Throw Your Arms Around the Child, Even if From South of the Border

     Why not do the humanitarian thing and let the children remain? Are we concerned that there are criminals among them, or that they are going to take jobs from our own citizens? Why is it that these children -- and it may be they are fleeing from violence and are in need of protection -- should be turned back to the harms they are fleeing from?

   Immigration reform? Why not Congress take up just this corner of the issue? Why not act while the crisis is here? Why not pass a law allowing the children to stay?

   Yes, I know some are concerned that the reason they are coming is that word might be out that they will be allowed to stay. "A pervasive rumor," it is called, and President Obama has gone on record to counter it, saying the children will be deported.

   Perhaps, instead, this is a rumor we should make good on. Let 'em stay. Children in need, they are. Let them stay.

   Now, that being said, yes I do see the what could follow. You let the children stay and coming up behind them might be parents who demand to also be allowed in, so they can be with their children. I suppose at that point, you could say, "No, but here is the child. We're sending him back to your arms."

   I confess that I would prefer us to say, "You, too, may come." At what point do we see that our policy is wrong if that policy is to reject the needy from coming to America?

   

Liked the Statement from the Church

   Liked the statement issued yesterday by the First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve Apostles, I did. It affirmed only men are ordained to priesthood offices. But, the priesthood blessings are available to all men and women, it said, noting all church service has equal merit in the eyes of God.
   Yes, I wish those of the Ordain Women movement might the statement and abandon their drive for obtaining the priesthood. Who knows. Could they not recognize this is God's spokesmen on earth speaking, His prophets speaking for Him?
   I also greatly appreciate that the statement said, "We understand that from time to time Church members will have questions about Church history, or practice." I think it quite normal for members to have questions. Do the questions bring doubts? Often they do. But to assume that a person is on the road to apostasy just because questions arise seems a little much to me. "Members are always free to ask questions and earnestly seek greater understanding," says the statement. I find that comforting, for I am among those who have had questions. Of a truth
   For me, I have concluded there will always be questions, always be things I don't understand, things I do not get answered to my satisfaction. I think, though, of the stories in the Four Gospels of how those around Christ hardened their hearts, not considering the miracles already before there eyes. I think of the time, just after a miracle, when they asked Christ for a sign from heaven. God does not need to give me new miracles, nor new evidences. And, likewise, He does not need to answer every question I have in order for me to believe in His church, for He has given me evidences enough.
   For every reason not to believe the church, I have found a more compelling reason to believe.

Jews are Jews, Usually both by Race and Religion

    The significance of the Jews being the world's only race with an accompanying religion primarily just for them crossed my mind yesterday. I guess it is most, anyway, though I haven't looked up the numbers. I did search a little yesterday. What I found was that some do not consider Jewish as being a race.
   It is significant because these are a covenant people
   It has long been significant to me that the Jews were scattered around the world, yet did not mix enough with other races that they were no longer a race of their own. Now, I add to that  my consideration how many Jews remain in the religion of the Jews and that Jewish might be the only designation that refers to both a race and a religion. More than just that, this the only religion on earth where such a large share of the race belongs to a religion dominated by that race?

With His Bullet, Came the Dominos

   Ever heard of Gavrilo Princip? He started the world's first world war.
   This day has marked the 100th anniversary of Princip's pulling the trigger and killing the archduke of Austria. June 28, 1914, set in motion an series of events that led to such upheaval and war as the world had never seen. Four empires were brought down. Millions of lives were lost.
   With the United States entering the fray and making the difference, the Great War marked the emergence of the U.S. as the world's policeman, and as the world's greatest war power.
   Out of the ashes of the Great War came the idea of self-determination, letting parts of nations determine if they break away and go on their own.
   And, some say the roots of World War II are to be found in World War I.
   What change, then, this 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip unleashed upon the globe. And, consider that he did it with a gun, a single gun, I believe, as opposed to using an arsenal when he shot the Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand.
   Somewhere in Princip's upbringing, he learned the ways of the gun. And, with his bullet, came the dominos.

Reality is that Utility Workers, Cops, and Others do Enter Fenced Yards

   The biggest name in town right now is that of Geist. Okay, maybe that is a little over the top, and not just because this is the week of the NBA draft and there is Dante Exum to contend with.

   But, Geist looms large, what with him being shot and killed by Salt Lake Police Officer Brett Olsen, the same Officer Olsen who was a hero in the 2007 Trolley Square mass shooting.

   Geist, who you may have heard, is a dog. Officer Olsen was out searching for a missing three-year-old when his search took him into a back yard, and an angry Geist was there to protect it.

   Now, as to whether Olsen should have been in someones back yard without permission, Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Kirby points out: "Lots of people have legal access to our yards without our permission, including city workers, mail carriers, meter readers, fire-and rescue people and cops. Our dogs don't get a free pass at them."

   So, it might boil down to whether Olsen could have backed away and left peacefully, or whether Geist was about to sink his teeth deep into Olsen's flesh. Let's see what the internal investigation determines.

   Now, it does seem officers (and meter readers and others) ought to be trained to take pepper spray or some such with them when they enter fenced areas. A fenced area often means a dog, and often that dog is of the biting variety. So, common sense says bring something besides a gun if you are to enter such a yard.

   Geist is an international martyr. His cause is being taken up on the Internet around the world. His owner is calling for Olsen's termination. "Justice for Geist," says some of the signs at the protests.

   Should Olsen be fired? Probably not. If it becomes clear he could have backed away and left peacefully, then perhaps fire him. If he was truly protecting himself from being bitten, then definitely do not fire him.
   And, give some consideration to the fact he was doing his duty. 

   While it is true officers ought to think to carry mace or pepper spray whenever entered fenced areas, it is also true homeowners ought to realize there are those who will need to be coming into their yards who may need to shoot their dogs if the dogs get violent. That is not a pleasant reality, but it is reality. Reality is that fire and rescue people, meter readers, utility workers, and cops should be afforded the right to protect themselves.
   Maybe it should be policy that they carry mace or pepperspray. Either way, we should not take away their right to protect themselves.

Paolo Macchiarini at Forefront of This Medical Breakthrough

   He uses not an organ from another person and transplants it, but rather he fashions out of the person's own stem cells taken from bone marrow, and he creates a new organ.
   Is this to be considered an artificial organ? I believe the word being used is bio-artificial.
   Dr. Paolo Macchiarini of Italy is the leader in this breakthrough technology, accepting cases that other doctors will not. "As a human and as a doctor, are we allowed to say, 'No'? I don't think so," Macchiarini has said.
  While bio-artificial wind pipes have been planted in patients, this new, science fiction like technology is yet to be applied to such things as artificial hearts. The advantage of fashioning the replacement organs out of ones own body is that you sidestep the body's rejection to parts that come from other humans, and, therefore, of course, you do not need the anti-rejection medications.

Why is Segregation Applauded in the Holy Land?

   Would it be segregation if you suggested a certain race shouldn't be putting up housing units in places they don't belong?
   Some don't think Israel should be building homes in Golan Heights, the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. Spain and Italy have now joined other European Countries in warning their citizens not to invest in the settlements.
   I'm a little at a loss trying to understand what is wrong with the settlements. Is it because it is Jews who will be moving in?
   Now, if some country were to say, No blacks can move into our country, that would be considered racist, wouldn't it? So, how does this differ? I understand, of course, that the idea is for Jews to live in one part of the Holy Land and for Palestinians to live in the smaller spots. But, like I say, that seems like segregation, to me.
   Why not let both people live both in Israel, and in the Golan Heights, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem -- and the Gaza Strip?