I did not comment upon the election before now, I was waiting until the dust settled. Letting the dust settle is an idiom meaning you let things calm down after confusion or a big change. This gives some time to gain some perspective on a situation, not acting erratically. Things become clearer with hindsight coupled with knowledge of history. That is what is so problematic about getting information (usually misinformation) from CNN, Fox News, most traditional and social media – it is instant, on the spot, unthinking, providing no historical knowledge.
Al Jazeera’s Donald Earl Collins , Professorial Lecturer at American University in Washington, DC provided a detailed analysis, thought provoking, addressing the Trump 2.0 era.
A few weeks before the election, Trump provided his fact-free version of an American past as his vision for the nation’s future. “You know, our country in the 1890s was … probably the wealthiest it ever was, because it was a system of tariffs,” he said. “And we had a president – you know McKinley, right? He was really a very good businessman, and he took in billions of dollars at the time.” Forget the fact that William McKinley didn’t become president until 1897. And never mind that then-US Representative McKinley helped lead the US into the Panic of 1893 – one of the most severe financial crises in US history – as his tariffs bill hurt the economy in the middle of a 20-year period of economic stagnation for most Americans. What is important here is that Trump seems to view this period in American history – marked by extreme poverty, unchecked racist violence and widespread suffering at home and abroad – as a prime example of lost American greatness.” Trump’s plan for the US centres around old-style laissez-faire economics, isolationism, and white male supremacy – a real attempt at bringing the US back to the 1890s.
Things not looking any better on ib the foreign policy from – No relief in sight for either Palestine or the Ukraine.
“On the foreign policy front, Trump 2.0 will see an exacerbation of existing policies that already proved destructive and costly.”
The following news discourages any thoughts of my return to the USA
“Meanwhile, the marginalised groups Trump identified during his campaign as America’s enemies – undocumented immigrants, Arab and Muslim Americans, transgender folks, among others – will face increased oppression and discrimination. Once again, white male supremacy will openly become the law of the land.”
By the way, I am not transgender, I am a Muslim woman. Women are definitely marginalized in Trump’s world.
Depressing summation of what to expect.
‘Make no mistake. Trump’s upcoming second term in office will see efforts at all levels to remake the US into a conservative, evangelical, capitalist-theocracy. The coming four years will be marked by persecution, oppression, retribution, and needless death from forced pregnancies, mass deportations, nonsensical public health decisions, and preventable wars.”
The dust continued to settle bringing New Yorker news from the usually upbeat satirist Andy Borowitz. Looking at history he predicts that Trump will do himself in for the following reasons. “Well, the enemy most likely to thwart Trump in his second term might be one who isn’t on his list: himself. The seeds of Trump’s downfall may reside in two promises he made to win this election: the mass deportation of immigrants and the elimination of inflation.
Trump’s concept of a plan to deport 20 million immigrants is as destined for success as were two of his other brainchildren, Trump University and Trump Steaks. The US doesn’t have anything approaching the law-enforcement capacity to realize this xenophobic fever dream. And as for Trump’s war on inflation, the skyrocketing prices caused by his proposed tariffs will make Americans nostalgic for pandemic-era price-gouging on Charmin.
It’s possible that Trump’s 24/7 disinformation machine, led by Batman villains Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk, will prevent his MAGA followers from ever discovering that 20 million immigrants didn’t go anywhere. And it’s possible that if inflation spikes, he’ll find a scapegoat for that. (Nancy Pelosi? Dr. Fauci? Taylor Swift?)
And, yes, it’s possible that Trump will somehow accomplish his goal of becoming America’s Kim Jong Un, and our democracy will go belly-up like the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City.”
All of this may well be true, perhaps Trump will go bye-bye in the manner of Richard Nixon but it might take some time..I am looking for more immediate relief.
So where do I turn, where does this leave me? Obviously neither willing, nor eager to return to the USA. Blessed to be in Malaysian at this time, for many reasons. More every day, which you shall hear about soon. Mine is a nomadic refugee way of life but I have no desire to live in a land governed by white male supremacy.
Where do I find immediate comfort, solace and direction? In the Quran of course. “Believers, be steadfast in the cause of God and bear witness with justice. Do not let your enmity for other turn you away from justice. Deal justly; that is nearer to being God-fearing, Fear God, God is aware of all you do.God has promised those who believe do good deeds, forgiveness and a great reward. (Quran 5: 9-10)
Enmity is hostility, animosity, antagonism, discord acrimony, bitterness, rancor, grudges. It is the opposite of friendship and goodwill.
Cheer and comfort must be provided for my non Muslim readers. I shall, therefore, throw you a life jacket intended to rescue you from despair, from a secular source, the New Yorker. An article Can Reading Make You Happy written by Ceridwen Dovey, She ends the article in this fashion.
“ See a bibliotherapist, as soon as you can, and take them up on their invitation, to borrow some lines from Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus”: “Come, and take choice of all my library/And so beguile thy sorrow.”
Her credentials are provided. Ceridwen Dovey is the author of the short-story collection “Only the Animals”; the novels “Blood Kin,” “In the Garden of the Fugitives,” and “Life After Truth”; and the memoir-biography “On J.M. Coetzee: Writers on Writers.” A review of her animal short story book makes me eager to read it.
“In a trench on the Western Front, a cat recalls her owner Colette’s theatrical antics in Paris. In Nazi Germany, a dog seeks enlightenment. A Russian tortoise once owned by the Tolstoys drifts in space during the Cold War. During the siege of Sarajevo, a starving bear tells a fairy tale. And a dolphin sent to Iraq by the U.S. Navy writes a letter to Sylvia Plath. Exquisitely written, playful, and poignant, Ceridwen Dovey’s Only the Animals is a remarkable literary achievement by one of our brightest young writers. An animal’s-eye-view of humans at our brutal, violent worst and our creative, imaginative best, it asks us to find our way back to empathy not only for animals but for other people, and to believe again in the redemptive power of reading and writing fiction.”
Do follow the links to her other books, particularly the biography.
But back to my life and times. It is definitely time for me to assimilate. Goodbye USA; Hello Malaysia. There is an Instagram reel of me saying goodbye to Saudi Arabia and saying Hello to Malaysia. Saw yesterday that it has received 1K views. Will attempt to link it. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9gmsr1sKKV/?igsh=MXJ4eG1qZHlxeWRwZA==
Thinking I had written in the past of assimilation I typed it into the search engine of the blog finding I had, more than once. This from a January 1, 2022 blog.
“ A word came to me – it was assimilation. It is the the absorption and integration of people, ideas, or culture into a wider society or culture. Used in a sentence: Alexis is assimilating into the Muslim society she has found in Abu Dhabi,
Wikipedia also speaks of cultural assimilation: “”Cultural assimilation, the process whereby a minority group gradually adapts to the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture and customs
Language shift, also known as language assimilation, the progressive process whereby a speech community of a language shifts to speaking another language
Cultural assimilation of Native Americans in the United States
Jewish assimilation refers to the gradual cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture
Assimilation effect, a frequently observed bias in social cognition
Religious assimilation
Assimilation (French colonial), an ideological basis of French colonial policy in the 19th and 20th centuries. “
This was utterly fascinating to read., particularly “Alexis is assimilating into the Muslim society she found in Abu Dhabi”. Why fascinating? Hindsight reveals there was not a Muslim society in sight. The Grand Mosque was primarily a tourist destination, not a community, a Muslim taxi driver one man. It is not measure up to the Malaysian Muslim community that now BLESSEDLY surrounds me. Scrolling through the nine assimilate/assimilation blogs found evidence that I assimilate with great gusto, but there is always something lacking – so I depart for greener pastures. Did a great job of assimilating to London in 2013 but the lapsed student visa led to my leaving for Vancouver, British Columbia. Although Vancouver is Canada, my native land, Vancouver is uniquely dreadful – the recent influx of mainland Chinese, the majority of whom are genetically incapable of assimilating. The UAE found me doing a passable job of assimilating with the expats pats. (Only about 20% of people in the UAE are Emirati) Back to Edmonton, which is as Canadian as you can possibly get. Became a ‘submarine Muslim made it easy to assimilate but my Muslim identity is crucial, most important to me. Put my best foot forward in Saudi Arabia. I became a grandmother to an eight year old who was a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), wore hijabs and abayas at all time. However, I did not fit in. Perhaps it is the blue eyes??? Then and finally, found myself in family and community orientated Malaysia, where 91.3 percent of its people are citizens. .
How am I assimilating into Malaysian customs and practices? I am absolutely terrible at languages and remain so.. When one is convinced that they are maladroit, they remain bungling. I am determined to make the effort so I will not remain inept, and incompetent.
You shall be impressed with the efforts I am making. However, at this exact moment I am preparing to travel to Singapore for what is euphemistically called a visa run. Singapore, for all I have learned, is an amalgamation. An amalgamation is a merger, blend, mixture, mingling, synthesis, and mash-up of everything and everybody. I am presently preoccupied, figuring out who and what I shall be during my five day stay. I will be traveling solo again. My travel companion, a woman, finked out. “Finked out” is a US slang term that means to break a promise or agreement, or to fail to do something, especially something that was promised. I am fine with it. Needless to say I will not plan any future outings with this person, but since I do enjoy my own company, I will not miss her.
A visit to Lex Spa prepared me for my Singapore trip – a manicure, pedicure and help tying my colourful Malaysian scarf. Also prepared a reel for Instagram announcing Me Time. “Going to Singapore for for a few days to to relax, recharge to take time for myself. It shall be the 39th country I visited. Some long visits, for example USA fifty years.”

