Rock v. rifle

The nasty guy tweeted that when refugees in the caravan throw rocks at the military on the border, “consider it a rifle.” He says the refugees are already “viciously” throwing those rocks, though I don’t think anyone has an arm that can blast a rock over several hundred miles. Melissa McEwan of Shakesville responds:

He wants a clash at the border. He's doing everything he can to try to ensure that it happens. Because malice is the agenda.

Joe Kassabian, a veteran of Afghanistan, says:

We had rocks thrown at us all the time in Afghanistan. Responding with lethal force is a fucking war crime.

Meteor Blades of Daily Kos says yeah, those refugees are fleeing poverty, violence, and highly dysfunctional governments. They are also fleeing climate change. Changing weather patterns have ruined crops for a couple years now. Guatemala is consistently listed in the 10 most vulnerable nations to climate change. This caravan of refugees may be a few thousand. The flow could swell to millions.

Americas!

I didn’t know there is such a thing as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. It is a part of the Organization of American States and nearly every country in North, Central, and South America is a member, though Trinidad and Tobago has withdrawn. The court responds to human rights issues brought to it by member states.

This court is in the news because it issued a decision ordering member nations to legally recognize same-sex families and transgender people. The ruling explains the word “family” has evolved and now includes those with different genders and sexual orientations.

Because same-sex couples have historically been oppressed, separate but equal substitutes, such as civil unions, is not sufficient. Yes, some people oppose same-sex marriage for religious reasons, but in democratic societies there should be a mutually peaceful coexistence between the secular and religious.

Transgender people must be given the same dignity and respect as everyone else. Transgender people should be allowed to change their name, gender, and photograph on identity documents.

Costa Rica brought the case, saying do we really have to give property rights to same-sex couples? Do we really have to allow transgender people to update identity documents? Costa Rica has said they will comply with the ruling.

This ruling sets a precedent for all countries in the OAS. 19 of these countries do not yet have marriage equality. Each country must apply the ruling to itself, so this could take a while. Even so, it is a massive LGBT victory in the Americas.

Of course, they flee

Terrence Heath takes a look at the crisis of Central American children coming to America. Warning, the pictures in his post are difficult to look at. Heath discusses how violent Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala have become. Many children are given the choice of working for the drug cartels or being killed. Of course, they flee. What the morning news (and those protesting these kids) don't tell us is the role the USA has in creating the violence.

The USA has repeatedly intervened in the Honduran gov't. The most recent time was in 2009 when we sponsored a coup that ousted a left-leaning president and installed a repressive regime.

The CAFTA trade deal meant local farmers of Central America had to compete with subsidized American agribusiness. Nearly two-thirds of Hondurans live below the poverty line.

The War on Drugs pushed cartels out of Mexico (I didn't think they were gone) and into Central America. The drug trade fuels the violence.

Three-quarters of the kids in American detention are from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. If we send them home they return to conditions we caused and will kill them. Are we insisting they be sent home because we can't bear to be reminded of our guilt in their plight?