Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Another Bhutan Visitor, Capitol Hill Robbery, Immigration Policy, 3-D Guns, Incorrigible Donald, Miller’s Uncle, Cuba, Purposeful Activity, “Socialism,” What’s in a Nickname?


           After my experience with 2 visitors from Bhutan, I was not anxious to have anyone else from that country, here I am with another young man from there, a law student—that’s how the internet grapevine works, see photos





           
    Too close for comfort: 


Passersby intervene after woman robbed near Capitol Hill    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-     safety/passersby-intervene-after-woman-robbed-near-capitol-hill/2018/08/13/3186bcb8-9ebd-11e8-8e87-c869fe70a721_story.html?utm_term=.a5c971c539cf&wpisrc=nl_lclheads&wpmm=1



Good news that at least some 3-D printed guns have been detected by TSA screening.

Like a naughty child, Donald Trump seems to enjoy thwarting and contradicting his “handlers.” They say one thing, then in a tweet or rally, he says something completely opposite or off-the-wall. When staff are asked about his bizarre statements, they say he was just expressing his frustration or his opinion, not giving an order. They attempt to manage or ignore him. Even Melania is going in the opposite direction, though she does show up for essential photo-ops, as when shaking hands with Vladimir Putin, which obviously was distasteful for her. And Barron? Where is he? We used to see the antics of the Obama girls, but Barron doesn’t surface, not even at Christmas. No heart-warming father-son activities. But at least we live in interesting and unprecedented times, thanks in no small measure to Donald Trump, a source of constant surprise.  

Now Trump, his son, and his lawyers are tripping over their own tongues with conflicting statements about the infamous “Trump Tower meeting.” Mueller must be sitting back, just listening and watching.  

Donald Trump, who surely is down a few IQ notches, likes to brag about his great intelligence and to label others as “dumb,” “dumbest,” “not smart,” and “low IQ.” We would feel sorry for him under other circumstances.

It is especially frustrating for us here in DC, denied the vote, to see Donald Trump defining this country all over the world, ruining our international reputation as well as our life at home. That even a minority of fellow citizens support him is a disgrace. He embodies a political climate of corruption, lying (big time!), misogyny, bullying, name-calling (in the absence of substantive critiques), greed, and selfishness. All that it will take time and effort to overcome.  

Stephen Miller’s Uncle Calls Him a Hypocrite in an Online Essay (headline from the NY Times) Miller’s uncle points out that Miller’s own family includes immigrants and refugees as does Donald Trump’s family as well.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-millers-uncle-my-nephew-is-a-hypocrite-on-immigration


[A Cuban dissident we met with at the AI USA office during a visit here in DC]

Amnesty urges Cuba to allow access

to detained dissident August 10 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/amnesty-urges-cuba-to-allow-access-to-detained-dissident/2018/08/10/7b81a5cc-9cc8-11e8-a8d8-9b4c13286d6b_story.html?utm_term=.4aebd142ea9a

HAVANA — Amnesty International says the leader of one of Cuba’s largest dissident groups has been held incommunicado for a week in the eastern part of the country.
The human rights group is calling on the Cuban government to allow family members of Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia to visit him at a jail in Santiago de Cuba and let him hire a lawyer of his choice.
Amnesty says the leader of opposition group Patriotic Union of Cuba and his colleague Ebert Hidalgo Cruz were arrested Aug. 3 following a traffic accident involving a plain-clothed security official. It said only Hidalgo has been allowed a family visit.
Ferrer was among 75 dissidents imprisoned in a March 2003 crackdown. He was released in March 2011.

Cuba Charges Leading Dissident With Attempted Murder

The leader of one of Cuba’s largest and most active opposition organizations was charged Friday with attempted murder after being held incommunicado for a week in eastern Cuba. Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), was charged with deliberately trying to run over an official from the ministry of the interior on Aug. 3, a spokesman for the group told Reuters by telephone. According to Carlos Amel Oliva, a member of the UNPACU leadership, the incident was an accident and the official was only slightly injured. Oliva said Ferrer, who does not have a driver's license, was on his way to visit his daughter with UNPACU member Ebert Hidalgo Cruz and had taken the wheel to practice driving when the official, in civilian clothing, stepped out in front of the car.


It’s a truism that life is an evolving project, an ongoing effort or struggle, a series of corrections, with a few moments of respite, bliss, achievement, affection, and comfort in between. There is no holy grail. I remember meeting a man once years ago through a dating website (a foray into a realm that I soon abandoned) who thought that if he looked long and hard enough through such a vast network that he would eventually find “her,” his true soulmate, his ideal woman. She was “out there” somewhere; it was just a matter of honing in on her. How could a guy in his 70’s, a former businessman and a father, twice married by his own admission, hold fast to such a notion? Already, his naïve belief made me scratch him off my list. We were both already senior citizens, so I wasn’t likely to change his mind (or have my own mind changed either).

Perfection in any person (one’s self included), place, or thing is impossible to achieve, no matter what definition of perfection is being used. That’s why Disney-fide senior living complexes offering non-stop “fun” in retirement—golf, pool parties, dances, movies—soon pall. Something that has stuck with me from years of working at the occupational therapy association is the importance to each of us of engaging in “purposeful activity,” however we may define it. We really don’t want to just stand still.

The absurd excesses of Mr. Trump and his administration have created a huge backlash of “purposeful activity” among citizens that I hope will bear fruit in the mid-term elections. Maybe there will even be an overreaction, as sometimes occurs. Some of the enthusiasm for “socialism” being seen now is, in my opinion, such an overreaction. There is also a false assumption that “socialism” is the economic system of Nordic countries. Not so, rather their economies are capitalist and profit-oriented, but taxes are relatively high and the government provides quality health and social services. It’s a trade-off that benefits the majority of citizens and most are satisfied with it. But it is hardly true socialism whereby the government owns and directs the means of production and controls all aspects of life.

Trump supporters accuse those of us who oppose him of having a personal grudge against the guy. Yes, we do feel offended by his statements and his style, but we also dislike his policies and appointments—it’s more than just the man and his personality, it’s what he is actually doing and fomenting that we oppose. And if Trump alleges that press reports are false, including transcripts or recordings, then he owes us, the voting public, an explanation. It’s not enough just to rail against “fake news.” Show us just how or why it’s fake. And while the nicknames he uses for opponents (often female), Wacky Jacky, Pocahontas, Dog Omarosa, and Crooked Hillary, may sound catchy to his followers, they are not very informative. And because Trump lies so much, it’s hard to recognize when he might actually be telling the truth. 

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