Family Visit, Healing the Nation After Trump, Border Surge & Other Challenges

 My granddaughter and her 13-year-old son are here from Florida during his spring break. She grew up in this area and her father still lives in northern Virginia.

                        

Joe Biden may not be a firebrand or a great orator, but he is a normal guy. When he speaks, millions of listeners, including me, now experience enormous relief that the petty, belligerent, and unpredictable Mr. Trump is gone from office (and off Twitter!). Our mood and mental health have greatly improved knowing that someone more thoughtful is in charge again.

 

Donald Trump’s unfortunate elevation to the presidency was just a historic mistake to begin with, a fluke, an accident. Even he was caught by surprise and unprepared. Though Mr. Trump still has ardent supporters in our country and even among a handful around the world, he never had enjoyed majority voter or citizen support. So his odds of ever achieve that sweet spot again were exceedingly small, like lightening striking twice in the same place. And he became the source of great distress for a majority of people both here and abroad, certainly the worst president we have ever had and the biggest loser in terms of his vote margins both in 2016 and 2020.

 

Trump must never be allowed back into office again; his second term would be even more damaging, corrupt, and self-serving, if possible, than his first. He was mean, avaricious, ignorant, and negligent as president and, if given another chance, would seek to settle scores with those he deems his enemies. We have already suffered enough, most especially due to his negligence in letting the virus run amok. Unfortunately, the poor guy is intellectually, morally, and emotionally challenged, and has shown himself incapable of learning on the job. (Might he have suffered a head injury earlier in life?) If he would now simply agree to retire gracefully and leave the rest of us alone, he might live out his remaining years in relative comfort and peace. But, no, he seems hell bent on still making trouble both for the Republican Party and everyone else, though he’s now seriously cyber-challenged.  

 

Certainly, the Capitol rioters believed they were doing Trump’s bidding in trying to overturn the election certification. He had urged them to interrupt the certification and to turn it in his favor. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx83v4/even-trumps-defense-secretary-during-the-capitol-riot-blames-him-for-inciting-it

 

Thumbing through back issues of the New Yorker, I’ve noted that the prospect of Trump losing re-election and not going away quietly was foreseen all during 2020 when he was busy setting the groundwork for disputing the outcome. But the lengths he was willing to go to overturn the results were not sufficiently acknowledged beforehand nor were preparations made to thwart his intentions, perhaps because he himself still remained in office until January 20, 2021. History has no previous example of a US presidential loser who has failed to acknowledge his loss.  

 

Biden has acted as a centrist, undercutting Trump’s narrative that the man is a radical socialist, thereby winning over some independents and Republicans. The new stimulus measure, which Republican lawmakers opposed as a solid bloc, will still help their own constituents and the economy, regardless. The same is true of the vaccination rollout, though Trump supporters are more hesitant (because Trump once railed against vaccines?). Whether the stimulus might influence constituents’ mid-term votes remains to be seen, as voters do have a peculiar ability to take the money and benefits and still continue to vote against their own interests.

 

President Biden has urged citizens to memorialize those we’ve lost to the pandemic. Surprisingly, the only person I’ve known lost to Covid actually lived and died in far-away Nigeria. Some of my own family members have fallen ill, but thankfully have recovered.

 

A young Cuban woman whose case was mentioned earlier on this blog and whose name can now be revealed, Rachel Rodríguez, has finally been released from ICE detention in Louisiana after more than 2 years. Her husband, who had arrived with her, has been out of custody for more than a year now. She had suffered a miscarriage in Cuba which she said was caused by blows to her abdomen inflicted by police. She had always been a suspicious person there after her great uncle had spent 22 years as a political prisoner in Cuba, but had been released in 1984 after our local Amnesty International group had appealed to Jesse Jackson before his visit then to Cuba (as per my Confessions book).

 

After a well-publicized visit to the southern border, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed that he’d spoken to border agents in El Paso, Texas, who told him that suspected terrorists have attempted to cross the border, but no evidence has been found for his allegation. Now other Republican lawmakers are planning trips to the border to stoke fears and criticism of the Biden administration. They are using terms like “paranoid obsession” and “scorched earth” to demean Democratic (“Democrat”) proposals.  Immigration reform is in jeopardy. It’s politics as usual.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/02/27/donald-trump-thrived-by-painting-democrats-as-soft-on-immigration?utm_campaign=the-economist-today&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud

 

There certainly are real problems at the border. The current southern border surge will continue to challenge the Biden administration, especially now after so many have waited so long for Trump to finally leave office. The border push also imperils immigration reform, perhaps only allowing relief for the Dreamers. There is no good solution at the border, as if more are allowed to cross over, even more will inevitably arrive. Folks are already starting out now from their countries of origin.

 

Biden needs to come up with a workable plan for border crossers very soon that does not contravene international asylum law. His folks were not well prepared for this foreseeable scenario. More immigrants will be needed as the economy recovers. But I do feel compassion for those pressing now to get in, having met many such folks in their home countries. I’ve also been an interpreter for young people requesting asylum here, though rarely advised of their final outcome. So, I don’t know how many have actually been approved, probably not many. At the airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, I've seen planeloads of dejected deportees disembarking. All that was before the pandemic added a new, complicating dimension.

 

Breaking News: The Biden administration is quietly pressing Mexico to curb migrants coming to the U.S., Mexican officials said, a move echoing Trump-era policy. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/world/americas/biden-mexico-migration.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20210318&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=cta&regi_id=39525559&segment_id=53685&user_id=5b42efebaad1edb014a357f62ebaa4b9

 

CNN, March 13, 2021, Kids detained in overcrowded border facility are terrified, crying and worried, lawyers say, https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/13/us/border-detention-conditions/index.html

 

 

Mayorkas torpedoes Biden administration's stance on asylum seekers
https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/542863-mayorkas-torpedoes-biden-administrations-stance-on-asylum-seekers  As indicated, the border surge is going to continue. Based on my experience as an interpreter, there is no easy way to sort out bona fide asylum seekers from economic migrants, often not even in immigration court.

 

National Review, DHS Secretary Predicts Migrant Surge Will Break 20-Year Record, Blames Trump Policies, https://news.yahoo.com/dhs-secretary-predicts-migrant-surge-140917391.html

The Economist, Feb. 27, 2020, Go big or go home
Donald Trump thrived by painting Democrats as soft on immigration So why are Democrats introducing the most comprehensive immigration reform for decades? https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/02/27/donald-trump-thrived-by-painting-democrats-as-soft-on-immigration?utm_campaign=the-economist-today&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud

 

The answer to the question of why Democrats are going big on immigration, economic relief, infrastructure, voting rights, and other issues is that they may only have until 2022.

 

On a matter discussed before on this blog, the mysterious illness targeting US and other embassy staffers in Havana and other foreign capitals, apparently caused by radio or other waves, will be investigated. The State Department announced the appointment of retired Ambassador Pamela Spratlen as Senior Advisor to the task force handling the agency’s response to the Havana Syndrome. Don't know that they can figure it out now after-the-fact, but the illness has had long lasting effects for some US, Canadian, and other embassy staff in Cuba, China, and elsewhere. 

https://diplopundit.net/2021/03/15/statedept-designates-amb-pamela-spratlen-as-senior-advisor-to-the-havana-syndrome-task-force/

 

Conservative-leaning states are busy erecting barriers against allowing male-to-female transgender athletes to compete in female sports. In my youth, this was not an issue because those who felt born in the wrong gender had no access to hormone therapy. The number of such athletes must still be quite small, so the impact of any such measures may be mostly symbolic. There is little dispute that the male hormone testosterone does foster height and strength, one reason it is banned for female athletes. Of course, the exact amount of natural testosterone produced by an athlete, whether male or female chromosomally, varies, but testosterone is associated with greater athletic prowess. An athlete born male who then takes female hormones may therefore experience a reduction in sports advantages depending on age. If already grown tall with strong bones, some advantages may remain, even after female hormone therapy, for both basketball and track, but decreased for gymnastics. What is fair? This issue has aroused strong feelings on both sides with athletes “transitioning” caught in the middle.

 

Bitcoin has been soaring in value. I confess not knowing how it works, but apparently it requires a great deal of electricity, which limits its use.

 

No word so far from Honduran friends about the allegations against President Hernández, though they never voted for him to begin with.

Convicted drug trafficker testifies that he bribed Honduran president

Ex-cartel leader says he bribed Juan Orlando Hernández with $250,000 in exchange for government contracts and protection

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/11/honduras-president-juan-orlando-hernandez-drug-trafficker-bribe-testimony

In good news for Honduras, Israel donated some supplies of the Moderna vaccine, though enough to cover only a few people. Still, it’s a start. While I have been vaccinated myself (in Feb., how long does protection last?), it will be a while before medical brigades will be back and before I can return to Honduras.

AP, South Sudan faces conflict, a humanitarian crisis and famine, https://news.yahoo.com/south-sudan-faces-conflict-humanitarian-052021817.html  I had a mission to south Sudan in 2006, before independence. Unfortunately, that fledgling nation has had internal conflict ever since. People I saw there were constantly struggling to eke out a meager living in an inhospitable climate amid continual ethnic and political strife. It’s no different now.

 

Here is something we are working to support in Amnesty International, where I am volunteer Caribbean Coordinator for AI, USA: 

The Movimiento San Isidro challenges Cuba’s regime The government has responded with repression. But the dissidents’ movement sees signs of progress, https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2020/12/03/the-movimiento-san-isidro-challenges-cubas-regime

Movimiento San Isidro Explained: What is the San Isidro Movement, posing a stiff challenge to Cuba’s authoritarian regime?

The Movimiento San Isidro started two years ago to protest state censorship of artistic works, and has now become a platform for Cuban dissidents both within and outside the Caribbean nation.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-what-is-the-san-isidro-movement-cubas-7103555/

 

Wow, I keep getting on-line ads in Spanish. How did the all-knowing internet become aware of my command of Spanish?

 

News & Notes: Sundry National & International Topics

 With a daughter and a son who are animal lovers, I note that keeping animals as pets or for utilitarian purposes is a human practice dating back thousands of years, as depictions from antiquity attest.

However, now President Biden’s dogs have been sent back to Delaware after one apparently bit a security guard.

 

March 8 was International Women’s Day, if you noticed.

 

Good for Pope Francis for going to Iraq to try to bridge the religious divide with Shiite Muslims. However, having crowds gather is not good for virus control. Perhaps as he grows older and less mobile, Francis wanted to make sure not to miss this outreach opportunity to the Muslim world.

 

While Democrats are trying to increase voter turnout and access to the ballot, Republicans are busy trying to reduce the number of registered voters, considering that having fewer eligible voters works in their favor.

 

President Biden has restored portraits of former presidents Bill Clinton and GW Bush, removed by Trump, back to their rightful places in the White House. Two female generals’ promotions were delayed until after the election for fear of a negative reaction by Mr. Trump. Unlike Trump, Biden is not putting his name on stimulus checks.

 

While the governor and attorney general of Texas, Mr. Trump, and other Republicans disparage facemasks and insist that wearing one is up to the individual, a right akin to the “right” to carry a gun, unless the person is a hermit, he or she is in contact with other people and therefore could be spreading the virus.

 

Donald Trump has asked Republican organizations to stop using his name and likeness for fundraising. Instead, he wants all donations funneled directly to him. Republican organizations have ignored his request because his name has been good for fundraising and he still remains a party member. Republican operatives seem to have no way right now to ease Donald Trump out of their party and out of politics, so they are making the best of it by continuing to raise money and promote their party in his name. The two sides are locked in an uncomfortable embrace. As long as Trump identifies himself as a member of the Republican Party, he and the party will sink or swim together.

 

SC Senator Lindsey Graham is quite right, that Trump has an appeal that other Republicans lack. Many Trump supporters identify with his norm-breaking statements, often displaying his total ignorance of a subject, just like their own. They can imagine making the very same outrageous declarations themselves if only they dared. When he disparages “Sleepy Joe” or “Crooked Hillary” or “shithole countries” and says, “Grab ‘em by the pussy,” his followers wish they were free to make the same brazen and insulting remarks. He’s a big naughty spoiled child gleefully throwing around his toys with no consequences.

 

AP, At least 20 dead, 600 wounded in Equatorial Guinea blasts, https://news.yahoo.com/20-dead-400-wounded-equatorial-203749197.html

Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea is a former Spanish colony and the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, also one with a longstanding authoritarian government. A massive explosion there has brought attention to a nation rarely appearing in the news. (I’ve translated human rights materials in Spanish from there for Amnesty International.)

Reuters, Trial implicating Honduran president in drug trafficking begins in New York, https://www.yahoo.com/news/trial-implicating-honduran-president-drug-130202487.html  (This is not surprising to my friends in Honduras, who have never voted for the current president.)

 

LA Times, Biden administration to give temporary protected status to thousands of Venezuelans in U.S., https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-administration-temporary-protected-status-183742111.html   Bravo! I’ve helped advise and translate documents for Venezuelan asylum applicants here with grim stories to tell, so have firsthand knowledge of their plight. However, Colombia did it first!  Colombia, a much smaller and less prosperous country, had already given legal status to 1.7 million Venezuelans who have crossed over, as mentioned in my last blog posting. Many have also gone to Brazil and other South American countries. About 400,000 are thought to be in the US, much harder for them to reach. 

Colombia has been generous and has accepted reality, but it’s hard to craft a humane immigration and asylum policy that does not act as a magnet. President Biden is finding that out, as his administration tackles the problem of screening clusters of young migrants now pressing at our southern border. Trump held migrants in check by force at the border, but the urge, the dream, the hope, have been alive for decades. 

 

New York Times The number of migrant children detained at the border has tripled in two weeks to more than 3,250, as the U.S. struggles to find room in shelters. March 8, 2021

 

US reports surge of kids at SW border, a challenge for Biden,
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-health-coronavirus-pandemic-immigration-a8e541613d08a21669e460a3ff5f76a4

 

A surge at the southern border now that Trump is out of office is not surprising. People have been waiting and crowding at the border for a long time now. The pent-up demand, the ethos, the common narrative about a "better life" in the US, as well as real risks and deprivations in their home countries in Central America, have driven people north. The task is how to be fair to those with valid asylum claims while also not incentivizing others. And sometimes there is no clear line between a legitimate and a spurious claim. That's a longstanding problem. When I was living in Honduras in the Peace Corps, from 2000 to 2003, most young people there yearned to go to the US. It was considered a rite of passage and that's still the case. And I've also been an interpreter at asylum hearings where the final decision seems to depend on who is hearing the case. The hearing officer often has seemed to be deliberately goad the respondent, trying to trip them up and often bringing them to tears.

 

Previously, I’d mentioned a Cuban immigration detainee, the great-niece of a former Cuban political prisoner of 22 years whom my Amnesty Group, 211 (to which I still belong), was instrumental in freeing along with 25 others, as recounted in my Confessions book. If we could achieve that back then, surely now this young detainee being held right here in the USA can be released. She has already served 2 years in a Louisiana immigration lockup, while her husband, who arrived with her and was in custody in Arizona, has been free for more than a year now. She left Cuba, she alleges, because the police inflicted blows to her abdomen while pregnant, causing her to miscarry. She reportedly has health problems now and evidence of the blows and miscarriage, but not of police involvement. She was not successful in appealing to Republican lawmakers, so now it’s time to try Democrats.

 

If the virus is finally ebbing, will the elbow bump remain? Maybe it will be kept on as a nostalgic reminder of victory over these hard times. In Honduras, women already have a special greeting for other women, touching each other’s outstretched forearms.

Here is a notification about the charity I’d selected for donations related to my Amazon book sales: “This is the quarterly notification to inform you that the charity you've selected, Pencils of Promise, recently received a donation of $69,652.63 from AmazonSmile, at no cost to you or other customers.” Of course, that is a combined contribution from a number of Amazon book sellers for the charity we had selected, not very well known, which builds schools and provides school supplies to students in developing countries. I had selected it precisely because it is little known and probably doesn’t get a lot of contributions.

Meghan and Harry in their televised conversations with Oprah seem to be settling scores and also seeking publicity for future projects. Meghan makes much of her “black” heritage, but she could pass for several other ethnicities (same for VP Harris) and their son shares his father’s very fair coloring. However, now it seems in vogue to publicly invoke the old “one-drop” rule for “Negro” heritage and to brag openly about it. Some members of my own family are visibly “blacker” than Meghan will ever be, but they don’t make a big deal about it. The former royal couple, especially Meghan, seemed eager to air grievances and personal struggles in their interview, something that Oprah was only too willing to indulge as publicity benefits both her and them. And so much for the imagined fairytale existence being lived by royals. The queen is probably not too pleased.

 

Apologies for being out-of-step with the times in previous comments, as the full picture had not yet emerged. Now more women have come forward to accuse Governor Andrew Cuomo of suggestive remarks and conduct. Having been through bouts of sexual harassment myself during my working life, I’d always just shrugged them off as something expected and “normal.” But I am of an older generation and now may be high time for younger women to finally confront and actually reduce such common annoying and demeaning practices.

 

Here is something inspiring from a previous Obama speech that he plans to put on the outside wall of his presidential library in Chicago, "You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, because you’re ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there’s new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. And it is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow ... America is not the project of any one person. Because the single-most powerful word in our democracy is the word 'We.' 'We The People.' 'We Shall Overcome.' 'Yes We Can.' That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given, to continually try to improve this great nation of ours." (Quite a contrast from the words of our former Tweeter-in-Chief.)

 

One of the hardest aspects of the pandemic lockdown apart from no direct personal contact with family and friends, is often the lack of meaningful activity, especially work. While people often complain about their work, in fact, having a job earning money for themselves and their families actually makes them feel useful. Now during the pandemic, many are really missing their work, quite part from the financial impact. When I was at the occupational therapy association, we stressed the importance for individuals of engaging in “purposeful activity,” purposeful as subjectively defined. Engaging in meaningful and varied activity is even key to the wellbeing of primates, so, as an antidote to boredom, zookeepers will often hide their food in different places to incentivize them to search. The notion may apply to other members of the animal kingdom as well, both domesticated and wild. Wild creatures do keep on seeking food – an almost constant quest--while pet dogs like nothing better than fetching a stick for their owner; both are examples of purposeful animal activity.

 

About 3 years ago, I was scheduled to meet weekly for a limited number of sessions as the interpreter for a severely disabled girl and her mother at the Children’s Hospital outpatient clinic in DC. I was assigned to act an interpreter for a therapist working with the girl and her mother, who both only understood Spanish. Just the mother actually spoke aloud, explaining what the girl meant with her gestures and vocalizations. Somehow, on this child’s last few scheduled visits, the therapist was called away, so I simply spent our allotted time chatting with the mother and daughter, recounting my visits to their home country. At the next-to-last scheduled appointment, I gave the girl a little purse from that country. Such gestures by an interpreter are frowned upon, as we are told to maintain a professional distance. Yet, I was glad to have done that then because the girl did not show up for our last session. When I called their home, the mother told me their scheduled transportation had not shown up. She said her daughter was crying because she couldn’t come. I said to tell her that I had enjoyed knowing her and to keep the little purse as a memento. That’s one of many memorable experiences I’ve had as an interpreter. I do miss the work, but it seems too risky to return right now, especially to in-person sessions.    

 

While polygamy is illegal in Latin America, it's not uncommon to see men there supporting 2 households, though less openly among well-educated and better off families. Male deaths in Latin America from accident, firearms, and gang violence are greater for men than for women and men more often travel alone to the US. The gender gap is not huge, but enough so that men who want 2 women and 2 families, and can afford to support them, often can have both. I know of a number of such cases where the first wife grudgingly has accepted the second in exchange for continued support for herself and her children. I visited one such household on my last visit to Honduras in March 2020, where the first wife no longer sleeps with her husband, but still runs a business with him. But among professional men, it's more like what we have here, with some having a secret mistress for whom they may provide support. However, a married woman found to have been unfaithful is definitely an outcast in Honduras and also to an extent in the US. 

 

On the last posting, I included a commentary on polyandry among brothers in Nepal, a practice that also survives in neighboring Bhutan.

One Woman, Multiple Husbands And The Vanishing Practice Of Polyandry In Bhutan, Polyandry is still practised in Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal and pockets of India, https://dailybhutan.com/article/one-woman-multiple-husbands-and-the-vanishing-practice-of-polyandry-in-bhutan

Having one woman married to several brothers guarantees that their children will all inherit pasture land and flocks together.

From Wikipedia: Polygamy is legal in Bhutan regarding the consent of future wives... Women in Bhutan may by custom be married to several husbands, however they are allowed only one legal husband. The legal status of married couple among polygamous and polyandrous households impacts the division of property upon divorce and survivorship, as well as general admissibility of the marital relationship in courts.

Both polygamy and polyandry are dying out in Bhutan. Polyandry is only present in certain areas...In general, the husbands of one wife are brothers... A well-known example of a person in a polygamous marriage in Bhutan is the 4th King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who is married to four sisters.

I’ve asked friends in Bhutan again for their comments. Here is what one said, Polyandry in marriage does exist in Bhutan, normally in the mountainous places. It is very rare but I came across one such nomad family recently. It is because of their traditions as well as to keep their wealth within themselves. 

 

On these pages, I’ve advocated for the survival of fetuses after reaching a certain stage of development. And I consider it dishonest to simply dismiss abortion as routine “health care.” Yet as the mother of 4 and of a Cuban foster son, I know it’s no easy task to raise children successfully and that even with the best of intentions, we will all make mistakes and face some challenges exceeding our capacity. Unfortunately, too, not all innocent, cuddly babies will grow up to become happy, healthy, productive adults and survive to a ripe old age. Birth is just the beginning. The pandemic has made us more aware of the end, including the inevitability of our own death. Sadly, in our own family, we lost my older son and foster son only one year apart, both in young adulthood, a very dark time. Furthermore, many people have children they cannot adequately care for. As a society, we do have a collective responsibility to endeavor to provide a supportive and remedial environment for all parents and children, and for people at all stages of life. “Right to life” does not end with pregnancy and birth, something many anti-abortion advocates already acknowledge, offering help to mothers after giving birth and opposing the death penalty as well. (Catholic church leaders have now been urging everyone to get vaccinated as a specific prolife measure to protect themselves and others.)

 

Most dreams vanish pretty quickly, but I did recall a recent vivid dream whereby I was feeling very thirsty, really quite parched, but accidentally spilled a glass of water, then joined in a long line before a fountain waiting to fill it up again. Not surprisingly, I awoke with a dry throat and immediately took a swig from a water bottle at my bedside.

 

Trump Shines Again Not as President but as Golden Boy, One Year into the Pandemic, Colombia’s TPS, Black Swan or Butterfly? Burma Ends Experiment in Democracy, Polygamy vs. Polyandry, Cuomo’s Fall from Grace, Bitcoin, Armadillos & Pangolins

           (Apologies for odd spacing, but it resists being fixed. Sorry) 

        The House of Representatives canceled its scheduled session yesterday on            March 4 due to credible reports of a second possible attack on the Capitol.         Adherents of QAnon had designated March 4 as the "true Inauguration            Day," when Donald Trump would be reinstalled in the White House. (Until            1937, presidents were inaugurated on March 4.) But only a few lonely                Trumpists showed up outside the tall fences and barbed wire surrounding            the Capitol and the National Guard on duty. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, had                stayed at Lar-A-Lago.

        While it’s nice now to have an adult back in charge of the national                        government instead of an overgrown baby, we aren’t out of the woods yet,            as the March 4 threat showed. Sen. Ted Cruz commented that Donald                Trump “ain’t going anywhere.” Unfortunately, he’s right. In fact, Trump                seems aiming for revenge and a big comeback.

        https://nypost.com/2021/02/26/mark-meadows-says-trump-                 planning- for-the-next-administration/

So, though it would nice to be able to change the subject, Trump continues to have an amazing grip on his base which his recent presidential defeat seems unable to shake. A substantial percentage of our fellow citizens--enough to keep on causing trouble--still cling to Trump. My son living in W Va. tells me as much. So much for Joe Biden's efforts at bipartisanship and finding "common ground." 

 

Mr. Trump has been expressing vindictiveness against critics and arousing the ire of Democrats who, however, may then become energized to defeat him, as happened in Biden’s landslide election victory and Georgia’s Senate races. As demonstrated by Hillary Clinton’s ignominious loss, it’s not enough for Democrats to simply win by millions more votes, no, they/we have to win by an excessive preponderance to guarantee victory after Republican gerrymandering and given the quirks of our skewed Electoral College system. That system is a recipe for division, not bipartisanship. It would be best for the Republican Party and for national unity if Trump would just gracefully retire from politics and not continue to court extremist Congressional candidates and extremist followers, but he looks unlikely to change. He is also benefitting from direct donations to himself. The threat of physical violence and even civil war by Trumpists continues under the guise of “the right to bear arms.” If the loser can overturn an election outcome by force, as apparently Trump has tried to do, isn’t that the end of democracy?

 

            A goldish dwarf statue of Trump at CPAC was quite a hit. Folks proudly                posing next to the statue seem to be occupying a parallel universe. But,                remember what happened with the Golden Calf? Now it has been revealed         that the statue was actually made, not in the USA, but in China.  (Tried in            vain to copy the an image of the statue for about an hour, but that may be            blocked .)Trump had been busy fundraising for himself even before                       appearing at CPAC, perhaps for his post-election legal defense? House                Republicans voting to decertify Trump’s election loss have not included their         own concurrent wins among these efforts, rather urging decertification only         at the top of  ticket where Biden’s name was marked, but approving the                 “correct” votes for themselves below on the same ballot.

 

It’s been a year since we started becoming aware of the worldwide pandemic. In early March 2020, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, we were just winding down Operation Smile, having successfully dodged the bullet before the full force of the pandemic hit. (See March, 16/17, 2020 postings on this blog.) When I came back home then to Washington, DC, debates about virus spread and wearing masks had already begun. Now, with over half a million lives lost in our country and more than two million lost around the world, is the end in sight? We don’t know yet, but it looks possible, provided that vaccines can reach every corner of the globe. However, it is quite concerning that at least 3 Covid variants have evolved, perhaps more resistant to current vaccines and presenting a real challenge to achieving herd immunity. If this pandemic should actually be conquered, it will be a testament to worldwide cooperation and the first time that such control has succeeded in human history, no thanks to Mr. Trump. While the Biden financial relief package does increase our already ballooning federal deficit, we are now facing a dire emergency perhaps even greater than past world wars and the 1929 depression.

 

According to the best estimates (difficult to measure precisely), both US and world populations have not actually shrunk during the pandemic, but rather have remained virtually static, with US population at about 331 million and world population at 7.8 billion. However, a baby bust, some 300,000 fewer annual births than prior to the pandemic, will affect US population in 2021 and beyond.

 

To help make up for US population shortfall, especially in employment once the pandemic ends, President Biden needs to try to fix our immigration system, while not encouraging too many people to actually come. It’s very hard to thread that needle. Migration is perpetuated by almost universal myths among folks elsewhere about our own promised land, not so different from common beliefs among Americans about achieving happiness only through "true love" and/or financial wealth. We could use some more workers here after the pandemic, but if any newcomers are allowed to stay, that does provide a magnet for the rest. It also prevents people from trying to make things work where they are living now. I’ve witnessed such common idealized aspirations firsthand in Honduras and Cuba, as well as many other places.  

 

On the other hand, Colombia, a nation much smaller and less prosperous than the US, has given 1.7 million illegal immigrants from neighboring Venezuela temporary protective status and a path to citizenship. That humanitarian outreach should serve as an example for the US. I’ve lived in Colombia and my son Jonathan was adopted from there, so kudos to  Colombian President Iván Duque for his brave, bold action.

 

        Both Donald Trump’s slim, unexpected presidential Electoral College victory         in 2016 (not repeated in 2020) and the rise of a worldwide pandemic were            black swan events, also expressions of chaos theory or the butterfly effect,         referring to the flap of a butterfly’s wing leading to a hurricane across the            sea (as mentioned on previous postings). That is, both Trump’s presidency            and the pandemic were unpredictable catastrophes, as their probability of            occurring was very small. Donald Trump himself seemed unprepared for                and surprised by his 2016 victory and also unprepared when the pandemic            engulfed the United States and so he continued to deny its severity, even            after he himself fell ill. Fortunately for humankind, many events are                    predictable, like earth’s rotation around the sun, but a fair number are                surprising “freak” occurrences or accidents. So, we need to be able and                willing to respond when the unexpected occurs, as Trump obviously was not         for the pandemic, or even for his 2016 win or his 2020 defeat. Since he                seems to lack both foresight and hindsight, dare we predict that his

        star will fade? Only if another black swan event occurs would he ever be            able to regain the presidency, so the odds are in our favor.  

        Amid the pandemic quarantine and its repercussions, unexpected happy                surprises are especially welcome, such as a homemade cake brought over            by a friend and neighbor with rose petals on top. 

                    

        March 1 was the 60^th anniversary of the establishment of the Peace                Corps by President John F. Kennedy. Plans are underway to send out            regular Peace Corps volunteers again in 2022, with short-term assignments         for specialized former volunteers occurring right now.

 

The situation in Myanmar has become increasingly dire. The military seems relentless and protesters are still coming out despite casualties, perhaps even more so because of them. We in Amnesty Int’l were disappointed when Aung San Suu Kyi did not stop the expulsion of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar. But now we wonder whether she might have gone along with that in order to maintain her delicate leadership position, now being challenged directly by a military inventing flimsy excuses to depose her? Donald Trump would love to have been able to overturn Biden’s election similarly by force.

 

During the last few years, US airstrikes from on high appear to have replaced ground combat, risking no casualties on our side. 

 

Mystery Illness: “a much larger scale and widespread attack against our diplomatic corps, and our families” https://diplopundit.net/2021/03/03/mystery-illness-a-much-larger-scale-and-widespread-attack-against-our-diplomatic-corps-and-our-families/ [This is a reference to the mysterious illness afflicting US (and Canadian) diplomats first in Cuba, then in China, thought to be caused by microwaves. ]

 

Sandro Castro, nieto de Fidel, presume su "juguetico" Mercedes Benz en las redes sociales (+ VIDEO)

Sandro Castro, nieto del cenicero andante Fidel Castro, mostró en las redes sociales uno de sus “jugueticos” tratándose de un Mercedes Benz, cubanosporelmundo.com [Sandro Castro, Fidel’s grandson, shows off his new “toy,” a Mercedes Benz on social media.]

 

Reuters, Dominican Republic to construct fence along border with Haiti, https://www.yahoo.com/news/dominican-republic-construct-fence-along-215153876.html

 

This just in from Amnesty Int’l: “The trial against the only person accused of the killing of Berta Cáceres will take place on 6-30 April, 2021. We’ll let you know if any further action is needed.” (In La Esperanza, where I lived for more than a year in the Peace Corps and where she also lived and died, her first name is spelled Bertha, but “h” is silent in Spanish.)

Last time, I mentioned that a Muslim friend in Yemen had two wives and that men in Honduras, though legally married to only one woman, often set up a separate household with a second woman and have children with both. That would be characterized as polygamy, but less common is a woman with more than one husband called polyandry. A reader of this blog points out that polyandry has occurred in some far eastern societies, in Nepal and Bhutan, where some of my previous visitors came from and where they have returned. According to Wikipedia: “[P]olyandry in the Himalayan mountains is related to the scarcity of land. The marriage of all brothers in a family to the same wife allows family land to remain intact and undivided.” So I asked friends living in that region to comment on plural marriage there. A young man from Nepal who had once stayed with me immediately obliged. Here is what he said.

 

Greetings from Nepal! So good to hear from you. Regarding your question about polygamy, although it was historically common for men to have two wives, it is a criminal offense these days (has been illegal for around 4 decades now). As a result, the number has gone down significantly. I would go as far as saying it’s absent in the cities. Now, I think men do have affairs and have 'informal wives' on the side but it is frowned upon and highly secret. Additionally, law considers such informal relationships as marriages if the man has children with his mistress. I am certain that the kings who ruled Nepal in the 70s had 2 wives. I don't think the king who ruled in the 80s had 2 wives. I am certain that the kings who ruled since the 90s each had only one wife. 

Regarding your question on polyandry, it is common in the Himalayan community. In fact, brothers still do marry the same woman. Also, it is true that historians claim such practice was started to accommodate with the scarcity that the Himalayan community faced. There is no criminal restriction in law for a woman to marry multiple men but the first marriage is considered void as soon as the woman enters into the second marriage. So, it can be said that there is legal recognition of the practice. To add to that, these days roads have reached the Himalayas and tourism has boosted the Himalayan communities' financial situation exponentially. So, I think the practice will be going down.    

 

If you are curious, I think India has an interesting regime on multiple marriages. I read somewhere that Muslim men in India are allowed to have multiple wives and the justification comes from religion. 

 

Ultimately, it is great to hear that you have taken the shots. Being the third world, Nepal has only procured the Oxford vaccine so far (which has only 75% effectiveness while Pfizer has 95%) and has no plans to buy Pfizer as of now. Anyway, we are taking all the precautions. I would love it if you would keep sending pictures of the house as I enjoy the nostalgia.

 

I also just heard from a man in Nigeria about the kidnapping of school students there. That can happen because in Africa, if students attend school beyond elementary grades, they usually go to sex-segregated boarding schools. This allows parents to outsource some of the problems of dealing with adolescents while also giving their kids more independence and connection with peers. But, of course, staying overnight together in dorms makes students sitting ducks for kidnappers. Years ago, right after the Rwandan genocide, when I was a board member of an organization called Rwandan Children’s Fund, we supported orphaned kids in boarding schools that were their only homes.

 

With New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s conduct toward women now being questioned, it might be asked what are the proper limits? What is the fine line between flirting and harassment? Most women of a certain age, myself included, have been subjected to many unwanted sexual advances during our lifetime, sometimes just half-joking innuendos or catcalls while walking out in public, sometimes more aggressive physical embraces. Not all of these deserve responses because then we’d be living in state of perpetual outrage. But what might be off-limits between a boss and employee? Maybe only zero tolerance should be allowed there, given their unequal workplace relationship. Perhaps Governor Cuomo crossed a red line by making suggestive remarks to women in his employ. He might have reserved those for women outside of work whom he was dating, assuming he even had time for dating. He was crude and insensitive at best. But for romance and lasting partnerships to emerge under whatever are considered proper circumstances, someone has to make the first move. I know a professional man in Honduras said to have first proposed marriage to his future wife (so she told me) while they were having dinner in a restaurant before ever having laid a finger on her. In Cuomo’s case, there are no accusations, at least so far, of actual unwanted touching and I’m not sure whether simple sexual bantering, while perhaps uncomfortable for a female employee, is worth getting too worked up over. When the governor allegedly asked a young woman if she had ever been with an older man, that was very creepy, but could she simply have said, “Your question makes me uncomfortable, so please stop.”? Cuomo may have crossed a line even though he apparently did not threaten or actually touch anyone. But he also may have been caught by evolving mores, as the times, they are a changing. Donald Trump’s physical “grab ‘em by the pussy” is another matter entirely. And Cuomo’s hiding of nursing home deaths is another issue of concern.  

 

While the digital currency Bitcoin has been soaring in value, its value seems especially fragile, as it’s not universally accepted. As mentioned before on this blog, whatever is designated as money only has as much value as people are willing to give it. Bitcoin is valuable because people value it, a tautology. Stock market fluctuations are somewhat similar. Since all money is funny money to a certain extent, I don’t get overly concerned about the national debt. We are living in the here and now, not in the future, and we are confronting a national emergency.

 

The northern “underground railroad” that helped southern slaves to move north is well known, including Harriet Tubman’s prominent role. Less well known is the southbound “railroad” going to Mexico from Texas and neighboring states, allowing a smaller number of “Negro” slaves to escape to freedom. Prior to emancipation, an estimated 3000-5000 slaves did cross the southern border on horseback or simply by walking into Mexico, which had outlawed slavery in 1829.

 

On the subject of Texas, the University of Texas will continue to play the controversial song “The Eyes of Texas” at football games because alumni insist. I remember that song only too well, as we used to sing it daily when I was in kindergarten in El Paso, much to my distress as a five-year-old child. The refrain goes “the eyes of Texas are upon you, all the live-long day; the eyes of Texas are upon you, you cannot get away.” Reportedly, the song was originally inspired by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

I am not the first person to see a certain resemblance between armadillos, thought to transmit leprosy to humans, and pangolins, considered a probable transmitter of Covid. 

Strange as it may seem, both have live births and nurse their young. Neither is particularly cuddly, but each is cute in its own way.

       

 As I approach yet another birthday (never mind which one), I look back on my life and note excruciating personal losses, especially of my dear older son and my Cuban foster son. The death of a younger family member is particularly tragic as we survivors had expected them to carry on after we are gone. At the same time, as the first child born in Boston of a mother from Duluth, Minnesota, and a father originally from Stavely, Alberta, two solid mid-westerners, my life trajectory has been more eventful than might have been expected given my origins. While I’ve lived for more than half century--with many interruptions between--on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, my life experiences have been more varied than those of local friends and neighbors, something I consider a plus. Not only have I been to more than 45 countries and to every continent except Antarctica, almost never just for a vacation, but I’ve also had visitors from all around the world who still keep in touch thanks to the magical internet. None have been strangers, as all visitors come by word-of-mouth. I also have ethnic variety in my immediate family, which includes not only white-bread Caucasian but Asian, African American, and Hispanic ancestry. And I consider myself an honorary Latina, a title bestowed by a Honduran friend, as mentioned in my Confessions book. Because I speak unaccented Spanish (so I’m told), I often “pass” as Hispanic in Latin America, even though not speaking the exact brand of Spanish spoken in a particular country, but with no gringa accent either. That helps me blend in there. Would I ever join a guided tour? I can’t imagine doing so. It’s more enjoyable to be considered “one of us” than “one of them” when in another country. Even in south Sudan, where I did not speak the language and had a different skin color (very dark-skinned folks there), local women would suddenly appear beside me whenever I went out to fetch water, chattering away while taking my arm and fingering my gold earrings. On the way back, they insisted on carrying the full bucket for me.

After being cooped up during the pandemic, I do appreciate my home of more than 50 years, but don’t feel exclusive allegiance to Washington, DC, or even to this country. I find myself especially missing my annual visit to Honduras now in Feb./March, where I’ve gone at this time of year ever since leaving Peace Corps there 17 years ago. Honduras is like my second country and Cuba would be the third if I were still able to go there, which I am not, as recounted in my Confessions book. (That book has been confiscated by travelers returning through the Havana airport, so they’ve said.) Fourth country would be Colombia, where, as mentioned above, I’ve lived before, also the birthplace of my son Jonathan.

        Posting on this blog is not as easy as it looks. Items don’t always appear as         posted, as I find out in a preview, then go back to make corrections "blind"         on the blog itself, and back again to preview to find out that the corrections         failed or made things worse. Sometimes, I just give up and let the                        anomalies remain. Thanks for your indulgence.