Shame on us! :(

Earlier today,  I sat in silence after looking at the photograph below and the story behind it:

Source

A father and daughter. Migrants. Drowned. Dead. At the border.

The man and his 23-month-old daughter lay face down in shallow water along the bank of the Rio Grande, his black shirt hiked up to his chest with the girl tucked inside. Her arm was draped around his neck suggesting she clung to him in her final moments. 
The searing photograph of the sad discovery of their bodies on Monday, captured by journalist Julia Le Duc and published by Mexican newspaper La Jornada, highlights the perils faced by mostly Central American migrants fleeing violence and poverty and hoping for asylum in the United States.

We are bloody messed up. Way fucked up!

Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez, frustrated because the family from El Salvador was unable to present themselves to U.S. authorities and request asylum, swam across the river on Sunday with his daughter, Valeria. 
He set her on the U.S. bank of the river and started back for his wife, Tania Vanessa Ávalos, but seeing him move away the girl threw herself into the waters. Martínez returned and was able to grab Valeria, but the current swept them both away.  

Even as I read the news, I was reminded of the little Syrian boy who was lying dead face down in the water:

Source

We are fucked up. Way fucked up!

The (mis)rule of law

Perhaps it is the teenage rebel who continues to live within me, or perhaps because I am always pissed off about something or the other.  Yet, despite the anger within, I am a wuss who obeys the law.  I simply do not have the backbone to openly question the law and its enforcers.

I do have the greatest admiration for the courage and determination that people demonstrate when they question the law, fully knowing that they could be imprisoned for months or even years, should the law find them guilty.

Imagine if MLK and others had respected the rule of law and not protested against the existing system that treated a population as less than equal.

A geography colleague--in the larger community--is one of those courageous and determined people who are willing to risk it all in order to do the morally correct thing.  He--Scott Warren--writes in his recent update:

By now most of you know the story. In January 2018 I received misdemeanor charges for doing humanitarian work in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Days later, I was arrested and then indicted by federal grand jury in a three-count felony harboring charge for giving "food, water, clean clothes and beds" to two undocumented individuals in my hometown of Ajo, Arizona (http://kjzz.org/content/10966/arizona-aid-worker-arrested-accused-harboring-undocumented-immigrants). The judge released me on my own recognizance, but the two undocumented individuals were held in detention for weeks, deposed as material witnesses in the government's case against me, then deported to the countries from which they had fled for their safety.
Trials for both the misdemeanor and felony are coming up, May 6 and May 28, respectively.

Warren is fighting the US government.  One can easily imagine what a challenge this is.  If he fails in this fight?  Warren can be locked away for years!!! :(

Despite that, Warren fights on.  He writes:

My future is most directly at stake in these cases. But I am well situated to weather a felony charge. In the future, there may be others who will not be so well resourced. Regardless, the government may continue to expand its interpretation of the harboring and smuggling laws to target not only humanitarian aid workers on the border, but possibly family members, friends, churches, lawyers, doctors, charities, and all those in the interior of the country who support undocumented people. Even if that support is in the form of the most basic of human needs for "food, water, clean clothes, and beds." 
I encourage you to use this moment in ways that you can, to shine a light not just on the border, but on the people and places in your own communities most affected by these issues.

Warren joins a long line of people who have courageously stood up against the forces, who defend their actions by using a legal argument: Necessity defense/doctrine.

This legal argument has deep roots: History is full of situations in which breaking the law was morally justified, and a critical means of changing unjust laws. The abolition movement, the women's suffrage movement, and the civil rights movement of the 1960s all included protests, sit-ins, and other acts of non-violent civil disobedience. Each of these movements saw activists jailed and prosecuted for challenging laws that were changed as a result. While controversial at the time, these struggles are now understood as heroic efforts that led to major milestones in human rights.
What many people don't realize is that, in such situations, breaking the law can be legally, as well as morally, permissible, and our legal system recognizes that breaking the law is sometimes justified.

Our collective progress is thanks to the courageous few who act according to their conscience, and then lead us also towards a better society.

History proves that strict adherence to immoral laws can be foolhardy and destructive. Laws are not perfect. They evolve over time to reflect society's changing values. Our ability to act rationally and prioritize morality in the face of these contradictions is what moves us toward a more just world.

In the case of Scott Warren, and others who are battling the immoral acts of the US government, there are a few ways that you too can help.  Warren provides that information also in his email:

For those who want to support with a financial contribution, please consider a donation to Armadillos Busqueda y Rescate (Armadillos Search and Rescue). This volunteer, civilian organization searches for migrants lost in the Arizona desert and regularly recovers the bodies and bones of those who have died. Many volunteers are immigrants themselves and I consider them all friends. Donate at https://www.gofundme.com/armadillos-busqueda-y-rescate1, offer a message of support, and help them surpass their fundraising goal.
Feel free to distribute this email message widely, post to social media, and share within your own social circles. 

Kinder Kinder

I want to draw your attention to two meanings in the words that repeat in the title of this post. 

The English language meaning of kinder.  And then kinder as in the German word for children.

Why?

Consider this:

It is a photograph of a child. A five-year old. Her name is Helen.

Here's a question for you.  Would you throw that kid in jail?  Would you separate Helen from her family?  Would you compel Helen to sign on the dotted line and use that piece of paper as a legal document?

You wouldn't.  Because, if you are that kind of a person, you would have stopped visiting this blog a long time ago after you voted for the asshole-in-chief.

Here's the "mug shot" of Helen:

What happened?

63 million racists voted for a guy who lacks even a tiny drop of empathy.  Elections have consequences, like this one.  His administration forced Helen to waive her rights away because she illegally entered this country from Honduras with her family.

According to a long-standing legal precedent known as the Flores settlement, which established guidelines for keeping children in immigration detention, Helen had a right to a bond hearing before a judge; that hearing would have likely hastened her release from government custody and her return to her family. At the time of her apprehension, in fact, Helen checked a box on a line that read, “I do request an immigration judge,” asserting her legal right to have her custody reviewed. But, in early August, an unknown official handed Helen a legal document, a “Request for a Flores Bond Hearing,” which described a set of legal proceedings and rights that would have been difficult for Helen to comprehend. (“In a Flores bond hearing, an immigration judge reviews your case to determine whether you pose a danger to the community,” the document began.) On Helen’s form, which was filled out with assistance from officials, there is a checked box next to a line that says, “I withdraw my previous request for a Flores bond hearing.” Beneath that line, the five-year-old signed her name in wobbly letters.

Re-read this part:

On Helen’s form, which was filled out with assistance from officials, there is a checked box next to a line that says, “I withdraw my previous request for a Flores bond hearing.” Beneath that line, the five-year-old signed her name in wobbly letters.

A five-year old is asked to sign on a legal document, which itself is abhorrent.  And then that signature is used against her!

Read that report on how this current administration is treating Helen--and a number of other kinder--without any kindness.

The Bible-thumping, pro-life, pro-Jesus, Republicans are demonstrating that they don't care a shit about the English and German meanings of kinder. Maybe because it is not their own children, they don't care.  That lack of empathy is a complete annihilation of Jesus' words and actions.  As an atheist, I can claim that I am more Christian in my life than these awful people are! 

Brutus is an honourable man;. So are they all, all honourable men.