Illegal? No problem?

Immigration policy has been in the background of the news lately with the driver's license laws in California and the out-of-control Citizen's Boarder Patrol. The rights of illegal immigrants have come into question several times . I don't believe illegal immigrants should be able to collect the benefits of citizenship or legal immigrant status, including a free and public education. I also don't believe that the children of illegal immigrants should be able to participate in government programs even if they were born in the United States. The only real consequence for being illegally in the U.S. is to be deported, unless, of course, the person is of middle eastern origin (that is a different matter entirely). Only emergency medical care should be provided to those in the country illegally. For everything else, they're on their own. There is no reason why some people should be able to chose to bypass the legal immigration system and reap any kind of benefits. How do you feel about illegal immigrants receiving government services?

Demand Accountability, Demand Transparency

It is time for the people to finally demand what's been alluding us for years. While this can be seen in a political light, I think it needs to be applied to anyone with any kind of authority. From School Board members to CEO's to the President, we must demand accountability and transparency.

Our schools are suffering, our health care system is atrocious, and social security is dying. The public is not demanding that anyone be held accountable for these things. Senators and Congressmen are re-elected even though it's quite obvious we have some serious domestic issues. Reporters ask questions but don't require actual answers. CEO's embezzle millions and no one goes to jail. The Vice-President virtually disappears and no one asks where he's been. Parents don't get involved in their local schools. People pay thousands a year for prescription drugs and don't ask why they're so expensive. Americans are not demanding accountability from each other or their government. If things are going to improve, this is the first thing that must be changed.

People lie. People in power lie a lot. Especially when they've made a mistake. Demanding transparency doesn't mean needing to know everything about someone's personal life. It means demanding proof of what people say to us. We should see budgets and agendas for people in public office. We should know how every cent is being spent as well as what our Congressmen, Senators, and other federal, state, and local government personnel are doing during working hours. When we ask questions, we need to insist on getting the answers. We cannot allow ourselves to be appeased anymore. We know what we want. Why aren't we fighting for it?

Bush Is Boned!

I think I probably have a healthy distrust for my government. Part of my distrust comes from the number of members within our government, both Republican and Democrat, of the secret society known as Skull and Bones. This may be one of the strongest brotherhoods our country has ever seen. The Masons are also in question, but that's for another post. I don't want to engage in conspiracy theories concerning these organizations, but I do wonder about their success. What is it that has made them so successful, and how can we build our own organizations and mimic their success? I think this is one situation in which we need to fight fire with fire. I have linked this post with information on Skull and Bones. I think we need to discuss this organization and the motivation of its members. Are they only looking out for each other? Why was the organization formed in the first place? What do we know about its members and their philosophies? Are these the kind of people we want running our country?

So what do we do?

I happened to ask someone yesterday what we should do on a personal level to improve our current situation. Not only did he answer the question, but I was guilted into answering it as well. Here is a more thought-out version of the answer I gave him. Please note: clicking on the title of this post will lead you to a list of political action organizations.

I think we need to organize people in our communities by using the library system. Instead of discussing all of our various problems with the government we join together on one issue: Education. I chose education because it is through education that people learn to think for themselves, something I feel the government is trying to avoid at all costs as evidenced by NCLB. It is an issue everyone in the community can relate to, and it is a good way to rally communities around the schools.

So the question becomes: How do we organize groups of people and convince them that their participation in improving education is important? Offering free courses at local libraries in educational law is a great place to start. A lot of people really don't understand the No Child Left Behind Act and how badly it is hurting our students. Teaching parents how their children learn and lecturing on various learning disabilities is also helpful. Teachers and community leaders can volunteer to teach short classes at local libraries in politics, philosophy, and psychology. Finally, we can invite local politicians to speak to these classes and then ask them actual questions instead of the crap reporters ask. Writing Community Corner articles for our local papers about these classes and meetings increases visibility and participation. It's not something that can be done overnight, but it can be done.

No Food in Niger

People are starving to death in Niger. Why? No one paid attention when they begged the United Nations for aid after the locust swarm last year. They knew this was going to happen. They saw it coming. All they needed was a dollar per person in need. Now they need at least 8 because these people must be given health care as well. The harvest isn't for weeks and people aren't getting any less hungry. MSNBC has a list of organization accepting donations to avert the crisis.

This crisis brings up some questions. Why do we respond to tragedies rather than preventing them? Why do we only provide food rather than including the education needed for people in starving areas to find ways to feed themselves? Are we less able to care about the plight of the world with the economic problems we are facing? Have we forgotten that sometimes personal sacrifice is necessary to provide for the common good?

On Jon Stewart

I heard an interesting thing on Jon Stewart this weekend. Joe Biden said that he would have liked to see John McCain run with John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see a Republican and Democrat running together? It would prove once and for all that the Democrats are not all that far left of the Republicans and we need a third party to really stand up and speak for the people. I have found the position of the Democrats to be weak, and even Howard Dean can't pull it out of it's rut. Dennis Kusinich was closest to what being a Democrat used to mean, and unfortunately, no one paid attention to Ralph Nader. I know he couldn't have won, but don't people realize that if a third party candidate receives five percent of the vote, during the next election that party must receive access to federal campaign funds , lending those candidates visibility and a higher percentage of the overall vote, thereby restoring democracy to the two party system. I guess I'm thinking a little randomly this evening, but at least I'm looking toward a solution rather than focusing on the problem.

Men and Women

Gender roles have been changing steadily over the course of the last 100 years, and I think we may have done a little more harm than good. Women, in their struggle for equal rights, have missed certain essential truths about raising a family, and men, without realizing what harm it would do, decided that with both parents working there would be more money to take care of the family, which in America, is all you need, right? Everything that a family needs can be bought and paid for, house-cleaning services, nannies, day care, schools, and sports coaching. What cannot be replaced is the constant presence of a parent. Part of that comes from our economy. It's barely possible to raise a family when both parents are working, let alone only one. Part of it comes from our refusal to demand he right to spend time with our families. It's done well in nearly every industrialized country but ours. Many of our social problems come from the absence of parents in a child's life. Does this mean women should give back their rights? HELL, NO! They need to demand more equal partnerships, with men actually picking up half of the work, especially now that many women are making at least half of a family's money. And we all need to spend more time with our children, regardless of money or gender.

I'm a Geek, and Proud of It!

America's high school students are starting to realize that life is not about what you wear and what you watch, but what you do. The nerds are starting to realize that they are not alone. Finally, the band geeks, the science nerds, the orchestra dorks, and other academically inclined groups are banding together in recognition of the fact that they like school, they enjoy learning, and they are proud of it! It's a great trend and I hope it continues. I see a lot of Americans placing importance on things that matter little in the general scheme of things. Far too little focus is placed on excellence in academic areas, art, and music. In fact, as we are seeing, children have been ostracized for being interested in those things. If we want to change the way we look at education, we need to change the way we treat the people who are interested in learning.

Maybe We Should Learn Chinese

This article brings up a good point, American schools are lacking in cultural education. It's not just Chinese culture that our students are missing out on. The world has expanded. We can easily have contact with people of all cultures through the use of the Internet, phones, and even airplanes. We are severely behind in language education. A majority of Americans still speak only one language. An embarrassingly low number of Americans have passports and use them to travel often. Our knowledge of our own geography, let alone world geography, is reprehensible. We need to teach our children about the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America. We need to expand our idea of the world and how to interact with it. It starts with education.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are interested in boycotting all things Chinese, go to http://chineseboycott.blogspot.com. I should mention that I disagree with American relations with China, and I used China as an example because it was what the article was based on. I do believe that Americans have a limited view of the world, and the only way to remedy that it through study and travel.

Health Care Headaches

I've spent most of today in the University of Pennsylvania hospital waiting for my sister to be called into surgery. It has given me a troubling look at the health care system in our country and the people who rely on it. My sister has had to rely on the health care system since she was born with Tetrollogy of Fallot. When she turned 21, my parents had to petition their insurance company to keep her on because she cannot care for herself. She must rely partially on Social Security for income and health care. They have fought us tooth and nail on her open-heart surgery, and we were delayed hours today because they hadn't cleared her. It is now nearly five, we've been here since early this morning, and they have just taken her into the operating room. It took us all day to make sure the surgery was covered, and now we have to start working on her recovery. I'm tired, frustrated, haven't eaten in two days, and I could really use some help from my government.