son in W. Va.
Some Republicans are busy spreading rumors (not based on any facts) that Dr. Fauci is somehow responsible for the spread of Covid around the world, as well as in our own country. That sounds like an idea that originated with Donald Trump, king of liars. Are the internet and instant messaging really a net good for humankind after all?
Are we in a situation now where voters only accept that an election was fair if their candidate has won? Face it, Mr. Trump and Trump supporters, you have never represented a majority in this country. It was a fluke, an unfortunate accident, that Donald Trump ever became president to begin with, back in 2016 only because of the quirky way votes fell under the Electoral College system. Once in office, Trump had chance to win over the majority, but he never did. He never even tried. But he still claims to have won again in 2020 without any evidence.
After Rep. Liz Cheney was ousted from her leadership position, Trump wrote "Liz Cheney is a bitter, horrible human being," also calling her a “warmonger.” Trump is very big on name-calling, very small on identifying what issues Cheney supports that he might disagree with and why. Instead of a secret ballot, a voice vote was conducted by her fellow Republican Congress members. Fearful of alienating Trump’s supporters among their constituents, especially with Trump planning to run primary candidates if they strayed even an inch, few dared to publicly support Cheney. In the short term, Mr. Trump has won this round, quite a spectacle, but Cheney is right that the Republican Party needs to find a way to move completely away from Trump to survive long-term.
After Biden waffled on refugee numbers for a while, one of my Amnesty International colleagues announced a victory: Biden Proposes to Receive 62,500 Refugees!
Simmering grievances and mistrust between Arab and Jewish citizens have bubbled up within Israel and between Israel and Gaza. I won’t go into great detail, because the press has already done that, though it does seem that the Israeli government started things off by evicting or threatening to evict Palestinians from Jerusalem. Arabs living in Israel have apparently felt themselves to be second-class citizens, as well they might, given that Israel defines itself as a “Jewish state.” Trump cut off all support to Palestinians. Israel’s destruction of a building in Gaza that housed Associated Press and other media seemed excessive and unjustified. Israel is not faring well in world opinion. And where is Hamas getting all the rockets it launches at Israel? More could be said, but I’ll leave it there.
A man totally paralyzed and unable to speak had a device inserted into his brain enabling him to communicate by spelling out words, but only wordlessly just in his mind. So many children and adults with whom I’ve worked via the occupational therapy association, in Honduras, and as a Spanish interpreter would benefit from such a system, even some not as severely disabled as the subject of this experiment. I once attended a “talk” by the late Stephen Hawking, where he sat on stage in his wheelchair while his pre-recorded words were rendered in artificial but intelligible speech.
One reason I am not a supporter
of the death penalty, besides the fact that some people do change over
time, is that innocent individuals can be and have been executed for crimes
they did not commit. But if that is only discovered after they are
already dead, then it’s too late to release them and make amends. Death row
inmates often declare their innocence and not all actually are innocent,
but some really, truly are. Which ones? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Where a
mistake has been made and found out later, there can be no redress if the
person has already been put to death. 4 Years After an Execution, a
Different Man’s DNA Is Found on the Murder, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/us/ledell-lee-dna-testing-arkansas.html
Five
young undocumented migrants, including a 2-year-old and an infant, were by
themselves when they were apprehended in South Texas at the U.S.-Mexico border...
The
oldest of the migrants, all of whom were girls from Honduras and Guatemala, was
7, Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. None needed medical
attention, the agency said.
An
agent with Customs and Border Patrol spotted the girls near Normandy, about 2½
hours southwest of San Antonio, on Sunday, the agency said.
"It is heartbreaking to find such small children fending for themselves in the middle of nowhere," said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Austin L. Skero. https://www.yahoo.com/news/five-undocumented-children-including-infant-025118869.html
So, mothers and fathers are sending their small children across the border, trusting in the United States to take good care of them. This mythical confidence is misplaced, as kids need their parents more than whatever benefits might await them in our own country. The migrants now crowding US borders, as well as African and Middle Eastern migrants risking their lives to reach Europe, are placing an almost religious faith in a promised land. Yet, their destination is just another part of planet earth peopled by ordinary human beings. These pilgrimages, taking place in different parts of the world, are still another manifestation of the ethos or mindset mentioned last time, that reaching some magical goal will erase all individual human problems thereafter. Media and aspirational books feed on and perpetuate these same myths. Sorry, folks, there is no magic bullet, no heaven on earth.
Has Honduras become a 'narco-state'?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56947595
A lot of credible suspicion
surrounds the president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández. Honduras is a relatively
small country, both in area and population (nearing 10 million). Word gets
around there. Folks often actually know each other and are pretty aware of what
others are doing. Heck, people there even know me, as I’ve found while volunteering
at a hospital or even when boarding a bus and someone shouts out “¡Doña Bárbara!” or even “¡Doctora Bárbara!”
It's hard to believe his own brother was heavily involved in the drug trade and the president knew nothing about it.
“Havana Syndrome,” a mysterious invisible set of long-lasting problems, has afflicted not only American and Canadian diplomats in Cuba, but also in China. At first, it was dismissed, but now is under serious scrutiny, although prevention and remedies are still elusive. Many US Embassy functions have been moved out of Cuba entirely, making it difficult for Cubans to get visas to leave via normal means.
On April 29,
we in Amnesty International launched a worldwide campaign, The Eternal Flame, to support Cuban artists and others being seriously threatened, harrased,
and detained by the government. After a November 2020 protest, the government subjected these individuals to state
surveillance and house arrest. In March and April 2021, the Cuban’s government
extended their surveillance to include approximately thirty activists. Not long
ago, a Cuban artist was forceably
removed from his home and taken to a hospital by state security agents. [ZS1] [AF22]
Why is one
of Cuba's most rebellious artists still isolated in a government hospital?
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/12/americas/cuban-dissident-artist-hospitalized-intl-latam/index.html
New
campaign for Cuba, #TheEternalFlame.
Also on the AI website, look for Cuba: Amnesty
International and artist Erik Ravelo launch ‘The Eternal Flame’, a digital
conceptual memorial in support of San Isidro Movement and freedom of expression
Also on the AI website see: The members of the San Isidro Movement are human rights defenders who stand to protect a very basic freedom, the right to peacefully express their minds and souls. Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International
This project represents the flame of freedom: a flame that never goes out, a contemporary action that never ends and that is kept alive by our solidarity with artists defending freedom of expression. Erik Ravelo
Reuters, Cuban government ends leading dissident's hunger strike, https://www.yahoo.com/news/cuban-government-ends-leading-dissidents-163137638.html
The San Isidro Movement led by Otero, a performance artist, is a dissident group that includes a few dozen artists, writers and activists. Members of the San Isidro Movement in November had staged a hunger strike against censorship and harassment of independent creators and activists by the Communist government. Police ended the hunger strike, prompting a rare protest by around 300 people in front of the Culture Ministry in Havana. Authorities since then have vilified members of the group as outside agitators working with the United States. Its members repeatedly have been temporarily detained and often told they cannot leave their homes, with communications cut. Otero was arrested a few weeks ago as he protested a Communist Party congress by sitting in a garrote. Authorities seized or destroyed some of his art. Later, he was taken to a hospital against his will.
Luis
Manuel Otero Alcántara: Cuban dissident's health stokes allies' fears, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56947591
Washington, DC, May 3, 2021 Center for a Free Cuba (CFC). The life of opposition activist and independent artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is in imminent danger in Cuba. State Security agents took him from his home on Sunday, May 2 and transferred him to the Calixto García Hospital located in the Cuban capital according to official sources, however, his real condition and location have not been confirmed by his family or close friends. This secretive situation has triggered the suspicion of human rights organizations and their defenders outside the Island, as well as within the country.
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