DESERT AND DEATH OR WATER AND LIFE

I’ve just read the most amazing story. You couldn’t make this sort of thing up. Only in the United States … The first part is not so surprising. Hundreds of thousands of people cross the parched Mexican border illegally each year in search of a better life. Shock #1. More than 214 human remains have been recovered in the Southern Arizona desert so far this year. Shock #2. Two volunteer groups, Border Angels and No Mas Muertes (No More Deaths), have been formed, placing water, food and other provisions in the desert on the most popular routes. Shock #3. Such relief work has been going on for some 25 years. Shock #4. (This is where it becomes truly bizarre). In September 2008 an activist was convicted of littering, after leaving out bottles of water to save lives. Shock #5. The conviction was overturned on appeal this month because the court concluded that bottles of water are not garbage if they have a humanitarian purpose of preventing death. It will probably not shock you that the appeal court was in Las Vegas. My thanks to AFP via Google.