Tristan’s car is handling a bit rough as I merge onto the highway and push the speed past 55 to 60. Now there’s a noticeable shimmy and the car feels like it’s floating on its tires, not at all well-grounded. I am not going to push the speed faster. 60 is enough. Not sure it’s 100% safe, but it probably is. I let the other cars fly past me on the four-lane racetrack that is I-94. Glad I’m driving it to the shop for an inspection. I wonder how much Pep Boys costs compared to other shops. At least they could get it in right away.
I turn off the highway and slow the car to a stop at the light on the Westnedge ramp. My thoughts go to dinner. Wonder what I should make. We had beef last night, and shrimp pasta tomorrow. I’ll make chicken, I guess. What should I do with the chicken? Mushrooms, maybe, in a sauce.
1...Agents used unmanned trucks and a helicopter to surround the five-story apartment building. NewsNation, which was invited to observe the operation, reported agents "rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters." Agents then went door to door, woke up residents and used zip ties to restrain them.
Residents and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refuge Rights, which canvassed the area, said those who were zip tied included children and U.S. citizens...
I have to work on the budget for the Allegan County project. Told Doyle I’d have numbers to him this week, so we know how to plan for expenses with anticipated revenue. It’s late, though. There are dishes to do. It’s my turn to do them. Where is the doggone sponge scrubber thingy I like for dishes? God, I hate when she just throws it back under the sink.
Loriann said she’ll be done with her work early enough this evening to watch another episode of Stranger Things. We’re rewatching the entire series before the fifth and final season comes out at Thanksgiving. Want to be up on the show and all of the different storylines. I wonder what’s going to happen to Dustin, Will, Mike, Lucas and Eleven, that strange kid from out of nowhere. Hopper, the good cop/bad cop I love. Joyce. The rest. At the end of the last season the world of Upside Down, the evil opposite of all that is good in this small Indiana town, broke through and all the characters are in danger, the entire town, maybe the country, and maybe the world.
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| The World Turned 'Upside Down' in Stranger Things |
2...President Donald Trump's latest bid to deploy the military on U.S. soil over local opposition is triggering a new conflict with blue state governors that is playing out in the courts as Trump envisages a country where armed soldiers patrol U.S. streets.
At a gathering of military brass last week, Trump called for using U.S. cities as a training ground for troops and warned of an "invasion from within." To his critics, however, Trump's use of the National Guard amounts to a frightening use of force against Americans...
Had a nice time at the family Oktoberfest picnic last weekend. Didn’t get to talk to Dick much, though. Too much going on, and besides he missed the first part of the meal because of his class reunion. Sixty years. Man. Looking forward to getting him up to Grand Rapids to the Vietnam photo display at the Gerald R. Ford Museum. I wonder what it will look like to see those photos through his eyes. As he’s gotten older these past couple of years, the stories of Vietnam flow freer than they used to, and he shares more of the peril and the trauma of it. He saw some shit go down.
Was glad to catch up with Brad this week on the phone. My brother makes me laugh when he plays the idiot. We talked about his dog, Ubu, the one that bit Uncle Bob in all the mayhem after dad died. Brad talked about hating badly-behaved dogs and now he is the kind of dog owner he hates. God, I laughed at him. I make a mental note to remember all that when I work on my memoir revisions in November.
3...President Donald Trump's unprecedented retribution campaign against his perceived political enemies reached new heights as his Justice Department brought criminal charges against a longtime foe and he expanded his efforts to classify certain liberal groups as "domestic terrorist organizations."
The development marked a dramatic escalation of the president's extraordinary use of the levers of presidential power to target his political rivals and his efforts to pressure the Justice Department to pursue investigations--and now prosecutions--of those he disdains. It's a campaign that began soon after Trump returned to office and one that critics see as an abuse of power that puts every American who dares to criticize the president at risk of retaliation...
We ended up watching two episodes of Stranger Things. The story is compelling, just like I like ‘em where the good guys are good, and the bad guys are wicked. Loriann went up to bed so I read a little. Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz. Great book. So powerfully written. Helps that the writer was an accomplished Hungarian journalist before the Nazis captured him and sent him to Auschwitz. He understands fascism and writes about it with such attention to detail, observing how the European tragedy manufactured by the Nazis broke the human beings around him in mind, body, and spirit before it finally murdered them. History is such a powerful teacher.
4...Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has waged an aggressive campaign against the media unlike any in modern U.S. history, making moves similar to those of authoritarian leaders that he has often praised...
...The tactics are similar to those used by leaders in other countries who have chipped away at speech freedoms and independent media while consolidating political power, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close Trump ally whose leadership style is revered by many conservatives in the U.S...
In the middle of my second chapter, I can barely keep my eyes open anymore. I head upstairs. Loriann is completely still in the dark of our room, her shape unmoving but for the rise and fall of each deep breath, so I change as quietly as I can into my pajamas and lie down. I hear Loriann on her side of the bed, the quiet sounds of her sleeping. Night surrounds me. All else is quiet.
I’m tired, so tired, but the minutes pass with no relief, no escape to the blessed forgetfulness of dream and slumber. Maybe I’m not comfortable enough. I turn over and fix the blanket and the pitch of my head on the pillow. Put my hand under the pillow. It’s cool there, but it doesn’t help much. Seconds drag into minutes. My mind won't rest. Something won't let go, irritating and persistent as the buzz of a mosquito.
1...those who were zip tied included children and U.S. citizens...
For some reason sleep won’t come.
NOTE: All articles referenced were taken from the Associated Press website (apnews.com) on October 11, 2025:
- October 6, 2025. Tareen. Using helicopters and chemical agents, immigration agents become increasingly aggressive in Chicago.
- October 6, 2025. Klepper & Toropin. Trump’s use of the National Guard sets up a legal clash testing presidential power.
- September 26, 2025. Colvin. Trump escalates retribution campaign with charges against Comey and threats against liberal groups.
- September 18, 2025. Spike & Riccardi. Trump’s moves against the media mirror approaches by authoritarian leaders to silence dissent.
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