Yes, Fallacies of Logic Should be a School Subject

    Argument could be made --good argument -- that the fallacies of logic should be added to school curriculum. Some might even suggest it about as important of a topic as there is.

   Consider then, if it is true. Consider that most every politician, most every pundit, most every person discussing the affairs of our nation is guilty of breaking the rules of logic. Some do it every time they open their mouths, and others only sparingly. But few stay completely within the rules. 

   Consider that truth would be easier to discern for all of us, if pundits and commentators played by the rules. Consider that a good part of incivility would disappear. Call it peace, isn't that worth something? Consider that when politicians did try to get away with false logic, we would recognize it and hold them accountable. Consider that we would elect better officials. Consider it would help tear us from the Republican/Democrat divide. If we were trained in logical thinking, we could decide who we would vote for based on facts, instead of rhetoric. 

   Yes, these things are as important as knowing how to construct a sentence, as important as knowing how to figure percentages without using your iPhone. They are as important as biology or world history.

    Yes, fallacies of logic should be a school subject. 

Many in the Left and Right are Guilty of These Fallacies of Logic

   Fallacies of Logic: The whole Left vs. Right thing is there in large part simply because many on both sides are guilty of Fallacies of Logic.

   They practice the Straw Figure Fallacy (previously called the Strawman, until someone decided that was sexist). In it, you mischaracterize another person's believes so you can attack them easier. Maxine Waters may never have called for violence, but you say she did, twisting her words to fit your attack.

   Then, there is the False Dichotomy or False Dilemma Fallacy. You assume there are just two views of the world, Left and Right. You narrow all believes to just those two categories and disregard that many people have some beliefs that fit in one category and other believes that fit in the other. The world is Black and White to you. There is no middle ground. This is also known as the Either/Or Fallacy. "You are either for us or against us," is the claim. You are either a Democrat or a Republican. No middle ground. 

  There are probably more Logic Fallacies the two sides are guilty of. For now, that will do, though.

Led by Those in U.S. and Canada, Glaciers Melting Faster Than Ever

    The pace of melting glaciers has picked up dramatically. A new study says they are losing 31 percent more snow and ice than they were just 15 years earlier.

    "An alarming picture," Ohio State's Lonnie Thompson said of the new study.

   The world is facing a "bigger and bigger problem," said National Snow and Ice Data Center Director Mark Serreze. 

   The scientists calculated that the mountain glaciers have been losing more than 328 billion tons a year since 2015. Half the glacial decline is in the United States and Canada. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/satellites-show-worlds-glaciers-melting-faster-ever-rcna791?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_mc&fbclid=IwAR08AsBEnSEX8jTSFwVc62hy-wfucznic9_g5seNLXU0MufeCz5zvZJa7p8

Thoughts on Three of the Day's News Stories

  Some thoughts on some of the news of the day:

 President Biden, Keep Your Promise

  President Biden, when a candidate, promised to "end dark money groups," according to a Washington Post story that referenced information from a publication known as The Daily 202. As a candidate, Biden promised he would ensure that "any entity of any kind that spends more than $10,000 on federal elections . . . must publicly disclosed its donors."  

  Overturning the present dark money rules -- some of which were instituted during the Trump administration five months before the election -- might be a little more uncomfortable for President Biden than it was for candidate Biden, though. The new dark money allowance ended up benefiting Biden, as his campaign took in $145 million in dark money, compared to only $28.4 million for Donald Trump. (The Trump-era changes increased some nonprofits ability to campaign for a candidate while concealing their names.)

  Roll back the Trump-era errors. No, go further, President Biden. Do as you promised in the campaign. If anyone spends more than $10,000 on a federal election -- whether contributing directly to the campaign or operating as a PAC -- require them to reveal their identity. In fact, lower it to $5,000 or even $1,000, if you will. 

Rep. Owens Deserved a Setting-Straight, and got it

   Utah Rep. Burgess Owens deserved -- and received -- a setting straight after going on Fox News Monday and saying, "My city of Salt Lake City, they defunded (police) by $5 million and the murder rate went up 40 percent."

   The Salt Lake Tribune came back the next day, noting that while some funding was moved off the police department's ledger, the overall funding for police went up from $79.1 million to $82.2 million. Homicides did increase from 12 to 16 in a twelve month period, but in a city with a low homicide rate, just a difference of few can translate into a large percentage, in this case, 33 percent. (Where Owens got 40 percent is not clear.)

TaylorMED's Inexpensive MRIs Help Hold Down Medical Costs

   TaylorMED MRI in Lindon, Utah, is offering pricing that counters today's high medical costs. While an MRI typically might cost $2,611 nationwide, TaylorMED offers it for $399. So, TaylorMED, though operating outside of the insurance network and therefore requiring the payment all out-of-pocket, still sometimes is less expensive than the hospitals, since many insurance plans have high deductibles. 

   TaylorMED, created by Kevin Taylor, who trained at the Mayo Clinic, does not require a doctor's referral, and scheduling is possible within a day or two, if not on a walk-in basis. Once you have the MRI, you take it to your doctor for evaluation.

Let's Create Immediate Immigration (I.I.)

   I.I., we shall call it. It stands for Immediate Immigration. Come to the border, and within 72 hours you will receive a decision on whether you can stay. Background checking, contact with family and friends already in the U.S., receiving the COVID-19 vaccination, the court hearing a . . .

   All completed within 72 hours. The point is: Is there good reason this cannot be done? How long does it take to pick up a phone and call family members already here? Could background checking take longer? If you have to wait for police officials in Venezuela to say whether someone is MS-13, perhaps so. But, do the police in Venezuela even keep such records? Instead, call their local church. Call other community sources. Get the best read you can and go with it. I would not be surprised if this is more than what we currently do. Use those same sources -- churches and other community leaders -- to determine if the applicant's claims are correct: Is coming to America due to economic hardship, or need of a job, or because of threat to their lives. Those calls can be made quickly, and using these sources, those you are calling often will be able to verify the need.

   And, yes, if you need rewrite the laws to make it work, do so. I do not believe many of those coming in at our southern border come as refugees. Make it so they can. 

   Immediate Immigration: it is possible, it can work, and we should do it. 

      

Thoughts on Communism, Socialism, and Communal Ownership

    A few quick thoughts on the difference between communal living and the government owning and running all businesses. Without wanting to get lost in all the official definitions of communism, socialism, etc., here are some thoughts.

   If government owns and runs all the businesses -- even if it provides equal pay -- that is different than communal living. There is still an owner -- the government -- and the government is not the people. Under communal living, there is no one above the community, the people. As a general rule, government ownership of all things is not good. 

   Not all government-owned, government-ran businesses are bad, however. Such things as the Postal Service might be better to be government-owned, government-ran. Indeed, such things as prisons definitely should not be "privatized."

   Consider Joseph sold into Egypt, and how he -- as a government official -- saved food for seven years of plenty, then distributed it during the seven years of famine. Would we say that that was wrong, or unwise, or wicked?

    

Don't Cancel Looney Tunes and don't Put Warning Label on Them, but . . .

    I would cancel one more thing: Looney Tunes. Okay, maybe I wouldn't cancel them, but how about putting a warning label on them? Guess I wouldn't do that, either. But, I do believe many of the Looney Tunes and other cartoons are a poor influence on us.

   Oh, boy, sighs the audience. 

    But, I will hold to my view. Somehow, laughing at people (okay, animals) getting hurt and hurting each other doesn't sit well with me. I love humor, but you can have humor without laughing at the pain of others. This does have an influence on us. We are influenced by what we learn to laugh at.  

Biomass of Carp in Utah Lake Down from 90 Percent to 10 Percent

    Commercial fishing the carp out of Utah Lake has had a tremendous impact. The lake -- the largest freshwater lake in America, once the lifeline of Ute Native Americans, and an area early explorers touted as one of the most inhabitable places in the West.

   In 2009, it was estimated carp made up 90 percent of the biomass of the lake. Now, that estimate is down to 10 percent. Biomass means the weight of the fish.

    

Carp Devastating the Largest Freshwater Lake West of the Mississippi

   We will tell you a story of the carp, and of how it devastated Utah Lake -- the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. Once, the area was considered one of the most desirous and habitable places in all the west --  due to Utah Lake. It is said Jim Bridger recommended the lake area to the LDS pioneers. But, he warned, the Utes were protective of their fishery, so he suggested the LDS work their way in, as opposed to just moving there. So, the LDS held themselves northward, settling in the Great Salt Lake Valley.

   The settlers, though, made it south to fish. Then came the winter of 1847-48, bringing hunger to the settlers. When better weather came, a plague of crickets set in. Thanks to God, seagulls came and ate the crickets. But, not before the crops were reduced. Fishing in the lake increased. And, as years went by, many of the species in the lake were drastically reduced. About 1882, carp were introduced. Now, if you know carp, it scavenges the bottom of the lake, destroying the vegetation and stirring up mud -- making it difficult for many of the natural species of the lake to survive. 

  Human waste, Factory waste from Geneva Steel, there were other contributors the downfall of what was once one of the greatest of lakes. But, the carp . . .

   In 2009, it was said carp accounted for 90 percent of life in the lake. Officials set to reduce the carp, trying to fish it out of the lake. Part of the concern was to save the June Sucker, found no other place in the world and is endangered. The carp is the greatest threat to the June Sucker. 

    

   
    

   

  

Stop Making Industry off the Prisoners and Those on Probation

   Listening to a past prisoner, listening to someone drowning in the probation program, I wonder if we need more judges.

   He speaks of public attorneys handling so many cases, they cannot give justice to them. He speaks of judges whose calendars are so full, they are overloaded. I suggest, then we should hire more judges. He doesn't respond to the suggestion. As we continue to talk, I twice more suggest maybe we need more judges. Each time, he doesn't answer. 

   Finally, I say that I have noticed he doesn't seem to think more judges are the answer. No, not more judges, that would just add to the industry, he says. "It's big business."

   An industry, is what he sees it as. "The system is designed to help the people running the system," he says. He speaks of the prices they charge inmates, for everything from phone calls to ramen noodles. Everything is jacked up. Everyone is making a profit off the inmates. The prisoners are fair game.

  They charge you for everything so much that you can't afford all their fines. You are caught in the system. If you get a ticket for no insurance, they fine you.  "You aren't helping me," he says of them. "If I had $400 for the fine, I would have gotten the insurance."

   No, their point isn't to help the prisoners, it's to live off them.  As he said, "The system is designed to help the people running the system."

   "I think the whole system should be charged with the RICO Act," he says. I laugh. "No, I'm serious," he says, and I ask him what the RICO Act is. He tells me it's the racketeering act. Those guilty of racketeering are to be tossed in jail under the RICO Act. 

   "The system isn't designed to help the people in the system," he says. "The system is designed to help the people running the system."

   So, what's the answer to the judges being overworked? Wipe all the dragged-out cases off the books. Quit dragging people thru the system. Instead of keeping them on probation for every little thing, help them find a quicker way to the end of the tunnel. Stop making industry off the inmates and those on probation. If you get rid of all the unnecessary industrializing, the judges won't have so many cases, and you won't need to hire more. 

    

Do We Fear the Sun a Democrat and Therefore Deny It's There?

   What more evidence do you need? Those who cannot see that George Floyd's death was wrongful might as well look up at the sun and deny it is there, perhaps believing in their hearts that the sun is a Democrat. 

   There will be no just accepting the outcome of the trial with them. Bless Chauvin. He faces a lot of time in prison. Feel for him. But, what of these right-wingers who will not just accept that Chauvin killed George Floyd wrongfully? So much evidence, yet they either blame it on drugs, or fall back on saying Maxine Waters should never have weighed in on the issue.

   Or, they lament what this will mean to police all over the nation, suggesting they will become bigger targets. What should we have done -- sacrificed justice and declared Chauvin not guilty so that will not happen?

    The case was about as open-and-shut as a case could be. Two autopsies were done. Neither concluded the death was due to drugs. One, conducted for Floyd's family, attributed the death to asphyxiation or suffocation. The other, conducted by the Hennepin County medical examiner's office, attributed the death to, "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law-enforcement subdual restraint, and neck compression."

   The medical examiner came right out and called it a homicide.

    Not to mention there was the video, showing Floyd handcuffed so he could not harm anyone, and then you get him on the ground and kneel on his neck for like nine minutes, ignoring his desperate pleas that he could not breath, ignoring bystanders pleas that you quit, ignoring an off-duty EMT officer's plea that she be allowed to help him. (She was not allowed.)

   You have the chief of police testifying that Chauvin acted in violation of department policy. 

    Yes, refuse to admit Chauvin murdered George Floyd, if you are a Republican (not all of them are that way, but many). Look up at the sun and wonder if it is Republican or Democrat before deciding if it is really there. 

   Or, rather than dealing with it, turn your wrath on Maxine Waters or Joe Biden. Did they poison the jury by declaring Chauvin guilty? How can we fathom how that affected the case? The jurors are sequestered in a hotel, strictly instructed not to listen or the watch media. That said, the case has been discussed ever since the trial began with many offering their thoughts on what they thought the outcome should be. But, when Waters and Biden came along and offered their input? Two among many who offered their opinions, and yet we point just at the them and tell them they were out of line.

(Wording changes made 4/22/21)

Let the Children and Their Parents in, all of Them

    Give us 125,000. We need no less. President Biden signed an executive order this week, holding the cap on refugees to 15,000. I do not even know if those from Mexico, Venezuela and the Northern Triangle even typically make their way here as "refugees." I do know there are 100,000 refugees in the pipeline. If we are to settle them in America, the cap can be no less.

   And, I know we have a surge at the southern border. I know many of the children are in need of being reunited with family already in the U.S. I know many have parents left behind and can see we should be inviting the parents to join them. I know at least some are probably orphans. Would we turn them away? Let all the children in. All of them -- and their parents, when their parents have lingered behind. 

   Are there other caps, those that are specific to our southern border? If an executive order is all that is needed, increase those caps. Are we too set in our bureaucratic way of doing things? Do we set hearing dates six months ahead when we can and should just process them and grant them stay in a 72-hour window right at the border? Process them in 72 hours and connect them with their relatives here, all within 72 hours. Someone will have to tell me why this cannot be done. And, they will have trouble convincing me it can't.

  I will back-step just for one thing: Do background checks on them. If some teenagers are verified to be MS-13, do not let them enter. 

Water Levels in West Could Drop to All-Time Lows

    I remember when Covid-19 was just breaking, and the projections called for so many deaths, and of how we would point to those projections only to find those who scoffed.

   Now, comes water projections for the next 24 months in the U.S. West. Water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead are expected dive so low the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will declare a water shortage for the first time. Lake Mead could drop so low that it could affect power generation at Hoover Dam, and power to customers who rely on it. 

   Climate change means less snowpack. And, hotter temperatures mean more water evaporates.

   Remember, these are 24-month projections. And, perhaps the projections will brighten. Still, we should prepare.  

https://www.ksl.com/article/50149717/western-us-prepares-for-possible-1st-water-shortage-declaration

(Index -- Climate change info)

Give the Children Access to Phones so They can Call Their Families

   Of all things you should want the children being held at the border to have, access to a phone would seem to be one of the most important. If they are to be reunited to their families, phone calls to reach them are essential. 

    

   Yet, a report out of Donna, Texas, today, suggested many of the children there are not aware phones are available. The congresswoman who visited the site, and found this out, left the center encouraging supervisors to post more signage telling the children they have access to phones.

    She should not have needed to encourage the facility supervisors. They should be anxiously endeavoring to get the children united with their families. How do you do that without calling the families? U.S. Customs and Border Protection should be corrected, by President Biden, the secretary of Health and Human Service, the head of CBP or whomever. 

 

   Someone should stand up for the children. 

     

To Save Lives, Make Sodium Labeling More Comprehensive

    If we took sodium abuse as seriously as we take cigarette smoking, products with salt would come with warning labels, same as cigarettes. 

   Sodium abuse, perhaps we've just coined a new phrase. We've got drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and now . . . sodium abuse. 

   Consider that 6,500 people die of heart disease each year. Note that that is one in every four deaths. Now, it might be difficult to determine how many of those cases resulted from "sodium abuse," but a good number of those deaths due come from it. 

   So, slap a warning label on all sodium sales, same as we have on cigarettes. "Taking too much sodium or too little might be harmful to your heart." Then, spell out the goal of how much a person is to have each day. If 2,300 milligrams is the target, say so. We already place the sodium content on food labels, but help the consumer even more, when the salt content can be reduced by washing it off, by saying how much sodium remains when it is washed. If a can of tuna has 360 milligrams, by washing it off in a strainer, will that reduce it to 100 milligrams?

   And, require the labeling at fast-food and other restaurants. Require every meal to come with a sodium count total, and a breakdown for each item on the plate.

   Americans are dying because of sodium abuse. They need to be able to count how much they are getting each time they sit down to eat. Lives are in the balance -- our lives.

 

Sell a Major League Franchise to a Black Person

    Today's addition of Dwayne Wade as a minority owner of the Utah Jazz is significant, as there just are not many black owners in major league sports (NBA, NFL, and MLB).

   Michael Jordon with the Charlotte Hornets is the only Black who is a principle owner of a major league franchise. Grant Hill is a part owner of the Atlanta Hawks and Shaq O'Neal part owner of the Sacramento Kings.

   Without looking it up to make certain, the NBA may be ahead of the NFL and MLB in Black part-ownerships. (Patrick Mahomes is part-owner of MLB's Kansas City Royals).

   A voice will be out there, saying it is racist to put someone in an ownership position just because they are Black. They will point out that there are few Blacks rich enough to be majority owners. Would Oprah Winfrey buy a team? Stephen A. Smith points out that there is not only Oprah, but Robert F. Smith, and Robert Johnson. 

   I see no harm in selling a team to one of the rich Black entrepreneurs. I like the idea. 

First Unitarian Church in SLC Saved Vickey Chavez from being Deported

    A Salt Lake City church is gaining some acclaim as being a sanctuary for refugees. For three years, it took care of Vickey Chavez and her two daughters. With today's news, come news that immigration officials have now approved her appeal to stay. The senior minister, Tom Goldsmith, wrote an op-ed that appeared in the New York Times today.
    Bless the First Unitarian Church, one of the rare places where refugees can receive sanctuary. For three years, Chavez and her two children lived there, fearful of going out lest immigration officials spot her outside (they do not make apprehensions at churches as they are considered "sensitive" places, along with schools and hospitals). Had they caught her outside the church though, she would have been arrested. The three-year-old daughter, who has lived virtually her whole life inside the church, knew the significance of Biden's election. "Now we can go to Disneyland," Goldsmith quotes her as saying. 

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/4/15/22385806/mother-from-honduras-whos-taken-sanctuary-at-salt-lake-church-3-years-can-now-leave-vicky-unitarian

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/15/opinion/biden-immigrants-sanctuary.html

Salt is One of America's Most-Important Issues

   Among the world's issues, no one speaks of sodium. They speak of children at the border, Covid, the national debt, police shootings . . .

   And they skip over salt, as if it weren't as important as them all. Never mind salt might be the single-most important factor in the death of Americans. Never mind that salt contributes to the happiness of those same Americans.

   How much am I overstating things? Possibly, none at all. One in four deaths are attributed to heart disease. And, the level of salt intake often factors in those heart diseases. Happiness? Studies show salt is a natural mood-booster.

  The trick? Getting just enough -- not too much, not too little. If we can do this, America will be a healthier and happier nation. Most studies I am seeing suggest 2,300 milligrams per day for the average person. I am told that as a heart patient, I need to hold it to 2,000. So, say a cheeseburger is 590, say three servings (I'm a big eater) of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese are 1,440. That's 2,030, and I'm over my limit, already.

   Be careful on those cheeseburgers. They depend on how large they are and how you prepare them. A plain cheeseburger at McDonalds has 745 milligrams. The milligrams pile much higher once you add mustard, ketchup, and the other condiments. (Ah-ha, I had you thinking a cheeseburger was okay, and now I hit you with this.) Yes, a cheeseburger at Applebee's contains 1,620 milligrams of sodium. Alas.

Come Listen to the Story of Edward, from Venezuela

    Let's sketch the story of just one Venezuela immigrant, to see if it matches with what we read in the news -- and to see if all the social media outcry is justified.

   Edward. He arrived about three years ago on a tourist visa, and quickly changed it to a student visa. He came not because of fear of any violence -- he says there is none -- and not because of the food shortage. He came because he wanted to be a doctor. And, you can get better training and become a better medical professional here in America.

   So, he flew in, on a plane. No insights here on those who footpath it across Mexico. Still, his story adds understanding for why they come and how bad things are there. He left his family behind to pursue a medical career.

   Are the people there really starving? We see posts on social media of overweight people. Yes, he says. The average person might make $200 (not remembering if he said per week or per month). With Venezuela's inflation, that doesn't go far. Food lines? Yes. The average person is not overweight and if you see a picture of someone who is, there may be reasons for the obesity.

 Tomorrows are there for you for all the days you wish today was not.

 Memories are our way of making peace with the future.

 Faith leans on what it knows to keep it from falling because of what it doesn't know. 

 There is no right of way on the road to heaven. At every corner, you stop for others. 

 Holding to righteousness often means holding the course when others say you're not.

 Truth does not give orders. It gives advice. It doesn't tell you what you have to do. It warns you what will happen if you don't.

 A lie uses rouge to make itself pretty, while truth wipes itself off to make itself bare.

 Recognize the devil by his laugh, by his scoffing and mocking of others. 

 The closer a lie imitates the truth, the harder it is to spot. One oft-telling sign is that it often throws hatred at others. The father of lies is also the father of hate. 

 A nation founded on the concept of freedom should not imprison those who approach it to obtain it. 

 When a lie supports that which we want to believe, we don't believe it's a lie.

 Honor chases no accolade and fears no derision.

 Truth is often silent, when it knows its words might hurt. But, a lie shouts only the louder, when it has a chance to harm.

Only One Child in 1,800 has been Placed?

  Read this and wonder. It's a quote from an SA Stands (an immigrant rights organization) leader. Could she be right about so few children and youth being reunited with their families?

   "It is very overwhelming, but I feel like the top priority for us right now and the top concern for us, is that only one child (at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas) has been officially reunited (with their family) out of the (estimated) 1,800," says Carolina Canizales.

   Could it be? Only one child has been placed out of the 1,800 or so that have arrived at the center? Just one?

    It seems it should be much simpler. They arrive. You do a quick background check on them to assure they are not MS-13, then you ask them who their family members are, and you rush them right to them. No, it should not take more than three days.

   Officials should explain why it is taking longer than this.

 

Love, Love, Love -- the Heart Benefits from Love

   I once suggested that no prison should be created without a plan for providing love, and no prisoner should be sentenced without it being determined how love was going to be provided him or her.

   I  will now say that of cardiac hospitals, and of cardiac care. Every ICU unit should have love as one of its cornerstones for treating the patient. 

   In the 1970s, researchers fed a large group of rabbits a high-fat diet, studying the build-up of fatty deposits in their arteries.  All subgroups of the rabbits were of the same breed and were fed the same amounts. But, results from one subgroup had 60 percent less build-up.

   The researchers were baffled. How can all the rabbits be of the same breed, get the same food and yet the one subgroup far outperform the others? As they tried to break it down, they realized the group with less build-up was being fed by a researcher who talked to to the rabbits, coddled them and petted them. I do not know if her name made it into the scientific study published in the June 27, 1980, Science, but it probably did. Still, she should receive greater recognition. That love has such an astounding affect on the heart was a discovery that she might have provided. Perhaps, there were earlier studies,  but doing a google search, I found none.

   Since then, studies have determined those with strong marriages have fewer heart problems. And, researchers have noticed that in Okinawa -- where people live longer than other places -- they have low-stress environments accompanied by strong social support from family and community.

   Would love result in 60 percent fewer deaths from heart failure, matching the 60 percent cleaner arteries in the rabbits? Probably nowhere near. Still, it might be that love's benefits are under estimated. I don't know how many studies have been done, but it seems there should be more. 

   Love makes the world go round, and in all likelihood, it keeps you on that spinning orb a little longer. 

Saying the Children are in 'Cages' is Perhaps a Little Much

    Are the children at the border getting the best facilities, the best care possible? A few weeks ago, we heard of plans to move some to hotels, but we haven't heard if that has been implemented. It might be that with Texas not providing any Covid vaccines to them, it currently isn't possible.

   It would seem we should want to give the children the best of care. Not so? Are some not wanting to see the children better cared for? The Biden administration has built temporary facilities, but they are crowded, the children often sleeping side-by-side on mats thrown out of the floor. KUSI News in San Diego reports that at one site in Texas the teenagers are "separated in groups by plastic partitions, essentially a 'cage.' "

   What is the the image that comes to mind when told the children are in cages? One envisions each child in a metal cage, locked up like a prisoner, like an animal. Plastic partitions are hardly impenetrable. It appears the children could break through them, regardless how thick that plastic partitions are. Perhaps calling them cages is a little much. True?

   Background the children, to assure some are  not from the MS-13 or such. But once that is done, should we not want to treat them the best we can? Should we not endeavor to reunite them with their families in America or to be placed in good homes here?