A friend and neighbor took this photo of the Bethune statue in Lincoln Park.
I’ve not only seen raccoons running along my fence (even after the mulberry tree they climbed was cut down), but also an occasional possum, though never a mother possum like this one with all her young on her back.
In-person events are returning,
virus or not, including at the Botanic Gardens
I love watermelon, even in winter.
Another family photo includes a blond girl whose name I don’t recall. On the left is my late Cuban foster son, Alex, while my dearly departed son Andrew is missing from this photo. I fondly remember those times when my kids were young. My life cannot have been easy then, as I was a single parent without adequate support, either in terms of finances or of children’s visitation with their father, so the whole burden of care fell on me. But my memories are of happy times.
While
it’s not Thanksgiving yet, it sounds like Trump’s goose is cooked, so we have
something to be thankful for. Overnight, Trump may have lost both legal protections
and public support as a potential presidential candidate. Many in his inner
circle will bear the brunt of his fury in the wake of his political demise,
including the unfortunate Melania. Others have already jumped ship. Daughter Ivana
checked out long ago. Trump is now blaming McConnell, while insisting that he’s
not angry about the election outcome, since he still is—as he has reminded us—“a
very stable genius.” Now he’s bent on trying to spoil DeSantis’s chances.
Hey, Democrats did OK in the midterm elections! Winning the Senate is a big victory for Democrats and for Biden, while Republicans still look likely to prevail in the House.
Muriel Bowser won an unprecedented 3rd term as DC mayor, certainly her last.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now
seen as a serious rival to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in
2024 and probably would have a better chance of actually winning (unfortunately).
He has handily won re-election as governor of Florida. I had urged my folks
there to support Charlie Crist, the losing Democratic gubernatorial candidate,
actually a Republican turned Democrat.
DeSantis has become the man of the hour,
younger than Trump and seeming a tad brighter. Head-to-head with an 82-year-old
Biden, 2 years hence, DeSantis could well prevail.
Wash. Post, The GOP’s future lies in Florida — but not in Mar-a-Lago
NY Times,The Hill, Paul Ryan: Republicans are
suffering from ‘Trump hangover’
Telegraph, With 95% of votes
counted, Senate race between Warnock, Walker too close to call A December run-off looks
likely.
|
|
Will Democrats still be motivated to vote
now that the Senate majority has gone their way?
Daily News, Ohio man kills neighbor because ‘he thought he was a
Democrat’
Wash. Post, Prince
George’s 8th-grader shot while raking leaves outside his home has died
Why do some folks still support private gun ownership?
ABC News, Student killed in shooting at Seattle high school
Students of high-school age may be safer being home-schooled rather than going out to school, given the easy access to guns in this country and the volatility of teenage boys. Adolescence is a time when young people should be learning how to navigate the world independently, but might be better off staying home if their lives are under threat.
PBS News Hour, House to vote on
centuries-old election law overhaul in response to Capitol insurrection Congress is reviewing an arcane law that Trump tried to use to overturn
the 2020 election.
Women friends in Honduras who faithfully
tuned into a dubbed version of Dr. Oz’s TV program will be sorely
disappointed by his election loss.
Yahoo News, Maxwell Frost wins Florida race, becomes 1st Generation Z member of Congress Frost, a Democrat, is 25 years old.
CNN, Anatomy of a close election: How
Americans voted in 2022 vs. 2018
Early exit polls show women and voters of color shifted toward the GOP
The Hill, WHO: Global COVID deaths drop 90
percent since February
Exactly why this is happening when much of the world remains
unvaccinated and the virus keeps on muting is unclear, but it’s good news
nonetheless.
Because Covid has kept evolving, vaccines have had a hard time keeping up. New variants also seem to be remarkably successful in evading existing vaccines. Yet the death total gone down. https://www.thedailybeast.com/proven-way-to-beat-xbb-and-bq1-covid-variants-wont-work-in-us?source=email&via=desktop
USA Today, How was David DePape, suspect in Paul Pelosi attack,
able to live in the U.S. without a visa?
A 2019 analysis by
the Center for Migration Studies showed that of the 515,000 unauthorized
migrants who entered the U.S. in 2016, 62% overstayed temporary visas, compared
to 36% who illegally crossed the border. A 2021 Homeland Security report to Congress showed that the
country with the highest number of people overstaying visas in the U.S. in
2020 was Mexico, with 77,494 overstays. Second place: Canada with 57,592.
HuffPost, 'Disgusting': GOP Rep. Andy Biggs Taunts Nancy Pelosi With 'Hammer' Joke Days After Assault Biggs is an Arizona Republican.
NPR, Supreme
Court considers fate of landmark Indian adoption law Roberts and
Barrett are both adoptive parents, but unlikely to recuse themselves in this
case. The question is should tribes always have priority in the placement of
native children? In this case, a little girl, now age 3, has lived since birth
with non-native parents and with her bio sibling whom the parents have already
legally adopted. Should she now be moved to live with other siblings in a
native setting or remain where she is? At this point, in my opinion, she should
not be moved, but should have regular visitation with her other siblings now in
a native placement. As an adoptive parent and a grandmother myself across
ethnic lines, as well as a former board chair of a local adoption agency, I may
not have an unbiased view. An emotional connection between parents and children
is more important that an ethnic tie in my opinion. A native placement at birth
for a native descendant might be preferable in an ideal world, though I’m not
even sure about that. I’d like to think ethnic ties are becoming less
important, as in my own family.
In reality, there
may not be enough native homes approved for adoptive placements. The same issue
has arisen with some black children being placed in non-black homes when black
adoptive or foster homes are in short supply. There also have been a few foster
and adoptive placements of white children in black homes. Yes, ethnic matching may
be preferable, but more important is placement of a child in a loving home
without undue delay. And since we are moving toward a less race conscious
society, then ethnic matching is less crucial—or so many of us hope and believe.
However, since ethnic belonging may still be important to many children and
adults, then other things being equal, matching the ethnicity of adoptive
parents and children might still be desirable. A tension exists between two
values: maintaining ethnic identity and having a readily available adoptive
home to provide a stable sense of belonging during a child’s early development.
Wash. Post, Big Ben bongs again five years and $95 million later Big Ben has undergone a renovation.
NY Times, For Biden and
Xi, a Long Relationship With Rising Mutual Suspicion
CNN, Anti-Xi protest spreads in China and worldwide as
Chinese leader begins third term
This event has passed but is still worth mentioning. Amnesty
International: ANNOUNCEMENT OF NOVEMBER 10 DAY OF SOLIDARITY We are
announcing an urgent call for a Global Day of Solidarity with Egypt’s political
prisoners on Thursday, November 10, 2022, during the UN Climate Change
Conference (COP 27) in Sharm El-Sheikh. We will join a growing number of civil
society organizations, activists, and public figures in wearing white — the
color worn by Egypt’s tens of thousands of wrongfully detained individuals —
and sharing messages of solidarity in person and on social media.
Wash. Post, Ukraine
military enters Kherson city, accelerating a major defeat for Russia
A devastated Kherson has been liberated by Ukrainian forces after
a long siege.
Wash.
Post, Dissent
spreads in Russia over heavy death toll in Ukraine
This is not the old USSR, so Putin needs
to pay more heed to his citizens, who have access to more information than his
government provides. Too many young Russian soldiers are dying, but for what?
Ukrainska Pravda, Russia suddenly announces its readiness for
negotiations "taking into account current state of affairs"
Ukraine may have to give up something and Russia as well,
but the senseless killing and destruction needs to stop.
The Guardian, Nigerian politician accused of trying to bring boy, 15,
to UK to harvest organs
Organ harvesting exposés appear periodically. The only way organ harvesting can work without killing the donor is by only taking one kidney or part of a liver, as the liver can regenerate.
A male-to-female trans activist, Melissa Núñez, age 42,
after 20 years in the US, was deported to Honduras and gunned down shortly after
arriving there.
The Advocate, Deported
Trans Activist Murdered in the Street
Droughts, rising
seas put Cuba's agriculture under threat https://apnews.com/article/business-cuba-caribbean-droughts-economy-be Agriculture is one of the least government-controlled
sectors of the Cuban economy. The communist government initially tried to
control agriculture but anemic food production forced it to ease up, as farmers
resisted by not putting in the required effort. Even now, Cuba is not self-sufficient
in food and must import a considerable amount of food from the US, paying in
cash because the US embargo does not allow credit, which is the main effect of
the embargo on Cuba. (Also, Cuba doesn’t faithfully pay its bills.)
Miami Herald, Lopez Obrador is threatening Mexico’s democracy. It’s
time for Biden to break his silence
| Opinion
Andres
Oppenheimer (I’ve asked friends who are dual citizens living part of each year
in Mexico to comment.)
The abortion issue
may have helped Democrats in the midterms, as it’s often regarded as a matter
of woman’s personal freedom and equality. But what about men and their
responsibility for unwanted pregnancies? I admit to still being an outlier
among Democrats on abortion; I just don’t get the rationale behind abortion advocacy
when there are so many ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies before an
individual human has actually already started growing and developing. Although we
cannot see that incipient individual, starting out as we all have, I still say,
let him or her keep on growing to live and emerge among us. The only way to
stop that early life is frankly to kill it, which is what abortion does. Unless
a woman is raped, she consents to sex and should know, unless she is sterile,
that pregnancy is always possible, that she is taking a chance. In contrast,
celibacy, contraception, and sterilization only prevent possible theoretical
persons, not specific individuals.
Here’s a
case of a baby who turned out not to be theoretical.
Ft. Worth
Star-Telegram, Husband secretly drugged pregnant wife’s
drinks to cause abortion, Texas officials say
After a woman took a sip from the cup her husband offered, she became ill and was hospitalized, but managed to carry her pregnancy to term and give birth to a healthy baby. She later found out that her husband had tried to induce a miscarriage using a Mexican abortion-causing drug.
NY Times, ROSS
DOUTHAT What the
Pro-Life Movement Lost and Won
A photo in the Wash. Post apparently
shows abortion clinic staffers applauding an abortion patient. How about applauding
mothers who every day give birth, then care for a child for the long haul? How
about applauding and helping out those actual mothers? When I was raising 4
kids—5 with my Cuban foster son—as a single working parent, I certainly could
have used both more financial support and more everyday practical assistance,
as the kids’ dad and his second wife did not offer them visitation. On my missions
abroad, I needed to hire substitute caregivers. Those of us growing older now and
all of us as citizens of our nation and of the world do need to make sure enough
younger people keep on coming along by supporting their mothers both financially
and by providing respite care.
An ancient ivory comb’s inscription has just been deciphered about its intended use for removing lice. Found in south-central Israel in 2017, the comb is estimated to date back almost 3,800 years to 1700 BCE, a time when men used such combs to tidy up their hair and beards. Humans and lice have continued to co-exist ever since. Images of the ancient comb and an Oneida Indian pipe returned to the tribe along with 1,500 other artifacts are refusing to be pasted here now, so will just have to be imagined. Maybe there are too many images in this posting? So time to wrap this up!
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