After a year of lockdown, the Fourth of July is extra special this year. You won’t even need fireworks with these cannabis companions.
Cannabis is more entwined with American history than you might think. From colonial legislation requiring farmers to grow hemp to Vietnam veterans using it to cope with PTSD, the plant has played a huge role in our country’s development, and will continue to for years to come.
The now-essential industry evolved despite lockdowns, so it’s only fair that we (safely) celebrate on the same day we revel in our country’s independence with the best products growers coast to coast have to offer.
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker via Unsplash
Stick with Sativas
The summer days are still long in July, so in order to stay awake for the fireworks, you probably want a sativa flower. The strain Jack Herer, named for the American “emperor” of cannabis himself, is a heady sativa bursting with earthy terpenes and a heady buzz.
Another classic, Original Haze, dates back to the 1970s, and while it’s less energizing in its effects, it also imparts an intense and creative euphoria, perfect for enhancing the colors of fireworks in the sky.
If both of those seem too intense, a strain like Tangie can deliver abundant flavor with a mild, giggly high for lounging by the grill.
Experiment with New Formulas
Cannabis legalization has allowed for operators to come out of the grow closet and pursue their passion for cannabis innovation wholeheartedly and without fear, and we’re reaping the benefits.
Edibles are no longer just butter-based brownies, and vapeable or dab-able concentrates are lab-tested for optimal potency and purity. Live-resin formulas preserve the plant’s spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes, making them more flavorful and potent for the consumer, so an edible or vape pen made from live resin will last you a lot longer and feel a lot better than a cheaper alternative.
Photo by Paul Weaver via Unsplash
Both ingestion and vaporization are also much more discreet than smoking, making them ideal for gatherings or celebrations with minors.
Swap Out Your Old Vices
Alcohol also has a long, complicated history in the United States, and nearly 6% of American adults 18 and older have an alcohol use disorder.
It’s easy to load up on drinks for a holiday weekend with friends and family, but numerous cannabis companies are ready to provide you with alternatives, including wines, beers and seltzers, that feel just as good, without the harmful side effects or looming hangovers.
New technology, including nanoemulsions, make producing controlled, consistent and enjoyable cannabis-infused foods and beverages easier and more accessible, and you’ll never wonder what happened the next day.
Showers aren’t associated with many health risks, but you should steer clear if you hear this sound.
There are few things more relaxing than that first splash of your shower, whether that’s during the morning or night. Now that much of the country is facing an unprecedented heatwave, that moment of going in the shower is one that we’ll all be looking for, maybe several times a day or when we have nothing better to do.
The shower is generally not a place you would associate with danger, but according to health experts, there’s one sound you should steer clear of if you’re planning on entering the shower. During summer storms, if there’s thunder, you should always avoid getting inside.
According to the CDC, “lightning can travel through a building’s plumbing.” While lightning is usually a risk when you’re in an outdoor space, about 32% of lightning-related injuries take place in indoor settings.
Risks are low when you’re in the shower, but this environment creates a set of risks that are worth avoiding. Water and metal are powerful lighting conductors; while it’s unlikely for thunder to strike right on top of your building’s antenna while you’re in the shower, the risk is still there.
Avoiding a shower when there’s a storm out seems pretty simple, but there are other things you should be wary of when located indoors. The CDC warns against several common activities, primarily those that involve water or electricity. Washing the dishes or using any corded electronic equipment or cellphones could expose you to some dangers, meaning that you shouldn’t even watch TV to pass the time.
Thunderstorms are scary, whether you’re indoors or outdoors. The best course of action is to wait in a place that’s safe until it passes. When it comes to taking a shower and resuming your everyday activities, the National Weather Service (NWS) recommends waiting 30 minutes until you hear the last thunderclap. Luckily, thunderstorms last an average of 30 minutes, so you can get back to showering in no time.
Negative COVID-19 vaccine reactions are well documented. But this rare and potentially dangerous side effect is more common than initially anticipated.
COVID-19 vaccine side effects used to be feared and widely discussed, but they have now taken a backseat when compared to the obvious benefits that the shot has produced. In recent weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that a rare and potentially dangerous side effect is more common than they thought.
Published in the journal JAMA Cardiology, the study discovered several reports of heart inflammation in healthy males (median age 25) within four days of receiving a dose of Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
The upside is that the study was conducted on 436,000 males, with these results of heart inflammation only appearing in 23 of them.
Heart inflammation following a COVID-19 vaccine remains exceedingly rare, but the data has still surpassed expectations from the study’s researchers. Initially, experts predicted that only eight or fewer subjects would display this side effect. Fortunately, at the time of the publication, all patients appeared to recover from the unexpected side effect.
This isn’t the first study that found links between heart inflammation (medically known as pericarditis and myocarditis) and COVID-19 vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently put heart inflammation as a possible yet very rare risk side effect of the vaccine. These effects were likely caused by the body’s immune response to the vaccine, which triggered this inflammation.
The FDA warns people to get immediate medical attention if they notice symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pains, fluttering heart, and the like if they’ve had their Moderna or Pfizer vaccines recently.
Despite scary side effects and tons of media coverage, medical experts emphasize on the rarity of these instances, and the importance of getting vaccinated. For now, unvaccinated Americans remain a bigger problem when compared to COVID-19 vaccine side effects.
A new study found a connection between coffee consumption and liver disease. Here’s what you need to know.
There’s a lot of information out there regarding coffee and its impact on your health. Recently, a lot of new studies have shown that it’s not all bad when it comes to your caffeine habit; drinking moderate amounts of coffee has been linked with decreased cancer odds, promoting fat burn, and more. Now, there’s a study that links the consumption of coffee with preventing liver disease.
Published in the journal BMC Public Health, the study tracked the development of liver disease in more than 495,000 people for a decade. Participants who drank coffee had 21% less chance of developing chronic liver disease when compared to non-coffee drinkers. Twenty-percent of coffee drinkers also had reduced risk of developing chronic or fatty liver disease.
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One of the study’s most interesting findings indicates that if coffee drinkers contracted any type of liver disease, they were much less likely to die from it.
“Coffee is widely accessible and the benefits we see from our study may mean it could offer a potential preventative treatment for chronic liver disease,” said the study’s authors.
Benefits were stronger for people who consumed ground coffee as opposed to instant coffee. Researchers explain that ground coffee contains higher levels of kahweol and cafestol, elements that have appeared to be beneficial for liver health in different animal studies.
Photo by Sara Johnston via Unsplash
While this is good news for coffee drinkers, study authors warn that coffee consumption was reported when participants first enrolled in the study. Researchers didn’t account for any changes in amount or type of coffee that was consumed over the 10 years that the study took to be published.
Researchers also note that participants were predominantly white and from a higher socio-economic background, making it difficult to apply these results to a variety of countries and populations.
Future research could help better understand the link that exists between coffee and liver health, hopefully shedding a light on how to prevent or treat this illness with a drink that the majority of people encounter on their everyday to day life.
A key Senate committee overwhelmingly approved a proposal to allow medical marijuana use in North Carolina for certain conditions and to set up a state network for supply and distribution.
The vote was seen as historic.
A Change Of Course
No North Carolina Senate committee has ever taken a vote on medical marijuana, reported WRAL, a local TV network.
One House committee voted down a proposal back in 2015 and no bill since then has been heard in committee in either chamber until Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee bipartisan vote.
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The bill was amended to reduce the number of distribution centers from a maximum of 80 statewide to 40, and to lower the fine for an infraction to $100. Trafficking in medical marijuana would receive a slightly harsher penalty than trafficking non-medical marijuana.
“We plan to tighten up any and all loose ends,” said State Sen. Bill Rabon, the bill’s sponsor.
“I have been quite moved by this because of my personal experience, and at times, it has been difficult for me to talk to some people about that,” Rabon, a cancer survivor, told the committee. “But I will say again that that time has come that this needs to be discussed, and we need to compassionately care for our fellow man in any way that we can.”
The Senator’s Colleagues Agree
“We have people that need certain kinds of help to get better, and I’m concerned that we do all the things that are necessary so that all of our citizens can live a better quality of life,” said Sen. Paul Lowe, another primary sponsor of the bill.
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Republican Sen. Kathy Harrington added: “If you’d asked me six months ago if I’d be supporting this bill, I’d probably have said no, but life comes at you fast,” she said. “My husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and has been going through some cancer treatments, and I believe we’ve already had some moments in our lives where this type of medication would have assisted.”
Legalization advocates say the bill, as written, does not go far enough, that it is restrictive and too narrowly drawn. Medical conditions like chronic pain, mental health issues and opioid use reduction are not included.
On the other hand, several religious conservative groups are against the bill because it goes too far.
The vote was by voice and still has two more committee hearings before it goes to the Senate floor for a vote, which could happen during the second week of July. The bill would then have to pass the state House.
Americans need to understand that they’re not necessarily safe from prosecution just because marijuana is becoming increasingly legal in parts of the country.
Since marijuana is legal in around 20 states for adults 21 and over, the American cannabis-using public has taken on a blasé attitude when it comes to weed. Many are of the opinion that the increasing acceptance of marijuana across the United States has made it to where there are virtually no repercussions even if law enforcement happens to find it on them in states where it is banned. However, there is still a load of hardships that can arise from the possession of the cannabis plant in areas of prohibition. One of which involves getting your children taken away by the state.
Earlier this year, a Michigan woman named Erika Prock set out on a road trip with her 18-month-old son to pick up her husband Todd from her in-laws along the Mississippi-Alabama border. On the way home, the family made a stop in Moulton, Alabama for lunch. It was while Mr. Prock was standing outside smoking a cigarette that the situation took a wild turn. A police officer accused Prock of having marijuana on his breath. According to AL.com, Mr. Prock eventually admitted that he had smoked marijuana and had around two ounces in the trunk.
Big trouble was on the horizon.
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The Procks, who are from a state where marijuana has been legal for medicinal purposes since 2008 and adult use since 2018, were arrested for various charges, including marijuana possession. But more than that, the couple was later charged with felony chemical endangerment — a law that is typically used to prosecute parents who raise children in meth labs. Their son was subsequently snatched up by the Department of Human Resources and placed into foster care. He remains with a strange Alabama family to this day.
Now, the couple must fight some gnarly criminal charges while working on getting their child back into their care. And that’s not going to be an easy task. They’ve since moved into a tent on their in-law’s property, where they have spent months battling the charges. But prosecutors aren’t taking the case lightly, and there’s no indication that they are going to go easy on the Procks.
“I don’t understand how the same situation in two different states can differ so drastically to the point where in one state your child is taken and put into foster care over marijuana and you’re charged with chemical endangerment,” Prock told the news source, “but in another state, they consider it legal and safe and you go home to your family that night and never have to worry about your child being taken.”
At the risk of sounding insensitive to the situation, the Procks made one devastating mistake during this trip — they traveled outside their home state with marijuana. Regardless of how nonsensical conflicting marijuana laws might be, the fact remains that a person (or a couple) from a legal marijuana state cannot travel into a prohibition state, like Alabama, with marijuana in tow and not expect to feel the wrath of law enforcement if they get caught. States are not required to consider the marijuana laws of a person’s home state before filing criminal charges.
Photo by freestocks.org via Pexels
Furthermore, some states remain militant about marijuana possession. In some places, weed is no different than heroin. Despite the changing laws in many parts of the country, hundreds of thousands of people are arrested every year for pot. Unfortunately, the Procks just made that list.
Lawrence County District Attorney Errek Jett says the situation is cut and dry. The Procks screwed up — big time.
“Although an officer may exercise discretion,” Jett explained, “there is no provision under the laws of Alabama to permit possession of marijuana if the individual is from a state where it is lawful. Possession of marijuana is illegal under our laws. A similar situation exists where one of our citizens has a pistol carry permit but travels to New York, for instance. In that situation, the Alabama citizen has committed a criminal offense under the laws of the State of New York.”
Americans need to understand that they’re not necessarily safe from prosecution just because marijuana is becoming increasingly legal in parts of the country. State marijuana laws only cover the state. Traveling across state lines with marijuana is technically a violation of federal law. Make no mistake about it, there are still plenty of opportunities for citizens to get jammed up in the criminal justice system over weed. That’s not likely to change until the federal government legalizes nationwide and gives more states the green light to take similar action.
Sure, it is more than likely that Good ol’ Boy states like Alabama will probably be the last to change their marijuana laws. Still, the repeal of federal prohibition would at least support the argument that their hellbent dedication to criminalizing marijuana offenders is dumb.
Obviously, none of this helps the Procks get their kid back. But their story might keep more citizens from suffering a similar fate. Know the marijuana laws. It’s best to leave the weed at home when traveling. Even if marijuana is legal at your final destination, it definitely isn’t in the eyes of the federal government, and it might not be in bordering states. Either that or keep a real shark of an attorney on retainer. Because if you get busted for pot in most places, you’re going to need one.
At every level of the government, cannabis resistance lacking a defensible basis beats out the voted will of the people.
ByGreg Huffaker III, Director Of Client Services With Canna Advisors
State after state, millions of voting Americans check ‘yes’ on their ballot for cannabis. Most of these voters understandably assume that’s the end of the story, and their government officials then go out and create a cannabis program. Those millions would be surprised to learn this is not the case all too often.
In recent weeks, we have seen Mississippi’s Supreme Court strike down their voter-approved cannabis program, as well as Florida’s Supreme Court uphold a legislatively created divergence from that voter-approved program. These maneuvers are a continuance of a pattern of elected and appointed government officials fighting cannabis after the voters have approved it, often influenced by vocal cannabis opponents.
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Though cannabis is by no means the only issue where government action does not match the polled desires of the population (e.g., gun control, minimum wage), the important difference in cannabis is that the votes were cast, the will of the voters clear, yet resistance persists, and across all three branches of state governments.
When a state legalizes cannabis (medical or adult-use), it can do so via either the legislature passing a bill that the governor then signs or by putting a question on the ballot for voters to decide. That question on the ballot can be put there by collecting a qualifying number of signatures of state residents, as Mississippi did, or from the state legislature putting the question to the voters, as New Jersey did. Voters usually are making a change to the state constitution when they are voting on a ballot question.
After a voter-approved constitutional amendment passes, the legislature should then pass enabling legislation, directing a state agency to write regulations that follow the constitutional amendment and enabling legislation. Those regulations, written in an agency under the governor, should then be used to administer the program. People will then sue, bringing the courts into the mix. Sometimes these suits are brought by opponents, as in Mississippi, and sometimes they are brought by proponents, as in Florida.
The involvement of all three branches gives a variety of opportunities for program interference to occur. Back in 2018, an Ohio court struck down a license preference for racial minorities, and as mentioned, other state courts weigh in as well. In Montana and Florida, both the state courts and their legislatures have attacked legalizing cannabis at different points. Governors in South Dakota and Florida have also taken anti-cannabis actions after their voters approved.
Overturning the 74% Vote in Mississippi
Mississippi’s well-meaning amendment imposed only the state’s sales tax on cannabis sales. Looking to other states that generate more income through special taxes and fees, the Mississippi government seemed to yearn for the missing cash. Using what may well be impeachable reasoning, the state’s highest court struck down the voter-approved constitutional amendment, so that the legislature can create their own program, which will generate more revenue.
Photo by Nathan Griffith/Getty Images
No Straight Path in the Great Plains
Montana voters first legalized a medical program in 2004, which the legislature and courts then obliterated through a 2011 law, which the state supreme court upheld in 2016. Later that same year, Montana re-voted a medical program in, then in 2020 voted in an adult-use program, which their legislature then diluted down this year.
South Dakota’s Governor Kristi Noem is a vanguard in ignoring the votes of her people. Being the first state to pass medical and adult-use cannabis simultaneously, Noem had the opportunity to streamline the two programs. Instead, she is fighting adult use and their legislature is propping up the medical program, creating waste now and likely duplicity/contradiction later.
Florida’s Uniquely Broken Process
After 71% of Floridians voted for a medical program, the Governor set up the program to fail through appointing regulators who did so little that the legislature had to freeze their salaries in an attempt to get them to respond to the legislature’s requests for information.
Years of various lawsuits have mired the Florida program. The most recent was from the state Supreme Court. The Court upheld a law passed by the legislature that made a significant change to what the voters approved. That law only allows for a single license that does all business functions, called required vertical licensing. Vertical licensing differs from horizontal licensing, where someone can just operate one business type, like a cultivation or a dispensary. Though the constitutional amendment used the article “or” in the definition of what activities a business could engage in, the law passed by the legislature only had a single license type, which could do every phase of business, effectively turning that “or” into an “and.”
Photo by matt_benoit/Getty Images
Support and State Revenue Swell, Yet Obstruction Persists
Through the years, watching cannabis resistance has been fascinating, though often depressing. It is difficult to find issues in the U.S. that have such high agreement as cannabis—91% in one recent survey—and moreover increase state revenue simultaneously.
The cannabis opponents that remain generally make two main arguments: 1) We NEED more research into its dangers (somehow over 29,000 peer-reviewed studies, the vast majority of them searching for negative effects and finding few, is not enough for them; yet, all sunscreen use is based on one randomized study) and 2) but think of the children (as if children are not able to currently obtain cannabis). Yet, at every level of the government, cannabis resistance lacking a defensible basis beats out the voted will of the people.
What does not reach those officials making these decisions is what the people have already figured out: that the best way to protect children while learning more about the possible benefits of cannabis is to legalize. Drug dealers do not check IDs, dispensaries do. Cannabis users report that they use it to help sleep and with anxiety, yet prohibition blocks studies to isolate the underlying reasons for these benefits.
Sadly, this is an example—not an outlier—of this phenomenon of our governments going far askew of the polled desires of Americans. As mentioned, gun control and raising the minimum wage are another two topics where what Americans want has minimal effect on how government actors operate. The difference in cannabis? The people already voted for it. Then, government officials—who ostensibly represent those people—eroded or entirely eliminated the right to cannabis.
Greg Huffaker III is an expert in navigating the complex cannabis regulations and emerging state programs across the country. From his early industry work of maintaining a comprehensive database of ever-changing cannabis laws, his J.D. from Cardozo School of Law, and being a Colorado-licensed attorney, Greg brings a keen sense and deep knowledge of the legislation that impacts clients at every phase of business.
Heat waves can take all the fun out of summer. Here are some things to keep in mind in order to stay safe and cool.
The sun is usually celebrated. Normally, it indicates that the weather is getting hot and summer is on its way. Heat waves are different though, no matter how much you love the beach.
Heat related illnesses like heat stroke and heat exhaustion are appearing more often as it affects large parts of the U.S. It’s important to recognize symptoms of heat illness and to guard yourself against extreme temperatures, especially since it can quickly grow into a problem when it’s not addressed.
Here are three precautions to take during a heat wave:
It’s much easier to suffer from heat stroke than to get frostbite, which is why it’s important to remain hydrated. Aside from drinking lots of water, when outdoors, it’s important to keep your skin cool by spritzing yourself with cool water and to avoid strenuous exercise. When indoors make sure to block out windows when the sun is strongest and to let air circulate inside the room if there’s no A.C.
Keep an eye out for heat stroke
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Heat stroke involves a variety of symptoms that can be easy to confuse with being normally hot. Keep an eye out for your body temperature, which shouldn’t be over 103°F, and for hot and damp skin. When feeling dizzy or wrong, be sure to find some shade and to lower your body temperature with cool cloths or a cool bath.
Rather than keeping track of how many glasses of water you drink a day, you could try carrying around a water bottle. This will serve as a reminder to hydrate and will provide you with a source of water while you’re on the go. Drink every time you remember to do so, since extreme temperatures make us sweat electrolytes that should be replenished.
When it comes to foods, make sure to have stuff that is hydrating and refreshing, like fruits and veggies. If you’re eating salty meals, balance that out with water.
With Democrats in control of the Presidency, House, and Senate, some form of tax reform is a good bet, though no slam-dunk.
To quote Benjamin Franklin, “nothing is certain except death and taxes”. But tax rates and rules are far more unpredictable. As the dust continues to settle from the seismic tax reforms passed under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by President Trump, the Biden Administration is already discussing another round of tax reform. The specifics of the Biden proposal became clearer with the May release of the Treasury’s “Greenbook” – a summary of the administration’s tax proposals. (Link).
The Biden Greenbook Proposals
The proposals don’t specifically target cannabis, but they also don’t provide any relief for an industry beleaguered by the one-two punch of the punitive tax on gross income inflicted by Section 280E and an established IRS audit policy that aggressively targets cannabis companies. To put the average cannabis business’ tax burden in perspective, consider that a cannabis company that generates revenue but is unprofitable pre-tax can find itself owing a massive tax bill without the cash-flow to pay!
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Under the proposals outlined in the Biden Greenbook, many cannabis businesses (and their owners/investors) would likely see even higher tax bills, due primarily to its proposed increases in the corporate tax rate (21% to 28%), top marginal rates for individuals on ordinary income (37% to 39.6%) and capital gains/dividends (23.8% to 40.8%). To add insult to injury, some reforms (such as the capital gains/dividend rate changes) may apply retroactively to as early as March 2021!
Still, cannabis investors shouldn’t move to the Cayman Islands just yet. The Greenbook tax reforms are often a “wish list” that serve as a starting point for the legislative process, and it would be unusual for the proposals to pass in their current form. Nevertheless, with Democrats in control of the Presidency, House, and Senate, some form of tax reform is a good bet, though no slam-dunk. Much will depend on whether Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer can persuade his entire caucus to use reconciliation to pass tax reform with a simple majority.
The Leaflet’s (Tax-Free) Two Cents
Our informed speculation at this stage is that the retroactivity provisions of Biden’s proposed tax plan are unlikely to make it into the final bill. We also wouldn’t be shocked to see meaningful shifts on both the 39.6% rate and $1 million threshold. A downward shift in the proposed rate and a potential raising of the $1 million threshold could make a big difference for cannabis owners and investors that anticipate certain high value liquidity events, such as the sale of their businesses. Additionally, given the potential political toxicity of imposing taxes at death (even for the wealthy), we wouldn’t be shocked if the proposal to tax transfers on death either fails to pass or is modified to raise the threshold and/or applicable exclusions.
That said, Benjamin Franklin needs to add another certainty to his list — Biden tax reform is quite certain to remain uncertain for at least the next several months. So, Leaflet readers may want to sit tight for now, as the final tax reform bill is likely to depart in significant ways from the proposals in Biden’s Greenbook. In the meantime, the FK tax group is always happy to discuss prudent tax planning steps and considerations that may be appropriate based on your specific circumstances.
Rich Trotter is a litigation counsel at the New York-based law firm of FeuersteinKulick, one of the nation’s leading cannabis law firms.
This article originally appeared in Feuerstein Kulick’s monthly cannabis newsletter, The Leaflet, which you can subscribe to here. For more information you can contact Rich at rich@dfmklaw.com or (201) 410-4737, or email The Leaflet at theleaflet@dfmklaw.com.
Mexico is relatively peaceful and prosperous compared to its southern neighbors. So Harris’s first stop was not Mexico City, but Guatemala City, but then it got weird.
Disclaimer:The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s first international trip to Mexico via Guatemala was delayed for a few hours because her plane was forced to return to Joint Base Andrews due to technical problems about 30 minutes after it took off. Maybe that was an omen…
A little history.
Photo by John Coletti/Getty Images
This August 13 will be the 500th anniversary of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City. The Aztecs had conquered central Mexico in the 1300s and had established one of the (literally) bloodiest regimes in human history. Human sacrifice was essentially the state religion.
The Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz famously said, “Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States.” That was over 100 years ago, but it is still a convenient way for Mexican politicians to pass the blame, like demanding that Spain apologize for liberating central Mexico from the Aztec empire.
Unfortunately, extreme violence is a frequently recurring part of Mexican history. In their recent elections, over 100 politicians were murdered.
But Mexico is relatively peaceful and prosperous compared to its southern neighbors. So Harris’s first stop was not Mexico City, but Guatemala City, but then it got weird.
Harris was greeted by protesters in Guatemala with professionally printed signs telling her “Trump won” and “go home” — as the country’s president blamed President Biden for this year’s “migrant crisis.”
Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Consider the context. The “border crisis” does not begin in Guatemala or even with its southern neighbors, Honduras or El Salvador.
All of them have been devastated by multiple hurricanes, and — of course the Drug War.
Of course, the very Trumpian New York Post was delighted and ran the headline, Guatemala’s prez blames Biden for border crisis as protesters tell Kamala Harris ‘Trump won’. But how and why would protesters in Guatemala have professionally printed posters baiting Biden? Other signs actually attacked Harris for not having children. Not exactly the kind of greeting that one might expect under the circumstances.
It is easy to understand why these people would want to flee to the United States. Hurricanes and endemic poverty and the Drug War are reasons enough, but they are also fleeing the violence related to their national political and ethnic divisions.
For example: The Guatemalan Civil War was a civil war in Guatemala fought from 1960 to 1996 between the government of Guatemala and various leftist rebel groups, which were primarily supported by ethnic Maya indigenous peoples and Ladino peasants…”
So it is easy to understand “Central American migrant caravans”except for just how they really work.Just how do thousands of the poorest people in the world march over 1,300 miles (maybe up to 2,500 to California) from Guatemala City to the U.S. border?
Who organized them? Who paid for their food and other expenses? The same people paid for the Trump posters? Just asking.
Photo by Greg Gallaher via Unsplash
And why would they blame Biden when there was a huge caravan right before the 2018 midterm elections? As this Examiner article explained, “President Trump has repeatedly blamed Democratic lawmakers for enticing migrants to travel to the U.S. without having applied for asylum at a U.S. consulate in one’s home country ahead of time. He said the new caravan is a result of lawmakers not fixing ‘loopholes’ that allow the majority of families and children smuggled north to avoid prosecution and to be released from federal custody shortly after being apprehended.”
“Trump said aid to Central American countries would now be cut off or curtailed after they failed to rein in their own people.”
So Biden is to blame, and Trump is their hero? Just asking.
