Obama's key campaign promise to end the war

When I hear members of Congress grilling members of Trump's war advisory group it makes me wonder if they remember that Obama continued a war he promised to end for eight years. Getting out of the war in Iraq was his key campaign promise, and yet he gave them the ability to create the monster that Trump is trying to slay.

From L.A. Times: "U.S. military forces have been at war for all eight years of Obama’s tenure, the first two-term president with that distinction. He launched airstrikes or military raids in at least seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.

Yet the U.S. faces more threats in more places than at any time since the Cold War, according to U.S. intelligence. For the first time in decades, there is at least the potential of an armed clash with America’s largest adversaries, Russia and China.

"Obama slashed the number of U.S. troops in war zones from 150,000 to 14,000, and stopped the flow of American soldiers coming home in body bags. He also used diplomacy, not war, to defuse a tense nuclear standoff with Iran.

But he vastly expanded the role of elite commando units and the use of new technology, including armed drones and cyber weapons."

https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-pol-obama-at-war/?

Obama’s Tarnished Legacy in the Middle East – The Cairo Review of Global Affairs

President Obama and the Middle East: a Mixed Legacy : IEMed

Needs or wants in the affordability argument

"When young people struggle to buy a home and start a family, we shouldn’t be surprised to see a loosening attachment to heteronormativity." The American Conservative, June 2023 article about wokeness. 

Just because both the right and the left constantly preach this same affordability myth doesn't make it fact.

I did what the mythmakers should have done. I looked up housing prices and inflation. We bought our first home in 1962 for $14,000 at 6% interest. To call it a fixer upper would be a joke. A gravel driveway, no garage, and a dirt floor basement on a street zoned for business in a racially mixed neighborhood. Based on inflation figures, that would buy a house for $155,500 today. And I found several by checking the real estate ads. In that county one can find a slightly run down 3 bedroom, 1 bath ranch in need of a strong 24 year old with a wife and baby, very little money and some home repair skills learned in high school. I'll leave out the part where he hired a young ex-con as part time help who left after one day.

Along with inflation since 1962 there have been a number of generous government programs to add to a low wage job which makes that home very affordable (and btw virtually no adult works at federal or state minimum--realistically entry at McDonald's is about $16/hour with benefits). What today's young homebuyer would have to give up today would be the same things we didn't have--college loan payments, eating out, travel, nice clothes, multiple tech toys, phones, TVs, and leisure activities.

It's not that a house today isn't affordable. It's the lifestyle, and that's something we choose. Get out of New York City or DC or Seattle or LA and there are plenty of places to live and jobs with opportunity. 325,000,000 of us manage to live outside those money pits (Co-pilot figured it out for me).

Soccer. World Cup.

Trump made it happen; the nay sayers have to eat their words. And even I watched yesterday--although I didn't have a favorite and I really didn't understand much. At lunch today our table of 5 ignored politics (some were Democrats) and had a lively conversation on how much FIFA and the World Cup has contributed to not just the sports world but to the U.S. (to say nothing of the economy of the localities).

We also talked about how expensive it is to raise up a little one to play soccer. One couple has a granddaughter entering the teen years and decisions have to be made NOW and it will be very expensive. Another at the table has a granddaughter who is a soccer coach on the side at $50/hour so her players can qualify just for the middle school level.

I wonder why politicians aren't factoring in costs of private lessons and travel to games into the "affordability" school/family costs conversation. All I hear about are houses.

FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force – The White House

The Lakota language

 Today on Facebook I saw something about a Lakota prayer. I'd seen that before, so I asked an AI assistant whether it was the British or French  who developed a writing system (alphabet, grammar, etc.) for that native American language group.  This brilliant assistant said--neither, "it was developed by missionaries,"  Duh! And what was their language? Oh well. I reworded my question several times and finally left out language and used evangelized and got Jesuits, Franciscans, Baptists, Methodists and later the Lutherans. Since Lakota was upper midwest and Canada and several language groups, I'll just have to let you do the research.

Poetry Jam at The Estates?

I enjoy writing (but not publishing) poetry. There are at least 5 of us here at The Estates who have expressed an interest in having poetry events or Jams occasionally. We did have a gathering in April (poetry month) with readings in a variety of styles. I think 11 attended. Today I came across the story of Anne Channing Porter who published her first book of poetry at 83. Might become an inspiration or our guardian angel. If I were to average our age it's about 92.

Anne Porter's poetry highlights faith, suffering and the wisdom of age | National Catholic Reporter

Anne Porter | The Poetry Foundation

A Short Testament by Anne Porter - Poems | Academy of American Poets

Adam Weybright, 1974-2026

 I was shocked to learn yesterday of the death of the son of my college roommate, JoElla Masterson Weybright, Adam Weybright, of the Seattle area.  I couldn't find an obituary, but I think he died around April 19, 2026 based on a GoFundMe report. There is a TV report on his sudden death because he was a well known teacher and coach.  This is AI generated.

"Adam Weybright was a 51-year-old science teacher at Nathan Hale High School and Lacrosse coach at Shorecrest High School in the Shoreline and Seattle communities.

He died suddenly in April 2026 following complications from a routine medical procedure.

Weybright, who previously worked as a scientist before becoming a teacher, is remembered for his profound impact on students and athletes. His legacy is honored through a "Live Like Weybright" (LLW) campaign by his lacrosse team, an assembly at his school, and a GoFundMe established to support his widow, Elizabeth Weybright, and their three children."

JoElla and I were childhood friends, having met in first grade in Forreston, Illinois, where her father was the school superintendent.  Our parents also knew each other from college days and we attended the local Forreston Lutheran church and were also members of the Church of the Brethren. Her husband Myron (Mike) and I are distantly related--something like third cousins.  Our grandmothers, both Weybrights by marriage, used to correspond. JoElla and I usually corresponded around birthdays and Christmas, but had talked on the phone in the last year or two. I had kept up on her children's activities, education, marriages, children, etc. over the years.  I had only seen Adam as a toddler when JoElla and I were both visiting our parents in Mt. Morris.

Also: Shoreline Area News: Shorecrest lacrosse coach Adam Weybright dies unexpectedly

 

Trump vs. Smithsonian

President Trump didn't attack the Smithsonian; the Smithsonian attacked the United States, so being a patriot, President Trump is suggesting more fairness and honesty in a Report.

Smithsonian-Report-Saving-Americas-Story.pdf
The United States government legally owns the Smithsonian Institution, holding its land, buildings, and collections as a perpetual public trust. Congress created the Institution by statute in 1846 after accepting a private bequest from British scientist James Smithson, and its charter is codified at 20 U.S.C. Chapter 3.

The Board includes members drawn from all three branches of government and the private sector:
The Vice President of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States
Three Senators, appointed by the President of the Senate
Three Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House
Nine citizen members, appointed by joint resolution of Congress (two must reside in Washington, D.C., and no two of the remaining seven may be from the same state). Sounds like the Board needs a shakeup.

Who Owns the Smithsonian Museum? A Federal Trust - LegalClarity

Read through the report and the riots and attacks on police and the DEI in the classroom might become clearer. No surprise we're being taken over by Communists dressed up like Democrats

Bill Wilcox, architect and friend

 We were talking today about an architect friend and when I checked my blog I see I had not recorded his death--back in 2007.  Back in the 60s and 70s we were very close and knew him through professional and church organizations.

William Wilcox Obituary (2007) - Columbus, OH - The Columbus Dispatch

Victor Melaragno

 We've recently lost one of our residents at The Estates. Victor Melaragno. Victor J. Melaragno Obituary Jul 6, 2026 - Newcomer Columbus

President Trump prays in statement for USCCB for 250th birthday of nation

Considering how anti-Christian the Communists in the U.S. are (colluding with the Democrat Party who were booing God 3 decades ago) and how anti-Catholic the far Right and some Evangelicals in the U,S. are, I suppose I can understand how difficult this story was to find in the news, even with the help of AI. But here it is. A revolutionary action by the current President.

"Members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops — which is currently gathered in Orlando, Florida, for its spring assembly — came together for the consecration service on Thursday (June 11) in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary. The occasion, marked by a presidential statement, is seen as a high point in acceptance of the Catholic Church in the historically Protestant country.

"Today, Melania and I join in prayer with Catholic Bishops gathered in Orlando, Florida, as they consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the occasion of our 250th year of American Independence — a powerful moment in our national story and a poignant reminder that America has always been guided by the loving hand of God,” the president said in a statement from the White House."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/4605151/catholic-bishops-consecrate-us-trump-melania-prayer/

Trump highlighted the role of faith in shaping the nation’s identity, from Christian missionaries and settlers to chaplains and churchgoers throughout history. He linked the consecration (by the Bishops) to the nation’s founding principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and noted that the Sacred Heart of Jesus would bless the U.S., protect families, strengthen the Church, and guide the nation for generations.

Even so, 8 states opted out of participating in the 16-day “Great American State Fair” in Washington, D.C., which celebrates the United States’ 250th birthday. They just wanted to thumb their noses at Trump. Those governors denied their own citizens the right to tell the others how great their people and products are (which is what state fairs have been doing since 1841).

I see it as just one more way President Trump has brought warring sides together--the far Left and the far Right--not since the Founding Fathers has a leader managed to so clearly make a shout out to our First Amendment--he didn't establish a religion and he didn't prohibit its exercise and he honored a religious group the right to peaceably assemble.