Category Archives: Around the World

“The president,“ he said, “would like a Diet Coke.“

The Atlantic: Why Mike Pence Couldn’t End the Shutdown. “The vice president has led negotiations to reopen the government. But even after the White House’s state-of-emergency threat, he doesn’t appear to have the authority to do much about it.”

“White House allies on the Hill and former administration officials acknowledged privately that the vice president may be more hamstrung than ever, unable to capitalize on many of the strengths he was originally chosen for. But crucially, those sources said, Pence has never expressed any displeasure with his circumstances, and would never suggest, even privately they say, that Trump’s whims have made shuttle diplomacy difficult. “There’s a reason Pence has avoided the fate of so many others,“ another former senior White House official told me. “He acquiesces entirely to the will of Trump 100 percent of the time.“ “

Link via MetaFilter.

“[D]eeply troubling” indeed

The Washington Post: A woman in a vegetative state for years gave birth. Police are investigating..

“A near-drowning had left the woman in a persistent vegetative state for nearly a decade. […] None of the staff were aware that she was pregnant until she was pretty much giving birth. […] The birth — and the sexual assault of a vulnerable individual that must have preceded it — has cast a harsh glare on conditions at a nonprofit organization that bills itself as a leading provider of health care for Phoenix’s medically fragile.”

I had a friend who was in a persistent vegetative state after a car accident – for fifteen years. She passed away almost two years ago. I hope that the case above is investigated thoroughly so that mistreatment like this cannot happen again. This must be horrible for her family and friends – and for the new baby, once it grows up and learns about its origin.

“[H]aving to make a choice, when no good options exist”

NPR: To Get Mental Health Help For A Child, Desperate Parents Relinquish Custody.

“The family had private insurance through Jim’s job, and Daniel also had Medicaid coverage because he was adopted. But neither insurance would pay for that treatment. Exhausted and desperate, the Hoys decided to relinquish custody to the state. If they sent Daniel back into the foster care system, the child welfare agency would be obligated to pay for the services he needed.

“To this day, it’s the most gut-wrenching thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Jim says.”

This reminded me of an episode of This American Life that aired in the spring of 2018:

This American Life: 643: Damned If You Do…

“And then she heard about another option, a radical one, a last resort. Eileen talked to a mom who had been in a similar situation to hers, Toni Hoy.

And what Toni had done to get her kid treatment was give up custody of him, hand him over to the state. Once the state takes custody of a child, they have to provide mental health care. It’s a perverse legal loophole that exists in a bunch of states. It’s called a psychiatric lockout. It’s meant to ensure that kids who are abandoned by their parents end up with the care that they need.

But instead, desperate parents like Eileen are using it as a last-ditch effort of making sure their kids get treatment. It’s called a lockout because it’s as if the kid has been locked out of their house. Some child welfare workers even tell parents to do it. It’s called lockout coaching.

The way it would work is the next time Noah was hospitalized, Eileen would refuse to pick him up and bring him home. Eventually, the state would take custody of him and pay for him to live in a residential facility. And that was it. Technically, it was easy. Emotionally, of course, it was much harder.”

Turns out Eileen spoke to the family from the NPR article above about how to get help for her son.

Auch drei Jahre später noch ein aktuelles Thema

WDR Doku/Deutsche Welle et al: My Escape / Meine Flucht – Eine Doku, gefilmt von Flüchtlingen. 90minütige Dokumentation von 2016, jetzt auf YouTube veröffentlicht.

“Hunderttausende von Menschen fliehen nach Deutschland. Hinter ihnen liegen Bürgerkrieg und Verfolgung. Auf der Suche nach Sicherheit begeben sie sich auf eine lebensgefährliche Reise. Für viele dieser Flüchtlinge ist das Mobiltelefon ein unverzichtbares Mittel zur Organisation ihrer Flucht. Doch darüber hinaus ermöglicht es den Menschen, ihre riskante Route zu dokumentieren. Der Dokumentarfilm hat Fluchtgeschichten gesammelt und lässt die Flüchtlinge selbst sprechen. So entsteht ein eindrückliches Bild aus nächster Nähe, von Menschen, deren Verzweiflung sie nach Europa treibt – ungeachtet aller Gefahren.”

Astro-Alex ist zurück auf der Erde

Deutsche Welle: Deutscher Raumfahrer Alexander Gerst wieder auf der Erde. “Nach fast 200 Tagen im All ist der deutsche Astronaut Alexander Gerst mit zwei weiteren Raumfahrern wieder sicher auf der Erde gelandet. Die Mission hatte es in sich.”

In English:
German astronaut Alexander Gerst returns to Earth from ISS, again. “After his second mission to the International Space Station, Alexander Gerst has returned home. He sent some thoughts about the state of the world before he left the station above the planet.”

ESA auf YouTube: Alexander Gerst: Nachricht an meine Enkelkinder [with Closed Captions].