My father did not have a birth certificate. The U.S. Navy accepted his baptismal certificate as proof of age, and allowed him to serve honorably for 34 years. Would he now not be allowed to vote?

It costs $130 + a $35 facility fee to obtain a passport and an extra $30 for a passport card. In California, fees for certified copies of vital records are between $18 and $31 each. How is the SAVE Act not a poll tax?

Is anyone else chilled by Kristi Noem's statement that she wants the "right" people to vote?

It occurs to me that I had to pass an extensive moral character determination for admission to the bar. It’s too bad we can’t do the same with Presidential candidates!

I have to ask again why ICE agents are armed! Why on God’s green earth would you provide lethal weapons to untrained guys with a middle-school mentality?!

I just developed an 8-hour course for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on the ethical and legal issues with advances in reproductive technology. It covers IVF, surrogacy, three-parent babies, cloning, and designer babies. OLLI just cancelled the class for lack of enrollment. Anyone else interested?

Recently, I got a notice from my new pharmacy provider that they wouldn’t cover my thyroid medication and bizarrely suggested insulin instead! I need my thyroid medication. Then a couple of days ago, they called and told me to disregard the letter they had sent. AI is such a time and labor saver!

I went to two funerals this weekend. There were tears, of course, but there’s something beautiful about coming together as a faith community to celebrate a life well lived. So I told my priest I wanted to revisit my own funeral plans but no hurry. “I hope not,” he said. Me too, Father Bill! Me too!

One question: Why are ICE agents even armed?

Re Kristi Noem’s statement about the shooting in Minneapolis: Do you think someone told her that story or did she make it up herself?

And the list of high crimes and misdemeanors just keeps on growing.

Many of you are too young for this, but I am reminded of the immortal words of Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

My word for 2026 is SOLIDARITY. I stand in solidarity with immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and all Americans hurt by this administration. As Margaret Mead said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Printer update. HP: We’ll have to replace it. Me: How do I know the new printer will work? HP: We wouldn’t send you a broken printer. Me: You did once!

Lovely Christmas morning at my daughter's, but at age 78 I seem to have graduated from hosting the party to, "Just sit down, Mom, and we'll bring it to you." Not sure how I feel about this!

My husband and I just got back from the Big Island of Hawaii. We had a great time, and we were careful about masking indoors and on the plane. Still, I managed to bring something home. Not COVID or influenza, according to the tests, but a cold! I haven’t had a cold in five years and I’m miserable.

What bothers me the most about the crimes being committed by this administration — the immigration abuses and the murders on the Caribbean, for example — is that they are being done in my name, as an American.

I am so tired of hearing that the bombing of the shipwrecked survivors in the Caribbean was “controversial.” It was not controversial, it was criminal.

Striking a boat full of unarmed civilians is murder. The first strike was murder. The followup strike was also murder. We're not at war. It's not a "war crime". Everyone involved, including the POTUS, SecDef, the Admiral who relayed it and the person who pressed the button needs to be on trial.

I don’t think Pete Hegseth should resign. I think he should be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Senate Armed Services Committee stated that it will conduct oversight into the "alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels," but I think that the word "suspected" says it all. These killings are murder, pure and simple. Suspicion of drug dealing should never be a death sentence.

As the daughter of a Naval officer, I know that it is absolutely true that service members must refuse to follow illegal orders. I also think that it may be unfair to burden enlisted people with this decision, as they generally lack the knowledge or authority to determine which orders are illegal.

And it’s still raining in Southern California! How many days until we have to start building an ark?

Fussing with my printer today. It's a good printer, but sometimes, it just decides not to work. Of course, not when I really need it, though! 😂

Years ago, I was so poor that I didn’t buy anything I couldn’t eat. Now, I can afford to donate to charities, but, for now, I’m once again only giving money to those organizations who feed people. People are hungry.

Saw the little dog Gizmo and his human walking past my house, so I said hello to him. Then I had to ask his human what HIS name was. I mean, why would I remember that?

What a game!

Couldn't we invoke the 25th Amendment and just not tell Trump? Just let him keep posturing. He won't know the difference, and something might actually get done.

For Pete Hegseth to suggest that military promotions are not merit-based is highly insulting to all service members and especially to the flag officers required to listen to his little rant.

I had to take our kitty Autumn to the vet and we were supposed to sedate her first. I tried, but the first dose didn't really get in, so I gave her another. My nurse soul cringed when I had to tell the vet that she got either a half a dose, or a double dose of the medication!

My work of purging my old emails continues, and I am amazed to realize how very few of the are personal!

It’s a little ironic, isn’t it, that the the catalyst for all these attacks on free speech, Charlie Kirk, himself relied on the fact that hateful speech is, in fact, protected speech under the First Amendment.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press, as well as the rights of peaceful assembly and to petition the government. Have I overlooked anything? Has Trump, in his crusade to negate them all? We should all be very afraid!

The online ghouls who are celebrating and/or justifying the shooting of Charlie Kirk have no idea how much damage they are doing…

My email was getting full, and so I am painstakingly purging my messages, year by year. It seems so strange to report that I have almost eliminated the year 2021 from my life!

Watching Trump deploy the National Guard to our neighborhoods, does anyone else have nightmare memories of Kent State?

Yeah. The thing that worries me most is that these models were taught to be convincing before they were taught to be right.

Help! I am an attorney. I believe in due process and the rule of law. But lately, I’ve been fantasizing about organizing a lynch mob for some people.

Cotton got his summer haircut.

Listening to the media talk about the “national security controversy” of Pete Hegseth violating security standards and wondering what the controversy is! Who disagrees that this is a scandal and makes us considerably less safe as a nation?

If you are National Guard or active duty military & you are ordered to violate the Constitutional rights of your fellow Americans, call the Gl Rights Hotline 1-877-447-4487 There is support, you don't have to go through with it.

The problem with most machine-based random number generators is that they’re not TRULY random, so if you need genuine randomness it is sometimes necessary to link your code to an external random process like a physical noise source or the current rate of US tariffs on a given country.

I don’t have much money. I live on a small pension and my social security. I also have made some investments, which, if I’m frugal, should last the rest of my life. Should have. It’s not just the wealthy who are hurt by Trump’s tariffs.

Some personal news: my husband Ray has just had successful brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. I will be preoccupied with his recovery and with the illness of another family member for a few weeks, but I will still try to get online from time to time.

Our little dog Bella died during the night. It has never seemed fair to me that our precious pets live such short lives!

I have struggled with low energy levels for some time, and today I realized that as much as I love and need my friends, too much peopling in one day exhausts me.

An important statement from the American Bar Association. www.americanbar.org/news/abanews...

A friend of mine was at a protest, wearing a shirt that read, “Now you’ve pissed off Grandma.” I have to say, they have definitely pissed off this grandma!

It’s not just their ideology I object to in Trump’s nominees — it’s also their total lack of qualifications! Have you ever worked with someone who was completely incompetent at their job? Multiple that by a thousand!