Immigration

Since the topic of immigration seemed to touch a nerve I decided to blog about it. Personally I'm all for immigration, but with conditions. Most importantly, follow proper legal procedure and pay your share. Next, learn the bloody language. This is America, an English speaking country. We should never ever have to press 1 to continue in English. Finally, you are coming to America to be an American so you damned well better act like one.

If you want to be Mexican, befriend only other Mexicans and speak only Spanish then stay in Mexico. This applies to all other nationalities as well. This is America, by coming here you imply that you want to be American. Learn the customs and follow the rules. I'm not saying that immigrants should forget their heritage, that's an unreasonable request and one with no merit whatsoever. It is quite reasonable however to ask, even to demand, that once you are an American you start acting like it. If that's a problem, leave.

What follows is the text of an e-mail I received not too long ago, the general theme is the same."Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration. Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests.

Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, 'I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors; I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).'

According to the protesters, not only must you let me stay, you must add me to your family's insurance plan, educate my kids, and provide other benefits to me and to my family (my husband will do your yard work because he too is hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part).

If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends, who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be there. It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm hard-working and honest, um, except for well, you know.

And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of selfishness and prejudice. Oh, and I want you to learn my language so you can communicate with me."

Only in America.... Pass it on (in English) if you find this ridiculous. Share it if you see the value of it as a good simile or even just to provide a smile

Mandatory Urine Tests?

It's official, I'm losing my mind. This will be the second time in a week that I decided to write another blog entry then forgot what I was going to blog about. Duh me. After forgetting what I was going to blog about I figured I'd just rant about something but after thinking about it for a few minutes I realized I wasn't even pissed off about anything. How's that for scary?

To prevent the cobwebs from forming I have to put something here so I'll just start posting the forwarded e-mails which I receive almost daily. This one comes (supposedly) from the readers' opinion column of a newspaper in Riddle, Oregon. For those of you who don't know, the random urine test the writer refers to are the random drug screenings required by a majority of employers in the US.

"I have a question, not only for Douglas County, but for the entire state of Oregon. Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me, i pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as they see fit. In order for me to get that paycheck I am required to pass a random urine test, which I have no problem with.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check, because I have to pass one to go earn it for them?

Please understand, I have nothing against helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sit on their butt. Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?"

While it sounded kind of funny at first, the more I think about it the more I realize that the writer may actually have a valid point. What do you think?

Hating on Yahoo!

I'd like to take this opportunity to loudly declare my firm belief that YAHOO! SUCKS!. Lately it seems that every part of their services have been screwed up. As usual, if you do manage to get a response from an actual person at Yahpoo! Customer Care they just tell you that they were unable to replicate the problem then try to pass it off as a problem with your computer.

360° is screwy, html blog entries require repeated and extensive re-editing before they post correctly and the Share Photos feature seems to be broken too. I got so fed up that I made a myspace page and copied most of my blogs to it.

Y! Photos is all buggered up too. It seems they've updated the whole interface and given it some new features. Nice! Too bad most of it doesn't work.

Yahoo! Message Boards are screwed up, "technical difficulty" error messages out the wazoo. Sometimes they open, sometimes they don't. Sometimes when they open correctly they even remember your settings! Wow ... progress!

Then we get to Yahoo! Answers. It used to be fun helping people out but now the site is now full of assholes, idiots, spammers, homophobes, racists and any other low-life form of bigoted horse's ass you can imagine so I quit going there. Now I have to find something else to do, again. Viva la Yahpoo!!