Holiday Greetings, John Lewis, Trump—Who Else? Don Jr., Human Rights, Greta Thunberg, International Adoptions, Various & Sundry Issues

Happy New Year, ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Folks like Donald Trump, aggressively using the greeting “Merry Christmas” and spreading a false narrative about a “war on Christmas” are probably really lamenting the falling support for organized religion, especially among Christians.

Speaking of Christmas, I spent the week with son Jonathan in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, the charming small town where he has lived for the last 18 months. He is the only one of my kids now living within reasonable proximity to DC. He was house sitting a cat and had use of the owners’ car, so was able to pick me and take me back to the train in Martinsburg, some 25 miles away. Jon is an animal lover who regularly takes friends’ dogs out for walks and plans to enroll in a veterinary assistant course in January. His attitude toward animal pets is typical among Americans, but is a contrast to what happens in Honduras. There, dogs and cats remain strictly outside in fenced yards or patios. The weather can get hot or cool or rainy, but is never very cold. These animals are not really pets, rather, they fulfill utilitarian roles and are often not named, nor are dogs taken out for walks on a leash. Rather, dogs are guardians scaring off would-be robbers and cats are kept to eat rodents and insects. Animals are rarely spayed or neutered or given shots or medical checkups, except maybe when owned by a wealthy city family. Honduran friends who have dogs and cats would consider it bizarre to let them inside their homes.

Yes, the recent shooting at a Texas Baptist church did show that a “good guy” with a gun could actually take down a bad guy. But would the bad guy have gotten a gun so easily in the first place (especially with a long felony record) and managed to kill two people first if more restrictions had been in place and fewer guns in circulation?

Not so long ago, before Donald Trump was a serious threat to our democracy, orthodox political opinion leaned toward considering the Castro government in Cuba to have been quite favorable for afro-Cubans. That was the narrative proclaimed loudly and often by Fidel Castro himself. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Jesse Jackson, and other American black political figures duly made pilgrimages to pay homage to Fidel. But my afro-Cuban friend Jorge Luis Garcia Pérez, "Antúnez," during his visit to the US in 2015, tried to disabuse African Americans of that idea. He had been an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience for 17 years. Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, alone among members of the Congressional Black Caucus, bucked this orthodoxy by agreeing to meet with Antúnez, as shown in this photo. 

With the help of an interpreter, they exchanged prison experiences, though, of course, Antúnez’s experiences were much longer and far harsher. In gratitude to Lewis for agreeing to the meeting, I sent him a copy of my Confessions book where Antúnez appears in an early chapter and which Lewis thanked me for in a personal note. I am sorry now to hear that such a principled man is fighting for his life

Back to impeachment, which is still on the agenda: why would the novice president of Ukraine be expected to admit publicly that he felt any pressure from the president of the United States before military aid was released? Be real, of course, when asked, he knew he had to say “no.” His statement is a ridiculous defense being used by Republicans and, privately, they know it. It’s quite true that impeachment has become highly partisan as Republicans allege, and it’s hard to envision a remedy or any common ground on that. Republicans accuse Democrats of disliking the president, which is true, but that dislike goes well beyond his quirky and mean-spirited  personality. And he is not disliked just because he’s a Republican, as that identification is doubtful anyway, since he falls within no known political category. What seems incontrovertible is that his loyal base is pretty solid, and Republican lawmakers dare not alienate those voters, especially in the primaries. Republicans also know that Mr. Trump has been watching their testimony, keeping score, ready to swoop in like a hawk if they show any deviation from slavish loyalty to him. But Trump is so unpredictable--his trademark--that it’s hard even for allies and citizens to trust him, as he often goes back on his word. Is there any way to deal with Donald Trump that would help make his behavior more socially acceptable? More reasonable, kinder, and more empathetic?

As the impeachment hearings continued, each side got dug in deeper, talking to their own constituents, with Republicans also talking directly to Donald Trump, who apparently stayed glued to the TV screen, sending out frequent and garbled tweets. Though much has been made of Democrats’ dislike of Mr. Trump, what has he done to become more likeable? Has he made any effort to reach out to the other side? Few minds have been changed by the impeachment hearings, with each side supporting their own team. I, for one, will vote for any Democrat running against Trump, even someone I’m not enthusiastic about. Get rid of Trump first, as no one in public life could conceivably be worse; then we can afford to worry about policy. I must admit thinking that GW Bush was the worst president ever until Trump came along. Republicans accuse Democrats of trying to overturn the 2016 election, but too late for that, as three years of damage have already occurred and must be repaired. We cannot get those lost years back now. The divisions being seen in the nation and in the electorate are partly the result of resentment over a presidential victory being awarded by the Electoral College to a candidate who lost by millions of votes.  

Is it anti-Semitic, as Donald Trump alleges, to allow “Boycott Israel” movements to exist on college campuses?  He is proposing measures to curb such expressions, which are matters of free speech. Can free speech be muzzled in the name of combatting anti-Semitism? Supporting Jews in the US or elsewhere does not automatically require support of Israel, whose actions toward the Palestinians so many of us oppose, just as we oppose many of the Trump administration’s pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian actions. Trump appears tone-deaf when addressing American Jews, stereotyping them in the worst way. Who is the real anti-Semite?

Releasing Stephen Miller’s racists e-mails is anti-Semitic? Logic is turned on its head.

Poor Don Jr., in his recently released book, wallows in self-pity because of the terrible prejudice he has suffered just for being born white, male, and rich. His book briefly reached the NYTimes best-seller list when the Republican National Committee and Trump donors bought up massive numbers of copies to give away.

Health care is already an election talking point, but current stakeholders, not only insurance companies and drug companies, but doctors, nurses, and other practitioners who enjoy salaries far above those in counterpart countries, are going to put up a fight. While administrative costs could be saved by a government-run or single-payer system, all those administrators are not going to go quietly either. Any change-over will have to be done step-by-step. with opposition at every step of the way. Modest co-pays for care might be advisable to prevent overuse, with exemptions for low-income folks. But that would require more administrative costs than in a totally free system.

Dec; 10 was International Human Rights Day. While I have been a human rights activist with Amnesty In’l now for over 38 years and feel that we do have some worldwide impact, that impact is also on ourselves. We take satisfaction in doing something we consider positive, however small, as whenever we give talks, attend rallies, write letters, and visit members of Congress. We are thus expressing the human desire, as articulated by the Occupational Therapy Association where I worked for 16 years before joining Peace Corps, namely that each person seeks meaningful activity, as subjectively defined. That desire seems imbedded in our DNA, even appling to animals in zoos, whose food treats are often hidden by staff to require the animals work to find them.

Apologies if I previously misspelled the last name of teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was named TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year.

(Her last name has sometimes been misspelled in on-line reports.} Her honor is certainly deserved. Trump advises Thunberg to enroll in anger management. Look who’s talking!

How the Trump administration has intervened in the asylum process www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/23/us-immigration-trump-asylum-seekers

Honduras [this is a totally absurd idea]

Report: US to send asylum seekers to Honduras, blocking them from making a claim in America, USA Today https://www.yahoo.com/news/report-us-send-asylum-seekers-041906871.html

[So, let’s just move  people around] US to send Mexican migrants to Guatemala as part of asylum deal, Fox https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-to-send-mexican-migrants-to-guatemala-as-part-of-asylum-deal

 

South Sudan [Another country close to my heart ever since my mission there in 2006] South Sudan Kiir Says A Ubity Gvernment Will Be Formed, Reuters https://www.yahoo.com/news/south-sudan-president-ex-rebel-111053009.html

At a recent party, I met a woman my age, also named Barbara (a popular name in our day), who also has a son adopted from Colombia, as well as being a birth mother like me. Her son, like mine, was born in Bogotá, the capital, where I had lived as a teenager. He is one year younger than my son Jonathan. It was a happy coincidence to have met her. We lamented that international adoptions have been declining in recent years, stifled by excessive but well-meaning requirements and costs meant to safeguard children that have ended up with fewer finding permanent homes. The local agencies on whose boards I once served, Children’s Adoption Support Services and Holy Cross have, both closed their doors. Another factor in the decline has been the growth of assisted reproduction and surrogacy. 

Whether one ascribes to the Hegelian dialectic, namely, in simplified terms, that a philosophical or political position contains the seeds of its ultimate demise, nonetheless, it’s certainly true that nothing is forever. And while Trumpism may have been a backlash against the political status quo, by the same token, Trumpism is creating its own backlash, which cannot come soon enough and may already be underway. Let’s hope Trumpism has run its course!

World AIDS Day, Thanksgiving, Family and Home, Second Language, Ukraine/Trump/Impeachment, Democratic Presidential Field, Remembering Nov. 9, 2016, Jimmy Carter, Australia, Latin America, South Sudan, Economic Inequality and Other Observations

 

Dec. 1 was World AIDS Day, which I used to commemorate as a Peace Corps health volunteer in Honduras by organizing young people to march through town with a big banner that we had made, also to put on outdoor skits about the disease and how to combat it. For example, a boy declares he wants to consummate his love for a girl, who asked him if he has a condom. A pregnant woman (a girl wearing a pillow under her clothes) asks a nurse figure whether her unborn baby will be infected if she has AIDS. At the time, in the early 2000s, antiretroviral drugs were not readily available in Honduras.

While at my son Jonathan’s place in West Va. for Thanksgiving, I came to appreciate the versality of his cell phone, really a mini-computer. The phone contributed to his life beginning in the early morning, when he listened to affirmations like “I am strong”, “I am wise,” “I am healthy,” and “I am at peace.” Such statements may help mood and take the place of morning prayers. 

Jon’s 4-year-old son Kingston, with whom he talks regularly on Facebook chat, is a live wire. He called Jon while I in West Va. A year ago, Jon visited his wife and family, still living in Hawaii, but neither side wants live where the other resides now.

Daughter Stephanie, living and working as a biologist in Hawaii, is also an artist and creates one-of-a-kind gifts for her friends combining biology with art, all done on her home sewing machine. Each one is different.

Since December 19 is the anniversary of my older son Andrew’s death, our Christmas celebrations are always muted. His gravestone now rest in my backyard.

My house is more than 120 years old, so repairs are always needed.

Can someone forget their native language? Well, that depends on when they made the switch to a new language. Certainly, my son Jon, at only one year of age, did not yet have Spanish fluency. Though I tried to teach him and my other kids Spanish, they resisted. Yet, he still has a good accent in as much Spanish as he now knows, though in West Va., he has run into few Spanish speakers. When I went to Colombia with my family at age 14, apparently that was young enough to lose a gringo accent. 

Wanda, a lady living in Vermont, whom I have known since childhood, is approaching her 105^th birthday. She has lived in this country since meeting her American husband (now deceased) at around age 20. Her children tell me she still says some Arabic phrases about Allah every morning (though she’s not Muslim), but she has no one to speak Arabic with and may no longer remember it. She also was once fluent in French, but doesn’t speak it any more. These many years later, she only speaks English, but still with an accent.

Gabriela, a little girl I met on a mission to evaluate Romanian orphanages after Ceausescu’s assassination was later adopted by a Minnesota couple. She refused to speak another word of her first language once she entered their home. As I recount in my Confessions book, I reconnected with her on Facebook later on and learned she was learning Spanish, a Romance language surprisingly not so very different from Romanian.

When I returned from Honduras after 3 ½ years in the Peace Corps, it took a few days for me to feel comfortable speaking English again. Did I ever dream in Spanish? Dream conversations while I was in Honduras often did take place in Spanish.

While in West Va. with son Jonathan, I met some Trump supporters, marveling that seemingly every day normal people could still stand by him. Below is an article by a psychologist, speculating that the hard core remains faithful because they don’t have to interact personally with the man, like the many staff who have resigned or been fired. Trump seems to have to coherent plan of governance, acting on the whim of the moment. Right now, he appears obsessed with toilets. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/how-narcissists-wear-out-their-welcome/602446/?utm_

The fact that Trump’s and Giuliani’s Ukrainian plot against Joe Biden and his son was thwarted doesn’t mean that no crime was committed. Aren’t attempted murder, attempted robbery, still crimes? Republicans are really grasping at straws with that defense. We’ll have to see how very differently investigations of Trump go in the Senate; House Republicans have already mounted some very imaginative defenses. Trump wants his people to give testimony in the Senate (he is unlikely to do so unless it’s a scripted statement). He will certainly judge his spokespersons on their performance, firing those who fall short.

Mr. Trump seems to have no self-awareness, internal controls, or self-control over his own words and behavior, no apparent concern for social norms or likely outcomes, nor anticipation of how others might react and the impact of his decisions on others. If he told the truth; we wouldn’t believe him. While his base might identify with someone so free to flaunt social expectations, his behavior has upset the international and national political order. Political change, shaking things up, can sometimes be useful, but constant change, surprise, and unpredictability do not allow consolidation to create consensus and establish new patterns. And with one-man autocratic rule, “my way or the highway,” other political representatives and stakeholders are shunted aside and citizens have no voice. 

But if the impeachment inquiry goes on too long, public fatigue may set in. And 2020 voters, so far, seem to be sticking with their party and Republicans are characterizing the impeachment process as partisan. Republican office-holders are in a bind; they dare not risk alienating Trump’s base by expressing disapproval of anything he says or does. Admittedly, high job numbers and a rising stock market, buoyed partly by budget-busting tax cuts, have kept Trump afloat, but whoever wins the presidency in 2020 will face an economic downturn. What goes up must come down,

Poor Mr. Trump, who readily insults other world leaders, had his own fragile feelings hurt when others apparently made fun of him behind his back, so he left the NATO Summit in a huff. The others were probably relieved to see him go. It may be unkind to joke about Trump’s obvious flaws and disabilities, but he aspired to a job far beyond his capacities and put himself deliberately in the world spotlight. Other leaders for whom English is a second language are far more articulate in English than “Stable Genius” Trump, including not only Macron but even young Greta Thornburg. The man embarrasses us as Americans, but he is both a cause and symptom of our problems.

Now psychiatrists are warning that Trump’s over-sensitivity and defensiveness may be dangerous for our country and the world. North Korea’s Chairman Kim has gone back to calling Trump a “dotard.” And Trump’s true believers see his shunning by other leaders as more support for “America First” and isolation from the world.

The number of Democratic presidential wannabes has reached ridiculous levels. Each may bring new ideas and issues to the fore and raise their own political profile and any one of them would be preferable to Trump. But being gay, young. and only the mayor of a medium sized city makes Pete Buttigieg too risky a candidate when the primary objective is to beat Trump at all costs. (Also, his name is hard to spell, even to pronounce.) Still, it’s good to see him in the race and garnering so much support. Likewise, I’m glad to see a host of very smart, articulate female candidates, but, again, a tired and true male presidential candidate, maybe good old Joe Biden himself with a female VP running mate, might be the safest way to take on Trump at this critical juncture. 

We now know from bitter experience that the electoral system is skewed in the Republican Party’s favor and so Republicans are sticking with Trump. The guy has some major political advantages right now, namely the high stock market and low unemployment, trends started beforehand, but which his massive tax cuts and the increase in the deficit have kept going (but a reckoning will come). After we get rid of Trump, voters can then afford to be pickier. Our country and the world cannot endure 4 more years of Trump!

As the 2020 election year approaches, I cannot forget that fateful Wed., the day after the 2016 election, when I arrived in Chappaqua, Hillary’s hometown, to give a scheduled talk about my books at the local public library. I’d set the date anticipating a fantastic local celebration in Hillary’s town of the victory of our first woman president. I had been told that local girls had been given small hammers to symbolically break the glass ceiling.  But of course, except for one realtor who bragged that he had voted for Trump, local residents were grim-faced and stunned. Neighbors had put up a homemade sign by the Clinton driveway saying “Hillary, We Love You.” Hillary and Bill were seen out walking their dog together. Only 8 people showed up for my library talk.

My old friend (“old” in more ways than one) former President Jimmy Carter, at 95, has had his share of recent falls and health challenges, but is still keeping up the fight. He and I both served as observers during the 1990 Haiti and Nicaragua elections.

Australia’s rash of fires mirrors what happened in California just recently as climate change brings dryer and warmer conditions everywhere.

Cockfighting, with trained roosters wearing razor blades on their feet, is common in Latin America. Two cocks attack each other with the blades in a circular ring while men place bets all around. The bird that kills the other is declared the winner. I’ve left the ring after witnessing the first bloody blows, not being a fan of either cockfighting or bull fighting, though both have their ardent supporters. Now in Puerto Rico and other US territories, cock fighting will be outlawed on Dec. 20. Those engaged in the practice have vowed to continue behind closed doors.

After 4 years, there has been a conviction in the killing of Honduran activist Bertha Caceres in La Esperanza. (Her name is spelled with “h” in her hometown of La Esperanza, but “h” is silent in Spanish, so English-language accounts leave that letter out of her name.)

Killers of Honduran activist get up to 50-year sentences, AP, https://www.yahoo.com/news/killers-honduran-activist-50-sentences-221529511.html

Arguably, Guatemala is marginally safer than Honduras, but this is a ridiculous. Next, the US will start returning Guatemalans to Honduras. Actually, once he was in Guatemala, the deportee returned home to Honduras.

1st Honduran returned to Guatemala under US asylum accord, AP

https://www.yahoo.com/news/1st-honduran-returned-guatemala-under-170446465.html

Nicaragua (this is déjà vu for me after my visits to Nicaragua during the 1980s and service as an election observer in 1990 when Violeta Chamorro defeated Ortega)

Pro-government supporters attack Catholic church in Nicaragua as tensions flare, Reuters

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pro-government-supporters-attack-catholic-005216694.html

Alas, ever since independence in 2011, ethnic violence has roiled South Sudan, where I made a mission in 2006. 

U.N. sends troops to halt bout of ethnic violence in South Sudan https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-n-sends-troops-halt-143612236.html

While some measure of economic inequality incentivizes people to work harder and to strive, a society/nation does not have to be as economically skewed as ours, where the rich use their riches to hoard an ever-greater share of the national economic pie. No one person or family can consume billions of dollars’ worth of goods and services. In fact, studies have shown that in the US after an income of about $75,000 annually, personal satisfaction does not increase much, if at all. So, let’s make sure that everyone has basic housing, medical care, and enough to eat. Not having those basic needs met does create anxiety, ill health, and pain for too many Americans. After that, some folks can try accumulating additional riches if they want to feel superior to others or whatever.

A man in Maine has died after the elaborate booby traps and trip=-weapons designed to kill intruders ended up killing him--poetic justice.

I am speculating that Kanye West’s support of Trump and his pseudo-religious pageants are mainly publicity stunts.

Sorry that Joshua Johnson will be leaving NPR for MSNBC, a bigger platform and one that’s visual as well as audible. He is so smart, insightful, and entertaining, making it a loss for us radio listeners, but a boon to TV viewers, though I am not among them since I don’t have TV.

Hearing so many appeals for charities during this season, I am careful about donating because of so many personal appeals I’m already meeting regularly both here and in Latin America. I like to look the recipient of my charity in the face.

One heartfelt appeal that has a definite generational tinge is for disposable diapers, something that never existed when I was raising my 4 babies. Somehow, we managed then without disposable diapers, but now these diapers, which engulf landfills, are considered an absolute necessity. Of course, my kids were babies more than 45 years ago, so times have changed. By having lived so long, I also remember wearing nylon stockings and summers without air conditioning. And in rural Honduras, by cooking over a wood fire and washing clothes by hand, I was living in a previous century.

I’m an admitted outlier in trying to find a middle ground on abortion, being both an adoptive and a birth parent myself. I do not downplay the commitment involved in becoming a parent, both the risks and discomfort involved in pregnancy, including the pain of childbirth, nor the attention and care needed to bring a child to adulthood. And the financial investment is considerable. However, bringing children into the world and nurturing them as they grow is the inevitable way that humankind continues, just as with any other living species.

As indicated before on the previous version of this blog honduraspeacecorps.blogspot.com, not every fertilized ovum can be saved. Spontaneous pregnancy losses may occur before a woman even knows she’s pregnant and the morning-after pill and other early abortion medications will continue to be used privately by women—even by some not actually pregnant. The era of the coat hanger is over. Nor will most of the fertilized ova stored frozen in suspended animation ever become persons. 

However, for women further along in an unexpected pregnancy, I would like to see real “choice” centers where they could go to review their options from abortion to continuing with the pregnancy and even for consideration of adoption. If abortion is indicated, then at the point that the fetus can feel pain, techniques should include proper pain relief for the fetus. However, having seen very viable children born after 21 and 22 weeks, I would not want to see abortions allowed after that time, no matter what the problem. If at that stage, the fetus is found to have a condition incompatible with survival, then it can be delivered early and die a natural death. At present, though abortion-rights advocates use the language of “choice,” many abortion providers don’t actually offer choice, only abortion. If I were younger with more energy, I would like to try to set up a model “choice” center that allows an unexpectedly pregnant woman a real range of options and offers assistance with continuing her pregnancy if she so chooses. In no case should a woman undergoing an abortion be criminally prosecuted. Anyway, that would be my program.

This blog and its predecessor have turned out to be not only a way to highlight my annual missions to Honduras, but have also become a running diary of my life. As emphasized in my books, we all have hidden depths, amazing experiences, both sad and happy, and a special role to play on weaving the ongoing tapestry of human life. 

New Website, Brother’s Death, Homeless Unwelcome, Climate Change, Hot Cars, Gun Toll Beyond Deaths, Trump in Trouble, Latin America, Hong Kong/China, Examiner Notes

After Sept. 27, 2019, when I last posted on my blog honduraspeacecorps.blogspot.com, I was unable to make any more posts there after more than 10 years. My daughter Stephanie, in helping set up the original blog, had invented a different g-mail address which neither she nor I could remember, only that it seemed that bjoe was part of it. It used to come up automatically when I clicked on the blogger icon from my regular g-mail account, but, suddenly, no more. I had never committed that address to memory nor did I ever send a message from it. Maybe g-mail eliminated it because it was inactive, except for getting into my blog? A computer savvy guy and I searched diligently for an hour and half but could find no sign of that address. Nor does g-mail allow online chats that might have resolved the issue. So, I invented this successor honduraspeacecorps2.blogspot.com which references the previous, but the previous cannot reference this one, and the old address is still imprinted in my books. So, we are starting over again here and much has happened in the meantime, making this post extra long. Because almost 2 months have elapsed since my past posting and because I usually add to the blog draft over time, this version at the new site is inevitably long and rambling. In the future, I promise to be more organized and concise. The way this posting is going so far, the margins throughout look like they will all be wavy, though not so on on my draft. Sorry about that.

On October 12, I lost my brother Bob Currie, only one year younger, so from my earliest memories, he was always there. When I called him before his 80^th birthday 3 months earlier, he thought the chemo for his cancer had been successful. Alas, it was not. He had a very abrupt and short decline, working at his Florida architectural firm until 2 weeks before his death.

Brother Bob with his girlfriend and beloved Tesla last time I saw him.

Bob at his 80th birthday party 3 months before his death.  

           Family photo, still in the frame, of Bob and me with our parents.

If you would want to see more photos of our family history or of the events honoring my brother, my daughter Stephanie Joe and my brother’s oldest son John Currie have made numerous postings on Facebook available there. I did not stop to see my brother in south Florida as usual on my return last Feb. from my volunteer medical mission to Honduras, my former Peace Corps country. He was not feeling so well then after chemo and I needed to get home quickly, so I’d planned to stop next time. 

Just before attending my brother’s funeral, daughter Melanie and I visited my son who marched as a Hawaiian ukulele player in the Berkeley Springs, W Va., annual Apple Butter Festival parade, which this year, unlike last time, took place on a drizzly, cloudy morning.  

Fall finally arrived. 

And Halloween has come and gone. Trick or treating ended early because of wind and rain. 

 And we went back on standard time, though many of us would just as soon stay on Daylight Saving time. Maybe there are good reasons to change, but the change is disruptive.

Back on Pennsylvania Ave. SE, near my home, an office building houses the Amnesty Int’l office on the 5^th floor, so as volunteer coordinator for the Caribbean, I often go there. The building has had a graceful welcoming entrance, curved archways overhanging an outdoor space leading to the various front doors of first-floor enterprises including the post office. At night, because of the protective overhang, homeless people would congregate underneath, leaving a big mess by morning to be hosed down and cleaned up daily.  Evidently, the building’s paying occupants got tired of the nighttime visitors, who might have saved their communal roofed sleeping space had they simply pitched in to clean it up themselves at dawn. Now they must seek shelter elsewhere, as all the archway openings have been boarded up and we have yet to see a more permanent fix.

 

A local homeless man, Roger, someone I’d always greeted by name, was reported by a neighborhood website to have died. A few years ago, he lost a foot to frostbite and had used a wheelchair ever since. I don’t know where he laid his head at night, but when I asked him if he had a place to stay, he nodded. Roger was a man of few words. Then, after his reported demise, I greeted Roger again in his wheelchair outside Eastern Market, so that report was premature. I tried to post a correction on the neighborhood website, but my various efforts were rejected, so I’m informing any neighborhood readers here that I either saw him alive or his ghost.

By abruptly withdrawing American troops from northern Syria, allowing Turkish forces to attacks civilians and the Kurds, Donald Trump arguably became a war criminal responsible for many civilian deaths. He has blood on his hands. His staunchest Republican allies and many evangelical supporters, even Pat Robertson, decried his decision. As impeachment and voter backlash corner him, Trump himself is lashing out indiscriminately, taking the world and the nation down with him. Only those willing to drink the Kool-Aid are still staunchly sticking with him. Meanwhile the deficit and national debt are soaring. The federal deficit has reportedly doubled on Trump’s watch.

Pundits have warned that since Trump won before via the Electoral College, he could win again with even fewer votes than last time. If that happened, there would be little or no chance of resurrecting of our country, as the guy is so destructive and just plain inept. After even 4 years of Trump, so many noxious and harmful government actions will need to be undone, So if he should get a second term, our nation’s slide toward ruin will be almost impossible to reverse. Putin has succeeded already beyond his wildest dreams.

Republicans had been complaining about impeachment inquiries taking place behind closed doors. Now the hearings are open—so will that satisfy them?

While DC was still basking or sweltering in summer heat, Montana had record snow. Climate change is unpredictable. The whole world is confronting climate change with the US sitting on the sidelines, disparaging the effort. Wild fires in California and Australia are consequences.

During this record hot summer, many babies and little children died after being left for hours inside hot cars, even two sets of twins had died. Can you imagine an arduous twin pregnancy, then the effort involved in feeding, bathing, and diapering newborn twins, getting them to the point of sitting in car seats, then just leaving them there alone in a hot car for hours while they suffered and died? It isn’tas though the danger is unknown, as we’ve heard or read about it almost daily, so parents cannot be unaware of the risks. Still, they continued to gamble with their little children’s lives. Next will leaving babies to freeze in cold cars.

Some 200 people in the US are shot daily, a number by accident, others on purpose. Most don’t die, but may still be left with lifelong injuries. We don’t hear much about them. My son Jon, accidently shot in the foot at age 11 by another boy, still has trouble with his foot more than 30 years later. There are many more serious cases. I know one young man here in DC, shot at age 17, still alive 20 years later, but quadriplegic, needing daily help in eating, dressing, bathing, and simply getting in and out of an electric wheelchair. His life was inexorably changed just on the cusp of his adulthood. Some 900,000 American women have been shot or shot at by a domestic partner, leaving them with lifelong emotional and physical problems. Having fewer guns in circulation would certainly help. Once a gun is fired, it’s too late to pull the bullet back.

US average life expectancy has dropped slightly in the last two years, attributable partly to gun violence, but even more to the opioid crisis, although life expectancy is still too long for many enterprises to guarantee life-time pensions. I know a handful of lucky retirees who still have pensions, but fewer people now retire with pensions. Back in the 1990’s when I was working for a professional association, it subtly switched from a pension system to a 401K/IRA. As long as the stock market remains strong, we do OK under this system, but during the 2008 crash, not so well. Let’s see what awaits us next year. Fortunately, many of us also have social security, which is more reliable, though Donald Trump apparently wants to cut that too.

I joined the Kaiser health system in part because it is less costly, also to support a closed system despite its inconveniences. “Medicare for All” would be preferable to what we have now, but a major obstacle is the existence of so many stakeholders, not only insurance companies, but doctors, nurses, and therapists who have relentlessly pressed for their economic interests, catapulting compensation well beyond that afforded health professionals in other developed countries. So if we ever manage to create a more centralized, publicly monitored health system in the US, we will have to start out with higher pay scales than in Canada and Europe, though curbing future escalation.   

Trump’s abrupt pulling away protections for the Kurds in Syria is Trump’s gift to Erdogan, perhaps to protect Trump’s own hotel interests in Turkey? He no longer tries to hide his blatant personal economic self-interest, apparently figuring that he may as well be open because his base allows him to do anything he wants. Trump’s always erratic behavior is getting increasingly scary. Some of his stalwarts have continued to cling to him despite misgivings, reluctant to admit they were wrong or that he has duped them.

Even as impeachment looms and Trump’s true believers cling to him, in New York City, the man’s former home town, his name is toxic, taken off buildings and, even, more recently, skating rinks. After he is out of office, will his worldwide empire completely collapse? He was booed amid chants of “Lock him up!” at a World Series playoff baseball game in DC and later at a sports’ arena in NYC, which he and Melania left early. Turnabout is fair play.

According to Christopher Wylie, a whistleblower who worked for Cambridge Analytica, sophisticated techniques were used by the Russians to play on the fears and prejudices of both Brexit and Trump voters, helping sway close elections that turned out to be harmful overall to citizens of both the US and the UK. Such propaganda and manipulation are the real Deep State and Fake News. And all whistleblowers must be highly protected from a vicious and vindictive Donald Trump. He does manage to dominate every news cycle.

Wow! Is it possible that through impeachment that we may now actually be able to get rid of Donald Trump? Has he finally gone too far? It seems that even Republican office holders will start to pull away for their own survival. Jared and Ivanka are laying low. Besides whistleblowers, there are leaks all over the administration, perhaps being made by concerned staffers. Trump is acting like an enraged bull, attacking everywhere. The prospect of a Mike Pence presidency is not enticing, especially as he might actually have a better chance of winning in 2020 despite Trump’s own slavish followers being less enthusiastic. Still, there is cause for hope. Trump is digging himself into a deeper hole by threatening the whistleblower and Congress. If Trump should be impeached, even though he is guilty and has put so many people through untold grief, whoever succeeds him, Republican or Democrat, should pardon him to avoid further division of the citizenry.

It has also been revealed that there is a top-secret server guarding Trump’s conversations with the Saudis and Putin. Of course, he is still Teflon for his true believers. And recently another inquiry is being launched by Trump into Hillary’s e-mails. Give me a break!

Is party affiliation driving evaluation of Trump’s Ukraine gambit or does opinion on his Ukraine behavior help drive party affiliation? That is, do most who view his actions critically identify as Democrats, but what came first and what’s the main driver, opinions about his erratic and defensive behavior, then party affiliation, or vice versa? It’s the old question of the chicken or the egg. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is getting a free boost of publicity from Trump. And poor Bernie Sanders’ heart attack and cardiac stent procedure are a setback for him, highlighting his age and health and, also, by implication, both Trump’s and Biden’s ages.

I don’t know what the Conways’ game is. Are they deliberately taking opposite sides on Trump for publicity and to maintain Kellyanne’s White House salary? Do the Conways sleep at night in the same bed? Is Kellyanne perhaps today’s “deep throat,” the secret author of insider info? I wouldn’t be surprised.

It’s disconcerting to see so many Democratic candidates throwing their hat into the ring, any of whom would probably make a competent president. How to choose among them? But it’s unfortunate to see them all running against each other and trying to bring the others down, as there can only be one president and one vice president

It’s rather puzzling that the Trump administration would ask the leaders of Central American countries, whose people are fleeing in droves from danger, to take on asylum seekers from elsewhere seeking safety. And, if it’s really happening, how is Trump getting those presidents to consent? By bribing them with aid?

Trump's plan for those seeking safe haven: a ticket to the violent heart of Central America https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-plan-those-seeking-safe-142147714.html

Narco testifies he gave $100k to Honduran candidates in 2009, AP

https://www.yahoo.com/news/narco-testifies-gave-100k-honduran-190307075.html

Protesters in Haiti burn businesses in push to oust leader

ttps://www.yahoo.com/sports/protesters-haiti-burn-businesses-Swtiching to asia, push-145726915.html

Barricades burn as Haiti enters 4th week of deadly protests, AP

https://www.yahoo.com/news/barricades-burn-haiti-enters-4th-121516824.html

At Amnesty Int’L, we have issued a press release on verified instances of excess use of force by the police in Haiti, in the context of on-going protests.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/10/haiti-amnesty-verifies-evidence-excessive-force-against-protesters/

I once visited the DC AI USA office with this Cuban dissident.
Amnesty calls for release of leading Cuban dissident, Reuters

https://www.yahoo.com/news/amnesty-calls-release-leadingcuban-235134402.html

Trump administration ramps up deportations to Cuba, AP https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-policy-trump-rules-leads-050323336.html

       

China did not want to appear heavy-handed toward Hong Kong as the country celebrated the 70^th anniversary of the Communist Revolution. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s continuing protests are an embarrassment and a bad example for mainland citizens from a regime standpoint. Hong Kongers are fighting for their very lives and freedom. And Taiwan has been watching closely and quietly. Perhaps Britain’s leadership felt obligated to return Hong King to China, but it was an unfortunate decision. China may have held off somewhat until its 70^th anniversary celebrations, but now is clamping down harder. Hong Kong with a population of 7 million is no match for China with 1.3 billion people. Even if all those people are not fully behind the Chinese government, they are cowed. Trump congratulated China and Xi on the anniversary, making no public mention of Hong Kong.

The Chinese Communist government of the last 2 generations does deserve credit for lifting so many millions out of poverty. However, the government’s continued repression has negatively affected so many millions’ personal lives, especially during the one-child policy, which upset the nation’s gender balance and skewed intergenerational demographics. The widespread brutality of attacks on the Five Olds, the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, and the mass starvation of the Great Leap forward all are hidden now, attributable to the brutal dictatorship of Chairman Mao, a man still officially revered, but thankfully long gone. What future Chinese leader will dare to loosen the reins of censorship and personal repression to spark the counterrevolution and bring the rights of citizens of all ethnicities to full fruition?     

                                               

I sometimes read the right-leaning free weekly The Washington Examiner, just to see what the other side is saying. There are many snarky and snide remarks about “libs,” name-calling more than thoughtful analysis. However, descriptions of Donald Trump’s behavior are not all laudatory. It is acknowledged there that he is trying to run the country like he ran his businesses, which is not appropriate (and not very appropriate for a business either), and hints of chinks in the apparent solid wall of his Republican support.

An interesting factoid appearing in The Examiner (Oct. 1, 2019) is that several so-called “sanctuary cities” for the unborn have been declared, reputedly prohibiting all abortions. These are small cities, probably actually towns, located in New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Some birthing centers and organizations assisting women unexpectedly pregnant are now offering contraception after the women give birth, a good idea. In the same issue of The Examiner is a description of a new version of a venerable board game called Monopoly for Socialists, an apparent parody.

When I accidentally trashed most of my photos, I went back on my original blog to see if I could find some of them. I did, and kept on going all the way back to beginning in January 2009; more than 10 years ago. Many trips to Honduras have ensued since. I have always been wordy and photo-happy, judging from what I saw going back. Mine has certainly been an eventful and quirky life. When I die, if my kids want to know many details of my later life, they will find them on my blogs.

PS, Because my previous involvement with both Cuba and Venezuela, I see Evo Morales’ resignation in Bolivia the face of military pressure as an object lesson for the Venezuelan military and maybe even for the Cuban military. Though the Cuban system is long entrenched, nothing is forever. Venezuela’s Chavez and Maduro were schooled by Cuban operatives s to prevent cross communication among military leaders to prevent them from getting together to hatch a plot to overthrow them. An individual leader might have serious doubts about continuing to support the system, but he (it always is he) doesn’t know if he would be going out on a limb alone to be cut down or even killed, or whether he might find support among his fellow officers. In Cuba, military leaders still recall the execution of General Ochoa and his associates.   

As for the impeachment inquiry, l find unconvincing Republican arguments that what a magazine like Politico says (characterized by Trump supporters as “Democrat leaning”) is equivalent to what the president himself is accused of saying. Who cares what a magazine article has said? That is not a government official or the president talking. Democrats are not against Trump just because he wears the Republican label, but because of what he actually says and does--or tries to do.  And just because his Ukraine scheme was foiled does not make his efforts there OK.

Having heard her testimony live on the radio, I found former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch quite credible, 100% more articulate than Mr.Trump and 100% more truthful. Give Donald Trump a zero on both counts. He undermined his own Congressional supporters by tweeting against her while she was testifying. Take his phone away from that man!