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
105th 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.
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
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
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.
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