The dire population predictions of 18th-century English economist Thomas Malthus may have become outdated but he was correct about the need for limits on human reproduction. Now China, Japan, South Korea, the US, Canada, and Europe have all gone too far in that direction, with severely limited reproduction resulting in a worrisome baby bust.
Only in my lifetime have heterosexually partnered couples been able to completely avoid having any children at all. Many couples are now making that choice and those still having children are having only one or 2, which is not enough for sustaining a national population. The US average birthrate per woman is now only about 1.6. It would have to become 2.1 for our population to become viable over time, as not every child will survive to adulthood. So immigration is the only remedy for our country now.
Canada is still further behind in terms of its birthrate, but has been more open to immigration than the US. China’s birthrate is lagging even more, and China does not welcome immigration nor are many folks clamoring to settle there.
And China is now also taking back all its giant pandas in the US, sent here years ago as a goodwill gesture, perhaps now to signal displeasure about the status of US-China relations?
The US will certainly become a key player and funder in rebuilding Gaza and in pushing for a Palestinian state, albeit one geographically divided by Israel. Hamas also must stop its suicidal attacks, but its leaders are unlikely to listen to the US, although they might actually heed their Muslim allies. Hamas is now in survival mode, completely on the defensive, not on offense anymore. Hamas had its moment, but is now basically defeated. If a Palestinian state should end up emerging from all this carnage, Gaza’s survivors may later come to regard the human sacrifice as having been worthwhile. Former enemies Japan and Germany later became staunch post-war American allies, though at this stage in Gaza, it’s hard to envision any such rapprochement between Israel and Palestine. And the Gaza war is having serious repercussions right now in our own country. Is there any honest broker able to gain the trust of both sides? That is looking rather unlikely at this juncture. Poor Ukraine now seems all but forgotten.
Insider, Obama says the war in Gaza is killing people 'who have nothing to do with what Hamas did' Barack Obama has said that “no one’s hands are clean.” No longer concerned about being reelected, Obama feels now free to speak his mind (though his statements may affect Biden’s future). It is, of course, not easy for Israel to distinguish between friend and foe, so Israeli forces have opted to just eliminate everybody in their path, having already killed at least 10,000 Palestinians, among them many civilians. Included that total are an estimated 4,000 children, as if Israel is trying to annihilate the future generation to wipe Palestine completely off the map. (Are these now actually “war crimes”?)
President Biden’s urgent call for a humanitarian “pause” has so far been rejected by Israel. Israel had been on the cusp of becoming more accepted in its wary Middle Eastern neighborhood, but is now back to square one. Israel relies heavily on American financial and moral support to even stay in existence, but is ignoring its benefactor’s pressure as it continues its scorched-earth onslaught. Memories of the Holocaust cannot still be counted on to acquit Israel of moral responsibility today.
CNN, Israel admits airstrike on ambulance near hospital that witnesses say killed and wounded dozens
Yahoo News, Photos: Israel bombing in Gaza intensifies as civilian death toll climbs Israel continues to brush off international calls for a ceasefire, and it has resisted pressure from U.S. officials for a pause in its military operation to allow for humanitarian aid to reach civilians trapped in Gaza.
Business Insider, Israel says it dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza in one week. That's almost as many as what the US dropped in Afghanistan in one year.
Yahoo News, As Israel-Hamas war intensifies, so does antisemitism
and Islamophobia on college campuses
AFP, 'Did you kill a Palestinian?': anti-West boycott sweeps Mideast
AP, A month into war, Netanyahu says Israel will have an
'overall security' role in Gaza indefinitely
AP, A woman and 3 children are killed by an Israeli
airstrike in south Lebanon, local officials say
CNN, The world is turning against Israel’s war in Gaza – and many Israelis don’t understand why
Amnesty International has
issued an urgent worldwide appeal.
Amnesty is calling on President Joe Biden to:
1.
Call for an immediate ceasefire by all
parties in the occupied Gaza Strip and Israel to prevent further loss
of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid for people in Gaza
amidst an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe;
We
also:
2.
Demand the lifting of restrictions on delivery
of urgent humanitarian aid, including fuel, food and medical
supplies, to the Gaza Strip in sufficient quantities to meet the dire needs of
the civilian population, and urge the Israeli government to immediately restore
Gaza’s supply of electricity, water, fuel, and food and
rescind the unlawful evacuation order;
3.
Call for an end to unlawful attacks, including
indiscriminate attacks, direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects, and
disproportionate attacks.
4.
Demand that Hamas and other Palestinian armed
groups in Gaza release all civilian hostages unconditionally
and immediately and treat all those being held captive humanely, including by
providing medical treatment, pending their release.
5.
Demand the immediate suspension of the direct
and indirect supply, sale, or transfer to the Israeli government of all weapons,
munitions, and other military and security equipment, and make clear that
the U.S. will not tolerate the perpetuation of war crimes or crimes against
humanity with weapons it has provided to the Israeli government. We ask that
the US government commit to implementing the administration’s own policies
regarding human rights and civilian harm reduction.
6.
Call on the Israeli government to lift
the unlawful 16-year blockade on Gaza, and dismantle its system of
apartheid imposed over Palestinians. Support the International Criminal Court
in urgently expediting its ongoing investigation into evidence of war
crimes and other crimes under international law.
A friend sent
me the following images from rituals taking place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where she is visiting right now.
NY Times, A New Answer for Migrants in Central America: Bus Them North Costa Rica and Panama are busing people to ease crowding along their borders, which Biden officials fear will encourage more people to travel to the U.S.
Miami Herald, Biden administration issues warning to those involved
in Nicaragua-bound migrant flights
Back here in the USA, the battle over guns continues unbated. HuffPost, 2 Teens Arrested After Allegedly Firing 100 Rounds Into Wrong Home, Killing Woman Two Texas teenagers were arrested this week over the death of a 25-year-old woman after the pair allegedly fired more than 100 rounds into her home, mistaking it for that of a rival gang member.
That unfortunate victim could well have been you or me. We are all at risk of injury or death due to lax gun controls and the vast proliferation of firearms in our country.
Now in the Dominican Republic, people of Haitian descent, actually Dominican born, are being deported to Haiti, a neighboring country with a different language where they have never lived before. Dominican authorities insist that their country does not recognize birthright citizenship.
Instead of featuring lost
pets this time, here is one recently found after a rigorous 3 months’ search.
Again, I have no control over certain quirks. The blog gods always have the upper hand.
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That’s not all this time, so please stay tuned.
Now comes the “Then” part, referred to in this posting’s title. Back in early 2009, nearly 15 years ago, I started the first version of this blog after my first book came out, Triumph & Hope, followed not long after by the second one, Confessions. Both books’ full titles and links to them on Amazon appear on the upper right-hand corner.
For about 10 years, the original blog honduraspeacecorps.blogspot.com continued on without a glitch, then one day, it suddenly stopped without any explanation. I was unable to write another word. So I asked other blog users what to do on other platforms, as no information is ever available from Blogspot itself. Using Blogspot is free, so we cannot expect any official advice. When other users proved unable to help me continue with the blog, I started all over with honduraspeacecorps2.blogspot.com which is where we are right now.
However, I recently revisited the original blog and was able to copy several photos posted there to share with you here. These photos, which evoked many memories for me, I trust will prove interesting to you. (I also tried to correct a few things on the old blog now, but it doesn’t permit that, unlike on this version 2, where I can go back to make corrections on previous postings.)
My
2 younger kids liked to hang out with a neighborhood friend.
Over time and distance, daughter
Stephanie has maintained a close friendship with the blond girl appearing with
her here.
I
attended Stephanie’s wedding in Hawaii. 
Above, in 2011, I visited Cuban-born Armando and his family
in Florida, many years after I had first brought him out of Cuba because of his acute
medical needs. His plight came to light via a letter in Spanish arriving at the
association where I was working, which was then given to me to translate. His meds were unavailable
in Cuba, he said, so I engineered an invitation for him from Mexico which had diplomatic
relations with Cuba. At that time, this all had to be done via letters as the
internet was still in its infancy. From Mexico, he crossed the Texas-Mexico border
illegally, gained asylum, and found the medical care he needed in this country.
Before she moved to Florida, daughter Melanie said goodbye to our former next-door neighbor, the late Joe Watson.
After
Peace Corps service in Honduras from 2000 to 2003, I volunteered annually with
medical brigades there, including here in Feb. 2014.I volunteered as an interpreter and helper with Honduran medical brigades annually after my return from the Peace Corps in 2003, continuing up through 2020, including in operating rooms where 2 surgeries always took place simultaneously. I only stopped going there in 2021 during the pandemic, returning again in 2022. Since American volunteer surgeons usually don’t speak Spanish, interpretation services have proved necessary.
Here below, I’m seen sitting on my living room couch a few years ago with my great-grandson De’Andre and daughter Melanie’s stepchildren.
Below, granddaughter Natasha’s son De’Andre, now age 16, plays basketball and soccer, but also took up pool at an early age.
Son
Jon and I soaked in a hotel hot tub 
Jon had an emergency finger amputation in Winchester. Va. while
I was in Honduras in Feb. 2018.
In
Sept. 2018, older daughter Melanie and I visited son Jonathan in Berkeley
Springs, W Va., where he had moved in July.
The pink azalea bush behind my young great-grandson and me has now been crowded out by the tulip tree growing behind it.
In
2019, I had a visitor from Bhutan named Sonam, a friend still in touch with
me today. He wants to move back to the US with his family, but has had no luck so
far with the visa lottery where the odds are exceedingly slim.
No, my young friend and I are not standing there with the real live Pope Francis, although the pontiff actually was visiting DC at the time. Later on, that same little boy was joined by a baby brother.
Little Honduran girls typically care for younger siblings.
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