Over 60 years after we first met when I was hitchhiking through Europe in 1958, Roland and I have reestablished a phone friendship. Roland is a widower a few years my senior living in California. Perhaps 25 years ago, I located him, but his wife urged him to cease contact, which was probably a wise idea from her standpoint. Chastened by that rebuff, I dared not try to find him again until last year. Then I learned that his wife had died more than 10 years before, just when they were getting ready to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. As someone who made it only to my 24th anniversary, I salute them for their long-lived union. Roland, who is a nudist, made a rafting trip through Grand Canyon not so long ago with his nudists buddies all of whom who had to wear clothing to avoid sunburn.
The following looks like good news.
CNBC, There are about 1 million more job openings than people looking for work
ABC News, Homeland Security warns
of 'increasing but modest' threat of violence from Trump conspiracy
Donald Trump and his diehard supporters have not given up on their dream of reinstating him in the presidency. August seems to be a month of special significance for them. Trump supporters have announced that they still expect him to return triumphantly to the presidency by mid-August. All Trump needs to do is tell them to save their energy and to get out the vote for him when he runs for president again in 2024. But so far, he seems to be enjoying the adulation. If Trump ever told the truth, would e believe him?
And now Trump’s lackeys in the House and Senate are trying to rewrite history to lay the blame for January 6 on Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Either that, or to depict the mob invasion of the capitol as a normal peaceful and patriotic gathering. Although I never got up close on January 6, I saw and heard enough that day to convince me to keep my distance as it was obviously a dangerous situation.
CBS News, Some supporters of
former President Donald Trump believe he will be reinstated as president
Since Trump is barred from Twitter and Facebook, his associates post items for him.
After knowing folks who have worked on the ground in Afghanistan, including with women’s groups, it’s sad to see such efforts now being erased as that country backslides into Taliban control. The Afghan army seems to have retreated. Twenty years of sacrifice of American blood and treasure did not turn the situation around, so maybe was it time to give up and to even stop trying. Would 20 more years have accomplished anything? Support from the US and its allies may have planted some seeds to help those living there to find their own solutions. However, about half the population is thought to still support the Taliban and public support for the current government is weak. After all, Taliban recruitment is taking place right now among Afghan citizens. And the Taliban has considerable support within neighboring Pakistan, which harbored Osama Bin Laden for so many years, also from some Arabic countries. The group derives revenue as well from opium poppy cultivation, drug trafficking, extortion of local businesses, and kidnapping. US efforts in Afghanistan will go down as an abject failure, as all the sacrifices were, at best, only maintaining a fragile peace. The goal of transforming Afghanistan into a modern, more democratic nation, seems to have proved unattainable. And President Biden ordered a too-hasty withdrawal
Purposeful activity is a theme mentioned before on these pages. The American purpose for military action in Afghanistan was not realized, so the effort has been abandoned. Every human—even every primate—seeks purposeful activity. In the wake of the Afghanistan pullout, the Trump presidency, and the pandemic, people are looking for a new sense of purpose as individuals, families, groups, and nations—even as world citizens—because many feel they have lost it.
The whole trans issue has become rather muddled since
an individual apparently may arbitrarily decide what gender to
identify with, despite actual physical attributes. In the old days, trans
folks just cross-dressed and kept a low profile, but now they may take hormones
and even have surgery. Yet some do neither and may be taking self-autonomy to
extremes by adopting a gender identity regardless of biological sex. Apparently
in July, a biological male who “identified” as a woman walked naked into the
female section of a Los Angeles spa to great controversy and outrage. Spa staff
argued that it could not discriminate based on “sexual orientation.” Is this rather
a case of voyeurism, creating havoc, or what? Attempts to change the mores on
this issue may be moving along a bit too quickly. The spa must have lost a lot
of [biologically] female customers.
Chris
Chan is a flamboyant on-line
personality who claims to be a woman but has apparently neither taken hormones
nor undergone surgery, so is thought to have all the usual male parts. Chan
bragged recently about engaging in incest regularly with his/her demented
79-year-old mother and has now been arrested. There seems to have been some
controversy about whether Chan should be held in a women's or men's
prison, though I doubt he/she would be safe in either and should
probably be housed separately from other inmates. It's all been rather confusing
for me as someone who grew up in another era. From press reports, sounds like Chan
is just a man who cross-dresses, not a woman, also someone who has admitted—even
boasted about--engaging in sex with his elderly deranged mother, someone unable
to give proper consent. In an initial court appearance, Chan, looking disheveled
and with scraggly beard growth, reportedly crowed, “I’m famous on the internet.”
Has Chris Chan deliberately tarnished the reputation of transgenderism or what?
New York Post, Vlogger
Chris Chan arrested for alleged incest with mom suffering from dementia
Insider, After her arrest on an incest charge, Chris Chan is being
categorized as male in jail despite being a trans woman
Japan
deserves kudos for
carrying out the Olympics successfully under very trying circumstances.
And Japan did fairly well in terms of medals too. As usual, the US won the total number of medals, though barely besting China in gold medals. Next year, China will have another chance at dominance with
the winter Olympics being held in Beijing.
A 62-year-old Australian, Andrew Hoy, the oldest Olympian, won
silver and bronze in equestrian. The youngest medalist, a 12-year-old girl
from Japan, Kokona Hiraki, won silver in skateboarding. Japan managed to
host the Olympics without onsite spectators.
Kamala Harris, like most vice presidents, does not get a lot of credit for her
work nor does she seem to inching toward the presidency, at least not yet.
Being female does not help her either. And having a thankless task related to
immigration is not likely to bolster her fortunes.
And Covid is still raging. Now in addition to the more threatening
delta variant, there is the even fiercer lambda, not only more contagious but also more resistant to vaccines. Just
as we were feeling greater freedom to go out and about, we are back again to
wearing masks. So has the human race now run its course on our humble planet earth?
Just as we’ve tentatively begun emerging from the pandemic, new, more lethal virus
variants are surging worldwide just as climate change also assaults humankind. The
Trump administration really set us back both on the virus and climate fronts.
This is perhaps not the time to call attention to the fact,
mentioned before on these pages, that American doctors, nurses, and other
medical/health care practitioners, earn far more than their counterparts in
other developed countries, one reason that nurses from the Philippines and even
neighboring Canada, have sought jobs in the US. Medical staff are now mounting
a heroic effort in the wake of the pandemic, so deserve every penny they earn.
We cannot turn back the clock on their pay, but it may be time to put on the
brakes on further increases. Especially, there should be no incentives for
payment for treatment that is not absolutely necessary. I know from my 16 years
at the occupational therapy association that all health professions engage in
continuous lobbying for pay increases and for touting the value of their services.
Texas Judge Says No ICU Beds
For Kids: ‘Your Child Will Wait For Another Child To Die'
Anti-Vax Radio Host Who Called
Fauci a ‘Power Tripping Lying Freak’ Dies of COVID
Dick Farrell, anti-vax rightwing Florida radio host, died after 3 weeks in the hospital. Other
prominent anti-vaxxers have also died of Covid. Excessive individualism has led
to excessive Covid deaths in the US. Podcaster Joe Rogan warned that Covid vaccine passports are merely a step to
“dictatorship.” Name calling, a practice favored by Trump, has replaced
arguments and medical facts. “Give
me liberty and give me Covid,” an epidemiologist commented about a Texas law
that prohibits schools from mandating facemasks and doing contact tracing. A Texas GOP Leader, H. Scott Apley, hospitalized for Covid, died days after
mocking vaccines.
People,
Republican Lawmaker Suing Nancy Pelosi Over Mask Mandate Tests Positive for
COVID [South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman]
Xi
Jinping has
been relentless in exerting control over Hong Kong, as
well as for some time now in
Tibet and
Xinjiang. Next year, China hosts the
winter Olympics, another chance for
China to shine. And Xi has done pretty well with deflecting major blame for
Covid away from China, as well as in expanding his command over his growing domain
and tightening daily controls on ordinary Chinese citizens. At age 68, he has only
a few years left to enlarge and further consolidate his empire and his
authority. His actions so far have evoked only verbal criticism from other
parts of the world, but what if democratically governed Taiwan is next in his sights? Would the US and other powers dare
to challenge him militarily to defend Taiwan? It’s a worrisome prospect.
The Chinese regime now
realizes it went too far in limiting births, sometimes by draconian means. A
young Chinese student staying at my house some years ago told me that he and
his wife had a daughter, all allowed under the one-child policy, though they
would have liked to try for a sibling, preferably a son. Even now, if couples
have 2 children, that is not replacement.
Instead of a baby boom, the pandemic lockdown has resulted in a baby bust. Currently, the US birthrate has been fluctuating between 1.7 and 1.8 children per woman, not good demographic news unless immigration starts picking up again.
Young people of
my acquaintance either want no kids, or one or 2 at most. And those already
with children all seem to have stopped at 2. Now that women can better control
their fertility and are more active in the workforce, some have said that being
pregnant and going through childbirth twice, then changing diapers twice, was
enough. Therefore, in the US, it is not so surprising that overall fertility
has fallen below replacement and that average life expectancy has also gone
down in the wake of the pandemic.
Reuters, Knife
attacker on Tokyo commuter train wanted to kill 'happy women'- NHK [If guns were as readily available in Japan as in the US,
his victims would all have been killed, not just seriously wounded.]
Washington Post, Florida toddler accidentally shoots and kills mother while she is on a Zoom work call, police say [No comment]
Brazil’s President Jair
Bolsonaro is imitating Donald Trump, taking lessons from his playbook and downplaying the virus,
but doesn’t Bolsonaro see that that the virus surged in the US and that Trump
was not reelected? Or does he believe that Trump actually won?
Reuters, Major
earthquake in Haiti felt across Caribbean, sparks tsunami warning [Haiti’s bad luck just doesn’t end.]
Biden authorizes US response to Haiti following fatal 7.2-magnitude earthquake
Reuters, Haiti
elections to replace slain president postponed to Nov. 7 -media
Miami Herald, Haiti judge charged with overseeing presidential murder
probe quits over safety concerns
Miami
Herald, Amid tangled Haiti assassination plot, a mysterious figure
emerges from the shadows
[The situation in Haiti is getting pretty hard to follow. Back in the day, when I made missions there, I had trouble trying to predict and figure things out, but usually failed to get a clear picture. Therefore, the current mysteries are not so surprising to me.]
Reuters, One month after Haitian president slain, painful confusion prevails
Reuters, Haiti
requests U.N. commission to probe president's killing
Mexican President Andrés López Obrador has proposed that Cuba be declared a “World Heritage Site” for serving as an “example of resistance” against U.S. aggression, as
he characterizes the trade embargo. Does he
really think that what most Cubans are actually yearning for is an end to the
US embargo? The embargo merely means that the Cuban government must pay in cash,
not with credit, for the large quantities of food and medicine it imports from
the US, something some other countries also demand because Cuba has a
reputation for not paying its debts.
López
Obrador has long praised Cuba for its medical expertise and supports a Nobel
Peace Prize for Cuba for its sending of doctors to missions abroad, something
that has been paused during the pandemic.
From the Cuba
Archive: The
Cuban regime propagates the myth that it is a medical power and seeks by all
means to neutralize claims of its exploitation of Cuban medical workers abroad,
from whom it derives its main source of income. To this end, its diplomatic
corps and propaganda-influence apparatus, aided by its international allies,
have unleashed a gigantic global campaign to support the nomination of
Cuba's Henry Reeve Emergency Medical Brigade for the 2021 Nobel Peace
Prize.Cuba does train its doctors well, but their use at home on the island is limited. And now Cuban is being hit hard by the pandemic.
The Cuban flag mirrors the Puerto Rican flag, but with colors reversed.
(The Puerto
Rican flag has red stripes and a blue triangle.) Lots of Cuban
flags have been seen lately at demonstrations in front of the White House and
the Cuban Embassy.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-treasury-sanctions-cuban-officials-military-unit-over-violence-2021-08-13/
Miami
Herald, Coast Guard returns 29 migrants to Cuba after spotting vessels
off the Florida Keys
Miami Herald,
Hundreds of Cuban protesters are still detained, including prominent dissidents
The Hill,
Blinken to diplomats: 'I wish we had more answers' on Havana syndrome
Miami Herald, COVID pushes Cuba’s health system near collapse. U.S. wants to
send vaccines [Cuba said, “No thanks.”]
AP, More
Cubans try dangerous trip to US across Florida Straits
AFP, Cuba
legalizes small and medium enterprises in boost for private sector
BBC, St Vincent and the Grenadines leader hit during anti-vaccine
mandate protest https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58110684
AP, Nicaraguan
police raid storied opposition newspaper [La Prensa]
Deadline, ‘Riverdale’ Boss
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Pleads For Information On Missing Father In Nicaragua
.... State Department spokesman Ned Price said ... that in the past two months, the regime had
arrested 32 political opponents and pro-democracy figures, “including seven
presidential candidates, a vice-presidential candidate, student activists,
private sector leaders, defense attorneys, and others.” [Father
is activist named Francisco Aguirre-Sacasa.]
BBC,
Nicaragua opposition party barred from elections ... The
electoral council, which is tied to the ruling party, also revoked the
citizenship of CXL's leader Carmella Rogers Amburn, also known as Kitty
Monterrey, leaving her at risk of deportation...
AP, EU
says Ortega crushed prospect of fair Nicaraguan elections
A baby in Singapore delivered
at 25 weeks and weighing only 7.5 ounces went home after
a year in the hospital. As an interpreter, I’ve seen children
born at about that same stage, though with a little higher birthweight and,
yes, with some development problems, but still able to do a lot of “catching
up.”
I’ve learned a few useful lessons during my long, often difficult and painful, even tragic, but always interesting and eventful, life. I took the road less traveled in marriage, friendships, parenting, work, and volunteering. Much of both the triumph and tragedy I’ve experienced personally is due to my propensity to take a chance, to go out on a limb, to go beyond what is normally expected of or considered usual by a woman of my ethnicity, background, and upbringing. I may look like a rather cookie cutter little old white bread lady (to mix metaphors), though I’ve had very different experiences than most neighbors and age peers. Now I don’t have many years left to actually benefit from or put into practice all I’ve learned during my lifelong journey.
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