intentional capitalization change)Trump has talked about taking Greenland against its wishes, by force if necessary; seizing control of the Panama Canal; and adding Canada as the 51st state. There is just too much to even mention. For more shock and awe of the worst kind, please visit https://time.com/7280106/trump-interview-100-days-2025/

This all brings to mind a book I have been trying to finish for about six months, And the Last Trump Shall Sound: A Future History of America, published in 2020 and written by . The book contains three stories: Turtledove wrote “The Breaking of Nations”, Morrow wrote “The Purloined Republic” and Rambo wrote “Because It Is Bitter”. So much of the book reminds me of what is occurring in the US at this time that I have not been able to finish it.

I fear we are in way over our heads and rushing towards a world we do not want to see.