March 3, 2019
    I can't resist sharing with you these few items that, pretty much, reveal how I think and feel as well. 

On the critically endangered list: The Principled Republican

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in Washington on Feb. 14. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

By Dana Milbank

Columnist

March 1 at 3:53 PM

Researchers in the Galapagos Islands last month discovered, alive, a giant tortoise of a species long feared to be extinct.

The return of the Fernandina Giant Tortoise, last seen in 1906, gives hope that another species, also thought extinct, might yet reemerge.

I speak, of course, of the Principled Republican. The last sighting in the wild of this noble breed was in 2016.

Hopes were kindled Thursday when Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), voicing concern about the “dangerous precedent” of President Trump claiming emergency power to subvert Congress, suggested Trump reconsider. Alexander could become the decisive fourth Senate Republican to oppose Trump’s power grab, guaranteeing the Senate joins the House in rejecting it.

Privately, most Republicans think Trump’s action reckless, but Alexander can say so publicly because he is retiring. If Republicans did not fear Trump, they would undoubtedly side with 31 retired GOP colleagues who pleaded with them in an open letter this week not to sacrifice the Constitution “on the altar of expediency.”

If heeding conscience, Republicans would have enough votes not just to reject Trump’s transgression but to override Trump’s veto. More likely, they will again retreat, more concerned about reelection than righteousness. Surely they know Trump’s actions are wrong: They called President Barack Obama a tyrant for his immigration executive action in 2014, and Obama’s policy, unlike this one, had support — in a Republican-controlled Congress.

As veteran Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) said in opposing Trump’s emergency declaration this week: “Previous presidents have used the authority” to implement policies “Congress would have supported, but could not do so quickly enough. They did not invoke the authority to subvert the will of Congress.”

Trump is figuring Republicans will buckle, as they have each time before. He told the faithful Sean Hannity on Thursday that Republicans “put themselves at great jeopardy” by opposing him, suggesting they would be casting a “vote against border security.”

He has reason to expect Republican spinelessness. In recent days, House Republicans have put on their most feckless performances of the Trump era. Though many privately oppose Trump’s border “emergency” declaration, only a dozen joined Sensenbrenner in defying Trump. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) shrugged off GOP hypocrisy with a Yogi Berra-ism (“Well, times change as it moves forward”), and other Republicans followed.

Rep. Mike Simpson (Idaho) admitted “Republicans would be going nuts” if a Democratic president did this. Rep. Chris Stewart (Utah) called Trump’s action a “mistake.” Reps. Michael R. Turner (Ohio) and Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio) declared it a “dangerous precedent” and Rep. John Curtis (Utah) a “harmful precedent.” Reps. Rob Bishop (Utah), Roger Williams (Tex.) and others voiced concerns. All then voted in support of Trump’s emergency.

Seemingly nothing can shake Republicans’ craven political calculation that appeasing Trump is a better course than voting their conscience.

This week in the House, Trump’s former personal lawyer documented a web of deceit by Trump in personal and public matters — and Republicans unflinchingly defended the president. At the same time in Hanoi, Trump accepted Kim Jong Un’s wordthat he had nothing to do with American Otto Warmbier’s death — just as Trump accepted similar denials of crimes by the Saudi crown prince and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Then, on Thursday, a fresh economic report showed the economy falling short of Trump’s forecasts, even though Trump’s economic stimulus — a tax cut and spending increases — will add some $2 trillion to the deficit.

Constitutional restraint, personal responsibility, human rights, fiscal conservatism: As recently as 2015, these were Republican principles, now sadly extinct.

Nearly two dozen Senate Republicans — enough to override a veto — have expressed misgivings about Trump’s emergency declaration. They have called it “a bad precedent” (Charles E. Grassley, Iowa), “a dangerous step” (John Cornyn, Texas) and “not the preferred way to go” (Rob Portman, Ohio). Ron Johnson (Wis.) told NBC that “many of us are concerned,” Marco Rubio (Fla.) warned that “no crisis justifies violating the Constitution,” Ben Sasse (Neb.) fretted that “it will be almost impossible” to reinstate constitutional balance, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said, “I hope he doesn’t go down that path.”

Yet only three — Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) — have had the strength to announce opposition.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), now the paragon of opportunism, was surprisingly candid about his motives. “If you don’t want to get re-elected, you’re in the wrong business,” he told the New York Times Magazine’s Mark Leibovich, also describing his quest to be “relevant” in Trump’s world and to claw his way to “influence” inside Trump’s “orbit.”

“There’s sort of a Don Quixote aspect to this,” Graham acknowledged.

How apt — except the president is a mad adventurer in service not to chivalry but to personal enrichment, while Republicans play Rocinante and Sancho Panza, his loyal nag and servant.

Surely they know what they are doing harms the country. But they pull their heads into their shells, as good as extinct

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You can’t solve North Korea’s nuclear challenge if you ignore its torture chambers

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim JOng Un in Hanoi on Thursday. (Evan Vucci/AP)

By Jackson Diehl

Deputy Editorial Page Editor

March 1 at 3:58 PM

“North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned,”President Trump bluntly informed Kim Jong Un. “It is a hell that no person deserves.”

No, the president did not deliver that scolding in Hanoi. Instead, he heaped praise on Kim, calling him “a great leader.” He went so far as to absolve the dictator of responsibility for the unspeakable treatment of Otto Warmbier, the American student who died shortly after his release from a North Korean prison.

Yet, just 16 months ago, in a speech to the South Korean parliament, Mr. Trump told an entirely different story.

“An estimated 100,000 North Koreans suffer in gulags, toiling in forced labor and enduring torture, starvation, rape, and murder on a constant basis,” he said. “The horror of life in North Korea is so complete that citizens pay bribes to government officials to have themselves exported abroad as slaves. They would rather be slaves than live in North Korea.”

Unlike much of what Trump says, every word of that indictment is true. It is backed up by in-depth investigations by the United Nations, the International Bar Association and numerous human-rights groups. But in his zeal to embrace Kim and bolster his delusional bid for a Nobel Peace Prize, Trump has forgotten it all.

In 2017, his administration waged an aggressive campaign to call attention to North Korea’s record on human rights, including camps that have been described as worse than Nazi Germany’s and such crimes against humanity as extermination, enslavement and sexual violence. In addition to Trump’s speech, the United States convened a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the Kim regime’s offenses.

Now, the administration has veered to the other extreme. For the first time since 2014, there was no U.S.-sponsored Security Council meeting on North Korean human rights last year. Vice President Pence canceled a speech on the subject in December. Human rights did not figure on this week’s agenda in Hanoi, and neither Trump nor any other senior official said a word about it — apart from the president’s shameful statement concerning Warmbier.

By now, Trump’s shallow strategy for dealing with adversaries such as Kim has become painfully obvious: First hit them with sanctions and insults, then shower them with praise, excuse their abuses and hope that presidential charm will prompt them to make concessions their regimes have rejected for decades.

The diplomatic disaster in Hanoi ought to make clear once and for all that the gambit won’t work — not even on the 35-year-old ruler of one of the world’s most isolated states. The only apparent effect of Trump’s wooing of Kim was to make the dictator believe he could sell the president on a decidedly one-sided bargain that would have lifted most sanctions on North Korea while allowing it to keep its nuclear arsenal.

The failure goes beyond Trump’s gross overestimation of his dealmaking ability. The administration’s abrupt reversal on North Korean human rights shows that it fundamentally misunderstands the challenge presented by the world’s last Stalinist regime. The president’s theory is that Kim will trade his nuclear arsenal for the prospect of transforming North Korea’s economy so that it produces the prosperity seen in the South.

As U.S. intelligence professionals have tried to explain to Trump, Kim prefers holding nukes to feeding his people. He knows that his regime would not exist without them; nor could the totalitarian system survive economic modernization.

Let’s imagine that Kim was tempted by Trump’s offer. How would it be possible to open his country to foreign investors and normal trade while maintaining four huge concentration camps where, according to a U.N. report, tens of thousands of people, including entire families, are held incommunicado for life? What about the estimated 400,000 forced laborers, including children, working in construction and agriculture?

The simple truth is that the North Korean regime, its nuclear arsenal and its system of repression are intricately linked. If Kim were serious about denuclearization, there would be signs of an internal easing. There aren’t. Consider the report last month by the Seoul-based North Korean Strategy Center, which said it had confirmed accounts of 421 officials murdered or otherwise purgedby Kim since 2010. Methods included hanging, using antiaircraft guns or flamethrowers for executions, and feeding naked victims to dogs.

The U.N. rapporteur on North Korea, Tomás Ojea Quintana, reported late last year that “the human rights situation at the moment has not changed on the ground in North Korea despite the important progress on security, peace and prosperity.”

Trump’s diplomacy with North Korea has been revealed as a fantasy. Real progress would require a restart based on patient diplomacy, ramped-up pressure , and a recognition that the problem entails not just nuclear reactors and missile factories, but torture chambers and concentration camps.

Read more from Jackson Diehl’s archive, follow him on Twit

We have a similar situation here in South Africa with what has been named "State Capture". In case you haven't been following, the former president, Jacob Zuma, fell into the honey trap of a group of Indian businessmen named the Guptas. With a lot of hefty bribes and "gifts", they managed to persuade him to select people for top jobs in the various departments of government, who would then give them contracts and access to the government funds in different ways that led to billions and billions of government money going into their hands. One example is the electricity supply company, Eskom, which was actually making money and debt free when the government took over in 1994. However, now, as one example, it is R420 billion in debt, and has been given payouts for the government (taxpapayers money) for years now and it just kept getting worse. But the whole economy depends on this parastatal. All businesses, the mines, etc, can't function without electricity.  But, the Zuma supporters stubbornly support him when it comes to blaming him for this tragedy and for the revelations of systemic corruption at almost all levels of government and we are not talking about peanuts. We are talking about trillions. How we are going to get out and how long it will take no one really knows. And Zuma says, so innocently, "what did I do wrong", when he got more payments from the Guptas that one can count.
     And our Republican brothers and sisters... how can they, in their consciences, continue to support a person who praises the very people whose ideology we have been fighting against in the last wars, as though they are great leaders (Putin and Kim Jong un in particular) and befriends them and praises them when our intelligence people say they have been responsible and will continue to be responsible for undermining our democracy. He trusts and believes and praises people like Putin, Kin Jon Un, Duterte in the Phillippines, and many of those who are from the far right in many countries in Europe.
    ISIS is dead, finished, crushed, he said, some weeks ago. Ha. I wonder what he thinks about the ongoing fighting in Syria. Does he really believe that they and those who think like them will simply disappear, never to return.
   
There are too many things that go around in my head, but to contextualize them, now that lent has arrived, my reflection is that Jesus and the Father and the Spirit must be very disappointed to see the beautiful world that they created and the potentially beautiful people who have been created in their image and likeness, destroying themselves and the very creation that was their greatest blessing, aside for Jesus Himself.
    Time to so some introspection and shaping up.
Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. the ashes being a sign that we recognize how weak and frail we are but are still determined to get ourselves back on the right track and knuckle down to making this world or ours, in big and little ways, a little more reflective of what the creator had in mind and His Son.   I will be having a unique lent in that I will be recuperating from my knee operation and will be spending most of my time learning how to walk with this new knee of mine. I am a little nervous about that but so many have already shared with me that they have had the same thing done more than 2 to 20 years ago and are happy and mobile. So I feel a bit more at ease about it, but, having just come out of the hospital with the spinal operation, it is too soon to go back to that hospital scene for me.
    YOu all stay well and blessed and I pray for you and for myself, that lent will be a good time to take a good hard look at ourselves and see where we need improvement and maybe even reconstruction.   Love and Peace, as always. Cas.

Feb. 26, 2019

     Well, the meeting in Rome, called by Pope Francis has ended and everyone has gone home. No one really expected and hard decisions to be taken, but the hope is that the bishops will go back to their respective dioceses and set policies in motion that address the problem of the removal of priests or bishops or even Cardinals from ministry who are found guilty of child or sexual abuse. I feel that there should have been, and should always be, lots of lay people present at these meetings (not just clergy) since they are the ones who are the suffering and hurting victims. Decisions are made that affect them without their opportunity to give their input. Bad procedure.

    As for me, I keep on keeping on with 3 services a week at the hospital, the usual Sunday service at Savannah Park, and some odd trips and things here and there. I can feel that my left knee is deteriorating, probably because I don’t lie in bed all day to make sure that it is OK. My knee might be better off but my spirit would suffer terribly, ha. After all, I am a saggitarian, and we love to move, as you know.

    My friend in LA just made the bookings for the trip out west to catch my cousins and friends on that side of America. I can’t wait to get this operation (and the following recuperation period where you learn to exercise and use that new knee, as painful as that may be at the beginning) over with. I get on the plane for the beginning of my home leave on May 31^st (God willing!!!). It is almost exactly 3 months from the date of the operation (March 14^th). Just the right amount of time to allow flying, etc. If all goes well after the operation, the home leave is on go. Pray that all will go well, please.

     Next week , my grand niece, Katrina, who has been volunteering (again) in the biggest slum on the continent of Africa, Kibera in Nairobi, will be stopping here for a few days (in south Africa) before she heads back home to he U.S. I am looking forward to this sooooooo much.

   The next week, a friend from LA, Steve Askin is bringing a group of home schoolers here for a visit and we have planned two days of adventures for them to get a picture of life here in south ‘africa. Their last day here, March 13^th (they continue their adventurous journey on the 14^th) is the day I am supposed to report to the hospital so I will have to say goodbye to them in the morning since we have organized a full day’s activities for them the rest of the day.

     What with Trump holding the rest of the world hostage with his threats to apply or remove sanctions, the violence in Venezuela ( I don’t think I would want any goodies with the stamp…produce of USA on it either, although I don’t support Maduro.  The US has a very bad track record (huge injustices…read “Cry of the People” by Penny Lernoux) in South and Central America…Brexit and how it will affect the EU and the rest of the world’s economies…China militarizing the South China Sea…The right wingers taking over more and more (Germany, France, Holland, Greece, Austria, etc….Our own right wingers in America (Trumps supporters), etc. there is enough to keep us on our toes for the next 200 yrs. I think. Ha.

   From a religious point of view, “whatever you do to one of these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.” Makes for religious activists a very busy time. But that holds true for anyone who is serious about making this a better world and eliminating injustice, poverty, racism, patriarchalism, etc.. Lot of work to do. I am not ready to throw in the towel yet, but I have slowed down a lot.

   Hey, I will catch you again before I go back to the hospital. At least , this time, I think I will be able to sit (here at the computer) and catch you up on things.

    We have a president here in SA, Cyril Ramaphosa, who seems promising, but, like Pope Francis, his aim to clean up the corruption threatens the old, entrenched hard liners (young ones too) so he has to be careful not to move too quickly or he will be tossed out. He has his faults, but they are less grievous than any one else around. I am an optimist, but in the long run. When I compare our problems here in Africa with the history of Europe or even America, I say that we are the new kids on the block. Give us a break. You guys in the so-called developed world took centuries to get where you are (and you still have gobs of problems) and we are just starting. Get real. Love and Peace, Cas.

Feb.11, 2019   

     I can’t resist putting this is the blog today. As I see it, the matter of a national emergency is really trumped up (excuse the pun). Also, sending soldiers to deal with migrants is a losing proposition. They are trained to fight and kill if necessary, the armed enemy, not police unarmed persons. They are not trained for that. What are they going to do, shoot to kill?

    The most sane and sensible suggestion, as I see it, is to take the wall proposal, out of the proposal to keep the government open and debate it separately. I don’t think it is fair to hold 800,000 government workers hostage, for the sake of fulfilling one’s stupid (sorry) promise to build a wall that so many have made it clear is not going to be the final protection he promises. It is unbelievable that he should force his own workers to suffer as they have through no pay, no paying bills, mortgage payments, insurance payments, not to mention simple every day needs like food, clothing, doctor’s fees, gasoline, etc. etc. etc.

    But have a look at this and see what you think.

MORNING MESSAGE

Cindy Garcia

Trump Said He Would Protect Families, Then Deported My Husband

A year ago, my husband Jorge was torn from our family and deported to Mexico after living peacefully in the United States for nearly 30 years, working and raising a family with me in suburban Detroit. A year ago, my husband Jorge was torn from our family and deported to Mexico after living peacefully in the United States for nearly 30 years, working and raising a family with me in suburban Detroit. Just a few weeks later, I was invited by my congresswoman to attend President Trump’s State of the Union address and listened carefully to his words as he promised to “protect” Americans from immigrants like my husband. Trump could have offered real solutions that would help struggling families get health care, safe homes, fair wages, and good jobs. Instead, he uses racism and fear to keep people divided and distracted while his billionaire buddies get tax cuts and make bigger profits. He said nothing about the millions of Americans who suffered through the government shutdown when he couldn’t get his way on a wall most Americans don’t want. We’re supposed to be a democracy, but now he’s desperately grabbing power and threatening to declare an illegal and unconstitutional national emergency to force his wall through. Trump’s actions are perfectly clear: He’s not interested in keeping us safe, making families strong, or keeping his promises to Dreamers. He’s only interested in staying in power and lining his friends’ pockets. Well, I’ve got news for him: People aren’t buying these divisive and and hate-filled lies. We know better. We’re demanding solutions that keep families, like mine, together.

New Shutdown Looms Over Immigration Impasse

Talks over border security break down, imperiling effort to prevent shutdown. NYT:“Congressional efforts to reach a border security deal ahead of another government shutdown broke down on Sunday over Democratic demands to limit the detention of undocumented immigrants, as President Trump moved more troops to the border and prepared to rally supporters in Texas on Monday. The 17 House and Senate negotiators had hoped to finalize a border security agreement on Monday, but hours before that deadline, communications had stopped, lawmakers and aides said. Meantime, the Trump administration was moving on its own to fortify the southwestern border with thousands of active-duty military troops. The number of deployed troops on the Mexican border was set to exceed the high of 5,900 reached around the November elections, as about 3,700 active-duty troops were being sent to assist with the Department of Homeland Security’s border patrol efforts. Senior officers are voicing greater worries that the deployed troops are not conducting the training needed for their regular missions, while other military units must now pick up the routine duties on behalf of their deployed colleagues. But efforts to reach a broader, bipartisan deal on border security bogged down, days before much of the government is set to run out of funds at midnight Friday.”

CA To Withdraw National Guard From Border

Gov. Gavin Newsom to pull National Guard from California’s border with Mexico. LA Times:“As a second partial government shutdown looms in Washington over border discussions, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday will order the removal of roughly 360 National Guard members from California’s southern boundary with Mexico, repudiating President Trump’s characterization of a recent influx of Central American refugees and migrants as a national security crisis. The announcement comes just one day before the governor delivers his first State of the State address Tuesday, setting the stage for Newsom to counter Trump’s State of the Union address from last week. In released excerpts of his speech, Newsom says he is giving the National Guard a new mission so that troops would not take part in the White House’s ‘political theater’ and instead “refocus on the real threats facing our state.” The governor said he would sign a general order to redeploy the troops to support wildfire prevention efforts and expand operations to counter drugs and cartels across California, with a group of forces trained in spotting narcotics to be stationed at the state’s international points of entry. ‘The Border ‘emergency’ is a manufactured crisis,’ Newsom is expected to say Tuesday, according to prepared remarks provided by the governor’s office. ‘This is our answer to the White House: No more division, xenophobia or nativism.’ Newsom’s move is an escalation of a long-running battle over immigration between California and the federal government, with the state’s Democratic majorities pledging to serve as a buffer to Trump’s hard-line rhetoric and policies.”

Denver Teachers To Strike

Denver teachers plan to go on strike for the first time in 25 years. HuffPost: “Teachers in Colorado’s capital are planning to strike Monday for the first time in 25 years after failed negotiations with the school district over base pay. The teachers union and Denver Public Schools met Saturday in an attempt to reach a new contract after more than a year of negotiations, but both sides left disappointed. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association released a statement after the meeting saying the district’s proposal lacks transparency and ‘pushes for failed incentives for some over meaningful base salary for all.’ ‘We will strike Monday for our students and for our profession, and perhaps then DPS will get the message and return to the bargaining table with a serious proposal aimed at solving the teacher turnover crisis in Denver,’ said Henry Roman, president of the teachers union.”

Trump, Beto Face Off At Border

Trump, Beto to face off Monday in El Paso in dueling rallies near the border. USA Today: “If American politics has turned into a three-ring circus, this city in West Texas will hoist the Big Top on Monday, with President Donald Trump coming to rally for a border wall, Democratic wunderkind Beto O’Rourke leading a protest march and even the Trump Baby blimp putting in an appearance. The Trump rally at the El Paso County Coliseum will come only four days before the possibility of either another government shutdown or a declaration of a national emergency over what the president deems a national-security crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. O’Rourke, whose skillful use of social media has made him a national figure and prolific fundraiser, plans to join a one-mile march past Trump’s rally on Monday and speak across the street from the president at about the same time Monday evening. ‘He’s offering us a chance to tell our story and we’re going to take that chance, all of us,’ O’Rourke told the El Paso Times. O’Rourke’s camp described Monday’s protest march as an effort to ‘show the country the reality of the border — a vibrant, safe, bi-national community that proudly celebrates its culture, history, diversity and status as a city of immigrants.’ The president triggered local anger by alleging in his State of the Union address that El Paso “used to have extremely high” crime rate before a border fence was constructed and that the rate of crime dropped substantially after it was completed. The statement quickly prompted blowback from local politicians and law-enforcement figures. Even Mayor Dee Margo, a Republican, insisted that El Paso was “never” among the nation’s most dangerous cities.”

Buttigieg Defends Socialism Debate

Buttigieg: The word ‘socialism’ has lost its meaning. The Hill: “Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg (D) on Sunday dismissed President Trump’s efforts to portray Democratic policy pitches as ‘socialism,’ arguing that the term no longer carries negative connotations. ‘I think he’s clinging to a rhetorical strategy that was very powerful when he was coming of age 50 years ago, but it’s just a little bit different right now,’ Buttigieg, the South Bend, Ind., mayor who has launched an exploratory committee to run for president, said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ ‘Today, I think a word like that is the beginning of a debate, not the end of the debate,’ he added. Trump has in recent weeks attempted to tie Democrats and their more progressive ideas to socialism, and pointed to the state of affairs in Venezuela as a potential consequence. During last week’s State of the Union address, he pledged that ‘America will never be a socialist country.’ Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), two leading voices in the Democratic caucus, both identify as democratic socialists. Buttigieg, who is 37, said someone close to his age is unlikely to reject a policy proposal simply because a critic calls it socialist. ‘If someone my age or younger is weighing a policy idea, and somebody comes along and says, you can’t do that, it’s socialist, I think our answer is going to be, OK, is it a good idea or is it not?’ he said. ‘So, I think the word has mostly lost its meaning,’ Buttigieg added. ‘And it’s certainly lost its ability to be used as a kill switch on debate.'”

Jan. 31, 2019

I thought about what the doctor said and began to think that waiting till October means that I will be grinding that knee every day, so better I check when he can do the op and get it over with early so that I have time to practice and exercise. But I have a lot of commitments in between.

   I leave for Mthatha on the 12^th of Feb and come back on the 17^th. We have a board meeting for the Sabelani young men on Sat. the 16^th. These are Fr. Guy’s guys. We want to keep the project going as long as possible. I will be bringing some old clothes to the village at Landsend and will be keeping in touch with others who have been helpful and supportive over the years.

    From the 18^th to the 21^st of Feb. A friend is coming from Rome to do some interviews with those involved in the struggle against apartheid. He organization supported the anti-apartheid movement in Italy way back then and they want to know how these old activists feel about the post-apartheid South Africa.

     My Grand niece, Katrina, who is now volunteering in Kenya (Kibera, the biggest slum in Africa) will be coming for a few days from the 6^th to the 10^th of March.

     From the 11^th to the 14^th that group is coming from LA and I have tried to organize some interesting visits during that time. They leave on the morning of the 14^th and I go into the hospital on the afternoon of the 14^th. The operation is the next day on the 15^th. Then, they say, one day in ICU, and 5 or 6 days in the hospital learning how to walk with the new knee and doing the exercises to make it strong.

    I intended to go to Cape Town from the 3^rd to the 9^th of April ( that is when the air fare has to be used or lost). But since it is so soon after the op, I thought that I had better check with the doctor to see if he approves. Here’s what I wrote.

Dear Dr. Naidoo,

     I was supposed to have a wedding on Dec. 2nd, last year, but because of the surgery by Dr. V.D.Merwe, the flight was posponed till April 3 to 9, 2019 . That would be about 2 weeks after getting out of the hospital and going home (to Mariannhill). I am planning on using that air ticket but it would mean going to the airport, getting on and off the plane and then doing my exercises wherever I would be staying in CT. 

    But, considering the seriousness of the situation, even if , as I intend, use a wheelchair, do you think it is OK to make that trip?

    I don't intend to drive at all but I just wanted to have your opinion, yes or no, before I make a move. People are waiting for me, especially the couple that I disappointed, but my present and future health is the main focus now.

    Please let me know if you will allow it or if you think it is pushing things too much.

    Many thanks. Fr. CAs. (James) Paulsen

I should get an answer tomorrow, so the secretary says. Then I can plan more surely,the way forward.

   Some friends are coming from the States and will be here on the 9^th and 10^th. They arrive in the afternoon of the 9^th and I get back from Cape Town on the morning of the 9^th. I tried to organize for them a meeting with the Cardinal as they know each other from before. Vern was a representative of the Catholic Charities and they were happy to finance HIV Aids projects for many dioceses.

   I am not sure how this is all going to work out with a “fake”knee, but we shall see. I already told my friends in CT that I won’t be able to drive so they will have to come and fetch me and they are lovingly agreeable. I will know, I hope, tomorrow what I can and can’t do.

Hey, you all, stay well and keep up the prayers.

   Tomorrow is my grand niece’s birthday, 31 or 32 I think. (Oh, to be so young again.)

And Feb. 5^th is aunt Rose’s 101^st birthday. Wow. I hope that she hangs on so that I see her when I go on my home leave later in the year.

    Oh, one other thing. I almost had a heart attack when I saw the quotation for the hospital. R156,000. The doctors was kind enough to cut down his charge from R50,000 to R20,000. That was very kind of him as the operation takes 3 hours and means that he has to do a lot of studying to know exactly how he is going to tackle the problem. Any way, I figure that at the going forex rate that comes out to about $15,000. So, again, if your parish wants to support a good project, let me know.

     I look forward to seeing most or all of you this coming summer. I am a family/friend junkie.

Love and Peace, Cas.

Jan. 27,2019

I was advised to get Handicap Parking so I don’t have to walk (waddle) so far. Because of what the doctor said about lifting ( a no-no) I was also advised to get a suitcase with 4 wheels that I can push and not pull (supposed to be twisting the back). I did it. About the same size as my old one.

I also visited a friend (together with his parents) in the hospital who had just had his 2^nd kidney removed. He was on 24/7 dialysis. He went from 124kg to 67kg. Holy Moses. But he is trying to make a comeback and hoping to be able, eventually, put his name on a list for a donor kidney.

    Since the doctor gave the go-ahead, I took the service at Savannah Park. The community prepared a great celebration with lots of food and drink to celebrate Fr. Des’ 28^th anniversary of priesthood and my 83^rd (belated) birthday. This community is really a community, they are sensitive to occasions, (birthdays, sickness, deaths, etc.) and they all pitch in either to celebrate of the comfort as the case may be.

     I went to the Srs. Of Mother Theresa and their patients for a service on Monday evening and took two services at the hospital, one on Tuesday Morning 6am and the other on Thursday Morning 6am. It seemed to work OK.

    Tuesday, 23^rd, dentist appointment (I am sure that our all powerful and creative God could have done a better job with our teeth) to have a filling after having repaired a tooth that was falling apart earlier.

    I managed to arrange for some home-schooled kids from La, who will be visiting, to visit several classes of senior students at St. Francis College, a very highly structured educational system, and also a meeting between a friend and Cardinal Napier when the friend and his family come for a visit later in April.

    On Thursday, the 24^th I paid a visit to the orthopaedic Surgeon who orthroscoped my knee about two years ago and get a progress report. Bad news. I need a knee replacement. I was hoping to be able to wait till they had perfected artificial cartilages, and they have, but it is very, very expensive, so….. The thing is when. I told him maybe when I get back from my home leave, e.g. maybe in October, but then, after noticing that I really have to use the cane to take pressure off the bad knee I made up my mind to make another appointment and try to have it done before my home leave. It will cost, he says, about R90,000 to R100,000. Ouch. That is about $10,000. I was thinking of suggesting to some of you to mention to your parish that they might have a project to put a new knee into an old (83 going on 84) Missionary’s so that he can keep going for some years yet as priests are as scarce as hen’s teeth around here.(and in many other places. If anyone is interested, you can let me know and I will give you the details of Fr. Tom Szura who will keep it till it is needed.

    I had a Mass with Fr. Des (who is helping us from time to time) today and will have a morning Mass at the hospital on Mon, Wed, and Fri, and an evening Mass at the Srs.of Mother Theresa on Mon. evening. Then I will sit back and have a look and see what I can handle and what I can’t and make a plan. Hey, it is almost 9pm and I still have some praying to do and getting ready for bed.  I am trying to get my body used to getting up at 4 or 4:30 again because I have Mass at 6 at the hospital. We shall see. Take care.

Jan. 18, 2019

I had my first appointment with the Neurosurgeon yesterday and most of what I will share is to answer what many of you are saying, e.g. how are you doing, is the pain gone away, etc. etc. etc.

But first, a few comments in general. I think that I have finally gotten rid of the addiction to the sleeping pills. I am actually getting some sleep now, not as much as I would like but it is coming.

    I had a nice visit from a couple whose wedding I officiated at, Heidi Kalidas (originally from Zambia…I know her mom and dad and the rest of the family very well) and Menzi Ngcobo (Menzi means…a doer). That was way back in 2013. I also baptized their first child. It was a beautiful reunion since they live far away past Pretoria near Hartebeesteport Dam. You can check google and see where that is.

 I made a good number of trips driving, always going a bit further until I finally went down the so-called south coast to Coolock House, a retreat house next to the Indian Ocean. It is about an hour and 10 minutes drive from the monastery and I stopped once to get out and stretch my back, but my little Hyundai’s seats are just the height of my buns so it is easy to slide in and out without twisting one’s back, and with a pillow in my middle back, it seemed to do the trick. It is about 110 km. from here.

   However, I heard from a friend that her son was taken to the hospital and had to have a kidney  . It is congenital. It runs in the family. Several have already died of kidney failure. His mom is living on a borrowed kidney (transplant). She then told me that he had to go for a probably second operation to remove the other kidney, which actually happened. When I managed to get to see him ,  his name is Brent, (he is 39 yrs. Old and has 2 children with his wife Leah). He once weighed 124 kg. but had shrunk down to 67kg. Wow. But he is a fighter and will keep on fighting until he can get out of the hospital (I suspect it will be a long time) and begin to look for a kidney donor. Otherwise he will be on dialysis for the rest of his life. Please pray for him. At such a young age it looks pretty grim.

     To change the subject back to what the doctor said when I say him yesterday. I said that I am going on home leave for three months starting at the very end of May for June, July and August. Is that OK. Will I be in shape. Yes, no problem

    I want to drive to Mthatha (5 ½ hrs. from here) for a meeting next month, is that OK. Yes, go.

I attended one service at Savannah Park two Sundays ago and led the service last Sunday, and it seemed to go alright. Can I start services again there and at the hospital? Yes, but listen to your body he said. If you feel that it is too much strain, don’t push it, just take it easy. If it goes alright, fine. So I told those concerned that I will be there for the 8am mass next Sunday, Jan. 13^th. Then I will take a Mass at the Srs. Of Mother Theresa on Monday evening at 5:30pm. And I will go to the hospital for a Mass on Tuesday and Thursday at 6am. Then I will do some assessing to see how I feel. If I think it is too much, I will cut down, but if I feel that I can handle it, I will continue. I am getting bored sitting around doing sweet nothing day after day.

    I told him that I would be flying on many planes and doing a lot of driving on my home leave and he wasn’t bothered by that…listen to you body.

    I used a wheel chair after I had the procedure on my left knee (orthroscopy… the cartilage seems to be gone there) on my way to Lourdes, almost two years ago. Many of the modern airports are getting bigger and bigger and at the pace I am able to move, I would probably miss the plane and would have stressed my bad knee. Can I use a wheelchair (I was supposed to only sit in hard chairs). Yes, in fact I would advise it, he said.

     How about an aisle seat. I am prone to DVT’s ( I had two of them already) and I have to get up every so often and just move up and down the aisle. Also, if I have to climb over others, I will be twisting my body which is not good. It seems that one has to pay extra for an aisle seat but if in need one for medical reasons, he said he would write a letter. Good.

    So, he was pleased with the progress I made and said to come back in 6 months. I reminded him that I would be leaving for overseas at the end of may, so he said to make an appointment for early may. It will be on the 7^th of May. Maybe he will take an x-ray to see how the spine is knitting together. So far so good. So, it seems that it is all systems go for now.

   It is only that past few nights that I actually got some sleep, 3 to 4 to 5 hrs. maybe. But it was good.

     Today, my friend of more than 50 yrs. Invited me, and he parish priest, for a birthday meal. As you may recall, Nov. 28^th, my actual birthdate, was the most miserable day I have ever had and told people just to leave me alone and let me die in peace…. Horrible diarrhea.

We had what is called here, prawn curry (like curried shrimp). I love all curries but this is special.

    I am organizing for several groups to come and spend a few days here so I will be happily busy for the days to come. I am happy.

Take care ( I have to go now as I have been sitting at this computer for far more than the 20 minutes that I was told. And it is getting close to my bed time.).

See you when I see you. Love and Peace, as always,   Cas.