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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Opinion | Mexico Flirts With Dictatorship
“…Among the most pernicious of the president’s 20 proposed constitutional amendments is the overhaul of the judiciary. It would remove all 7,293 sitting jurists in the country: 11 Supreme Court justices and all circuit court, federal district and state judges…”
How Mexicans and Americans view each other and their governments’ handling of the border
“Mexicans and Americans view the other country in opposite ways:
- Most Mexicans (61%) have a favorable view of the U.S., compared with 33% who hold an unfavorable view.
- By contrast, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Mexico, while 37% have a favorable view of their southern neighbor…”
- https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/08/12/how-mexicans-and-americans-view-each-other-and-their-governments-handling-of-the-border/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=3bb41e64cd-Weekly_8-17-24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-3bb41e64cd-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D
How Latino voters view the 2024 presidential election
“From 2016 to 2024, the number of Latinos eligible to vote grew from 27 million to a projected 36 million.
While Latino voters have favored Democratic candidates in presidential elections for many decades, the margin of support has varied. In 2020, 61% of Latino voters cast their ballot for Joe Biden, while 36% voted for Donald Trump, a narrower margin than in 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Trump…”
Unlocking investment opportunities in Latin America
“…Morena, Ms Sheinbaum’s party and its allies won a supermajority in the lower house of Congress but fell short in the Senate, making any changes to the constitution unlikely. “She doesn’t have a Senate majority, which will make it hard for extreme amendments,” adds Mr Aquilina.
“The current financial minister, who is well regarded by investors, will stay in place,” he says, with some of the financial community reassured by the way Ms Sheinbaum presents herself as more “market and business-friendly than the former president”.
Other specialists share this optimistic mood. “We expect her government to be well-grounded, with a reassuring appetite for compromise,” says Damien Buchet, chief investment officer at Finisterre Capital, part of Principal Asset Management, which manages $540.4bn in assets…”
https://www.pwmnet.com/unlocking-investment-opportunities-in-latin-america
How Mexico’s President-Elect Got U.S. Help to Fight Crime
“…The cocaine raid was carried out with intelligence from Homeland Security Investigations, Mexican and U.S. officials said. It was a prime example of how Mexico’s new president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, quietly built strong relationships with U.S. law enforcement over five years as mayor of the country’s capital.
She took a law-and-order approach to tackling violent crime, boosting the number and wages of police officers and installing a security chief who worked closely with U.S. law enforcement. The result was a sharp drop in killings in the capital, an achievement that Sheinbaum has promised to replicate across the country…”
What Claudia Scheinbaum’s historic election win means for U.S.-Mexico relations
“…In Mexico City, she increased the wages and working conditions for the police. She used greater intelligence in police activities, and she more very carefully collaborated or guaranteed collaboration between law enforcement and the attorney general’s office. She will try to do something similar at the federal level.
That said, she’s not going to return to civilian policing with regard to federal criminal problems, like organized crime. She’s going to rely on the militarized National Guard, although she is going to try to expand its size, increase working conditions and wages, and increase their use of intelligence and collaboration with the attorney general’s office…”
What to know about Mexico’s presidential election
“…Sheinbaum also speaks fluent English, unlike López Obrador. She did postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, and her daughter lives in the U.S., meaning her presidency could lead to a more positive relationship with the U.S. than López Obrador’s at times standoffish tenure…”
A woman could be Mexico’s next leader. Millions of others continue in shadows as domestic workers
“…Still, as two female politicians — former mayor of Mexico City Claudia Sheinbaum and former senator Xóchitl Gálvez — are leading the race to the June 2 presidential election, it’s unclear how much it will shift the realities of working women in the country…”
AMLO Expanded Mexico’s Military. It Built Airports Instead of Reining In Murders
“…Yet Lopez Obrador will leave another legacy as well. His administration has presided over the bloodiest term in the nation’s recent history, with more than 170,000 homicides since he took office in 2018 through February. That is a 26% increase from the 135,345 murders during the term of his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto. And it has happened despite the combined budgets of the armed forces — the Ministries of Defense, Navy and the National Guard — being boosted by 150%…”
SWJ El Centro Book Review – Frontera: a journey across the US-Mexico Border
“The borderlands between Mexico and the US are among the most studied border regions in the world. The border represents an intersection of several studies on security, culture, environment, and economics. This book can encompass and touch on a myriad of complex issues affecting the Mexican-American border by taking a deep dive into both sides of the border. The authors use a variety of perspectives and experts to thread together an intricate picture of the current and future state of the border. Sergio Chapa and Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera are the authors of this book. Sergio Chapa is an oil and natural gas industry expert and journalist in Houston, Texas. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera is a professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University. Sergio Chapa and Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera’s book explores the natural and ethnographic landscapes of both sides of the US-Mexico borderlands. The authors provide insight into the region’s cultural life, political context, and security situation…”
Trump promises 100% tariff on China-backed cars crossing Mexican border
“…Trump made the claim during a weekend rally in Dayton, Ohio, where he also challenged Chinese President Xi Jinping. “Those big car manufacturing plants you are building in Mexico right now, and you think you are going to get that—not hire Americans, and you’re going to sell the car to us?” he asked. “No, we are going to put a 100% tariff on every car that comes across the lot.”…”
https://www.cbtnews.com/trump-promises-100-tariff-on-china-backed-cars-crossing-mexican-border/
Debunking Viral Claims: No U.S. Invasion Plans for Mexico, Experts Confirm
“…As the narrative around the U.S.-Mexico relationship continues to unfold, it is crucial for audiences to approach sensational claims with skepticism and to seek out reliable sources. Reflecting on this episode, it becomes evident that the integrity of information is not just a matter of journalistic responsibility but a cornerstone of democratic engagement and international diplomacy. By prioritizing accuracy over sensationalism, societies can better navigate the complexities of global interactions in an increasingly interconnected world…”
Mexican cartel violence likely to increase in 2024, experts say
“…Global Guardian recently published its 2024 Global Risk Assessment. It lists Mexico as a high-risk country on par with Haiti, Venezuela and Ecuador, where criminal gangs went on a rampage last month, taking over a television station at gunpoint and capturing and executing police officers and soldiers.
“There’s a lot of cartel violence, especially in border states,” Ballard said. “The violence is rampant. We are seeing clashes frequently. On social media, we’re seeing footage of clashes between CJNG (the Jalisco cartel) and the different factions within Sinaloa [….] I know some parts of the country have been hit worse by the cartel violence. Zacatecas and Colima have extremely high murder rates. In Guanajuato, security forces are being targeted at an almost unprecedented rate.”…”
Views on the importance of language to national identity
“…Opinions are strongest in Hungary, Indonesia and the Netherlands, where 96% say speaking the most common language is important, and at least six-in-ten say it is very important. High shares echo this sentiment in Brazil and Kenya, where around three-quarters or more say it is very important. Even in the U.S. – where people are the least likely to place importance on speaking the most common language –…”
Key facts about Hispanic eligible voters in 2024
“Latinos have grown at the second-fastest rate of any major racial and ethnic group in the U.S. electorate since the last presidential election. An estimated 36.2 million are eligible to vote this year, up from 32.3 million in 2020. This represents 50% of the total growth in eligible voters during this time.
Every year, about 1.4 million Hispanics in the U.S. become eligible to vote…”
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/10/key-facts-about-hispanic-eligible-voters-in-2024/
Opinion My Trump interview had a purpose: Giving Latinos a chance to hear him
“Nov. 9, Televisa-Univision, the Spanish-language broadcast giant, aired an hour-long prime-time special featuring my interview with former president Donald Trump. The conversation was the first in 22 years of a current or former Republican president on the network. After days in the headlines, reactions to the interview took a turn straying far from a genuine engagement with its content and instead mirroring broader political divisions. As I watched the reaction unfold, I became concerned by the troubling innuendo in this criticism…”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/13/trump-televisa-univision-interview/
Some GOP candidates want to use force against Mexico to stop fentanyl. Experts say that won’t work
“MIAMI — Ron DeSantis wants suspected drug smugglers at the U.S.-Mexico border to be shot dead. Nikki Haley promises to send American special forces into Mexico. Vivek Ramaswamy has accused Mexico’s leader of treating drug cartels as his “sugar daddy” and says that if he is elected president, “there will be a new daddy in town.”
Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for the 2024 nomination and long the person who has shaped his party’s rhetoric on the border, has often blamed Mexico for problems in the United States and promises new uses of military force and covert action if he returns to the White House…”
https://www.wlrn.org/americas/2023-10-10/latin-america-mexico-fentanyl-opioid-gop
Mexican president defends inclusion of Russian military contingent in Independence parade
“MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president on Monday defended the participation of a contingent of Russian soldiers in a military parade over the weekend.
The presence of the Russian contingent in the Independence parade Saturday drew criticism because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mexico has condemned the invasion but has adopted a policy of neutrality and has refused to participate in sanctions as it continues to buy 2020-vintage COVID vaccines from Russia…”
https://apnews.com/article/mexico-russia-soldiers-military-parade-6eb8345ba6827282ec40bf33891d6f22
OPINION Mexico outpaces U.S. in women’s rights September 15, 2023 at 12:00 a.m.
“The Mexican Supreme Court of Justice decision decriminalizing abortion last week is a landmark ruling in a country that has historically outlawed the procedure with harsh penalties for the women who sought it and the healthcare professionals who provided it.
The ruling, which governs federal law in a nation of states, makes abortion legal in federal health institutions and requires the public health service to offer it. The decision does not automatically make abortion legal in all of Mexico (the way that the Roe vs. Wade decision had made abortion legal in all of the United States). But it could speed up a movement by Mexican states to legalize the procedure. Currently, 12 out of 32 states have decriminalized abortion…”
https://www.eldoradonews.com/news/2023/sep/15/mexico-outpaces-us-in-womens-rights/
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson dies at 75
:
“…Richardson was born in 1947 in Pasadena, California. He grew up in Mexico City, Mexico, leaving to attend boarding school in Massachusetts in 1960.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and French from Tufts University in 1970 and a master’s degree from Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971.
He is survived by his wife Barbara, whom he married in 1972…”
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/02/politics/bill-richardson-former-new-mexico-governor/index.html
