Three-Point Shots, Vol. 2, No. 6: June 7, 2024
The 80th anniversary of D-Day, Mexico elects its first female, Jewish, climate scientist president, and the chimes of spring fall silent.
Welcome to another edition of Three-Point Shots, a part of my Life Its Ownself Substack page. If you enjoy reading it, please 1) hit the Like button, 2) subscribe to the Life Its Ownself, and 3) share it with others in the link below. Comments are welcome and encouraged.
But first, your moment of Zen …
Friday, May 24, 2024
Quote of the Week:
“As the world falls around us, how must we brave its cruelties?”
The opening line of “Furiosa: a Mad Max Saga”
D-Day 80th Anniversary
Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the massive Allied assault on Normandy that began the battle to retake Europe from the Axis Powers under by the authoritarian Adolf Hitler.
Consider the logistics: nearly 160,000 Allied soldiers hit the beaches in Normandy that day, equal to loading the entire population of modern-day Denton into boats and delivering them 50 miles away. Also landed were 55,000 vehicles, which is impressive even to people used to rush hour traffic in Texas.
President Joe Biden joined other Western leaders in commemorating the anniversary. In a brief, 16-minute speech, he highlighted one of the things that made – and still makes – America special in the world:
Just walk the rows of this cemetery as I have…nearly 10,000 heroes buried side by side. Officers and enlisted. Immigrants and native born. Different races. Different faiths But all Americans. All served with honor when America and the world needed them most.
They understood our democracy is only as strong as all of us make it — together.
My Take: For most Americans, D-Day is in the long-distant past. We take for granted American hegemony, which has lasted well into this century, and forget the blood, sweat and tears that earned it for us. It behooves us, at this juncture in the American story, to remember a world where the bad guys were winning and it took a supreme effort on our part to change the course of history. Some sense of that effort can be gleaned from watching the harrowing first hour of the Saving Private Ryan, or even by watching this reminiscence by Any Rooney on 60 Minutes.
Mexico Elects a Woman As Its Next President
I’m pretty sure that is someone wanted to bet me the México would elect a woman president before the USA did, I’d have taken the bet. And lost.
Last Sunday, the Mexican people selected Claudia Scheinbaum to be their next president. Scheinbaum is the former mayor of México City and an ally of current president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).
Scheinbaum is also the first Jewish president of México, and a climate scientist to boot. She will take office October 1 for a six-year term.
Perhaps Scheinbaum’s election was not such a groundbreaker after all when you consider that her leading rival in the presidential race was also a woman, Xóchitl Gálvez, former mayor of México City’s big Miguel Hidalgo borough.
My Take: I’m excited about her eletion, but Scheinbaum will have her hands full. First, she must step out of AMLO’s shadow. He combined populist rhetoric with public services and a dose of authoritarianism to win broad public support, but his administration suffered from the same corruption as all his predecessors. México has been rated as the fourth most unequal nation in the world. And she has to manage a relationship with the United States, which may become even more chaotic after November. México is a mess; can Scheinbaum make a difference?
The Wind Chimes
I have a lovely patio in the backyard of my Austin home, accessible from my master bedroom. Twenty-some years ago I hung a wind chime out there. During most of the year, it provides a pleasant musical backdrop to life there. But spring is the most exciting time to be a wind chime.
During winter, the prevailing winds from the north do not strike the wind chimes. Come March, though, the prevailing winds shift to the southeast. The Gulf breezes ride up the Colorado River, veer up the Johnson Creek Greenbelt and set my chimes to dancing in a glorious cacophony. The wind chimes are the soundtrack to spring at my house.
And then, in late May, the breezes die down and the chimes grow quiet as the air becomes still and pregnant with summer’s heat and moisture. (And sure enough, Austin had its first 100 degree temperature on May 24.) The silence of the chimes tells me that the long slog of summer, with its lheat and humidity, has arrived.
I am skeptical of Mexico's new president's ability to make change. She is, as you said, an acolyte of AMLO, and he made no real difference against the cartels, nor did he try. How many candidates died during this election season, murdered, in Mexico? Was in 38? She has an impossible task as long as Americans keep buying drugs from the cartels. Mexico has never been more than a putative democracy.
Sir, I'd been doing chores in this premature heat , came in to cool off and saw the Three-Point Shots in my email. I was anticipating the special treat you presented. I only say this in preface to the heart attack of joy when I misread "loading the entire population of modern-day Denton into boats and delivering them 50 miles away" as something that was soon to take place in commemoration of the liberation of France, that being the liberation of Denton. As I stated I was tired and a bit heat struck, but it was a joyous moment until I returned to my senses. Though I did ponder on whether 50 miles was enough distance for such a transport. Boats, too, could be problematic. I would suggest 173.4 miles to get the Dentonites to the OK border. That is, if one were to entertain such a notion. Anyway, many thanks once again for your Stack.