Deportees in Costa Rica

In February 200 migrants from various countries, including Russia, Afghanistan, China, and Iran, were deported from the U.S. to Costa Rica.  They were initially put in a detention center and were not allowed to leave.  

After both internal and outside pressure, Costa Rica last week published its new policy.  The deportees are granted a three-month humanitarian permit to leave the detention center, although they are also allowed to stay there if they need a place to sleep, eat, and shower.

They are not allowed to work in Costa Rica at the present time, although they may apply for asylum.  If they are granted asylum, they can then legally be employed.  

Omar Badilla, the head of Costa Rica’s migration authority, said, “We want this population to be integrated into our country.  I know that they can offer us a lot.”

About 20 years ago I spent ten days in Costa Rica and really liked the country.  Now I like it even more.

Info for this post came in part from Emiliano Rodriguez Mega, “Costa Rica Tells Deportees They Can Stay or Move On,” New York Times, (Apr. 24, 2025), p. A5.

Annexing Crimea

Trump has called upon Zelensky to recognize Russia’s annexation of Ukraine, even though Crimea has been an integral part of Ukraine and recognizing Russia’s annexation would be a reward for Russian aggression.

Do you know who has refused to recognize Moscow’s annexation of Crimea?

China. 

Not kidding.  China.

Due Process

The Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights states that no person can be “deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law....”

The 14th Amendment says that states cannot deprive “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law....”

Due process of law comes in two parts.  Say you are arrested for murder.  You must be told your rights when you are arrested.  You have a right to an attorney.  You can ask for a jury trial.  You can appeal.  Those kinds of rights are called procedural due process.

Now suppose you are arrested for running a red light.  You are told your rights.  You have a hearing.  You plead guilty.  You are then sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.  You received procedural due process, but the sentence would have been a denial of your substantive due process.

If you are picked up by ICE agents and sent to prison in El Salvador, you have been denied both procedural and substantive due process, both guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment.  That is what the Trump administration is doing.  It is violating our constitutional rights.  We have a constitutional crisis.  Right now.

Remembering General Bonespurs

 It’s been 50 years ago since the Vietnam War ended.  The Vietnamese are celebrating.  The wounds are healing.  The U.S. has an embassy in Vietnam, we trade with Vietnam, we had been financing a program to help Vietnamese find unexploded land mines and deal with issues related to Agent Orange.  Many American soldiers have returned to help with the reconciliation efforts. 

Until the Trump administration.  The Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr. Marc Knapper, son of a Vietnam Vet, had planned to attend the ceremony on April 29.  Delegates from other U.S. Allies, including Australia, are attending as well.  

The Trump Administration ordered the Ambassador to skip the celebration.  No one is sure why, since the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam had been strong, and both countries have an interest in Vietnam keeping some distance from China.

Speculation is that Trump does not want to call attention to the war.  Remember he didn’t go.  Remember, he paid a doctor to say that he had bone spurs.  He did not want to go because he opposed the war for moral or political reasons.  He did not want to go because he was a chicken shit and because it would have interfered with his plans to stay in the states and make money.  

He has always been a grifter, always been dishonest, always been a little coward.  Nothing has changed, but he hates when people are reminded of it.

So I’m reminding you.

Some material in this post are from Damien Cave, “U.S. Tells Vietnam Envoys to Skip Events Marking 50 Years Since War’s End,” New York Times, (Apr. 23, 2025), p. A9.  Calling Trump chicken shit and speculating on his motives is all mine, but I certainly don’t mind if you spread the word.

Manufacturing buttons

I have a button manufacturing machine.  You cut out a circular message, put it in one side of the machine on top of a round piece of metal and then cap it with a piece of round transparent plastic.  You then press down on a handle and make the message part.  Then you press on the back of the button, which includes the pin.  The difficult part is cutting out the message.  You need to get the circular cut just right.

I’ve gotten pretty good at the manufacturing process, although the buttons are made one at a time. 

My buttons include the following messages:

Don’t blame me:  I voted for her

Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitism

Elect a clown, expect a circus

Where can we stick the plastic straws?

Rubio Hegseth Kennedy Noem Bondi Patel Gabbard.  Too many clowns for the clown car.  (That one isn’t very good–I had to make the font too small.)

Let’s Go Fat Brandon

Foxtrot Delta Tango (Think of the letters and figure it out.)

Who voted for Elon Musk? 

and the one that seems to be the most popular

Deport Elon Musk.

Let's have children and watch them die

Ok, that was harsh, but how do you interpret this?  On the front page of today’s New York Times was this headline:  “Would $5000 Bonuses Spur New Baby Boom?”  Trump aides are thinking of implementing a program to award $5000 to every mother who gives birth.  They think we don’t have enough people in the U.S., which brings up the question of why we are deporting the ones we have.

Be that as it may, next to that article was one entitled “E.P.A. Poised to Cancel Grants To Study Dangers to Children.”  Pro-lifers are often accused of caring only for “unborn children” until they are born.  This is why people think that.  Why is the point of awarding a bonus to giving birth if we don’t care what happens to the kid after it is born?

I’m not sure what to call this.  Ironic?  Bizarre?  Nuts?  All of the above?  

Redefining "harm" in the Endangered Species Act

What is the biggest reason that many species face extinction?  You can sum it up in one phrase:  Loss of Habitat.  The way to protect a species in decline is to protect its habitat.

The Trump administration now plans to redefine “harm” to mean the deliberate killing of members of that species.  You must only protect a species from being trapped or shot.  If you cut down a forest necessary for the survival of a species and the species is then goes extinct, that doesn’t count.  You didn’t actually set out to kill the animal or plant or insect.  It just happened to be a byproduct.  

This change, of course, will mean an increased number of extinctions.  It will also gut one of the most effective laws ever passed.  It is just one more example of how little this administration cares about the natural world.  

In the daily uproar of bad news and stupid decisions, this change is almost unnoticed, but it will definitely be noticed in the years ahead.  Mining, lumber, and petroleum interests and developers are, of course, delighted.