PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[Alan Klein]

His mom and brother are two well recognized inspirational speakers that get paid by many organizations around the world for their talks. Yes they did talks for this organization and got paid their normal rates. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Now Trump being photographed with a smile like he has something up his butt to promote products of a company that supports him...that feels dirty to me.

Just like Biden helped his son get a job in the Ukraine.  I get it. 

[faberryman]

You must care.  You'll still here after 313 pages.

Fortunately for all of us, you have only begun haranguing about the Clintons in the past few days.  I am trying to nip that diversion in the bud. Feeling the resistance, you are now trying to co-opt us into a discussion about Trudeau. I don't think anyone is interested in that either.

[TechTalk]

So you claim we are running buses from the US to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador? That must be making Greyhound very happy. 

The US has many different programs and methods of deportation. Some are direct and some are indirect. One recent method the US has used is to charter a flight from the US and put deportees from Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador on board and fly them all to Guatemala and dump them all there. It's up to the deportees to figure out what to do after arriving there.

Another new program with the humane sounding and ironic title of "Migration Protection Protocols (MPP)" takes migrant asylum seekers awaiting asylum hearings, which may not happen for months, and forces them back across the border to wait for their hearing. Its a policy that was introduced following unpleasant pictures and press of migrant families seeking asylum being held in cages in US detention centers.

Instead under MPP, they're bussed to the US-Mexico border and handed over to Mexican authorities. There they discover they have the choice of waiting in a border town where they are often prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to the migrants; or they can get on a bus to be transported 1300 miles to the southern most tip of Mexico, on the border of Guatemala, where they are often prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to the migrants; or from there, they can make their way back to their home countries which they fled because they were prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to them. All of the options help to deter their return for their asylum hearing in the US by placing them in dangerous and untenable positions, as far way as possible, and helps to keep them from immigration attorneys that might assist them in the US.

No, it isn't a Greyhound driving them all the way from the US to Guatemala. It's a US-Mexico cooperative agreement invented by the Trump administration. To those on the buses, I don't imagine it makes much difference if the trip is on one bus or two.

But since I've found words are not the best way to communicate with you, here are some pictures that might assist. They're from Voice of America (VOA) the Trump administration's international news agency.

Map of bus route from US border to Guatemalan border... https://www.voanews.com/usa/immigration/US to Guatemala bus route for deported migrants

Waiting to board at US-Mexico border town bus station... https://www.voanews.com/usa/immigration/migrants-assess-options-mexico-buses-them-us-border

Nice out....not.

My previous exhausting experience showed me that you have an extraordinary ability to insist that words and language mean whatever you want them to mean thru the use of logic twisted like a pretzel. I never did care for pretzels much and I have no intention of getting on your merry-go-round of reasoning again. So, congratulate yourself now. I'm done with this topic.

[Alan Klein]

The US has many different programs and methods of deportation. Some are direct and some are indirect. One recent method the US has used is to charter a flight from the US and put deportees from Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador on board and fly them all to Guatemala and dump them all there. It's up to the deportees to figure out what to do after arriving there.

Another new program with the humane sounding and ironic title of "Migration Protection Protocols (MPP)" takes migrant asylum seekers awaiting asylum hearings, which may not happen for months, and forces them back across the border to wait for their hearing. Its a policy that was introduced following unpleasant pictures and press of migrant families seeking asylum being held in cages in US detention centers.

Instead under MPP, they're bussed to the US-Mexico border and handed over to Mexican authorities. There they discover they have the choice of waiting in a border town where they are often prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to the migrants; or they can get on a bus to be transported 1300 miles to the southern most tip of Mexico, on the border of Guatemala, where they are often prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to the migrants; or from there, they can make their way back to their home countries which they fled because they were prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to them. All of the options help to deter their return for their asylum hearing in the US by placing them in dangerous and untenable positions, as far way as possible, and helps to keep them from immigration attorneys that might assist them in the US.

No, it isn't a Greyhound driving them all the way from the US to Guatemala. It's a US-Mexico cooperative agreement invented by the Trump administration. To those on the buses, I don't imagine it makes much difference if the trip is on one bus or two.

But since I've found words are not the best way to communicate with you, here are some pictures that might assist. They're from Voice of America (VOA) the Trump administration's international news agency.

Map of bus route from US border to Guatemalan border... https://www.voanews.com/usa/immigration/US to Guatemala bus route for deported migrants

Waiting to board at US-Mexico border town bus station... https://www.voanews.com/usa/immigration/migrants-assess-options-mexico-buses-them-us-border

My previous exhausting experience showed me that you have an extraordinary ability to insist that words and language mean whatever you want them to mean thru the use of logic twisted like a pretzel. I never did care for pretzels much and I have no intention of getting on your merry-go-round of reasoning again. So, congratulate yourself now. I'm done with this topic.

I've wondered about why Guatemala  would take people who aren't from there?  Wouldn't they just tell them they have to go back to America where they came from?  How does that work?

[hogloff]

Just like Biden helped his son get a job in the Ukraine.  I get it.

Oh...and Trump got his entire extended family jobs within the whitehouse. What skills does his son in law have for his current position. Just start peeling this onion and it's gets messy really fast. Let's not even get into all of his buddies that got positions they have no clue for. No wonder the US is so f'd up...it's being run by a bunch of clowns.

[hogloff]

Let's get back to Covid. When is this heat coming so this virus would magically disappear. That's Trump's only plan...magically disappear.

[Craig Lamson]

The US has many different programs and methods of deportation. Some are direct and some are indirect. One recent method the US has used is to charter a flight from the US and put deportees from Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador on board and fly them all to Guatemala and dump them all there. It's up to the deportees to figure out what to do after arriving there.

Another new program with the humane sounding and ironic title of "Migration Protection Protocols (MPP)" takes migrant asylum seekers awaiting asylum hearings, which may not happen for months, and forces them back across the border to wait for their hearing. Its a policy that was introduced following unpleasant pictures and press of migrant families seeking asylum being held in cages in US detention centers.

Instead under MPP, they're bussed to the US-Mexico border and handed over to Mexican authorities. There they discover they have the choice of waiting in a border town where they are often prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to the migrants; or they can get on a bus to be transported 1300 miles to the southern most tip of Mexico, on the border of Guatemala, where they are often prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to the migrants; or from there, they can make their way back to their home countries which they fled because they were prey to gangs who rob, kidnap, brutalize, and do even worse things to them. All of the options help to deter their return for their asylum hearing in the US by placing them in dangerous and untenable positions, as far way as possible, and helps to keep them from immigration attorneys that might assist them in the US.

No, it isn't a Greyhound driving them all the way from the US to Guatemala. It's a US-Mexico cooperative agreement invented by the Trump administration. To those on the buses, I don't imagine it makes much difference if the trip is on one bus or two.

But since I've found words are not the best way to communicate with you, here are some pictures that might assist. They're from Voice of America (VOA) the Trump administration's international news agency.

Map of bus route from US border to Guatemalan border... https://www.voanews.com/usa/immigration/US to Guatemala bus route for deported migrants

Waiting to board at US-Mexico border town bus station... https://www.voanews.com/usa/immigration/migrants-assess-options-mexico-buses-them-us-border

My previous exhausting experience showed me that you have an extraordinary ability to insist that words and language mean whatever you want them to mean thru the use of logic twisted like a pretzel. I never did care for pretzels much and I have no intention of getting on your merry-go-round of reasoning again. So, congratulate yourself now. I'm done with this topic.

Wow, all of that and here I thought you were going to tell me something I didn’t already know. 

So what have we learned.  The US does NOT bus asylum seekers to Guatemala.  They only bus them to Mexico.  I think I said that at the start of this.  Anything else that happens to them via a bus ride is at Mexican hands.

So this was about Mexico after all.  Amazing,

[Peter McLennan]

If you can pay your creditors, you don't need bankruptcy. Nobody's stiffing anyone.

It's a matter of record that he regularly stiffed contractors. Including, incredibly, his long-time personal chauffeur.  Now that's a guy with inside knowledge who you definitely don't want to piss off.

Just another example of his inexplicalble stupidity.

Trudeau, to backtrack a little, is responsible for several apparent improprieties.  The latest just another example, even though it's an impression of misdeed, not an actual one.  He'll pay for it at the ballot box, just like you love, Alan.

[Peter McLennan]

So this was about Mexico after all.  Amazing,

By your twisted logic, apparently so.

That doesn't make it true.

[Craig Lamson]

By your twisted logic, apparently so.

That doesn't make it true.

I see the cuckoo clock is sounding the time again.  Is it 1/4 of the hour already?

[LesPalenik]

Let's get back to Covid. When is this heat coming so this virus would magically disappear. That's Trump's only plan...magically disappear.

In Ontario, the virus is slowly disappearing. Must be due to the ongoing heat wave we are having here now. The good thing is that the heat is killing also the mosquitoes.   

[faberryman]

Now Trump being photographed with a smile like he has something up his butt to promote products of a company that supports him...that feels dirty to me.

I've been thinking about that. You remember how a couple of weeks ago Trump said he might get an RV and travel around the country with Melania. It just seems to me that instead of an RV, he should travel around in a taco truck. He looks like he has the aptitude for it, and he would meet more people. Given Ivanka's experience with Mexican food products, she would be a natural for a taco truck too. Make it a family affair.

[faberryman]

In Ontario, the virus is slowly disappearing. Must be due to the ongoing heat wave we are having here now. The good thing is that the heat is killing also the mosquitoes.

I don't think it is the heat. It is pretty hot in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona and California, and the virus seems pretty much out of control there. It must be something else.

[Alan Klein]

Oh...and Trump got his entire extended family jobs within the whitehouse. What skills does his son in law have for his current position. Just start peeling this onion and it's gets messy really fast. Let's not even get into all of his buddies that got positions they have no clue for. No wonder the US is so f'd up...it's being run by a bunch of clowns.

Trump's kids and son-in-law served the country and none of them received a salary.    VP Joe Biden's kid Hunter got paid millions for a  no-show job working with a Ukrainian corporation because of his father's political position.   

[Craig Lamson]

I don't think it is the heat. It is pretty hot in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona and California, and the virus seems pretty much out of control there. It must be something else.

Some are thinking that because of the heat the virus is spreading in the sun belt.  People are going back inside into the A/C to stay cool. Confined space and recirculated air....

[Alan Klein]

It's a matter of record that he regularly stiffed contractors. Including, incredibly, his long-time personal chauffeur.  Now that's a guy with inside knowledge who you definitely don't want to piss off.

Just another example of his inexplicalble stupidity.

Trudeau, to backtrack a little, is responsible for several apparent improprieties.  The latest just another example, even though it's an impression of misdeed, not an actual one.  He'll pay for it at the ballot box, just like you love, Alan.

You changed the goal posts again.  You said he stiffed his creditors with bankruptcies.  That isn't true.  Now it is true he stiffed contractors although I don't know the extent of it.  I know he was involved with around 900 lawsuits and won most of them.  But  that means he knows how to protect us against the Chinese finagling. That's a good thing for our president to know.  Better then the feckless previous presidents who let them get away with murder and rob us blind. 

[TechTalk]

I've wondered about why Guatemala  would take people who aren't from there?  Wouldn't they just tell them they have to go back to America where they came from?  How does that work?

It's done thru an Asylum Cooperation Agreement (ACA) sometimes known as a "safe third country" agreement. It requires that people from any country asking for asylum in the US that have been in or passed thru Guatemala to apply for asylum in Guatemala instead of the US and the agreement requires Guatemala to accept them as a "safe third country". It has allowed asylum seekers from a variety of countries to be dumped on Guatemala.

First began late last year... https://www.npr.org/2019/11/22/u-s-sends-first-migrant-to-guatemala-under-asylum-agreement

A more detailed story shortly after the program began (Google cached story from Washington Post)... https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/www.washingtonpost.com/us-putting-asylum-seekers-on-planes-to-guatemala-often-without-telling-them-where-theyre-going/2020/01/13/us

Similar agreements have been signed with Honduras and El Salvador. The ACA with Guatemala was the first to be signed and put into effect  https://www.dhs.gov/factsheet-northern-central-america-agreements_v2.pdf

In other words, people seeking refuge and asylum from the US are being sent back to ask for asylum in the very same countries they are fleeing due to widespread violence, rape, kidnapping, and murder.

The "why Guatemala would take people who aren't from there" is the old carrot (US aid money) and stick (threats of tariffs on agricultural imports). It appears Donald Trump thinks that the "carrot and stick" approach is a new secret tactic that he invented and will reveal at a later date.

And... There is a Covid component to all of this as Guatemala has asked the US to pull back on the deportation program due to the fact that huge percentages are arriving from the US infected.  https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/15/834999661/official-alleges-the-u-s-has-deported-many-covid-19-positive-migrants-to-guatema

[TechTalk]

By your twisted logic, apparently so.

That doesn't make it true.

You're right. It isn't true. The ACA agreements and Trump's secret carrot and stick negotiating tactic are what he was referencing in his Rambling Rose Garden appearance. It's what I was explaining to Alan above.

[faberryman]

Did you see the words Western Hemispere?

Last I knew, Mexico fits in that little group. Are we bussing illegals back into Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador from the US?    Are we bussing them back to Mexico?

Maybe Trump was talking about Canada. Canada is in the Western Hemisphere, and we could easily bus all the Canadian killers back to Canada.

[Robert Roaldi]

I watched part of a press conference on youtube somewhere of the Governor of Florida blaming the media for the uptick in Covid cases there. You see, his argument goes, the media spent too much time in May reporting on demonstrations and riots, and because of that, people forgot how dangerous Covid still was and stopped protecting themselves. So, it's the media's fault. I don't have a link for you, because frankly it's too stupid to watch.