16th February

Goodness, it has been nearly a fortnight since I posted anything, but I suppose it is because I am not out and about as much as I was in Shawnee, and not having a car I don't have the same mobility.   I have been quite happy though keeping warm in my little flat, reading, crocheting, watching tv and seeing the family. 

I have to  make a lot more grocery shopping trips than I used to, as I have a very small fridge and no freezer.  But I guess that is not such a bad thing, it gets me out and exercising.

Today I went to the monthly lunch at the church.   The speaker was a church member who is involved in volunteering locally at a detention centre called 'Asylum Welcome' -  it is for illegal immigrants  pending their deportation back from whence they came.    I found it quite interesting, I know illegal immigrants are a major fact of life in the US, but I didn't know we had quite so many.

I was very surprised because I thought - in my naievete - that the illegal immigrants, after being processed in the detention centre, were transported to a Channel port, shipped across to France then tipped out to make their way back to their homeland, wherever that may be.    But no - a Polish man for example, from a village in rural Poland is actually taken right back to his village.    How much is THAT costing the British taxpayer, I asked myself.    Don't misunderstand me, I am as compassionate as the next person at the desperation of people trying to find a better life, but think a line needs to be drawn somewhere.

The speaker seemed a bit vague as to where  the female immigrants go but said children become the responsibility of Social Services until they are 18.

I would love to volunteer at this centre but it is way out in the Oxfordshire countryside somewhere, and I would need transport.

Our news is still dominated largely by Donald Trump, it has been suggested that he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. 

I believe it is being said that his administration is in chaos, so he gave a 77 minute press conference, in which he was described as 'rambling' 'angry' and 'paranoid'.   He seemed to specifically attack the Press,  saying its dishonesty is out of control and asserting that his administration was running like a "finely tuned machine".   I would have liked to have seen all the press conference but we only had an excerpt of it in our news reporting.

I'm wondering how long it will be before he crashes and burns, I can't see his administration even lasting four years.   Isn't there also another sub plot involving Deutsche Bank which  is under federal investigation for aiding Russian money laundering?   My understanding is that pressure is mounting on Deutsche Bank to appoint an independent auditor to review its business relationship with Trump.