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LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS CAT LADY (PER J. D. VANCE) WORKING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK Wednesday 28 October 2026 Comment: Yesterday, I listened to a podcast where the journalist was interviewing people who had flown back to Israel just to vote in the election. All the people interviewed had serious criticisms of Netanyahu, but when the interviewer asked who they were voting for they all said “Bibi.” It made me think… Read more: ISRAELI ELECTIONS: FROM ONE EXTREME TO ANOTHER

NEWS NOTES FROM 27 OCTOBER 2026 MS NOW Voting is high in Israel. 31% of people eligible to vote have already voted this morning. A great many people came in from other countries to cast their ballots. Israel requires in-person voting. Netanyahu has still refused to allow an investigation into Nov. 7. There are dozens of parties vying for position. The president decides who is most likely to be able to form a coalition with the other parties. Usually, no one… Read more: LULA WON

Thursday 22 October 2026 Americans just can’t stay away from psychological explanations for everything. A few days ago Joe Scarborough was yelling about the fact that Russia, Russia, Russia wasn’t a hoax, that it didn’t matter what Putin had on Trump or with Trump, what mattered was it was there and had been there from at least 2015. Today, he is relating a story in which he asked Maggie Haberman why Trump did something like trying to destroy Nato, and Haberman… Read more: (no title)

Thursday 22 October 2026 Americans just can’t stay away from psychological explanations for everything. A few days ago Joe Scarborough was yelling about the fact that Russia, Russia, Russia wasn’t a hoax, that it didn’t matter what Putin had on Trump or with Trump, what mattered was it was there and had been there from at least 2015. Today, he is relating a story in which he asked Maggie Haberman why Trump did something like trying to destroy Nato, and Haberman… Read more: MORNINGS WITH SCARBOROUGH

FROM THE CHILDLESS CAT LADY WORKING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK. Article: “Zelensky says US intelligence sharing works now after talks with Trump envoy in Oslo.” BBC News. LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FOR 21 OCTOBER 2026 · Witkoff is due to met Putin on Wednesday. · Trump blamed Zelensky for increased oil prices in the US. · “speaking after Zelensky’s news conference in Oslo, Trump again told reporters at the White House he wanted Kyiv… Read more: NEWS NOTES

20 OCTOBER 2026 QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It’s like trading democracy for diesel.” Professor at Brown University (Time). The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Zelensky was riding on a train when he decided to stop trying to court Trump and confront him. Zelensky had just learned that for the second night, Russia had pounded Kyiv without the usual US warnings. Even though Trump and Musk and everybody in the administration were denying that they changed the Starlink settings, the Wall… Read more: Zelenskyy and Trump. The betrayal

SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2026 PODCAST: BBC NEWSHOUR LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS CAT LADY · Three weeks ago, Trump signed a set of tough sanctions against Russia, named after Lindsey Graham. Yesterday he waived those sanctions. Zelensky called it betrayal. It is. · “It’s a tragic day.” A member of the Ukrainian parliament said. “It undermines the credibility” of the U.S. “All Ukraine is doing is defend ourselves.” These actions will only “encourage Putin.” It is expected to be… Read more: UKRAINE, RUSSIA, PUTIN, ISRAEL

17 OCTOBER 2026 DEEP STATE RADIO PODCAST WORDS MATTER 16 OCTOBER 2026 LIFE AND NEWS NOTES · The press secretary lasted about 4.5 days. After an outrageously embarrassing performance, she’s gone. · Suzy Wiles, after grifting with her family, is now prepared to leave the administration (Note: See Financial Times 10/8/26) · Stephen Miller is being talked about to replace Wiles. · There are questions about whether Miller ordered the shutdown of the Starlink system which made it impossible for Ukraine… Read more: NEWS NOTES

FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER 2026 LIFE AND NEWS NOTES · As usual, the Trump administration is focusing on destroying any semblance of international law and justice. It announced severe financial sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). The court seeks to prosecute war crimes, including genocide, and other serious criminal acts. Now, companies doing business with the court could be subject to punishment by the U.S. government. Rubio called the ICC a “rogue court” and Trump charged that the court was trying… Read more: CALL IT EVIL

THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER 2026 News and Life Notes: LIFE AND NEWS NOTES · Steve Bannon is complaining that the Justice Department is still full of “deep state” personnel and that people should be fired. · Trump is making “Melania, Sir jokes. Why? · There is discussion about strikes on Iran before the mid-terms. · The tit mice are already here this morning, along with the cardinals and the chickadees. · I have to go to the doctor and have my stapes… Read more: STAPLE GUNS AND MELANIA

TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER 2026 LIFE NOTES: It’s one of those barometric pressure mornings. There is pressure behind my eyes and my joints hurt everywhere. Great. It has just started sprinkling and we still can’t get Sam (the youngest of the rescue cats) inside. I never saw a cat so unbothered by rain. We’ve got our fruit/yogurt smoothies for breakfast. Wonderful, strawberries, blueberries, frozen bananas, vanilla and vanilla Greek yogurt from Sams. Delicious. Trump is suggesting at a rally last night that… Read more: (no title)

1, 2 OCTOBER 2026 BOOKS of Interest: Ancient Rome Powell, Lindsay (2023) Marcus Agrippa: Right-Hand Man of Caesar Augustus. Harris, Robert (2026) Agrippa: a Novel of Ancient Rome’s Descent into Dictatorship. (Harris is the very best). Reinhold, Mayer (1933) Marcus Agrippa: A Biography. 2 October 2026 News Shorts · Failed execution in Tennessee. Christa Pike survived two doses of lethal injection drugs. This is the second failed execution in Tennessee this year. “What happened to Christa Pike Can be attributed to… Read more: life and news notes.

MONDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2026 It’s a lovely morning, finally we have cool breezes. I can hear the Monday Morning Mexies outside, so there must not be an ICE raid this week. Bastards. I haven’t checked my Facebook this morning. Last week, it was filled with warnings and lamentations from one woman whose husband had been taken to Folkston where there is the nearest private prison. Article: Said, Summer and Anat Peled (9/27/26) “Egypt warned Netanyahu…” The Wall Street Journal. LIFE AND… Read more: NETANYAHU KNEw

SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMER 2026 Well, it’s a mercifully cool morning. The measles death count is increasing. Pennsylvania is asking for assistance from the CDC and largely getting obstruction. The cats are already outside. Aside from napping, their absolute favorite thing to do is to explore their yard. We’ve never really had a problem with one of them straying off the property before Sam. Everything is before Sam. We don’t even know where Sam goes. He’s like another cat when he’s outside,… Read more: (no title)

Friday 25 September 2026 News Notes I can’t even begin to compete with Charlie Pierce to summarize his writing. He has two articles in Esquire you should think about reading: “Trump’s Latest Deal with Belarus Sure Smells like Shit,” and “Trump’s Bizarre Reaction to the Ebola News.” Some Suggested Books Torbati, Yeanen. “Stolen Revolution.” Mueenuddin, Daniyal. “This is Where the Serpent Lives.” Rivera Gaza, Cristina. “Autobiography of Cotton.” TRUMP AUTHORITARIANISM: IMMIGRATION Ingram, Julia (9/25/26) “ICE wasted millions…” CBS News. LIFE AND… Read more: (no title)

Monday 21 September 2026 NEWS SHORTS LIFE AND NEWS NOTES · On the last day of parliamentary elections in Russia, Ukraine pulled off a major drone attack including on Moscow (MSNow). Drones hit one of the country’s largest oil refineries (Daily Beast). · ICE officer shoots another man in Austin (The Texas Tribune). The man was making a DoorDash delivery (Austin American-Statesman). · CNN, MSNOW and Politico are suing White House over blocked access (Axois). · World leaders meet at UN… Read more: Life and News notes 21 September 2026

Sunday 20 September 2026 LIFE NOTES RUSSIA LIFE AND NEWS NOTES · Putin has declared that war veterans should form the “leadership cadre” of the Russian future. He has created a program to fast track them into senior political and corporate positions. Polling indicates support for the war against Ukraine, but polling is notoriously inaccurate in Russia, and supporting the war is not supporting the effects of the war on daily life. The point of all this is to “build a… Read more: (no title)

Saturday 19 September 2026 News Note Shorts LIFE AND NEWS NOTES · Demonstration at the Kennedy Centre over concern that Trump is determined to tear it down. · CNN AND MS NOW denied access to White House. There is precedent that the president cannot deny access to the White House based on perspective, but he can deny press conferences completely. But, Donald Trump would die in a day if he were denied access to the press. He lives and breathes off… Read more: Trump and the press

Thursday 17 September 2026 I don’t know where September went. It’s half over. I can hear the train whistle in the background, about a mile away. About the same distance it was from our house when I was growing up. It’s the same old train whistle too, just the same, familiar noise. My daddy used to complain that the train whistle kept him up all night. I don’t know how many times it went through town in a day or a… Read more: (no title)

LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM AN OVEREDUCATED, CHILDLESS OLD CAT LADY, BEAVERING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK Tuesday 8 September 2026 The most important new story of the day, according to my opinion, is that Benjamin Netanyahu was given explicit advanced warning of an attack on October 7. Not only did he refrain from doing anything about it, he failed to notify his military and others high up in his cabinet that an attack was… Read more: NETANYAHU KNEW

Sunday 13 September 2026 NEWS SHORTS LIFE AND NEWS NOTES · Federal Court rules there is no constitutional right to safe drinking water (Capital B, 9/13/26). · Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen claim new attacks on Saudi Arabia (AP, 9/13/26). · Yemen hits back against Houthis as Saudi shutdown limits oil flow (NBC, 9/13/26). · Saudi Arabia has few options as it faces mounting threats from Iran and its allies (AP, 9/12/26). · Saudi’s shut down oil pipeline (9/12/26, Reuters). · U.S.… Read more: NEWS SHORTS, ISRAEL

Saturday 12 September 2026 CLINTON Good for Hillary Clinton, talking about the government lying about the air quality after 9/11. She’s on Morning Joe. Who was responsible for that? Giuliani? Good grief, what a pleasure it is to hear somebody talk who sounds like they know what they are talking about. She could have been president. CUBA The Washington Examiner (9/8/26) is advocating the “extraction method” (what the U.S. did to Maduro) for Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega. The reporter makes an… Read more: (no title)