Best Easter Greetings. Time’s up for President Biden to stop the Gaza war

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday. It was a lovely spring day here in Washington, DC, with the sun shining brightly, flowers blooming, birds chirping. Pulling back my bedroom curtains early on that balmy morning, I looked out on flowering trees I’d planted years ago: redbud and pink magnolia now grown to over 2 stories tall. Daffodils had also sprung up. I opened up a window to breathe in the fresh spring air.

Birthday wishes have continued coming in for my son Jonathan, also for me, as my own birthday came only 2 days later. I’ve recently returned from W Va. where we’d been observing our birthdays together.

Though my son’s milestone 50^th birthday actually occurred over a week ago, he only just sent me a photo of us together on that special day. Jon is my “baby,” the youngest of my 4 kids, now celebrating a full half century of life. He was born in Colombia and came to us as a baby. He and I have been through quite a lot together over the last 50 years. That includes his hospitalization at 22 months with a high fever, when his survival was touch-and-go, after a wandering cat had hopped onto our front porch where my family had gathered and scratched him on the cheek. There also had been my divorce (not my call!), much ensuing financial hardship, the subsequent death of Jon’s older brother, then the death of a Cuban foster son who came to us in 1980 via the Mariel boatlift. Jon himself has been married twice and has 2 sons. We’ve experienced so much tragedy and joy together. I feel very lucky to have my son living only 2 hours away by car from my home here in DC. He calls me daily. While in W Va. with him just now, I had no phone or internet--a very relaxing respite.                

Alas, my daughter Stephanie, who had been visiting me before returning to her home in Hawaii at the end of 2023, broke her cell phone, the key to most modern-day communication. Using her husband’s cell phone, she managed to send me a message to tell me. This turns out to be a calamity not only for her, but for me, as she is the 2^nd signer on my bank accounts and also helps me with my tax returns, due very soon now.   

For 23 years, beginning not long after my late former husband had suddenly left our home and family, I started serving as the volunteer coordinator for the Caribbean for Amnesty International, USA. It was almost like taking on an unpaid job, which I’ve just now resigned after my recent recovery from Covid. Ted Henken, PhD, has just confirmed that he has been approved to take over my former Cuba responsibilities, so that’s a good start in assigning responsibility for my former volunteer Amnesty duties. Cuba is certainly the largest and most important country in the region. Perhaps a whole team of volunteers would be needed to actually do justice to the many diverse small countries with their different languages and political systems populating the entire Caribbean region.

Elsewhere, the Gaza war is one of the world’s most devastating but still ongoing human tragedies. It has eclipsed concern for Ukraine. President Biden could probably halt the Gaza war immediately, but, instead, he has continued to fuel it. More comment on that issue later to focus right now on another disaster much closer to home, the nearby Baltimore Key Bridge collapse. Was that simply a freak accident? Perhaps--or perhaps not, because like many accidents, it probably could have easily been averted. Too often, people know exactly what to do in any given situation but just stop paying attention.

All 6 men still missing after the bridge collapse were migrant construction workers from Central America supporting families back home. The US Coast Guard called off the search for the missing workers, who are presumed dead.

Despite a growing demand for labor here in the US, President Biden has declared our southern border to be totally closed now, thereby yielding to sadly misinformed anti-immigrant pressure. We do actually need those foreign workers and they still need jobs! A president could help educate the public on this and other matters, instead of just following the misguided logic of the crowd. Will Biden show any more gumption and leadership on immigration if he gets re-elected?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/21/business/construction-industry-needs-immigrant-workers/index.html We need more immigrant workers for jobs Americans aren’t taking, construction industry says | CNN Business

American guns fuel Haiti crisis | The Hill

In the 1980’s and 90’s, as an election monitor and a human rights advocate, I never felt unsafe in Haiti while traveling alone all over the country for my official duties. I was also delighted to find in Haiti a vibrant culture and a lively art and music scene, once even witnessing a secret voodoo ceremony. I could speak only basic phrases in Haitian creole, but English and Spanish also served me. I stayed at a Haitian hotel made famous by Graham Greene, Hotel Oloffson, the inspiration for the fictional hotel in Greene's 1966 novel The Comedians. How times have changed in Haiti since then!

Here are few of the pieces of Haitian art that I collected while visiting that once vibrant country.

Unfortunately, Haiti is not the only place in the world undergoing unexpected turbulence right now.

The Hill, Former Pentagon investigator says he believes Russia behind ‘Havana syndrome’ attacks

We don‘t hear much anymore about Havana Syndrome, something that affected many American and several Canadian diplomats stationed in Cuba in 2016. Some victims have experienced long lasting effects. Recent investigations have revealed that those affected in the attacks were involved not only with Cuba, but also had Russian connections.

NYTimes, What Happened When This Italian Province Invested in Babies The alpine region around Bolzano provides generous family support. The local birthrate has held steady in a country facing a demographic plunge.

 

Some Italian provinces have had considerable success in increasing local births. Scandinavian countries have also seen modest increases in birthrates using incentives such as parental leave and financial support. Such incentives hardly cover the cost of raising a child, but once a baby is born, parental instincts usually take over.

 

Now that having children has become a “choice” for heterosexually partnered couples, rather than an almost universal expectation, many are simply choosing not to exercise that choice at all.

 

Events continue to follow a dire trajectory in the Hamas/Israel war.

 

Fox News, Fetterman's top comms staffers resign amid ongoing backlash against senator over his pro-Israel stance

 

ABC News, Netanyahu 'continues to essentially give the finger' to Biden over Gaza, Sen. Van Hollen says

 

Wash. Post, Families of Israeli hostages join protests calling for Netanyahu to go

 

Reuters, Israeli strike kills aid workers from chef's NGO

[T]hose killed included citizens of Poland, Australia, Britain, a dual citizen of the United States and Canada as well as several Palestinians…The NGO said the workers were traveling in two armored cars marked with the WCK logo…Chef Jose Andres, who started the NGO in 2010, said on X: "The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”

                al-Shifa Hospital was practically destroyed in a 2-week Israeli bombardment. 

Fox News, Netanyahu, ahead of surgery, vows Israel will invade Rafah, despite pressure from Ramadan, US

 

NYTimes, Days After U.N. Cease-Fire Resolution, Has Anything Changed in Gaza?

Nothing has changed so far. Possible war criminal Netanyahu appears to still be fully in charge in Israel. April may be Arab American Heritage Month, but President Biden seems hellbent on meeting Netanyahu’s every war demand regardless of world opinion and the continued injury and death being inflicted on Arab and Palestinian civilians. He has not even hinted at turning off the money and weapons spigot.

 

Wash. Post, U.S. signs off on more bombs, warplanes for Israel

Why in the world is President Biden giving Israel even more weapons of war? Does he expect doing so will win him American votes in Nov.? 

Wash. Post, U.N. peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon; U.S. arms transfer to Israel criticized

 

ABC News, Gaza 'feels like a coffin for children,' some adolescents are 'wanting to die': UNICEF

Is  President Biden incapable of saying “no” to Israeli requests? A ceasefire sign has been in my front yard ever since November—now here we are in April, many thousands of civilian deaths and injuries later in Gaza. Wouldn’t those actually be considered war crimes? Mr. Biden is making it very hard for many of us to ever vote for him again, though if Donald Trump is his election opponent, as seems most likely, voters like me will find ourselves between a rock and a very hard place. That urgent ceasefire sign has remained in my front yard for 5 months now, with still no ceasefire in sight. Besides writing on this blog and talking with friends, what else can I do?

CNN, Opinion: Why I’m resigning from the State Department

Opinion by Annelle Sheline

[Excerpts]  Since Hamas’ attack on October 7, Israel has used American bombs in its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 32,000 people — 13,000 of them children — with countless others buried under the rubble, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Israel is credibly accused of starving the 2 million people who remain…

Retired Israeli Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Brick noted in November that Israel’s missiles, bombs and airplanes all come from the US. “The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting,” he said. “Everyone. understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.”

 

 

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