Monday, May 22, 2006

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

Our Church group put together a "kids" version of "Fiddler on the Roof" this past weekend. The show was on May 21th. A great Birthday for me since Olivia participated in the play as Chava.

All kids did great in their performance. Ages varied from 7 to about 14. Olivia being the youngest, who by the way will turn 8 this Wednesday.

We went to a restaurant to celebrate her introduction to theater as well as to celebrate my 41 birthday....

I do not feel it though, I keep telling myself that I am stuck on 30's.

See more of the pictures on my flicker page...

Monday, May 15, 2006

NATIONAL GUARD ON THE BORDER

So, it finally happened.
National Guard on Mexico-US Border
Bush is going to supposedly announce that the National Guard from Border States is going to go and assist the border patrol in their quest to control the borders of the US and Mexico. IN MY HUMBLE OPINION:

The presence of armed military men/women is going to be the only way to decrease the entry into the US (from Mexico) by undocumented immigrants. The same should be done along the border with Canada.
The mere presence of armed military forces along the border is going to create friction between people who live close to the border on both sides. There was a shooting of a young kid (American) by a group of military folk a few years ago, who were "assisting" the border patrol then. They thought that he was a drug smuggler, since he had a small shooting rifle on his back. He was actually herding a bunch of goats close to the border and close to the town that he lived in.
The presence of the military will have a positive effect on the entry of "mules", or people carrying drugs into the US through the border. Undocumented entries will continue, albeit in smaller numbers. People will still risk getting caught and returned. Petty drug smugglers however, will not want to risk getting shot or imprisoned for some quick dollars.
The challenge will be in making sure that the members of the National Guard can distinguish between a mule and a simple migrant. Problem is, they look the same. Perhaps some of the people who already served in Iraq can be called back and placed on the border with Mexico, they already have the experience of dealing with stressful situations and can keep their cool and not be too quick to get into a shoot out. Unless of course it is necessary if and confronted by Armed drug smugglers.
Aside from what the President of Mexico says about the placement of the military on the border, this is an issue that had to be addressed by the US Government. Bush may be doing it to placate the conservative forces opposed to his stance on immigration and many groups from the left will decry the militarization of the border, but it is a necessary step. Once that step is taken, then some kind of amnesty for current undocumented immigrants must follow and only after they have satisfied a set of requirements imposed by the government.
Many other countries have the military guard their borders, why not the US?

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Thursday, May 11, 2006

MOTHERS' DAY

What is the meaning of mother's day?
Yes, to recognize and appreciate your mom and any and all moms. Happy mothers' day to you all.
Of course that was yesterday in Mexico. It will be mothers' day here on Sunday. A Bolivian friend told me that in Bolivia they celebrate in on May 27.
SO, why the difference in dates?..
Is it the same in Europe? Asia?
I wish my mom was here so I could wish her a happy mother's day.
I am sure she has a few happy days in her life. I make her cry when I talk to her. Are they tears of sadness?, happiness?
I don't know.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

MAY

The heat is back.
So far a week of great weather, a bit sunny but perfect-not too hot. SOon though, it will be upwards of 100 degrees here.
In the meantime, here are some shots of what is going on in Vegas..


Recently, there was a convention of Harley owners at the place where I work. I've never seen so many Harleys in one place.




Also,
at my daughters school, they had a Patriotic program where all the second graders sang and danced...
Good Show.


Life just goes on...

Monday, May 01, 2006

CRIPPLE THE ECONOMY?

"Illegal Aliens-Fail to shut down US"--CNN
Listening to the news shows this afternoon, you'd think that the marchs and protests today were geared towards, "crippling the economy", or "shutting down America."
I don't think there is anything that can accomplish that, short of war, as we saw back in 09-11. So a country wide march or protest will not ever accomplish that.

That is not the goal. The goal is to send a message to the leadership of this country to consider granting some sort of amnesty to undocumented aliens, or illegal, however you want to refer to them. Sure there were calls for not attending school and not going to work. When you are counting on the hours that you put in to work to pay for bills, rent etc, it can be a bit hard to skip work. There are ways of getting out of work by requesting the day off, or ask for vacation days, but if they are not granted, you can risk getting "counseled" or even fired. So, to those who missed a day of work, I salute you. To those who couldn't, try and support in one way or another.
I still believe that in the long run, the marches will have their desired effect and in some way or another, there will be legislation that will help many people without documents attain them or at least not make them criminals just for lack of documents.
What happens after today?..
Hard to tell, I am sure that there will be more, though not as wide spread or as high in numbers as today.