Just
returned from Honduras, but have decided to make this post now, then post next
about my Honduras trip so as not to tax my readers’ attention or tire out their
eyes.
An “emotional support”
dog was on my American
return flight to DC, with his/her human female occupying a front-row seat,
lying down over onto seatmates’ toes. What if they were allergic to dogs? I see that such a dog bit a six-year-old on a
SW Airlines’ flight. If someone feels
the need to take an emotional support animal on a flight, could they please bring
along something small, like a gerbil?
It’s hard to
maintain icon status over the long term. Pope
Francis and Aung San Suu Kyi,
especially the latter, have had their haloes tarnished.
NYTimes opinion piece,
cogent overview of where Cuba is likely to go from here: http://www.cubacenter.org/arch
ives/2018/2/27/cubabrief-goodb ye-castros-hello-communist-par ty
Here
is now Amnesty International’s annual report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2018/02/annual-report-201718/?utm_source=TWITTER-IS&utm_medium=social&utm_content=1364684943&utm_campaign=Annual+Report
Summary below of countries in my jurisdiction as
volunteer coordinator for the Caribbean for AI USA below:
Cuba: Arbitrary
arrests and detentions, Prisoners of conscience, Workers’ rights, Right to
education, International scrutiny
Dominican
Republic: Discrimination – stateless persons, Police and security
forces, Refugees’ and migrants’ rights, Sexual and reproductive rights,
Violence against women and girls, Rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and intersex people
Haiti: Internally
displaced people, Discrimination − stateless persons, Refugees’ and migrants’
rights, Right to health – cholera epidemic, Violence against women and girls,
Rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, Human rights
defenders, Right to education
Jamaica: Police
and security forces, Violence against women and girls, Right to privacy,
Children’s rights, Rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,
Right to health, International justice
After a school interpretation just before I
left for Honduras involving parents meeting with their kids’ teachers, I was
struck by how much individualized attention each child gets and how their
learning strengths and weaknesses are accessed, also by the achievements and
expectations of students from Spanish speaking families. By first grade, these
kids have mastered English and are already writing and illustrating stories in
English. Their parents, who cannot do the same, must be proud and surprised. I
am sure they are surprised by how well a teacher knows their child. I could not
help contrasting the schooling students are getting here to that in public
schools in Honduras that I was involved with as a Peace Corps volunteer and
later with visits to public schools in the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Needless-to-say, (poorly paid) Honduras teachers ae often absent and use very
rote learning techniques, having children sing songs together, recite poems
together, and copy sentences off a blackboard, also, sometimes differentiating
boys and girls by sitting them at different tables and having a boys’ corner
with trucks and blocks and a girls’ corner with dolls and dishes for play time.
At my last interpretation in Alexandria, Va., a DC-suburb, just before I left
for Honduras, three parents meeting with teachers were from Honduras and I told
them I would be leaving soon for their country.
From the January 27 edition of The
Economist: A contested inauguration: The president of Honduras starts his second term under a cloud Juan Orlando Hernández has little
legitimacy, but few real foes. This article pretty much sums up the state
of Honduran politics. Yes, Hernandez has taken
office, but many Hondurans are unhappy—just as many Americans are unhappy with
our own president, who was so far behind in the popular vote. But unless the
election in Honduras is run again, then they are stuck with this guy--not that
the other candidate was desirable either. The problem in Honduras is that the
"losing" side is blocking roads and conducting demonstrations that
often turn violent as the other side or the government tries to break up them
up. That can easily escalate into violence.
Again, just now in Honduras,
I was struck by the fact that medical
and dental services and prescription drugs are priced according to whatever the
market will bear—much cheaper there than in the US and often for high
quality and dedicated services and goods, often even cheaper imported US-manufactured
drugs, as mentioned in my Honduras book, Triumph
& Hope.
A gun may be used
for protection, but it also can be an instrument of aggression, vengeance, and
a display of power. To mix metaphors, a gun is a two-edged sword.
So, an armed deputy at the recent Florida
school shooting left the scene and did nothing to intervene. Would armed school
personnel—as per Trump’s advocacy following up on the NRA’s efforts to sell
more guns—really prevent or reduce deaths in school shootings? In Honduras, folks
are armed to the teeth and the country has one of the highest per capita rate
of gun deaths. In Honduras, every pharmacy, chain grocery, bank, cell phone
shop, Western Union outlet, and even sometimes an ice cream shop has an armed
guard.
In Australia, gun
deaths went down after gun restrictions went into effect. But some have argued
that with so many guns now in circulation in the US, perhaps arming for
self-defense is the only reasonable option—we’re already in a semi-civil war
state. On the other hand, if there is a curb on further gun sales, perhaps
police gun-buy-back efforts could make inroads. Melt the guns down into
plowshares or something else useful and less potentially harmful. Of course,
the guns used by criminals in Mexico, Honduras, and other points south are made
in the USA. Gun control advocates
have to start donating to candidates of their choice, just as gun advocates
donate now to the NRA and to their candidates.
Most people who murder others with guns are not mentally ill, however that is defined,
not so easily, after all. In the eyes of many, Donald Trump is mentally ill or
at least intellectually deficient. And there is no magic bullet available to completely
treat or prevent mental illness or deficiency. Giving credit where it is due, a bystander with a gun
did save a cop recently in Utah. It happens sometimes, but not as often as
someone getting killed accidently or on impulse.
The
US and other developed countries that have prolonged life and reduced
childbearing need to take a lesson from Japan, which does not welcome immigrants
and has a shrinking and aging population with whole villages of elders living
alone without any family. Maybe they enjoyed a carefree, child-free young
adulthood, but now they are aging alone. Some have advocated developing
humanoid robots to help them with daily tasks. Already, the US population is
not replacing itself, which is why we should welcome immigrants. Listen up, Mr. Trump! In a speech to the
delight of his acolytes at CPAC, Trump likened immigrants to snakes that turn
around and kill with their venous bites. Yes, indeed, his grandfather, who
brought family here through (chain?) migration has given us President Donald
Trump, someone actually hurting and killing a people through his inhumane policies.
While immigrants
commit crimes less frequently than native-born Americans, Trump is right, that
to eliminate all crime among immigrants, all immigrants would have to be
eliminated. Can we start retroactively with Trump’s own grandfather? And as for
the visa lottery, countries don’t select their worst citizens for the lottery,
as Trump alleges. In fact, sending nations don’t select lottery winners at all.
Winners are selected at random by the US. As previously mentioned here and in
my books, three such winners won that lottery in the same year while living in my
home on visitors’ visas.
Jared Kushner is not the only inexperienced member of
the Trump administration being manipulated by Russia and China; Mr. Trump himself is so politically naïve and
easily flattered.
Trump staffer John Kelly is wrong to have said that
some “Dreamers” were too lazy to sign up for DACA—they weren’t lazy, they were just
scared for themselves and especially for their families! And some were still too
young.
The idea of a big military parade through the streets of Washington,
DC, not only would be a huge waste of time and money, but is also a pretty
stupid idea. Does anyone doubt that the US has the strongest military in the
world? If you really have it, you don’t have to flaunt it. That’s the kind of parade mounted by tin-horn dictators in
North Korea and Cuba and used by muscle-flexors like China and the USSR to
intimidate their enemies and, more importantly, their own citizens. Even
Trump’s generals would not endorse such wasteful, ridiculous chest-thumping,
but rather than oppose the idea outright, they have promised to look into it. It’s
the worst waste of money Trump has advocated for a display contrary to a democratic values since the idea of a border wall.
Now, according to Trump and his supporters, the
stock market is “rigged” and any plunge is Obama’s fault and also he media’s.
Of course, there is no evidence available for that accusation because the dark secret
forces (from Hillary and Obama?) are so well hidden. But if the stock market
rises, then Trump takes the credit! Sean Hannity on Fox News, after Trump and Fox had often boasted about the soaring stock
market, then attributed the plunge to, oh yes, Obama!
Absolutely priceless was the idea of Trump and Kim impersonators palling
around together and making a show of unity at the Olympics!!
Quite wisely, Trump’s
lawyers have been advising him not to talk with Mueller, as he would surely put
his foot in his mouth and end up lying under oath or admitting to a serious
offense. At best, his lawyers would like to feed him his correct answers via
teleprompter! As Secretary of State Tillerson once said, Trump is a----- ------(fill in the blanks).
Trump
may be innocent of collusion in that he doesn’t seem to have the mental
bandwidth to hatch out any sort of complicated or nefarious plot. But are we
getting used to Trump’s antics as the “new normal”? That’s what the following
article seems to say: Roger Cohen in New York
Times "Trump's
Corruption of the American Republic" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/opinion/trump-corruption-republic.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion-columnists&action=click&contentCollection=columnists®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront
As mentioned before,
I do look at the automatic right-wing postings that pop up in my in-box just to
see what the other side is saying. The name-calling is really breathtaking,
showing the huge chasm between them and the rest of us (the majority): The Liberals and Their Conservative Chump Pals Hate
Democracy; MAGA vs. DACA: How Trump Supporters Trumped Bleeding
Heart Liberals on Late Night TV;
Midterm Prospects Looking up for Republicans, Thanks
to President Trump; Nunes Duels the Deep State.
Trump
voters seem unaware of their own best interests. They want to believe Trump
when he says he will bring back coal jobs; they reject Obamacare (to the point
where in some states it’s being called something else); and they believe Trump
when he says the FBI, the press, and even some Republican Congressmen have
formed a conspiracy against him.
Here’s
a photo, taken in my living room, of the new wheelchair I ordered and took to
Honduras.
Just
before I left for Honduras, a giant rainstorm caused a huge leak in my home
office and trickling down to my bedroom. I could not put my trip on hold, nor
could I get it repaired immediately—questions of money, weather, and workmen
availability. I placed buckets in strategic places and hoped for the best. When
a house is over 100 years old, it develops problems, just like we humans do.
Pundits
and politicians have weighed-in on the 20-week abortion ban which doesn’t sound
so draconian, but those arguing against it say an abortion might still be
necessary after that to protect the mother’s life or health. In that case,
could labor be induced or a C-section performed or some other way used to
extract the child alive in one piece, then to undertake all necessary measures
to salvage him or her, just as would done with any child born prematurely at
that stage? Babies born at 21 weeks, though not very often, have survived. I don’t think that after
20 weeks, the unborn should be cut up into pieces or have their skull pierced.
Certainly, at that stage they can feel pain. Maybe specific examples of
abortions considered necessary after 20 weeks and how they might be carried out
would help me and others understand better and possibly change our stance. Limits on the “right” to an abortion would
seem to kick in when the “rights” of the developing unborn start to become more
salient, perhaps at 20 weeks?
Sometimes
Down Syndrome fetuses are aborted because of prenatal discovery of their extra
chromosome. No doubt, raising a Down Syndrome child and monitoring him or her
as an adult places imposes special parenting burdens. However, Down Syndrome
folks I’ve known have had compensating virtues: most have been friendly,
cooperative, diligent, cheerful, and affectionate. I suppose there are some
difficult folks among them and certainly many have medical challenges as well
as intellectual deficiencies, creating burdens and concerns for parents.
However, I’m glad to see that a Down child has been selected as the Gerber
Baby, helping counteract the stigma of the syndrome, something as important as
its actual effects.
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