On the seventh day.

A day of rest from it all.

not ready

Diamond, Ukrraine & Greenland.

 Saturday is a sleep day for us, and I took advantage of it, sleeping until 11:30 in the morning. It was easy to do because the night before, I had a conversation with our friend Mary in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and it lasted over an hour. Therefore, I went to bed rather late.

After a nice breakfast of Bulger rain with dried cranberries and bananas, we sat and watched a few football highlights. When we were done, I wrapped up Joan in warm clothing, and we went to Silver's for coffee and sweets.

I didn't really feel like cooking dinner tonight, so I asked John if she would mind having just ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner, and she agreed. There are some nights when I just don't feel like cooking. Probably, that's why I always keep two frozen pizzas on hand.

A friend of mine told me about a new movie, Song Sung Blue, starring Hugh Jackman. It is the story of how two musicians came together in Milwaukee and formed a band called Lightning and Thunder. It was a true story about these two when you decided to interpret the music of Neil Diamond. I was never a big fan of his during his lifetime or his career, but the movie gave me more interest in it when it was over. I could recommend it for you to see. Hugh Jackman sings all over the songs in it, and he does an excellent job. 

When the movie was over, I asked John if she was a fan, and I discovered she was. Since we had at least an hour and a half left before she would go to bed, I searched on YouTube, and found one of the live concerts by Neil Diamond from some years ago, and we watched it. Joan was happy about that.

Meanwhile, Ukraine & Greenland.

French President Emmanuel Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and other officials voiced support for Denmark, Greenland, and principles of international law in statements denouncing tariff threats on Jan. 17.

Their remarks came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Washington would impose 10% tariffs on NATO allies — France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Finland — until the U.S. reaches a deal to buy Greenland.

Macron called the tariff threats "unacceptable" in a post on X, saying France's commitment to sovereignty and the United Nations Charter is the foundation of its ongoing support for Ukraine.

"France is committed to the sovereignty and independence of nations, in Europe and elsewhere. ... No intimidation or threat will influence us—neither in Ukraine, nor in Greenland, nor anywhere else in the world when we are confronted with such situations," he wrote.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Jan. 16 that Russia is preparing a new wave of large-scale attacks on Ukraine as the country grapples with a deepening energy crisis.

"Our intelligence reports that Russia is preparing new massive attacks," Zelensky said during his nightly address. He added that Ukraine is coordinating closely with its allies and urged continued military assistance, particularly air defense systems and missiles.

"We are speaking frankly to our partners — both about air defense missiles and the systems we need so much," Zelensky said. "Supplies are insufficient. We are trying to speed things up, and it's crucial that our partners hear us."

The warning comes as Ukraine faces a worsening energy crisis following repeated Russian missile and drone strikes on the country's power grid. Attacks on energy infrastructure have left millions of people across the country, including in the capital, without reliable heat and electricity amid freezing winter temperatures. Source Kyiv Independent.

Weather, soup & cousins.

Yesterday morning, it was snowing when I woke up to drive to care for. This morning when I woke, it was raining. It is almost like a spring shower, but it is certainly melting all the snow that fell yesterday. Crazy weather.

Joan has been cooped up for a few days now, so I thought I'd take her to Kandulskis' for a little drive and some coffee and cake. We stayed there for about an hour, and then we returned home.

At home, it was time to prepare a soup for dinner, so I mixed carrots, celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, basil, onion, spinach, and chicken broth to make a vegetable soup. I had some nice wheat with sesame seed bread and a salad to go with it. Joan liked it so it was a success.

In the evening, I had a conversation with cousin Andrzej and his mother, Kazia. Unfortunately, she is afflicted with the same dreaded disease as Joan, dementia. Our conversations last only 30 minutes, but at least I have contact with two cousins out of all that I have here.

Shopping day.

Yes, another 6:30 in the morning wake up. This drive was different because it was snowing and traffic was moving slowly. I was going to wait until Paige arrived and go then, but my body must be tuned into 6:30 on Tuesdays, and it woke me up. Food shopping was finished in 40 minutes, so I slowly drove back home to put the food away. Total cost was $51.

I made a mistake asking Joan to look through the recipes and make out next week's menu so I could make a shopping list. After 20 minutes, she was really frustrated, so I told her I could finish it. That made her angry at me that I thought she couldn't do it. She can't anymore, really. She won't remember it next week, so I will do it.

It makes me sad to see her losing more and more each month.

Meanwhile, Ukraine.

Russia has threatened to “resolve the issue militarily” until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “comes to his senses” and agrees to what Moscow calls “realistic terms” for negotiations.

The warning was issued by Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Monday, Jan. 12.

The session was convened after Russia’s use of an Oreshnik missile against Ukraine’s Lviv region.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, speaking at the meeting, Nebenzya claimed that Russia does not target civilians, instead accusing Ukraine of attacking civilian targets and Western countries of ignoring these alleged Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory.

Russia’s army in 2025 failed to make useful ground gains at the price of crushing and, at times, debilitating casualties, vindicating the Ukrainian strategy of inflicting maximum losses against Kremlin forces in a war of attrition, Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) General Oleksandr Syrsky said in a Tuesday statement.

Russia’s top military leadership over the past twelve months set itself the objective of ending its war against Ukraine with the total conquest of Ukraine’s southern and eastern Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, along with a planned takeover of the major seaport Odesa, and failed decisively to achieve any of those goals, Syrsky said in 12-month roundup published on his personal social media, and by AFU information outlets.

“The past year was a great test for us. The Russian aggressor sought to end the war against Ukraine – but planned to end it with defeat [of Ukraine], imposing his conditions on us from a position of force,” Syrsky said. “We did not allow the enemy to make critical breakthroughs, thwarted his plans, and repeatedly forced him to postpone the dates of planned operations.”According to most independent analysts, during 2025, Russian Federation forces, deploying 600,000-700,000 combat troops in Ukraine, using primarily infantry-heavy short-range assault tactics, captured between 5,000 and 5,500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory. That land space represents slightly less than 1% of Ukraine’s total territory, or an area slightly bigger than County Donegal in Ireland, or the English county of Norfolk. Source-Kyiv Post

Football.

Joan hasn't been out of the house for four days. So, I wrapped her up warmly, and took her to Sowas for coffee and cake.

Upon returning home, we watch the latest highlight videos of the NFL and college football playoffs. We were thrilled to see Indiana University beat Oregon to qualify for the Championship game next week.

For me, it was an extraordinary event. You have to understand, growing up in Indiana, that university was only known for many years as a basketball school. Football was never mentioned. Now, in the last two years, with a new coaches and players, they were ranked #1 in all polls. They went from the bottom of the NCAA football teams to the top.

The second game we watched was the Wildcard game between our Chicago Bears and their arch rival, the Green Bay Packers.

In the first half of the game, they were behind 21-3. It didn't look very promising. 

However, in the second half of the game, they played much better than the Packers, and were able to move closer to the championship game. The final score was 31-27. So, both of our teams won.

Snow.

Today was 2° Fahrenheit, so not exactly a good day to be outside and walking around. Still, it was a beautiful day because there was light snow last night and this morning with the freezing temperatures, all the trees were frosted White and it looked beautiful. I wanted to take John out to show it to her, but it was too cold for her.

Yesterday, at 5:30 in the evening, she had a zoom call with her daughter Karen. I was really happy that they connected because it's been too long since they saw each other. I'm hoping that Karen will be able to call at least twice a month to stay in touch with her mother. I know that when she's talking with her she doesn't see it much difference in the way June response or the way she looks. Of course, it's much easier for me to see when there's been a small change, but it's not so easy for Karen.

Carolina came today at 1:00 to do the hygiene stuff with Joan. She stays for 2 hours, and I have a chance to go out and do something. I would have liked to have gone for a long walk through the park or through the forested area, but for me it was also too cold. It's a little strange for me because those years I lived in the upper peninsula of Michigan winter days like this, we're not Unusual. I could stay out in weather like this for hours and not be affected by it. Naturally, I had excellent cold weather clothing that I had either bought or made, and it always kept me very warm.

Lately I've been spending time going through my family history book to correct punctuation, spelling, and words that I miss typed. As far how many pages there are, right now it's 91 pages. That includes family history stories that have been told to me by other family members, and my own stories.

Meanwhile. Ukraine.

Zelensky reported Russian forces launched a total of 242 drones and dozens of missiles overnight, including 13 ballistic missiles, 1 Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile and 22 cruise missiles.

“The attack is when there is a significant cold snap. It is against the ordinary life of ordinary people,” he said, noting that strikes were aimed at both civilian neighborhoods and energy facilities.

In Kyiv, at least 20 residential buildings were damaged, and 1 apartment block was hit twice – the second time while emergency services were already responding to the first strike.

Zelensky urged Ukraine’s partners to respond decisively.
“We need a clear reaction of the world. First of all, the United States, which Russia really takes into account,” he stressed. “Russia should receive signals that it is its duty to focus on diplomacy, and feel the consequences whenever it focuses on killings and destroying infrastructure.

”He also warned that the attack underscored the urgency of strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses.

Smoothies & Poland

On my 3-hour break today, I went to Auchan to replenish my supply of frozen strawberries, blueberries, sesame seeds, and dates for smoothies. Total cost was $9.95.  

The sun was out for a little while before being drowned by gray skies. It was a normal Polish winter day.

Meanwhile, in Poland. 

The proportion of Poles opposed to accepting Ukrainian refugees has risen to 46%, the highest level ever recorded in regular polling by state research agency CBOS.

 In the years 2015 to 2018, around 55-60% of Poles were consistently in favour, with around 30-40% opposed. The surveys then resumed in March 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion. At that time, a record 94% supported accepting refugees, with only 3% opposed.

Since then, however, support has been gradually falling and opposition rising.

 The latest EU data show that there are around 965,000 Ukrainian refugees still in Poland.

Solacki Winter Park

 Well, yesterday was another holiday, this time it was Epiphany, so all the stores were closed.

To take advantage of my 3-hour break, I went to Solacki Park and took some pictures of it in the snow. There's something about snow; it just makes me feel like the world is more at peace, although I know it isn't. Less than an 8-hour drive from where we live, the war rages on in Ukraine. Men, women, and children are getting killed every day by that asshole in Russia.

Today, Radek came over and told us about his holidays. He's always entertaining because he takes trips with Alina, his girlfriend. This time they went up north, close to the small village where they spent the holidays. In that area the the original language called kashubian was subjugated by the Russians when they took over and was not permitted. Now, there's been a resurgence in young people to learn their original language. It's a different dialect of Polish, and if you don't know it and you know Polish, you can still have a hard time understanding what they're saying.

Radek's next trip is going to be to Nepal, a country he's never been to. Of course, before they go there in the summertime, they would make another trip to Spain for a week or two vacation. He's a lucky man. He finally found a woman that he's very fond of, or maybe even in love with.

January 6th

 

Water & the Kremlin

I stayed up way too late last night and didn't wake up until 12:30 today.

To my surprise, when it was time to flush the toilet, there was no water. Usually, when there is going to be a water turn-off, there is a notice in the elevator. I didn't see one yesterday, so I went to see if there was a new one. There wasn't. I called Renata, our landlady, informed her about the problem, and she said she would call me right back. Within a few minutes, she returned my call and told me there was a notice on the internet on the Aquanet website. It said there was a breakage in the water line and it would be fixed sometime this afternoon. By 4:30 P.M., we had water again.

After a breakfast smoothie, we watched highlights of the final week of NFL football games before the playoffs begin, Unfortunately our Chicago Bears team lost the last game in the last minute. However, they will still be in the playoffs because they won their conference Championship.

On YouTube, we watched an old Jimmy Stewart movie with way too many commercials.

When the movie was over, I assembled the ingredients for tonight's dinner: meatloaf, potatoes, and green beans.

Tomorrow is January 6th, and it will be a day filled with protests and comments about the insurrection that happened 5 years ago. All 1600 insurrectionists who took part in that event were pardoned by Donald J Trump.

Meanwhile:

The strike would most likely take place within the Russian Federation or in a Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia with a Christian Orthodox community. A “site of high symbolic significance” might be targeted instead of a church, the statement said.

The Kremlin is preparing to massacre civilians then use fake news messaging in state-run and co-opted international media to pin blame for the mass casualty event on Ukraine, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SZRU) said on Friday in a rare public statement.

The Russian operation is likely to take the form of an “armed provocation” against an Orthodox Christian church (or another location where civilians gather peacefully) and may take place overnight on Jan. 6-7, according to the statement – the date of Christmas in the Julian calendar and a major religious holiday for the Christian faithful in Russia.

Aside from citing “credible sources,” the SZRU statement offered no proof to confirm these allegations, noting, however, that terrorism and false flag operations are common practice for Russian intelligence agencies, and calling on independent media to be critical of Kremlin-produced content. Source-Kyiv Post

Different era.

Finally, after the holidays, we have snow on the ground. It's not like the 30" that happened in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but it's enough to cover the ground and stay. A small consolation at the beginning of the year.

Different era, Germany. Same warning signs. Different name, America. Same result, unless something truly changes.

The dictator running the increasingly Divided States of America has attacked Venezuela. The excuse will be wrapped in talk of security or freedom, but the real reason is obvious: oil. It always is. What matters more than the lie itself is how easily it’s accepted, and how little resistance it seems to provoke at home.

How long are Americans going to stand by while the democracy their founders fought for is openly trampled? People protest, boycott, and flood Congress with calls and letters, but has it changed anything? No. The system grinds on, insulated from public outrage, while those meant to check power either can’t or won’t act.

History doesn’t repeat itself exactly, but it echoes. In the 1930s, many believed democratic institutions would hold, that the danger was exaggerated, that things would correct themselves. They were wrong. Democracies don’t collapse all at once, they rot slowly, through complacency and fear.

Trains & Exit.

OK, the new year of 2026 has begun. We can only hope it will be better than 2025.

Poland is upgrading its train system, and TikTok AI has been broadcasting false information about Poland leaving the EU.

State rail operator PKP Intercity has launched a tender for the purchase of trains that can reach speeds of up to 320 km/h (199 mph), making them the fastest ever to travel on Polish tracks.

PKP Intercity, which is responsible for long-distance rail transport in Poland, announced on Tuesday that it was seeking to buy 20 electric multiple-unit trains capable of such speeds, with the possibility to later purchase 35 more.

Currently, the fastest trains in Poland are Pendolinos, manufactured in Italy by French firm Alstom. Though they can in theory reach maximum speeds of 250 km/h, the fastest they are able to run on current Polish tracks is 200 km/h.

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The Polish government has asked the European Union to take action against TikTok in response to AI-generated videos calling for Poland to leave the European Union. It says that “there is no doubt this is Russian disinformation”.

Res Futura Data House, a Polish information security analysis group, has recently shared examples of videos from a TikTok account that contain AI-generated videos of young women wearing Polish national symbols and addressing messages to young Poles.

Some of the videos express support for so-called “Polexit” from the EU. Others criticise the pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The channel’s profile description also included an anti-EU slogan associated with Polish radical-right-leader Grzegotz Braun, who supports Polexit.

A new opinion poll has shown a rise in the proportion of Poles opposed to Poland’s membership of the European Union, with almost a quarter now favouring “Polexit”.

The findings come from a survey by IBRiS, a leading research agency, on behalf of the Wirtualna Polska news website. It asked respondents if they believe “Poland should in the near future begin the procedure of leaving the European Union”.

A total of 24.7% said that they think it should. However, a significant majority, 65.7%, were opposed to the idea of Polexit. Source-NFP

2026

 We wish you all a healthy and better New Year!

Szopka Chapel & Ukraine.

Paige arrived today at 11:00, and I had already made up my mind to go back to Saint Francis Church with my camera and take better pictures of this Chopper. I thought there would be fewer people today because it's a workday, and then I remembered that many people took Monday and Tuesday off to give themselves a 7-day weekend due to New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
 

When I got to the church and went inside, there were not that many people there. It was a good opportunity to take the pictures without the interruptions of people watching in front of the camera. 0

Fortunately, I took my tripod with me and my long lens. I ended up taking 78 pictures. I posted them all on my blog today so you can see how beautiful this szopka is. It's really very creative, and one of the best in Greater Poland.
 

I spent about an hour and a half there taking the pictures, and when I was done, I had time to stop at Cafe Lokum and have a cinnamon muffin with a coffee latte. While I was there, I checked my phone and read the latest message from President Zelinsky about the situation of obtaining peace. I doubt the Russians, I mean Putin, will accept it because I believe he wants to continue the war.
 

When I returned home, I downloaded all the pictures to a pen drive and showed them to Joan and Paige. We have seen this szopka before, but Paige had never even heard about it. So, I wanted to introduce her to it.
 

I saw a video of where we used to live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and yesterday they received 30 inches of snow in a blizzard. That is a lot of snow, but not unusual for the U.P..
 

Meanwhile, in Ukraine:
 

With only scattered troops left inside the city and supply lines broken, Ukrainian officials say Moscow is quietly conceding what it long denied: Kupyansk is not under Russian control.
 

The commander of a Russian unit fighting together with Ukrainians in the hope of overthrowing the Putin regime was killed in combat in the south of Ukraine.
 

Ukraine said Thursday it used British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike a major oil refinery inside Russia, marking another long-range blow to Moscow’s energy infrastructure.
 

Ukrainian UAVs struck the headquarters of Russia’s 14th GRU Brigade near Mariupol. The night strike killed 51 Russian troops and wounded 76 more, says Madyar, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF).
 

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said its air force hit the Novoshakhtinsk oil products plant in Russia’s Rostov region, reporting “numerous explosions” at the site. Source-Kyiv Post

Another visitor.

Our dear friend, Zbyszek, who died a few years ago, left behind a son, daughter, and three grandchildren. His daughter, Malgorzata, majored in the Bulgarian language and culture. 15 or so years ago, she moved there permanently. We have known here since before she moved. The last time we saw each other was at her father's funeral.

She came today to visit us because she was in Poland to spend Christmas with her brother and his family.

She arrived with ciasto and a Christmas plant for our house. We talked about how the year has been for each of us, what travels we have made this year, a little about the unrest in Bulgaria and the U.S. with each government, and future plans. It was a nice visit. 

My sister.

I have a sister, Tami, that for reasons which were beyond my control, I did not see her from the time she was 11 years old until she was married and had three adult children. A very long time. When I did finally find her again it was one of my happiest days. Now, because of where I live, I have not seen her for 12 years. She is not a fan of electronics and uses no social media platforms to communicate. I call her on her birthday every year. It is easy to remember. My son, Eric, was born on the same day, 10 years later.

I called at 12:00 AM,  1:00 AM, and 2:30 AM before she finally answered. She was in Philadelphia visiting her youngest son and his family.They had been out to a Christmas event, and she didn't have her phone with her. I told her it was no matter, at least now we were speaking. We talked for 1/2 hour and I would have liked longer but I needed to go to bed.  Of course, I wished her a happy birthday at the beginning, we talked a little about my son and I asked how everyone in her family was doing. Her son and daughter-in-law have a seven year old daughter who speaks two languages, English and Welch, and now is learning French. That is pretty impressive. 

 

Christmas Day 2025, Day 2 & 3 Kings.

Yesterday, we had pierogi, cabbage with lentils, and vegetable salad for dinner. For dessert, we had gingerbread cake. All was provided by our friend and landlady, Renata.

During the day, we mainly watched different Christmas movies and a good old movie, "The Bishop's Wife."

We had to pause it at 8 PM because we had a scheduled Zoom meeting with Joan's kids and grandkids. I was happy about that because it had been a long time between meetings, maybe two months. With Joan's failing memory, she needs to stay visually connected to her family. She has not been happy with this two-month disconnect. 

We talked for an hour with Joan's children, Karen and Joey, our grandchildren, Nicole and Joe, and Joey's partner, Mary. We were surprised that Nicole has been to Hawaii. We didn't know about that.

After our conversation was over, we finished watching The Bishop's Wife, and Joan went to bed at 11 PM. I finished my night listening to Christmas music and writing this blog.

I have a calendar on which I write anything scheduled for a particular day. The problem is, I don't always check the calendar, and it sometimes creates a problem. That's what happened today, although it didn't turn out to be a big problem.

Paige was scheduled to come today, at 11:00 a.m., and sit with Joan for 3 hours. So, this morning, at 11:30, my phone rang and woke me up. It was Paige apologizing for oversleeping and not being on time. I told her it wasn't a problem because, actually, she just woke me up. We rescheduled our meeting for 1:30, and she arrived on time.

Now today, in Poland, is the second day of Christmas. The majority of every kind of business is also closed today. So, I had 3 hours, and didn't really know what to do with it. It was 2:00 p.m., so I decided to go to the church on Koscielna Street. When I arrived there, a Mass had just begun, so I stayed until it was over.

From there, I decided to go to the Saint Francis church and look at the szopka. The most famous attraction in Poznań is the huge, moving Christmas nativity scene in the Church of St. Francis Seraphic on Bernardyński Square, considered one of the largest in Europe, with life-size figures and many moving elements. This nativity scene, built since the 1950s, delights visitors every year with its monumental scenery and is one of the main Christmas attractions in Greater Poland. 

Being a no-work day in Poland, the church was packed full of people coming to see this szopka. I took several pictures of it with my phone, but I don't think they really do it justice. I will go back on Tuesday with my camera and long lens so I can get better pictures of it. I do want to show them to you because it is such a beautiful sight.

Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar: 

Who were the three wise kings? 

The actual existence of the three wise men of the East could never be proven. The three men came from what is now called the Middle East. Their costume, described as Oriental, suggests they came from Persia. According to legend, the Magi were buried in a common tomb, which is said to have been found by St. Helena in 326. In July 1164, the bones arrived in the Cathedral of Cologne, where they rest and are venerated as relics in the sanctuary of the Magi.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all of my readers! 

Thank you!

NEWS!

The only important news.............................JESUS AS BORN TONIGHT. Millennials before any of us.

Surprised!

Three friends came to visit us and brought food and desserts.

Kuba was first. Years ago, I helped him, his brother, Max, and his sister, Andrea, improve their speaking in English. That seems like a lifetime ago. His mom, Renata, is the owner of the flat we live in now. She sent Kuba with food and desserts for our Christmas. It was great to see him again. He has become a fine adult.

Marcin, and his son, Maciej, visited about an hour later with wine, jelly and cookies that, Dorota, his wife had made. Maciej was also an old student of mine.

I have many cousins in Poznan, but only friends are the ones who visit. Strange. 

Everything is closed for the next three days for the holidays. I thought, since Paige was coming at 11:00 to sit with Joan, I would wait until then to do my weekly food shopping. BIG mistake! 

The supermarket was packed with people and the lines to checkout were very long. Evenat the electronic checkout. What usually takes me 45 minutes to do, ended up taking 2 hours. i won't make that mistake next year. I will never do that again!

Why God? Why?

One more day and it's the birth of Jesus. I would like to say I have the "Christmas spirit" but I don't really. Having two aunts who were Catholic nuns, grandparents and mother who were devout Catholics, I should be too. .Being raised Catholic, with the church right next to the house of my grandparents, I should be sure of what religion I belong in.

My mother made sure my brother and I were in church every Sunday, confessions were often enough, and nuns or priests were in the house frequently for dinner in my very early youth.

By age 14 or 15, I stopped going to church. Living in a white "ghetto" at that time, the church was now about a 10 block walk and my mother didn't attend very often. 

I joined the Navy at age 17, and can remember only once going to a psuedo-church below the deck of an aircraft carrier for Christmas. Even then, it was more that I wanted to see that part of the ship than for religious reasons. 

After 4 years in the Navy, I took advantage of the military benefits and attended the school of Music at DePaul University in Chicago. 

One of the elective classes I chose was Eastern Religion. We studied Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism, Confusionism, and Hinduism. Buddhism was the one that fascinated me the most. I learned about Zen Buddhism when I read, On The Road, by Jack Kerouac.

Now, at my age, I still have many questions about organized religions. No answers. 

IF there is a God, why does he allow evil in this world he created? Why are children abused, beaten killed, neglected, or die at birth? Why are some humans allowed to be priests or nuns who abuse children?

When I look at this picture above, can anyone say "Merry Christmas" to this poor Ukrainian child? 

I lost my..................

Cell phone. I don't know how, but it was driving me crazy. I know I had it on Thursday because I went to the rynek and took the pictures of the decorations there. After that, I came back home, loaded the pictures from my camera or telephone into my computer, and set the pictures up for my blog. In the evening, I had the phone with me when I went to bed and when I woke up Friday morning.

Friday morning, as I was changing Joan, the alarm went off, I took the phone, put it on the windowsill, and turned off the alarm. That was the last time I remember doing anything with the phone. The only place we went during the day was to Sowa's, and then we returned home.

On Saturday in the afternoon, we went to Cafe Lokum for coffee, and I thought it was without my phone.

That evening, I had to verify a new password by receiving an SMS on my telephone. When I looked for my telephone, I couldn't find it anywhere. I must have searched the house three times, and my car twice. I used Joan's telephone to call my telephone, and I heard it ringing in her telephone, but there was no sound coming from mine. That worried me a lot.

This morning, I woke up early and went to Sowa's as soon as they were open, 9:00. I asked him if they had a phone in their lost and found box, but they searched, and there was nothing there. My last hope was Cafe Lokum, and if I didn't find it, I was going to buy another phone.

Cafe Lokum doesn't open until noon, so I waited until 1:00, and took John with me when I left. I was about 70% sure they would not have my phone. I walked into the cafe up to the service counter, and started to tell the man there that I was here yesterday, but before I could finish my sentence, he said he knew I was there for my phone. He turned around, and next to the cash register, my phone was waiting. I can't express how relieved I was to have my phone back.

For me, the only real importance of having it is to stay connected with the caregiver when I am not at home for 3 hours. If something should go wrong, and she needed me, my phone would be the lifeline between us. Of course, the secondary reason is, if I have some problem with John at home and needed to call an ambulance, I would need a phone to do that.

So that's how my last 2 days have been. Stressful most of the time, but in the end, very jubilant.

Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Dec. 17, claimed that Russian forces have seized the strategic initiative along the entire front line in Ukraine, while pledging to expand Moscow’s so-called security buffer zone and continue developing new weapons systems.

Speaking at a meeting of Russia’s Defense Ministry board, Putin said 2025 marked a “significant milestone” in the broader military campaign.

According to him, Russian troops have occupied more than 300 settlements this year and are capable of accelerating offensive operations in “strategically important areas” of the front.

At the same time, Putin dismissed warnings of a potential Russian attack on Europe as “lies and nonsense,” accusing European politicians of fueling hysteria and “driving fears into people’s heads” about an inevitable confrontation with Russia.

Briefing allies at Tuesday’s 33rd Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein) meeting, Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrsky, described the situation as “difficult” but said Russia has failed to achieve major operational gains. 

He claimed Ukrainian counterattacks had pushed Russian forces back in Kupyansk, with Ukrainian troops regaining control of nearly 90% of the city. Source-Kyiv Post

Rynek Christmas

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. Unfortunately, living in Poland, I can't remember the last time we had one. Oh, well.

Gabriela came today for Joan and during our conversation, she told us she is leaving for Christmas with her family and won't be back until January 7th. That's OK, Paige will fill-in for her while she is gone.

Then she said she would be leaving for Lisbon, Portugal for four months as a participant in the Erasmus program. After that, she is moving to Warsaw, permanently, to take advantage of the job market for pharmacists. It's good for her, but Joan is going to miss her. They get along very well together. We’ve been fortunate to have her and I hope we keep in touch.

While I was out today, I stopped to take pictures of how the Rynek is decorated for Christmas. I would take Joan there, but it's too cold now for her to be outside for a long time. The best thing I could do was take pictures and show them to her at home. It was a spur of the moment idea. I didn't have my camera, so I had to make do with the cell phone pictures. They are not bad, but I still prefer a camera. On the large screen TV as a monitor, I'm sure she will like them. Maybe Saturday, I will bundle her up and take her in the early evening for a quick trip there when the lights are more dominant.

I miss having that Christmas feeling, family, wigilia, midnight mass, and snow. It must be my age now.

Shopping Day,

The young woman above is Diana Savita Wagner.  

Wagner's bravery and selflessness have been widely recognized, with many praising her dedication to helping others. She was buried in Kyiv with military honors.

Paige was coming today to sit with Joan, so I thought I would do the food shopping at 11:30 while she was here.

I have been getting up at 06:30 for the past few years to do it, and today I thought I would change. Unfortunately, I woke up at 6:45, couldn't get back to sleep, and decided to go. The cost for this week was $57.

During my 3-hour break, I stopped at Cafe Lokum and talked with Ken about his recent marriage in Las Vegas. He said all went well except the photographer charged him more for the pictures taken then they agreed upon.

Zbyszek's daughter confirmed she will come and visit with us after Christmas. She lives in Bulgaria, but is coming back to Poland to spend time with her brother and his family.

I'm still waiting for our friend, Trent, to confirm when he will visit us. 

Meanwhile: Ukraine

Five Russian oil refineries set ablaze, four airfield strikes, a Lukoil offshore rig ablaze in the Caspian Sea – all in one night – noisily contradicted Trump’s claim that “Ukraine has no cards.”

On Dec. 11, 2025, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) launched its largest-scale, widest-reaching and most ambitious combined kamikaze drone operation against its giant northern neighbor, Russia, of the entire Russo-Ukrainian War.

Overnight, nearly 300 drones of various types, along with cruise missiles, struck targets across western and central Russia – a stretch of some 2,000 km (1,243 miles) including Moscow, according to Russian and Ukrainian sources reviewed by Kyiv Post. Consistent with Ukraine’s increasingly effective bombardment campaign of Russia’s fossil fuel industry that Kyiv kicked off in July, the Ukrainian main effort for the night appeared focused primarily on five Russian energy production facilities, igniting fires at all of them. Secondary attacks hit four military airfields. Source-Kyiv Post

 

Monday Night.

 It's Monday night, and this is usually the night I have to prepare the menu for next week's food shopping and make out the shopping list. I try to get it done early, but usually, I don't get it done until 10:30 or 11:00 at night. I've got a whole stack of recipes that I go through, and pick six menus for the week. Now and winter, it's a little quicker because I pick out at least one soup that will last for 2 days. We don't need it day after day; instead, I alternate the second helping for a second or third day of the menu. I don't like eating the same thing two nights in a row, nor does John.

Our Christmas tree is already decorated, has been for the last week. It's the same tree we've been using for several years because it's a plastic tree. I gave up buying a real tree because it makes more sense to use the plastic one and save the life of at least one tree.

They added a new person to my conversation list, the brother of my friend me how. He would like some help with his English, and so we will talk on Mondays and Wednesdays at 11:00 for 1 hour each time. Today was our first meeting.

In the afternoon, John and I watched NFL football highlights, and then, because she hasn't been outside of the house for 3 days, we went to Kandulskis for Costco and coffee. It's the same place that Zbyszek introduced us to many years ago. For several years, we used to meet there at 3:00 in the afternoon and have some conversation for about an hour or two. Unfortunately, he died 3 years ago this past November, and so we no longer meet.

Christmas is only nine days away, but I have no presents to buy, so it's not a problem of rushing around trying to find presents. Joan and I stopped buying presents for each other several years ago. It was sad to read the news that Rob Reiner and his wife were killed yesterday. Of course, I didn't know either of them personally, but we've enjoyed his talents in movies and the old TV series where he was called Meathead.

Ukraine News

 

THE CZECH REPUBLIC SUPPLIED UKRAINE WITH 1.8 MILLION PIECES OF LARGE-CALIBER AMMUNITION: The Czech Republic has achieved its goal of transferring Ukraine 1.8 million rounds of high-caliber ammunition, former PM Petr Fiala posted on X. The Czech Republic, along with the US and the UK, has become one of the leading suppliers of ammunition to Ukraine.

RUSSIA DEPLOYES ORESHNIK COMPLEXES IN BELARUS, TARGETING EU: The construction of military facilities in Belarus for launching an Orshenik missile is underway, Oleg Ivashchenko, head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said. The Oreshnik missile is a Russian medium-range ballistic missile that is difficult to intercept, equipped with six warheads, and capable of speeds exceeding 12,300 km/h.

RUSSIAN OIL EXPORTS DECLINE: Although Russia continues to increase its crude oil shipments, sanctions and market restrictions are contributing to a downward trend in its maritime exports, according to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. This comes as prices for Russian oil are falling, which reduces their overall profitability. A large amount of Russia’s cargo goes unloaded, and the US sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil have caused the demand from the Global South to decrease. This all comes as inspections at Chinese and Russian refineries are increasing.

Haircuts & Ukraine

Yesterday was haircut day for both of us. We have been going to the same stylist for four or five years now. The best haircut I can remember was in Spain, 5 years ago. Thanks to my friend, Radek, who told me about Markus at LeGrand Salon in Poznan. After the first haircut, we have continued using him. He also did an excellent cut of Joan's hair, so that solidified him as our stylist in Poznan. 

The weather has been more like early Spring instead of Winter. 55-60 F is way too warm for the middle of December. More than likely, it will be another Christmas without snow. I suppose it's my age that makes me want snow.

Meanwhile, Ukraine.

Ukraine's domestically produced cruise missiles could help deal a devastating blow to Russia's air defense production, enabling increasingly effective long-range drone strikes against other targets inside Russia, a new report published on Dec. 12 says.

The report from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and titled "Disrupting Russian Air Defence Production: Reclaiming the Sky," identifies "significant vulnerabilities" in the production process of several of Moscow's most important air defense systems.

Alongside stricter export controls on critical Western machinery and sanctions on raw materials used in radar production, the report calls for prioritizing strikes on "critical nodes within air defence production that are vulnerable to deliberate attack."

It highlights the concentration of facilities used to manufacture and assemble the Pantsir air defense system in Tula, Russia, just 350 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Source-Kyiv Independent

A leading German research center and think tank, the Kiel Institute is closely affiliated with Kiel University but is organizationally independent. Analysts in and outside Ukraine generally consider The Institute’s meticulously-researched Ukraine Support Tracker be the gold standard information platform recording foreign assistance promised and delivered to Ukraine since Jan. 2022.

According to the Kiel Institute’s most recent findings compiling data through end of Oct. 2025, since the US ended military and financial support to Ukraine in Feb. 2025, Europe has allocated only about €4.2 billion ($4.92 billion) in new Ukraine assistance – a cash flow not nearly compensating for the support yanked away by the Americans.

Probably even grimmer for Ukraine’s future, non-US assistance to Ukraine following a White House policy shift towards supporting the Kremlin against Europe appears to be plummeting, having fallen from a wartime three-month peak €20 billion ($23.44) from April through June 2025 to €11.5 billion ($13.48 billion) for July through September 2025, new Kiel Institute data showiv Posted. Source-Ky

Can you handle the truth?

Like it or not, this is what we are facing. It is NOT Donnie Trump. Read it all!

 

Stop Waiting for Trump to Die

US Fascism doesn't end with him.

Christopher Armitage

Dec 09, 2025

 

Bottom Line Up Front for the Hardcore Activists (BLUF-HA): The GOP has spent 50 years building a machine to end democracy, funded by oligarchs who will outlive any single president. They want us to believe this ends with one man. It doesn’t. We don’t need false comfort right now; we need real clarity. That means acknowledging that as long as the seditious and openly criminal Republican Party exists, we are fighting the same machine that built him, protected him, and will replace him the moment he’s gone.

 

We have spent ten years personalizing a systemic crisis around a single figure. That personalization is itself a form of control. It lets us imagine that removing him solves the problem. It lets us fantasize about accountability and a soft landing. It lets us wait for rescue instead of doing the work.

Robert Reich recently argued that Trump’s end is imminent. The MAGA base is falling apart, he wrote. Congressional Republicans are finding their backbones. The ground is finally shifting.

 

I respect Robert. He’s been a consistent voice on the proper side of this fight for decades. So let’s take his argument seriously. Let’s look at the evidence he’s citing and ask what it actually tells us.

The polling decline is real. Trump’s approval has hit 36% in Gallup tracking, his second-term low.¹ A CNN poll found 61% of Americans say his policies have worsened economic conditions.²

 

These numbers are bad.

 

But context matters. Trump’s all-time low was 34%, right after January 6. His first-term average was 41%. He never once reached 50% approval in his entire first presidency.³ The mid-30s is not a collapse. It is his floor, and the floor is holding.

 

But context matters. The Republican Party’s project is not to be popular or win elections. It is to make elections unnecessary for holding power. Gerrymandered maps, voter suppression, a captured judiciary, and the procedural stranglehold of the Senate filibuster all serve the same function: insulating Republican rule from democratic accountability. Trump’s approval among the broader public matters only if that public can translate disapproval into political consequences. The party has spent decades building the infrastructure of preventing democratic functioning.

 

The November 2025 elections were a Democratic sweep. Spanberger won Virginia’s governorship by 15 points.⁴ Sherrill carried New Jersey by 13.⁵ Mamdani became New York City’s first Muslim mayor.⁶ Exit polls showed 55-69% disapproval of Trump across every major race.⁷ These results are significant.

But this is swing voters responding to chaos. This is the suburbs recoiling. This is not the MAGA base defecting. The coalition that carried Trump to victory in 2024 has not abandoned him. Voters at the margins have. That matters electorally. It does not mean the movement is collapsing.

Reich points to Republican fractures. Some are grumbling about the budget. Some reject the tariff dividend proposal. Some want to extend ACA subsidies. Hawks dislike the Putin courtship.

 

But grumbling is not governing. When it came time to vote on the Big Beautiful Bill, two Republicans out of 273 voted no. That is a 1% defection rate. The tariff dividend was never even brought to a vote. 

The ACA subsidy debate remains unresolved because leadership won’t allow a floor vote. The fractures are nonexistent in practice. The grumbling itself is the performance, a way to maintain the fiction that Republicans aren’t voting in lockstep while they vote in lockstep.

 

And then there is Marjorie Taylor Greene. After Romney. After Cheney. After Kinzinger. After the party systematically destroyed every Republican who broke ranks. After years of enforcing total loyalty, his most devoted defender finally walked away. One more name on a short list that keeps getting shorter as the party purges dissent.

 

She was his most loyal defender. She voted with him 98% of the time.⁹ She spent millions on his campaigns. She flew from her father’s brain surgery to vote against his second impeachment.¹⁰ And when she broke with him over the Epstein files, he called her a traitor within days. She also announced her resignation, timed to within a few days of her congressional pension beginning.¹¹

This is not a crack in the foundation. This is the foundation demonstrating how solid it is. The apparatus that destroyed Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and Mitt Romney’s political future did exactly what it was designed to do: enforce total loyalty and obliterate dissent.

 

So let’s say Reich is right about all of it. Let’s say the polling collapse accelerates. Let’s say 

 

Republicans lose the House in 2026.

 

Let’s say Trump’s health fails, his mind deteriorates further, or he simply dies. He is 79 years old. It could happen tomorrow.

 

Here is what does not change:

 

The 43 Republican senators who acquitted him after he incited an insurrection remain in office or have been replaced by others who would have done the same. The Supreme Court that ruled him above the law serves for life. The federal judiciary, packed with Federalist Society judges, will shape American law for decades. The 47% of Project 2025 already implemented does not reverse itself.¹² The 200,000 federal workers fired or forced out do not return to their jobs.¹³ The gutted agencies do not rebuild overnight. The dismantled regulations do not reassemble themselves.

 

The Varieties of Democracy Institute, the world’s leading authority on measuring democratic health, identified the United States as undergoing the fastest episode of autocratization in modern American history.¹⁴ Director Staffan Lindberg stated in March that if the current trajectory continues, the United States will no longer qualify as a democracy when they assess 2025.¹⁵ That trajectory is not about one man. That trajectory is about captured institutions and a party apparatus committed to single-party rule.

 

We tried the institutional remedies. We impeached him twice. The Senate acquitted him twice. A jury convicted him of 34 felonies. No judge sentenced him. The Supreme Court granted him immunity.

 

We voted him out in 2020. He came back and won by a wider margin.

Four years of Biden have changed nothing structurally. The courts remained captured. The gerrymandered maps remained intact. He was able to make marginal progress that was obstructed at every turn, overturned by SCOTUS, or immediately undone by Trump. The filibuster remained in place, allowing Republicans to block voting rights legislation with unified opposition. We followed the rules. They ran out the clock. And at the end of it, we got a second Trump term that has done more damage in ten months than his entire first four years.

 

Trump did not build this. The Heritage Foundation wrote Project 2025. The Federalist Society built the judicial pipeline. The Republican National Committee enforces party discipline. The conservative media ecosystem manufactures consent. State legislatures draw maps that let them choose their voters. 

 

Dark money networks fund the whole operation.

 

Trump is their most effective instrument. He normalized what was previously unthinkable. He proved what was possible. He moved the ball further down the field than anyone before him. But he is still an instrument. When he is gone, everything he proved remains proven. Every precedent he set remains set. 

Every norm he shattered remains shattered.

 

The Republican Party has been building toward this for 50 years. The Powell Memo.¹⁶ The Heritage Foundation. The Federalist Society. Gingrich is burning down congressional norms. The Southern Strategy. Gerrymandering. Voter suppression. McConnell is holding a Supreme Court seat hostage for a 

year.¹⁷

 

Trump did not break the system. He is the product of a party that spent half a century crafting the tools to end American democracy.

 

As long as the Republican Party exists, our democracy remains under threat. That was true before Trump and will remain true after him. The party must be dismantled. Not defeated in one election. Not moderated. Dismantled and its leaders incarcerated for sedition and corruption.

So when the headlines tell you the ground is shifting, maybe something is happening. When pundits tell you the MAGA base is cracking, maybe the margins are eroding. When Trump eventually leaves the stage, it will feel like relief. We will want to exhale. We will want to believe the worst is over.

 

Do not exhale.

 

The day after Trump is gone, we have the exact same work to do. The same captured courts. The same gerrymandered maps. The same consolidated media. The same oligarch class. The same party apparatus that protected him through everything will find another vehicle for their project before his body is cold.

 

And the next vehicle will be less repugnant. Someone who passes the same fascist laws and strips away the same freedoms but with less spectacle, someone who makes it all look more professional, and then people stop paying attention. Trump’s repulsiveness keeps people in the streets. But the Republicans are the ones passing the policies anyway. They’re the ones telling him what to support. A polished version pushing the exact same agenda without the daily outrages will be far more dangerous. The next one gets a grace period while the world celebrates, and the fascism continues while everyone exhales.

He covered a lot of ground for them. That doesn’t all reverse with him gone. The project does not end with him, and if we act as if it does, we hand Republicans a free pass for everything they built while we were staring at one man.

 

We have spent ten years personalizing a systemic crisis around a single figure. That personalization is itself a form of control. It lets us imagine that removing him solves something. It lets us fantasize about accountability that will never come through the institutions they have captured. It lets us wait for rescue instead of doing the work.

 

Stop waiting for Trump to die. The fight is the same either way.

 

So what actually works? Three things. First, states must investigate, prosecute, and criminally indict corrupt politicians at every level and refuse to hand those cases up to federal jurisdiction. If we don’t hold these people accountable ourselves, no one will. This should be done through an interstate anti-corruption compact where states work together to rid our federal government of criminal actors. Second, states must build social safety nets at the state and multi-state levels that actually improve residents’ lives, because the federal government has been captured and isn’t coming to the rescue. Third, multi-state non-compliance with bullshit SCOTUS and federal decisions. That’s it. That’s what needs to happen. It takes political will, and it takes us demanding it from every state official we can reach.

Heroine.

·Friends, this is the Heroine. Real Ukrainian Heroine.

Friends, this is Natalia.

She is a mother of four!! ️children and she absolutely voluntarily went to the Front.

Natalia comes from lysičanskaya. When the full-scale invasion began, she realized that her place was where the country was protected.

Thanks to her determination, the woman managed to get into the combat unit.

After learning about her medical education, the command offered Natalia to become a combat medic.

She has saved hundreds of lives in that position!! ️of our Warriors.

She had to drag the fighters 12 kilometers!! ️ to save their Life.

Just an incredible Woman.

Absolutely unbreakable, strong and Brave.

Our Ukrainian girl. Our Guardian Angel.

Honor and respect to Mrs. Natalia.

Honor and respect to the incredible Ukrainian heroine