My Article on the Honduras Migrant Crisis, Authors’ Laments, Trump’s Appeal, Biden’s “Me-too Light,” Aid and Visa Cuts, Former Peace Corps Volunteers to the Border, Remembering Rwanda, Sudan, Cuban Baseball Agreement, Assange Arrest, New Catholic Archbishop, Abortion Again, Falling Out of Love with IT, Hindsight

Here is my recent article on the Honduras migrant situation. https://democraciaparticipativa.net/forum/estados-unidos-y-canada-united-states-canada/10186-from-the-other-side-of-the-wall.html#10933

Recently, I met with a group of a dozen other local authors, most self-published, a few not (but the latter, mostly published some years ago). In either case, since none of us had a known name before writing our books, it was not surprising that most authors have had to work hard to promote sales with only limited success. The advantage of commercially published authors was that libraries would accept their books, whereas that was rare with self-published works. Probably no more than 15 libraries carry my books, which, in some cases I have gifted them, often after a talk at their library. I once heard of an author whose one-line sales took off after a celebrity happened by chance to pass by the table where she was speaking and was photographed with her book in hand. I also know of people who have ghosted books for physicians and other credentialed authors that they could never have published under their own name. I have done my share of radio talk shows and other promotions, but after talking at the Chappaqua public library (in Hillary’s home town) the day after the 2016 election and two days later in New York City, I really have not had the spirit to promote my books or their arguments; Why promote Peace Corps service for older folks when the Peace Corps budget keeps getting cut? Why talk about US-Cuba relations when American foreign policy is so messed up? But if misery loves company, we non-fiction authors without any prior name recognition found out in our gathering that we are certainly not alone.  

Much of Trump’s appeal to his hardcore base may be due to a vicarious enjoyment of his complete freedom and the lack of restraints on his behavior. He is able to brazenly lie, cheat, threaten, enrich himself, mock and insult others, and change his mind without suffering any apparent consequences. He reminds me of some of the kids whose impulsive behavior the therapists and parents I work with as an interpreter are trying to curb. Too late now for Mr. Trump to grow up or to learn more socially acceptable behavior. He has been trying to run the country like he impulsively ran his own business, relying on tricks and using Fox News as he used his TV show, ”The Apprentice,” to boost business. If he runs and loses in 2020, he can always blame “fake news,” the Deep State, and the “witch hunt.”

Historians will try to figure out what happened to make Trump’s presidency possible. It was an accident, a mistake, a rare confluence of unusual factors. Yet enough voters supported him to make it possible. While I don’t know many of them, I’ve spoken to at least one, a man from the Midwest, who expressed a feeling common among Trump supporters that “Now, it’s our turn after being dominated by the coastal elites.” Is there any common ground to be found between them and us? I keep looking for it.

From Yahoo News, “Speaking to a group of Jewish Republicans Las Vegas over the weekend, President Trump referred to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu as ‘your prime minister.’ The audience consisted of Americans.” Is it an expression of antisemitism to be critical of Israeli policies or, especially, of the those of Mr. Netanyahu? Can no Israeli or Jew ever be criticized? Unfortunately, it looks like Netanyahu has (barely) won reelection again.

For the public, whether friend or foe, Trump has been a subject of fascination, certainly providing fodder for journalists of all stripes, as well as for the sale of many knock-off products, such as a bona fide Trump mug for only $15! He is guarding his tax returns partly to keep up the suspense, but also so as not to reveal the questionable tricks he has used and also that his actual income is probably considerably less than his boasts.

So far, a reported 20 (and counting) potential Democratic presidential candidates have thrown their hat into the ring. Probably each believes that beating Trump is a slam-dunk, so why shouldn’t he or she be the lucky winner? (Hillary probably thought the same.) Many voters would support any Democrat who opposes Trump, myself included.

With more “uncomfortable” women coming forward to report overly-affectionate greetings, in a sort of “Me-Too light,” by Joe Biden, his candidacy may be over before it officially has begun. Because of his age, he was already in trouble, even though he would appeal to Trump’s constituency of working-class white men. A man who feels entitled to greet women with overt affection is not only being overly friendly and familiar, but expressing a subtle sexism or condescension, since he is probably less affectionate with men, though apparently even there, Biden is a hugger. It’s also an expression of a generational divide, from a time when women were thought to need male protection. After Nancy Pelosi advised Biden to change his tactics, he announced a change, but it may be too late. There is also the unfortunate history of his aggressive role in the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings. Of course, Trump himself has received much more serious accusations regarding women, but that is hardly the standard for the Democratic Party. Too bad, since Biden would be a centrist candidate with appeal to voters of both parties, including to some of Trump’s own supporters. Or maybe Biden can still pull it off by appealing to the wavering middle of the electorate, those who might otherwise vote for Trump if a more progressive Democrat were on the ballot. At the moment, before he is even an official candidate, Biden is polling better than the others.

If the US government has separated parents and children arriving at the border, it has a responsibility now to reunite them, which has not happened in many cases.

“Come here legally, with a visa,” the Trump administration advises, but try now to get a visa! One of my visitors from Bhutan had invited his sister to visit, but her visa was just denied. Last year, another Bhutan visitor had no apparent trouble inviting her boyfriend to come, so apparently the Trump administration is now cracking down even on visitors’ visas. After all, as Mr. Trump has said, our country is full.

Cutting aid to Central America seems pretty counterproductive if we really want to keep other folks out (although US construction and agriculture could certainly use their services right now). More than 30 Senate Dems ask Trump to reconsider Central American aid cuts | TheHill
https://thehill.com/policy/international/americas/437463-more-than-30-dem-sens-ask-trump-to-reconsider-cutting-foreign

The National Peace Corps Association has asked Spanish-speaking former volunteers to go to El Paso to help process asylum seekers. I wish I could go to help now to El Paso, a town where I once lived as a child, but prior commitments prevent me. https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/articles/the-reality-in-el-paso-and-what-you-can-do?utm_source=National+Peace+Corps+Association+E-Newsletter&utm_campaign=6bdbc9bec8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_12_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_be0534d

While I am no fan of the current Cuban government, as is obvious from my book Confessions and my Amnesty International volunteer position for the Caribbean, nonetheless, as I expressed in that book and repeat here, I do support non-politicized educational, cultural, and sports’ exchanges and so would oppose the Trump administration’s abrogation of the baseball agreement brokered by the Obama administration. Why make Cuban players take risks to defect and heat up hostilities, thereby reducing the chances of Cuba’s evolution toward a more democratic government? Dictatorships, like Mary Poppins’ young charges, respond better to honey than to gall.

Meanwhile, Cubans keep on coming here. Inspired by migrant caravans, new wave of Cubans seek U.S. asylum

by Reuters

Tuesday, 9 April 2019

http://news.trust.org/item/20190408225447-thm9n

Many Cubans are also fleeing to South American countries, which is easier. With the low Cuban birthrate and so many leaving, the Cuban population is shrinking fast. 

The 25^th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide takes me back to the days when I was a board member of the Rwanda Children’s Fund. We held public information sessions, sold Rwandan artifacts, and also sold RCF t-shirts (I still have one) to support teenage orphans in residential schools that became their only homes. One of our members is now an official in the Rwandan government.

In Sudan, Bashir is finally out, very good news. As for South Sudan, where I went on a mission in 2006, before independence, it’s good to hear about a truce in the civil war in that nascent, very undeveloped country. Formerly warring President Salva Kiir and vice presidents Riek Machar and Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior all went to the Vatican to participate in a retreat and to meet Pope Francis, whereupon, he knelt down (hard at his age of 83) and kissed their feet. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/12/europe/vatican-pope-francis-kisses-feet-south-sudan-leaders-scli-intl/index.html   

Here is my own article on my visit to South Sudan: file:///C:/Users/melan/OneDrive/Desktop/Barbara%20Backup/Downloads/Sudan%20article.pdf

Julian Assange’s arrest seems overdue to me. While some hail him as a hero of secret information disclosure, I think he disclosed too much information and perhaps did so selectively in an effort to damage one side and without regard to the consequences. Thanks partly to him and to former Sgt. Manning, we now have Donald Trump in the presidency

Good to hear that Archbishop Wilton Gregory is taking over the helm of the Catholic church here in DC. He has not only been at the forefront of the effort to tackle child sexual abuse, but he is also African American in a city where at least half of Catholics are black.

As both a birth and an adoptive mother myself, as well as someone fairly liberal on most issues, including gay marriage, I’ve struggled to understand the case for abortion, especially after the first trimester. Therefore, I was interested to hear about Barbara Bush’s notion that a baby’s soul doesn’t enter the body until he or she is actually born, therefore doing away with the unborn at any stage is not the killing of a human person. That’s an argument perhaps appealing to some evangelicals, but not one I would subscribe to myself, though, up until an exit from the womb and the severance of the umbilical cord, the unborn could be considered a dependent parasite of sorts. Yet some that exit early turn out to be viable, including a child I see in my interpretation work who was born after 26 weeks of gestation. He has some behavioral issues that a therapist is working on with the mother, but is certainly a fully functioning human being. Yet some abortions take place after that time, including one recently reported at 36 weeks because of serious detectable anomalies. One of my concerns, and something rarely if ever discussed, is how a late term abortion is actually carried out when the fetus is able to move independently, has sensation, and is able to feel pain. Some gruesome stories have circulated, but I’m not sure what is true. From surveys, it appears that while probably a majority of Americans support the right to a first-trimester abortion, support reverses after that.

In lab experiments, a fertilized ovum is destroyed after 14 days, presumably because then individual characteristics begin to develop. Of course, countless fertilized ova are kept on ice for years. The new anti-abortion fetal heartbeat bills would make most abortions illegal, since a heartbeat can first be detected at only 6 weeks. A fetal heartbeat heard by an expectant woman would make a powerful impression. Technological and medical advances in the last century in contraception, pregnancy detection, and neonatal survival have changed and expanded the boundaries of pregnancy knowledge and opinion. In times gone by, pregnancy was often only acknowledged and protected after “quickening,” that is, when fetal movements began being felt.    

The world, including me, is now experiencing the downsides of IT after so enthusiastically embracing it. It seemed like magic! It’s rare or perhaps impossible to identify any development that is 100% beneficial to humankind, however those benefits are defined. Both my sister and a long-time friend, as well as a few other folks I’ve met, refuse to engage whatsoever with the internet and e-mail, preferring to make all interactions in person, by phone, and by snail mail. Of course, phone and snail mail were once innovations and viewed with suspicion by some.

Back when I was in my early 40's, as a rejected former wife with 4 kids and a Cuban foster son, I was not only economically challenged, but also devastated emotionally after being divorced by my husband of 24 years. He was a man of Korean descent (hence my unusual last name, shared with my kids), someone whom I had married at age 21, defying my family, and who was also blind and who had relied on me as well as his own political talents to advance in his successful career. So, I entered post-divorce dating life with some trepidation and this was well before the internet and internet dating were a “thing.” My first new boyfriend had been born in Japan and had been out of his marriage for some years already. He accepted my kids and even my dog and wanted to us to marry. But I was new to all this and, had just come out of a long marriage, so I was hesitant to commit again and when inevitable concerns between us arose, I decided to explore who else might be out there, thinking I might possibly do better. He died several years later and I had regrets, imagining that I might have even saved his life. In retrospect, I decided that he would really have made a reliable husband, a much better fit than later prospects, and wished I could have taken back my decision to move on, but, of course, we can never go back in time (whatever Einstein has said). I was talking about this on the phone with my sister (no internet for her!), who wisely observed that I was who I was at the time and always would have made exactly the same decision based on who and where I was right then. We don’t have the gift of foresight any more than of hindsight. I don’t know if that makes any sense. Of course, after my son and, later, my foster son both died, the trauma of my divorce and any marriage regrets paled in comparison. The value of a long life is that it moves on inexorably and the perspective is always changing. 

Of course, Donald Trump is like Teflon in never expressing remorse, regret, responsibility, nor admitting to a mistake. Whenever he changes his mind, he denies it. A no more outlandish fictional character could ever be invented.