Natalie: STEP AWAY FROM THE TRUMPER!
There's no reasoning to be done. Take a work break and walk outside for a few minutes. Deep breaths. Let it go. Pray for a change of heart. Do things outside work that are activist, but don't retreat into a liberal bubble. No good will come from engaging the person next to you right now. Let it go.
Much love.
Melania at the border?...astonishing.what is she doing there?....OMG......just about the most stupid, pointless thing she could do.
Here in UK, a very strong surge of feeling is boiling up against Trump, due to the child snatching issue.There will be massive demonstrations against him.
Thank you Laura, I really appreciate your kind words.
Zoron Melania is behaving like a medieval Queen. In the middle ages it wasn't uncommon for a queen to intervene on behalf of certain people being punished by her husband and plead for leniency, usually the pleading was done publicly. This is a similar public relations stunt. Zoron do you have any insight as to whether there will be justice in the future for the perpetrators of all these atrocities - ala Nuremburg trials 2.0?
I would love to have some hope.
Melania arrived at the border but when boarding the plane for the trip she was photographed wearing a jacket that said on the back, "I really Don't Care, do u?"
they have all lost it
Actually, I read it as intended sabotage of her visit. (So odd that she would have that cheap jacket in her closet. When did she get it? Where else would she wear it, it's such a charged message.) The site chosen for her visit at Upbring New Hope Children's Center is for unaccompanied minors, not children separated from their parents. Its run by Lutheran Social Services of the South. The center is a non-profit that, according to its website, houses unaccompanied minors ages six through 17 and places them with foster families. (I worked with refugees for many years and LSS has long worked with resettlement and refugees and is credible). So,
1. They don't really place these unaccompanied minors back with their parents. THEY CAME HERE ALONE,
2. If she really meant for children to be reunited with parents, she should have visited Tender Age centers, which takes children involved in forced separation.
3. Another tweeter noted that it was too warm - both in Washington and Texas - to be wearing a jacket, so who was the message for? The base or resistance?
Anyone have a new timeline? This is getting really hard to handle and if it is hard for us imagine what it must be like for the children and their parents.
New reports of abuse in Shenandoah VA facility where they are holding children.
Most came alone over the border. Only some were separated.
Allegations:
Kids have been beaten, bags put over their heads, a kid strapped into a chair naked, handcuffed for hours, screamed at and more.
Allegations are being investigated. Staff of course denies it.
The facility was told these kids were presented as gang members which was not true.
I saw Melania speak today to the workers at the Lutheran Center- she came across as genuine. In general, I have been suspect of Melania - but, I think it may have been possible that she wore the jacket as a message to Trump. I bet he didn’t like her statement earlier this week & I doubt he wanted her to go to Texas today. Maybe the jacket was saying -I don’t care - (I’m going whether you like it or not). She only wore the jacket to board the plane - not once she got to Texas. I’m hoping she is softening- she seemed quite sincere in speaking with the workers. I hope ❤️
Melania does what they tell her to do. She is at the border in her usual tone deaf self absorbed state. It is public relations. The words on the back of her jacket say it all - she is tone deaf and she is married to that man who she chose to marry so she could be fashionable and rich. She is with him because her own energy is aligned with his in some way. Ivanka is keeping her mouth shut publicly because she blew it when she tweeted her madonna and child photo. I feel bad for them because they keep showing how insensitive and insular they are. They will be shunned and shamed at some point. The history books will not be kind to any of them. Nixon's transgression was tiny compared to Trump and his family. yet look at how he is viewed.
And I agree with Laura to avoid conversations with Trumpers and their spouses unless you want to feel really bad. It's like touching a hot stove with your bare finger. it's possible that the conversation will go well, but it is painful to hear how callous people are towards the undocumented.
Today on WBUR All Things Considered, they had a male steward from one of the airlines reporting on undocumented children passengers who were being flown from sites in Texas to sites where they would be interned. He said the children were really sad. One little boy who appeared to be four years old, had a stony face but with tears streaming down his cheeks the whole ride. He said it was heartbreaking. He also said there was another group of kids, all wearing the same grey sweatsuits, that at first the ICE agents told him they were a traveling youth soccer team. But then when he pushed, they admitted they were separated children being trafficked to an internment center.
Shawn, we must have been writing our posts at the same time and yours got posted before mine. When I read the thread, it looks like I'm responding to your very kind view of Melania with my cold and uncharitable view of her. Just want you to know that your post wasn't there when I wrote mine and I didn't mean to sound like I was contradicting you! I appreciate your charitable and kind view of her. It's like the three blind men and the elephant. We all see different aspects of Melania, depending on our perspective.
I could be wrong, but I felt that she had no intention at all with the jacket's I don't care words. It was just the look she was after. She wanted to look hip and not too rich ($37 jacket) to go see the poorest people in our society. When she had gone to Houston last fall to inspect the floods, she was criticized for wearing stiletto heels. So she's learning to be more sensitive in her clothing choices. It probably didn't occur to her that people might actually read those words as anything but trendy. She may be savvy about fashion and modeling, but she isn't oriented towards the role of a First Lady.
She keeps making these gaffes, and I do feel sorry for her. Her's is a sad case of someone who was rising to the top from humble beginnings. But she rose too high and now her life is hell. If only she'd married a man who would have stayed a business man, she'd be okay now.
Appalling. I’m so sorry.
anita
I am getting horribly stressed out over this issue. The reason is that I am sensing the back ground to it, which stretches into the future. Looking down the track, I am getting that this is the "First Wave" of something much bigger. The refugee situation is only just beginning to impact on the consciousness of ordinary Americans. Down the track, say three or four years, I am getting horrible visions.
Basically, some of the Latin American Central States will be in a state of internal collapse, from narco-crime, poverty, political conflict, and climate change. They will in some cases be, effectively, failed states. UN troops doing peace keeping, and waves of refugees being generated. They will all head North. Cue scenes like the Isreali border with Gaza. The fence will collapse, in some places. I am seeing refugee camps, on the American side, crammed full of people, and located on the edge of border towns. At night, they are surrounded by brightly lit barbed wire fences. They are considered to be "Holding Camps". No one leaves, except for deportations. I had glimpses of this before, but they are getting stronger. If something is not done, (what could be done?) then this is going to be a time line.
I decided that I had to say what I was seeing, because of the present events. This is a strengthening time line. I hope it does not happen.
Zoron, I'm going to suggest a couple of things about your timeline image:
First, there are a *lot* of South American efforts ongoing to challenge the economic systems that could lead to collapse. The key is the ability to challenge neoliberal economic policies that financially beggar those countries. Look to models offered by Zapatistas, Bolivarians, Socialists, Mondragon style Cooperatives. At the base of these are collectivist efforts to reclaim autonomy and disconnect from vulture capitalism.
Second, the lens through which you see this nascent timeline may be distorted by a Trumpian overlay. Many of the policies he is fomenting will have negative effects on the economies of South America. Absolutely.
HOWEVER--what happens when butthead is removed from the equation may be an upwelling of international solidarity of people's movements.
What must happen in America for America to be whole again--ending the power of the moneyed elites--will have knock on effects in South America. That's where the timelines pivot.
IMHO, anyway. R1
Looks like this post got lost--reposting Action Items.
Action Plan for Helping Immigrant Families Torn Apart at Border
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FOUZuZU3eWP0RcilK778opDzJMeEE16L4UjmB1dPInQ/mobilebasic
R1
It's great to have you back R1 and thanks for the link and the action plan. I've participated in several of our areas marches in the past and found them as well as contacting others and keeping track of actions and happenings to be of great value in strengthening of purpose and intent in positive rather than negative ways.
Action plans serve a great use and purpose for redirection of inherent angers, emotional anxiety and stress and give us all a ways to redirect negative emotions into positive actions.
For those who may not be able or choose action in political or civic ways, keep the light on inside and out and share that love and light by doing any good you can do to help each other and our world with love and compassion for all.
Hi All,
I just wanted to reach out with a few words of comfort. Although the situation is dire, and heartbreaking, there are networks of activists and lawyers ready to rise to the occasion. Cities are funding legal services to help the children, and many, many people are mobilizing to deal with this humanitarian crisis. I'm on email lists and I see the response in real time, and while it won't completely stop this insanity, things are happening all over the country. Actions are being taken.
Google the organizations helping these immigrants and make a donation of money, time, supplies or information you can share with your communities. One tiny organization (not the one I work for) has received millions of dollars in donations from a fundraising campaign whose goal was the raise $1500. People have responded with such love!
This will be a longterm initiative but people are rising to the occasion. It gives me hope, and I want to spread that hope to you.
This twitter feed is revealing a lot of information about the corruption involved in the current crisis. For example, the former ICE executive, Dan Ragsdale, quit last year to assume a cushy position with GEO GROUP, an immigration prison on a for-profit detention contract. https://twitter.com/ALT_USCIS