November 21, 2018 The Julian News 13
toxic rhetoric. It is a display of
stupidity, lack of critical thinking
skills, complete ignorance of
history and the importance of
such knowledge to effective
governance of a country. The
words are used as modifiers to
chargeandrampuptheemotional
intensity of other words while
actually a corruption of terms:
illegal immigrants, an invasion
of migrants, mass immigration.
A caravan is not an invasion.
Oxymoronic in their application,
misused by those whose agenda
are not in the people’s best
interest. All this does is show the
pervasive ignorance of the user
or is it misuser.
Words have associations that
change over time, waning in
meaning and valence. When
chosen unwisely, misused
and used interchangeably the
message is distorted, e.g.,
the people in caravans from
Central America or floating on
rubber rafts in the Caribbean
or Mediterranean Seas are
refugees, not migrants or
immigrants, and in my opinion ,
should be treated as such. The
people fleeing Nazi Germany
in the 1930s and 1940s were
refugees. The First People
coming to this continent 15-
20,000 years ago were migrants.
They spread out, over a long
period, eventually across the
entire length and width of the
Americas. The small groups
of humans moving out of East
Africa 1.9 million years ago were
migrating.
There are critical differences
between migrations eons ago
and the masses of people that
are coming out of North Africa
and Central America today. That
difference is time. Words can
have meaning, time and distance
implications as expressed by
vocal emphasis and context. The
former group took thousands of
years in their epic journey, the
latter weeks or months. That is a
critically important difference.
Migrations allow adjustments
across impacted sides: the
people on the move and the
environments they encounter,
whereas refugees fleeing
dangerous conditions do not.
Countries receiving them
are overwhelmed, resources
limited, citizens alarmed.
Natural phenomena like climate
evolutions usually take a long
time. The critical difference
described by scientists today is
that humans are accelerating the
natural changeover in climate
thus shorting the time frame.
The conditions experienced now
in the Middle East, as review of
the 1918 WW I agreements have
revealed, is the cause of Middle
East conflicts and refugees
fleeing for their lives from that
area.
The human contribution
is called anthropogenic, the
natural phenomena is called
paleoclimatology and there are
many contributing vectors to
both phenomena. The Camp
Fire in Paradise, California is an
example of time: extremely short
time, no warning, no chance.
The situation has overwhelmed
resources as has hurricanes in
Porto Rico, Houston and Florida.
People seeking visas to move
here, obtaining Green Cards and
later citizenship are emigrants
who become immigrants who
become residents and then
citizens. They are a boost to
the economy. Native citizens
are individuals who were born
within the ZI (Zone of Interior)
regardless of the status of their
mother. It is called birthright
and is inscribed in the 14th
amendment of the Constitution.
There are other ways to be born
a citizen, e.g., born on a ship at
sea to US citizens or in another
country where Americans reside.
It is possible to choose the place
where born in some countries
when declaring one’s citizenship
rather than that of your parents,
and in some places one can
become a dual citizen at the time
of birth. The USA has changed
the rules on this matter many
times. The U. S. Government
also uses various criteria
regarding who is welcome into
the immigration process. That
criteria has changed many times
over the history of the country,
usually influenced by race, origin,
value ascribed, political leanings
and economics.
One who is a naturalized
citizen has gone through the
legal channels to obtain the
right of citizenship. We often say
one is a native or a naturalized
citizen, terms that also are mis-
applied. What is a native? Seems
association is the operative
word in this case: think Native
American, however the term
is also used by groups to imply
that another group is not native,
emphasizing the longer term of
residence or ignoring family or
genetic history.
Can anyone claim to be a
native? Only by definition.
Can anyone claim to be a pure
anything? Not given modern
DNA analysis and genetics.
Birth location usually makes the
case for all people but residence
mucks up the definition because
one can be a citizen of one place
but a native of another either
belonging or associated. And,
for all of us, our origins can be
traced to Africa. And then, if this
is too much for you, the words
can get muckier when certain
adjectives and adverbs are used
to intensify the specifics: a white
citizen, or naturalized African.
Lumping all these different
groups of people into one makes
them all appear lessor: unwanted,
undeserving or undesirable. It
is natural to assume the lowest
common denominator; thus all
appear to be illegal and seeking
something they have not earned
or deserved. Logically such
assumptions are absurd, at a
baser level it plays well into
self-disappointment, identity-
defectives, the ignorant and those
who fear differences and change.
Playing dress up in a parade
of pseudo-tough guys doesn’t
make you one or tough, however,
it can very well embolden faulty
thinking and behavior. It is like
that feeling when straddling
your new Hog, kick the throttle,
relishing the sudden sense of
power. A false notion of manhood
and invincibility.
It is certain that many people
in the country, the news media,
certain politicians, and pundits
do not comprehend these critical
differences, and if they do, then
some other agenda other than
the storyline is the real message.
As such, the storyline is either
propaganda or at a minimum
rendered questionable or, at
worse, untrue.
Truth maters. Honesty
and integrity matter. Words
matter. Scientifically-based
facts matter. All are important
to the nation’s narrative and
to the people’s dialogue. A
democratic society depends
on an informed and educated
public. Our representatives are
responsible to us (according
to the Constitution) and must
be dedicated to the principles
written by Thomas Jefferson;
“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.”
There is no compromise here.
We have however, done a very
bad job of it over the short time
since Jefferson wrote those
famous words. All the verbs,
adverbs adjectives and all the
politicians in the world cannot
change the truth. Truth is not
who speaks the words or their
particular perspective. Opinion,
and perspective is not truth. Truth
is reality, an elusive quality of
human perception and endeavor,
difficult to maintain, difficult to
discover and often difficult to
accept or appreciate.
And now for the rest of the
story: As said before humans
love to classify and generalize.
It makes it easier for us to put
things, thoughts and people
into boxes as an organizing
function. It is a common problem
in medicine and psychological
diagnostics. The problem is
that the boxes become the new
reality, e.g., ‘race’ an unfortunate,
bias-tinged term started by 19th
century archaeologists with good
intensions but faulty human views
embedded in Christian notions of
superiority when experiencing
ethnic diversity or behaviors
poorly understood. Our two
political parties have faulty views
of human psychology. Yet with
refutingevidencethesetermsand
views persist. We just have to spit
forward a feel-good explanation,
later with new evidence falling in
embarrassment.
New DNA analytical methods,
genealogy, anthropology and
biological sciences are merging
into a new scientific view of our
ancestors. We are finding out
the new realities of our human
endowment and humanness.
Accordingly, there is not one
person alive today that is pure
anything, except one tribe in
Australia who are the original
humans. By ethnicity, spiritually,
genetically or in any other form
of measurement we are all
connected. None of us can prove
we are natives, for in fact, when
measured genetically everyone
is tied to just about everyone
else in the whole world, past
and future. There are only six
degrees of freedom, speaking
mathematically, that separate
any of us geographically.
Scientists have discovered that
at least five forms of hominids
have existed and some of us, alive
today, contain the genetic code
for at least three of them. The
Denisovans and Neanderthals
were in Europe and Asia 1.7
million years ago. Anatomically
modern humans, as we like to
call ourselves, did not migrated
out of Africa until 200,000 years
ago and only made it to Europe
40,000 years ago where they
discovered others, subsequently
learning from them how to
survive. In other words we are
new comers, 1.66 million years
late to the party. The five hominid
groups mixed it up with anyone
willing, and if that individual had
23 chromosomes, out popped an
ancestor, yours and mine. Due
to the many ‘mass’ migrations,
taking eons to unfold, and
mixing it up all along the way,
well my friends, whether we like
it or not, we are all brothers and
sisters. No racial differences,
just physical feature variance
most with different amounts of
melanin in our skin that depends
on how long our ancestors spent
in the northern or southern
hemispheres. If you stay in Julian
long enough and breed here you
will have dark skin, brown eyes
and brown hair.
On finale morsel for your
thoughts:Sciencehasdiscovered
by chemical means, or for
three hominid groups additional
physical evidence, five types of
Hominids: Two not yet discovered
physical evidence, Denisovans
(M-3), Neanderthal (M-4), and
anatomically modern (M-5). I
use M for model. Many of us
carry 2-3 versions in our genetic
code. M-5 didn’t kill off M-3
and M-4, they were integrated
Those that chose isolation did
not thrive, slowly dying out from
malnutrition, subsequently failing
to replace their populations.
That condition is plaguing
many Western countries today.
Therefore immigrants are
important. That also means, as
discussed, hominids mixed it up
along the long journeys around
earth. Another fact appears
evident: the family of hominids is
evolving, perhaps already among
us. M-6 is likely: smarter, more
physically and genetically robust,
perhaps with perceptional
superiority, unbounded by
conventional barriers of time and
dimension. Let’s hope they find
us more relevant than we found
the others.
C. Englund
Deffintions Count
continued from page 2
went into choosing it.
7. Don’t reward the lie
When your child lies, there’s
a reason — they’re seeking
something. And if they get it,
that can reinforce lying as an
effective strategy. So if you
notice that your younger child
always fabricates a story about
getting hurt at school as soon
as your older child starts telling
you about their day, it might be
an attention-seeking behavior.
“When a child lies, figure out
what dynamic may be going on,”
suggests Crossman. “Are there
ways you can ignore the lie so
they don’t get the reward? Can
they get what they’re wanting in
some other way?”
8. Catch them being honest
We often catch kids in lies,
says Talwar, but if we want to
teach them to value honesty, we
need to look for opportunities to
acknowledge when they tell the
truth, especially in situations
where it might have been easier
for them to lie. When your
child tells you the truth about
something they’ve done, take
a moment to show that you
appreciate their honesty by
saying, “I’m really glad you told
me the truth.”
9. Discipline calmly
In environments where
punishments are doled out
harshly and arbitrarily, research
shows that kids learn to lie
earlier and more skillfully than
their counterparts in less punitive
environments. That doesn’t
mean you shouldn’t discipline.
But in an atmosphere with a
punitive, authoritarian approach
to discipline, developing the
ability to lie can be seen as a
protective measure.
“One thing parents can do
is simply not have a great big
emotional reaction. The more
explosive the parent gets, the
more frightened the child gets,
and the more likely they are
to lie. Simply remaining calm
and sticking to the facts you’ve
observed is one way to get kids
to tell the truth,” says Stavinoha.
10. Have a conversation, not
a lecture
The more open and
conversational the relationship
between parent and teen, the
more effective, says Dr. John
Duffy, clinical psychologist
and author of the best-selling
The Available Parent: Radical
Optimism for Raising Teens
and Tweens. “That means more
discussing and less lecturing.”
When clashes happen, waiting
for the situation to abate and
approaching your teenager
calmly is always going to yield a
more positive outcome, he says.
And when it comes to raising
truthful teens, he recommends
discussing issues of honesty
and lying openly with your child.
“Something along the lines of,
‘We want you to feel free to be
honest with us, regardless of
what you have to say.’ Teens
respond well to this type of
communication, but parents have
to be prepared for the honesty!”
11. Set clear rules
Ninety-eight percent of
teenagers worldwide lie to their
parents. That’s the conclusion
of Dr. Nancy Darling, professor
and chair of the Department of
Psychology at Oberlin College,
who has researched teens
and honesty for two decades.
Darling says setting clear rules
is important for cultivating an
honest relationship with teens
— and that being strict is okay.
However, she says, it’s essential
that parents pair this with being
emotionally warm and open and
accepting, so teens don’t think
they will be harshly and unjustly
punished.
“If you balance these two
aspects of parenting clearly, your
teenagers will be more likely
to ask for your permission and
more likely to confess if they
have broken a rule. They need to
respect you and believe you will
be warm, accepting, and non-
punitive,” she says. “If kids think
you have the right to set rules, if
they respect you, they are more
likely to be truthful — but they’ll
still want to argue with you about
what is safe and what they should
be allowed to do.”
12. Give them space
Respecting teens’ natural
desire for privacy can encourage
more honesty, Darling says.
“You don’t want to be intrusive,
you don’t want to get into their
business more than you need
to,” she cautions. “Ask for only
the information you need. If
you do that, they will probably
provide additional information.”
For example, you need to know
your teen was safely at a friend’s
house on Friday night; you don’t
need to know what they talked
about. Prying too deeply is
asking for teens to push back
by putting up barriers or lying,
Darling says. So keep it on a
need-to-know basis, and if they
still clam up, just explain, “You
don’t want me to butt into your
business, and I don’t want to butt
into your business but I have to
know because …” and tell them
why you need an honest answer.
About the author - Charity
Ferreira is a senior editor at
GreatSchools and the mom of a
middle schooler.
12 Tips
continued from page 7
daughter has become a vocal
activist in her own right, speaking
out about injustices, particularly
matters of race. What seemed
impossible for her to absorb as a
child has helped her strength as
an adult.
Unlike Mukeshimana’s
daughter, I wasn’t living in a place
where we had to bury our loved
ones’ bones. Certain details of
my grandfather’s story, like the
urine-drinking, could have waited
until I was older. But my mother
did present him as a hero and
glossed over the true horrors
until I was older. Educators and
psychologists say it’s all about
age appropriateness, and every
child is different. “Just because
they are asking about the past
doesn’t mean at a very young
age they need to hear all the
details,” one advised.
Though there is no perfect
age for broaching the horrors
of living through the Holocaust
or the latest suicide bombing,
many experts recommend the
middle school years. Nonprofit
educational group Facing History
and Ourselves targets eighth
graders in their genocide-related
curricula.Therearemanyreasons
for this. At that age, adolescents
begin to think abstractly and can
hold two contradictory thoughts.
Personal testimonies can also
be placed within the context of
history. “If you start to think about
who adolescents are, they’re
starting to think about their own
issues about groups, power, and
responsibility,” explained Adam
Strom, director of scholarship
and innovation for Facing History
and Ourselves. “They’re able to
make connections between past
and present; and they can, when
pushed, make distinctions.”
In the end, it comes down
to an individual philosophy of
parenting. Since children all
mature differently, there’s not
one best way. Yeshiva’s Shawn
recommends that parents stick
with the style of parenting that
suits them best and apply that
across the board.
Looking back, I’m so grateful
my mother shared her father’s
story with me. I grew up
believing that, somehow, I had
inherited this courageous man’s
superhero powers. He had truly
triumphed over whatever came
his way: crossing a desert for six
days with only two cups worth
of water, summoning incredible
inner strength, and miraculously
talking his way out of summary
execution by empathizing with
the gendarmes who were about
to kill him. He continues to inspire
me, despite my living a century
later so far from the killing fields
of his youth. By passing on
my grandfather’s story to me,
my mother also did the most
important thing: she ensured
that his eyewitness account of
history would live on for future
generations. Without these
stories, our children not only lose
connection to their own families,
but to the very fabric of history.
About the author
Dawn Anahid MacKeen is the
author of The Hundred-Year Walk:
An Armenian Odyssey, which will
be out in paperback in January
2017. Previously, she covered
health and social issues for Salon,
SmartMoney, and Newsday. Her
work has appeared in The New
York Times Magazine, ELLE, The
SundayTimes Magazine (London),
Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.
She lives in Southern California.
Hard Truths
continued from page 10
