First, I must confess, looking back at my original blog, https://honduraspeacecorps.blogspot.com/,
halted by gmail without warning and requiring me to start this whole new blog, I found that Andrew Yang had been misidentified there as Andrew Young (I’d only heard him on the radio and never seen his name spelled out.). Just now, I tried to correct that long-ago spelling error but guess that posting was too old and I no longer have access. So, I am currently correcting that right here and now, yes, his name is Andrew Yang and I still hope he wins a consequential office someday, as he has a very useful and practical vision, perhaps too far ahead of our time.
It’s very spooky when writing a message on gmail, either in Spanish or English, to see corrections pop up, even anticipating what I want to say—and usually right-on. Has that happened to anyone else? Does gmail read our mind? Or is it that our own expressions are entirely predictable and stereotypical, reflecting the society and culture we live in?
Hooray, fencing around the capitol, erected after the Jan. 6 assault by Trump supporters, is finally coming down. It’s quite an eyesore and inappropriate for the “People’s House.”
July 9 was my late (younger) brother Bob Currie’s birthday, a day of special remembrance. He was a well-known south Florida architect whose buildings live on. While some still consider it bizarre, I do favor displaying the body of the deceased at a funeral, as happened at my brother’s funeral, so that everyone knows the right person is really there, is really dead, and won’t be coming back. Likewise, it seems right to have loved ones’ remains found and physically identified in the condo collapse. It does give “closure” in the form of certainty.
From my sister, living in Pa., I’ve just learned
that someone can get too hydrated by drinking too much water, even
in hot weather, as she recently was hospitalized for excessive hydration.
A worldwide ransomware attack has again shown the vulnerability of the global computer system so vital to operations in the modern world. My sister and her husband, who refuse to connect to the internet, feel somewhat smug about living their lives completely outside it and free, though much of their existence still relies on internet connections whether they realize it or not. Only remote villages, such as those where I’ve volunteered with medical brigades in Honduras, are truly “off the grid” without any electricity or internet. Yet, even there, passing vehicles are able to transport folks to the outside world.
AP, Building collapse lawsuits seek to get answers, assign blame https://apnews.com/article/building-collapses-lawsuits-surfside-building-collapse-d4070372e0a7d746962a768155255339
A reader points out that condo unit buyers sign an agreement at the outset to fund “special assessments” levied by their elected condo board; at Champlain Towers, that was $80,000 per unit. It's easy to see that apartment owners might balk at paying $80,000, especially if the place looked and felt pretty solid to them. In a large condo, it would be hard for individual owners to feel much responsibility for the whole. But in this case, their life depended on it. Whom would aggrieved relatives seek to sue in the condo collapse? Their own deceased family members may have shared much of the responsibility. (Demand for Condos is unlikely to rise very soon.)
Business Insider, 99.5% of COVID-19 deaths in the US are now in unvaccinated people, CDC head says
TIME, There's a Proven Way to
Reduce Gun Violence in America's Cities. We Just Need to Fund It Excerpt: “CVI
programs connect people most impacted by violence with the mental health
supports they need to begin to heal from complex trauma, and help them develop skills
to cope in stressful, sometimes life-or-death situations.” [Gun violence is not just a
matter of firearms availability, but also of the emotional state of a shooter.]
New York Times, In
Michigan, Pro-Impeachment Republicans Face Voters' Wrath
[This article
describes folks at a pro-Trump gathering, expressing a view common in rural W
Va., where my son lives.] Many of them inhabited an alternative reality in
which Trump was reelected, their votes were stolen, the deadly Jan. 6 mob was
peaceful, coronavirus vaccines were dangerous and conservatives were oppressed.
Yes, Trump’s continuing powers of persuasion and people’s gullibility are truly mind-boggling. This strange phenomenon of real-world facts being totally rejected may derive from fears of a hostile outside world now being controlled by alien or unfriendly forces. So, when reality collides with facts, it might just be easier for folks to change their view of the facts rather than change the facts themselves. Solidarity with likeminded fellows just bolsters their convictions. Donald Trump has really tapped into a vein. If Trump himself were ever arrested, his supporters would erupt, so it might be best to simply indict his enablers, leaving the man himself to play golf all alone until his final days.
About accusations of election fraud, if elections cannot be trusted, what’s the point of even voting? Maybe that’s the real point of spreading such doubts, something which Republicans may find comes back to bite them.
Daily News, Trump praises Jan. 6 rioters as ‘patriots’ and ‘peaceful people’ “The crowd was unbelievable and I mentioned the word ‘love.’ The love in the air — I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump was quoted as saying by Politico. “That’s why they went to Washington.” [Hey, I actually live just blocks from the Jan. 6 assault, which according to my own eyes and ears was anything but “peaceful” or a lovefest.]
The Biden administration’s new policy of no longer detaining pregnant undocumented women is an open invitation for some to try to get pregnant before their journey north.
Reuters, Canadian indigenous group takes charge of child welfare services I wonder if we will ever hear from someone who had attended a native boarding school in Canada or the US who might actually have had a pretty good experience and gone on to a successful life? Surely that must have happened sometimes, if anyone now dares to come forward.
New York Times, Tammy Duckworth on Her Fight to Shield Veterans From Deportation
After 20 years without success, US troops are leaving Afghanistan. If the Taliban could not be vanquished by American forces, Afghan forces can hardly be expected to do so alone. But it’s their survival, so we’ll see if they prove up to task. Probably not, since the other side has been too relentless over decades, even against the Soviets before the US got involved. Wall St. Journal, Afghan Government Could Collapse Six Months After U.S. Withdrawal, New Intelligence Assessment Says
Insider, India is proposing a 2-child policy to keep its population under control, and it includes cash benefits for couples who opt for voluntary sterilization
AFP, 'Just a dream': hope for South Sudan dashed
AFP, South Sudan's bloody first 10 years
In 2006, I had a mission to south Sudan and wrote about it https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/627/article/template-post-treaty-darfur
Then after independence in 2011, I’d joyfully
joined an outdoor celebration of the new nation of South Sudan in
Washington, DC. But now, after a decade of intertribal and interethnic war
there, it’s time to admit that our hopes for that newest of nations have fallen
short. The reasons are not due to anything tangible, but rather to clashes of
emotions, to rivalries, and to efforts at one-upmanship, probably the reason
for most human setbacks and tragedies everywhere at all times.
The Peace Corps is starting to return
to overseas posts, most recently to Belize for literacy remediation
after the pandemic, when schools there had been closed.
I’ve been to many Caribbean countries, to some
like Haiti, Cuba, the DR, Jamaica, Bahamas, British and US Virgin Islands, and
Puerto Rico, more than once, even numerous times. Will I be able to go back to
Cuba in my lifetime? (I certainly could not go back there otherwise.)
Between 2015 and 2017, I wrote series of articles
about Cuba for the Huffington Post, always fact-checked by the Post
before publication. At the end of 2017, the Post stopped accepting
outside submissions. However, my first article, Peace Corps in Cuba? You
Heard It Here First, came out on April 1, 2015. Now, I wonder if
that is a real possibility?
I went to Haiti several times
in the 1990s, mostly for election monitoring and related work. Haiti once attracted
tourists and its factories made shoes and clothes for export. Much tourism and manufacturing
went downhill after the cholera outbreak in 2010, brought to Haiti by Nepalese UN
Peacekeepers deployed after the earthquake, one calamity after another.
Peace Corps in Haiti was suspended in 2005. Then after the massive earthquake there in 2010, Peace Corps Response volunteers (those with prior experience) went back to Haiti to help out. A series of smaller quakes occurred there in late 2020. Now, if life in Haiti can regain some semblance of normality, maybe the Peace Corps can return to help rebuild the country.
Just a reminder that the Caribbean is my responsibility as volunteer chair for the Caribbean for Amnesty International USA, hence my frequent focus on that part of the world, which is now in the spotlight. I’ve been to many Caribbean countries, some like Haiti, Cuba, the DR, Jamaica, Bahamas, British and US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, more than once, even many times. Will I be able to go back to Cuba in my lifetime? (I certainly could not go back there otherwise.)
Washington Post, Jamaica set to seek reparations from Britain over slave trade
Mayorkas
says migrants shouldn’t travel illegally by sea from Cuba or Haiti Protests are exceedingly rare
in Cuba because of widespread government controls and harsh penalties
for participants. But Cuba just saw its first largescale protest in 27 years. Demonstrators in Havana reportedly chanted “freedom” amid a
heavy police presence. Is the absence
of a Castro in the presidency a contributing factor? Just by the laws of
evolution, of change, tight government controls will ebb eventually. Nothing
stands still forever. So, finally, after more than 6 decades, Cubans are
managing to express their discontent and finding strength in numbers. Now that
the genii is out of the box, after they have successfully tested their power, more
mass protests will follow, though planning and organization will remain very
difficult because of government controls on communications media and constant police
surveillance, also infiltration by government agents.
Axios, In photos: Thousands of Cubans
take to the streets for anti-government protests
AP, Demonstrators in Havana protest shortages,
rising prices
AP, Police patrol Havana in large numbers
after rare protests
Miami Herald,
Thousands of people flood streets near Little Havana to support protesters in
Cuba
Reuters, Cuba protests spark
demonstrations in Latin America From Miami to Mexico City, protests have
erupted across Latin American communities this week in solidarity with
demonstrators in Cuba. On Tuesday, protesters in Mexico City gathered outside
the Cuban embassy, banging pots and pans, chanting "Free Cuba."
Miami Herald, Biden does the right thing by taking a step away from
Obama’s Cuba policy | Opinion
The Guardian, At
least 140 Cubans reportedly detained or disappeared after historic protest
Axios, Cuba's government confirms
death of man at protest as police detain dozens of people
Our campaign at Amnesty International on behalf of the
San Isidro movement and for the release of former POC Luis Manuel Otero could
well have contributed to the willingness of Cubans to take to the streets.
Amnesty International advises calling on the Cuban
government to allow peaceful protests and keep promoting the following petition https://lallamaeterna.org/
And look on the AI website for Action circular #SOSCuba-#
I made several trips to Cuba in the 1990s as a tourist and stayed with Cuban families, traveling from one end of the island to the other, as per my Confessions book. While as a matter of principle, Amnesty International opposes embargos, the US embargo against Cuba is not quite as drastic as it sounds, because Cuba imports most of its food (last time I looked, even more than it produces) from the US and also many of its medicines. Because Cuba has been notorious about not paying its debts, the US requires payment on delivery. So that is perhaps the main practical effect of the embargo. Greatly reduced tourism is probably having a bigger economic impact now than the embargo. the United States is Cuba’s biggest provider of food and agricultural products. In 2018, the United States exported food and medicines worth $276 million to Cuba, and it sends an estimated $3.5 billion a year in family remittances to the island.
L The current situation in Haiti is also dire with no
easily identifiable good or bad guys, nor any identifiable solution. Action is
called for on multiple fronts. In my many years as an Amnesty International
volunteer chair for the Caribbean, Haiti has always presented almost impossible
challenges.
AP, Haiti President Jovenel Moïse
assassinated
AP, Moïse assassination impacts Haitian
community [in the US]
Washington Examiner,
Haiti's ambassador to US calls for military assistance after president Jovenel
Moise's assassination
Axios, White House to send federal law
enforcement to Haiti
Miami Herald, Colombians held in Haitian president’s
assassination say they were hired by Miami-area firm
Here is Amnesty
International’s recent statement on Haiti: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/haiti-investigation-urged-into-killing-of-haitian-president-and-grave-human-rights-violations-under-his-watch/
Miami Herald, A neurosurgeon with a public
health portfolio is Haiti’s newest prime minister
Politico, Haitian opposition leader mounts D.C. lobbying campaign
Reuters, Haitian leaders battle for power after
assassination
New York Post, https://nypost.com/2021/07/11/gang-boss-decries-killing-of-haitian-president-threatens-war/
I In the 1990s, I also made
several trips to Haiti to investigate human rights and voting rights issues
there, including as an election observer in 1990 when Aristide was
elected. I met again during that time with former President Jimmy
Carter, also doing election monitoring in Haiti--a photo of us together
appears on p.80 of my Confessions book-- I’d already met Carter at the
White House, and also when we were both election observers that same year in
Nicaragua. On p.81 of my Confessions book is a photo I took of a
victorious Violeta Chamorro in Nicaragua and one of a Haitian man with a
rooster on his head celebrating Aristide’s victory, as the rooster was
his special symbol. That was in 1990, but the trajectory has been strictly downhill
lately for both Haiti and Nicaragua.
The mostly Colombian assassins in Haiti apparently
first landed in the neighboring Dominican Republic, crossing over the porous border between the DR and Haiti.
In photos, Haitian police are wearing black facemasks, something common among
security forces and police throughout Latin America to protect their identity
long before the pandemic. (In Honduras, I’ve even seen facemasks on armed hospital
and bank guards.)
[President Biden is correct, in my judgement, to reject calls from Haitian leaders to send in American troops to restore order.]
As for Nicaragua, I
thought we’d already won that fight back in 1990!
BBC, Nicaraguan
opposition activists held as crackdown intensifies Police in Nicaragua have
arrested two student activists and three members of the Farmers' Movement in
its latest crackdown on the opposition. Among those arrested on Monday night
was Medardo Mairena, who was planning to run for the Nicaraguan
presidency. His arrest brings the number of presidential hopefuls detained
since the beginning of June to six. President Daniel Ortega is expected
to stand for a fourth consecutive term in the election in November.
No longer is Ortega trying to hide the lengths he will go to stay in power. We’re back again to Sandinista days. In 1990, I joined Nicaraguans celebrating his defeat at Violeta’s home, but now her own offspring are under house arrest or in exile under Ortega’s current crackdown. Once he got his foot back in the door in 2006 by winning the most votes, but not a majority (as was permitted by the Nicaraguan constitution), he has since become increasingly autocratic.
BBC News, Nicaraguan opposition
activists held as crackdown intensifies
AP, Mexico sentences 5 Hondurans for kidnapping other migrants [and soliciting ransom from US-based relatives].
Reuters, Honduras arrests five in mob
killing of Italian man
The Guardian, Berta Cáceres assassination: ex-head of dam company found
guilty
From Amnesty International website: Good
news! On
5 July 2012, David Castillo, former manager of the company Desarrollos
Energéticos, and the person in charge of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project,
was found guilty of participating as co-author in the 2016 murder of Honduran
human rights defender Berta Cáceres.
/////////////////////////
On the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, not only is Xi considering next how to take over Taiwan, but how to supersede the US both economically and in terms of world prestige and power.
In other
news, Turkish sheepherders create a very special cheese from
sheep’s milk. I’m trying to envision milking a sheep.
JUEGOS OLÍMPICOS DE TOKIO
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