I try my very best to stay out of politics, particularly US politics, but sometimes I cannot help myself. Today was such a day. Reluctantly I began reading an article on Walrus, a Canadian online publication. Oh my goodness, what a fabulous perspective, what insightful language, a sense of history. A snippet. Biden is the subject of the biting rhetoric
“That’s no doubt true. Over the course of his long career in public life, Biden has been described again and again as an institutionalist. But what looks from one angle like magnanimity might also be described as pathology. Democrats have spent the better part of a decade hectoring the public not to normalize Trump; Kamala Harris, in the waning days of her presidential campaign, joined in calling him a fascist. And yet, today, she and her soon-to-be-former boss will stand in the Capitol Rotunda, gazing patriotically on as the man they call a would-be dictator takes the oath of office for a second time. On the morning of January 20, 2021, Trump fled DC. Why shouldn’t Biden, in a final rebuke for the man and his movement, return the favour? Johnson wasn’t the first president to skip his successor’s inauguration; that honour belongs to no less a statesman than John Adams, who passed on Thomas Jefferson’s. If there were ever a moment to object to politics as usual, Trump’s return is it.”
This is a spell binding paragraph, soon the concluding paragraph sums up the situation perfectly.
“But Biden’s failure is even more profound: he’s helped Trump come back stronger than ever. After four years in the wilderness, Trump and his allies have had plenty of time to learn from their mistakes. They’ve completed their takeover of the Republican Party, built or absorbed a network of think tanks and political action committees, cowed the last holdouts in Silicon Valley, and wooed Wall Street. America, and the world, would probably have been better off if Trump had just been re-elected in 2020. As it is, the situation is a bit like taking away a drunk driver’s keys and then handing them back once he’s downed a couple more drinks”
Taking away a drunk driver’s keys but then handing them back after he had a couple more drinks. It is my wish that was literal and there was no one else on the road as Trump sped off.
His most horrendous failing, his atrocious sin is reported:
There are many other stains on Biden’s legacy we could name. But there’s one more particularly worth discussing: his unflinching support for Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. Last week, Israel and Hamas finally agreed to a ceasefire and hostage deal—a deal Biden admits is nearly identical to one he proposed months ago. This raises the question of why the war dragged on as long as it did. The answer, at least in part, is Biden himself.
The extent of my and millions of US citizen’s tax dollars spend staggers the mind,
What is Biden’s place in this pantheon? Well, last May, he paused a single bomb shipment to Israel. Then, weeks later, he reversed course, allowing half the munitions to go through in a pointless—and quintessentially Biden-esque—act of splitting the difference. Indeed, far from cutting off Israel in an attempt to end the war, he opened the floodgates. A Brown University report puts US military aid to Israel between October 2023 and October 2024 at $17.9 billion (US), an all-time single-year record. And there was more to come. Earlier this month, with two weeks left in his presidency and the onslaught in Gaza still at full force, Biden approved one last gift to Israel: another $8 billion (US) in weapons.
Drew Nelles authored this incisive and brilliant article. You MUST read it in its entirety. Now you have no excuse. https://thewalrus.ca/trump-triumphs-or-how-joe-blew-it/
However, one could say, and even I am saying it: Stop, Alexis!. That is not your country, just your paycheck.
Me: I know but the truth must be told.
Alter Ego: But you need to pick your battles. Lies and misinformation abound.
Me; I agree you are speaking the truth.
Alter Ego: Then focus Alexis. Focus.
Me: Okay, okay, okay.
At this moment I stop writing because it is time to pray Asr. I am focusing.
I read portions of the Quran during my prayers. This given to me. Quran 42: 49-50 God’s Gift of Children 49. “To God alone belong the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He creates whatever He will. He blesses whoever He wills with daughters, and blesses whoever with sons. 50. Or grants both sons and daughters to whoever He wills. And leaves whoever He wills infertile. He is indeed All-Knowing Most Capable.”
I am infertile (or barren in another translation). This was the will of All-Knowing Allah, according to the Quran. It was and is, for me surely and most definitely a blessing. Apparently, I announced in 1956 that I was not going to have children, much to the shock and surprise of my two preteen friends. Was told the two walked home saying: “She will change her mind.”
Years and years later, in 2014, when visiting me in London, my then best friend Beth said:
She: But obviously you did not.
Me: No I did not and it is too late now. Hahaha
Ten years later I recall the London conversation after reading Quran: 42:50. Not sure how to put it into context at this particular moment.
The world has changed since Mohammed (PBUH) received inspiration from Allah. Infant mortality is negligible and over population is the problem in many countries, Exploding populations in two disparate countries, I am familiar with, is most troublesome. The two disparate countries are Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Statistically, in Nigeria, a woman gives birth to five children, these women are poor, not the educated wealthy women in that country. . Saudi Arabia faces its own problems as discussed in a prior blog, even with its enormous wealth. It is apparent, however, that there is not a role in traditional Muslim societies for the single barren women. Great concentration in mosques, in Muslim communities on the raising of children, the preservation of the family system, which is, of course, laudable.
Laudable is (of an action, idea, or goal) deserving praise and commendation. Used in a sentence: Laudable though the aim might be, the results have been criticized. So, it is praiseworthy, commendable worthy of admiration, honorable, applaudable to concentrate solely on the raising of children and the the reservation of the family system; it is blameworthy and rather shameful to ignore the plight off the single barren woman.
This is from my September 2, 2024 blog
Family Planning; From Borowitz’s Choosing Careers Over Kittens to a Family Planning Fatwa Issued in 1964 Allowing Both Birth Control and Abortion; Borowitz Funny, Abortion in US Not Funny; Neither is the Population Explosion in KSA; Photos From An Inspiring Exhibit
“I lived in Saudi Arabia for six months. This ‘incarceration’ followed a stint of being a 3 week pilgrim (December 2022); followed by being a ripped off tourist for five weeks. (July 2023). Therefore I know what goes on in KSA – was on the ground, so to speak. I am an excellent observer, I search for the truth. KSA is in real difficulty – kids here, kids there, kids everywhere. I have never in my existence seen such gargantuan families. Saudi men and women reproduce like bunnies, at the same rate as they did when infant mortality made it absolutely necessary to have children otherwise the civilization would perish. This rampant reproduction has created a huge problem as, if I remember correctly. 70 percent of the population is under 35. Jobs must be created for young people. Ex pats are going to become a thing of the past – KSA will be forced to hire their unqualified and spoiled Saudis, not the quailed hardworking folk from countries that cannot provide for their own masses, like Bangladesh, the Philippines, India et etc etc etc.”
Subsequent blogs will discuss the 1964 Fatwa allowing both birth control and abortion.
One might ask why, if indeed, Allah (SWT) has the power to make women infertile, there is overpopulation? I am barren and infertile, made possible by the invention and wide spread availability of the birth control pill, later there were IUD’s and other such easy, available and inexpensive means of birth control Those of the Islamic Faith believe that inventions and invocations are made possible by the Mercy of Allah. So too is the availability of abortion. As the 1964 Fatwa ruled abortion is permitted under certain conditions.
Women who are educated statistically bear fewer children, sometimes none. I am educated, some would say overeducated with my four University degrees. Allah (SWT) made that possible. I inherited intelligence, perseverance – two traits that allowed me to pursue education. It is rather confusing however, since my brothers and many of my cousins might have received the same genetic pattern and only I pursued education. Other factors had to come into play. I was born at the right time – the inception of the Western Women’s Movement allowing a choice between career and children (later undermined). It enabled my employment as an attorney, as hiring women became almost a mandate for US governments. All of those factors led to my infertility and barrenness. All inspired and insured by Allah (SWT).
Enough of this serious stuff. The photographs accompanying the blog will be scenes and signs from my Lyf Hotel which is giving me life. Hahahaha
Again some humor delivered by Andy Borowitz commenting on the brave words of a woman pastor speaking at the Inauguration.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Calling the performance “jarring,” millions of Americans were emotionally unprepared on Tuesday for the bizarre spectacle of someone in Washington advocating kindness. After a day filled with angry calls for exclusion, scapegoating, and random cruelty, the quiet two-minute plea for mercy left many Americans in a state of shock. Harland Dorrinson, who watched the incongruous request for empathy at his home in Akron, Ohio, echoed the sentiments of many when he questioned whether he had heard the speaker’s words correctly.“At first, I thought I was hearing things,” he said. “I’d been drinking since Monday morning.”
Hmmm. Empathy delivered by a woman. I do wonder if she is barren. I am decidedly empathetic and I am barren. Not possible say Republicans. Hahahaha
