I very much appreciate a recent substantial donation to Amnesty International USA by good friends in honor of my long service there. I do feel honored.
March is Women’s History Month, time for all women to celebrate and
highlight our history, going back to the dawn of humankind.
Peace Corps Week ends on March 4.
The mayor of nearby College Park has been arrested for child porn. I won't name him. You can read all about it on local websites.
My long-time friend and neighbor Robert Krughoff has died. I did get to
see him not long beforehand, when his health was already failing,
Wash. Post, Robert Krughoff, founder of Consumers' Checkbook, dies at 80
Again, quirks in font size and appearance are hard to control "blind," so as long as the text is readable, I won't fool with it, as that often makes it worse.
Whew! I’m so glad to have given up the cellphone, thus removing still another portal for being hacked.
CBS News, Woman dies as porch collapses under California snow
storm
She was 80 and lived north of Sacramento. I know that area
well, making it hard for me to imagine snow ever falling there.
Once again, Passover, Ramadan, and Easter observances are converging,
not covering exactly the same dates, but all heralding the start of spring here
in the northern hemisphere. While so far in DC, we have not seen much of winter,
spring is always welcome. In fact, it seems to have already begun, with cherry
blossoms expected to start blooming later this month. Global warming is nice to
have during wintertime.
The guilty verdict in the Alex Murdaugh trial was no surprise. It is far more likely that a murder has been committed by a family member rather than by a stranger.
The Fed has raised interest rates to help tamp down inflation,
but raising interest increases costs for consumers, hence also contributes to inflation.
Efforts to reign in US health care costs, a big factor in
inflation, should include a cap on payments to providers, at least in my
opinion. The problem with trying to do that right now is that health care practitioners,
especially vital nurses, are quitting in droves, so incentives are required to
keep them on the job. However, a cap should be considered sooner or later. After
16 years working at the occupational therapy association, I was witness to ongoing
efforts to always keep payments to practitioners rising. Such payments under our current health
system are far higher than those of comparable countries. I recall therapists from Canada
coming here to earn more money. A salaried health care system, especially for
doctors and other practitioners, like that of Kaiser, to which I currently belong,
helps cap costs and remove incentives for unnecessary care. A universal
government-run health system, even though it would cover more people, could
help curb the problem of ever-rising US health care costs, as well as provide coverage
to those now lacking it. Vested interests will always fight that idea, but Senator
Bernie Sanders has been farsighted in promoting it.
Wash. Post, Medics pronounced
him dead. Moments later, he took a breath.
This man was rushed to a hospital and is now undergoing
treatment, but his daughter worries that the premature death pronouncement and subsequent
delay may have jeopardized his chances of recovery.
NY Times, Some Republicans Want to Ban ‘Latinx.’ These Latino Democrats Agree. In Connecticut, some Democratic lawmakers want to prohibit the use of the gender-neutral term in official government documents.
I refuse to use that term as well.
đLet’s hope that newly elected
Senator John Fetterman soon returns to duty. He was hospitalized
for depression in mid-Feb., after earlier suffering a stroke during his
campaign, expecting to be hospitalized for several more weeks now. He
also has some communication challenges. Meanwhile, to avoid the media circus,
his Brazilian-born wife has fled to Canada with their 3 children. Fetterman
still faces a 6-year term ahead. Maybe this is just another blip in his
political career, but, currently, he is unable to vote or work much on behalf
of his constituents, though he's getting optimal care under government auspices. Still, if the demands of his Senate position prove detrimental for both himself
and his constituents, then he needs to resign. Six years is a long time and
this is just the beginning. What are the limits of accommodation? 
CBS News, Sen. Dianne Feinstein away from Washington due to
"health matter"
The 89-year-old senator is also hospitalized right now, reportedly due to shingles. My late mother had shingles, an annoying and lingering illness, but usually not requiring hospitalization. Feinstein has already announced her upcoming retirement, but still has 2 years to go. The absence of both Feinstein and Fetterman reduces the Senate’s Democratic voting majority,
Yahoo News, 2024 poll: DeSantis slides as Trump surges to 1st
head-to-head lead in months Heaven help us if Donald Trump begins surging again
among Republican presidential wannabes! Is having been out of office given him renewed allure? I may regret saying this, but any other Republican would be preferable. 
Meanwhile, 80-year-old Joe Biden may now be considered old hat-or just plain old. I am older yet and would still vote for him again, despite some reservations.
The Texas Republican Party is expected to vote on whether to censure U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio) at its quarterly meeting in Austin and to possibly to cut off his access to party funds. Gonzales has come out in favor of same-sex marriage and gun control. He also has expressed opposition to the detention of asylum seekers while their cases are being processed. Maybe he should join the Democratic Party? Can he do that in Texas and still be re-elected?
Delaware
News Journal, Philly diversity exec, former FOX pundit,
resigns amid claims she lied about her race
She is not Muslim after all. Now that she has retired from the scene, no use naming her to give her even more notoriety. This is not the first time someone has faked their ethnicity to gain a media platform. Not so long ago, a prominent spokeswoman for the black community was outed for actually being white.
Talked recently with a woman from El Salvador who admires President Nayib Bukele and supports the mass arrests he has made because, she argues, “he’s imposed order.”
AP, UN rights group says Nicaragua
executed 40 people
I’ve gotten 2 recent voice messages from the 504 area code, the one for Honduras, but the messages have been too garbled for me to decipher.
Reuters, In Mexico thousands protest electoral overhaul they say threatens democracy
Quartz, Why Jill Biden is visiting Namibia and Kenya She is reportedly there to highlight drought and food insecurity in Africa. She also has announced that her husband is running for president again.
About the recent presidential
election in Nigeria, I got this message from a friend living there:
Good afternoon, Madam
Barbs,
The Presidential and National Assembly elections have been concluded. Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been declared the winner in the election that was marred by fraud and violence. The Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System Machine, which was supposed to be the only means of verification/accreditation of voters and uploading of results in real time on-line was bypassed and not used to upload the results. Many voters across the country were intimidated and coerced into voting against their will. Many of the results were doctored between polling units and collation centres. All this led to Tinubu emerging as the winner. A majority of Nigerians, especially the youth, preferred and voted the Labour Party candidate, Mr Peter Obi. ,The general mood in Nigeria is very low now and the international community has expressed their dissatisfaction with the elections. They have called on the President and the electoral body to look into the widespread violence and fraud that took place, with a view to remedying it. Meanwhile, since a winner has been declared, it is expected that the aggrieved parties will now head to the court immediately.
There is some irony, now after
years of bitter controversy and navigating the “troubles” in Northern Ireland, thanks to Brexit, the old idea of a united Ireland is being resurrected. It
may not happen soon, but is a logical and natural next step. Scotland’s residents
are also getting restless within the UK fold. In its quest for independence from
the European Union, the United Kingdom is becoming less united and may face a shrinkage
of its territory and population. Brexit was an impulsive, hasty vote.
NY
Times, Lab Leak Most Likely
Caused Pandemic, Energy Dept. Says, as Spy Agencies Remain Split The conclusion,
which was made with “low confidence,” was based on new intelligence. The
information didn’t lead other agencies to change their assessments.
China dismissed the Energy Department’s conclusion,
accusing the U.S. of “politicizing” the pandemic.
AP, China issues peace plan; Zelenskyy says he'll await details
Sounds hopeful, but let’s see what happens. If China and Xi can broker a Ukraine peace deal, that nation’s positive profile on the world stage will rise. Yet, despite these possible peace talks, China is apparently still giving arms to Russia to prolong the fighting.
China is experiencing a serious demographic crisis in the wake of the one-child policy, but many couples are happy now with just one. China's population is shrinking and benefits to elders are being cut. That nation is not welcoming to immigrants, nor do immigrants care to go there.
BBC, Ukraine war: Zelensky wants Xi Jinping meeting
following China's peace plan 
In Turkey, when will the ground stop shaking? I guess it will stop whenever it actually does stop, but no one seems able to predict when that might happen.
We already know that the answerer to this question is “yes.” Better control
of their fertility means that many partnered, and
often now working, women in Europe, Asia, and the US are having only one or two children, or even none, therefore not averaging the 2.1 children per woman needed to keep overall population steady. That is true of all the young
American families I know myself,
none with more than
2. In Latin America and Africa, average birthrates are higher, the very same areas of
the world now contributing
to migration pressures.
Mainstream media, in its efforts to support “abortion rights,” has often highlighted worst-case pregnancies, not the
majority. An exception was media coverage of a young single woman, denied an abortion in Texas,
who went on to give birth to twins. The story of her successful motherhood overshadowed frequent examples of women with serious pregnancy challenges facing abortion delays or bans. (Planned Parenthood donation ads often
have appeared alongside such articles.)
Your right to an abortion may halt the incipient life of someone else. I see a difference between a pill to prevent pregnancy and one to end an actual pregnancy already underway, though there may be a gray transition period in between,
along with obvious differences of opinion on the matter.
Telegraph, The future of test-tube babies:
how pregnancy could become obsolete
When
it comes to producing new human beings, the contribution of the genders is clearly
unequal. Men get the pleasure of sex and ejaculation, while women face months of morning sickness, high blood pressure, and, finally, labor and delivery. Already, celebrity women, after
first giving birth, are deciding
next time around to pay a costly surrogate instead. I did not find pregnancy and childbirth particularly enjoyable, though was happy with the end
result. So, yes, most women, I suspect, would opt for the test tube route if and when it should become available, allowing them to also easily monitor fetal development along the way.
But even test-tube options are unlikely to convince most future mothers to have large families. And whether nursing a baby would be possible after a test
tube pregnancy remains to
be seen. It won’t happen in my lifetime, so I
won’t find out.
Indy 100, Scientists have discovered the
maximum age a human can live to
Research conducted
in The Netherlands has found that the maximum ceiling life span for a female is
115.7 years. For men, it is slightly lower at 114.1 years ... a person's maximum lifespan plateaus in their nineties and was unlikely to
ever increase beyond 115.These numbers fly in the face of French woman Jeanne
Louise Calment, who lived for a staggering 122 years.
As mentioned last time on these
pages, a woman friend lived to age 104. She had lamented that the years after 100 had turned out to be rather difficult for her, despite daily assistance from her daughter (who hopes not to live quite that
long).
Cats have such soft fur, but
since I am allergic, I hesitate to even pet one or be near it
for very long.
Local cats and dogs keep getting lost and found.
Below. local artist Jacob Folger has posted a cat image in honor of lost cats on the neighborhood website.
With
these blog postings, I’m not seeking
fame or fortune
or internet stardom, only aiming to keep
a personal
record and to communicate with family and friends around the
world, though others are most welcome to join us. Readers
usually contact me directly via email. Sometimes I go back through the postings and even through the previous blog iteration to jog my memory or to relive
events. At my age,
memory may falter and details
can blur over time. So my postings have been quite
valuable
for me and,
I hope, also
for my readers, a report of one
woman’s life in these times.
///////////////////////////////////
Some recent online notices received below
Bilingual Specialist
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