With flags at half-mast, the United States bid farewell to James Earl Carter Jr., better known as Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100, at his home in Plains, Georgia.

Born on October 1, 1924, in a state where racism remains an essential condition for a political career, and the son of a segregationist, James Earl Carter Jr. appeared on the cover of Time magazine in May 1971 as an example of a new generation of moderate governors in the American South.

Elected to the White House in 1976, he defeated then-President Gerald Ford by a narrow margin of votes, and in an America still marked by the Watergate scandal that forced President Richard Nixon to resign, Carter assumed the office of the 39th president for just four years (1977-1981).

In the turbulent aftermath of the Watergate scandal, the former peanut farmer presented himself to voters as a candidate with little desire to fight racism in his state. However, as soon as he was elected, and in his inauguration speech, he made a complete turnaround and declared: “The era of racial discrimination is over (…) No poor, rural, weak or black person should be forced to bear the burden of being deprived of access to education, a profession or justice,” said Carter, to the astonishment of many of his segregationist supporters, who saw this as a betrayal.

Carter was a humanist in the White House, one of the most progressive presidents the US has ever had, and for this reason he was extremely unpopular and ousted in 1980 by the popular and mediocre Republican Ronald Reagan.

But the best was yet to come. In 1982, the former president and his wife founded the Carter Center, a non-profit organization to promote development, health and conflict resolution in the world.

The center is located in Atlanta and shares a campus with the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. It works in partnership with Emory University, and students from that and other universities volunteer to work with it to address complex issues such as human rights, prevent and resolve conflicts, increase freedom and democracy, and improve health.

Among other activities, the Carter Center acts as an observer in electoral processes, mediates international crises, and strengthens national, regional, and international systems dedicated to democracy and human rights. At the same time, it leads programs to eradicate diseases present in Latin America and Africa.

The Carter Center led a coalition that reduced the incidence of Guinea worm disease by 99.99%, making it probably the first human disease to be eradicated since smallpox.

He helped establish a health care system based in thousands of African and South American villages that now have trained health workers to distribute medicines and help prevent devastating neglected diseases.

He monitored 125 elections in 40 countries to help establish democracies and promote pathways to peace in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, the Korean Peninsula, East Timor, Haiti, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Middle East.

Jimmy Carter became a “tireless traveler” who could be found everywhere, from Mexico to Peru, to Nicaragua and East Timor.
In 2002, he received the Nobel Peace Prize, specifically “for his decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.”

During the award ceremony in December 2002, Gunnar Gerege, chairman of the Nobel Committee, said:
“Jimmy Carter will probably not go down in American history as the most effective president, but he is certainly the best former president the country has ever had.”

The first dive of the year

In many countries, it is traditional to welcome the New Year with a dip in the sea, and in Brazil and Angola it is a very old tradition. In Rio de Janeiro, three million Brazilians welcomed 2025 on Copacabana beach, watching 15 tons of fireworks set off in the open sky.

In Angola, New Year’s Eve diving was a tradition in Benguela and the island of Luanda, and I hope it continues to be. But diving in the warm Atlantic waters of Africa or South America is not a problem; it is difficult to maintain the tradition in countries with harsh winters.
Even so, in the Netherlands, around 10,000 people, most of them wearing only shorts and bikinis, invaded Scheveningen beach in The Hague for the first dip of 2025.

In Italy, more specifically in Rome, New Year’s celebrations also involve diving. However, the brave ones have to jump from a 17-meter-high bridge into the Tiber River to fulfill the tradition that dates back to 1946.

In Portugal, since 1943, bathers have gathered on Carcavelos beach, on the outskirts of Lisbon, to take their first sea bath of the year and “cleanse” the “bad things” that happened in the previous year. The tradition is also followed in Vila do Conde and Gafanha da Nazaré, and in Porto Santo, Madeira.
In the USA, these dives are popular on New Year’s Eve or Thanksgiving and usually have a charitable purpose. They call it the polar bear plunge, in honor of one of the animals most resistant to intense cold.

In Boston, the polar bear plunge is a January 1 tradition that dates back to 1904.
At beaches across New England, thousands of swimmers braved the freezing cold of the Atlantic waters on January 1, 2025, to ring in the new year, with many beachgoers dressed as Santa Claus as always.

In Narragansett, at Scarborough State Beach, Special Olympics Rhode Island held its 49th annual Penguin Plunge.
More than 1,000 participants jumped into the ocean for a 15-minute plunge that had sponsors contributing more than $160,000 to Special Olympics athletes.
“This event has become a beloved tradition that brings families, friends and colleagues together in support of Special Olympics,” said Edwin R. Pacheco, president and CEO of Special Olympics Rhode Island. “It’s heartwarming to see so many make this part of their legacy, and their contributions create lasting opportunities for our athletes to shine.”

The plunges will continue, and Pacheco expects to reach the $180,000 fundraising goal by the end of January, with proceeds from the Penguin Plunge going toward training and competition programs for children and adults competing in Special Olympics Rhode Island.

Happy electronic holidays

Christmas cards are disappearing, just like 33 rpm records and many other things that were considered essential a few years ago and have since ceased to be part of our daily lives.

Now, Christmas wishes are sent online, and Hallmark Cards’ business is under threat. Traditional Christmas cards may have their charm, but virtual cards are so effective that it’s hard not to embrace the innovation.

Just go to Google, type in “Christmas cards” and you’ll find about 50 pages of virtual cards with a wide variety of suggestions, with music and the added bonus of being free.

There’s no need to go to the post office and spend money on stamps; just write “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” under the chosen theme and send it to your friends or enemies’ email addresses.

John Philip Sousa turned 170

John Philip Sousa was born on November 6, 1854, and his 170th birthday is being celebrated in several places in the USA. He was born in Washington DC, the son of a German mother (Elizabeth Trinkhous), who gave him a Germanophile education, and João António Sousa, who was born in 1824 in Seville, Spain, but was the son of Portuguese parents. António Sousa, who was a musician in the Navy Band (he played the trombone), took charge of his son’s musical training and enlisted him when he was 13 years old.

John Philip Sousa was an idol of the masses in his time, like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley would later be. He died in 1932, hours after giving his last concert, but there are still several John Philip Sousa bands, which play the 137 marches he composed and wear the military-style coats that their conductor wore. There is also the John Philip Sousa Foundation, which promotes “international understanding through bands”. He was a tireless worker, wrote seven books and also invented the Sousaphone, a special tuba that the player rested on his shoulder.
The “king of marches”’ hobby was clay pigeon shooting and he was one of the best marksmen of his time. Confirming that not all children know how to swim, none of John Philip Sousa’s descendants dedicated themselves to music.