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David Mitchell

Joe,

I bet you lost some weight.

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Mike and Dave, to clarify the Geogia voter law permits "poll workers" from handing out water, it does not permit "political/campaign operatives".  Furthermore, have we become so incapable of caring for ourselves that we can not wait in a line now without being given water?  

Meanwhile, the nation faces far more serious problems than handing out water:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1375459880723755014

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Dave, the law clearly states that no one would be denied water, it does state that the water may not be distributed by poltical/campaign activists of either party......only by actual poll workers. That should not be such a big story as other states have similar laws. Is the American public so incapable of bringing their own necessities such as water in the anticipation of a long line?  And for those, who can not wait in line for any period of time due to such medical conditions as yours, have the option to request an absentee ballot.  Given the myriads of means of information, that should not be an insurmountable task for any citizen. 

As to immigration, you must have missed the post where I responded back in June of 2019  to a post by John J over on the User Forum, page 4, titled Health and Immigration. The question no one seems to bother asking is how do these poor Central American men, women and children find their way over 1700 miles, walking maybe 25 miles/day.  They arrive at the border with maybe only a backpack.....how did they get fed, where did they sleep, etc. over what might have been a two month journey?  Perhaps one could look to organizations like, Pueblo Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders) a project of Familia Latina Unida, a Chicago based illegal immigration advocacy organization formed in 2001 by Elvira Arellano activist for immigrants living illegally in the U.S. to find the answers.  Another question might be. what is the ultimate intention of such a group?  Furthermore, I do not remember Trump encouraging such migration, rather he was attempting to stem the flow by protecting the U.S. citizens from national security threats as well as drug and sex-trafficking by building a border wall, stopping catch and release, requiring immigrants to wait in Mexico to seek asylum, tightening up the lax issuance of H-1B visas, taking steps to limit birth tourism, etc. I might add that the migration crisis which developed in 2019 was a direct result of the Pueblo Sin Fronteras groups who arranged travel for thousands of migrants promising them that they would be taken care of once they crossed the Mexican border into the U.S.  Another question might be who funded such a massive operation?  As for our current President's culpability in the current humanitarian crisis.   https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/victoria-taft/2021/03/17/smoking-gun-heres-joe-biden-publicly-inviting-illegal-aliens-to-surge-the-border-n1433283  

Michael McLeod

Mary Margaret:

I think you could certainly rhetorically water down the watering issue if you consider it without context.

The reason it's getting all the attention it is getting is because it is prelude to a range of other vote-supressing strategies -- actually strategies that are already in the works. The law also puts restrictions on mail-in voting.

Both elements of the Georgia law can reasonably be viewed as efforts to restrict the voting rights of more vulnerable minority voters. Same goes for the other efforts underway by republicans elsewhere in the country. And all this is prelude to the upcoming battle over the For The People act that would remake American elections. So yes, a drink of water is a small thing - or may look that way if you don't live in an underserviced neighborhood where you might have to stand in a long line under a hot sun to vote - but there's a flood a-comin' on the voting issue, which, of course, was stirred up by the rhetoric and ensuing violence of the presidential election. 

John Jackson

From (The Borowitz Report):

ATLANTA:  Raising the ante in his ongoing battle with the aqueous substance, Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, has declared water “a gateway drug that leads to voting”.

”“We’ve consulted a lot of studies on this,” he said. “People are much more likely to vote if they are under the influence of water.”

The governor said that he was considering a number of measures to address water addiction, including stiffer penalties for voting while quenching.

In his starkest warning, Kemp told those who traffic in the banned liquid, “We’re coming after you,” and promised prison time for anyone combining hydrogen and oxygen in illegal water labs.

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

From the Babylon Bee:

Beaverton, OR.  Sneaker manufacturer Nike has graciously reached out to the Biden administration with an offer to house thousands of unaccompanied migrant children at their factories around the globe.

"Nike is committed to being a good corporate citizen. We are proud to assist the Biden administration by caring for these unaccompanied migrant children," a spokesman for the company said Friday. "We have plenty of factories all around the globe with lots of room for kids. We're here to help!"  

The spokesman said that the migrant children will be fed, clothed, and educated by Nike employees until permanent homes can be found for them. In addition to a regular school curriculum, Nike said they will focus heavily on recreational activities.

"The core of our plan is our arts and crafts program," the spokesman said. "these lucky kids will get to spend up to 18 hours each day on fun activiities such as leather-working, sewing, and embroidery. What could possibly be more fun than that?"

White House press secretary, Jen Psaki said the move makes sense on many levels. "When it comes to looking after thousands of migrant children from impoverished countries, nobody has more experience than Nike," she noted.

John Jackson

MM, not sure who you’re targeting here with this satire – if it’s Nike, I’m not going to defend them – lots of American manufacturers have a checkered reputation when it comes to child labor in other countries.  If it’s the Biden Administration, they may currently be overwhelmed with unaccompanied minors at the border but at least they’re trying to treat these kids with some semblance of humanity by not immediately sending them back unaccompanied across the border to Mexico (a recipe for abuse or exploitation) or to their countries of origin. 

At least the satire I posted contains a grain of truth – how Republicans, because of the ridiculous excesses of Trumpism, have lost the argument in the marketplace of ideas and now see their last best hope in preventing people from voting.

Despite another of Trump’s Big Lies, there’s nothing new here – the “situation” at the border has been going on for pretty much all of our adult lives with ebbs and flows – the numbers are high now due to “pent up demand” but were nearly as bad at times during the Trump Administration (and others).

I think of myself  as a “cultural” Catholic – I don’t accept the whole ticket, but my views on morality have been unalterably shaped, with a very few exceptions, by our Catholic upbringing - you would undoubtedly call me a cafeteria Catholic and you would be correct.   But my Catholic upbringing (and numerous papal encyclicals over the past hundred years on social justice) make me sympathetic to desperate Central American parents seeking a better life for their kids by trying to send them to live with relatives in the U.S.  Or do the papal encyclicals only apply to people like us - those of European (and especially Northern European) origin?

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

John, to be specific the satire piece was in fact taking a jab at Nike, but it was also highlighting the foolishness and recklessness of the current President. Joe Biden encouraged, via his Execurtive Orders, the influx of tens of thousands of migrants coming at will across the southern border. The consequences of his decisions are anything but justice for those who now find themselves living in horrible conditions. The Biden administration wants to call it a "situation" and a "challenge" but the pictures and videos speak for themselves...it is a full-blown humanitarian crisis.  U.S. immigration laws have needed reformed for decades, but both parties simply choose to kick the can down the road.    

My daughter is the assistant principal at St. James the Less school and over half of the 500 students have parents who came here from Mexico and a number of them she suspects are not here illegally. Nearly the entire student body have received Ed-Choice school vouchers. I don't pretend to have all of the answers as this is a complicated issue, and of course, John, Catholic social teaching applies to all peoples everywhere. However, that does not mean that the U.S. should not be permitted to control the numbers of immigrants that are accepted into our nation each year.  

https://www.heritage.org/data-visualizations/immigration/biden-administrations-border-catatrophe-a-policy-tracker/?www

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Never feel like I’m really awake in the morning until I get my first full cup of hypocrisy. Problem appears that over half the school enrollment mentioned above is comprised of students of Mexican heritage. (There was a time in the history of US education, when half the enrollment was of Irish or Italian or various other heritages, but that is a horse of a different color, I guess.) So, axe them. Now we have a school half the size. Gotta’ axe half the teachers who I assume are contributing, card-carrying citizens. Now we must deal with the rest of the children who are enrolled courtesy of that socialistic program of Ed-Choice vouchers, a mainstay of church schools.  Since, of course, socialism (you know, those programs used to benefit the whole society paid for with taxes) in any form is EVIL, EVIL, EVIL, we do away with those pesky vouchers. Get those brown and black faces back in the public schools where they belong. Now you’ve only got 1-3% of the original 500 students. Time to axe the rest of the staff. There. No more kids. No more school. Send’em home. Build the wall. Turn’em back. Problem solved. 
Clare

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Clare, you obviously have taken my mention of the make-up of the student population at St. James as a slight to all immigrants.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It was an attempt to point out that Catholic schools are carrying out the Catholic mission of aiding all of those of every ethnic background to find a path to achieving the American dream.  School vouchers help to provide a way out of the failed school systems of some of our public schools.  I apologize if I did not communicate that. 

John Jackson

I’ll try a different tack by encouraging MM  to turn down the histrionics and look at the facts.  Below are U.S. Customs and Border Patrol statistics on border crossings from 2018 through roughly the first half of 2021 (CBP keeps statistics on a U.S. fiscal year basis which runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30).

In the top figure the blue curve is 2021 (still incomplete) and the orange curve is 2018 showing total “encounters” at the southern border.  This data shows the ebbs and flows of migration that are affected not only by U.S. policy but also by the seasons and conditions (gang violence, drug dealing, government repression of minorities and corruption) in Central America.  Let’s remember that 2018 was two years into Trump’s attempt to brutalize immigrants/asylum seekers at the southern border by taking their kids away and using other tactics I doubt the Church’s teaching on social justice would countenance.  To be sure, the curve for  2021 is a bit higher than the orange curve but it’s not the total meltdown you describe in your post (another example of the baseless hyperbole that right wing media persist in feeding to their followers).

And in the bar charts at the bottom, you’ll see that the number of unaccompanied children (UAC) is still a tiny fraction of this year’s encounters.  And if you double the tiny blue bar for 2021 (which shows only half the year) it looks to me that it will very close to the height of the orange bar that shows full numbers for 2018.

The main change Biden has made is that we’re no longer sending unaccompanied minors from Central America back to Mexico (not their native country).  For other much larger categories (single adults and families) the granting of asylum or immigrant status has changed very little, although I’m guessing those who are turned back or held for immigration hearings are at least treated with respect.

I’m not suggesting  that the more humane policies of the Biden administration have had no effect in encouraging more people to try to cross the border but it appears that the total numbers aren’t much higher than the bad old days of 2018.  And if a modest increase is the price we pay for treating these desperate people with compassion and respect, I’m OK with it.

Michael McLeod

Oy the blend of irony and deja vu in seeing someone reference a "foolish and reckless" president.

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

John, I reject the adjective of histrionics. It does not appear that you read the distinctions in the Heritage link between Trump's and Biden's illegal immigration policies which are also facts.  One thing that seems to remain true on this forum, is that information that opposes the pevailing Democratic narratives is either ridiculed or dismissed.  Tolerance for thee but not for me. Therefore, I will repectfully bow out

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Hey, Donna. Just read about Barcelona's great experiment with a masked but SRO (without social distancing!) concert of 5000 attendees. Let us know how it went. Your success could be a good barometer. We do have a reunion to plan for sometime in the the coming years!  Hope you are well & ready to enjoy a Barcelona springtime.
Clare

David Mitchell

I'm wondering how the "Wall" will stop the staggering numbers of murders of women in Honduras - one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be born female?  

I'd put the video link in here but it's simply too chiiling - too gruesome.

David Mitchell

A favorite song. This was one of Freddy's best, but I give you an alternative - Italian pop singer, Giorgia - singing at one of Pavoratti's annual "War Child" concerts in Modena, Italy (to benefit his music school for the children of Sarajevo after the War)

Donna Kelley (Velazquez)

Hey, Clare & Co. The concert on March 27th with 5000 people and a previous concert with 500 people are being called trial concerts because a team of doctors monitors the health measures taken. Masks were mandatory and more importantly Antigen tests were given to all the morning of the concert. Of the thousands tested only six tested positive but as you said there was no social distancing to be found in the Sant Jordi Sports Pavilion so we should see how that pans out in a couple of weeks. 

Michael McLeod

Always great to hear from you Donna.

As for this side of the pond: Spring break went on as usual in Florida just like none of the kids ever heard of this minor inconvenience called covid, and our equally carefree governor is doing his best to stomp out local mask wearing regulations. So with both the kids and the grownup in charge acting wild and wacky the rate of infection is on the rise, and Florida is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be if you have not yet been vaccinated. 

Still, things, in general, are looking up. Historically, civilizations have made great progress upon coming out of pandemics, and there are a lot of signs pointing in that direction here. I am, as the expression goes, cautiously optimistic. 

David Mitchell

Donna,

So good to hear from you. I hope you are getting that freezer filled up with those special reunion burritos and tamales. I have been practicing my Macarrenna moves and can't wait to hit golf balls off your balcony. 

Frank Ganley

I know my next statement as usual will a   b red car no deemed wrong and it also deemed a conspiracy ! That's ok! The wearing of masks has contributed to a dreastic increase in every aspect of Crime from banks and other armed robberies to petty crime. It is so rampant in cities such as Baltimore that the police has informed the community that the police will NO LONGER arrest or prosecute drug crime. Robberies, home invasions and that list I'm sure will greatly increase in the future at alarming rates. Now I'm sure the bleeding hearts in all of our communities will say ," well if they didn't run and steal etc they would starve. How long my fellow classmates will we allow this type of behavior be tolerated." I predict that crime will continue to be the law of the land until a congressperson is killed or thier families killed. Oh the outrage. Guns must be banned, no bulllets will be the rally cry of the left.When will sanity again rule our senses. When we treat each other nicely? When will we rid ouurselves of suspicition about everyone and everything. And lastly when will be able to discuss not fightand respect each other thoughts. 

John Maxwell

Michael McLeod

Frank, I can completely identify with you. Because hell yes, once I saw something happen that made me think crime would deliver a knockout punch to the law of the land. But then January 7 came and went and here we are, still ok. 

Donna Kelley (Velazquez)

Jack, I got called away just as I was about to post this yesterday.  The Easter Bunny Therapy suggestion  is for Petra.

John Maxwell

Timothy Lavelle

Source.

Keep the dough. Buy yourself a beer n a dog at the park.