This narrative is getting overlong, so high time to get it posted. What have my family and I been up to in recent days? For new readers, please be aware that certain quirks are beyond my control, as corrections must made by trial and error without seeing the text. And the blog gives no instructions, although other users sometimes provide useful information,
After taking care of my blind husband for more than 20 years, a man independent in his thinking, but not in tasks of daily living, after then raising 4 children and a Cuban foster son as a single parent while also working fulltime, making do with insufficient child support (never seeking alimony, though available then), and, after that, losing both my older son and foster son in rapid succession (a fate not wished on my worst enemy), then joining the Peace Corps at age 62, extending my term there and returning annually ever since as a medical volunteer, subsequently hosting visitors from abroad while also working part-time as a Spanish interpreter, now, at age 85, I’m no longer doing any of that. These days, it’s enough for me to provide modest financial support to my adult kids and also manage living by myself in my 3-story house, built 118 years ago. So far, so good.
Buzzfeed advises women living alone to never tell anyone that’s the case. That ruse would be hard to maintain, especially if anyone stops by to visit.
I am the only person I know with a multicultural/multiracial family: Asian, Caucasian, African American, and, also, Latino, due to my having lived in Latin America and being bilingual, also with an adopted son born in Colombia. Our last name “Joe,” which I share with all my kids, comes from my 24-year marriage to my late Korean-descended ex-husband, Tom Joe. Our family has roots in Canada as well, as my father was born in Alberta with many cousins still living there. I like to think of our family as citizens of the world. My kids, grandkids, and I, all of us together, carry on our family’s multicultural/multiracial tradition.
Liliʻuokalani was the only queen regnant and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, ruling from January 29, 1891, until the overthrow of the Kingdom on January 17, 1893. She endured time under house arrest because of her objection to the annexation of the islands by the United States. She died at age 79. Her portrait has now been featured in East City Art, a local arts journal.
Father’s Day has come and gone. I sent Father’s Day greetings to my son and to other fathers around the world. My son, living 2 ½ hours away in W Va., still calls me every single day.
A father in Nigeria responded to my Father’s Day outreach with photos of his own family at church, minus one daughter away at boarding school.
Last time, I mentioned that Juneteenth was pending on June 19, a day now also come and gone. It was the day in 1865 when slaves were freed in Texas, more than 2 years later than in the rest of the country. As a child living in El Paso in the 1940’s, I remember different days in movie theaters for black and white patrons. I also remember singing “The Eyes of Texas are upon You” in school, making me feel apprehensive.
Local ladies did yoga on Juneteenth.
Another little girl found by the police is looking for her family.
The long Juneteenth weekend also gave folks an excuse to bring out their guns.
AP, Weekend mass shootings leave 6 people dead and dozens
injured across the US
ABC News, At least 20 people shot, 1 fatally, at Juneteenth
celebration near Chicago: Sheriff Holidays seem to have become occasions not only for celebration but for
mortal combat. Why do folks feel the need to take a gun to a festive event?
Kansas City
Star, Child calls 911 after mom is shot in
chest during fight over loud music, Texas cops say In the early morning hours, a mother
asked upstairs neighbors to turn down the music and was shot in the chest, but
is expected to survive.
The US, with
our labor shortage, could take a lesson from Canada.
Bloomberg, Mass Immigration Experiment Gives Canada an Edge in
Global Race for Labor Nearly
one in four people in Canada are now immigrants
LA Times, L.A. Latinos welcome 42 migrants bused from Texas as
'brothers and sisters'
NY Times, Blinken Meets Xi as China and the U.S. Try to Rein In Tensions Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Xi Jinping, China’s leader, on a trip aimed at ensuring that competition “does not veer into conflict.”
Wash. Post, Canadian
wildfires could worsen next week, sending more smoke into U.S.
It seems like the smoke has come back. My eyes started watering once
again.
My friend living in New Brunswick, just east of the
fires, has felt little effect from the smoke, which has drifted south, all the
way to us in DC and beyond that to Florida, Texas, and northern Mexico. As I told
her: The fires in eastern Canada are
mostly in Quebec, apparently, and the smoke only goes south--even here to
DC--but not out your way, though you are much closer. My eyes are
watering a little today, but not as much as previously, when smoke
was visible in the air. It's a shame to lose so much woodland to
fires.
Here is what she answered: Conditions are tinder dry across Canada and wild fires ignite rapidly. Heaven knows how. Humans and lightning could be the cause. The snow pack was very little in the country over the past winter so no moisture permeated the ground during the spring run-off. It is most fortunate that in this part of the Atlantic Provinces, smoke has not invaded. Fires are almost out and under control in Nova Scotia. An American fire-fighting team is assisting in the effort to douse underground hot-spots. I work in the woods surrounding my property to cut small saplings as they sprout, and the ground is wet and soggy. A blessing. More rain is forecasted today and over the week-end to keep everything damp. It has to be weather systems which, unfortunately, pushes smoke southwards to the US.
USA Today, ‘A war on stoves': House passes bill to prevent government ban on gas stoves The Republican-led House approved a ban on banning gas stoves, with 25 Democrats also voting for the bill. So, thankfully, my gas stove and other appliances are safe, as it’s way too late, after 54 years in my house, for me to change them now. Gas appliances probably are riskier to use than electric ones, but, in my experience, they are also superior to electric appliances for either cooking or heating.
NY Times, Study Compares
Gas Stove Pollution to Secondhand Cigarette Smoke Now at age 85,
not only have I been exposed all these years to gas appliances, but for more
than 20 years, I, and later my kids, all breathed in secondhand smoke from my late ex-husband’s
chain-smoking habit. Is it any surprise that he died of lung cancer in 1999 at
age 63? So far, I am still here.
Peace Corps’ Career Fair will be held on Tuesday, June 27, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST, at Peace Corps HQ 1275 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002. Space is limited and registration is first come, first served, so please register before June 26th for this free event.
An organization for which I once worked as a Spanish interpreter has reached out to me, asking if I am still available. So apparently in-person interpretation is starting once again. Since such assignments would involve travel on public transportation and I am no longer up for that, I will pass up this opportunity and remain retired.
Hunter
Biden
has pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge for filing his taxes late and for a
firearm offense, which should put to rest this non-issue. But no, Republicans
are calling it “a sweet-heart deal” and a mere “slap on the wrist,” alleging
favoritism. A judge has already spoken, but it makes for good
campaign fodder.
Workers are resisting a return to the office. It’s been hard to maintain office culture with everyone working from home.
AP, Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch
because it has women pastors
What’s wrong with women pastors? Or for that matter, what’s wrong with having women priests in the Catholic church, to which I’ve belonged for most of my life? I became disconnected with the church after my husband left our family and after my older son’s death, no longer feeling supported in my time of need. For a while, I belonged to a progressive Catholic parish called Communitas meeting locally, but when the group moved to another location, I did not follow.
Donald
Trump,
despite all his legal woes, is still probably the Republican frontrunner. Some of
us had thought (hoped) that he had retired from politics. And many Republicans believe
he will lose to Biden, while other Republican candidates, with less baggage,
might not. Yet, because of his legal problems, Trump realizes that being a
presidential candidate is the best way to protect himself from losing in court
and from actually going to prison. So he’s hanging onto his candidacy at all
costs, planning vengeance if he should happen to win. Now, as Biden turns 80,
Trump is not far behind at 77.
NY Times, Why Robert Kennedy Jr.’s 2024 Bid Is a Headache for President Biden The unexpected polling strength of an anti-vaccine activist with a celebrated Democratic lineage points to the president’s weaknesses.
NBC News, Tori Bowie’s death shows how pervasive racial
disparities are in maternal health
Insider, Olympian
Tori Bowie's death is a tragic reminder that all Black women — even top
athletes — are at risk giving birth in America Black women have higher risks
of pregnancy complications — but doctors say systemic racism is the real issue
Olympian Tori Bowie apparently died of pregnancy complications while at home alone. Where was her husband, the alleged father of her child? Did they have a fight? Subsequent speculations are that she may have experienced high blood pressure. Why didn’t she call for help? Bowie seems to have rejected all usual prenatal care as well as a conventional hospital-centered birth plan. She apparently distrusted hospitals and mainstream medicine, planning for a home birth when her baby came sooner than expected. Still, when she found she was in trouble, she could have called 911. Was the problem, really, that she was black? That’s what much online commentary suggests. Her death and that of her child was a tragedy, but she was not denied care for being black. If she had called an ambulance at the first sign of trouble, she and the baby probably would have survived. As a grandmother and great-grandmother of folks identifying as black and of mixed race, I think using black identity as an excuse or explanation for her death is a copout to avoid finding a genuine explanation. Was she trying to show that she didn’t need “the medical establishment”? Maybe her stubborn self-reliance led to her death. How does being black fit in? There is no evidence that she was facing any discrimination in this instance. Discrimination in many varieties certainly exists in our world today, but seems unlikely to have been the proximate cause of this tragedy.
Wash. Post, A
week after reviving at her wake, woman is now dead, doctors say
A 76-year-old
Ecuadorian woman who revived after she was about to be buried has now died.
Mexican soccer (futbol) fans typically express their outrage at players’ mistakes by shouting “puto,” the masculine form of the more common “puta,” meaning a female sex worker. In Mexico, the shout is heard throughout soccer matches. But at the recent 2023 CONCACAF Nations League semifinal played in Las Vegas between the USA and Mexico, the referee stopped play and even cut the match short when the chant wouldn’t stop.
Insider, A woman who 'married' an AI chatbot is open to finding love in the real world, but says a future partner must accept her virtual husband is here to stay She has “married” him in a virtual ceremony.
Wash. Post, In photos: Peru extends health emergency amid record dengue outbreak I’ve been in Peru when dengue was rampant and also knew folks who came down with dengue while I was in the Peace Corps in Honduras. It’s a feverish, lingering mosquito-borne illness with 4 different forms, though a 5th may possibly be emerging now. Once you have survived all types, then you are immune for the duration of your life. In Honduras, we always slept under mosquito nets. I still got malaria while there, but thankfully avoided dengue.
In Peru, a 3000-year-old mummy has been discovered.
I’ve been on several archeological digs in Peru, undertaken by amateurs who
kept found items in their own home collections. In dry areas, items may have shown
little deterioration over the centuries. The proliferation of ancient Peruvian artifacts and burial sites indicates the former existence of a widespread and well-populated civilization.
Israeli
soldiers seem to face no consequences for Palestinian civilian deaths. BBC, Israeli
troops will not face charges over Palestinian-American's death Israel
has not charged its soldiers after an 80-year-old Palestinian-American man died
after being bound and gagged and left alone to die on the ground.
|
Haaretz, IDF Soldier Who Killed Palestinian Toddler Mohammed
Tamimi Will Not Face Disciplinary Action |
Wash. Post, At least 37 dead and 6 abducted in school attack in Uganda, officials say The attackers reportedly came across the border from Congo, with the number of dead now risen to at least 41. Six people were also suspected of being abducted and taken back to Congo. The attackers have been identified as Muslims opposing the rule of the Ugandan president.
CADAL, Tecnología china en Latinoamérica: ¿oportunidad o caballo de Troya?
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