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WARNING: THIS POST HAS CONTENT THAT MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!
THIS POST IS A CONTINUATION OF THE BLOG POST TITLED, "I AM NO LONGER BEING AN ACTIVIST IN THE SAME WAY THAT I WAS, PART 7" (WHICH CAN BE SEEN IN THE PREVIOUS POST NO. 155). AND IT HAS ALL OF THE UPDATES WRITTEN FOR THE YEAR 2025
I Am No Longer Being An Activist
In The Same Way That I Was, Part 8
Due to being stressed out—and until further notice—I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in the same way that I was before, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes the same way that I was in the past. (The reader should know that I am HIV-positive with full-blown AIDS.) And so, I am consciously choosing to not engage in any 'activism,' however, I am still planning to exercise my 'civic duty' by voting in upcoming elections.
Now, to clarify something: I cannot edit my blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog—for an unknown reason—as of May 11th, 2026. So, any editing that I have tried to do on this blog post, after May 11th, for some reason won't save...
…Although, on June 20th, 2026, I thought to relocate all of the 2026 updates from my original blog post, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," to my newer "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was, Part 2." You see, I had created this 'Part 2' blog post as a backup post, because there was a period of time when the original blog post kept being unpublished by Blogger for being too 'spammy'—I am guessing because of all the hyperlinks that I was providing for news articles that I was referring to my readers!
Anyway, that relocation of the 2026 updates seemed to have worked in getting the original blog post to be "editable" again, at least temporarily...
...But, then, later on that same day, I tried to add some additional text to the post and it would not save again! However, at least this time, instead of just saying that the "Update failed," it specifically stated, "The body is too large." Thus, I am assuming the 'unknown reason' that I stopped being able to edit the original post on May 11th was because I had—apparently—reached some sort of blog post size threshold!
So now, I am thinking of editing out most of the news updates, which I wrote on that original post, because those updates weren't nearly as pertinent to my "Online Activism" as was responding to the text message, email, and regular mail communications that I was receiving from various political, progressive and charitable organizations.
And, below, please find relevant quotes from a series of 'updates' that highlight the most important changes to my current activism, which are titled as follows:
▪ [A Quote From My] March 7th, 2017 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] November 5th, 2018 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] September 16th, 2021 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] November 10th, 2021 Update, Written On November 11th, 2021
▪ [A Quote From My] March 13th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] March 16th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] March 17th, 2022 Update, Which Also Discusses March 16th, 2022
▪ [A Quote From My] April 3rd, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] April 12th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued Further, Written On June 17th, 2022
▪ [A Quote From My] June 17th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022
▪ [A Quote From My] July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On July 27th, 2022)
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2023 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2023 Update—Continued
▪ [A Quote From My] November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1
▪ [A Series of Excerpts From My] April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 and
April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On April 17th, 2026) [My Writing About How I Restarted Donating To The USO (United Service Organizations) As Of April 2026], as well as
April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 2, Written On April 19th, 2026), in addition to
April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 3, Written On May 17th, 2026) [My Writing About How I Restarted Donating To The USO (United Service Organizations) As Of April 2026, Part 2], and finally,
April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 4, Written On June 15th, 2026, Which Also Discusses June 14th, 2026)
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[A Quote From My] March 7th, 2017 Update: "This update is a follow-up to my 'November 2nd, 2016 Update,' where I explained, in part, that I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in the same way that I was before, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes the same way that I was in the past. I wanted to clarify the fact that I do still donate to homeless folks where I live, as a way of giving 'alms to the poor.' And I also donate to charitable organizations that are fundraising through local stores at which I shop, as well as to charities that may be fundraising on the street. Besides that, I also sometimes donate to charities that send me 'free gifts enclosed' (such as calendars, greeting cards, key chains, etc.) when they are asking for a donation. Thus, I occasionally utilize one of those 'free gifts enclosed,' and so I send them a donation if I do!"
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[A Quote From My] November 5th, 2018 Update: "I wanted to explain to you the way that I have changed how I vote! And, in order to explain how I changed, please let me quote myself—specifically from my July 1st, 2012 post titled, 'For the Year 2012 — My Posting Sabbatical, Part 2,' which is published on my 'Small All White in the Forest' and 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher' blogs:
My Writing About How I Vote: When I vote, I typically consider the recommendations of various organizations, news publications, as well as election 'political mailers' and, then, I decide whose recommendations for, or against, each candidate or ballot measure make the most sense. Plus, I usually always vote for Democrats. And that's how democracy rolls in this house! –Paul Whiting (written October 28th, 2012 and revised November 8th, 2022)
Now, that quote still applies to how I vote; however, in 2018, I decided to not just read voter recommendations of 'various organizations, news publications, as well as election 'political mailers.'' Instead, I read news publications during the entire year. And, in that way, I can be a more informed voter, as well as a more informed citizen, throughout the year! And, thusly, when it comes to voting on Election Day, I have spent the entire year preparing to vote and have not been preparing only when it's time to vote. And, just to clarify, for some publications, I still only read their voter recommendation editions when I am preparing to vote."
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[A Quote From My] September 16th, 2021 Update: "I wanted to let you know that I have started subscribing to news organizations, which I can afford given my monthly spending budget (the reader should know that I am HIV-positive and that I have full-blown AIDS; plus, I am on Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, so my income is quite limited), since I have a smart phone again, after years of only having a feature phone.
So, I subscribe to the news organizations whose news articles I read the most, based upon Google news searches that I do in order to keep up with the news! Thus, I scan the titles of the most popular articles and then I read the articles that I feel are the most relevant.
And I am reading news organizations' articles during the entire year, so that I can be a more informed voter, as well as a more informed citizen, which is how I am being an activist these days along with how I spend my money.
You see, I figured out that 'putting my money where my mouth is'—in terms of being a 'Conscious Consumer,' who is aware of how my spending habits affect the entire planet and all of its inhabitants—is the best way for me to be an activist, in addition to keeping up with the news and making sure that I vote!"
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[A Quote From My] November 10th, 2021 Update, Written On November 11th, 2021: "I signed up on Charity Navigator to make donations for holidays, special occasions, or current issues, to highly-rated charities..."
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[A Quote From My] March 13th, 2022 Update: "I have started donating to Democrats on a regular basis again, because I recently signed a petition regarding saving the United States Postal Service and then I made a political donation! And that's basically the first political petition that I have signed and/or political donation that I have made since around November of 2016.
You see, I am a 'Democratic Activist!' And I think that the Republicans know who I am—and they DO NOT like me—which is basically why I stopped signing political petitions and/or making political donations right before the November 2016 Election, when I created this 'I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was' post on my 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher' blog.
Thus, I was afraid that the Republicans might retaliate against me in some way, depending upon what type of activism I was engaged in, if they were in control of both Congress and the White House. And I also feared that once the Republicans won Congress and the White House that they would try to turn America into an oligarchy!
And, after the January 6th, 2021 Capitol Attack, my fears were confirmed. [Or, it was the January 6th, *1776* 'normal tourist group'; or, the insurrectionists that attacked the Capitol Complex—in order to stop the certification of Joe Biden's win—were really 'Antifa' protestors; or, they were Black Lives Matter protestors; or, they were paid actors and actresses; or, in all actuality, they were incited by ('Gasp!') the FBI. Regardless, however, it was clearly 'a false flag operation' designed to make President Donald J. Trump 'look bad'—like he needs any assistance doing that!]
Therefore, I am trying to stay informed about what is happening in politics again, especially due to the upcoming 2022 Midterm Elections. So, I am trying to help Democrats win, because I am greatly concerned about the Republicans retaking both the House and Senate of Congress, and eventually retaking the White House, since Republicans are acting like Radical Christian Terrorists!"
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[A Quote From My] March 16th, 2022 Update: "I made charitable donations today, March 16th, 2022, to multiple charitable organizations via Charity Navigator for the 'Crisis in Ukraine' after I watched three videos on YouTube titled, 'Zelenskyy: Peace Talks Between Ukraine And Russia 'Sound More Realistic'' and 'Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers virtual address to the U.S. Congress — 3/16/22,' in addition to 'Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Calls For Assistance In Virtual Address to Congress.' For, I am greatly concerned about this act of war against Ukraine!"
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[A Quote From My] March 17th, 2022 Update, Which Also Discusses March 16th, 2022: "I made a donation today, March 17th, 2022, as well as yesterday, March 16th, 2022, to the USO (United Service Organizations). You see, I received a text message yesterday, March 16th, 2022, from the USO, which stated the following:
USO: Sorry to interrupt, but as war unfolds in Ukraine, thousands of U.S. troops are deployed in Eastern Europe to support NATO allies.
We still need 76?2+ more Americans to sign our card by midnight to thank them for their sacrifices -- and your name is missing. Will you sign now?***
And so, I filled out that survey yesterday, March 16th, 2022, and then I made a one-time donation to the USO via Charity Navigator as part of the charitable donations that I made yesterday for the 'Crisis in Ukraine,' which I explained in my 'March 16th, 2022 Update.'
And then today, March 17th, 2022, I received an email from the USO with the subject line, 'TAKE THE QUIZ: How many military terms do you know?', which stated the following:
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR MILITARY LINGO?
TAKE THE QUIZ »***
Paul: From the National Guard to the Marines, each branch of our military uses different phrases to quickly pass important information to their fellow service members.
We know you're a dedicated patriot, so this quiz is perfect for you. Have some fun testing yourself on how well you understand the jargon our troops are using every day!
Take our 60-second quiz to test your knowledge of all kinds of military words and phrases.
TAKE THE QUIZ »***
Good luck!
The USO
***[I used to include hyperlinks contained within the email messages, or the text messages, to which I am referring in these "Activism Updates"; however, I could not figure out how to include the aforementioned hyperlinks, regarding some relevant action that I had taken—such as signing a petition, sending a letter or message to my representative(s) in Congress, signing a USO 'Thank You' card, and/or making a donation—without including my personal information.]
And so, after I took the quiz, I made a one-time donation on the USO.org website. Plus, I also included a monthly donation in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel..."
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[A Quote From My] April 3rd, 2022 Update: "I keep changing the way that I donate to Democratic political organizations based upon three basic factors: Factor Number One, I am trying to stay within some kind of 'monthly donating budget' of how much I can give within each month (the reader should know that I am HIV-positive and that I have full-blown AIDS; plus, I am on Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, so my income is quite limited); Factor Number Two, I am trying to donate as often as I can manage for each Democratic organization from which I am receiving emails and/or text messages (since I decided to start getting emails and/or text messages from the Democrats in order to keep up with all of the updates for the 2022 Midterm Elections); and Factor Number Three, I am donating on a monthly basis to the USO (United Service Organizations), which starts this month, April 2022, and so I am also including those donations in my 'monthly donating budget.' Therefore, I am hopefully helping the Democrats to win this November in order to prevent Republicans from controlling both Congress and the White House, because I fear that the Republicans will try to turn America into an oligarchy!"
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[A Quote From My] April 12th, 2022 Update: "I am donating to Democratic political organizations—while still trying to stay within a 'monthly donating budget'—so I am basically making one donation per organization per day from which I am receiving emails and/or text messages each day..."
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[A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update: "...This update is a follow-up to my 'March 17th, 2022 Update, Which Also Discusses March 16th, 2022,' where I explained, in part, that I made a donation on March 17th, 2022, to the USO (United Service Organizations) on the USO.org website. And with that one-time donation, I included a recurring monthly donation in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel. Thus, that recurring monthly donation started today, April 17th, 2022..."
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[A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued: "I have started making recurring monthly donations today, April 17th, 2022, to Democratic political organizations. And my plan is to let these recurring donations on the 17th of each month be the donations that I make for that day of each month, since I am making one donation per Democratic political organization per day from which I am receiving emails and/or text messages each day—while I am still trying to stay within a 'monthly donating budget'—which is all that I can afford given my monthly spending budget..."
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[A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued Further, Written On June 17th, 2022: "I explained on my 'April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued' that I started making recurring monthly donations on April 17th, 2022, to Democratic political organizations via ActBlue.com**; however, I deleted my ActBlue account on June 11th, 2022.
You see, I think that my ActBlue account was compromised because, on June 8th, 2022, I attempted to make a $1.15 donation to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), plus I included an $0.11 tip for ActBlue, but when the payment processed, it was for $1,000.11! And that is why I deleted my ActBlue account on June 11th, 2022. Please see my 'June 11th, 2022 Update,' which can be found below for a detailed explanation.
**[I deleted my ActBlue account! Although, I am still processing payments through the ActBlue website (they seem to be the main donation processing website for most Democratic political organizations and many progressive organizations); however, since I deleted my ActBlue account I have noticed that there are more options for making contributions via ActBlue, but by utilizing different payment processors, such as Google Pay, PayPal and Venmo. Please see my 'June 11th, 2022 Update' for a detailed explanation.]..."
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[A Quote From My] June 17th, 2022 Update: "This update is a follow-up to my 'April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued Further, Written On June 17th, 2022,' where I explained that I deleted my ActBlue account on June 11th, 2022. ... So, I have restarted making recurring monthly donations today, June 17th, 2022, to Democratic political organizations. Therefore, my plan is to make regular donations to the various Democratic political organizations from which I am receiving emails and/or text messages each day—while I am still trying to stay within a 'monthly donating budget'—which is all that I can afford given my monthly spending budget..."
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[A Quote From My] July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022: "I have made approximately $[redacted] in total donations to Democratic political organizations and to various Democratic political campaigns from about March 2nd, 2022 through about July 5th, 2022.
And, as of July 7th, 2022, the total amount that I owe on my credit card is $[redacted], which is going to take me at least one year and eight months to pay off!
Plus, I am also making recurring donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations of $3.00 on the 17th of each month: and my plan is to continue donating those recurring donations indefinitely, since that is all that I can really afford to donate given my monthly spending budget...
...In addition to that, I already make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel...
...Thus, the total for the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations recurring donations, and for the USO recurring donation, is $46.00 per month (which used to be $41.00 per month, but I increased my monthly USO donation from $5.00 to $10.00 per month, so starting on August 17th, 2022 the total monthly donations are now $46.00 per month).
Therefore, I am continuing to make recurring monthly donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations...and to the USO; however, that is all I can afford to donate for the foreseeable future (with the exception of occasional one-time donations to the USO, plus various progressive organizations), given how much I went over my spending budget on political donations...
...And, as I mentioned above, the total amount that I owe on my credit card, as of July 7th, 2022, is $[redacted], which is going to take me at least one year and eight months to pay off as I have calculated, which I have estimated without any interest being calculated, and without any additional future charges, besides the above-mentioned monthly recurring donations.
So, this political donation information is why I wanted to update you with regard to my most recent donations to Democratic political organizations—as well as to Democratic political campaigns—and my planned recurring monthly donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations recurring donations, as well as to the USO.
And I am still making one-time donations to the USO—as often as I can manage when they request a donation via email or text message, in addition to making the aforementioned recurring monthly donation. Plus, I am also still making one-time donations to various progressive organizations."
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[A Quote From My] July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On July 27th, 2022): "This update is a follow-up to my 'July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022' and it is kind of complicated!
You see, my monthly donations of $3.00 each to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations processed on July 17th, 2022...
...And then, today July 27th, 2022, I also made one-time donations to Democratic political campaigns of $3.00 each for the most competitive races (of which I am aware) regarding Democratic House of Representatives and Senate seats. In addition to that, I made one-time donations of $3.00 each to the most competitive races (of which I am aware) regarding Democratic gubernatorial—or governor's—seats. Plus, I made an additional one-time donation to my local Democratic Party of Oregon.
Now, here is where my 'July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On July 27th, 2022)' gets complicated: Earlier, I said that I was going to only 'make recurring monthly donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations...and to the USO...with the exception of occasional one-time donations to the USO, plus various progressive organizations,' which is what I have done, so far!
However, I decided that I needed to 'up my game' and to continue making donations to individual Democratic political campaigns, but I am planning to only donate to them once per month, on the 27th of each month, until election day. Thus, I am donating each month—and I am donating $3.00 per campaign, just like I am donating to each of the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating organizations—and that way I am donating to help Democrats win in November, in a way that is affordable to me, for the 2022 Midterm Elections."
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[A Quote From My] April 17th, 2023 Update: "This update is a follow-up to my 'April 17th, 2022 Update,' where I explained, in part, the following:
'...This update is a follow-up to my 'March 17th, 2022 Update, Which Also Discusses March 16th, 2022,' where I explained, in part, that I made a donation on March 17th, 2022, to the USO (United Service Organizations) on the USO.org website. And with that one-time donation, I included a recurring monthly donation in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel. Thus, that recurring monthly donation started today, April 17th, 2022...'
Plus, this update is a follow-up to my 'July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022,' where I explained, in part, the following:
'...In addition to that, I already make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel:
01. USO: United Service Organizations recurring donation of $10.00 (which used to be $5.00 per month, but I increased it by an additional $5.00 per month; so starting on August 17th, 2022, the USO recurring donation is now $10.00 per month)...'
Therefore, today, April 17th, 2023, is the first full year that I have made a recurring monthly donation to the USO!
In addition to that, I usually make one-time donations to the USO each month—as often as I can manage when they request a donation via email or text message—in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel! Therefore, I am planning to continue making one-time donations to the USO in the future, as often as I can manage to make donations, in addition to making the aforementioned recurring monthly donation.
By the way, did you know that the USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD)? The following description of the USO is from their 'About Us' webpage:
"The USO is not part of the federal government. A congressionally chartered, private organization, the USO relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to support its activities, and is powered by a family of volunteers to accomplish our mission of connection."
So, that is why I 'volunteer financially' as a member of the "USO Home Team" through a recurring monthly donation, as well as through one-time donations to the USO each month!"
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[A Quote From My] April 17th, 2023 Update—Continued: "This update is a follow-up to my 'April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued,' where I explained, in part, the following:
'I have started making recurring monthly donations today, April 17th, 2022, to Democratic political organizations...
...And so, here are the Democratic political organizations to which I am making these recurring monthly donations via ActBlue.com** (although, I did not include a tip for ActBlue on these donations, which I usually do, due to the fact that the 'tip box' did not appear, because I made these donations through ActBlue Express):
01. DCCC: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
02. DGA: Democratic Governors Association
03. DNC: Democratic National Committee
04. DSCC: Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
05. NCDM: National Conference of Democratic Mayors
06. DLCC: Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee
07. DAGA: Democratic Attorneys General Association
08. DASS: Democratic Association of Secretaries of State
09. NDCO: National Democratic County Officials
10. DMO: Democratic Municipal Officials
11. NDRC: National Democratic Redistricting Committee
12. DPO: Democratic Party of Oregon...'
Plus, this update is a follow-up to my 'April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued Further, Written On June 17th, 2022,' where I explained, in part, the following:
'I explained on my 'April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued' that I started making recurring monthly donations on April 17th, 2022, to Democratic political organizations via ActBlue.com**; however, I deleted my ActBlue account on June 11th, 2022.
You see, I think that my ActBlue account was compromised because, on June 8th, 2022, I attempted to make a $1.15 donation to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), plus I included an $0.11 tip for ActBlue, but when the payment processed, it was for $1,000.11! And that is why I deleted my ActBlue account on June 11th, 2022. Please see my 'June 11th, 2022 Update' for a detailed explanation...'
Besides that, this update is a follow-up to my 'June 17th, 2022 Update,' where I explained, in part, the following:
'This update is a follow-up to my 'April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued Further, Written On June 17th, 2022,' where I explained that I deleted my ActBlue account on June 11th, 2022...
...So, I have restarted making recurring monthly donations today, June 17th, 2022, to Democratic political organizations...
...And so, here are the Democratic political organizations to which I am making recurring monthly donations via ActBlue.com** [although, because I no longer have an ActBlue account—since I deleted it, due to the fact that I think the account was compromised—I am still donating through the ActBlue website (they seem to be the main donation processing website for most Democratic political organizations and many progressive organizations), but I am donating for some of these recurring donations through other payment processors, such as Google Pay]:
01. DCCC: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
02. DGA: Democratic Governors Association
03. DNC: Democratic National Committee
04. DSCC: Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
05. NCDM: National Conference of Democratic Mayors
06. DLCC: Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee
07. DAGA: Democratic Attorneys General Association
08. DASS: Democratic Association of Secretaries of State
09. NDCO: National Democratic County Officials
10. DMO: Democratic Municipal Officials
11. NDRC: National Democratic Redistricting Committee
12. DPO: Democratic Party of Oregon...'
In addition to that, this update is a follow-up to my 'July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022,' where I explained, in part, the following:
'...I am also making recurring donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations of $3.00 on the 17th of each month: and my plan is to continue donating those recurring donations indefinitely, since that is all that I can really afford to donate given my monthly spending budget. (The reader should know that I am HIV-positive with full-blown AIDS. And I am on Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, so my income is quite limited.)
And so, here are the Democratic political organizations to which I am making recurring monthly donations via ActBlue.com**...:
01. DCCC: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recurring donation of $3.00
02. DGA: Democratic Governors Association recurring donation of $3.00
03. DNC: Democratic National Committee recurring donation of $3.00
04. DSCC: Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recurring donation of $3.00
05. NCDM: National Conference of Democratic Mayors recurring donation of $3.00
06. DLCC: Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee recurring donation of $3.00
07. DAGA: Democratic Attorneys General Association recurring donation of $3.00
08. DASS: Democratic Association of Secretaries of State recurring donation of $3.00
09. NDCO: National Democratic County Officials recurring donation of $3.00
10. DMO: Democratic Municipal Officials recurring donation of $3.00
11. NDRC: National Democratic Redistricting Committee recurring donation of $3.00
12. DPO: Democratic Party of Oregon recurring donation of $3.00
Total Democratic Organizations Monthly Recurring Donations: $36.00...'
**[I deleted my ActBlue account! Although, I am still processing payments through the ActBlue website, since they seem to be the main donation processing website for most Democratic political organizations and many progressive organizations. Please see my 'June 11th, 2022 Update' on my blog post "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog, for a detailed explanation.]
Thus, April 17th, 2023 is the anniversary of the first year that I have made recurring monthly donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations! Plus, this past year is the first time that I have donated to Democratic political organizations when it isn't an election year; however, I decided to change the way that I am donating to Democrats, so that I am helping their fundraising and coordinating operations throughout the year and not just during election years.
And I have just gotta say how incredibly nice it is to be able to make recurring monthly donations to Democratic political organizations—because the payments process automatically each month—and I don't have to do one extra thing in order to help fund the operations of the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating political organizations throughout the year!"
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[A Quote From My] November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1 [My Writing About No Longer Being An 'Online Activist' In Any Way, Shape Or Form]: "Due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election—and until further notice—I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in any way, shape or form, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, and no longer sending letters to my Representative and Senators in Congress, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes. Full stop! I am also unsubscribing from any of the emails that I used to receive from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations. In fact, I am even cancelling all of my monthly political donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating organizations, as well as to the USO (United Service Organizations), in addition to cancelling all of my monthly news organization subscriptions, or news organization donations, because I am absolutely terrified of this second Trump administration. And I fully expect that democracy in America as we know it will be over! So, I am choosing to not engage in any 'activism' whatsoever—plus, I am not even sure that I will be exercising my 'civic duty' by voting in any upcoming elections because, as a (formerly) donating and a (potentially former) voting Democrat, I totally fear the retribution of President Donald J. Trump. Full stop!"
P.S.: It's July 31st, 2025, and I feel like I need to provide an addendum (that is, "an item of additional material added at the end of a book or document, typically in order to correct, clarify, or supplement something") to this November 6th, 2024 'update!'
You see, a couple of days ago, on July 29th, 2025, I copied the text of this update to use as my reason for unsubscribing from a particular political email that I received that same day!
And so, I actually bothered to read this update—in order to verify that it made sense for me to use as a response to the request on this political email's unsubscribe page which stated, "Please tell us why you are leaving"—during which I realized there was a typo (that is, 'a typographical error') in the text of the update, as I have highlighted below, with the correction in brackets:
"And I fully expect that democracy in America as we know [it] will be over!"
Thus, I accidentally left out the word "it" in the sentence above. Hence, I corrected said typo on July 29th, the verification of which can be seen reflected in the addition of the date "revised July 29th, 2025" after my name.
However, as I got to thinking about the fact that I had originally said I may not be voting in any upcoming elections, I realized that, in fact, I did vote in Portland Oregon's Multnomah County Special District Election on May 20th, 2025, just like I usually do! [I always vote in every election (even 'special elections') and I always vote Democrat, which is why I was worried about voting in any upcoming elections given President Trump's clear disdain for Democrats.]
Therefore, I decided to write this "P.S." today, July 31st, as a way to clarify that I am still voting in elections (even 'special elections'), it's just that I am no longer engaging in any 'Online Activism,' during Trump's Presidency, as I explained in great detail above. (I hope that makes sense!)
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[A Series of Excerpts From My] April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1: I received a text message today, April 16th, 2026, from the USO (United Service Organizations), which stated the following:
[Image of the 2026 USO T-shirt design.]
USO T-shirt alert: Paul, we're so excited to share that the exclusive 2026 USO T-shirts are here! As a thank you for being a top supporter, we're giving you early access before the T-shirts are available to the general public. So please, get yours now before they're gone! 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 $𝟮𝟵 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁 — 𝗼𝗿 $𝟱𝟮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘀?***
As the official uniform of military supporters, this exclusive USO T-shirt is one of the best ways to show your pride and support our nation's service members. Please, don't miss your chance to be among the first to get yours.
𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗨𝗦𝗢 𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁:***
—The USO
And, after I read the text message above, I clicked on the hyperlink to the referenced webpage ...
... And so, I made a one-time donation on the USO.org website in order to support the USO's following statement: "Wear your support for our troops — support they can see. Every donation helps support critical programs for our brave soldiers that keep them connected to home as they serve worldwide. This year's T-shirt also celebrates America's 250th birthday, so supplies won't last long!" ...
... In addition to that, I used to make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel. Besides that, I also formerly made one-time donations to the USO as often as I could manage whenever they requested a donation via email or text message. However, I am currently on an "Activist Sabbatical" due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election. ...
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[A Series of Excerpts From My] April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On April 17th, 2026) [My Writing About How I Restarted Donating To The USO (United Service Organizations) As Of April 2026]: Yesterday, April 16th, 2026, I wrote about receiving a text message from the USO (United Service Organizations) regarding the 2026 USO T-shirt design! And I explained that I made a one-time donation for said T-shirt, but I also clarified that I am not currently donating to the USO on a recurring monthly basis, like I used to do, due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election.
Now, today, I realized that I shouldn't really be withholding monthly donations just because Donald Trump is President, since the USO is providing really important support to Our Troops, who are putting themselves in harm's way in order to Protect Our Country and Defend Democracy!
So, what got me to thinking about restarting my recurring monthly donations to the USO is the fact that I received an email from the USO yesterday, after I opened the donation webpage from their original text message referenced in my 'April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1,' which can be found above, to get the correct phrasing from that donation webpage in order to represent said page as accurately as possible for the description that I provided in my 'April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1.' And, in doing so, I entered the information in each box, just like I was planning to make a donation! However, I was simply capturing the formatting of the USO's donation webpage text, so that I could replicate it.
Then—lo and behold—yesterday, April 16th, 2026, I received an email from the USO, with the subject line, "You are so close to providing help & support," which stated the following:
[Picture of "a soldier sitting against a fence, looking pensive while holding a small object in his hands. The background features trees and grass, indicating a calm outdoor setting."]
Don’t leave your impact unfinished
You can make a powerful impact for service members and their families.
By making a donation today
• You give our heroes a lifeline: The USO is the only nonprofit dedicated to keeping service members connected to loved ones and the comforts of home — from free Wi-Fi calls to connections home and holiday meals that remind them their sacrifice is valued.
• You make sure no one serves alone: No matter how far, remote or dangerous the deployment, the USO shows up — just like our service members show up for us. But 6 in 10 service members don’t even know the full range of programs available. Your support ensures they can find and use the help they deserve.
• You help power $230,000 of care every single day: It takes $230,000 a day to provide these life-changing programs. Your generosity makes it possible for every hero to feel the comfort of home no matter where duty takes them.
Every day the USO is on the frontlines with our service members. We couldn't do this critical work without generous friends like you.
For the People Who Serve,
– [Names redacted], USO
Complete your donation***
The USO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and acknowledges that no goods or services were provided to you in return for your contribution. Donations to USO are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. ...
... And, after I read the email above, I clicked on the hyperlink to the referenced webpage, however—in order for me to clarify something—this is where I usually say in these kinds of updates, "the relevant text of which can be found below," but when I opened that page, I realized that I would simply be making another donation for the 2026 USO T-shirt!
Therefore, I decided to refer to my own previous blog post updates where I extol the virtues of making recurring monthly donations as part of the USO Home Team, the text of which can be found below:
So, that is why I 'volunteer financially' as a member of the "USO Home Team" through a recurring monthly donation, as well as through one-time donations to the USO each month!
And, after I read my own blog post update text, I clicked on the hyperlink to the referenced webpage ...
... And to clarify another thing: I decided to increase what I donate to the USO on a monthly recurring basis to $20.00, since I used to donate $10.00 per month—which was increased from $5.00 per month—as explained below, from my 'April 17th, 2023 Update,' …
"...In addition to that, I already make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel:
01. USO: United Service Organizations recurring donation of $10.00 (which used to be $5.00 per month, but I increased it by an additional $5.00 per month; so starting on August 17th, 2022, the USO recurring donation is now $10.00 per month)..."
Then, after I made said donation, I received an email from the USO today, April 17th, 2026, with the subject line, "Welcome to the USO Home Team, Paul" ...
... Thus, I made a recurring donation on the USO.org website in order to support the USO's following statement: "Our service members keep our nation safe. And we work hard to keep them connected to home — but we can't do that without support from military supporters like you. Our heroes are counting on you to be a part of this important work for our country." ...
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[A Series of Excerpts From My] April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 2, Written On April 19th, 2026): Three days ago, on April 16th, 2026, I wrote about receiving a text message from the USO (United Service Organizations) regarding the 2026 USO T-shirt! And I explained that I made a one-time donation for said T-shirt, but I also clarified that I am not currently donating to the USO on a recurring monthly basis, like I used to do, due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election.
Then, on April 17th, 2026, I wrote about restarting my recurring monthly donations to the USO due to the fact that I received an email from the USO two days ago, on April 17th, 2026, because I realized that I shouldn't really be withholding monthly donations just because Donald Trump is President, since the USO is providing really important support to Our Troops, who are putting themselves in harm's way in order to Protect Our Country and Defend Democracy!
Then today, April 19th, 2026, I received an email from the USO, with the subject line, "Will your employer match your donation?", which stated the following:
[Graphic image showing a USO logo, then a "+" (plus sign), followed by a gift box emoji with the word "You" written under it, then another "+" (plus sign), followed by another gift box emoji with the words "Company Match" written under it, then the "=" (equals sign), followed by a much larger gift box emoji with the words "Double the impact" written under it.]
Hi Paul,
We’re so thankful for your recent donation!
Did you know that thousands of companies match donations made by their employees to organizations like the USO? Please visit our matching gift page to see if your company will match your gift and to access the forms, guidelines, and instructions that you need to complete your submission.
[ ] Step 1: See if I'm eligible! Click here***
We want to know when you’ve submitted your matching gift request! Once you’ve submitted, click the link below to let us know.
[ ] Step 2: I've submitted my matching gift request! Click here***
If your company doesn't offer a matching gift program or won't match your donation, click the link below to help us keep our records up to date.
[✓] I'm not eligible for a matching gift.***
For the People Who Serve,
[Name redacted], [name redacted] and [name redacted]
USO Matching Gift Team
Sent on behalf of United Service Organizations., Inc. ...
... And, after I read the email above, I clicked on the hyperlink to the referenced webpage, the relevant text of which can be found below:
Let us know why your gift is ineligible
Thank you for notifying us that your donation is not eligible to be matched by your company. To note this in our records, please select one of the reasons below. Your selection will not be saved until you click "Submit" below.
[ ] I'm retired.
[✓] I am self-employed, a government employee, or not currently working.
[ ] I'm self-employed.
[✓] I'm not currently working.
[Blogger's Note: The reader should know that I am HIV-positive with full-blown AIDS. And I am on Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, so that is why I indicated that "I'm not currently working."]
[ ] I'm a stay-at-home parent.
[ ] I'm in the public sector.
[ ] I work for a nonprofit.
[ ] I work part-time.
[ ] My company doesn't offer a matching program.
[ ] I don't work for the company you sent info for.
[ ] My donation doesn't meet my company's matching gift program requirements.
[ ] I don't want to submit a match request for this gift.
[ ] I prefer not to say.
Submit
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Thank you for your response. We have updated our records.
Thus, I responded to the USO's request to see if my donation could be matched, by indicating that "I'm not currently working." ...
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[A Series of Excerpts From My] April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 3, Written On May 17th, 2026) [My Writing About How I Restarted Donating To The USO (United Service Organizations) As Of April 2026, Part 2]: This update is a follow-up to my 'April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On April 17th, 2026)', wherein I explained, in part, that I made a donation on April 16th, 2026, to the USO (United Service Organizations) on the USO.org website regarding the 2026 USO T-shirt design!
Plus, I clarified that—even though I made a one-time donation for said T-shirt—I am not currently donating to the USO on a recurring monthly basis, like I used to do, due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election.
And I go on to explain that I shouldn't really be withholding monthly donations just because Donald Trump is President, since the USO is providing really important support to Our Troops, who are putting themselves in harm's way in order to Protect Our Country and Defend Democracy!
Therefore, I explained that I decided to restart my recurring monthly donations, as part of the USO Home Team, on April 17th, 2026!
And I also clarified that I decided to increase what I donate to the USO on a monthly recurring basis to $20.00, since I used to donate $10.00 per month, which was increased from $5.00 per month.
Thus, that first recurring monthly donation started today, May 17th, 2026! ...
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[A Series of Excerpts From My] April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 4, Written On June 15th, 2026, Which Also Discusses June 14th, 2026): This update is a follow-up to my 'April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1', wherein I wrote about receiving a text message on April 16th, 2026 from the USO (United Service Organizations) regarding the 2026 USO T-shirt design! And I explained that I made a one-time donation for said T-shirt on the USO.org website!
Well, just before midnight on June 14th, 2026, after checking my regular mail, I received the T-shirt—which I must say looks even better than the promotional image! And contained within the packaging for the T-shirt, there was an enclosed letter from the USO, dated May 30th, 2026, which stated the following:
★★★ USO ★★★
FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SERVE.™
USO ★ [Street Address and Suite No. redacted] ★ [City, State and ZIP Code redacted]
May 30, 2026
Dear Paul Whiting:
Thank you again for your support of the USO. Enclosed is your 16th Anniversary USO T-shirt, a special collector's edition honoring America's 250th birthday. We hope that each time you wear it, you will be reminded of the brave service members you help support and the sacrifices they make to serve our country.
Thanks to you, and other caring Americans, the USO is able to reach our men and women in uniform wherever they are stationed. You also help the wounded heroes traveling the difficult road from the battlefield to recovery.
Simply put, your gifts help our service members by:
• Paying for Wi-Fi, email access and phone calls home that allow them to stay in touch with their families and loved ones from anywhere in the world — for free.
• Delivering care packages filled with snacks, games and personal hygiene items that our military service members on patrol in remote locations simply wouldn't have otherwise.
• Opening new USO locations across the world and maintaining operations around the clock to give our brave service members serving the comfort of home.
You help the USO make life better for our Armed Forces and their families. However, as the USO faces the daunting task of making life better for all these troops, we need to ask if you can do even more. And if you can find it in your heart to send an additional donation today, you will send a message of hope and gratitude to all those we serve. Thank you again for your support of the USO and the U.S. military.
With heartfelt thanks and best wishes,
Your USO Team
P.S. In the event you are able to make an additional gift now on behalf of our American heroes, please use the attached donation form which has been personalized with your name, address and USO donor number. You may also visit uso.org/usosupporter.
https://give.uso.org/page/2604_tshirt_2a
P.P.S If you requested more than one T-shirt, your items may arrive in separate packages. Be sure to keep an eye out for additional shipments. If you do not receive all items within 6-8 weeks after your donation was made, please reach out to us at [email redacted] so we can assist you.
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★★★ USO ★★★
FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SERVE.™
USO DONATION FORM
(Please detach and return this form with your tax-deductible contribution in the envelope provided.)
The people of our U.S. military, and their families, need to know that America still stands behind them. Please accept this additional contribution on their behalf:
[ ] $35
[ ] $50
[ ] $100
[✓] Other $7.00
Paul Whiting
[Street Address and Apt. No. redacted]
[City, State and ZIP Code redacted]
Make check payable to The USO. To donate using your credit card or to make your donation monthly, please use the other side of this form. Your gift is tax deductible as allowed by law. Thank you for your generosity.
And, after I read the letter above, I entered the hyperlink to the referenced webpage ...
... And so, I made a one-time donation on the USO.org website in order to support the USO's following statement: "Thanks to you, and other caring Americans, the USO is able to reach our men and women in uniform wherever they are stationed. You also help the wounded heroes traveling the difficult road from the battlefield to recovery. ... You help the USO make life better for our Armed Forces and their families. However, as the USO faces the daunting task of making life better for all these troops, we need to ask if you can do even more. And if you can find it in your heart to send an additional donation today, you will send a message of hope and gratitude to all those we serve."
Then, after I made said donation, I received an email from the USO today, June 15th, 2026, with the subject line, "Thank You for Your Donation to the USO" …
… In addition to that, I already make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel! You see, I usually make one-time donations to the USO—as often as I can manage when they request a donation via regular mail, email or text message. (I also donate for specific situations, such as receiving a USO T-shirt!) Therefore, I am planning to continue making one-time donations to the USO in the future, as often as I can manage, in addition to making the aforementioned recurring monthly donation. ...
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Above, please find relevant quotes from a series of 'updates' that highlight the most important changes to my current activism, which are titled as follows:
▪ [A Quote From My] March 7th, 2017 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] November 5th, 2018 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] September 16th, 2021 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] November 10th, 2021 Update, Written On November 11th, 2021
▪ [A Quote From My] March 13th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] March 16th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] March 17th, 2022 Update, Which Also Discusses March 16th, 2022
▪ [A Quote From My] April 3rd, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] April 12th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2022 Update—Continued Further, Written On June 17th, 2022
▪ [A Quote From My] June 17th, 2022 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022
▪ [A Quote From My] July 7th, 2022 Update, Written On July 11th, 2022 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On July 27th, 2022)
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2023 Update
▪ [A Quote From My] April 17th, 2023 Update—Continued
▪ [A Quote From My] November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1
▪ [A Series of Excerpts From My] April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 and
April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On April 17th, 2026) [My Writing About How I Restarted Donating To The USO (United Service Organizations) As Of April 2026], as well as
April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 2, Written On April 19th, 2026), in addition to
April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 3, Written On May 17th, 2026) [My Writing About How I Restarted Donating To The USO (United Service Organizations) As Of April 2026, Part 2], and finally,
April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 4, Written On June 15th, 2026, Which Also Discusses June 14th, 2026)
This prose (with some poetry) was only published on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog.
-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., Poet, Artist and Philosopher)
"I am the poet who thinks that he knows it!"
THIS POST IS A CONTINUATION OF THE BLOG POST TITLED, "I AM NO LONGER BEING AN ACTIVIST IN THE SAME WAY THAT I WAS, PART 7" (WHICH CAN BE SEEN IN THE PREVIOUS POST NO. 155, WITH A HYPERLINK PROVIDED BELOW). AND IT HAS ALL OF THE UPDATES WRITTEN FROM FOR THE YEAR 2025:
https://poetartistandphilosopher.blogspot.com/2016/11/i-am-no-longer-being-activist-part-7.html
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My Philosophical Notes:
The reason that I wrote this prose can be summed up with the following statement: "Due to being stressed out—and until further notice—I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in the same way that I was before, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes the same way that I was in the past. (The reader should know that I am HIV-positive with full-blown AIDS.) And so, I am consciously choosing to not engage in any 'activism,' however, I am still planning to exercise my 'civic duty' by voting in upcoming elections."
Now, to clarify something: I cannot edit my blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog—for an unknown reason—as of May 11th, 2026. So, any editing that I have tried to do on this blog post, after May 11th, for some reason won't save...
…Although, on June 20th, 2026, I thought to relocate all of the 2026 updates from my original blog post, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," to my newer "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was, Part 2." You see, I had created this 'Part 2' blog post as a backup post, because there was a period of time when the original blog post kept being unpublished by Blogger for being too 'spammy'—I am guessing because of all the hyperlinks that I was providing for news articles that I was referring to my readers!
Anyway, that relocation of the 2026 updates seemed to have worked in getting the original blog post to be "editable" again, at least temporarily...
...But, then, later on that same day, I tried to add some additional text to the post and it would not save again! However, at least this time, instead of just saying that the "Update failed," it specifically stated, "The body is too large." Thus, I am assuming the 'unknown reason' that I stopped being able to edit the original post on May 11th was because I had—apparently—reached some sort of blog post size threshold!
So now, I am thinking of editing out most of the news updates, which I wrote on that original post, because those updates weren't nearly as pertinent to my "Online Activism" as was responding to the text message, email, and regular mail communications that I was receiving from various political, progressive and charitable organizations.
This prose was only published on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog.
This prose was written in Portland, Oregon.
-Paulee
THIS POST IS A CONTINUATION OF THE BLOG POST TITLED, "I AM NO LONGER BEING AN ACTIVIST IN THE SAME WAY THAT I WAS, PART 7" (WHICH CAN BE SEEN IN THE PREVIOUS POST NO. 155, WITH A HYPERLINK PROVIDED BELOW). AND IT HAS ALL OF THE UPDATES WRITTEN FOR THE YEAR 2025:
https://poetartistandphilosopher.blogspot.com/2016/11/i-am-no-longer-being-activist-part-7.html
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YEAR 2025 UPDATES:
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May 20th, 2025 Update: I voted today, May 20th, 2025, in Portland Oregon's Multnomah County Special District Election! –Paul Whiting (May 20th, 2025)
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May 26th, 2025 Update No. 1: For Memorial Day 2025, I decided to create playlists on YouTube Music in order to tell everyone in the United States of America about my new saying, "Have A Memorable Memorial Day" for such a solemn holiday as Memorial Day...
...And so, in honor of all those who died while serving in the United States Military, I created the following two playlists on YouTube Music in order to say, "Have A Memorable Memorial Day," everyone:
"'Have A Memorable Memorial Day, Part 1' by Various Artists: Somber Patriotic Music" (on YouTube):
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5ASnKWDRID3rbd3KbNDH56ZhVR6yGDFo&si=w-RrGtk0z8qyChOO
"'Have A Memorable Memorial Day, Part 2' by Various Artists: Somber Patriotic Music" (on YouTube):
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5ASnKWDRID0UKIenmgul5kC_IaZ53dPN&si=IJDrhoKCL2sTAu35
Here is the description from both of those playlists:
For Memorial Day, I decided to create this playlist in order to tell everyone in the United States of America about my new saying, "Have A Memorable Memorial Day" for such a solemn holiday as Memorial Day.
Thus, here is "My Writing About A New Saying 'Have A Memorable Memorial Day' For Such A Solemn Holiday As Memorial Day":
On Memorial Day, rather than saying "Happy Memorial Day," I choose instead to say, "Have A Memorable Memorial Day," or I simply say, "Memorable Memorial Day." For, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance—just like a memorial service—and is truly about honoring the men and women who died while serving in the United States Military. –Paul Whiting (written May 27th, 2013, revised May 30th, 2022, revised May 31st, 2022, revised May 29th, 2023 and revised May 27th, 2024)
Plus, here is a poem that I wrote on May 30th, 2021, for Memorial Day on May 31st, 2021, which is titled, 'A Memorable Memorial Day,' and that is also titled, 'A Solemn Patriotic Poem,' as can be seen below:
A Memorable Memorial Day (A Patriotic Poem)
He taps into his memorabilia;
She taps into her photo albums;
They tap into their memories;
A day that taps into the
sacrifices that were made by
souls who have given their lives...
...I tap into my courage;
I tap into my patriotism;
I tap into my humility;
And I tap into a somber,
a solemnly respectful, and
"A Memorable Memorial Day."
–Paul Whiting (written May 30th, 2021 for Memorial Day on May 31st, 2021, revised June 12th, 2022, revised June 13th, 2022 and revised May 14th, 2023)
Besides that, for Memorial Day 2025—as usual—I participated in the IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) national moment of silence, which is asking “Americans to #GoSilent and participate in a moment of silence at 3PM local time in honor of the men and women in uniform that paid the ultimate price in defense of our nation.” That is why I decided to #GoSilent with [IAVA] at 3:00 PM local time in order to help draw “specific attention to those U.S. service members who were killed while deployed under the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) that was passed in response to the 9/11 attacks, but was used to justify sending them to places other than Afghanistan. Troops killed in places like Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and Niger, in addition to troops killed in Iraq well after America was told that the war there was over.”
https://iava.org/media/iava-urges-fellow-americans-to-gosilent-on-memorial-day-2
–Paul Whiting (May 26th, 2025 and revised November 11th, 2025)
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August 2nd, 2025 Update, Written On August 5th, 2025 [My Writing About Donating For My Use Of Wikipedia If They Are Requesting Donations When I Am On Their Website]:
This update is a follow-up to my 'August 13th, 2023 Update—Continued, Written On August 14th, 2023,' where I explained, in part, the following:
August 13th, 2023 Update—Continued, Written On August 14th, 2023 [My Writing About Donating Monthly For My Use Of Wikipedia]: I made a monthly recurring donation to Wikipedia yesterday, August 13th, 2023, since I went onto their website and they were requesting donations. You see, as a blogger and frequent reader of Wikipedia, I try donate to them whenever they request a donation!
Now, I usually give a one-time donation whenever they request a donation on their website; however, after I entered the amount that I was planning to donate, there was a prompt for making a monthly recurring donation! So, I decided to donate monthly—rather than simply donating once—for the first time in all of the years that I have been donating to Wikipedia. You see, I read Wikipedia ALL THE TIME, so that is why I have always endeavored to donate to them whenever they have requested a donation. ...
Plus, this update is also written as a reference to my 'November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1,' where I explained, in part, the following:
November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1 [My Writing About No Longer Being An 'Online Activist' In Any Way, Shape Or Form]: Due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election—and until further notice—I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in any way, shape or form, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, and no longer sending letters to my Representative and Senators in Congress, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes. Full stop! I am also unsubscribing from any of the emails that I used to receive from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations. In fact, I am even cancelling all of my monthly political donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating organizations, as well as to the USO (United Service Organizations), in addition to cancelling all of my monthly news organization subscriptions, or news organization donations, because I am absolutely terrified of this second Trump administration. And I fully expect that democracy in America as we know it will be over! So, I am choosing to not engage in any 'activism' whatsoever—plus, I am not even sure that I will be exercising my 'civic duty' by voting in any upcoming elections because, as a (formerly) donating and a (potentially former) voting Democrat, I totally fear the retribution of President Donald J. Trump. Full stop! ...
Although, I go on to clarify in that particular update that I am still voting in elections (even 'special elections'), it's just that I am no longer engaging in any 'Online Activism,' during Trump's Presidency.
Thus, as of November 12th, 2024, my monthly donation to Wikimedia was officially canceled, as was requested by me on November 6th, 2024, for the above-mentioned reason.
Now, fast forward to three days ago, August 2nd, 2025, I went to look up something on the Wikipedia website and they were requesting donations! And since I had canceled my monthly donation, I decided to revert back to giving them one-time donations whenever they request a donation on their website.
And to clarify one more thing: I try to write these types of updates on the same day that I took whatever action which inspired the writing of said update; however, I did not get around to writing this particular update until three days after I made this donation to Wikimedia because I had actually forgotten that I wrote the above-mentioned 'August 13th, 2023 Update—Continued, Written On August 14th, 2023.'
So, it was only when I got around to thinking—after made this donation—that I really needed to update the phraseology that I include whenever I reference any text from Wikipedia (and sometimes Wiktionary too), wherein I usually promote the fact that I support Wikimedia with fundraising donations, as can be seen below:
"...from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia—which is funded primarily through donations from millions of individuals around the world, including this blogger (I make a totally affordable monthly donation)..."
Therefore, shorty after I made this most recent donation, I realized that I needed to change this specific phrase, "I make a totally affordable monthly donation" to something that reflects how I am currently donating to Wikipedia, as can be seen below:
"...from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia—which is funded primarily through donations from millions of individuals around the world, including this blogger (I make a totally affordable one-time donation if they are requesting donations when I am on their website)..."
And so, I finally got around to thinking about updating that specific phraseology on all of my applicable blog posts which reference any Wikipedia text, or Wiktionary text, that I quote. (I hope that makes sense!) –Paul Whiting (written August 5th, 2025 and revised August 8th, 2025)
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November 4th, 2025 Update, Written On November 5th, 2025: I voted yesterday, November 4th, 2025, in Portland Oregon's Multnomah County Special Parks Election! –Paul Whiting (November 5th, 2025)
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November 11th, 2025 Update No. 1: For Veterans Day 2025, I decided to create playlists on YouTube Music in order to remind everyone in the United States of America that November 11th is Veterans Day...
...And so, in honor of all those who served in the United States Military, I created the following three playlists on YouTube Music in order to say, "THANK YOU" to all of the military veterans:
"'Veterans Day Celebration Music, Part 1' by Various Artists of Marching Band Style Music" (on YouTube):
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5ASnKWDRID1lezaVbcXBMMNuyMQD1Qzq&si=F2PzLYmnd73jVhp6
"'Veterans Day Celebration Music, Part 2' by Various Artists of Instrumental Piano Music" (on YouTube):
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5ASnKWDRID3F_1Guy0ffP3id38l-Xh3J&si=DzzHF8anTKILjXfQ
"'Veterans Day Celebration Music, Part 3' by Various Artists of Marching Band Style Music, Plus Popular, Rock and Country Music" (on YouTube):
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5ASnKWDRID0r4a2BD4CZxL1zivMoFCZs&si=yMSgjB0j-aldIt6V
Here is the description from all three of those playlists:
Veterans Day is November 11th! So, I decided to remind everyone in the United States of America that November 11th is Veterans Day, as explained from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia—which is funded primarily through donations from millions of individuals around the world, including this music lover (I make a totally affordable one-time donation if they are requesting donations when I am on their website):
"Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with holidays in several countries, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which also occur on the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954."
Thus, in celebration of all that United States Military Veterans have done for us, I created this playlist in order to say, "THANK YOU" to all of the military veterans!
–Paul Whiting (November 11th, 2025)
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November 15th, 2025 Update No. 1 [My Writing About News Related To World Vegan Month] (Originally From My Blog Post Titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," Which Is On My "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" Blog): November is World Vegan Month!
And I was doing my usual reading of Time Magazine articles from one of their emails that I received today, November 15th, 2023, when I noticed a Time.com article titled, "Going Vegan Could Nearly Halve Your Diet’s Carbon Footprint." An introduction to the article can be found below:
"Going Vegan Could Nearly Halve Your Diet’s Carbon Footprint"
By Simmone Shah | November 12, 2025
Reducing your carbon footprint could start with your dinner. A new report, published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, suggests that going vegan could almost halve your diet's carbon footprint. And it would still be highly nutritious.
The researchers compared an omnivorous Mediterranean diet—which typically emphasizes plant-based eating along with lean proteins—to a pescatarian, ovo-lacto vegetarian, and vegan diet. They composed four, week-long menus that included breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, and dinner.
The pescatarian meal plan substituted meat and its derivatives with plant based foods like tofu and textured soy protein, or animal-based foods allowed in the diet, like fish, eggs, and cheese, while the vegetarian allowed for eggs and dairy but no meat. The vegan menu replaced all animal-based foods, including meat, fish, eggs, and dairy, with plant-based alternatives like tofu and tempeh and plant-based beverages, soy yogurt, seeds, and legumes or legume flours.
Greenhouse gas emissions dropped significantly with each dietary change. Total greenhouse gas emissions—accounting for how the food was grown or raised—dropped from 3.8kg (8.37 lbs) per day for the omnivorous diet, to 3.2kg (7.05 lbs) per day for the pescetarian diet, 2.6kg (5.73 lbs) per day for the ovo-lacto-vegetarian diet, to 2.1kg (4.6 lbs) per day for the vegan diet—a 46% decrease. What’s more, the diet changes contributed to a decrease in water use—the vegan diet used 33% less land and 7% less water during the production process.
Research has long shown that swapping animal products for a plant based diet can significantly reduce emissions. The meat and dairy industry account for between 12-19% of all global emissions—meat production alone makes up nearly 60% of the food sector's climate emissions. But the new study shows that the dietary switch doesn’t have to come at the cost of essential nutrients. ...
Please see the hyperlink below for the article:
https://time.com/7333106/nutritious-vegan-diet-climate-impact
By the way, I feel like I need to clarify that I am still keeping up with the news virtually on a daily basis, even though I explained on November 6th, 2024, that "I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in any way, shape or form!"
Please see the quote below from my 'November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1 [My Writing About No Longer Being An 'Online Activist' In Any Way, Shape Or Form]' that is located on my blog post "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog:
"Due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election—and until further notice—I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in any way, shape or form, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, and no longer sending letters to my Representative and Senators in Congress, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes. Full stop! I am also unsubscribing from any of the emails that I used to receive from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations. In fact, I am even cancelling all of my monthly political donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating organizations, as well as to the USO (United Service Organizations), in addition to cancelling all of my monthly news organization subscriptions, or news organization donations, because I am absolutely terrified of this second Trump administration. ..."
Therefore, I read various email newsletters that I receive from multiple news organizations virtually on a daily basis. And I decided to highlight this article from Time Magazine for you, my readers, to consider reading too!
–Paul Whiting (written November 15th, 2025, revised November 17th, 2025, revised November 19th, 2025, revised December 16th, 2025, revised February 11th, 2026, revised April 6th, 2026, revised May 13th, 2026, revised May 16th, 2026, revised May 19th, 2026, revised May 21st, 2026, revised May 22nd, 2026, revised May 24th, 2026, revised June 2nd, 2026, revised June 10th, 2026, revised June 11th, 2026, revised June 12th, 2026, revised June 13th, 2026, revised June 20th, 2026, revised June 23rd, 2026, revised June 28th, 2026, revised July 8th, 2026, revised July 10th, 2026, revised July 14th, 2026, revised July 20th, 2026, revised July 31st, 2026, revised August 17th, 2026, revised August 19th, 2026, revised October 4th, 2026 and revised October 9th, 2026)
[I feel like I need to clarify why there are so many 'revised dates' on this 'update,' just like there are often times so many 'revised dates' on other 'updates' similar to this one! You see, I really try to keep my writing consistent as possible across all of my blogs. Therefore, as I am writing, I try to use the same phraseology wherever possible with regard to similar types of my writing so that, when I am editing my writing, I can change all of the similar writing at the same time and in the same way! Thus, a lot of the revisions indicated above, after my name (–Paul Whiting), and shown right after the original 'written date,' are often times due to these aforementioned consistent-writing revisions. More importantly, for this specific 'November 15th, 2025 Update No. 1'—on some of my blogs—there are additional postscripts at the end of the 'update' that elaborate on how I am keeping up with current news, which I feel are only applicable to those blog posts! And, because I am continuously updating information about newsletters that I am currently receiving, as well as news topics that I am currently searching for on Google, those particular edits are generating an extraordinary amount of revised dates! (I hope that makes sense.)]
P.S.: One more thing: This 'update' that I am writing today is technically a special edition from my occasional reading of the above-mentioned newsletter articles that I received via email for November 15th, 2025.
Please let me explain: I stopped writing any current news 'updates,' as of June 28th, 2024! And my reason for doing this was because the news 'updates' that I used to post were taking an extraordinary amount of time to write!
Please see the quote below from my June 28th, 2024 Update No. 1 [June 26th, 2024 Update No. 1, Which Also Discusses June 22nd, 2024 And June 24th, 2024, As Well As June 16th, 2024 Through June 20th, 2024 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On June 28th, 2024)] that is located on my blog post "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog:
"I have a big announcement to make: As of today, June 28th, 2024, I am no longer writing current news 'updates!' And my reason for doing this is due to that fact that these news 'updates' take an extraordinary amount of time to write—so much so that I am not getting any of my other blogging done, which includes all of the edits that still I have to complete on my various blog posts for my poetry and prose. ..."
However, since there was this news article that I felt directly related to World Vegan Month, I decided to write this special edition 'update' from my occasional reading of news articles from email newsletters that I receive from multiple news organizations, including the following (listed in alphabetical order):
AlterNet (progressive news magazine)
AP News (Associated Press News)
CNBC (Consumer News and Business Channel)
HuffPost (progressive news website)
Military.com (United States military news)
Military Times (United States military news)
Mother Jones (nonprofit progressive magazine)
NPR (National Public Radio)
MS NOW (My Source: News|Opinion|World)
OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
PBS News (Public Broadcasting Service News)
Politico (political digital news)
Portland Mercury (Portland, Oregon news)
ProPublica (nonprofit investigative news)
Reveal News (investigative radio show)
Slate (online news magazine)
The Atlantic (monthly news magazine)
The Intercept (nonprofit news organization)
The New York Times (the "Newspaper of Record")
The Washington Sun (formerly NOTUS)
Time (bi-weekly news magazine)
USA Today (daily newspaper)
U.S. News & World Report (digital media)
Willamette Week (Portland, Oregon news)
That is why I signed up to receive email newsletters from the above-mentioned news organizations in order for me to stay informed about what's happening in the world. And I was formerly writing separate 'updates' for each of the news articles that I read from these newsletters; however, after I restarted writing these news 'updates' from my news searches on Google, I also decided to write the 'updates' from the above-mentioned news organizations as a combined 'update.'
Thus, in addition to reading said email newsletters, I normally check the news through Google searches as often as I can manage it, which is approximately twice per week—on Mondays and Thursdays, or on Tuesdays and Fridays, or on Wednesdays and Saturdays—as I can manage to complete these searches, based upon whatever else I may be doing during a given week. (I do, however, check local news every day.) Then, as explained above, I read the news articles that I feel are the most important for me to read.
Alternatively, I will search for Google AI summarizations of said news articles, since I only have a cellular data plan through my cell phone company (so, I don't have access to WiFi via smartphone, unless I go somewhere that offers WiFi), because I am concerned that the many video advertisements on some news websites would take up too much cellular data while I am reading the articles!
Therefore, I usually check what's happening in the world via various Google searches that I do under the following topics, which—by the way—have recently been revised since the last time I wrote any current news 'updates' that, as I mentioned above, was prior to June 28th, 2024, as noted below:
1. Portland Oregon News
2. [NEW] Oregon News
3. [NEW] Multnomah County News
4. [NEW] Portland Metro News
5. American News
6. United States News
7. USA News
8. Political News
9. House of Representatives News
10. Senate News
11. Democrats News
12. Republicans News
13. [NEW] President Donald Trump News
14. [NEW] Donald Trump News
15. [NEW] President Donald J Trump News
16. [NEW] Donald J Trump News
17. [NEW] Jeffrey Epstein News
18. [NEW] Epstein News
19. [NEW] Epstein Files News
20. [NEW] Epstein Client List News
21. [NEW] One Big Beautiful Bill News
22. [NEW] One Big Beautiful Bill Act News
23. [NEW] Big Beautiful Bill News
24. [NEW] OBBB News
25. [NEW] OBBBA News
26. [NEW] Medicaid News
27. [NEW] Medicaid Cuts News
28. [NEW] Medicare News
29. [NEW] Medicare Cuts News
30. [NEW] SNAP News
31. [NEW] SNAP Cuts News
32. [NEW] Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program News
33. [NEW] Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Cuts News
34. [NEW] Elon Musk News
35. [NEW] DOGE News
36. [NEW] Department Of Government Efficiency News
37. [NEW] Federal Cuts News
38. [NEW] Funding Cuts News
39. [NEW] Federal Worker Firings News
40. [NEW] Federal Workers News
41. [NEW] Workers News
42. Workers On Strike News
43. [NEW] Starbucks Workers On Strike News
44. [NEW] Starbucks Strike News
45. [NEW] AI Worker News
46. [NEW] Artificial Intelligence Worker News
47. [NEW] AI Employment News
48. [NEW] Artificial Intelligence Employment News
49. [NEW] AI Lay Off News
50. [NEW] Artificial Intelligence Lay Off News
51. [NEW] AI News
52. [NEW] Artificial Intelligence News
53. [NEW] AI Data Center News
54. [NEW] Artificial Intelligence Data Center News
55. [NEW] Data Center News
56. [NEW] Data Center Controversy News
57. [NEW] Federal Jobs Report News
58. [NEW] Federal Court News
59. [NEW] Federal Judges News
60. [NEW] Judges News
61. [NEW] Supreme Court News
62. [NEW] SCOTUS News
63. [NEW] Shadow Docket News
64. [NEW] Trump Court News
65. [NEW] Shadow Hearing News
66. [NEW] Congressional Hearing News
67. [NEW] Redistricting News
68. [NEW] Midterm Elections News
69. [NEW] Presidential Election News
70. [NEW] Special Election News
71. [NEW] Election News
72. [NEW] Signalgate News
73. [NEW] Pete Hegseth News
74. [NEW] Department of Defense News
75. [NEW] Department of War News
76. [NEW] Kilmar Abrego Garcia News
77. [NEW] Immigration News
78. [NEW] Deportation News
79. [NEW] Inflation News
80. [NEW] Tariffs News
81. [NEW] Trade War News
82. [NEW] China News
83. [NEW] Asian News
84. [NEW] Ukraine News
85. [NEW] Greenland News
86. [NEW] NATO News
87. [NEW] Europe News
88. [NEW] Gaza News
89. [NEW] West Bank News
90. [NEW] Iran News
91. [NEW] Middle East News
92. [NEW] Venezuela News
93. [NEW] Cuba News
94. [NEW] Mexico News
95. [NEW] South America News
96. [NEW] Africa News
97. World News
98. Global Warming News
99. [NEW] Climate Change News
100. [NEW] Climate Crisis News
101. [NEW] Measles News
102. [NEW] Outbreaks News
103. [NEW] Vaccines News
104. [NEW] Health News
And, to clarify another thing: I change the above-mentioned Google searches as major topics in the news change—which I feel that I need to keep up with as their very own searches—hence the reason that there are so many "NEW" topics since the last time I wrote any current news 'updates!'
In addition to that, I currently create YouTube Playlists, for watching later on, based upon news topics that I also feel need to be better understood through videos, which I watch as often as I possibly can manage.
P.P.S.: Today is August 17th, 2026, and I decided to put my money where my Google AI summarizations of the above-mentioned news articles are!
You see, I received an email from The Google Workspace Team on July 27th, 2026, with the subject line, "You now have exclusive access to Al features," which stated the following:
Google Workspace
You've been selected to try new Al features.
For a limited time, your account is eligible to try Al features typically reserved for paid accounts*.
Try them today to help save time and boost creativity.
Nano Banana Pro in Slides
Create stunning slides that can include images and infographics. You can also try "Beautify this slide" to generate thoughtfully designed visualizations based on the content of an existing slide.
Try Al in Slides
Gemini in Sheets
Get to insights faster. Ask Gemini in Sheets to help you summarize data, create tables and formulas, and automate data entry.
Try Al in Sheets
Ask Gemini in Drive
Get synthesized information on a topic, with relevant information pulled from multiple files without the need to find and read them.
Try Al in Drive
*Features available for a limited time. Usage limits apply. For the most comprehensive AI experience, consider purchasing an AI subscription.
And I saved this email for future reference because, as noted above, "I will search for Google AI summarizations of said news articles, since I only have a cellular data plan through my cell phone company (so, I don't have access to WiFi via smartphone, unless I go somewhere that offers WiFi), because I am concerned that the many video advertisements on some news websites would take up too much cellular data while I am reading the articles!"
Besides that, as of the writing of this post postscript, I am behind on the reading of email newsletters from the period of June 29th to July 31st, 2026 (for a total of 1,628 emails!) and, more recently, from the period of August 7th to August 17th, 2026 (for a total of 498 emails!), because it takes about 6 to 7 hours to read each day's worth of email newsletters!
So, each day's worth email newsletters is about a day's worth of my reading (which includes reading all of the newsletters themselves, plus reading Google AI summaries that I may look up, and reading articles that I may decide to read, as well as watching relevant videos on websites, including YouTube), which is in addition to the reading that I try to do in order to keep up with local news, which itself takes about 1 to 2 hours each day. And it also takes about 5 to 6 hours to read the various Google searches that I do under the above-mentioned topics, besides the local news.
Now, all of this keeping-up-with-the-news that I am doing on virtually a daily basis is sometimes interrupted with blogging that I might do with regard writing and/or editing blog post updates (like this one!), as well as the editing of blog posts, in addition to simply living life. That is why I am so far behind on reading the email newsletters!
Thus, part of my motivation to pay for Google AI is to "test drive" the feature called "Summarize this email," so that I can (hopefully) get caught up with all of these aforementioned newsletters.
Now to clarify something else: I NEVER USE AI for any of my writing! NONE. NADA. NEIN. NICHT. NO. ZIP. ZERO. ZILCH.
And the reason that I NEVER USE AI for any of my writing is that I took creative writing classes in high school—and I was on my high school literally magazine writing staff. Moreover, I am a proud self-designated "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" who is the crafter of my own words. Period.
That is why I feel like I have to clarify in writing that my blogs are all free from any AI writing, or any AI editing, because I have been publishing these blogs since March of 2009, which is years before the invention of AI. And I hope that my very-human writing style comes through on my blogs—flaws and all!
P.P.P.S.: Today is October 4th, 2026, and about one month ago, on September 5th, 2026, I decided to pause reading the above-mentioned email newsletters!
And I did this because I realized that trying to keep up with the news through all of the newsletters, which I receive on a daily basis, was a little bit too much for me to do!
Now, the reason that I realized this is because I was dutifully reading my usual "email news alerts, newsletters and actions" from two days before, on September 3rd, 2026, which I started doing really early in the morning (around 2:00 AM) and finished by late morning (around 10:45 AM). So, it took me almost 9 hours just to read that day's emails (67 of them). After that, I read my local "city, state, county and regional news," through Google searches, which only took about 20 minutes.
Then, because I had gotten up so early, I took a really, really long nap starting just before noon (around 11:30 AM) and ending later in the evening (around 6:35 PM), which segued into the end of my "working day," so to speak, on my smartphone (around 7:00 PM). And you, my readers, can see all of this outlined below on the Google Calendar entries that I use to track what time I start and end certain tasks that are related to Internet usage because I have a semi-limited amount of cellular data available per month on my cell phone data plan, which is actually 20 GBs per month, per smartphone.
You see, I use Google Calendar entries—specifically the calendar entry description—in order to document how much, and how often, I used cellular data for my cell phone data plan on both of my smartphones.
(By the way, the reason I have two smartphones is due to the fact that my mobile phone carrier is CREDO Mobile and they don't have brick-and-mortar stores. Thus, you have to call them, or contact them via the Internet, in order to receive customer service on any of their products. Therefore, if I have an issue with one of my phones, I can contact them by using the other phone! Besides that, the other reason that I have two smartphones is because my cellular data plan is semi-limited in that it is "unlimited" up to 20 GBs per month for each phone—which is about 0.65 GBs each day for a 30-day month—but, after 20 GBs of use per month, the data slows. So, with the two phones, I actually have a total of 40 GBs per month across both phones, thereby essentially doubling the cellular data that I have to available use each day to 1.30 GBs.)
Without further ado then, here is the calendar entry description for September 5th, 2026, which shows that day's worth of cellular data usage for one of my phones, including the "start of day" and the "end of day," along with what each portion of data usage was for and the time each one started and finished:
09/05/2026
Start of the day.
8.43 GB (most recent data usage)
- 8.39 GB (minus previous data usage)
= 0.04 GB (equals current data usage)
+ 0.00 GB (plus total previous data usage)
= 0.04 GB (equals total current data usage)
Updated on 09/05/2026 around 1:05 AM
Started reading Thursday, September 3rd email news alerts, newsletters and actions (1 of 67 with 66 left), which included watching websites videos, including YouTube.
8.43 GB (most recent data usage)
- 8.43 GB (minus previous data usage)
= 0.00 GB (equals current data usage)
Updated on 09/05/2026 around 2:00 AM
Finished reading Thursday, September 3rd email news alerts, newsletters and actions (67 of 67).
9.09 GB (most recent data usage)
- 8.43 GB (minus previous data usage)
= 0.66 GB (equals current data usage)
+ 0.04 GB (plus total previous data usage)
= 0.70 GB (equals total current data usage)
Updated on 09/05/2026 around 10:45 AM
Started reading city, state, county and regional news, which included checking my other email.
9.09 GB (most recent data usage)
- 9.09 GB (minus previous data usage)
= 0.00 GB (equals current data usage)
Updated on 09/05/2026 around 11:00 AM
Finished reading city, state, county and regional news.
9.22 GB (most recent data usage)
- 9.09 GB (minus previous data usage)
= 0.13 GB (equals current data usage)
+ 0.70 GB (plus total previous data usage)
= 0.83 GB (equals total current data usage)
Updated on 09/05/2026 around 11:20 AM
Went back to bed.
9.22 GB (most recent data usage)
- 9.22 GB (minus previous data usage)
= 0.00 GB (equals current data usage)
Updated on 09/05/2026 around 11:30 AM
Got back up, which included checking today's emails.
9.24 GB (most recent data usage)
- 9.22 GB (minus previous data usage)
= 0.02 GB (equals current data usage)
+ 0.83 GB (plus total previous data usage)
= 0.85 GB (equals total current data usage)
Updated on 09/05/2026 around 6:35 PM
End of the day.
9.24 GB (most recent data usage)
- 9.24 GB (minus previous data usage)
= 0.00 GB (equals current data usage)
Updated on 09/05/2026 around 7:00 PM
After the end of my "work day," I decided to wash my hair, which takes me a while because I have really long hair, as can be seen in my profile pic (https://www.blogger.com/profile/16003448099940521425), so I have to wash it multiple times in order to get it clean. Now, I am no spring chicken, since I am pushing 60 years old, and to have my hands above my head while washing my hair can be kind of tiring, especially since it takes multiple washings to get that much hair clean!
And I was so exhausted from doing all of that smartphone work, that I started to feel my like I was going to pass out in the shower! By the way, my parents always taught my siblings and I that if you feel like you are going to pass out, get down on the floor/ground, so that if you do end up passing out, you don't fall and hurt yourself. So, I got out of the shower and got down in the floor of the bathroom, just in case I was going to lose consciousness!
Thankfully, that didn't happen, but I was so stressed out about having reached the point of exhaustion to where I felt like I was going to pass out! (The reader should know that I am HIV-positive with full-blown AIDS, so I have immune system issues that may have contributed to the fact that I felt like I was going to lose consciousness.)
Anywho, I realized that I was pushing myself way too hard to get all of these emails read on a daily basis, besides the reading of the news that I do through Google searches, in addition to the all of blogging that I do (like I am doing right now), plus my regular day-to-day living!
Therefore, I decided to pause reading the email newsletters and to focus on keeping up with the news via Google searches, which is about twice per week, or approximately every three to four days, in order to allow myself time to get other things done. (I do, however, check local news every day.)
And I have been testing this "new system" for the last month, which has been working quite well! However, I have not read any "email news alerts, newsletters and actions" since September 4th, 2026. Thus, I have a total of 1,621 emails still to read, as of yesterday, October 3rd, 2026, for an average of about 54 emails per day!
But I really don't have time to read all of these emails, so I am having to decide which ones I am going to start unsubscribing from in order to greatly reduce the number of news-related emails that I get each day, which is a very difficult decision to make because I value each one of these emails that I receive for the individual stories, and the coverage perspectives, which they provide me about the current news!
Anyway, I wanted explain what was happening with regard to this change that I have made about how I am keeping up with the news. And, eventually, I will be editing the list of newsletters that I receive from the above-mentioned news organizations, which can be found in the very first "P.S." of this blog post update!
P.P.P.P.S.: Today is October 9th, 2026, and very early this morning, I decided expand my daily news searches from beyond just city, state, county and regional news to include national and political news!
You see, I make sure that I read my local news every day. And I have been grouping all of the other news that I read—which includes national, political and international news, as well as specific news topics I am interested in keeping up with on a regular basis—to be read every three to four days, or about twice per week.
Now, I realized early this morning that is not quite frequent enough to read all of the news coverage for topics such as national and political news.
And many of the specific news topics that I read can be essentially kept up with about every three or four days, or about twice per week. Thus, before this, I was grouping the national and political news with the searches that I do for the specific news topics and completing all of those searches at the same time.
And in making this change, I actually changed the order in which I have these Google news searches opened as separate webpages. Whereas before, the webpages started out with national and political news, then followed with news by specific topics, including some international news, and ended with the city, state, county and regional news. This changed order simply starts with the the city, state, county and regional news, rather than ending with it.
Plus, as I mentioned in the P.P.P.S. from October 4th, 2026, "I have not read any 'email news alerts, newsletters and actions' since September 4th, 2026," so I began "to decide which ones I am going to start unsubscribing from in order to greatly reduce the number of news-related emails that I get each day." And even though this first attempt—at greatly reducing the number of newsletters—only reduced them by a whopping eight news organizations, it's a start. And, as also mentioned in the P.P.P.S. above, I have edited "the list of newsletters that I receive from the above-mentioned news organizations, which can be found in the very first 'P.S' of this blog post update!"
In the meantime, I am just checking the subject lines of the email newsletters that I receive, because that's all I am able to read until I can figure out which are the most essential newsletters to receive that I will actually have the time to read in full. (Although, I will sometimes search for Google AI summarizations of these newsletter subject lines, if I feel the subject is important to look up.)
Therefore, I am going to try this news system out for a while and I will update you as soon as I can about how it's going!
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For my complete political, progressive and charitable donation updates—that include all of my current "Online Activism"—please see my original blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog.
Please see the hyperlink below for the post:
https://poetartistandphilosopher.blogspot.com/2016/11/i-am-no-longer-being-activist.html
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This "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" Post No. 156 was edited on October 26th, 2026.
"Prose is using all of the words that are necessary in order to describe all that is necessary to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]
"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]
