After no postings made here for a while now, this is a rather long one. I’m sorry to say that my visitor Alex has left, going first to give a consultation in the Dominican Republic, then on to his native Costa Rica, and finally back to Spain to finish his doctorate. He was invited to the DR to advise the government on how to organize long-term care for older folks, something now facing Latin America as life expectancy increases and families are no longer so willing or able to care for an increasing number of long-lived elders. He has a big life task ahead of him as an expert in this growing field.
Although I’d taken pains to only speak English with Alexander, my young visitor, when he left, I did tell him adios and buen viaje, good journey. Alex has now departed and his absence is being felt. I never expected him to leave a void! He arrived right after my daughter Stephanie’s departure, though they never actually intersected. While I claim now to be living alone for the first time in my long life, between visitors and trips to see my son on W Va., I really haven’t put solo living to the test.
When the friend who had invited Alex for a 3-month internship at HHS pressed me to offer him housing, I hesitated, as accepting someone sight unseen has not always worked out. The “chemistry” has to be there. I also had been looking forward to testing out my solitary independent life, as I’d barely had a chance to do that. I’d never actually lived alone after marrying at age 21. Yet, it seemed ridiculous to refuse Alex when my house has so much room. So, finally, I agreed and am so glad I did, as he is a sweetheart, a very easy-going young man, fun to be with. I’ve been really sorry to see him go. Because of bureaucratic delays, he only got a badge to enter the HHS building, where he was supposedly working while here, just a couple of weeks before his departure. I fully expect him to launch a successful career as a specialist in long-term eldercare. Sometimes I go back over blog postings to recall life events and relationships and will fondly remember Alex.
Since the last posting, my late son Andrew’s birthday, Sept. 4, has again come and gone. He would have been 55 this year. His gravestone is visible in my backyard from my kitchen.
I did locate this photo below of Andrew.
Demand for workers here in the US now includes Spanish
interpreters, at least according to recent on-line solicitations inviting me to
return to that work, but only in person. Now, post-Covid at my age, I’m
reluctant to go back to using public transportation again, with exposure to other
passengers, not to mention making contact with different clients and others at
a busy work site, often a school, hospital, or courtroom. It was fascinating for
16 years to be able to intimately witness so many human dramas without actually
being a party to them. However, now I’ll leave that to younger folks. I had
given my senior farecard to Alex, my Costa Rican visitor, which the metro
system let him to use, though he’s only just turned 30.
A “walking school bus” is a phenomenon in some
jurisdictions. No, a bus does not literally walk instead of rolling on wheels.
In fact, there is no bus at all, just a gathering spot where kids can all walk
together guided by a teacher or other school employee. It’s an excellent idea,
especially at the start of the school year now, to get youngsters feeling connected
and ready to leave home.
Pencils of Promise (PoP) is the little-known charity
I chose to support through my modest Amazon book sales. It provides educational
assistance to needy school students around the world, so it was good to see it
getting some recent press. Meadow Walker will be honored at the annual PoP Gala, to
be held October 20 in New York City. She is the 23-year-old daughter of the late Paul Walker and
she had first teamed up with Pencils of Promise back in 2020. Her father, of Fast
& Furious fame, died in a car crash in 2013 at age 40. But now Pencils of
Promise is getting quite a boost. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11167115/Meadow-Walker-named-Activist-Year-Pencils-Promise.html
Banned Books Week |
September 18 – 24, 2022
Last time, I posted photos of some very long-lived trees. A California sequoia, whose name Hyperion comes from Greek mythology, is not the world’s oldest tree, but, rather, the tallest, measuring 115.92 m (380.3 ft) and still growing, but only very slowly. It may be as old as 800 years, probably having first emerged before Europeans ever set foot in California.
What about long-lived
humans? The longest documented and verified human lifespan was that of Jeanne
Calment of France (1875–1997), a woman who lived to age 122. She
claimed to have met Vincent van Gogh when she was 12 or 13. She first received media
attention in 1985, after turning 110.
A 74-year-old woman from southern
India became a mother, possibly becoming the oldest woman ever to give birth. Mangayamma
Yaramati opted for in vitro fertilization after years of being unable to
conceive and gave birth via cesarean section to twin girls conceived with donor
eggs, but apparently using her husband’s sperm.
A lady living in Vermont with her daughter died at 105. She was the oldest person I’ve known personally. Here above, the daughter stands outside among summer flowers on their Vermont property.
Now the world is mourning Britain’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who died at age 96, after a 70-year reign. The queen’s husband, Prince Phillip, died last year. Her heir apparent, Charles, often photographed wearing a ridiculous number of medals, will now have his chance. He is 74, so won’t have as much time on the throne nor will he ever be as popular as his mother. His reputation suffered when he had a very public affair with his current wife while married to the very popular and more attractive Diana, who then was killed in an auto accident and became a martyr. His standing has never completely recovered. Flags were flying at half-mast here in DC and perhaps all around the US and the world to honor the queen.
Wash. Post, Liz Truss to replace Boris Johnson as next U.K. prime minister
Reuters, Putin denies Gorbachev a state funeral
Would Gorbachev really care? Putin placed some roses by the coffin but indicated that he wouldn’t be attending the funeral. Citizens of former east European satellites still remain forever grateful to Gorbachev.
The war in
Ukraine has been killing both Russians and Ukrainians for the right to claim
control over a piece of territory and its inhabitants. This war has been wantonly
killing and wounding both Russians and Ukrainians, as well as destroying valuable
property. Of course, all wars could be considered unnecessarily destructive and
completely counterproductive. Now, drones are being used more than ever in war.
Maybe each side should just let their drones fight it out?
I’ve just heard from Jenn, a young Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras during my service there. She and her husband now live an island life in Vanuatu with their 2 children. She also has begun working remotely for the Peace Corps there. Doing that must take a fair degree of computer/internet savvy. While perhaps something is lost without having any regular face-to-face contact among employees, the internet has allowed many folks to work from remote locations where they prefer to live. How much easier it would have been for me, as a single mother commuting daily to Maryland, to have been able to work remotely!
The Return
of Volunteers to Service Overseas. To date, Trainees and reinstated
Volunteers have returned to 28 countries:
If
I could find a reliable person to care for my venerable house and pay the
bills, including property tax bills, I would love to return with Peace Corps Response
to a Spanish speaking country. PC Response service can last from 3 to 12
months, and possibly I could be away for 3 months, though I have not yet seen
any such assignments posted.
7News, NW DC site chosen for Peace Corps Commemorative Park, honoring organization's volunteers (I’m looking forward to visiting this park.)
This
just came in from Churches for the Middle East:
BBC, Shireen Abu Aqla: Israel says 'high probability' soldier
killed reporter
“The
Israeli military has concluded there is a ‘high probability’ that one of its
soldiers killed the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Aqla. The
veteran Al Jazeera correspondent was shot in the head while covering a raid in
the occupied West Bank in May. It is the closest the military has come to
admitting responsibility. The military's top legal officer has also ruled out a
criminal investigation of the soldiers involved, effectively ending the probe
into the case.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/08/washington-dc-emergency-migrants-republican-texas-abbott?CMP=share_btn_link The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, has sent at least 9,400 migrants to Washington since April in an effort to push responsibility for border crossers to Democrats. Thousands more people have been bussed to New York City and Chicago. Following suit, Arizona’s Doug Ducey has sent at least 1,500 people to the capital since mid-August.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-governor-greg-abbott-starts-bussing-migrants-to-third-democrat-city This time, it’s to Chicago. Abbott is actually dispersing migrants around the country, helping reduce labor shortages in major cities, although the arrivals may not be authorized initially to work. If they put down roots in their new locale, these migrants will also help stem population losses in Democratic majority cities and in the nation as a whole. Thanks, Gov. Abbott.
In Canada, where guns are not readily available, though firearms can and do cross the border, there have been some high-profile stabbing deaths recently. Stabbings have also occurred in China where firearms are strictly controlled. It would be impossible to outlaw knives around the world, since knives have so many practical uses and are so easy to make. Whatever their capacity to inflict harm and to kill, knives still lack the terrible deadly power of firearms. But with either knife or gun murders, surprise of unsuspecting victims is a major factor in being able to wound or kill them.
Some who struggled to finally pay off their student loans consider it unfair that slackers are now getting a break.
I must confess to knowing nothing about how crypto currency works or why it requires so much computer power and generates such terrible noise. Though crypto remains a complete blank to me, it has allowed some folks to create great wealth overnight and others to lose it all just as fast. As far as I know, nothing tangible is actually created or exchanged. Of course, money, bank accounts, debts, are not tangible either.
USA Today, Ohio
man who suffered 20,000 bee stings and ingested 30 bees wakes up from coma,
family says
A 20-year-old man was stung on Aug. 27 while cutting tree branches when bees attacked after being disturbed. He is now on his way to recovery in a hospital bed.
USA
Today,
New Jersey 2-year-old dies after being left in hot car outside home,
authorities say
This is the 19th hot car death of a child recorded this summer in the US.
AP, Red flag laws get little use as shootings, gun deaths soar
Reuters, U.S. life expectancy
fell further in 2021 due to COVID
Life expectancy fell in the United States in 2021 to its lowest
since 1996, the second year of a historic retreat due to COVID-19 deaths...The
nearly one-year decline from 2020 to 76.1 years marked the largest two-year
drop in life expectancy at birth in close to a century, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found.
Disparity in life expectancy between men and women also widened
last year to the highest in more than two decades, with men now expected to
live 73.2 years, nearly six fewer years than women. Deaths from COVID-19
contributed to half of the overall decline in life expectancy last year, with
drug overdoses and heart disease also major contributors, the data showed.
COVID-19 was associated with more than 460,000 U.S. deaths in
2021, according to the CDC. U.S. life expectancy in 2020 registered its biggest
one-year drop since World War Two, with COVID-related deaths contributing
nearly 75% to the decline.
The question of empty
folders marked “Classified” found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort be might be the
result of so many documents having been flushed down the toilet. Mr. Trump
needs to be kept out of office at all costs, especially because if he gets another
presidency, he is going to try to settle scores and act utterly vindictive. The
judge overseeing the case against him seems to be bending over backwards to
give Trump the benefit of the doubt. Are we going to have a re-run of Biden vs.
Trump again in 2024? Unless Democrats can manage to get him disqualified, Trump
is likely to again be the Republican nominee.
Trump and Biden have
changed places in terms of support for abortion. Joe Biden had previously voted
for a ban on the use of federal funds for abortions, while Donald Trump had once
declared himself to be “pro-choice.” It
is even rumored that Trump had advocated for an abortion before his daughter Tiffany
was born, before he ended up marrying her mother.
American Evangelicals will
continue to support Trump because he champions white masculinity, including the
male-headed intact family, white superiority, and Christian worship, as well as
his voicing of opposition to abortion, though his own personal life does not
reflect these values.
On abortion, do Biden and
Trump each spit on a finger raised to the wind to find the direction of their
likely voters? Or are they swayed mainly by financial support? A lifelong Democrat
like myself, never having voted Republican, though unhappy with Democrats’
lock-step abortion stance, am still not ready to jettison the party altogether.
To make sure Trump never returns to office, I will continue to vote for
Democrats, although we abortion dissenters within the party are being totally ignored.
Few Democrats will actually abstain from voting or vote Republican because of
the abortion issue. The official Democratic Party may be counting on us not to
defect.
The Democratic Party claims
to be a “big tent,” but is it really? Although Democrats for Life is estimated to
represent the views of more than a quarter of Democratic voters, it lacks the resources
to fund political races. In contrast, Planned Parenthood and NARAL have become
big financial supporters of pro-choice Democrats recruited to run against
pro-lifers in primaries, and sometimes even to support their Republican
opponents (I’ve gotten such funding solicitations). In the wake of Roe’s demise, these
organizations are raising sizable amounts of cash by using scare tactics
highlighting rare cases of fetal anomalies, though the vast majority of
abortions do not involve any such anomalies, nor do they involve rape or incest.
The only national Democrats now considered pro-life are Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) — described by opponents "the
last anti-choice Dem in the House" — and Sen. Joe Manchin of West
Virginia.
House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi called restricting abortion “sinful” on Women's Equality Day (eurasiareview.com) While most Democrats
facing reelection have gone all-out
to support “abortion rights” after Roe’s demise, Pelosi’s
labeling of opposition to abortion “sinful” may be an overreach and could
even backfire, as most Americans do hold
less extreme views. Pelosi, who had 5 children in 6 years, was
probably not such an energetic “abortion rights” supporter back then. She
hasn’t put her own money where her mouth is. Likewise, mainstream media has vigorously
supported “abortion rights” and “abortion services,” never just plain ordinary “abortion.”
Reporting on the prolife side in mainstream media has been rare.
On a gut level, I just have never understood abortion. Many
consider it a matter of supporting female equality and freedom. If men can have
sex without consequences, apparently the thinking goes, then abortion makes
women more equal. I do comprehend efforts to prevent pregnancy, including
sterilization. I can understand relinquishing a child for adoption. But it seems
to me that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” should be available to
everyone, even to those unseen humans completely helpless and still developing
in the womb—the universal
way we all started out, after all-- and even to those incarcerated except for the
“liberty” part, as they are both human and alive. Abortion ends a developing human
life. Wouldn’t it even be correct to say that the unborn are killed? People
are arrested for mistreating animals, after all. Concern has even been
expressed about putting live lobsters and crabs into boiling water. An abortion
advocate from Tennessee voiced a lament about 10 teens not able to obtain
abortions whose life has been interrupted by having given birth, but what about
the 10 babies born who now have a life? Some have complained about being
unwanted by their mothers, a valid complaint, but would they have preferred
never having been born? We all have imperfect parents, just as we ourselves are
imperfect parents. Life is a series of challenges to be overcome. Life can be hard
and is never nirvana except during short honeymoon periods. Despite this, most
people choose to go on living until their inevitable end.
Giving birth could be considered a special privilege enjoyed
only by women. I just don’t get the rationale behind abortion, except that it allows
a pregnant woman to prevent a baby carrying her genes from being born alive. Is
that infant’s life worth preserving only when he or she actually becomes visible
to the rest of us, finally out in the world now breathing air? Before that, is
the unborn just a parasite? Maybe the woman wants to avoid bringing a child
into this vale of tears? Or perhaps an abortion will allow her to have a baby later
on when she is better prepared, then producing a child—a person-- who would not
otherwise exist? In any case, a baby’s birth is not the end point, but a beginning.
Pro-lifers should not just walk away after a birth.
Wash
Post, Nurse practitioner says CVS fired her
for refusing to give abortion drugs Here’s a rare mainstream article about
someone on the other side of the abortion debate. A woman was given an
exemption from dispensing abortion-causing drugs because of her beliefs, then
suddenly, after more than 3 years, her employer revoked her exemption and ordered
her to dispense abortifacients. She refused
and was
fired. She has now filed a lawsuit against her former employer. Will this
matter now go to the Supreme Court? Health
care workers have reportedly been fired either because of refusing to provide
abortions or because they’ve actually facilitated them. It all depends on the
position of their leadership.
Because of falling birthrates in the US and other countries,
I predict that public support for “abortion rights,” despite being strident here
right now during this election season, will gradually wane over the next few
years. Social trends can go in and out of fashion. Already, young people are
having less sex than immediate prior generations. And there are many effective
forms of contraception and little or no stigma for out-of-wedlock births. Abortion
numbers are still high in some parts of the country, but the national trend is
toward fewer abortions, with a slight upswing in 2020, during the pandemic. Still,
the overall trend is downward, partly due to more effective contraception, also
due to less frequent sex.
Additionally, as early preemie care becomes effective ever earlier in a
pregnancy, the point of viability occurs even sooner.
Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., took to social media with a message for Democrats now pushing to codify Roe v. Wade into law . She has blamed abortion for killing a disproportionate number of black babies, more African Americans even than the Klan, and she has cited her late uncle Martin in support of her anti-Roe position. He was the father of 4.
ArtNews, Jailed Dissident Artist Luis Manuel
Otero Alcántara Wins $50,000 Award In a statement, the judges
praised Alcántara “for his extremely accessible, honest and non-elitist art
practice [and] for his tireless fight for freedom of expression in Cuba and his
stance against censorship and political authority.” Otero Alcántara, one
of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential
People of 2021 and [an] advocate for artistic freedom in Cuba, was
sentenced to five years in prison in June.
Otero is still in prison but has received this international
recognition. He was accused of “insulting national symbols” due to his use of
the Cuban flag in a performance piece in which he wore or carried the flag
uninterrupted for a month. Otero is also a cofounder of the San Isidro
movement, a group of artists and activists demonstrating against the Cuban
government’s crackdown on freedom of expression. He was detained on July 11,
2021, on his way to a protest in Havana, and was held for more than a year in a
maximum-security prison without trial after his arrest, and was designated a POC
by Amnesty International.
AP, Fleeing Nicaraguans strain Costa Rica's asylum system
My recently departed Costa Rican visitor has witnessed this influx.
While in the
company of friends and family, do you ever recognize certain personal aspects about
which some folks seem oblivious, completely lacking in self-awareness, but
which are common knowledge or a consensus judgement among everyone else? Are
they feigning ignorance or just exhibiting willful blindness? Psychologists
might have an explanation. Sometimes, we gloss over the matter in conversation to
protect the person involved or to avoid an argument. I’m thinking of friends who
express strong support for marital fidelity, but avoid seeing obvious signs
that their own spouse is straying. Or a parent who always defends a child even
when that child is a habitual liar. Or simply someone who keeps dominating the
conversation without noticing that the eyes of listeners are glazing over? We
overlook these shortcomings out of personal loyalty and to protect others’
feelings. We might also wonder if we ourselves might have some major personal
or relationship flaws of which we are blissfully unaware, but which our friends
and family overlook to protect us?
Everyone
needs basic shelter, food, healthcare, and a means of communication, but not
all of us aspire to increase our income or amass more wealth. I count myself
among those satisfied with what they already have, one reason I stopped working
altogether when the pandemic hit. It was not worth risking illness at my age by
going out to work even part time when I had all that I needed. I’d been working
as a part-time on-call Spanish interpreter for 17 years, traveling to work
sites by public transportation. Now that everything takes me longer, including
getting dressed in the morning, I can afford to take my time just living
day-to-day. My kids, who used to ask me for money, are now often out-of-luck, though
I do like to invest in Honduras and in a few other places.
The following are work solicitations that I received in just one day from LinkedIn, and all are quite tempting, especially the one from WHO, where 11 fellow Amnesty International alumni are said to be working. But no, I’ll still take a pass. It’s time to retire my metro farecard and leave these tasks to others.
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