Long days and short nights along with balmy weather, a respite before the stifling heat of August, make June a great time to be outside and just to be alive. My interior skylight is still open, so lots of light inside. Day or night, the capitol is always visible from our neighborhood.
Then 2 days ago, a light haze drifted in, all the way from smoke from fires up in Canada, which hopefully will clear soon. I’ve felt some eye irritation, although staying inside right now.
“Buy Nothing” groups are springing up here on Capitol Hill. No need to formally join, as I already buy nothing but food and have started giving household items away. At free local book exchanges, I’ve also picked up a few illustrated children’s books for Honduras, but have no specific plans to return there yet.
Years ago, I was friendly with former president Jimmy Carter, now age 98, and his wife Roselyn, age 95, though with her dementia, she may not remember me now, though her husband surely would. The couple have certainly met a great many people during their long and productive lives. Now they are living out their final days together in their familiar home in Plains, Georgia. I last saw the former president in Nicaragua in 1990 when we were both serving as election observers there. A photo of us together from that time appears on p.80 of my Confessions book. Here is my family with President Carter in 1979. My late son Andrew is on the far left.
The Summerhouse Grotto built in 1881 is a good place the cool off in the summer.
A local mother shows off her new baby.
The National Zoo here in DC is celebrating the birth of the second offspring of a pair of endangered mountain gorillas. The unnamed infant joins Moke, the newborn’s 5-year-old brother and parents Baraka and Calaya.
A high school sophomore from Michigan, Chloe Ricketts, age 15, has become the youngest person ever to join the National Women's Soccer League, signing a three-year contract with our own hometown team, the Washington Spirit.
This is the time of year to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre that began on April 15 with student demonstrations, then swelled to become an estimated million protesters, but ended on June 4, 1989, when it was crushed by military force. Chinese history books are mute on the subject, with no mention being allowed on social media either, so it only can be commemorated elsewhere, as on this blog.
The US border has become more orderly, with migrants lining up to cross. But some are still crossing via rivers.
In Wyoming, a rare white wild bison mother and calf were spotted.
Here I am, as usual, writing about all this without a paper copy, though I may print out a page or 2 to be sent to my sister by snail mail, since her family is voluntarily “off the grid.” I also read newspapers and other information totally online, so am not sure now about how to react to warnings that artificial intelligence may pose a risk to humankind equal to that of nuclear war. Really? Who or what is saying this? Is the source the very same AI now reportedly making us actual humans obsolete? Admittedly I am reading and writing about all this online with nothing tangible to show for it. Everything posted here exists only on the internet and could vanish instantly. Is it time now to shut down the machines or is it already too late? Maybe the vast online world is a real-life case of the Frankenstein monster having become independent of its creator. Reuters, Top AI CEOs, experts raise 'risk of extinction' from AI
On the subject of AI, drone warfare is now being used by both sides in the Russia-Ukraine war, almost making shootings between actual humans obsolete. If warfare conducted online can reduce human casualties, so much the better; just let the drones fight it out.
The
US debt default that had been looming as a dire calamity over our nation
and the world required both sides in the budget standoff to give ground,
even if only a token amount each. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose
stature rose during negotiations with President Biden, told the public
in advance, “Don’t worry.” So were the political parties just playing “chicken”
with the debt ceiling? It’s a relief that the standoff is finally over.
President Biden tripped on a sandbag on the stage after he gave a speech at the Air Force Academy. He got right up afterward and waved.
The world economy is still in a precarious state. In fact, Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is now reportedly verging on recession. Such problems can start out slowly, then spiral out of control, partly via a self-fulfilling prophesy. Falling home prices, including right here in DC and also in southern California, are another worrying development that may trigger a downward spiral. Buck up fellow Americans. Now that the budget impasse has been settled, we need to become optimists again.
In the gas versus electric stove debate, a gas burner with
an actual flame raised or lowered at will, is most versatile and useful for
cooking in my own experience of more than 50 years. Nor have my family and I
had any health or other problems attributable to the gas stove. Gas stoves are suspected of giving off fumes, but probably professional
cooks actually prefer them. I also find gas radiator heat to be more
comfortable than that of an electric heat pump. Our home, bought in back 1969,
has everything gas, which was quite poplar back then. So I still have a gas stove,
oven, furnace, radiators, and water heater with no plans to replace them.
LA Times, A majority of Californians say Feinstein is no longer
fit for office, a new poll finds
Senator Diane Feinstein may no longer be properly representing
her constituents, but can she be forced to resign? Probably not. A forced
resignation from Congress or the Senate apparently has never happened. Because
so many political players are now pressuring Feinstein to resign, all with
competing agendas, it may actually be best for her to just muddle through until
Nov. 2024. Then voters can make their own choice.
The Hill, ‘Simply losing it’: Bitter fight brews over federal
judge’s forced retirement effort Here’s another senior citizen still hanging onto her job, Pauline Newman, a federal appeals court judge
turning 96 this month. Her colleagues have been pressuring her to retire,
citing cognitive problems and lapses in judgment. But Newman is staunchly refusing,
as she apparently really likes her job.
ABC News, Basketball coach found dead in park nearly week after going missing: Police Makuach Yak, 31, a youth basketball coach in southern Florida, was found dead after going missing. Why am I even mentioning him here? It’s because he was from South Sudan, a country where I’d had a mission in 2006. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for Yak to have been uprooted from very underdeveloped South Sudan, then to go on to create a brand new life for himself in the US. He deserved more years.
A 63-year-old Cuban dissident, Librado Ricardo Linares García, who has served 20 years under house arrest, has been awarded
an international prize, along with a Guatemalan mutual support group in the following
Spanish language posting.
Una organización de Guatemala y un activista de Cuba son los
ganadores del Premio Graciela Fernández Meijide Organizaciones, a GAM - Fundación Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo de Guatemala; y activista, al cubano Librado Ricardo Linares García.
Reuters, Nicaragua government accuses Catholic Church of money
laundering, freezes accounts Ortega is really going off the rails, but no one seems to be able
to stop him.
CNN, Mexico police find 45 bags containing body parts
‘matching characteristics’ of missing call center staff
In Mexico, mysterious disappearances are nothing new.
The rest of the world is becoming weary of the war in Ukraine, with both sides involved in that conflict getting tired as well. Ukraine’s allies have started losing enthusiasm as other priorities arise. A face-saving way out for both sides needs to be found soon.
Regarding the recent controversial presidential election in Nigeria, a Nigerian friend living in that nation’s capital sent me the following comment afew days ago, though with the assumption of office by the declared winner on May 29, any further challenges would seem fruitless: Right now, we are set for a transition to a new administration in Nigeria. Now Monday, 29th May, 2023 is the swearing-in of the controversial President-elect, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Meanwhile, the Presidential Election Petition tribunal is seriously fast-tracking post-election petitions. Many Nigerians are still hopeful, that even months or years after the swearing-in and the handover, justice will still be served. Many Nigerians believe that Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party won the election, even though, he was declared third in the election result. However, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP lays claim also that he won the election, even though he came in second. Both candidates are already in court (the Presidential election petition tribunal). It is hoped that the case will eventually end in the Supreme court.
Wash. Post, Man shot to death on Metro train
pulling into Waterfront station This occurred about a mile from where I live.
I no longer ride public transportation myself, instead walking to nearby
locales or catching a ride with family members when they come to town.
Fox, Police respond to quadruple shooting in Woodbridge This happened in the Virginia suburbs not so very far from my home in Washington, DC, with 4 men being shot, 2 of whom have died.
NBC, At least 3 dead and 5 injured in shooting in New Mexico
resort town during motorcycle rally
CBS News, 2 killed, 2 injured after North Carolina shooting
AP, East Texas teenager charged with murder in killings of
parents and siblings
As of May 24, only a few
days ago, there had been at least 25 mass killings in the U.S. so far in 2023,
leaving at least 127 people dead, not including perpetrators. Nearly all of the
killings, including this recent one by an 18-year-old in Texas, were done with
a firearm, often one kept at home. Haven’t people realized the risks of having
a gun in the home?
There have been at least 556 fatal gun incidents
in the U.S since 2006 according to a national database, leaving a total of 2,892
people dead. The easy availability of a gun is a key factor in nearly all such
incidents, with some shootings even being carried out by curious children. Whether accidents
or intentional, gun deaths are often impulsive actions incentivized by the ready
availability of a gun.
I suspect that a
substantial number of suicides are carried out on impulse by a person who would
still be with us if a gun had not been so handy. Just the presence of a gun in
the home may be serve as an invitation for a person feeling riled up who wants
to inflict pain on someone else by causing their own death. Like gun murders, gun
suicides may be impulsive acts made possible by the ready availability of a gun
in the home.
There are other times when someone might have contemplated a quick death even if suicide had never been top of mind. Haven’t you or I, when standing on a bridge or looking out of a high-rise window or perhaps even leaning on a railing installed over a steep ledge, sometimes actually imagined jumping? I know I have and other folks have told me the same. We usually have pulled hastily back from the barriers set up to prevent any impulsive leaps. So, I would imagine that the ready availability of a gun might also tempt someone to actually pick it up and simply pull the trigger, especially when facing an unexpected challenge. Young people in particular tend to be impulsive, lacking the life experience to take a longer view.
Some Chinese cities now have a glut of empty apartments because of unanticipated population decline. Having government trying to
micromanage citizens’ personal lives can have unintended consequences, as with the
former official one-child policy now thwarting the Chinese government’s efforts
to stimulate population growth today.
TIME, China Might Have 65 Million COVID Cases a Week by June.
How Worried Should the World Be?
This is the XBB variant, thought to be less lethal than some previous
versions, though the Chinese government has hardly been transparent about providing
information. An official decision may have been made to simply let the population
live with the virus from now on and to no longer mandate any quarantines. Masking
seems to be common now in China as people there go about their daily business,
virus or no. A Chinese scientist recently even dared to speculate that Covid might
have come from a lab lleak.
Wash. Post, Most trans adults say transitioning made them more
satisfied with their lives
Virginia Woolf was not trans in that she never tried to change her gender expression, although her invented book character Orlando actually did. And Woolf certainly was attracted to her female lover, Vita. Some trans supporters still regard Woolf as a spiritual precursor from a time before physical gender changes were even permitted, although cross-dressing has a long history, as has been mentioned before on these pages. Surgery and hormones designed to bring personal aspirations more in line with actual physical reality are a more modern development. A whole medical specialty has arisen devoted to the effort. (As with any medical specialty, that development has helped create investment in its own perpetuation.)
Some “trans” urges experienced by a young person may be based on immature explorations, so that if their decision could be given more time, they might “grow out” of it and reconsider. But many young folks (and their parents) are simply unwilling to wait. Mothers especially seem to buy-in early to a child’s trans aspirations. After undertaking a drastic first step to start becoming trans before 18, the choice is still considered to have been worthwhile by most individuals looking back even years later. Gender transition no longer means just cross-dressing, as in days gone by, which then had allowed a fairly easy change of heart later on. Now since it includes hormones for those under age 18, often followed by surgery thereafter for actual bodily transformations, then the change can become permanent. After having undergone surgery, changing one’s mind would be difficult, especially if the genitals are reconfigured, which also results in sterility. Were there so many trans or trans-aspiring people in years gone by? Probably not, as trans is now having a moment.
We all adapt to our present circumstances. So after someone has already gone through the considerable personal
hassle, pain, and expense, as well as that of their whole family, to reverse their
gender presentation, it then would not be surprising if they would come to accept
and even value that change thereafter. Let’s hope so, as it might be hard to actually
go back.
Telegraph, The cult of gender ideology is finally disintegrating
Here’s compelling article, however, pushing strongly back against allowing any physical gender changes whatsoever for minors. Norway and Sweden now have even outlawed the use of puberty blockers for underage kids. It’s certainly true that for many who started “gender affirming care” as children that then their “gender transition” has already become a fait accompli. If required to wait, they might have decided otherwise by age 18. (On another common early personal decision, most marriages in the developed world undertaken before age 18 do not survive.)
So what actually constitutes a gender transition these days? Many if not most trans people apparently still retain their birth genitals, at least according to media accounts. Is a trans adult with a flat chest after top surgery, a deep voice, and a beard due to the effects of male hormones, but still with a vagina (sometimes used in a highly publicized infant birth taking place after the hormones are paused), now actually a man? Telegraph, A pregnant man on the cover of a magazine is barely enough to make me bat an eyelid now [Re Glamour Magazine cover photo]
And what about someone born male who dresses as a woman but who still has a penis as well as breasts? Can someone simply choose their gender identity, regardless of actual physical features? That probably, like other matters, depends on cultural consensus. (Do you or I want to be part of that consensus or not?)
However, most red-state residents are simply not in sync at all, quite ready to follow the lead of Norway and Sweden in banning gender care for those under 18. Nor is everyone on board in blue states either, as when a female-identified trans person impregnates fellow female prisoners in a women’s prison. Or when biological women in a locker room react in shock at seeing a seeing a naked person with a penis in the communal shower. Still, some advocates now argue that anyone should be able to change their gender identity on official documents and also change their preferred pronouns without even having any physical changes whatsoever. These advocates would allow gender self-definition, leaving that key decision to the individual involved, regardless of actual changes. How far should “personal freedom” be allowed to go? And aren’t we also seeing a backlash right now?
How much does family and social
support affect both gay and transgender expression among young children? We'd be unlikely to find much or any such expression by children or even by adults in Afghanistan
or Saudi Arabia. Yet, my late brother working as an architect abroad said he was
surprised to have been propositioned by young single Saudi men. Was that
because they were actually gay or because females were off-limits before marriage?
Were they more like adolescent boys in the US and elsewhere who undertake sex
play among themselves before later coupling with women? There are numerous possible
explanations and variations.
I would posit that most individuals who have experienced a drastic physical or personal change do adjust to their subsequent circumstances, whatever those circumstances may be, and whether or not originally desired. That includes not only those who may have voluntarily undergone “gender-affirming surgery,” but also those who have suffered a serious disability, job loss, unwanted marital breakup, or sudden financial woes. The acute impact of our experiences, whether previously desired or not, tends to fade over time. Humans are adaptable and usually do adjust to any serious loss or change, returning to their emotional status quo ante, even after the loss of a limb, blindness, deafness, or paralysis.
I myself have
confronted divorce, acute financial troubles resulting from the divorce (i.e., having
all joint bank accounts seized by my departing husband), the death of a child,
and the continuing challenges of aging. Yet, my very unwelcome divorce, after I’d
invested so much in my marriage, was something I eventually came to embrace as
it allowed me to revive my long-suppressed Latin American side which my husband
did not share. That was an unexpected gift.
My late ex-husband was
totally blind and had never held a job when we married when I was only 21, in the face of my own family’s opposition. No one from my family attended our
wedding. But I knew my husband was very bright and strategic. I totally believed
in him, investing everything in his (our) success, always working behind the
scenes so he would get the credit, especially because of his blindness. But he then
found another helpmate after 24 years of marriage and our 4 children together. A
much younger, never-married childless woman assumed my role.
I am not the only
first wife once supporting a successful husband who then moved on. Of course, I
felt devastated at first, even totally betrayed, but in time came to regard the
divorce, at least for me, as something actually positive. On paper, I was certainly
worse off, with a lower income, fewer assets, and left to raise kids alone. But
I felt totally free to decide my own path going forward and even rebuffed a subsequent
serious marriage proposal. I certainly would not have joined the Peace Corps in
my 60s if I had still been married. I kept my ex-husband’s unusual Korean last
name, Joe,
in solidarity with my kids, so now even my grandkids have it as a way to bind
us all together.
When my first son, Andrew,
died at age 26 while living in another state, I felt I had totally failed him
as a mother, most basically by not even keeping him alive! At the time, I
didn’t want to go on living myself, but now almost thirty years later, I am
still here, no longer waking up daily to the terrible shock of his loss. I focus
my mourning for him now on just his own birth and death days. And I do take
some comfort in the progress of my namesake grandson Andrew, now a Texas
college student and an aspiring physician. Even aging has had some positives
for me, like having more free time and no firm daily schedule.
During my long life, I
have witnessed and adapted to so many changes! No longer do women these days feel
the need to be officially married, with many American couples now entering into
voluntary partnerships without a formal marriage. Another change has been the
reduction in average family size. I suspect that I am not alone in having no younger
friends or family members with many children, with their actual number of
offspring ranging from zero to just one or two. My readers should just look around
them. Some couples have gone for a 2nd child only to give their
first a sibling. Partnered people in this country usually control fertility with
contraception, though sometimes even via voluntary sterilization.
The only exceptions on
family size among my own acquaintances are friends now living in Latin America or
Africa who have 3 or even 4 kids. Some folks there have since undertaken sterilization
because contraception is often unreliable or impractical—but female sterilization only, as men there
often staunchly reject that option for themselves, considering it emasculating,
although male sterilization would be much simpler. It’s not common anymore to
see families in developing countries with 12 or 13 children, although I do have some adult
friends there who grew up as part of such a large brood.
On another matter, US websites
and ads aimed at senior citizens inevitably show an older man and woman, usually
walking along together holding hands. That heart-warming picture was reinforced
for me in real life on a recent balmy evening when I went out to the mailbox 2
blocks away and encountered a total of 4 older couples, a man and a woman, just
strolling along together in the evening dusk and holding hands. But how typical is
that really? I’ve mentioned previously that the majority of us older American women
are unmarried, widowed, or divorced, substantially outnumbering men our own age,
most of whom are still married while most of us women are not. The male-female survival
ratio keeps on favoring women until by age 100, more than 80% of Americans of that
age are female (and still single). So how about a website now showing an older woman chatting with
a female friend, hugging her grandkids, or simply stroking her pet cat? That’s
a more typical senior.
Some public policies formerly
discarded for being outdated are now being reconsidered, including institutionalizing
those with mental illness, many of whom have ended up in jail or just camping
out on city streets. California in particular is once again contemplating institutionalizing
some folks, a practice abandoned decades ago in favor of community-based treatment, a
policy shift once championed by my late ex-husband and myself. So now may be the
time to partly reverse course on deinstitutionalization, despite our own previous advocacy.
Here is the situation
in my former hometown of Sacramento, California, where the weather is mild all
year round, rainy at times, often hot during the day, but never too cold to
sleep outdoors.
Sacramento Bee, Sacramento California Homelessness
News
A federally-mandated count in February 2022 found that there are an estimated 9,930 homeless people in Sacramento on any given night — higher than San Francisco's 7,754.
Ramesses was an Egyptian pharaoh born more than 3,000 years ago, whose mummy now resides in a Cairo museum. He is often depicted in the company of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of life and magic.
One of this country’s rarest native plants is the Cahaba lily, a white aquatic wild flower blooming only in Alabama and only at this time of year. It’s a spider lily some three-inches-wide belonging to the amaryllis family found growing only in swiftly-flowing water under bright sun. Since it blooms for just 24 hours, one must wait patiently to watch for it to emerge to even get to see it at all. I would love to actually see the Cahaba lily in bloom, but don’t expect to ever experience that. There are some things in life that I will never get to do.
One thing that always stays the same is the wide array of lost pets here on Capitol Hill. Do you recognize any of these? Are some the same pets found in different places?
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