Middle aged musings from farm & hearth
Thank you for taking the time to read through my post yesterday regarding immigration reform. Any time you post your personal beliefs in public, it’s a risk. Almost impossible not to offend someone.
Jane left a very poignant comment at the end of yesterdays comments section, another side to the immigration issue that is very real and worth going back to read.
It’s a new day, all – lets make it a good one.
Oh, do we even touch on such a highly charged issue? Ah, what the heck – let’s open the gates…join the conversation if you’d like…. I welcome opposing views as long as we respect each other, that’s all I ask.
First let me tell you, I believe we as a nation no longer have the ability to think and act and vote clearly without prejudice clouding our judgement. The animosity on both sides of the fence is too great. Ah, therein lies a big rub. Why is there a proverbial fence between us as a united people? That’s my main gripe. If you only have eyes for one political affiliation, ever, on all topics, then you are part of the problem. The party system is part of the problem. Haven’t we all evolved enough at this point in our history to know there is no black/white in our universe and closed minds are dangerous. That’s what we’re becoming.. a body of divided closed -minded people, especially those employed and empowered in the political arena but hey, we each bear responsibility as voters.
Someone I know ranted that Democrats are the reason for the immigration problem we face today in our country. You see.. right there… closed mind, not factual.
Below are just bits and pieces of the past quarter century history of
attempts at immigration reform – fraught with political vote-getting
agendas, inconsistencies and lack of follow-throughs, and an inability
to come to agreeable terms between business and labor interests.
” President Reagan, in 1986, signed the Immigration Reform and Control
Act, which legalized close to
3 million undocumented immigrants. The laws was supposed to be a
comprehensive solution with provisions intended to clamp down on border
security.
These provisions were never enforced, and the subsequent explosion in
illegal crossings has resulted in some 11 million illegal aliens living
in the United States today. An estimated 1.8 million illegal immigrants
are currently residing in
Texas, compared with 1.1 million in 2000. In ten years, that represents
an increase of 54 percent, or 70,000 persons each year coming to our
state illegally.”
More –
1996: Under President Clinton, most reform was aimed at reducing immigration amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment in the country. But the backlash against strict reform led many of the harshest measures to be rolled back, meaning that ultimately little changed.
Partisan and intraparty disputes over how far to go caused multiple delays. Attempts at a national identification card went nowhere, as did legislation — introduced by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) — that would deprive the children of undocumented immigrants of citizenship. (Reid apologized for that legislation in 2006, calling it the “low point” of his career.)
* 2004-2007: You could say that talk radio killed President Bush’s attempts at immigration reform. He hoped to appeal to both business owners and Hispanic voters with a comprehensive overhaul, but he was stymied by his own party. Bush began pushing for a guest worker program in 2004. An early attempt by Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) died a quick death, in part because of election year politics. But even the prospect of reform stirred up a backlash from conservatives, in particular Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). Tancredo appeared on talk radio constantly warning of the dangers posed by illegal immigration.
President Obama is catching a lot of heat for his approach. While I don’t agree with everything this President has brought to the table, I’m not horrified by his actions when Congress has repeatedly failed to do what they’ve been appointed to do. Some of you will disagree, but I see a man who knows the failures of the past and wants to make the changes he was elected to do. Environment, health reform and Immigration were the big issues. He’s attempting to make strides where others are floundering. Have floundered badly.
His words – “To those members of Congress who question my authority to make our
immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting
where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill.” – Amen.
Here’s what I understand regarding what he proposes… .. in simplest terms. Tighter control at borders.. will it be imposed? We’ve heard that promise from Presidents before, yet to be seen, but necessary. For those who qualify, a temporary stay of three years will be granted as long as a background check passes and back taxes are paid. They are not being offered a path to citizenship and will not be eligible for federal benefits and health care programs.
Let me start this post with a clear and honest statement. I believe strongly that I am not a racist. Racism in this day and age disgusts me. By now we should know better. We’ve got a long, ugly history behind us that tells us just how WRONG it is. It is my opinion, and perhaps with arrogance I believe it should be everyones opinion, that we are all human beings who deserve our life on this earth to begin and play out without prejudice and judgement that many still base on our ethnicity. If you are a religious person and you don’t agree, then you are at the very least, a hypocrite. God created all equally, right? He loves all his children? You believe everything on this planet is his creation, correct? Explain your view, please, if you are a racist but you believe in God. I’m not being sarcastic here.. I want to try to understand you, because I have trouble getting past that particularly irony.
All that being said, I’m bullsh*tting you if I don’t come clean and say that if you’re a big person wearing baggy gangsta style clothes that might or might not be concealing a weapon, with your pants half way down your ass, you’re staring me down with a dead look and a swagger that says –get out of my way, b*tch – as we walk toward each other on a deserted street, I’m getting out of your way, quickly. If that’s how you are presenting yourself, it’s reasonable to assume fear is what you’re trying to provoke, aggression and bullying is your MO, so you’ll get the reaction you were asking for. Notice I didn’t say, though, whether you are black or white. A big white dude presenting himself in the same way is going to get the same reaction from me. Maybe even a small white dude. Am I prejudice against big or small dudes dressed gangsta-like with attitude? No.. I’m cautious around someone exuding negative aggression, because I’d be stupid not to be.
We all read about the Trayv*n Martin case, and now the Micha*L Brown story. Both losses are tragic. Neither young men were armed. I don’t believe we will ever know the exact sequence of events, emotions, knee-jerk reaction? responses – appropriate or inappropriate that occurred in either of those stories. We have to rely on eye-witness accounts that are tainted with emotions, with prejudices of their own. If it was all clear in a video surveillance camera, we wouldn’t have to trust an eye witness. But most often we don’t have that clarity and so those other factors come in to play… emotion… prejudice, fear.
Regarding this newest case – This is what we know for sure. MB was a young black man. He was unarmed. He had just acted like a bully and shoved a convenience store clerk around with threatening behavior as he robbed him of a $50 box of cigars. Then he ambled down a public street, blocking traffic, which is what prompted the officer to approach him. Another bully behavior. Clearly his mindset at that time was that of defiance and aggression. Did he deserve to die because of it? Absolutely not.
Lets talk about the police officer, who now has the terrible burden of knowing he shot and killed a young unarmed man. The guy had a solid six year record, no disciplinary issues. What we know for sure – the young man in question was acting defiantly. He was behaving in the way that dangerous and armed people typically behave… with arrogance, breaking the law. Given this scenario, the officer is now on high alert for any other signs of something about to go wrong. He is trained to do so. Experience has taught him that things can go horribly wrong in an instant. The officer says the young man, when questioned and asked to stop walking down the center of the road, blocking traffic, tried to grab his gun. If this is true, really really stupid move on the young mans part. I call that extreme aggression and the officer had a right to assume the young man was going to try to shoot him with his own gun. The officers life is just as valuable as the young mans and he has a right to protect it. If it’s not true, and the officer was attempting to pull the kid into his car – (friend of victim, eyewitness claim)… and then the young man just backed up and was shot at repeatedly as his hands were up…. then the officers response was grossly -wrong-.
Why do we assume the outcome of this tussle would have been different if the young man was white? Or the officer was black? Well, statics show that this type of shooting death by an officer occurs much more often when the perp is black. Is it because there are more blacks doing these type of crimes or does racism play a roll? I keep wanting to take the color out of the question. Seems that simple to me.. just take the color out of the question. But I am a white woman who has not had to warn her children that the color of their skin might make them targets of unwarranted bigotry and hate. That reality exists.
What makes sense to you? In this case – Why would the officer pull the young man INTO his car window and start shooting…and then keep shooting as the victim backs away. Keep in mind.. at this time the officer had no idea he was looking at the guy who had just robbed the store. His reaction was based on however that young man presented himself at that very moment. Just backing away with hands up??? The eyewitness to all this was the victims friend… and accomplice in the robbery at the convenience store earlier. He’s not going to defend the cop’s judgement and betray his dead friend and implicate himself for that matter in threatening behavior. But… there stands his statement that the kid was just walking along innocently, the officer in question stopped to question him and then just opened fire as he put his hands up, killing him with repeated shots. I find that last scenario very had to believe. And it’s not because the young man was black. When analyzing this picture… it should have nothing to do with his color. It has everything to do with his known behavior and state of mind before this tragedy occurred. The officers reputation has to count for something too.
Regardless of what anyone believes, it’s a horrible tragedy all around. The pain and loss MBs family is suffering should never have come to be. A young man is dead who may have needed some discipline but did not deserve to die, and a police officer has killed someone and will have to live with that outcome for the rest of his natural life. I can’t tell you whether racism played a roll. You can’t either. But as long as we all keep fueling that fire, it’s going to burn long and strong. The people of Fergus*n who are looting among the protesters are only adding more fuel to that fire.
-Just sayin
Of all the people in all the world, I would not have guessed that Robin Williams could ever take his own life. I think it’s safe to assume most of us considered him a brilliant comedian with many faces, none of which betrayed the apparent pain of the man beneath the masks. Exuberent, a real zest for life, hilarious!, spontaneous, genius, brutally honest, a family man as well as one of the most talented and creative actors of our time. These are words I would use to describe him. He sold us on what appeared to be one very funny man hooked on life.
So we’re left with the obvious question…. How could a man in possession of so much that is good.. choose to end it all in such a tragic way? He leaves behind a family who loved him… he had to know this choice would scar his family and leave them with painful unanswered questions forever.
I thank my stars frequently that I do not suffer from depression in the ways that torment so many. It must be a tremendous cross to bear. We all experience bouts of depression at some point in our lives for various reasons, but that type of depression is a different animal all together. From what I can gather, there isn’t a rhyme or reason for clinical depression, only the crushing sadness and despair. Ironic that some of the funniest men have fallen victim to the disease …Chris Farley, John Belushi, Freddie Prinz, Richard Prior… often turning to substance abuse and sometimes suicide to deal with or end the emotional pain. Did their comic genius have something to do with their depression? Perhaps a way to survive was to nurture the extreme opposite. Sad irony – that he was so good at getting us all to laugh and forget our own troubles for a while…but it wasn’t enough to save himself.
Well written piece HERE if you’re interested.
I’m not a big fan of reality TV in general, so let me admit that right out of the gate. It tends to bring out the worst in people.. .. think Housewives of ANYWHERE, The Bachelor, Jersey Shore, etc. . However, this most recent trend in reality TV… is OMG so Freak’n UNREAL! Well it IS real, and even though I sound like a blithering idiot here.. OMG so Freak’n UNREAL! What I really mean is GROSS. and… SERIOUSLY? Caps are annoying, aren’t they? So is naked reality TV.
Funny article I did not write …. “Romance is dead, right? VH1 figured out its been alive and well the whole time we’ve been mourning the loss, and wants everyone to know that getting naked while you date is how you find it. Enter the new series, Naked Dating.
VH1 has picked up the unscripted series for 10 weekly episodes, each centering on a man and a woman each dating two different (but equally nude) suitors. At the conclusion of each hour long episode, the contestants look back at their (naked) dates, and choose whether or not they want a second outing. So, basically, take The Dating Game, subtract clothes, and bam: you’ve got yourself some – Naked Dating – .”
I wish I could say that this is the only show of it’s kind. If you’re into this kind of thing, you can also catch Naked and Afraid, Naked Castaway, Naked Vegas and Buying Naked.
I actually watched one episode of Naked and Afraid – where contestants meet each other nude in some remote location, each gets a tool (no pun intended!) they think they will need for 21 days of survival in some freaky remote location.. kinda like naked survivor. This guy below shoulda asked for sunscreen – he got a severe sunburn on his very first day and most of the survival work for the first five days was left up to the woman on the right. She was a trooper and probably saved their naked behinds from crying uncle.
*sigh*
I don’t know about you, but even in my most stellar young days of unblemished unwrinkled unchildbirthed years, I would not want to meet a possible suitor stark naked, first thing. Kinda takes all the surprise element right out of the equation.
Then again…. maybe that’s not such a bad idea. If only being stark naked would bare everything.
Saw these on FB, couldn’t agree more. Thought I’d share them here with you today.
I knew she couldn’t keep it to herself. How long was the only question. All these years later…. like 16 or so? …. here we go again with the Lewinsky Clinton Circus. She’s finally writing her book, telling her story. Don’t we all know every single sordid stupid detail already? The Tripp tapes? The blue dress? Revolting Cigar use in the oval office?… blah blah blah blah blah.
She says now that while it was a consensual relationship, she was definitely taken advantage of. I beg to differ, Monica. Yes, our President was stupid beyond belief at that particular point in time and I will not try to defend him here. However, you were in full control of keeping your blue dress clean and your reputation unshattered if you had just had the respect to keep yourself away from the married President of the United States, regardless of his own ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLY ASININE POOR DECISION MAKING abilities at the time. I mean, really, Bill… WTF, a 21 year old intern? And you thought it wouldn’t leak out? Like she would keep screwing the President of the United States to herself??? You couldn’t wait till you were NOT the President of the US before doing something so stupid? I had faith in you. I still think you had some greatness in you, but you f-ed it up big time, Dude. BIG.
Anyway, I … will not…. be buying…. a book from THAT woman.
We were all saturated in every sordid detail of that ridiculous circus and I doubt there are any revelations worthy of our attention. As for all the Hilary haters who like to blame her for some part in that, or keeping Bill around afterwards.. well, she had no control over the proverbial cigar and she paid a very high price for two other people’s stupidity… You may have your opinions, but the truth is none of us knows all the details in their marriage or anyone else’s for that matter. In my opinion she handled that situation with more class and restraint than a lot of us are capable of, me included.
Please, Monica, just shut up and stop playing the victim. Your 15 minutes of fame were up a looooong time ago. Just..go.
Did you have a subject in grade school called “Current Events”? While I was mucking stalls this morning, gazing out over foggy fields and mulling over the days headlines, a fond memory floated in. Me..clipping articles out of the Staten Island Advance for my “current events” assignments in Mr. Rowans and Mr. Fiores class. I can still smell the white sticky paste with the accompanying brush I used to put the clippings in my marble notebook. I loved that part of our school day, because we were talking about the stuff that was occurring right outside in the real world. To this day I know for certain I should have been a journalist. Not the kind that sensationalizes or falsifies to -get a story- that will sell. But one who uncovers truths and helps set things right, brings attention to issues that need the attention, etc.
Anyway, we’ve got all kinds of news out there right now, controversy everywhere. Want to discuss? Hang on tight, I’ll ramble here a little and you let me know what you’re thinking on one or more of the subjects if you’re so inclined. You don’t have to agree with me or any others, but please keep it respectful.
Don Sterling… Congratulations to the NBA for making a strong statement – racism will not be tolerated in their league. They said it as strongly as the law will allow, and I applaud the decision. Racism should be a thing of our shameful past, and yet it still exists. I’m glad one more assh*le has been called out on it and will pay a dear price, even though he’s 120 years old and won’t really feel it for very long. Especially since he stand to gain approximately $500 million in the forced sale of his beloved mostly black team. Ironic, isn’t it?… that his mistress is of african american and hispanic heritage. And he chose to own a team in a sport that is predominantly black and has made much money off the efforts of his hard working team. This is filed under the category of – Things that make you go Hmmm…… – That being said, perhaps it is a bit disconcerting that we can be recorded and judged by things we say in our own home, in what we believe is a private conversation. I struggle between the two issues, because what he had to say, his attitude, was so vile to my ears I love to see the guy suffer publicly. I don’t like to think we have lost another right to privacy. It was also said by a friend of mine that people like Al Sharpton get away with racist crap all the time, and I agree! However, THIS guy was called out on it, and I feel every ass that is caught and exposed is one more ass that didn’t ‘get away with it. Better than nothing.
The Hunt For Flight 370. Is this getting utterly ridiculous now, or what? They hear pings, they don’t hear pings, they get satellite recordings, they don’t have satellite recordings. There is some oil slick discovery, it’s not an oil slick discovery. There are pieces of what might be a plane on sonar, it’s not pieces of a plane on sonar. Another plane discovered possibly, but not that one. There might be some wreckage from the flight, it’s not wreckage from the flight. The search narrows, the search expands, the search changes direction, the search continues… and continues… and continues. I feel so badly for the families who would really like some answers, but I want to tell them to please not look at the ridiculous news coverage anymore, it must be driving them crazy, quite literally. It seems bizarre that in this age of so many ways to track something, we have no f-ing clue what happened to that plane and it’s people or where it might be located.
A Botched Execution . Well, what to say here. I believe in the death sentence for violent criminals with a long history with the law who commit horrible crimes such as rape and subsequent murder. The Boston bomber? No remorse even?… give it to him. The most recent botched execution involves a man who no doubt died a miserable death, but his victim did too… raped and buried alive, therefore murdered. Her killer didn’t worry about being humane when he brutalized her. So how much concern should I have for his death being humane? But again, I’m conflicted, because two wrongs don’t make a right. And I find it hard to believe that we can’t figure out how to humanely euthanize our Death-Sentence citizens if we’ve decided we are indeed going to execute them. Is it really that hard?
The Weather Whew! Safe topic. I hope you are all staying warm and dry – looks like the sun is trying to burn through the fog here and the rain has stopped. We have flooding in low lying areas and my husband is cursing prolifically this moring as he makes his way around the job sites witnessing the water distruction and work that will need to be redone, repairs to be made. Prayers to those who have been affected in a big way and have suffered terrible losses due to the tornado and flood issues across the states… scarey deal, this extreme weather trend in recent years. Makes you wonder how far it will go.
It’s a new day, all. Try not to say anything offensive in your private conversations because your soon to be ex or 50 years younger mistress or boyfriend might be exacting their revenge. Try to be in range of a storm cellar at all times if you can help it, be on the lookout for plane wreckage wherever you may be, and steer clear of any criminal activity that might land you in the execution chair, because they don’t know what they’re doing yet and it might get a little ugly, apparently.
*sigh* – Just sayin.
An apparently spontaneous attack on a 93 year old woman by a recently adopted ( alleged) Put bull type dog with no record of aggression in a local town and then… another breed close to my heart biting the face of a family member resulting in 200 stitches has me thinking and pondering motive. I’m often asked why, because people want to understand what causes a sudden attack. I don’t have all the answers. Whenever I’m not sure I look to human behaviour ( sorry I just have to spell it the British way) for clues and ultimately answers.
The point is that whilst attacks on people by dogs or any other animals are terrible, they are still very low compared to the number of dogs and humans on the planet and must be kept in perspective. Humans attack one another daily, often without motive, leaving us vulnerable and questioning society, but we don’t ban humans because that’s just not reality. We look to understand the early warning signs so that future tragedies may be avoided. An example was the young man who killed so many children in our home state of Connecticut. He did not fit the typical mould of a mass killer.
We understand so little about one another yet we insist other species share our lives, demanding virtual perfection and wonder why things go wrong when we expect so much compliance from them and they fall short of our expectations.
Maybe we should lighten up a little on those other species when we the superior species just cannot get it right; at least not all of the time. We must hold ourselves more accountable before judging lesser species. A little perspective never hurt anyone.
– Amen.
*sigh*
Another story in yesterdays news… a 93 year old woman was bitten by a pit-mix, says the media, while out walking in her neighborhood. Ofcourse what follows is an ugly comment war between pit bull haters and pit bull supporters, and I’m sure you guessed it ……. you-know-who just can’t help but interject.
Here’s my stance. I think pit bulls have gotten a really bad reputation, unjustly so. Are they capable of inflicting BIG harm to a person? You betcha. Anything with teeth is capable. Any breed of DOG is capable of attack and biting. My seven lb. dachsund bit a UPS Driver with the ferocity and intention to lay that sucker down! What has to happen is, anyone who owns a dog needs to be responsible for their proper treatment, care, socialization. If you’ve got a big dog, you need to have it under your control at all times and if you’re not ready for that responsibility, then it’s not for you.
Here’s a truth – Pits have a powerful jaw and they can do serious damage, even causing death in some circumstances. Another truth – There has been mauling and death with other breeds as well, it is not just a pit bull thing. At the hands of certain ill-intending groups of people, The PIT bull, however, has been exploited and bred and trained to fight and kill, earning it the most feared and ugly reputation in the dog world. Those particular dogs have issues, as would any abused soul, and need rehabilitation if they are rescued. Some are beyond help after being so horribly abused, tortured, maimed. That’s a sad fact too.
Years ago, when I was young, it was the rottweiler, not the pit, who had the bad rap. I’ve raised two of those with my children, never was there a moment that I couldn’t trust them with my kids or even strangers, but I was denied homeowners insurance because we had a rotti in the house.
Another truth – because I am in dog rescue, I see many pits around here. I have yet to come across one that is aggressive. Strong, energy packed ? Thick headed with training sometimes? Absolutely, and any adopter thinking of becoming a pit owner should know they have an athlete on their hands. But they are also incredible family members and children and grandchildren are raised with them. Pitbull ownership isn’t for everyone…. I’d tell you the same about my Dane, Ben. At 190 lbs., he weighs more than me and is stronger. I keep that in mind whenever I take him in public and I do not let strangers approach, just because it’s smart to do so. Common sense. There it is.
The hysteria and hyperventilating and name calling and accusations that fly in the comments of that story today are awful. It’s not just the cries to euthanize all pits because they are dangerous, or the nasty name calling and sarcasm and opinions not based on fact.. it’s the way we talk to each other when we don’t agree. How can there possibly be a solution if we can’t be civil in discussing a problem or crisis or issue or claim? And Lord, when will prejudice not be a word in our vocabulary?
*sigh* Just…. sayin.