Virus Updates, No W in Spanish, Trump’s War Chest, Transgender Athletes, Cuba and Haiti

 

Just as we vaccinated folks were beginning to feel a little freer to venture out again, new virus variants emerged, putting us right back at home, especially those of us in more vulnerable age groups. But the virus is still in control; we are not. Yet red-state governors, like Florida’s Ron DeSantis, decry lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and masks as if the virus really cares about politics. For DeSantis, the virus, now killing Floridians at an alarming rate, is apparently a joke, as in his coining of the term “Faucian dystopia.” His followers may no longer survive to vote for him.

 

Both the governors of Texas and Florida seem to consider it a matter of individual rights to ban mask mandates in public schools, prohibiting localities from enacting them, though, of course, individual parents and students may choose mask wearing. The virus really doesn’t care about individual rights. Those same governors have also loudly prohibited school districts from expressing local rights through mask mandates for schools. The result is a surge of infections in both Florida and Texas.

 

My son’s friend Bryan, who was unvaccinated and had some pre-existing conditions, has just died of Covid. Here he is with my son Jon in May.

He was a faithful and wry friend survived by twin sons now in their 20s. Jon said while Bryan was in hospice last week, they speculated together in a phone conversation about what he might experience after death. Bryan said he would soon find out. He is only the second person I have known who has actually died of Covid. The first was Haruna, a man from Nigeria, who had once stayed with me and had a visa for a return visit, but then the virus halted all travel and he died 2 weeks after falling ill. 

Miami Herald, Judge rules ex-Castro prisoner Ana Rodriguez can be evicted from her Miami home

[I’ve met Ana Rodríguez, as chronicled in my Confessions book. She was a medical student imprisoned for 19 years by the Castro regime. A photo I took of her appears on p.188. She is close to my own age. Like my sister, Ana told me she refused any internet connection in part to guard her privacy. Now her situation is no longer private, which may ultimately help her stay in her home.]

Unless words or names are taken from other languages, Spanish does not use the letter w. In fact, in my Spanish-English dictionary, there is no entry for words starting with w in the Spanish section. And the Spanish word for swastika is svástika. But Spanish does have other letters we don’t use in English, such as ll and ñ, which do have sections for words starting with those letters in my bilingual dictionary. In Spanish, h is always silent. Double r, as in rr, has a longer and more guttural sound than a single r and the letter r is also stronger as the first letter of a word. There is a Spanish tongue twister based a strong r sounds, rápido ruedan las ruedas del ferrocarril (fast roll the railroad wheels).

Reuters, Trump raises big money in early 2021, but doesn't spend much Apparently, Trump’s appeals for donations from the faithful are having a big impact, as he’s raked in quite a lot of money during the first half of 2021, but he’s not spending it or sharing it with other Republican candidates. The guy is typically hoarding it all for himself. Trump has never been generous, always miserly, so that’s no big surprise.

 

Yahoo News, Poll: Two-thirds of Republicans still think the 2020 election was rigged These are folks who continue to put their trust in the words of a serial liar like Trump and certainly would vote for him again. Thank goodness that’s not enough to put him back in office. If he runs and loses again, they can continue griping ad nauseum about election rigging.

 

I must admit, as mentioned in my Confessions book, that prior to the advent of Donald Trump, I couldn’t imagine a worse president than GW Bush. Put that down to a failure of imagination. Now, in comparison to Trump, he has moved up a notch. GW himself has acknowledged wryly, “I don’t look so bad anymore.” His current avocation of painting seems pretty harmless.

Here’s another hot button issue. USA Today, Roe v. Wade was a lousy decision. The Supreme Court should take the opportunity to overturn it. [The main argument here is that there is no constitutional right to abortion.]

What about transgender athletes, an issue highlighted by the Olympics?

If a male has gone through puberty and has already grown taller and stronger than most females, with heavier bones and bigger muscles, that advantage would last even after taking female hormones. New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, who apparently was a male weightlifter and had already developed large-muscle strength, may have decided instead to start taking female hormones and compete as a female weightlifter.

Despite taking female hormones, Hubbard’s testosterone levels are said to be 5 times higher than the average female’s. Hubbard, who “transitioned” at age 35, still looks a lot like a man in weightlifting photos.  

Hubbard is not the only athlete who has gone from male into female sports, only one of the most prominent. However, after all the publicity and controversy, Hubbard failed to score a win at the Olympics. Years ago, before hormones and surgery were available, transgender folks just had to make do with cross-dressing. Some winning Olympic female track athletes look distinctly masculine in photos, but that may be their natural state without necessarily implying any gender change. And Olympic athletes as young as 12 have appeared this year, some not yet fully developed to their adult potential. 

The following headlines tell the story of a growing virus threat in the US, as well as of capitol rioters’ reckoning, deportations, and ongoing developments in Cuba and Haiti, which fall under my Caribbean volunteer responsibility for Amnesty Int’l USA.

LA Times, Editorial: Bring on the crackdown. The unvaccinated must be held accountable

 

H Scott Apley died five days after publishing an anti-vaccine post on Facebook.

 

Washington Post, New DHS plan will offer J&J vaccine to migrants

 

Buzz Feed, A Judge Questioned If Capitol Rioters Are Getting Off Too Easy For “Terrorizing Members Of Congress”

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/565732-biden-administration-restarts-fast-track-deportation-flights

 

Miami Herald, /U.S. barriers to Cuban, Haitian asylum seekers violate our humanitarian obliga obligation | Opinion

Miami Herald, For the first time, Cuba approves Cuban-owned Miami company to do business on the island   The Cuban government has authorized a company owned by Miami businessman Hugo Cancio to operate on the island, an unusual ruling on a request that Cancio submitted more than a year ago that was initially rejected. A decree signed by Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca allows Cancio’s Miami-based Fuego Enterprises to sell food as well as artisanal and other consumer goods in Cuba. It was published July 28 in the island’s Official Gazette.

Miami Herald, There’s no either-or in Cuba. U.S. can both strengthen the people and weaken the regime | Opinion Carlos Saladrigas The July 11 protests in Cuba proved that people are frustrated with an unresponsive and arrogant government. Their courage has become a beacon of hope seen around the world. Yet, while nationwide uprisings may have caught Cuban authorities by surprise, the outpouring of anger and frustration was entirely foreseeable. The Cuban people have lived inside a pressure cooker for far too long. Something had to give. Despite the government’s distortions, the protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, genuine and leaderless. The majority of demonstrators were young and racially diverse. And though certainly responding in part to Cuba’s worst economic and humanitarian crisis in three decades, protesters called for liberty and political transition, not just solutions to food shortages and other material grievances...

The Conversation, 5 ways Americans often misunderstand Cuba, from Fidel Castro's rise to the Cuban American vote

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/03/why-the-internet-in-cuba-has-become-a-us-political-hot-potato

 

NED, Singing Cuba’s political story: Tired regime, fresh opposition

 

NED, Democracy Digest, How to maintain Cuba’s protest momentum

 

Reuters, Cuba receives food, medicine donations from allies to ease crisis

Reuters, Mexican Sealift Ships Arrive In Cuba

Cuba Archive, Contrarestando la campaña por el Nobel de la Paz para el régimen Cubano [Allies of the Cuban government are promoting the Nobel Peace Prize for Cuba]

 

Reuters, Analysis-Street protests could pressure Cuba to speed up economic reforms

 

Reuters, EU urges Cuba to free 'arbitrarily detained' protesters

BBC, Petrol bombs thrown at Cuban embassy in Paris

 

https://thehill.com/latino/565705-us-expands-sanctions-in-cuba-eyes-restoring-diplomatic-presence-internet-access

The Hill, Only the Cuban people can bring about real change in Cuba — but the US can help [I agree—and it's not going to happen overnight. After more than 50 years, those benefitting by their status it the Cuban Communist Party are going to hang on as long as possible.] 

BBC, Cuba protests: Frustration at government runs deep

Cuba's communist rulers and state-controlled media are alleging that anti-government protests that swept across the island on Sunday were "organised and financed" from the United States, and egged on by a "perverse" and co-ordinated communications campaign on social media.

"There was no social uprising," Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez was quoted by the Communist Party daily Granma as saying.

 

AP, Hotels become hospitals as Cuba battles soaring COVID cases

 

AP, Aid group closes emergency clinic in Haiti amid violence [Doctors without Borders]

 

Miami Herald, Suspects in murder of Haiti president sent to prison amid concerns of rights violations

 

Reuters, In Haiti, COVID pandemic rages amid political crisis

 

AP, Haiti arrests another officer in president's murder

 

Miami Herald, Number in custody in Haiti over President Moïse’s assassination climbs to 44

 

NY Times, ‘They Thought I Was Dead': Haitian President's Widow Recounts Assassination

 

NY Times, Daily Beast, Haitians Involved in Moïse Murder Probe Got Death Threats for Not Tampering With Evidence

 

AP, EU slaps sanctions on Nicaraguan first lady, 7 others

 

AP, Nicaragua arrests ex-beauty queen candidate

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaraguan police have arrested a former beauty queen two days after she registered as an antigovernment candidate in the Nov. 7 elections...She was the eighth contender in the election to be arrested since May.

 

Vice, Hitmen Dressed Up in COVID PPE to Murder This Politician [Honduras]
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkbv4m/hitmen-dressed-up-in-covid-ppe-to-murder-this-politician

 

For those who’ve inquired about my books, mentioned last time, they’re available in print and on Kindle at Amazon with my photos both inside and on the covers. The Honduras book is Triumph & Hope: Golden Years with the Peace Corps in Honduras, named for the 2 towns, El Triunfo and La Esperanza, where I served an extended term as a health volunteer, also including a chapter on a visit to neighboring Nicaragua. The Cuba book, written after multiple trips and travels from one end of the island to the other, is Confessions of a Secret Latina: How I Fell Out of Love with Castro & In Love with the Cuban People. “Secret Latina” was a nickname given me by a Honduran woman. I cannot go back to Cuba now, but have continued making annual trips to Honduras since Peace Corps to volunteer as an interpreter and helper for medical brigades, which stopped going to Honduras after the pandemic. Vaccination has been very slow in Honduras. My last trip there was in Feb./March 2020, as per this blog. Primero Dios, God willing, I will be able to return.

                       [pop-up ad]  Termómetros