Ariana Grande Returns

Manchester revisited - Ariana Grande has arrived back in Manchester, U.K. for a benefit concert she is performing on Sunday. My friend Seth and the rest of the production staff from the original show are also back in Manchester. It's got to be a bit of a weird feeling, going back to the city once again. I'm not sure if they are doing the performance at the same arena, but just being in the city has got to stir memories and nightmares for everyone concerned.

Ariana Grande walks down from her private jet as she begins to
prepare for a benefit concert she will hold on Sunday for the victims
of last week's bombing in Manchester, U.K. 

I think it was good for my friend to get back hone to Colorado for a while - visiting his wife, his horses and the other assorted pets they have on their land in the Rocky Mountains. There's something solid and dependable about the mountains, despite landslides, avalanches, and the occasional flood or forest fire. Of course, disasters can happen any place and at any time, but if it is a natural disaster, it somehow seems easier to bear. The disasters caused by people ... those are the ones that are the hardest to overcome.

Natural disasters are devastating. These pictures are the before and after
from a tornado that hit North Texas in May, 2013. The destruction is
monumental, but nature doesn't plan to put on a bomb and walk into
an arena full of children to kill as many people as possible. Nature is
destructive, but not targeted. Nature can be forgiven. 

Television will often show the scene of a natural disaster - the aftereffects of a tornado or a burning hillside in a forest fire for example. Of course, if you're a human being, you feel for those affected by such events who may now be homeless, having lost everything to nature's fury. Those who are the instigators of disaster, however, don't deserve to be called human beings. The bomber in the Manchester Arena explosion was human in appearance, but his interior was devoid of that spark that makes us human. This was no caring individual, this was a calculated, cold-blooded killer of children.

This obelisk of Hatshepsut would have been defaced
except it was never finished. The stone itself broke
off on the other side. Most of her monuments had her
name defaced by her son when he finally deposed
her and took the throne for himself. 

In ancient Egypt the very name of one who angered the gods would be stricken from all records and never mentioned again. It would be as if he or she had never existed, and through that damning silence, they were also damned in the afterlife. It's starting to seem like this effacement of all history and the silencing of all mention is not a bad idea at all. For people who thrive on publicity, the lack thereof might be the way to scatter their power. But could that lack of publicity actually happen in today's information age?

It's Friday and I'm back to pre-Memorial Day weight once again. I'm working on breathing bilaterally and my swimmers turns in the indoor pool. Unfortunately, my swimming days are almost over before my trip out of town. I'm already missing the water and I still have three days of chlorine left. Silly me! Enjoy your day!

Human Trafficking in Minnesota - Be Kind

It's a rest day for Le Tour, and Chickie is back in town, so I don't need to do any kitty care this morning. Those chortles of glee you are hearing are coming from my area of the USA. But, I still have to work today so I'm not totally home free quite yet.

Lili Huang, age 35, was accused of enslaving and
abusing her 58-year-old Chinese maid. 

One of the leading stories in my overnight news packet this morning was the story of a woman from one of the eastern suburbs of Saint Paul being arrested for human trafficking and slavery. Apparently she had a maid from China whom she kept practically imprisoned, physically abused and severely beaten and starved almost to death. She had taken the maid's passport from her so that she couldn't leave the country, and had starved her down to 88 pounds from her normal 120. All within 40 miles of where I live. I'm appalled!

It was one more instance of how inhumane human beings can be toward other people. Human trafficking occurs throughout the world, in some places on a very large scale. It's not just women and men being forced into prostitution, it's desperate people trying to flee impossible conditions of poverty and exploitation, only to be tricked into situations even worse than those they had left behind. Some of the people exploited through human trafficking are tricked into 'employment', others are sold into slavery or simply kidnapped. People of all ages, even young children, disappear every day and are no longer heard from again. Governments and police are either unable or unwilling to prosecute and investigate, and sometimes the police are just as bad, participating in the crimes themselves.

Many people pushed into slavery are children, exploited for
sexual slaves. Although the statistics above deal with female
victims, boys are also sexually exploited, just under-reported
and often ignored. 

In the USA we reach out to animals which have been abused, mistreated, starved and chained in deplorable conditions, often ignoring the people we walk by every day whose chains may be invisible but are every bit as real. Isn't there something each of us can do to help rescue those who are currently exploited and attempt to eliminate further trafficking? I'm not sure what I, as one individual can do, but I'm sure going to look into it. It makes me weep when I hear about one more instance of the inhumanity of mankind.

Did you know that many states never passed laws against modern-day
human trafficking? Although my state does have laws, they don't seem
to be enacted as often as they should be. 

Have a wonderful Tuesday and please, do something kind for another person today. Let's help tip the scale in favor of humanity, love and peace today.