Today is Thursday, April 17, 2025. Elliot and I returned from our visit with “Serina” who lives in Elliot’s former bungalow colony in a house by the manmade lake in Phillipsport, New York, which is in Sullivan County. We left around 9:30 and came back about 11 hours earlier, about 8:30. The ride is close to 2 hours long and is about 91 miles each way. We stopped for breakfast at a diner by the name of Suburban Diner in Paramus, New Jersey. I brought my own box of matzoh this time, but didn’t need it since our cheerful waitress came supplied with pieces of matzoh for the both of us. We were supposed to meet Serina in neighboring Wurtsboro for lunch at 12:30. We just got there around 12:26 p.m. and actually had to wait a short time for Elliot’s longterm friend.

After lunch, we drove to Nathan’s, the name of the bungalow colony that was founded by Serina’s father more than 70 years ago. There we confronted Serina’s old, barking dog Baxter who greeted us with a cheerful barrage of loud barks. We stayed until about 4:30 before we bid adieu to the last denizen of the colony, who is now actively trying to sell it. At the house, we had coffee and tea for me and some matzoh farfel kugel (made with honey crisp apples and cinnamon as a Passover alternative to noodle pudding) that Elliot made the other day. We also brought up a berry compote that Elliot made as well.

On the way home, we stopped at the Coach House Diner, located on Route 4 in Hackensack. This is closer to New York, so we just had a quick dinner before getting back into the car to traverse the George Washington Bridge.

All in all, it was a very nice visit, topped off with good weather for a change. The sun shone and there was no sign of rain in the forecast altogether. But it was tiring on Elliot who did all of the driving.

A very positive breaking news story that just broke today is the meeting held by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) with the Maryland man in his jurisdiction who was “mistakenly” sent to the El Salvadoran prison by this egregious administration. Van Hollen said at a press conference that he did meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was wrongfully deported to the country in mid-March. This piece of good news is contained in an online CNN article by Morgan Rimmer and David Culver entitled “Maryland Democrat says he met with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador.”

The forthright senator who took the initiative to fly to El Salvador by himself mentioned, “I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance.” He added, “I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”

The autocratic president and new-found chum of this fascistic president ironically stated, “Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.” What a piece of shit this man is!

Van Hollen stated that denying Abrego Garcia access to his lawyers “is a violation of international law.” His attempt to enter CECOT (the name of the notorious person) came a day after El Salvador’s vice president denied him access following an in-person meeting.

In recent days, however, Dump administration officials have denied that he was mistakenly deported – but that’s a lie, naturally. U.S. officials have erroneously branded him a member of the MS-13 gang, which the administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization – a claim his attorneys vehemently dispute and at least one federal judge has voiced skepticism toward.

On Thursday, Van Hollen again reiterated his accusation that the U.S. government has violated Abrego Garcia’s right to due process and emphasized that was his reason for traveling to the Central American country. The white-haired senator said, “I am not here to vouch for any particular set of facts or claims, but I am here to vouch for the judicial system in the United States, which guarantees individuals the right to due process.” So here a U.S. senator was able to meet with a U.S. citizen being kept in a foreign country without due process afforded him, while the stinking president claimed he couldn’t do anything about it a few days ago. What the fuck!

And so it went!