Foraminifera and Tears on the Cheeks of the Statue of Liberty

The Octagon at Ely Cathedral

Outing to Ely, sorting foraminifera, The consequences of US and UK limits on immigration.

It's been a while since we've been to Ely, so we set off for a shopping trip for some wool so J could knot a new jumper. Unfortunately, the shop had been replaced by a butchers! However, I, the scruff, came back with a new jumper and a great shirt. At least the Cathedral's cafe was still open for lunch.

I'd collected some sand from the beach at Frinton last weekend, concentrating on the the lighter deposit that often contains shells and debris. Today I tried picking out foraminifera, microscopic shells, and mounting them on a microscope slide. Left it to dry overnight.

"Tears are running down the cheeks of the Statue of Liberty tonight as a grand tradition of America, welcoming immigrants, that has existed since America was founded has been stomped upon," said Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader.

President Trump's travel ban had an immediate effect with airlines and US border guards turning back travelers from the banned countries (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen). This even affected those returning who had green cards ( someone who has been granted authorization to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis)! Civil rights organisations are in uproar. Google was concerned enough to call back over 100 of its staff from the affected countries.

But in Brexit Britain, we have already been acting against EU citizens and threatening them with expulsion after unsuccessful applications for permanent residency, prompted by the referendum result. This is despite the fact that they are entitled to live here.

Professor Brian Cox  expresses the frustration amongst academics, “We have spent decades – centuries arguably – building a welcoming and open atmosphere in our Universities and, crucially, presenting that image to an increasingly competitive world. We’ve been spectacularly successful; many of the worlds finest researchers and teachers have made the UK their home, in good faith. A few careless words have already damaged our carefully cultivated international reputation, however. I know of few, if any, international academics, from within or outside the EU, who are more comfortable in our country now than they were pre-referendum. This is a recipe for disaster.” (from https://colinrtalbot.wordpress.com/2017/01/25/brexit-and-eu-academics-in-the-uk-breaking-up-is-hard-to-do/).

Having left  an effusive President Trumps in the US, PM May traveled to Turkey to woo President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Yes, having turned our backs on the liberal and socially minded EU, trade is everything, even selling weapons to another NATO member with an aversion to a free press and any resistance to his rule.

This time though, May did speak up in public, with a pointed reminder and without reliance on the British press  to do it for her:
“I'm proud that the UK stood with you on the 15 July last year in defence of democracy and now it is important that Turkey sustains that democracy by maintaining the rule of law and upholding its international human rights obligations as the government has undertaken to do.”