Folks, obviously, I don't know how to move these photos around easily, so thanks for bearing with me.
Well, we had a little respite during a neighbor
child’s birthday and Halloween, thank goodness.
Reminder that I will be at MLKing Library in DC
along with other local authors on Sat. Nov. 5, 10 am- 5 pm and at Chappaqua
Public Library Wed. Nov. 9 and at Barnard College/Columbia U. on Fri. Nov. 11.
Meanwhile, I just received the message below:
From John Suarez
To Barbara Joe
Today Nov. 2 at 7:19 PM
(Re Cuban Democracy advocate Sirley Avila.
who was crippled and lost her hand because of a machete attack
by an attacker who was apparently not sanctioned and is still threatening her.)
Good news. Getting Sirley assistance will now be easier. Bad
news: She had to flee Cuba. Situation had become intolerable. Home was
occupied. Mother's home where she was staying had a microphone and camera
placed across the street along with constant harassment by state security
agents. Finally the man who attacked her was on the street and bragging how he
was going to finish the job.
She arrived Saturday night and we are doing all we can to get her settled in.
Cordially, John
Here is my earlier article about her:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-e-joe/a-revolution-with-promise_b_9801712.html
I will be so glad when this election is over,
though it’s not over until it’s over and our country and the world will certainly
be in big trouble if Trump actually wins. Already, the stock market has fallen
since the new FBI probe into e-mails was announced. The stock market doesn’t
like uncertainty and Trump presidency would bring big-time uncertainly for years. I didn’t
say “Clinton’s e-mails” because we don’t know yet what these e-mails are. And
unfortunately, Trump is now even with Clinton or slightly ahead. The fates seem
to piling up against Hillary, but if she should lose, God forbid, I would hope
that Republicans and Democrats might team up together to halt some of Trump's
most egregious efforts, as the guy is totally impulsive, self-serving, and
ignorant. People think Hillary is dishonest, but what about Trump? Our
local Spanish-language papers here in DC, obviously, have endorsed Clinton.
Despite discovery of the new e-mails (isn’t the
electorate getting tired of hearing about Hillary’s e-mails?), we still have to
vote for Hillary because the alternative is unthinkable. There was even hope
that Hillary might have a down-ballot influence that would help her govern. Even
if there is no smoking gun in the new e-mails, which is likely, the damage to
Clinton and the Democrats has been done. The new e-mails may exonerate her
completely, but there isn’t time to examine and report on them all before next
Tues. It’s ironic that the e-mails in question are connected to Anthony Weiner,
the estranged husband of her assistant, Huma Abedin, a guy who continued his sex-texting
of young girls and women, a connection not so savory for Clinton, though she
can scarcely be blamed for Weiner's strange compulsion. Why are these e-mails
only being examined now? A complete review that might totally exonerate Clinton
is probably impossible to complete within the short time before the election. FBI
Director James Comey
sent Congress (a congress hostile to Clinton) a letter on the new e-mails
despite DOJ’s warning that it would breach policy. Did he do it to deliberately
sabotage the election of Clinton or what? He worked for GW Bush before. The
timing is suspect. In the worst case, the new investigation might cause voters
to throw up their hands and simply not vote. Comey would continue to serve in a
Clinton administration because he has a 10-year term, though Abedin may be out
of a job even if Hillary wins. While Hillary has been standing by her assistant
throughout, this may be the final blow for Huma Abedin. And, we may
have Weiner to thank for Hillary’s future election loss and for Republican
congressional victories, as well as for the loss of his own family and
marriage.
We can survive a Hillary Clinton (one-term?) presidency,
but Trump is a complete dark hole. I don't think even he knows what he would do
if he won--he's so used to "winging it." Political and economic chaos
is likely if he becomes president. However, then Republican and Democratic
lawmakers might actually come together to thwart or control his most egregious
plans. A pundit, who has called all recent presidential elections correctly,
continues to insist that Trump will win. If so, too many of our fellow
Americans are easily manipulated. Of course, Brits voted for Brexit even though
it was probably not in their best interests and the Oregon Wildlife occupiers
were acquitted despite overwhelming evidence, so a Trump victory is certainly possible,
especially with these new e-mail questions. There may be nothing in the
e-mails, except salacious information about Weiner, but the damage is done. Can
we still dodge the bullet?
And, in another anomaly, Cuba, along with other abusive regimes, such
as China. Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, was elected to the UN Human Rights Council. Talk
about a conflict of interest with violators judging their own human rights’
records. Already, the Cuban regime tells its own citizens that all their
problems are not due to the top leadership’s mismanagement and greed, but to
the US embargo, which barely exists any more, with food and most medicines and
medical equipment exempt. And who says Cuba cannot still trade with other
nations? Does it have a right to insist on trade with the US? Cuban billboards denounce
the embargo as a “blockade” that is the world’s worst genocide. Do Cubans
actually believe that they are suffering genocide? Cuba is an example of a people who fell in
love with a charismatic, unpredictable, and ruthless leader who ruined their
country for generations. Let’s hope that
Trump won’t do similar damage if he is victorious, though we should recover
more quickly than Cuba has. Maybe he could even be impeached when voters
realize their mistake? Even a Clinton presidency will be mostly concerned with
damage control focused on Trump supporters and congressional Republicans.
In Nicaragua, Daniel
Ortega’s running mate is his wife, Rosario Murillo. Why not? Once back in office, he
has maneuvered and manipulated his way to remain. I was there as an election
observer when he was defeated in 1990 when opposition parties united behind
Violeta Chamorro with UNO. It was the fragmentation of the opposition and
everyone wanting to be top dog that allowed Ortega to get back into office with
only 1/3 of the vote (the winner being the biggest voter-getter, not with the
majority). Since then, with high court maneuvers, press manipulation, and other
questionable actions, he has managed to stay in office, so with a compliant
vice president, his own wife, he can expect to remain for his lifetime.
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