Saturday, 27 September 2025

TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! May the Great Spirit bless you 🙏

On this lovely sunny Saturday morning, I pray you are all well. I was up at 6:20 a.m. to use the powder room, and when I was done, I felt more energetic than usual. Most mornings, I feel like I've got a city bus on my back. It's nice to walk around lightfooted again. That reminded me of when I was 5 or 6; I used to play a game of being quiet enough to move through the bush so I could get a closer look at the animals.

Even into my forties, I could still move like that. When I tried hunting for a time, I didn't come back out of the bush with nothing in my hands. I used the same method of moving silently, but it didn't feel right. I found out I didn't like killing animals anyway. As long as I have money to buy meat at the store, I'll get it there. If necessary for survival, please hand me a Winchester lever-action. So, I never hunted again after that experience. I felt that was taking advantage.

Anyway, to continue with the morning here in the Newsroom, I decided to stay up and take advantage of feeling wonderful. To most people, it may be just another day, marked by a "so-what" attitude. They wouldn't know what it's like to take a vacation from pain, "To feel nothing!" If I remember correctly, it was nothing extraordinary to feel nothing at all. There seems to be a lot more room for my mind to fly free and explore without being haunted by the thoughts and stress of the possible return of the albatross of pain. That keeps me bogged down in that pit of 💩 pain, so when I get time off for good behavior from the pit of 💩 , or maybe it was just the luck of the draw, I just twisted my nose the right way when I got out of bed. Anyway, after making the coffee and having my cereal, I took my coffee and sat on the recliner couch, 🛋 simply lying back. I felt as snug as that bug in a rug, except my bug is in a nice, soft fur coat—a smart bug, prepared for winter. ❄️ 🔥🫲🫱🪲🐨🧥

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

What Is Normal?

NORMAL:

*Ordinary or usual; is the same as would be expected:*

* a typical working day

* Lively behaviour is normal for a four-year-old child.

* It's normal for couples to argue now and then.

* They were selling the goods at half the normal cost.

* The temperature was above/below normal for the time of year.

* Things are back to normal now that we've paid off all our debts.

- Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

Normal:

normal Temperatures are well above normal today.

usual I went to bed at my usual time.

ordinary The magazine has stories about ordinary people rather than celebrities.

standard It's standard practice for surgeons to wear gloves.

natural It's completely natural to feel anxious on your first day at a new school.

Read More:

- dictionary cambridge org -

- Google Search -

What is Going Beyond The Ordinary?

Going beyond the ordinary means acting in an exceptional way that surpasses usual, common, or typical standards, often by stepping outside one's comfort zone, embracing uniqueness, or striving for excellence and passion in a particular endeavor. It involves cultivating an unconventional approach, being a visionary, or simply doing that "little bit extra" to achieve something remarkable or fulfill a greater purpose...

Read More:

BREAKING NEWS:

‘I’m absolutely terrified’: Federal workers brace for potential government shutdown, mass layoffs

Federal employees from agencies across the US government say they’re “terrified,” “disoriented” and filled with anxiety as they brace for a possible shutdown that the Trump White House has threatened will pave the way for new rounds of fast-tracked mass layoffs.

There is widespread confusion and fear among federal workers as the Tuesday night deadline approaches for Congress to approve a spending package, according to more than a dozen employees from 11 federal agencies who spoke to CNN. Many are still waiting to find out who will be required to work through a shutdown — and who will be furloughed. Complicating matters, the White House budget office has directed federal agencies to “use this opportunity” to prepare sweeping new layoffs, based on which programs lose funding in the event of a shutdown and which don’t align with President Donald Trump’s priorities, according to a memo obtained by CNN...

Potential ‘backlog’ at IRS:
Financial worries:
‘Disorienting’ situation at GSA:
Workers waiting for guidance:
Contractors affected, too:

Read More:

PUBLISHED Sep 27, 2025, 5:00 AM ET - 4 hr ago

- CNN -

Reinventing the Great Depression.

ICE arrests superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district

The superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools — Iowa’s largest school district – was detained Friday morning by immigration agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which said the educator was in the country illegally and had existing weapon possession charges.

Superintendent Ian Roberts – an educator with decades of experience who previously competed as an Olympic athlete for Guyana – was arrested as part of a “targeted enforcement operation” and fled after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers approached him, according to statements from DHS and the Iowa Department of Public Safety. DHS said he was “in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife” at the time of his arrest. It’s a violation of federal law to own a firearm and ammunition if an individual doesn’t have legal status in the US.

CNN is working to identify Roberts’ attorney.

Superintendent was given final order of removal in 2024, DHS says:

Community rallies behind longtime educator:

Read More:

Updated Sep 27, 2025, 8:12 AM ET - Updated 1 hr 40 min ago

- CNN -

White House mass firing memo signals Trump would accelerate priorities in a shutdown. Democrats aren’t backing down

A memo from the White House budget office telling federal agencies to prepare plans for mass firings should the government shut down signaled a dramatic escalation in a funding staredown with fewer potential off-ramps as next week’s deadline nears.

But it also provided the first glimpse of the Trump administration’s internal operational planning that, up to Wednesday night, had been shrouded in a level of secrecy that broke from the approach of past administrations of both parties. Those efforts center on the agency contingency plans that make up the bespoke guidance documents for the federal workforce in the event of a funding lapse, which have long been posted publicly and updated every few years. The most recent agency plans, submitted during the Biden administration, were pulled offline earlier this year with no explanation.

Officials across several agencies said they’d been largely in the dark about the White House plans, and many were scrambling to deliver the requested information detailed in the OMB memo. ...

Read More:

Democrats double down:
OMB memo echoes past directive:

Read More:

PUBLISHED Sep 26, 2025, 4:00 AM ET - Sep 26, 2025

- CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

How a Russian oligarch imported a Canadian-made luxury jet despite sanctions

Dozens of Canadian-made aircraft imported into Russia since Ukraine war began, CBC visual investigation finds*

Members of Russia's business elite are flying in Canadian-made luxury planes that were imported after sanctions targeting the country's aviation sector came into place, CBC's visual investigations unit has found. Russian import records obtained by CBC News show 34 business jets and commercial aircraft built in Canada and sold on the secondary market have ended up in Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Those records, as well as flight data, aviation industry documents and leaked border-crossing information, reveal that sanctioned oligarch Igor Kesaev imported a Bombardier business jet in July 2023. Another jet arrived in March 2024 via a company majority-owned by another oligarch, Sergey Shishkarev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin

Other jets were imported by Russian airlines that cater to charter flights. ...

Australia to Moscow, via Oman:
Oligarch who supplied Putin's army flies Canadian:
Shadowy network:
Oligarch connected to jet for years

Read More:

Posted: Sep 27, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

- CBC -

Canadian travellers, airlines, airports could be hit financially if pre-clearance into U.S. lost, says expert

U.S. ambassador to Canada said Washington may need to reassess the service

Major airlines and airports, as well as both domestic and international travellers, could face added costs if pre-clearance services are lost in Canada, says an aviation expert. Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, said on Thursday that pre-clearance locations in Canadian airports are seeing declining numbers, as travel to the U.S. out of Canada slumps this year. The ambassador floated the idea that the U.S. may need to reassess offering the service.

"We're not sure we can make the numbers work anymore … pre-clearance is something that is done at the expense of the U.S. government. We paid for it," Hoekstra said at the Global Business Forum in Banff, Alta. "You know, [if] you can't make the numbers work anymore — you're all business people. You know what that means. You've got to take a look at some of these things."...