Pat Taub
Key West Vacation
I feel very fortunate to have escaped the tundra for a few months to land in Key West. Because Florida is very lackadaisical about masks, thanks to Gov. DeSantis, I’m mostly laying low in my rental, and taking daily walks in the sun to restore my spirits. Here are a few Key West images, which capture the spirit of this funky place.
Stressed-Out Nurses
This week the New York Times published a heart-wrenching video-essay of nurses, where they describe the near impossible working conditions, they are up against. They cite staff shortages, which force nurses to tend to two and three times the number of patients they can handle. Often this results in preventable deaths. The nurses blame the shortages on hospital administrations, which purposely keep staff low to increase profits. Each of the nurses interviewed broke down, speaking through tears, many at the breaking point, confessing they are not sure how long they can work under these conditions.
LA Nurses protesting for better working conditions (The Guardian)
A Great Read
Yesterday I finished the riveting novel, “Anil’s Ghost,” by Michael Ondaatje, who also wrote “The English Patient.” “Anil’s Ghost,” is the story of Anil Tissera, a young woman born in Sri Lanka, educated in England and America, who returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island. Ondaatje, who was born in Sir Lanka, leads the reader into Sir Lanka’s evocative landscape and ancient folk traditions. This is one of those books that will keep you up past your bedtime.
Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Crisis
Reporters who have traveled to Afghanistan write that the country is facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, where 20 million Afghans are on the brink of famine. The hardest hit are mothers and children. Medicine is in short supply. Only 17% of the country’s medical clinics are operating. Doctors and nurses haven’t been paid in months. The US is to blame for this because they have frozen Afghan assets to strike back at the Taliban. Projections are that more Afghans could die from the oncoming famine than did under the 20-year US occupation. What a blight on America!
An Afghan mother with her sick child (The New Yorker)
Taking a Pause
To keep myself from going crazy, I have decided to limit my news intake. I am vowing to meditate more, and to practice “radical love,” as advanced by the Buddhists. The more I can keep my heart open and express love for self and others, the less chance I have of sinking into despair over current events. Wish me luck!
