Saturday, April 29, 2006

Illegals and their Hypocrisy

The following is testimonial from a VP of the Southwest Bell Company who lived in Mexico:

"You remember I spent five years working in Mexico. I worked under a tourist Visa for three months and could legally renew it for three more months. After that you were working Illegally. I was technically illegal for three weeks waiting on the FM3 approval.

"During that six months our Mexican and US Attorneys were working to secure a permanent work visa called a FM3. It was in addition to my US passport that I had to show each time I entered and left the country. Barbara's was the same except hers did not permit her to work.

"To apply for the FM3 I needed to submit the following notarized originals (not copies) of my:
1. Birth certificate for Barbara and I.
2. Marriage certificate.
3. High school transcripts and proof of graduation.
4. College transcripts for every college I attended and proof of graduation.
5. Two letters of recommendation from supervisors I had worked for at least one year.
6. A letter from The ST. Louis Chief of Police indication I had no arrest record in the US and
no outstanding warrants and was "a citizen in good standing."
7. Finally; I had to write a letter about myself that clearly stated why there was no Mexican
Citizen with my skills and why my skills were important to Mexico. We called it our "I am
the greatest person on Earth" letter. It was fun to write.

"All of the above were in English that had to be translated into Spanish and be certified as legal translations and our signatures notarized. It produced a folder about 1.5 inches thick with English on the left side and Spanish on the right.

"Once they were completed Barbara and I spent about five hours accompanied by a Mexican Attorney touring Mexican Government office locations and being photographed and fingerprinted at least three times. At each location and we remember at least four locations we instructed on Mexican tax, labor, housing, and criminal law and that we were required to obey their laws or face the consequences.

"We could not protest any of the Governments actions or we would be committing a felony. We paid out four thousand dollars in fees and bribes to complete the process. When this was done we could legally bring in our household goods that were held by US customs in Loredo, Texas. This meant we has rented furniture in Mexico while awaiting our goods. There were extensive fees involved here that the company paid. We could not buy a home and were required to rent at very high rates and under contract and compliance with Mexican law.

"We were required to get a Mexican drivers license. This was an amazing process. The company arranged for the Licensing agency to come to our Headquarters location with their photography and finger print equipment and the laminating machine. We showed our US license, were photographed and fingerprinted again and issued the license instantly after paying out a six dollar fee. We did not take a written or driving test and never received instructions on the rules of the road. Our only instruction was never give a policeman your license if stopped and asked. We were instructed to hold it against the inside window away from his grasp. If he got his hands on it you would have to pay ransom to get it back.

"We then had to pay and file Mexican income tax annually using the number of our FM3 as our ID number. The companies Mexican accountants did this for us and we just signed what they prepared. It was about twenty legal size pages annually.

"The FM 3 was good for three years and renewable for two more after paying more fees. Leaving the country meant turning in the FM# and certifying we were leaving no debts behind and no outstanding legal affairs (warrants, tickets or liens) before our household goods were released to customs. It was a real adventure and If any of our Senators or Congressman went through it once they would have a different attitude toward Mexico.

"The Mexican Government uses its vast military and police forces to keep its citizens intimidated and compliant. They never protest at their White house or government offices but do protest daily in front of the United States Embassy. The US embassy looks like a strongly reinforced fortress and during most protests the Mexican Military surround the block with their men standing shoulder to shoulder in full riot gear to protect the Embassy. These protests are never shown on US or Mexican TV. There is a large public park across the street where they do their protesting. Anything can cause a protest such as proposed law changes in California or Texas."

Fact of the Matter

When reading this, I cannot help but feel that any wind which might be in the sails of those protestors who are going to do the “Great American Boycott” on Monday are hypocrites. If the United States wants to tighten security on its borders, then it has the right to do that. The government is responsible for the protection of the people in this country.

There are those that say illegal immigrants have a right to be here. The answer to that is NO THEY DON’T. Am I ignorant on this particular issue? NO. This is reality. This country is not against having immigrants come into the country. What people are against are ILLEGAL immigrants. Are these people criminals? Yes, because they are here illegally. It would not be called ILLEGAL if you weren’t doing something wrong.

According to sources, there is among some circle of the Latino community a fear of a possible backlash from Middle America. As mentioned before, the backlash that could be done by employers is to FIRE those who are out on protest. Another form of backlash that I have heard is that Americans should do their shopping on Monday, showing that we can buy products and do business WITHOUT the Spanish.

What about them doing the jobs Americans don’t want to do? That is a myth. Lou Dobbs did a report SHOWING that there are Americans in Texas that do the so called jobs no one else wants to do. As a result, that argument doesn’t hold up. In addition to this, some analysts have indicated that the employment rate for illegal immigrants has gone down and that more of them are unemployed than employed.

So to all the illegal immigrants, immigrants, liberals, and “sunshine patriots” who’s only plan right now is to protest the current administration for every little thing, it is the government’s responsibility to protect its people. Not every decision is going to be popular. Allow history to decide if it was right or not. Do not stand in the way of progress and slow the system down. If you do, then it send the message to the terrorists that the country will split apart and they have won.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Responsibility

Do you know what noblesse oblige means? If not, the basic definition is that it is the duty of the noble to help those who cannot help themselves. For the United States, we take this particular duty seriously. While there are those out there who might think otherwise, the reality of the situation is that we do more for the world than we are accredited for. The United States sends more money and aid into Africa. We allow thousands of people to enter our country for a better life. Our businesses and industry are found around the world and provide countless numbers of people with jobs.

When it comes to security, the United States is the nation the United Nations calls on to send peace keeping troops into a country in order to stabilize a situation. As the War on Terror continues, the United States leads the charge in trying to defeat terrorists, who’s sole desire in the world is kill, maim, and attempt to restore the plant back to the days of the 12th and 13th centuries.

However, there seem to be those who have this overwhelming sense of guilt when it comes to our role of protecting the world. As reported on the Drudge Report and also in the Washington Post, a CIA officer, identified as Mary McCarthy, was fired for leaking information to media sources. The information that was leaked includes information dealing with CIA run prisons in Eastern Europe. The information was given to Dana Preist, who recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting of this particular case. According to Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr., people who report information which allow citizens to keep their government accountable for its actions. Downie also went on to say , “The reporting that Dana did was very important accountability reporting about how the CIA and the rest of the U.S. government have been conducting the war on terror. Whether or not the actions of the CIA or other agencies have interfered with anyone's civil liberties is important information for Americans to know and is an important part of our jobs.”

Although the Washington Post plans to stand next to its reporters for their information, the Administration has launched campaigns to stem the tide of leaks to the media. Some in the media see this as a worsening of relations between the White House and those who work to provide the news to the American people.

Fact of the Matter

The fact of the matter on this situation is this: responsibility is a word people often times use to explain their actions, despite not always knowing what the word actually means. For instance, how many nights have you, the reader, lost sleep thinking about how Intelligence officers gather information from terrorists as to what their next possible strike might be?

We see in the news that Iran has enriched uranium and hopes to have nuclear power. While there are those who believe this may be true, what will happen if Iran creates a nuclear bomb? Sources indicate that the Bush Administration is created a nuclear defense against Iran. Some believe this is bad. My question to these people is what will we do if we find out that nation has a bomb, sells it to a terrorist, who then decides to the test it out on Israel or even worse on us?
As for leaking information, feeling that it is necessary for one’s sense of guilt to release this information to the press will clear their conscience is not always a good thing. By releasing this information, countless numbers of lives are being placed in danger because now terrorists will begin to look at these nations as enemies. We seem to forget that TERRORISTS SEE EVERYONE AS ENEMIES! There is no such thing as a safe country.

The responsibility of the world today is to eradicate the menace that is terrorism. The world united to fight Hitler. The world united to fight communism. Now the world must unite to fight terrorism. So if people want to leak out information to the presses, then they need to remember that THEY are AIDING the TERRORISTS and are, in my opinion, COLLABORATORS and TRAITORS to the nation.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

George Washington and Marie Jean Paul Jospeh Roche Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

Tonight I went to Alexandria, Virginia, and sat in on a lecture at Gadsby’s Tavern on the relationship between George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. As you might have seen from the title, trying to write out the latter's name completly would kill someone.

The lecture was given by Professor Peter Henriques, a former George Mason University professor and a man who, in my opinion, is one of the great unsung scholars on George Washington. As a whole, the lecture was an interesting insight into the mutual admiration that both men had towards each other. For Lafayette, Washington was more of a father figure. For Washington, Lafayette was the son he could never have. Throughout the entire lecture, I could not help but feel I needed to have my trusty notebook at my side taking notes and thinking of ways of how I could use this information to lecture my students on Washington and the ways in which one can be like a Virginia gentleman.

At this time, I would like to go ahead and promote Professor Henriques’ book: Realistic Visionary. Click on the title to check it out at Amazon. This book is an excellent read and gives a look into the more personal life of Washington. Instead of going over the standard parts of the man’s life, Henriques explores the inner workings of his life and how different aspects of it helped shape him into the man we know today.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Follow Up

In a reply by "Mr. X" (maybe this is Homer Simpson), some questions were posted. "Mr. X" writes, "Dont you think all these immigrants would have liked to have entered the US legally and become citzens? Do you think the US immigration system would let in thousands of poor mexicans in each year? So what is left for them except to get in ileagally."

First, I am sure some of these people would have liked to do this, but I DO KNOW that the US immigration system would not let in thousands of poor Mexicans (by the way, proper names need to be capitalized Mr. X. Perhaps you should have paid attention in English class). The reason why the immigration system would not allow more people in is because it does take quite a bit of time just for immigrants to become naturalized citizens.

The reason why is because it is a huge numbers game in the country. Thousands of people around the world want to live in the United States. However, if they want to live here, they need to adopt to an American identity.

So what is left for them? One idea is to try and do something on the homefront. It isn't easy, I will grant, but nothing in life ever does come easy. "Mr. X," you come from Germany. Look at your nation's history. It has been less than twenty years since the Berlin Wall fell and your nation was reunified. It was not as if that was an easy thing to do. Citizens in East Berlin who would have wanted to be free could easily have been shot. However, they percevered and worked towards getting reunification. Yes, there were other events that happened. However, Germany as a whole worked to get the nation back together.

If a person wishes to come into the United States, do it legally. If it takes time to reach your goal, then so be it. Contrary to popular belief, things do not happen at a snap of a finger. It does take time. The world is also not an easy place to live in. Some things do not go your own way. The United States Congress is trying to do things to help make things better. However, if the people do not give the politicians a chance to do something, then nothing will be done.

There Is Something About Immigration

As many people know, immigration debates have been sparked across the country. The debate is how to deal with illegal immigrants. When we think of this term, very quickly our minds go to Spanish immigrants from Mexico and Central America. The Senate has tried to pas legislation which would make being an illegal immigrant a felony offense. This, however, has since been taken out of the proposed immigration bill and there are hopes the United States can do something to take care of the border and try to put a handle on the immigration issue.

But while the country is trying to get a handle on this, there are protests from the Latinos. Thus far, there have been a large number of protests that have had both LEGAL and ILLEGAL immigrants protesting the new laws the United States want to pass. In fact, the degree in which Latino protestors have now begin to go towards is rather intriguing. Spanish workers are being told that they should skip work on certain days in order to show the value of their services. In this week alone, workers skipped out on Monday, April 10 and were advised to do so Thursday, April 13. A third date is expected to be on May 1, a Monday, with who knows how many more of these dates to be set up in the time between the two.

While workers plan on trying to show their strength as an economic force, employers will not tolerate this kind of attitude from their employees. I know for a fact on manager at Staples was livid when he found out how many of his employees bailed out on him when it came to their shifts on Monday. While he did not have a problem with their protesting, he did have a problem with them passing the buck on their responsibilities. In Detroit, a meatpacker fired FIFTEEN immigrant employees because they skipped out of work. The employees were warned what would happen to them if they did it, but it seems they decided to see if the warning was nothing more than a bluff. In an article from the Detroit Free Press, a woman named Mercedes said this was not fair and that she was protesting for her rights. Irony: SHE WAS AN UNDOCUMENTED WORKER!

The Fact of the Matter

The fact of the matter on this situation is this: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HAVE NO RIGHTS IN THIS COUNTRY! They are what is called illegal for a reason. People like Delores Huerta, who say that the border was crossed over the immigrants, not the immigrants over the border, seem to forget a few historical facts:
1. The border between the United States and Mexico was settled in 1848 and later in 1854
with the end of the US Mexican War and the Gadsden Purchase.
2. Unless the illegal immigrants were born in 1848, then they are very much illegal.
3. The Latino community living in the United States since 1848 have been citizens of this
country, especially because the children that were born after that year were automatically
made citizens.

So why is it we can’t take care of our own borders without a protests? People are lazy. There are those in this country who want to pass the buck on to someone else. As a result, those who do work hard end up having more of their money taken away from them because they have to pay for all the social programs that these illegal immigrants go to. Think about it people, if an illegal immigrant gets shot in a gang fight and they go to the hospital, who has to pay for their bills: THE TAX PAYER A.K.A. YOU!!!!!!

So what should we do about these people? Personally, I say we arrest them, detain them, deport them, and work to make sure they can never come back into this country again. What about the employees who don’t come to work to protest? I say fire them. We as a country need to send a message to these people. They say are an economic force. We ALLOW THEM to be that way. If these people are fired, then other can do the work. Is it harsh? Yes. Is it mean? Yes. Is it wrong? Depends on who you are. Some will says yes. Others will say no. What we find ourselves with here is a vocal minority who wishes to express their views onto the majority simply so they can have their way.

Generations of immigrants have come to this country legally and have made a success of their lives. To allow people to abuse this system is an abomination to the foundations of this country. We will lose our identity. We will lose our society.

Does this mean immigrants cannot come to the United States? No. What this means is that if you want to come here, you should do it in a legal manner. This country does not have a problem with immigrants who come here, contribute to society, pay taxes, and work to make this a better place. This country does have a problem with those who come in and do not contribute to this society through helping to make sure that the programs that are in place to help the citizens of the United States are fully funded.

Ever wonder why social security is in trouble? One reason is because of illegal immigrants. Part of your paycheck goes into social security. Now I know there are other factors that are causing the problems for this particular program, but illegal immigration is still one of them.

So what do we do? Do we allow this problem to continue? Do we tell the illegal immigrants they can come into the country without limitations? Do we allow the protestors to have their way? The answer is one which can only be made by you the reader. My own answer to these questions is this: we must take a stand. The needs of the country must be put forth. If the immigrants do not like it, they are more than welcome to leave. If given that choice, I am willing to bet they will sooner stomach our desire to secure our borders than pack up and move to another place which does not have the opportunities that we have.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

The Importance of History

As I am sure you know by now, it has been a little while since I have had a post. I am sorry, but events at work and such have pulled me from doing this more often. However, a recent event has made me wonder and I am curious to see what my own viewing public thinks of it. A question was asked as to why it is necessary to learn history? If the world is moving forward towards the future, then why should we care?

Now, needlsess to say, my history students are often times called by myself a bunch of heathens. The reason for this isn’t because I enjoy calling them a bunch of names, but rather it is because they seem to have little to no respect in anything when it comes to understanding the evolution of society.

At the moment, we are at World War II, an important time period in our history. However, they think this doesn’t need to be learned. Why? For most kids, this is one time period where they want to know stuff because it gives them everything they would want. The only answer I can come up with is that our society has degenerated to a point where our students no longer care about being identified as an American, but being identified as some kind of group or a specific individual.

Fact of the Matter

The fact of the matter on this situation is this: WE NEED TO KNOW HISTORY! Think about it for a minute. Look at the Holocaust. There are people who do not believe it happened. There were six million Jews killed and almost the same number of everyone else killed, so for all intents and purposes, you could argue twelve million were killed. Consider this:

Total: 12 million dead
!942-1945: 4 million dead a year
Monthly: 333,333 dead
Weekly: 83,333 dead
Daily: 11,905 dead
Hourly: 496 dead
By the minute: 8 dead

Look at those numbers! In the amount of time it takes you to read this entire post, think about the number of people killed in World War II. We need to know history because it is something like this which makes the world stop and say “Oh.” The fact that people don’t believe these kinds of numbers exist is sad. The fact that there are students in this country that have no concept or idea of what it means to be an American is horrific to think of. Our history is what creates our national identity. If we forget the past, we are doomed to repeat it.

Think of these quotes. If anyone ever wonder why history is not important, remind them to read this:

“History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity.” – Cicero

“Only a good-for-nothing is not interested in his past.”-Sigmund Freud

“Each age tries to form its own conception of the past. Each age writes the history of the past anew with reference to the conditions uppermost in its own time.”-Frederick Jackson Turner

“Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.”-Karl Marx

“The principle office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”-Tacitus

“We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world ~ or the last.”-John F. Kennedy

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”-Robert F. Kennedy

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”-George Santayana

“In spite of failures which I lament, of errors which I now see and acknowledge, or of the present aspect of affairs, do I despair the future? The truth is this: the march of Providence is so slow, our desires so impatient, the work of progress is so immense, and our means of aiding it so feeble, the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope.”-Robert E. Lee