For a taste of what living in Honduras as a
Peace Corps volunteer was like, take a look at this You-tube video from a
volunteer whose term overlapped with mine (since I extended my term after
starting in 2000). And, of course, I’ve
been back 13 times since, including last Feb. Many familiar scenes appear here:
Speaking of Honduras, while I was serving as an
interpreter at a recent parent-teacher school meeting, one of the teachers
noticed the tiny logo on my t-shirt for International Health Service of
Minnesota (ihsmn.org), one of the brigades where I’ve volunteered yearly since
leaving Peace Corps Honduras—was there most recently in Feb. 2017. Her parents,
a nurse and a physician, are also yearly volunteers, but in a different part of
Honduras from where I usually go. Small
world!
Interpreting is a
job full of surprises; we never know quite what to expect. Recently, at a law
office, I met as interpreter with an asylum applicant, a male-to-female transgender woman, still using a male first name,
probably because identifying documents and gender identity cannot be legally
changed in the country of origin and all documents would be in that name. I
wish I could say more, including original country, but confidentiality
precludes it.
Recently, at
the DC Amnesty International office, I am among about 20 people attending a
presentation by Marcos Gomez, the head of Amnesty International Venezuela, one
of the largest groups in Latin America. Here is a statement issued by the office prior to his
appearance:
Earlier this year, amidst an increase in protests around
Venezuela have resulted in more than 43 deaths and hundreds of people injured
and imprisoned, Amnesty International launched the report Silenced
By Force: Politically-Motivated Arbitrary Detentions in Venezuela. The report provides
details on a catalogue of illegal actions taken by Venezuelan authorities to
repress freedom of expression, and documents how Venezuelan authorities are
using the justice system to illegally increase persecution and punishment of
those who think differently. Marcos Gomez heads the 40-year old country section
of Amnesty International Venezuela (AIVEN) and manages 50 local staff. The
Venezuela Section of Amnesty International is one of the largest throughout the
Global South with more than 450,000 supporters and 20 networks in all of
Venezuela's major cities. Marcos will also provide updates on the humanitarian
crisis in Venezuela, and on recently documented findings of how Venezuelan
security forces have used illegal raids and attacks on private homes as a way
of stamping out dissent, expanding their repressive tactics from the streets to
people’s homes.
As for
Americans’ Cuba travel: U.S.
tourists and companies will no longer be able to do business with a long list
of entities that allegedly have ties to Cuban military, intelligence or
security services. American tourists will also no longer be able to travel to
Cuba on individual people-to-people exchange programs. They must travel now
with a sponsoring organization or, if there on educational travel, with an
American group or university. http://abcnews.go.com/International/cuba-restrictions-make-harder-americans-visit-country/story?id=51013328
Sayfullo
Saipov, the Uzbec man charged with killing 8 people in the NYC
terrorist attack, had won the visa
lottery. I am well acquainted with the visa lottery, as per my Confessions book: Once,
in a remarkable streak of luck, three visitors, from Argentina, Japan, and
Tunisia respectively, all won that year’s U.S. visa lottery. Our house acquired
such a lucky-charm reputation thereafter that visa-lottery hopefuls clamored to
live with us, although none subsequently won.
Of
course, the visa lottery is not the real problem.
Prepare
Yourself for Jihad 3.0
https://www.wsj.com/articles/prepare-yourself-for-jihad-3-0-1509660943
Radical Islamic terrorists will revive their movement. The U.S. needs to focus on defeating the ideology. By Husain Haqqan Wall St. Journal Nov. 2, 2017 Tuesday's terrorist attack in New York City, committed by an immigrant from Uzbekistan, is a reminder that radical political Islam won’t end with the recent defeat of Islamic State in Raqqa. The U.S. must re-evaluate its alliances in the Muslim world based on whether or not partners encourage extremism. Saudi Arabia’s recent avowal to teach moderation in religion, emulating the United Arab Emirates’ campaign against radical Islamism, deserves American support, as does Morocco’s decision to work with the Holocaust Memorial Museum to educate its people about the Holocaust and teach tolerance. On the other hand, Qatar’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey’s decision to include jihadi teachings in its school curriculum indicate their support of radicalism. Above all, the U.S. must focus on defeating radical Islamist ideology, not just its periodic manifestation in terrorist attacks.
Even
closer to home, how many more mass
shootings have to occur before more effective gun control is enacted? Apparently
the supposed protective benefit of allowing an armed citizenry is not working in terms of preventing such attacks. An
article in the right-wing Townhall Daily
is headlined “We Don’t Need Gun Control to Prevent Mass Shootings." OK, then, what do we need? Other developed countries, even less developed ones,
don’t have this problem. Mr. Trump says it’s a mental health issue, not “a gun situation.”
If so, what do we do to prevent those
with mental health issues from having guns, including Donald Trump himself, who
evidently has his own mental health issues?
Despite
a bad conduct military discharge and having been found to have assaulted his
wife and child, the Texas shooter was able to assemble a firearms collection.
Avid Trump supporter Texas Gov. Greg Abbott commented on Sunday’s killing in
Sutherland Spring, Texas, and on the killing of 58 people in Las Vegas in
October: :
We have acts of evil taking place,
and because they are close in time to us right now, we think this is something
heavy right now. But put this in the context of history. Look at what happened
with Hitler, the horrific events during that era, and Mussolini.
Predictably, Trump, Speaker Paul
Ryan (R-Wis.) and many other political leaders sent their usual “thoughts and prayers” to Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday after the gunman killed
26 people and injured 20 more at the First Baptist Church. It always is said to
be “too soon” to discuss gun control after a mass shooting. But many on Twitter pointed out that the victims were
attending church, so likely were already engaged in prayer, and still suffered
at the hands of a gunman. Now, they say, it’s time for politicians to offer
something more than thoughts and prayers:
FollowFollow @SpeakerRyan
Reports
out of Texas are devastating. The people of
Sutherland Springs need our prayers right now.
rosanne
cash Retweeted Paul Ryan
They were in a church that was full
of prayers. They need a government who will enact common sense gun laws. #GunControlNow
Mr. Trump
poured gasoline on the fire of the gun debate by reportedly calling for more guns, when all evidence shows that
fewer guns deaths occur where there are fewer guns in circulation. As for his
international forays, "I do think both the Chinese and the Russians think they can play
him," former National Intelligence Director James Clapper said of Trump.
Of
course, Trump apparently considers himself to be especially gifted and
possessing a very high IQ (he seems obsessed with IQ scores and proving that he
is smart). Actually, he is rumored to have been mediocre in college (and maybe
a legacy student?) and has what many have called a 3rd-grade
vocabulary and obviously poor grammar and spelling. He also is ignorant of
basic facts, as when he urged Japanese car makers to make cars in the US, as if
they weren’t already doing that! Is Trump’s base really as clueless as he is
and do his folks see ignorance as a virtue? Shouldn’t our leaders be a little
savvier than the average voter?
GWBush
seemed not too swift mentally as president, but he could be folksy and
self-deprecating. Bill Clinton was savvy, but a philanderer. Obama as president
was a straight arrow and very bright, but maybe a bit too cerebral? What
redeeming virtues fitting him for the presidency does a mentally and
emotionally challenged guy like Donald Trump have? Rather, let him return to
playing golf and promoting his various properties. Maybe he can entertain
himself by giving (paid) speeches to his adoring fans?
Well,
at least Ralph Northam won, whew! not
that he's so
fantastic, but certainly much better than the alternative. Former RNC Chair Michael Steele is right in commenting
on Trump's blaming of Ed Gillespie
for not fully embracing him--Steele asked Trump if he had won
Virginia?
Is the following true or “fake news”?
Former Mexican
ambassador Arturo Sarukhan, who served as Mexico’s ambassador to the United States from
2007 to 2013, says State Department is
telling world leaders to stay at Trump hotels. https://thinkprogress.org/former-mexican-ambassador-trump-hotels-6fc52c7ce8f5/
The Trump-friendly daily on-line “news” source, Townhall Daily, displays headlines
like: “Mueller Strikes Out: Democrat Nuts and Never Trumpers Hardest Hit,” “The
Left Is Just Full of Miserable People,” “Hillary Is Having A
Terrible Day,” “Mueller Must Resign,” and “Sex: The Progressives’ Problem.” Not sure how I came to
receive it, but it’s an interesting look into the alternative world of Trump
supporters, the hard-core base. Might most of this be considered
honest-to-goodness “fake news”?
Trump routinely labels unfavorable press reports and falling poll
numbers “fake news,” and when votes don’t go his way, that’s because illegal
aliens voted. And, of course, his predecessor Barack Obama was born in Kenya,
hence an illegal alien president who also had smaller inaugural crowd. The
economy is in ruins, Obamacare is imploding, and coal is coming back!! And, oh,
by the way, Trump is the smartest president ever and the very “best” since
Abraham Lincoln. Does that remind you of a tin-horn dictator along the lines of
Robert Mugabe? The Alabama Senate race has Trump in a quandary—it's a very
high-stakes race.
A democratic government, with free speech and elections, allows
different voices to be expressed, making it good for sorting out beliefs and
actions, but also subjecting vulnerable
and uniformed citizens to manipulation. What has protected Trump so far—giving
credit now where credit is due—is that the economy has continued to hum along, just
as under Obama, not quite with the wild success that Trump had predicted, but still
doing OK and the stock market has kept on going up. Will it last?
Here’s another huge pending disruption,
affecting Hondurans, among others,
also Haitians under my jurisdiction
as Amnesty International Caribbean Coordinator: Trump administration to drop
protections for Central Americans and Haitians: report | TheHill Nicaraguans
are already being notified that their TPS will expire.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/358750-trump-administration-drops-protections-for-central-americans-and
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/358750-trump-administration-drops-protections-for-central-americans-and
Very
appropirate of Hawaiians to be greeting Trump with “Welcome to Kenya” signs.
As if international adoptions needed any
more complications, Trump administration putting new hurdles on international
adoptions, The Columbus Dispatch,
I have
an internationally adopted son, Jon, now past 40, and for many years I was a
board member of a local international adoption agency that has closed its doors
because of the difficulty of maneuvering in the current climate.
In
another blow to adoptions (don't Republicans favor adoption over abortion?,
Paul Ryan Defends Elimination of the Adoption Tax
Credit
Finally,
we all support free speech, but are not allowed to shout “fire!” in a crowded theater when there is no actual fire. But what
if our country really is on fire? Isn’t it time to start shouting “fire!” now
about the Trump administration?
