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Our lovely granddaughter posted this for us.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-rhodes-family-with-medical-expenses

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IT BEEN A REAL ORDEAL

I am so sorry we haven’t been able to update you all here. It has just been so busy and eventful. Melvin has had episode after episode of dehydration, nausea, infection, multiple ER visits and not much in the way of answers. Gastroparesis was thrown out as a guess. This last ER visit at the U of M, AnnArbor, MI, FINALLY revlealed something: a golf ball sized cyst, infected, therefore relabeled…

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No Blog Last Week and This Week

This is Diane. We are really hoping he is functioning by next week. Doctors suspected something like gastroparesis, and some of that made sense, but not everything. It’s more like paralytic ileus. Emergency rooms have been absolutely useless to the point of sheer stupidity. He’s dehydrated and I can only ever get two bags of fluid out of them for him. Last Wednesday they discharged him unable to…

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BRITISH “NO” TO TRUMP

(https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/uk-mp-rejects-trumps-48-hour-deadline-to-iran-says-will-protect-our-own-interests-101774182430033.html) Why did the UK government fail to back Trump’s Iran campaign? I suspect one reason is that the ruling Labor Party is increasingly dependent on the Muslim vote. This explains why the government raised the family allowance.    The family allowance is…

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LESSONS FROM SUEZ IN IRAN WAR

Since the Iran War started, I’ve been thinking a great deal about it.  It keeps reminding me of the Suez Canal crisis in 1956, the final major act in the history of the British Empire. In 1952 the monarchy of Egypt was overthrown and replaced by a military government.   The military soon decided to nationalize the Suez Canal, which had been built with British and French money at the end of the…

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THE ROBIN HOOD STATE

Governments are trying to fix their budgets by soaking the rich.  It will not work. America’s top 1% enjoy a fifth of the economy’s income and pay nearly a third of its federal taxes.  Many politicians think they should cough up much more.  Zohran Mamdani, New York’s mayor, wants a new 2% city levy on incomes over $1m.  Virginia, Rhode Island, and Washington state are weighing up similar…

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AGAIN, NO BLOG THIS WEEK

So sorry as I am still trying to get well. Today I transferred to a rehab facility to get some strength back. We are not anticipating it to be anything long-term, but these last two weeks knocked me flat. Thank you all for your prayers – always very much appreciated!

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NO BLOG THIS WEEK

I’ve been in hospital for a week. Actually I got out and came right back the next day. Severe dehydration which is a mystery when I drink loads of water. Then nausea and vomiting and I could hardly move. I hope to get out maybe Monday if all goes well. Prayers appreciated!

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AMERICA FORGETS

President Donald Trump speaks during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.Markus Schreiber/AP (https://www.npr.org/2026/01/21/nx-s1-5684115/trump-at-davos-i-wont-use-force-to-acquire-greenland) President Trump may have lost some friends while in Davos. His boasting seemed to say that America had single-handedly won World War II.    No…

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NO BLOG THIS WEEK

Very sorry but I just don’t feel well. There is certainly a lot going on in the world – will post to the blog next week.

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CORRUPTION RIFE IN MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

In recent months, a massive corruption scandal exposed on social media, involving officials in the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement and Hamas, has rocked the Arab world. The affair revolves around a Turkey-based institution called Waqf Al-Ummah, founded in 2013. According to the reports, its directors, who are senior MB figures in Turkey and Jordan with ties to Hamas, embezzled some half a…

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VENEZUELA CHANGES EVERYTHING

Reports are that the US is building up its military forces in the UK.   Is an invasion of Greenland imminent? “The western hemisphere is ours,” declared US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, after the US successfully entered Venezuela.   If it was ok for the US to invade Venezuela, why isn’t it ok for Russia to invade Ukraine? Or for China to invade Taiwan?  We are in a more dangerous world…

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ISIS IS BACK

(https://www.facebook.com/TheJerusalemPost/posts/analysis-is-bondi-beach-a-sign-isis-is-making-a-comebackthe-two-terrorists-behin/1308503857970252/) Seven years ago, then-President Trump announced that ISIS was defeated. Well, now it’s back and it’s reach is greater than ever.   The recent shooting in Bondi Beach, Australia, was ISIS inspired.  ISIS is a franchise.  Anybody can stage an attack. …

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BONDI BEACH TERROR ATTACK

Mourners pay a floral tribute to Bondi Beach shooting victims at the Bondi Pavillion in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 15, 2025. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images, https://abcnews.go.com/International/victims-bondi-beach-australia-shooting/story?id=128414998) Because Port Arthur was not political, it is not considered an act of terror, even though 35 people were killed on that day in April 1996.  …

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TRUMP IS ABANDONING EUROPE

Left to right: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and French President Emmanuel Macron meet at 10 Downing Street, in London, England, on Monday.  (Toby Melville/Reuters) “Trump is abandoning Europe” was the headline in yesterday’s Times Radio program, seen on YouTube on Sunday. Crisis talks are being held at 10 Downing…

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DIVISION IN GENEVA

The Ukrainian conflict is as unsolvable as ever, with the parties meeting in Geneva to try and come up with a solution.  Russia and the US issued their  28 demands without consulting Ukraine. But now Europe is making its demands, demanding that Ukraine should be involved in any discussions. The division between the US and Europe has never been greater.    Europeans are very upset that President…

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SOCIALIST VICTORY IN NYC

(Zohran Mamdani declared victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday night) Margaret Thatcher, the late prime minister of the UK, once said: “The trouble with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.”   She also defined socialism as “equal shares of misery for all.”   Both are true. The British are reminded of these lessons every time they have a…

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