In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.
But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.
As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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“…Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan won the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico, bringing the total of Latino senators to five.
“Thank you, New Mexico! Tonight, our campaign showed that people power can elect the son of an ironworker and a public school employee to the Senate,” Lujan tweeted early Wednesday. “I’m grateful for every vote we earned — and no matter who you voted for, it will be my honor to work for you in the Senate.”..’
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latinos-gain-senate-seat-ben-ray-lujan-win-new-mexico-n1246325
“Latino Voices for Boardroom Equity, a partnership formed by The Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) and leading business and civic leaders including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), UnidosUS, the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF), the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), and the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), congratulates Governor Newsom and AB 979 Co-Authors Assemblymember Holden, Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, Assemblymember Chiu, Assemblymember Reyes, and Senator Hueso, on the enactment of a law requiring California-based public corporations to include directors from underrepresented communities, including US Latinos, on their company’s boards of directors…”
“This report draws on a variety of data sources, both quantitative and qualitative. A short descrip-tion of the range of sources referenced in this report, from Census data to surveys to detailed interviews with entrepreneurs, is found in the following paragraphs.Timely and detailed data about small business growth potential, including the ability to access financing, is scarce. For national and state trends, researchers have relied heavily on two datasets from the U.S. Census Bureau: the Survey of Business Owners (SBO) and Annual Survey of Entre-preneurs (ASE). The SBO surveys both employer and nonemployer businesses and is conducted every five years (in years ending in two and seven), but contains limited financing questions. The ASE, which commenced in 2014, provides more frequent data (the first survey was released in 2016 and has been updated annually) but examines only employer firms. Beginning in 2017, the Census Bureau initiated a new survey called the Annual Business Survey (ABS) to replace the ASE and the SBO. The ABS will only survey employer firms and will contain more detailed questions on…”
“Border Patrol agents once ordered an elderly Hispanic man out of his vehicle and requested his identity papers, which showed that he was a Mexican-born immigrant named Raúl H. Castro. Turns out he was Arizona’s former governor…”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/us/arizona-immigration-new-nativists.html
That brings the total to nine.
United Airlines named Oscar Muñoz as its new CEO on Tuesday, after the company’s CEO and chairman Jeff Smisek stepped down amid an investigation into wrongdoing at the airline.
Fewer than 2% of all CEOs at Fortune 500 companies are Hispanic, according to the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility.
Roberto Goizueta became the first Hispanic CEO in 1981 when he was named chief executive at Coca-Cola (KO), according to a 2013 HACR report. But there is still lots of room for improvement, according to the organization…”
https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/09/news/hispanic-ceo-fortune-500-companies/index.html
“Last Saturday, Mexico’s finance minister, Arturo Herrera, offered a grim assessment of the country’s outlook after the pandemic. This year and the next, Mexico will have “the strongest crisis since 1932,” Herrera said.
That might end up being an understatement. The Mexican economy is in shambles. GDP has contracted for five consecutive quarters, well before the pandemic began. Investment has fallen at record rates. Crucial industries, such as tourism, have collapsed. Over the past few months, the country has lost at least 12 million jobs, more than 1 million in the formal sector alone. Without help from the government, which has insisted in a policy of austerity, thousands of small businesses have gone underwater. Wages have fallen dramatically. By the time the crisis ends, experts predict 25…”
“Time for some more security theater from the Trump administration. They don’t have a plan to deal with COVID-19, but they’re queuing up some more empty gestures, so get ready to please clap.
The New York Times was first to report that Trump’s helpful minions are debating a plan to fight the virus by excluding American citizens and legal US residents from entering the country if border agents believe they may have been exposed to the virus. Never mind that we’re arguably the worst hotspot on earth, with endemic community spread. Forget about the big, beautiful wall around the country since no one else will let us in anymore. Ignore the fact that the president is now scream-tweeting a demand that college football players risk their longterm health for our amusement…”
https://www.wonkette.com/stephen-miller-not-saying-americans-in-mexico-cant-come-home-yet
“…While U.S. citizens barred from most of Europe in what would be prime travel season as COVID-19 cases here continue to grow by the tens of thousands, Mexico has flung open its doors, making it one of the few foreign destinations to which cooped up American tourists can fly for some R&R.
To be clear, Mexico hasn’t conquered the pandemic within its own borders. The country added more than 12,000 confirmed cases and 829 deaths Wednesday to bring its totals to nearly 450,000 and almost 50,000, respectively. Some experts fear the numbers could be much higher, as the country has only conducted about 1 million tests…”
“…Members of the COP Bureau unanimously agreed with the re-appointment, highlighting the Executive Secretary’s excellent leadership and commitment to the climate change agenda and her dedication to ensuring the continuous guidance and support of the UNFCCC Secretariat to Parties and the UNFCCC process in general.
Ambassador of Mexico to Germany from 2001 to 2002 and from 2012 to 2016, Ms. Espinosa was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 2006 to 2012, bringing more than 30 years of experience at highest levels in international relations, specialized in climate change, global governance, sustainable development, gender equality and protection of human rights…”
https://unfccc.int/news/unfccc-executive-secretary-patricia-espinosa-appointed-for-second-term
“…Today, these brothers can be seen as key figures in a Brown Pride movement that might not readily recognize their names, but their influence on generations of Latinos and Hispanics in legacy media cannot be overstated.
They are pioneers in Spanish-language broadcasting who partly got their start in the Imperial Valley and went on to much success, as few Mexican-Americans have done in the corporate world, becoming major players in traditional media formats of television and radio, creating space for Hispanic/Latino communities to see and voice themselves in the United States…”
“After months of negotiations following US President Donald Trump’s pledge to scrap NAFTA, the 24 year old trade agreement between Canada, the USA and Mexico, a new deal was reached minutes before a midnight deadline on September 30, 2018. Despite a number of changes, the new agreement – rechristened the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – leaves NAFTA provisions for work visas untouched. The retention of the visa program is significant for workers in over 60 professional categories, and for employers across the continent, who will continue to have access to labor from all three countries..”
“On July 1, 2020, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) will enter into full force, when it will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) as the primary agreement governing trade relations between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
President Trump’s April 2017 Buy American, Hire, American executive order threatened to end or severely limit the free trade agreement between the three countries, so its preservation is a victory for businesses and for professionals who qualify for entry under the agreement…”
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/goodbye-nafta-hello-usmca-45841/
“…Hundreds of Mexicans and Americans who live south of the border enter southern California’s hospitals every day. But these are not the patients — they are medical workers and support staff keeping a saturated healthcare system running amid the coronavirus pandemic. Over a thousand nurses, medical technicians, and support workers who live in the Mexican border towns of Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali work in the United States, Mexican census data shows. They staff emergency rooms, COVID-19 testing sites, dialysis centers and pharmacies. (Gottesdiener, 5/31”
“…Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity says it obtained a confidential database providing details on the 4,577 Mexico City deaths in which coronavirus or equivalent designations — such as “COVID-19,” “COV” and “SARS COV2” — were mentioned on death certificates. The certificates are kept in civil registry offices.
In 3,532 of the cases, the report said, the virus was listed on death certificates as the confirmed, suspected, probable or possible cause of death, sometimes in combination with other ailments, such as severe respiratory infections. In another 1,045 cases, COVID-19 was listed as a cause of death, without specifying whether it was suspected, likely or confirmed…’
“..While those affected 41% are nurses, 36% are doctors, 20% are other professions, 2% are laboratory workers and 1% are dentists; 19% had obesity, 12.6% hypertension and 7.9% diabetes 7.9%.
Mexicans do not stay at home, mobility increased worryingly in four states despite quarantine
‘Optimistic’ model predicts Mexico will have 6,859 deaths from COVID-19 by August 4
AMLO again questioned the increase in domestic violence during the health emergency…”
“…Minorities and women are underrepresented on Fortune 500 boards. Almost 70% of directors Fortune 500 companies are held by white men, according to a study from the Alliance for Board Diversity.They’re also underrepresented in the greater tech community. Facebook’s latest diversity report from August barely moved the needle: It increased its Hispanic and Black workforce by 1% each to 5% and 3%, respectively…”
https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/31/technology/facebook-board-diversity/index.html
“Miami native Cesar Conde has been named chief of the newly-formed NBCUniversal News Group, part of a corporate reorganization at NBCUniversal announced Monday.Conde had been chairman of Telemundo and the company’s international business.
Conde will now lead an expanded news division that combines all TV and streaming operations, according to reports published by the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article242496056.html
“The leaders of the region’s two largest nations — Mexico and Brazil — have largely dismissed the dangers and have resisted calls for a lockdown…”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/world/americas/coronavirus-brasil-mexico.html
“The Mexican oil hedge, or the Hacienda Hedge, is considered the biggest hedging bet on Wall Street as well as perhaps the most secretive. It has earned Mexico—and a few large investment banks—billions of U.S. dollars. Mexico buys put options from investment banks and typically hedges a whopping 200-300 million barrels of oil a year. With the put options, it has the right, but not the obligation, to sell oil at a previously set price and timing. But will this tradition continue under the newly elected administration?Throughout his campaign, Mexico’s now president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador kept the oil industry on edge with comments and promises that he would review the landmark 2013 energy reform of outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto that ended seven decades of oil monopoly in the country…”
