Jon's younger son Kingston living with the family in Hawaii.
Old train displayed at Martinsburg train station from where I departed.
Jon's ukuleles
The yellow house we did not buy.
Making apple butter at the Apple Butter festival, Oct. 2018
Pig roasting at the festival, tasted pretty good.
Above and below, small-town parade images
Above, peppers growing from seeds planted by my departed Bhutan visitors, now bearing fruit.
While
I’m not very active on either LinkedIn or Facebook, sometimes those sites do
yield a nice surprise, like an invitation I just got on LinkedIn from Dr. Hilda Molina, a Cuban neurosurgeon, once a darling of
Fidel Castro, who then turned against her. She is profiled in my Confessions book (pp.163-66). After many
international appeals, Fidel finally allowed her and her mother to join her son
living in Argentina, where she now resides. She has now told me her mother died
in 2013, but at least they had a few years together in relative freedom in
Argentina. Dr. Hilda has started a human rights organization, www.crecerenlibertad.com.ar
and has written a memoir, Mi Verdad
[My Truth].
Though Donald Trump has accused Democrats of promoting
Venezuelan “socialism,” actually, what Democrats are aiming for is a more Nordic-style
“socialism,” that is, a capitalist, competitive economic system along with high
taxes and a safety net for everyone.
Under
Trump, the US is abdicating its role as a global leader. Trump may turn a blind
eye to global climate change, but it’s happening all around us anyway. It’s
very appropriate that Puerto Ricans have
stepped up to help mainland hurricane victims, reminding us all that they are
American citizens as well.
It’s
certainly true that back when Brett Kavanaugh
allegedly assaulted a young woman (or several?), male sexual aggression was
accepted, even encouraged and rarely reported, mostly because the blame would
then have fallen mostly on the woman. It was a different era and ethos then, so
it may be somewhat unfair for Kavanaugh to be judged by today’s (only recently
accepted) “me-too” standards. However, as women, most of us never really
accepted male aggression against us nor men’s supposed superiority, though many
of us only rebelled internally and indirectly, and now feel that Kavanaugh’s accuser
represents us all at long last. Maybe the accusations against Kavanaugh don’t
rise to the prosecutorial level, but a Supreme Ct. judge should be held to a
higher standard. That Clarence Thomas, already on the court for many years now,
beat the rap doesn’t mean the same mistake should have been made with
Kavanaugh. A taint will remain on Kavanaugh’s character, just as it still remains
on that of Clarence Thomas. So many of us women who have had similar unreported
experiences still side with the accuser. If Kavanaugh really did it and had come
clean, then he might have been worthy of confirmation. He could perhaps simply have
admitted, “I was not accustomed to consuming alcohol then, drank too much beer and
really don’t remember everything. I am truly sorry if I scared someone and I
did learn from my mistake as a teenager.” Unfortunately, that’s not what he
actually said. His accuser Ford came off as very credible.
Certainly,
in days gone by, male human sexual aggression was expected, even encouraged. “Me-too” is only a recent development.
Also, testosterone, produced much more abundantly in male mammals including humans
than in females, has a bearing both on male aggression and sexuality, as well
as on physical strength. Male mammals often essentially rape females and males
fight each other more than they fight females, or than females fight either
males or each other. Of course, human men are expected to learn to control both
aggressive and sexual impulses in ways that other male mammals are not, but we do
need to recognize that such urges are surging in many young men in late
adolescence, as demonstrated by the disproportionate arrests of youthful males.
This does not excuse Kavanaugh’s behavior, if it actually took place. If the
assault(s) did happen, he probably has moved well beyond that point by now. Both
he and Ford seemed fairly sincere, so it boiled down to “He said, she said.” Still,
if he did it and is lying now, he is not fit for the Supreme Court—or for any
court for that matter. Also, his display of anger and righteous indignation was
unbefitting of a judge, though many men may have identified with him. Certainly
Trump did.
Like
most women of my generation, I’ve experienced my share of sexual aggression,
but in my day, we expected it, were resigned to it, and tried to avoid and stave
it off, sometimes using face saving humor, as if sexual overtures were just a
mistake or misunderstanding. For me, such incidents, while I do recall them, do
not stand out starkly in memory relative to much larger stressers and losses in
my life, such as the deaths of my boys, divorce, being laid off after 16 years,
financial hardship, and my kids’ various problems.
The
news business and book publishers have benefited greatly from the rise of
Donald Trump, not to mention authors taking advantage of their connections to
him. I dreamed the other night that I was leading a lost and befuddled Trump
out of a cave—any symbolic meaning there?
Though merely an outside observer, I may
as well also throw in my own 2-cents on Soon-Yi
Previn’s belated accusations of having received less-than-maternal care
from her adoptive mother, thereby apparently trying to undercut allegations of
sex abuse against her now-husband, Woody Allen, accused by another sister of
abusing her when she was a minor. Of course, both accusations or
characterizations could be true, or both could be false or exaggerated, or only
one might be true. And Soon-Yi may have had a different experience with and
attitude toward her mother than did her siblings. Also to be factored in are
the impact of Soon-Yi’s early pre-adoption life as a Korean orphan and her
place within the large brood her mother was raising, perhaps risking leaving one
child feeling insufficiently loved. However, in light of Allen’s sexual pursuit
of young Soon-Yi herself, though she was by then no longer a minor, it’s not
hard to imagine that Allen might have also sexually approached her sister at a
younger age. Nor does Mia Farrow’s alleged maternal coolness negate what Allen
may have done to her daughters, though a feeling of being neglected by her
mother may have driven a youthful Soon-Yi into Allen’s seductive arms.
Soon-Yi’s very belated accusations against her mother coming out now raise
questions, though sometimes these matters do only come out later in life or in
therapy, as apparently happened in the case of Kavanaugh’s accuser. Farrow’s
other children have come to her strong defense. I’ve noticed among my friends how
various members of the same family may have very different views of their relationship
and of actual events than I have as an outside observer. In a very common occurrence,
friends and other observers may be well aware of one spouse’s infidelity while
their partner seems (or feigns being) blissfully unaware. Truly, truth is in
the “eye of the beholder.”
I’ve
already expressed my opinion that the Catholic
Church, in addition to promoting “zero-tolerance,” should go further to prevent sex abuse among clergy by abolishing
mandatory celibacy (allowing celibacy if freely chosen) and permitting married and
women priests. Until the abuse problem is adequately addressed, I don’t plan on
participating again with the church, except when visiting my son in WVa. or
when in Honduras.
Had a recent interpretation assignment
at a DC high school helping Spanish speaking parents communicate with their
kids’ teachers. Most of these kids are fairly recent arrivals (just before
Trump) now mastering English, alongside a few kids from French-speaking African
countries. These students and their parents are used to large classes back home
where rote learning is the norm, so they are pleased and surprised when each
student here gets individual attention. But hanging over everything is the fear
of deportation. I happened to ride home on the metro with one of the mothers,
who told me of her anxiety and of having to hire a private lawyer to support
her son’s asylum claim. She said she works in construction to earn more money
than she earned before in food services.
Detained
Cuban asylum seekers are contacting me right and left for help in my volunteer
role as Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty Int’l USA. The Trump administration
seems as eager to get rid of Cuban asylum seekers as it is to get rid of
immigrants in general. Cuba seems to have faded from the international scene,
especially after Fidel Castro’s death
2 comments:
Aw, this was a very nice post. In thought I would like to put in writing like this moreover – taking time and actual effort to make a very good article… however what can I say… I procrastinate alot and by no means appear to get something done. casino real money
There are certainly loads of details like that to take into consideration. That is a nice level to convey up. I offer the ideas above as basic inspiration however clearly there are questions like the one you carry up the place the most important thing will be working in sincere good faith. I don?t know if greatest practices have emerged around things like that, however I'm certain that your job is clearly recognized as a good game. Each girls and boys feel the impact of only a moment’s pleasure, for the remainder of their lives. play casino
Post a Comment