Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón
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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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change appointed as Executive Secretary Patricia Espinoza Appointed for Second Term
“…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
Hispanics demonstrate wide variation in trust of health information sources
“..Lack of knowledge about cancer services, exacerbated by relatively limited access to those services, is considered a major contributor to those disparities,” said the study’s lead author, Marlene Camacho-Rivera, MS, MPH, ScD, assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York. “In this study, we aimed to assess trust in health information across various sources and evaluate how that trust may vary by gender, age, ethnic background, and socioeconomic background…”
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-hispanics-wide-variation-health-sources.html
Better coordination is key to reenergizing US-Mexico trade
“Mexico and the United States are striving to reopen their integrated supply chains while grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Mexico is the United States’s biggest trading partner and the U.S. buys about 80 percent of Mexico’s imports.
The two countries, along with Canada, also plan to launch the new North American trade agreement — USMCA — on July 1. That could help the continent’s economies rebound from the pandemic. To maximize the impact on jobs and prosperity, however, USMCA’s launch and reopening supply chains need to be managed well. ..”
Pristine Cancun greets excited tourists as the rest of Mexico desperately waits to reopen
“…An irony of the coronavirus pandemic is that the idyllic Mexico beach vacation seen in the brochures really does exist now: The white sand beaches are sparkling clean and empty on the Caribbean coast, the water is clear on the Pacific Coast and the waters around the resort of Los Cabos are teeming with fish after 10 weeks with no boats going out. There are two-for-one deals and very eager staff.
It’s all only an airline flight – and a taxi ride and a reception desk – away, and that’s the problem…”
Mexican-American Author Highlights in Comics The Heroism of Frontline Workers Amid Pandemic
“A comic book called El Pesos Hero by Héctor González Rodríguez III is about a superhero who defends people from various evil forces such as corrupt individuals. Furthermore, the literary masterpiece focuses on a superhero saving people from drug cartels. Also, the comic book tells the story of a superhero who also combats human traffickers, according to an article. Many of his heroic acts involve the US-Mexican border which for many years had played a significant role in the history of Mexico and the immigrants who crossed the borders to live in the United States…”
Essential Personnel: Mexican Health Care Professionals Help Keep California Medical Centers Going; Missouri Officials Issue Warning About COVID-Positive Lake Partier
“…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”
Mexico City’s coronavirus death toll may be 3 times higher than official count, report says
“…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…’
Mexico registered 149 deaths of health professionals and 11,349 infections
“..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…”
Canada, US, Mexico extend border restrictions
“…Essential cross-border workers like healthcare professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross. Truck drivers are critical as they move food and medical goods in both directions. Much of Canada’s food supply comes from or via the U.S.”
Forced to wait in Mexico, migrant medical professionals become asset in fight against COVID-19
“…Mabel, who has been in Juarez for the past six months, is one of the dozens of nurses, lab technicians, chemists, biologists and even some doctors who arrived in Juarez during last year’s migrant surge. Returned to Mexico under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program to wait indefinitely for a resolution to their asylum claim, these health professionals have suddenly become a valuable asset in the fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus.A total of 185 Mexican doctors, nurses and nursing assistants in the state of Chihuahua have been sent home after testing positive for the coronavirus. Pregnant nurses and elderly physicians have also been placed on leave and the state …”
UCLA-led study identifies LA neighborhoods most economically vulnerable to COVID-19
“..Latino and Asian majority neighborhoods in Los Angeles County are especially economically vulnerable to disruptions caused by COVID-19, a UCLA study found.The study, which was published April 1 by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative and the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, sought to locate neighborhoods in LA County that are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus because of their large number of at-risk workers.The researchers identified two sectors of the service workforce – hospitality and retail – that are especially at risk for coronavirus-induced layoffs…”
As Latin America Shuts Down to Fight Virus, Brazil and Mexico Are Holdouts
“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
U.S. Latinos among hardest hit by pay cuts, job losses due to coronavirus
“Hispanics are more likely than Americans overall to say they or someone in their household has experienced a pay cut or lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted March 19-24…”
International doctors can help the US fight COVID-19. But can they get here?
“…Many are on visas, often working in poor or rural areas that may soon be the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.“We’re at risk for getting the infection, like the doctors in Italy and China,” said Vara Ponnada, an Indian doctor on an H1-B visa in Waterloo, Iowa, where several people have tested positive for COVID-19…”
Coronavirus research: Menlo Park lab using robots, AI to find COVID-19 medication, Peter Madrid, PhD, senior director of applied biosciences
“MENLO PARK, Calif. (KGO) — As the number of cases of COVID-19 increases, so does the pressure to develop an anti-viral to treat its symptoms. A lab on the Peninsula appears to have developed the right process at the right time to speed up that process.”We’re hoping to be able to take the full discovery of a candidate drug from roughly two years down to six months,” said Peter Madrid, senior director of applied biosciences at SRI Biosciences in Menlo Park…”
Dr. John Torres MD
“Dr. John Torres is an emergency medicine physician in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He received his medical degree from University of New Mexico School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years…”
Link to article
Volunteers step in to keep asylum seekers healthy on border
“TIJUANA, Mexico — When the Honduran boy complained of a toothache, Dr. Psyche Calderon asked the obvious question: “When did the pain start?”
The answer broke her heart.”When La Mara broke all my teeth and killed all my family,” the 14-year-old said.
He said little else about the attack by the infamous Central American gang, La Mara Salvatrucha. Just: “I was the only one that survived.”
Calderon is not a therapist, nor a lawyer or a dentist. She is a general practitioner volunteering her time to provide care for Central Americans stuck in Mexico while they try to obtain asylum in the United States. There was little she could do for this teenager…”
Link to article
Chicago group shows Hispanic medical students a path to medicine
“Growing up in Miami, Florida, Pilar Ortega, MD, had a Latino doctor and grew up in a community that included her family that emigrated from Spain and neighbors from Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Central America.
Advocacy in Action
It wasn’t until she was in college—and then even more so in medical school and residency—that she learned how unusual her situation had been and how acute the shortage of Hispanic physicians and health professionals is in the rest of the country.
While Hispanics make up the largest minority group in the U.S. with between 17% and 20% of the total population, they make up only about 5% of the physician workforce…”
Link to article
American farms recruit Mexican veterinarians for jobs as animal scientists — but the real work is milking cows and cleaning pens for low pay
“Leslie Ortiz had just graduated when a recruiter arrived at her Mexico City university looking for veterinarians to work on an Idaho dairy farm.
It appeared to be an opportunity to gain experience, learn English, pay down credit card debt from her time as a student and even start to save.
The offer came with a visa — one issued through a special program for professionals from Mexico and Canada who are needed for high-skilled jobs in the U.S.
When Ortiz, then 26, learned she got the job — an animal scientist at Funk Dairy — she was thrilled. To pay for her flight to Idaho, she borrowed $150 from family and pawned her jewelry, including a gold chainlet with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe she received on her 15th birthday…”
Link to article
Dr. Fernando Mendoza MD Los Alamitos, CA
“…Dr. Fernando Mendoza is a cardiologist in Los Alamitos, California and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Los Alamitos Medical Center and MemorialCare Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. He received his medical degree from David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and has been in practice between 11-20 years. Dr. Mendoza accepts several types of health insurance, listed below. He also speaks multiple languages, including Spanish…”
Link to article
