Apologies
last time for words extending out of line; I tried to correct those flukes without
success. Also, I don’t know what the last item on that last posting means. I
did not put it there and was unable to eradicate it.
Yes,
I have been sitting in front of fans with a wet wash cloth on my head as my
central A/C is not working. I am used to 100 F temperatures in southern Honduras,
but there it is dry hear and here in DC it’s 100 F and humid! Below is a
headline from the Washington Post (July 16) showing
that our recent heat wave here in DC was not just a figment of our imagination,
it has been real and is still continuing. Earth
just had its hottest June on record, on track for warmest July
With
the lunar landing anniversary in the news, I am taken back to that time,
when as a young mother of 2 small kids who had just moved to my current home in
Washington, DC. I looked out at the moon, hoping to see a dot signaling the lunar
landing, but, of course, it was too small and too far away.
Sorry
to hear that polls show that most Americans do not support statehood for
DC, even though we have more population than Vermont and Wyoming. Why not? Do they even understand the issue? Many
friends in other states are surprised to learn that we are disenfranchised in
DC.
Anything
to make a dime, Trump campaign begins selling plastic straws, found to
me harmful to sea turtles and other sea creatures, contending that “liberal” paper
straws are no good.
Meanwhile,
Trump operatives have come up with a clever strategy that he didn’t come up on
his own, which involves moving federal agencies from DC to Midwest Trump
strongholds
Just
because Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro calls himself “socialist” is no
reason for a socialist-leaning former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, now
U.N. high commissioner for human rights, to give him a pass. And she
did not. https://www.yahoo.com/news/united-nations-report-socialist-details-103013098.html
The
“socialism” that Trump accuses Democratic lawmakers of fomenting is nothing
like governance in Stalin’s USSR or in present-day Venezuela or Cuba, or even
in China and Vietnam. Rather, it is more akin to that of Canada, France, and
the UK, with national health services, and of the Nordic countries, with special
provisions for parents, children, the disabled, and older people. Taxes there may
be higher, but so are benefits, which are provided more equitably and
economically than in our own country. The word socialism should not be used
as a political boogeyman. Sen. Graham, who has become a lock-step Trump advocate
has even equated socialism with communism. (Does Trump have some secret information
about Graham that could harm his reelection chances?) Graham does deserve
credit for calling out Trump for blatantly racist comments about several Democratic
Congresswomen. Maybe he will have more influence on Trump by usually being such
a slavish apologist? A president shouldn’t have to rely on “minders” to keep
him in line, like some great big baby. Wash his mouth out with soap! And I like
a new chant being taken up by Democrats, “Send him back!” (Presumably, send
Trump back into retirement and to his residence in NYC, a city where he is mostly
reviled.)
The
worst if it is that most Republican voters support Trump, whatever he
says or does, so Republican lawmakers don’t dare criticize him. It’s a cult that
would drink the Kool-Aid if Trump ordered it. They want people like the 4
targeted Congresswomen to leave the country and they love it that the president
gives license and voice to their most racist and base desires. Trump is every-man or woman as president. Trump
wants to make sure they turn out to vote for him.
Although
there are too many Democratic wannabes, all of them are giving voice to
important issues.
I
suspect that physician, Dr. Leana Wen, was removed as head of Planned Parenthood
as she was trying to take a broader public health stance in which abortion was
just one option among a range of services, including contraception, STD treatment
and prevention, and cancer screenings, among others. The board may have wanted
a more militant pro-abortion focus, emphasizing a “right” now under attack. I
believe that the American public, while a slight majority supports abortion in
the first trimester, is more nuanced in its beliefs and Wen’s tactic would have
garnered more support for all the services of Planned Parenthood. But evidently
the board preferred a more confrontational and focused approach.
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