by Colin Hyde
It’s quite fascinating what is taking place in that very talented America as two men well past the three-score-and-ten vie for the top prize. In the heated race, their ambulation and elocution are as much topics of concern as the critical issues that separate the parties. My gudnis, in that vast, populous USA, no talents have emerged from the 40-to-60 years range, that stage of life when human beings have gained most of the wisdom they’ll ever have and still retain the physicality to walk without stumbling, to talk without slurring their words. Bah, Joe Biden, the sitting president and choice of the Democrats, is too old to lead, and Donald Trump of the Republicans, apart from being too old to be president, a victory for him would make the US electoral system look like shish. Remember, Trump said he was robbed in 2020. A victory for him would reopen the discussion as far back as 2000 Florida and the chads.
We don’t need a poll to prove that the majority of Belizeans prefer a Democrat to be the president of the US. We are people of color, and for many decades the Democratic Party’s umbrella has provided better shelter for our kind. The US Civil Rights Act of 1964 officially ended discrimination in the US, and that was signed into law by a president of the Democratic Party, Lyndon B. Johnson. It is John Kennedy, a Democrat, who rushed aid to Belize after Hattie, and threw open the doors of America for Belizeans who had been devastated by the storm. It is John Kennedy too, who gave us the Peace Corp.
Polls in the US are suggesting that Donald Trump of the Republicans could really win in November. What an esteh that would be. Belizean-American Glen was cocksure that Trump would get dang bad, and he based that on the overall smartness of Americans. He doesn’t sound so certain about his bet now. It’s natural that he should be worried, he living there. But for my part, I think he can rest easy. While I don’t buy so much into Americans being savvier than anybody, it’s hard to see Trump getting the nod. My expectation is that early polls showing Biden the lesser ancient will not hold as their day at the polls gets closer.
Aiyayai, it will be riveting over in America coming down the stretch. I have a number of cents to throw in, but I’ll stop here today about the geriatrics. Hn, it’s incredible to see two ancianos center stage over there.
Completing the complaint against Mr. Gobert
In my Friday piece, I registered my disappointment in NBA player Rudy Gobert for his decision to skip the second game of a playoff series so he could be with his girlfriend (for accuracy, it’s lover, not wife) who was in labor with his child. It isn’t strange these days to hear of professional athletes in the US missing games because their wives or girlfriends are in parturition, but that is usually in the regular season. The seasons in US professional sports are long, particularly in basketball, baseball, and hockey, and it is routine for players to have rest days. But it is very unusual for rest days in the playoffs, especially when you are an important cog for your team, which Mr. Gobert is.
The most notable story of a top player missing a big game for non-physical reasons is of the then best pitcher in baseball, Sandy Koufax, missing his scheduled start against the Minnesota Twins in the 1965 World Series. Koufax is Jewish, the game was scheduled on the same date as Yom Kippur, the most sacred day for the Jews, and Koufax refused to pitch. We know we are not to question anybody’s religion.
This “missing a game because my wife is having a baby” is a new thing, and it is becoming the fashion. Over the years more attention has been given to the care of pregnant women and the babies they carry. The physical condition of the mother during the 9 months is important, and it isn’t much of a stretch to recognize that her mental state could impact the unborn child in her womb. But in the world of people always going too far, just like gays and gay marriage, the prospective parents are being advised to play music for the baby, and to read to the baby.
I guess that attempt at culturing could be therapeutic for the ma, but I don’t put anything on it for baby in the womb. Even if there’s some worth for baby in the womb, it amounts to naught, because as soon as di baby baan they will be exposed to the worst kinds of lyrics, and the G-rated television channels, which will help raise baby that is out of the womb, are infested with sick agendas.
It is the ideal for the pa to be nearby when the ma is giving birth, especially if she needs him, wants him to be there. It isn’t hard for us males to understand that giving birth could be major physical trauma for women. PAHO says that in Belize the “maternal mortality ratio for 2020 was estimated at 129.8 deaths per 100,000 live births.”
Dr. Donna L. Hoyert of the US National Center for Health Statistics reported that in that country “the maternal mortality rate for 2021 was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with a rate of 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019.” Hoyert says: “In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black (subsequently, Black) women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic White (subsequently, White) women (26.6).” Gobert has some black blood, but he wasn’t the one on the parturition table. The mother of the child, Julia Bonilla, is white, and going by her pictures in the media, she is young and physically well-conditioned.
Yes, giving birth is no stroll in the park. Some pregnancies are particularly risky. One of my grandaunts, Lillian Hyde, died giving birth to a child. Lillian had a husband and son, both of whom she lost to tuberculosis. After she lost her husband she gave birth to a daughter, and then she went to Honduras and had a son there. When she returned to Belize she got pregnant for a man who insisted she have his child, even though the doctors advised her that if she had the child she would die. I never knew my grandaunt’s story when I formed the opinion that if there is any stress, loosely Shakespeare, Duncan from his mother’s womb must be untimely ripped. Yes, if there’s trouble, go for the Cesarean!
I noted in my Friday piece that these athletic games are simulated war. Deserting in the heat of battle sure makes sports look pretty puny. But not all athletes are diminishing sports. Serena Williams played and won an Australian Open while 8 weeks pregnant.
Gobert has to be misguided, or he is an intimidated person. If there were troublesome medical things with the pregnancy, his exit would have been chalked down to rotten luck. There was no report of complications. It’s possible that he is the type of person whose mind is frail and so his coach thought it better to play without that devil. We could stick a lot of needles in this gentleman if we explored his mind. But we won’t play at psychiatry. We’ll confine ourselves totally to the physical sin. This fellow walked away, abandoned his teammates and his millions of fans. I expect his worth rose in the eyes of the prospective bride.
We can’t ignore this story, because we know how much we like to copy everything rich America does. Already we are hearing about something called paternity leave. That isn’t law in the US, but they talk about these things. When job deh, Belize man have to report to work. Baby who baan when the lobster season open have to wait a few days fu si dehn pa. Only di ma and the midwife haffu be present when it’s time fu deliver di baby.