A Warning Regarding Your Digital Life - FaceApp and Terms of Service

It's time to issue another warning regarding our digital lives.  This time it relates to a third party app called FaceApp that is booming on social media.  The app gives faces in photographs digital makeovers, like changing hairstyles and making the subject look younger, like the opposite sex, and in the most recent social media meme, older.

The app was developed by a Russian company called Wireless Lab and has been on the market since January 2017.  It previously came under fire for allegations that it lightened the skin of black people. Currently, the company is under scrutiny for clauses in their terms of service.

You know, that thing you never read, but check a box saying you agree to.  The really fine print, that is difficult for lawyers to even digest and understand at times.   The thing that comes with every app and piece of software used on your digital devices.

This current controversy surrounding FaceApp started from a tweet suggesting that FaceApp uploads ALL of the photos on the device you are using to the cloud, to their servers in Russia.  That would be alarming.  After all, you do have to give the app access to your photos.  

FaceApp has denied the claim and multiple security researchers have confirmed this is not the case.  The app takes only the photo you ask it to manipulate and says it deletes most images from its servers within 48 hours of uploading.  You can also ask FaceApp to remove all your data from its servers by sending a request within the app.  Go to Settings > Support > Report a bug, and put “Privacy” in the subject line.

The terms of service do grant FaceApp a lot of rights to the photos that users upload, including to use and keep, as well as potential sale and distribution, etc., but they do not apply to everything on your phone or tablet.   

That does not mean you don’t have a right to be suspicious or to be cautious regarding what you are sharing through third party apps.  In fact, I would argue you need to be completely vigilant in everything you share on applications and extensions on your devices.  

Let’s take for example Facebook.  With its terms of services, you are allowing facial recognition to be applied to photos that users upload on the app.  You are agreeing to a a "non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content (consistent with your privacy and applications settings).”

This means Facebook can do whatever with they want with everything you post, upload, share, etc.  And despite whatever viral post you may have seen, putting them on notice in a post in their app offers absolutely no protection.  So, the post that goes “Don’t forget tomorrow starts the new Facebook rule where they can use your photos” and ends “FACEBOOK DOES NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION TO SHARE PHOTOS OR MESSAGES,” that’s a meaningless hoax.  You already gave them that permission when you joined the site.  If you want to revoke it, delete your account.

Should you do that, here is what Facebook says will happen:

“When you delete your account, people won’t be able to see it on Facebook.  It may take up to 90 days from the beginning of the deletion process to delete all of the things you’ve posted, like your photos, status updates or other data store in backup systems.  While we are deleting this information, it is inaccessible to other people using Facebook.

Some of the things you do on Facebook aren’t stored in your account.  For example, a friend may still have messages from you even after you delete your account.  That information remains after you delete your account”

Notice it says that others on Facebook won’t be able to see your information, but it says nothing about what Facebook will still have access to.

Concerned?  You should be.  Let's be honest, we have no idea what we are agreeing to most of the time we add an app or access a quiz/app on the web.  

The best strategy is to remain vigilant about what you post, upload, and grant access to.  When an app asks to have access to your location, your photos, your microphone, etc., think about whether you really want to be giving that access away.  For example, Jamie cut her hair short recently, but did no searching regarding the subject.  She started seeing ads for how to style short hair immediately after discussing it.  Google on her phone has access to her microphone.

I mean, it's not paranoia when they are really out to get you. 

Happy Birthday, Disneyland!

To all who come to this happy place:

Welcome.

Disneyland is your land.

Here age relives fond memories of the past - and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future.  Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America - with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.

Walt Disney, July 17, 1955

Sixty-four years ago today, Disneyland opened its doors for its first visitors.  A special “International Press Preview” event was held, only open to invited guests.  Six thousand invitations were mailed, but by mid-afternoon, over 28,000 ticket holders were headed for Disneyland.  

Even as the gates opened, workmen were still planting trees.  Paint applied earlier that morning was still wet to the touch and asphalt poured that morning on Main Street was so soft that women’s heels were sinking in.  

Southern California was suffering from a record heat wave with temperatures over 100 degrees.  Drinking fountains were dry, rides broke down shortly after opening, and many places ran out of food and drink.   The park would even suffer a gas leak in Fantasyland, causing Adventureland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland to close for the afternoon. This would leave only a very anemic Tomorrowland and Main Street USA open.

To top it off, everything was being filmed.  All of the opening day festivities, including the dedication and a parade, were being covered by ABC with a 90 minute live special, ‘Dateline Disneyland’, hosted by Art Linklater, Ronald Reagan, and Bob Cummings.  With ninety million viewers watching, the program had its own errors, miscues, and magic in trying to capture the event on live television.  Missed camera cues, bad reception.  You name it.  As Linklater would try to describe it, “This is not so much a show, as it is a special event.  The rehearsal went about the way you’d expect a rehearsal to go if you were covering three volcanoes erupting at the same time, and you didn’t expect any of them.  So, from time to time, if I say, ‘We take you now by camera to the snapping crocodiles in Adventureland,’ and instead, somebody pushes the wrong button, and we catch Irene Dunne adjusting her bustle on the Mark Twain, don’t be too surprised; it’s all in fun and that’s what we’re here for.”

Needless to say, it was a less than auspicious start.  

And yet, Walt's little park has bloomed into an international vacation destination and become the crown jewel of an international collection of parks, rated among some of the most attended tourist destinations in the world.  

So, if you ever need a reminder that your beginning does not dictate your ending, think of Disneyland's birthday.  

To quote Mary Poppins, "There's no where to go but up"

Why Don't You Try Acting? It's So Much Easier

“You know, as an actor, I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job.”

Scarlett Johansson

“The American actor Dustin Hoffman, playing a victim of imprisonment and torture in the film The Marathon Man, prepared himself for his role by keeping himself awake for two days and nights.  He arrived at the studio disheveled and drawn to be met by his co-star, Laurence Olivier.

‘Dear boy, you look absolutely awful,’ exclaimed the First Lord of the Theatre.  ‘Why don’t you try acting?  It’s so much easier.’

Never was a grosser untruth spoken in jest.  Laurence Kerr Olivier … would be the last man on earth to regard his chosen profession as easy.”

Alan Hamilton’s “The Time Profile: Laurence Olivier at Seventy-Five,” The Times [London], 17 May 1982, Pg. 8, Co. A

Scarlett Johansson is in trouble for a recent interview with As If magazine. The current highest paid actress had made the comments above and explained that she believed she should be permitted to play any role, “because that is my job and the requirements of my job.”  She added that “there are a lot of social lines being drawn now” and “a lot of political correctness is being reflected in art."

Here's the thing, she's both right and wrong.

In an ideal world, any actor can and should play any part, period.  That is an actor's job.  To be a tree, to be a cat, to be a fireman, to be a child, to be whatever the role calls for.  An actor is supposed to play parts that do not relate to their direct experiences.  They are trained to invest in a role and to be able to portray a variety of experiences they have never had, actions they have never personally done, a life they have never lived.

It's pretend.  That's why it's called "play."  It's the same spirit of kids playing parents, cops and robbers, aliens, superheroes.

It's the principle behind color blind casting.  It's why you see such diversity in Disney on Broadway productions or Dallas Theater Center productions.  For example, in Aladdin, Jasmine can be of Vietnamese descent and the Sultan can be African-American, despite being father and daughter in an Arabian location.  Why Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol can be played by a white actor as an old man and a black actor as a young man.  It's all in service of telling the story.  

The last thing we want is for roles to be portrayed only by people who have personal experiences or connections to the role, outside race (we definitively do not need a return of blackface, brownface, or yellowface).  We don't need only people in an interracical relationship personally to play characters in an interracial relationship.   We don't need only people who have lost a parent personally to play a character who has lost a parent.  We don't need only gay actors to play gay characters. 

We want art to be flexible enough to allow all stripes of artists to bring their insight, their emotion, their experience to a variety of roles.  We want people to be able to empathize with people of all backgrounds, and that includes actors being able to gain insight into the roles they play.  

In short, we want that ideal world where any actor can play any part.

Where she's wrong is that we do not live in an ideal world.  In her subsequent clarification, Johansson indicates she understands this.

“I recognize that in reality, there is a widespread discrepancy amongst my industry that favors Caucasian, cis-gendered actors and that not every actor has been given the same opportunities that I have been privileged to.  I continue to support, and always have, diversity in every industry and will continue to fight for projects where everyone is included."

We have to recognize that Hollywood is notoriously bad in casting minorities.  

According to the UCL A Hollywood Diversity report from 2018, despite minorities constituting nearly 40% of the United States population, the remain seriously underrepresented in film.  They account for only:

• 13.9% of film leads
• 12.6% of film directors
• 8.1% of film writers
• 18.7% of broadcast scripted leads
• 20.2% of cable scripted leads
• 26.6% of broadcast reality and other leads (how ironic that even in “reality” tv, minorities are still underrepresented)
• 20.9% of leads for cable reality and other leads
• 12.9% of digital scripted leads
• 7.1% of creators of broadcast scripted shows
• 7.3% of creators of cable scripted shows
• 15.7% of creators of digital scripted shows

Rates for women are just as bad.  Despite accounting for over half of the population, women remain underrepresented in every front in Hollywood, accounting for only:

• 31.2% of film leads
• 6.9% of film directors
• 13.8% of film writers
• 35.7% of broadcast scripted leads
• 44.8% of cable scripted leads
• 18.8% of broadcast reality and other leads
• 29.8% of cable reality and other leads
• 43.1% of digital scripted leads
• 22.1% of creators of broadcast scripted shows
• 16.9% of creators of cable scripted shows
• 31.5% of creators of digital scripted shows

Hollywood still favors white, male actors and creators.  And uses them as much as possible, even when not appropriate.  Olivier as Othello.  John Wayne as Genghis Khan.  Mickey Rooney as I. Y. Yunioshi.  

Johansson has her own experience in this realm, facing outrage for her casting as a traditionally Japanese role as the character of Motoko Kusanagi in the 2017 live-action remake of the anime classic Ghost in the Shell.   Further, she had to drop out of the Rub & Tug film last year for her casting as a transgender man.  

This is very clearly an issue that needs to be addressed.  A wrong that Hollywood needs to correct.  And until the representation rates become more appropriate, it is very appropriate for us to call out whitewashed casting.  To call for people of the appropriate race, sexuality, disability, and gender-identity to play those roles.  For us to call for more race and gender blind casting.  To promote diversity.

Then and only then, will we hit that point where any actor can play any role.  Such that a black woman could play a white man.  And no one would bat an eye.

It's acting.  Let's try it.

Our Racist in Chief

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

....it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

“Not since Woodrow Wilson showed ‘Birth of a Nation’ in the White House has an American president been so flagrant in his racial messaging as this one.”  Chris Matthews

As if we needed a series of tweets that summed up the worst of America.  Leave it to our President to give us one.   A tweet displaying the racism, misogyny, xenophobia, Islamophobia, nativism, and fear mongering that has been unleashed to the nth degree in our current political climate.

For context, Trump is referring Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts.  All are women of color.  All are rising Representatives and all are on the more extreme side of the Democratic party. 

However, despite Trump’s indication, only Ilan Omar is an immigrant, whose family entered the United States in 1992 as refugees, fleeing the civil war in Somalia.  Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx.  Rashida Tlaib was born in Detroit.  And Ayanna Presley was born in Chicago.  So their original countries "whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world?"  That's us, the good old United States.

Let's even give Trump the benefit of the doubt.  If we prescribe the best of intentions to Trump, does he really not know where these now prominent newsworthy representatives are from.  Is it really better if this is just from his ignorance?  Shouldn't we expect more of the president.

This goes beyond even dog whistle politics. Dog whistle refers to the practice of using code words and phrases to mean one thing to the general population, but to have an additional, different, more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup.  In particular, it has been used to refer to coded, racist language.  As explained by former Republican Party strategist Lee Atwater regarding the Southern Strategy, “You start out in 1954 by saying ‘Ni**er, ni**er, ni**er.’  By 1968, you can’t say ‘ni**er’ - that hurts you.  Backfires.  So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff.  You’re getting so abstract by now, you’re talking about cutting taxes.  And all these things that you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites.  And subconsciously maybe that is part of it.  I’m not saying that.  But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other.  You follow me - because obviously sitting around saying, ‘We want to cut this,’ is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than ’Ni**er, ni**er.’" 

Trump's been accused of dog-whistle language before.  "There are good people on both sides."  Yeah, those Neo-Nazis are real good people.  

But here, we've blown way past that.  We've gone from the abstract to the blunt.  We've gone from the dog whistle to a megaphone. 

This is out and out blatant racism.  "Go back where you came from?"  Really?!?  That's a slur that has been used for decades against people who look different.  People of color.  People of different religions.  

This should offend and anger every American citizen.  Regardless of how you feel about the politics of Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib, and Presley, they are all American citizens, and duly elected representatives of their districts.  Our President should be treating them accordingly.  With the respect their offices afford.  And every Senator and Representative, Republican and Democrat alike, should be calling out Trump for this tweet.

The Republican party has instead had several members circle the wagons.  Marc Short, Vice President Pence’s Chief of Staff said Mr. Trump was “not racist” because Mr. Trump as an “Asian woman of color in his cabinet.”  Ah, the old “I have a black friend” response.

Lindsey Graham at least did suggest the president should aim higher, but had to inject that Omar and her allies are “anti-American” politicians who “hate our country.”  “We all know that [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and this crowd are a bunch of communists, they’re anti-Semitic…we don’t need to know anything about them personally, just talk their policies.”

Representative Andy Harris went as a far as to say the president’s comments were clearly not racist.  “They’re obviously not racist.  When anyone disagrees with anyone now the default is to call them a racist and this is no exception.”  He tried to even further explain “He could have meant go back to the district they came from - to the neighborhood they came from."

Trump for his part has doubled down on his comments, just now suggesting that the four should just leave America.

We will never be a Socialist or Communist Country. IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE! It is your choice, and your choice alone. This is about love for America. Certain people HATE our Country....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019

I know I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but I continually find myself here.  Where is the bottom anymore?  How far down can we keep digging?

I'm not up for another five years of this.  I pray for wiser heads to finally prevail.

Ebeneezers

Ebeneezer - a commemoration of divine assistance.

"Here I raise mine Ebeneezer; hither by thy help I'm come."

We need Ebeneezers.  We need to hold on to them and we need to recognize them when they happen.

They are milestones.  Markers of divine providence.  Tangible memory aids to let us never forget what the Lord has done for us.  What He has brought us through.  

Biblically, Ebeneezers are literally “stones of help.”  They come from 1 Samuel 7, where Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, following the Israelite victory over the Philistines, naming the place Ebeneezer and saying “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”  From then on, every time an Israelite saw the stone erected by Samuel, they had a tangible reminder of the Lord’s power and protection.

It’s important to make and keep these and to recognize them as they appear.  To also recognize when the Lord reminds us of His faithfulness.

Today in church, I felt one such reminder.  All of the songs today really spoke to the Lord’s help through every situation, but we came in particular to Here Again by Elevation Worship.  The song speaks to being in the middle of the storm, but knowing the Lord is with you.  Recognizing that we are not enough on our own, unless the Lord meets us here.

Then we came to the bridge.

“Not for a minute

Was I forsaken”

And that hit me in a very unexpected way.  I’m glad I was not singing backup this morning, as it was a bit tough to keep my composure.

Because it’s true.  Not for a minute in all of this have I been forsaken.  Not in the minute where I was fired.  Not in the minutes in having to explain why in an interview.  Not in the minute the emails come back with a form rejection for various positions.  Not in the minute where a recruiter turns out to be more interested in selling a service.  Not in all the minutes in between.

But, paradoxically, we serve a savior who was forsaken, so that we would never be.  We serve a savior who took on our sins, so that we would bear them no more.   We serve a savior who felt his Father turning his back on him, so that we could be welcomed into His presence.

It's a reminder that I needed this morning.  A reminder that whatever doubt may say, there has never been a moment God has not been in control.  Never been a moment He has not cared for me.  

A bridge to serve as a figurative Ebeneezer for me.  And one I can never sing the same way again.  

"Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."

The Last Picture Shows

Once again, we have a series of articles proclaiming the death of the movie theater.   It seems despite Avengers: Endgame having the greatest opening weekend of all time and becoming the second highest grossing film of all time (fifth when adjusted for inflation), theaters are not really having that great of a year.  So far this year, $5.62 billion in tickets have been sold, down 10% from last year.

Beyond gross ticket sales, stock prices have felt the effect.  AMC's stock dropped to an all time low on July 2, 2019, representing a decline of 25% year to date, down 50% since 2012.  AMC is the largest theater chain in America.  Its competitors are similarly feeling the pinch.

Problematically, one studio seems to be driving a substantial portion of the health of the movie theaters.  Disney accounted for one third of the gross ticket sales so far this year.  And that's not even including the 20th Century Fox films.  That means, for the foreseeable future, as Disney theatrical releases go, so go movie theaters?  And as Disney pours more and more into Disney+, will there be a greater impact on its contribution to the theatrical total?

Streaming, rental, and home theater has definitely been a large cause of the decline of the modern movie theater.  And honestly I can understand why.  Today, you can have a near theater movie experience at home with all the modern home theater equipment and can avoid all of the theater problems.  The talkers, the unruly kids, the phone usage.  Being stuck in the front row particularly now in the day of choose your seat, where you cannot get a good seat for nearly any movie unless you plan it out days in advance.

The cost of a seeing a film in the theater has also skyrocketed, though it only accounts for a small portion of the theaters profits.  They are still making their money on concessions and food and beverage.  It's why you're seeing so many theaters adding the dine-in options.  To draw away more concessions dollars.

Yeah, I'm not going to lament the death of the mega-plex.

There are benefits, yes, in being able to see whatever new movie is out.  But it's so impersonal.  It's so chain and devoid of life.

Give me a single screen cinema that's being curated.  A mixture of new films and the favorite classics of the owner.  Give me something like the Alamo, with sing-alongs, quote-alongs, and Mr. Pancake presentations.  Give me a drive-in with a double feature.

Give me a theater where you feel like you are part of a club, going through the best of film.

For that reason, I  firmly believe that movie theaters aren't ever going to completely die, they just may go niche.  And that's not a bad thing.   The content will be everywhere.  That may just make the theater experience worth it.

The Mitchuation

For a while after law school, I moved in with my sister in Austin and slept on her couch while looking for document review positions and considering taking a few more science classes in order to sit for the patent bar.  After a while, a friend of hers inquired about the Mitch situation, but it came out Mitchuation.  The term has been used since to refer to the Mitch situation.

So, I thought I would pass along an update on the Mitchuation.  Where we are now and where we are going.

I am still going through the process of sending out resumes, applying to job postings, and going through interviews.  So far, there have been promising leads, but no firm offers.  It's been humbling to remember it has only been a little over a month.  To me that feels like it has been going on for a while, but as recruiters have reminded me, that is fairly short.

I am applying all over.  From outside Boston, to North Carolina, to Montgomery, Alabama, to a remote position that would be completely work from home.  It's exciting and terrifying to still not have a direction for where we are going next.

Which brings up the biggest change of late. We are moving out of our apartment in Wills Point and plan to be out by July 25.  This will be just a couple of days before Jamie's family road trip vacation and we are looking to clear out by then.  We want to save the expenses, we're using it as an excuse to cull through a lot of stuff that we've accumulated, and we're getting ready for the future move, wherever that may be.

After we're out, we're going to stay with family, likely alternating between mine and Jamie's, trying to enjoy as much time with them as we can, particularly if the move is farther off.  This will let us spend some time in Buna, Austin, and Winnsboro over the coming month, with Winnsboro more of a home base.

To that end, we are having a Moving Sale in our apartment at 124 N 4th St, #3 in Wills Point, Texas 75169, on Saturday, July 20, from around 8 am to 4 pm.  Jamie is already posting pictures on Facebook and Facebook Marketplace of things we're trying to find good homes for and that we do not want to take with us.

After that, we're trying to enlist help to finish loading the truck after church on Sunday, July 21.  We're upstairs, so any help needs to be able to carrying loads downstairs.  Plus there are a couple of particularly heavy pieces that we would especially appreciate some able-bodied help with.

A bit of chaos, but a pretty wonderful time as well.  We've been able to take some needed breaks, that I'll be sharing over the next couple of weeks.

I've also gotten the needed reminders and grounding that have kept me calm.  In preparing for the stewardship blog, Matthew 6:26 hit home.  "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not more valuable than they?"  

Are you not more valuable than they?  

I have to admit, there are a lot of times that I don't feel more valuable.  That it would be easy to wallow in self-doubt and delude myself into thinking that He does not have this under control.  To give into the worry of "how much longer," "how many more interviews," "am I really qualified?"

To give in to that worst fear of "what if?"

But He does have this under control.  He has a purpose for this season.  Whether to learn a lesson or to prepare us for something different, there is a point to this time.  Even if it is just to see how we handle it.

And He will take care of our needs.  Not our wants, not our wishes, because those can betray us.  But He will provide for our needs.   And there is great comfort and rest in that belief.

So, in all, the Mitchuation is the same but changing.

Isn't it always?

No Longer MAD

I am profoundly sad to hear that after 67 years, MAD Magazine is ceasing publication. I can’t begin to describe the impact it had on me as a young kid – it’s pretty much the reason I turned out weird. Goodbye to one of the all-time greatest American institutions. #ThanksMAD pic.twitter.com/01Ya4htdSR

— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) July 4, 2019

Maybe it's time to worry?

After 67 years in publication, MAD Magazine will cease production of new content.  Publisher DC Comics has announced the magazine will halt the production of new content following issue #10 this fall, apart from its annual Holiday Special.  The magazine instead will switch to rereleasing previously created content.

So MAD Magazine will still exist on the stands, but it will no longer be commenting on American life.  That's hard to believe given its long history in the skewering of politics and pop-culture.  It was many kids introduction to satire.

MAD began life as a comic book published by EC Comics, debuting in August 1952. Three years later it switched to a full magazine format and through its life, it has served as home to some of the finest cartoonists comic writers and artists.  Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Will Elder, Jack Davis, John Severin, Sergio Aragones.  

It filled the gap in political satire in the 1950s to 1970s.  Always pushing the boundaries of the sensors, continually parodying American culture.  No topic was sacred.  Advertising campaigns, the nuclear family, big business, education, publishing, the sexual revolution, hippies, pollution, the Vietnam war, counterculture, cannabis and LSD, tobacco, and alcohol.  Democrat and Republican alike.  

To many, it provided a vital education in satire and humor.  “Plenty of it went a little overly head of course, but that’s part of what made it attractive and valuable.  Things that go over your head can make you raise your head a little higher.  The magazine instilled in me a habit of mind, a way of thinking about a world rife with false fronts, small print, deceptive ads, booby traps, treacherous language, double standards, half truths, subliminal pitches and product placements; it warned me that I was often merely the target of people who claimed to be my friend; it prompted me to mistrust authority, to read between the lines, to take nothing at face value, to see patterns in the shoddy construction of movies and TV shows; and it got me to think critically in a way that few actual humans charged with my care ever bothered to.”  Robert Boyd, the Los Angeles Times in 2007.

Particularly missed will  be new Spy v Spy entries and the Mad Fold-In.  The Mad Fold-In  has been in the back cover of virtually every MAD magazine since 1964.  All written and drawn by Al Jaffee, who is 98 and will still be contributing up to the last issue.

I've seen some responses online that amount to "television shows are cancelled all the time and no one says television is dying."   Trying to downplay the death of print.  But we very clearly see that periodical print is on decline.  Newspapers are struggling.  Magazines are struggling.  Comics are down to a pittance of a readership compared to their cultural reach.  

And when an icon of 64 years shutters new content.  It's easy to understand the concern.  The content was still relevant and biting satire.   It just wasn't finding the audience.  

It also seems to be a victim of the DC Comics restructuring following the AT&T and Warner Brothers/TimeWarner merger.  First Vertigo and its 20 years of more literate comics.  Now MAD.  It seems any imprint that is not labeled DC is going away.  I wonder if the writing is on the wall for them too.  After all, DC's success in film has not quiet panned out the way they might have hoped.

But instead of pondering what could happen in the future, instead of giving into the sentiment at the top that it might be time to worry, I think it's time to focus instead on the words of the immortalized Alfred E. Neuman - 

"What, me worry?"

Stewardship II

Or why it matters.  Why we can have hope.

In certain circles of opposition to environmentalism or global conservation, there is a bit of fatalism.  The idea that nothing we do matters in terms of the planet.  That if there is global warming, it's not caused by humans, but by other natural factors.  And likewise, that there is nothing that we could do to change it for the better.

This flies in the face of the available evidence.  We can clearly see areas in which the harms to the environment are our fault.  The plastic islands.  Ocean acidification.  Air pollution.  The list goes on and on.

With all of that, it would be easy to give into despair.  To believe the future is hopeless.  Go ahead and run a search on Google and see how many results come back for the question "should I have kids given global warming?"  There is reason enough to be so concerned that people are contemplating forgoing children instead of leaving them a ravaged planet Earth.

Clearly, there is an issue that demands action.

But, it is also important to remember that we have reasons for hope.

First and foremost, our God is a creator who takes care of His creation according to His will.  He is not just looking out for His people, He will be about redeeming His entire creation.  And that includes the Earth.  That is why there will be a new Earth following the Judgment.  He cares about His creation and He will make it perfect again.  Now, might He use global warming/climate change to accomplish His final judgment?  Yes.  He's done it before with a global flood.  But until and through that time, He is tending to what is His.

“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not more valuable than they?”  

Matthew 6:26

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.  Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?  In his hand is the life of every creature and the breadth of all mankind.” 

Job 12:7-10

“In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” 

Psalm 95:4-5

Further, He has created a wonderfully, living, and self-sufficient organism in the planet Earth.  It is not designed to maintain a status quo, but to be a living and healing organism that adjusts to changes that occur and continually evolves.  It adapts.  That is what all of the effects of global climate change are.  Polar ice cap melting, global sea rise, removal of coastlines, etc.  They are all adaptations of the planet reacting to the change in temperature and trying to compensate.  A system trying to correct itself.  

What is hard to swallow in remembering this fact, is that sometimes the corrective action is devastating to the human race.  We, by nature, are creatures that like to maintain a status quo.  We want to be able to visit the same beach in the same place we remember as a kid, that our parents brought us to, that their parents brought them to, and so on and so on.  We want to be able to continually build houses in now flood prone areas.  In tornado alleys.  On fault lines.  On hurricane prone coastlines.  All on the chance that we will not be affected often.  That we can build to adapt.  

We remove forests, we displace local wildlife, we alter the topography of the region.  And expect that there will not be an effect.  So that we are surprised when nature reacts back.  

Maybe we need to start reconsidering our relationship with His creation?  How much we change it?  How much we take from it?

There is also reason to hope because we do see positive changes in the environment.  We are seeing the benefit of activism regarding protecting, cleaning, and reviving the world around us.

We are saving endangered species.  Red-cockaded Woodpeckers have been saved through science and ingenuity, moving the bird out of endangered status.

We are restoring natural landscapes.  The restoration of the Pawcatuck River in Rhode Island, once dammed, has restored a migratory pathway for American shad, river herring, sea-run brook trout and other species for the first time in centuries.

We are saving habitats ravaged by natural disasters.  Conservation techniques involving putting seedlings in a specific soil mix before transplanting has helped more than 70% native plants survive after wildfires in opposition to invasive cheatgrass.

We are finding new sustainable sources for food and other supplies.  Seaweed farming in particular requires little additional input than sunlight and sea water, holding the ability to remove excess nutrients from eutrophic areas, and even mitigating the effects of ocean acidification.  This could be a great help in saving our marine life.

We're changing our energy use.  Renewable energy use is on the rise.  A recent report from Wood Mackenzie predicts that clean energy technologies have become so cost effective that they will replace fossil fuels as the main source of energy within the next 20 years.  Currently, five states generate more 10 percent or more of their energy from solar energy.  More than 100 cities and counties are committed to transferring to 100 percent clean energy.  And other countries are leading the way.  Germany produced enough renewable energy in the first half of 2018 to power every household in the country for a year.  Portugal ran on renewable energy for the entire month of March.  Costa Rica has been maintaining 98-99% renewable energy for years now.

We are learning about some of the most effective solutions.  In particular, scientists have noted that there is a cumulative space around the world the size of the United States available for planting trees and that this would reduce global carbon emissions by 25%.  Scotland has done their part, planting over 22 million trees last year, smashing their goals.

We are making new discoveries each and every day and we are seeing millions of people, and scores of companies and governments committing to make a change. To become better stewards.  To give up what is easy or convenient, for what is better.  What is sustainable, what is beneficial.  What is healthy.

The good news is that there are very easy steps that can be taken to start.

Recycle.  Even if you don't live in an area where recycling is a part of the city or municipal garbage collection, you can start by being committed to recycling as much as possible.  Focus on eliminating single use items as much as possible, in particular plastics.  Such as plastic straws and other utensils, plastic plates and cups, plastic containers.  Reuse the plastic containers.  Be like our grandparents.  They make excellent containers for leftovers.  No need to buy them separate from the store.   When you upgrade your electronic devices, be sure to recycle the old ones with the electronics company.  They can be stripped for parts to be used in repairs or remodels.

Reuse.  Buy second hand items.  Find new purposes for old items.  Trade with friends and neighbors.  Donate items to charitable organizations so they can be redistributed. 

Reduce.  Reduce waste.  Compost food waste.  Switch single use items out for repetitive use versions.  Cloth napkins for paper towels, plates instead of paper plates, handkerchiefs instead of Kleenex, etc.  Look for ways to reduce the amount of items that you are putting in the trash.

Refuse.  Refuse products that are harmful to the environment.  Take the Plastics Pledge  refusing plastic straws, plastic bottles, and plastic bags.  

There are many easy steps we can take.  It just takes a commitment.

Are you willing to be a better steward of God's creation?  Do you desire to be the faithful servant in this respect?

Why not start today?

Stewardship

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

Genesis 2:15

How are we doing as stewards of God's creation?

We have five plastic garbage patches floating in the oceans.  The largest of which is twice the size of Texas.  By 2050, we will have more plastic in the ocean than fish, by weight.

Species extinction is happening 1,000 times faster, at a current rate of 150-200 species of plant and animal per day.

Air pollution is one of the world's largest single health risks, responsible for about 3.7 million deaths a year.

Half of the world’s wetlands have been lost since 1900.

Nearly 80% of sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated and polluting rivers, lakes, and coastal areas.

In developing countries, 70% of industrial waste is dumped untreated into waters where it pollutes the potable water supply.

Flint’s water situation is still not under control.  Pipes are still being replaced and the citizenry is still relying on bottled water.

Every day, 2 million tons of human waste is disposed in water bodies.

Recent evidence shows that groundwater supplies are diminishing with an estimated 20% of the world’s aquifiers being over-exploited.

The global sea level rose about 6.7 inches in the last century.  The rate in the last decade, however, was nearly double that.

And all of that is not even touching global climate change.

We are clearly doing a lot of damage to the planet.  We as humans are the only species that is able to inflict such great harm on our environment.  We take more than we need from it, we strip away its resources, and we leave our waste and trash in our wake.   

The concept of stewardship refers to looking after someone’s property in that person’s interest.  Biblical stewardship is accepting your role as a steward of God’s property.  Being the caretaker of God’s creation.  And a steward will be called into account for their management by the owner.

When God asks us how we took care of His creation, how are we going to respond?

And even more troubling, why is it that Christian groups are often the one's most hostile to environmental causes?

How many messages do we hear about taking care of the planet?

How often are Evangelicals the one's opposing the science behind climate change or other environmental causes?  We’ve had Evangelical anti-environmentalist groups urging the National Association of Evangelicals not to weigh in on global climate change.  We’ve shouted down voices like Jonathan Merritt and his “Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change.”  We have the Cornwall Alliance devoted to portraying environmentalism as a cult which must be opposed.

I would contend that Christians should be the first one's championing care for the planet.  Championing causes to tend to and grow God's creation.

Churches and Christians should be leading the forefront on recycling.  Through recycling and composting the appropriate portions of trash.  Through reuse and donations of goods.  A commitment to reduction of single use items.

Churches and Christians should be committed to cleaning up the world around them.  Adopting sections of highway to remove litter and waste.  Cleaning up nearby rivers and lakes.  

Christian lobbying efforts and political positions should include commitments to reducing emissions and pollution.  To promote efforts to live more sustainably, with alternative energy forms.

Looking at the controversial climate change, the world’s leading climate scientists have warned we only have twelve years to make the necessary changes to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5º C.  Beyond that amount, even half a degree (or to 2º C) will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat, and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.  

The greatest risk at 2º C would be to nature.  Insects and plants are almost twice as likely to lose half their habitat.  Coral would be 99% lost at the higher temperature.  Marine fisheries would lose 3m tonnes at the higher temperature, twice the decline of the lower.  Sea ice-free summers in the Arctic would come once every 100 years at the lower temperature, but every 10 years with the half degree increase.

Even if we disagree that this is an eventuality, even if we disagree that human’s are the greatest cause, if the above is even a possibility, why would we not try to help prevent such a catastrophe?

Jesus discussed the general responsibilities of a steward in Luke 12, in the parable of the unfaithful steward.

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.  It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.  Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.  It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.  But understand this:  If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.  You also must be ready, because the Son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.’

Peter asked, ‘Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?’

The Lord answered, ‘Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whose the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the property time?  It will be good for that servant whose the master finds doing so when he returns.  Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.  But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk.  The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.  He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. 

The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.  But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.  From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.’"

Again, when Jesus returns and sees how we have stewarded the Earth, which steward will we be?  The faithful one who has been about His work, caring for His creation?  Or the unfaithful one who is caught unaware?

We've been entrusted with much.  Told to be "fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."  Much is then expected of us.

And it's not to destroy it.

Re-Movement.Org

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Declaration of Independence

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Amendment X, Constitution of the United States

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

We've forgotten where the real political power in America lies.  Or perhaps, better said, we've become apathetic to where the real political power in America should be vested.

The power in American politics was always designed to lie in the People.  To be vested in the citizens of this country.

And it was meant to be used to correct our representatives when they get out of line.  We seem to have forgotten that the elected officials are our representatives.  They work for us.  They are elected to voice our interests.  To reflect the interests of their constituents.  To zealously advocate for those interests.

The position of our elected officials was never meant to be a permanent one.  It was not meant to be a full-time job.  It was designed for average citizens, connected to the people, to go to their representative bodies and then to go back home.  To stay connected to their constituency.   We've let that get out of hand, particularly in the Congress.  We've placed term limits on the Presidency, but we've let the Congress go unchecked.

As a result, the trend of the average length of service of our Congressmen has continually increased.  We are at a point where they spend an average of ten to twelve years in their position.  Forty-four of our current Senators have been serving longer than eight years.  One hundred and fifty of our Representatives have been serving longer than eight years as well.  Fourteen of our Senators and Representatives rank among the longest serving Congressmen ever.  

This continues because reelection rates for incumbents remain ridiculously high.  Reelection rates for House incumbents have been over 80% since 1964.  Reelection rates in the Senate have been generally lower, but have still been generally over 60% in the same time frame, with little exception.

This is in our power to correct.  The majority of Americans are dissatisfied with American politics.  Seventy-seven percent say they are currently dissatisfied.  Public trust in the government is even at near historic lows.  Only 17% of Americans today say they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” or “most of the time."

This creates the paradox.  Why do we keep reelecting our representatives, if we're not happy with their results?  

Why do we keep doing the same things and expect different results?

Isn't that the definition of insanity?

Is our allegiance to party and blind devotion there so strong that it's lead us to insane results?

We have to do something to break the cycle.

To that end, I've proposed a pledge.  A Re-Movement.  A movement about removal, regarding a movement. 

It's a commitment to vote against every incumbent in the upcoming election.  If we want to take back the power to the people, we have to do it through the ballot.  If we want to show the representatives that we have the power and we will use it, we have to vote them out.  And if we commit to vote out every incumbent over the next six years, the next three elections, we can replace them all.  We can show them that their current tactics will no longer work.

And it takes a commitment to voting them ALL out.  Top down.  From President to local Representative.  It's about showing the parties that we will be listened to and reckoned with.  It's about getting the attention of the national parties.  

If you can't vote against party, it's about voting in primary elections to keep incumbents from getting their party's nomination.  It's about finding third party candidates to support instead of the major party that you cannot support.  

It's easy, it just takes dedication to the cause.

To that end, if you're interested, if you're willing to commit to removing them, watch re-movement.org.  The site is up and ready to go.

And further, pass it along and get others to share in the pledge.

This is the kind of movement that can really get traction.  And it can restore political power back to where it was designed to belong.

If we want it.

Happy Birthday, Gorgeous!

Happy Birthday, Gorgeous!

I cannot think of a better way to be celebrating.  I'm looking forward to many more years together and to many more adventures.  May this day be the start of a new great year ahead.

Bigger than Godzilla,

All the way to the moon,

To infinity and beyond,

To the ends of the Earth...

I love you more!

The Land of the Free

“But where, say some, is the King of America?  I’ll tell you friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Great Britain.  Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the Charter; let it be brought forth placed on the Divine Law, the Word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is King.  For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other.  But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the Crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is.

A government of our own is our natural right: and when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced, that it is infinitely wiser and safer, to form a constitution of our own in a cool deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, that to trust such an interesting event to time and chance.  If we omit it now, some Massanello may hereafter arise, who, laying hold of popular disquietudes, may collect together the desperate and the discontented, and by assuming to themselves the powers of government, finally sweep away the liberties of the Continent like a deluge.”

Thomas Paine

We celebrate today because we fought nearly 250 years ago to establish a system of government where no one was above the law.  Where the law reigned supreme.  Where it was derived from just principles passed on from our Creator.  That all men were created equal.  And while we may still be taking a long time to live up to this principle, it is still a guiding light for our country.  

We created a system designed to frustrate abuses of executive power.  To limit the ability of our leadership to act on their whims and desires. 

We created a system of government to make the act of governing difficult.  So that it would be worth it.  Worked for, and established by hard fought, reasoned debate.  Achieved through compromise.  Designed to reflect the interests of ALL our citizens. And to benefit ALL humanity.  

We often don't live up to this standard.  We often veer far away from the principles that we established from the beginning.  But we seem to always course correct.  Periods of constriction are followed by periods of growth.  Periods of abuse are followed by an uprising of the people.

In that aspect, there is light.  There is hope.  We are the hope.  

We the people.

One nation, indivisible. 

Let us remember and act accordingly.

Happy Independence Day!

If I Were Disney CEO Part 44 - Conclusion

As the If I Were Disney CEO series comes to a close, I wanted to take a minute to write about what it represented.  It’s the conclusion of a fifty installment blog series, stretched out over a year and two month period.  It is one of the main reasons I started the blog, as I had too many ideas in my head for parks and resorts in particular that needed to be captured on paper.  It’s a thesis on running a media conglomerate.  And a love letter to one of the companies that has had a great place in my life, particularly through its more recent acquisitions.

It’s been an interesting experiment.  Several things envisioned that were so obvious, they’ve already been implemented.  Philharmagic in Disney California Adventure.  A dedication and expansion of festivals in EPCOT.  The continued reviving of the Main Street Electrical Parade in Disneyland.  Others are definitely not possibilities anymore as the company has gone in other directions.  But it was a fun what if.

I’ll still be writing about the Disney company and various decisions and announcements that it has.  Walt Disney World will be coming up in a series of Travelers’ Report post soon from our recent summer trip.

But this particular series is closed out.  All of the posts are linked on the Introduction post.  That page serves as a good landing spot for everything.

As always, thank you for reading and sticking with me through this lengthy thought exercise.   Now on to something different.

No Más Muertes

I've been meaning to write about this for a few weeks now, but it's taken a bit of time to come together.  In a bit of fortuitousness, it's aligned with a particularly significant event in the case.

I have one great regret from my time at Level 2.  For a number of years, I acted as a coordinator for the Level 2 Legal charitable fund.   The organization had a set amount of funds earmarked for charitable contributions.  Part of the charitable contributions would be used to align with client charitable giving, to show a commitment to the client extending to their particular focuses.  The remainder of the fund would be used to fund grants for charitable organizations nominated by our employees.  To show a commitment to the particular passions of the employees.

I would distribute the grant applications and encourage everyone to nominate an organization close to their hearts.  I would collect the completed applications and then would go through those nominated to look for the causes that the company would select to grant.  We only had a couple of restrictions, where an organization could not be strictly proselytizing or political.  It would need to have some charitable goal.  Similarly, we would not contribute to organizations that would be divisive or would potentially expose the organization to negative publicity.  With these stated parameters, I would raise the completed nominations to other senior members of the team for feedback and to ensure compliance with the guidelines and then would make recommendations to our CEO for the grants.

My greatest regret is listening to other voices that a particular organization would be too political.  Too divisive.

in our first year of the process, a colleague nominated No Más Muertes/No More Deaths because of his sister's involvement with the charity.

No Más Muertes is an advocacy group based in Arizona seeking to end the deaths of undocumented immigrants crossing through the desert regions near the United States/Mexico border by providing food, water, and medical aid to those crossing and to offer humanitarian aid to those in Mexico who have been deported from the United States.

The organization was founded in 2004 by religious leaders from Catholic, Presbyterian, and Jewish communities in Arizona.  They felt a need for a constant presence at the border to address the increasing number of immigrant deaths.  In particular, they had observed the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office recovering the bodies of an average of 160 migrants per year between 2000 and 2005, up from 14 per year in the 1990s.  

The organization had also become particularly vigilant in compiling human rights violations.  No Más Muertes trains volunteers to document what they see as human rights violations by immigrantion officials.  They have documented migrants whom they have encountered that have been denied food, water, and medical attention, have been separated from family members, and have suffered physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.

Of late, the organization has come to the forefront of the news because of the arrest of Scott Warren, a volunteer with the organization, on January 17, 2018.  Warren was charged with a felony for harboring migrants after Border Patrol allegedly witnessed him giving food and water to two migrants in the west desert near Cabeza Prieta.  With the charge, he faced five years in prison.  

During the trial, three additional felony charges were brought against him: two counts of harboring undocumented migrants and one count of conspiracy to transport them to and harbor them in “The Barn,” a structure at Ajo, a staging area for humanitarian aid.  The combined counts brought the maximum penalty up to twenty years in prison.  

Warren was arrested only hours after the organization published a compilation video criticizing the actions of Border Patrol and accusing them of destroying humanitarian supplies in the desert.  Kicking over and emptying water bottles left for migrants.

In addition to Warren, several other volunteers were charged last year with lesser offenses ranging from “entering a national wildlife refuge without a permit” to “abandonment of property.”  Charges against four such volunteers were reduced to civil infractions, while a judge convicted four others of misdemeanors, sentencing them to fifteen months probation and a $250 fine each.  Warren likewise has a separate misdemeanor case pending.

Warren’s felony trial ended on June 12, 2019 with a hung jury after three days of deliberation.

As a statement following the verdict, Warren read the following from outside the courthouse:  “Since my arrest in January of 2018, at least 88 bodies were recovered from the Ajo corridor of the Arizona desert.  We know that’s a minimum number and that many more are out there and have not been found.  The government’s plan in the midst of this humanitarian crisis?  Policies to target undocumented people, refugees and their families, prosecutions to criminalize humanitarian aide, kindness and solidarity.  And now, where I live, the revelation that they will build an enormous and expensive wall across a vast stretch of southwestern Arizona unbroken Sonoran Desert."

Today marks the final day for the prosecutors to decide if they will retry Warren.

What still haunts me about not choosing this charity for a grant is that making sure people don't die is not political.  Whatever your thoughts on immigration in this country, on what you view the actual crisis at the border as being, giving any person water, food, or medical attention is humanitarian aid.  It's not trying to help them avoid immigration officials, its not trying to circumvent the laws - it's making sure they don't die.

It's the absolute least that we can do.  And it's very sad that we as a country need a charity to do it for us.

It's the definition of Christian charity.

"You shall not oppress a sojourner.  You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt."

Exodus 23:9

"When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.  You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."

Leviticus 19:33-34

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"

Matthew 25:40

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

Hebrew 13:2

It remains a noble and worthwhile aim, and it should be second nature to us, a "Christian" nation, the "most generous nation in the world."

Hopefully someday we can get there.  We can achieve that end.  We can stop pretending it's political and just focus on how it's charitable.  It's humanitarian.

No More Deaths.