At one time the posting today was named,   What is Death?   Then I decided to use these contents next week.  But that title still applies, for our government was supposed to be shut down, or die, this weekend.    However, Speaker Kevin McCarthy took the bipartisan pathway and all is well for the Federal government, at least until another death threat deadline comes in mid-November.   McCarthy will, of course, undergo another kind of death, lost of his speakership, to be advanced by recalcitrant Republicans this week.  Matt Gaetz will be at the head of that line.  Will they succeed?  Maybe Democrats will save McCarthy.  Such is the nature of politics in the House of Representatives today. So on to what else will be happening in the USA this coming week: The New York lawsuit accusing the Trump Organization of inflating property values will come to trial tomorrow.   All reports indicate that  The Donald himself will show up in person  for at least the first week of this civil fraud trial,

Nine years ago when I moved from Heaven to Purgatory--yes, I'm the first to be so demoted--I posted: COULD 15 CRAIGSIDE BE PURGATORY? That photo is of both where I came from, on the right, and where I now live.  To quote from that article about why I thought I was in purgatory: The people here are all nice, but, perhaps not perfectly purified, especially me. We're located next door to 2101 Craigside, where   my apartment is close to Heaven . Except for my ocean view side, we are surrounded by graveyards (by the way, that tennis court and pool belongs to 2101 Craigside, where my penthouse apartment will soon be back on sale): Since then I've written about Purgatory on numerous occasions, always on Sundays.  To again quote from  one of these postings in 2016 : You ask, how do I know so much about the laws of Purgatory.  Simple, I just made them up.  However, if anyone out there in the ether can send me verifiable proof of any house rules associated with Purgatory, please let

The Lahaina apocalypse is into month two now, and finally I see that the fire is 100% contained.  There remain 115 deaths, and the unaccounted for missing is down to 66.  7282 are in temporary housing. An online, centralized hub to respond to the impacts of the Maui Wildfire Disaster is available at   mauinuistrong.info . The County of Maui’s “ Maui Nui Strong ” site offers information on how to donate, volunteer, offer services and locate support. Support information on the Maui Nui Strong site includes resources for Financial Assistance, Government Services, Medical Care, Mental Health Services and more . A  6.8 earthquake struck about 72 miles southwest of Marrakech, Morocco  on September 8, the deadliest in the country in 60 years.   The death toll passed 2900 .  Considerable damage because buildings are not built to handle earthquakes.  In 1960 a 5.9 earthquake killed up to 15,000. Flash floods and broken dams in Libya over the weekend killed at least 2800, with thousands more mis