November 2014

I’m totally behind President Obama’s enacting the Dream Act for undocumented “aliens”, who under age sixteen, were brought to this country by their parents.   The Dream Act is not an amnesty program; those children receive no “entitlement benefits”.   The Dream Act states that an undocumented person who resided in our country for at least five years and has graduated high school or has received their GED, (and who have no significant problems with the law) can then go to college for at least two years or join our military to EARN legal residency in our country, through obtaining renewable work permits.   This is a compassionate humanitarian response to addressing these children who have been brought to our country through no fault of their own, these children pledging allegiance to our flag, and many of them knowing no other national anthem than ours.  Many of these young people who are in the top of their class stand to contribute significantly to our country’s economy, technologies, education and military protection of our interests in the world.   It is a travesty that right-wingers want to declare President Obama as a “lawless anarchist” for signing such an Executive Order — to allow a PATH TO citizenship for these persons, and that many in the right-wing are advocating for impeachment proceedings against our president!  Legislators need to come together to work on common-sense comprehensive immigration reform for the other people who are in our country illegally, and much has been done to strengthen our borders.  The majority of American citizens want to see REAL progress on this issue.  And “No”, the majority of U.S. citizens did not exercise their right to vote this month, so the “majority” was not heard from due to apathy, complacency, and general ignorance.  More “illegal aliens” have been deported under the Obama administration than under any other U.S. President, ****** so the HATERS  need to QUIT spewing their lies about how Obama has opened up our borders to allow all the lawless Mexican hordes into our country to rape, murder and pillage.  Step away from the TV set  if Faux Noise is “channeling the “News”; it’s a pure evil propaganda machine and WILL WARP your mind!!  (The same goes for  The Weekly Standard, which is an EXTREME right-wing propaganda rag of a magazine!)  Just sayin….     ****** And I wrote this blog before hearing about Obama’s latest plans, which I heartily approve!!  Go Barack; kick their asses!! He needs to roll out his immigration changes and work for great change whether the House and Senate want to work or not!

Are some of you readers asking yourselves HOW this GOP sweep happened, despite the extremely poor performances of House Repubs in recent years?   How they can cause the federal govt. to shutdown, use dirty tricks to cause voter suppression, be against immigration in a land of immigrants, against affordable medical care for all our citizens, against a living-wage our for nation’s workers, against help for seniors, veterans, and the poor in this country while we send billions of dollars in aid to other countries, and even be against requiring RX plans to provide low-cost birth control for women in 2014?  Why were so many Repubs voted in when we know what they’re for: WAR, corporate welfare, tax breaks for the rich, and pillaging programs like Social Security and Medicare.  I almost never agree with Harry Bulkeley, but we agree on this: NOT everyone should vote!  When all these ill-informed people tear themselves away from viewing their Fox News channel to get to the polls, or read the propaganda clips online from The Weekly Standard, and base their entire worldview and opinion on these misinformation sources…..this is what happens.  When citizens in our country know and care more about how a football game works than they do about how their government is supposed to work…..that’s a problem!       ****************************************  Now that the Senate and House will both be controlled by Repubs, the President will sign Executive Orders (like every President has done), and Ted Cruz will lead the charge to impeach our President for over-reach and general “lawlessness”, because the Repubs have stupidly forgotten the disastrous effects on their own party from the last time they tried that action. And the 2016 Repub hopefuls they’re announcing now are: Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Rand Paul, and Chris Christy. OMG!!  That’s the best the country has to offer for Repub Presidential hopefuls?  Yeah, that’s what I thought!

Sure I do.  The Boston Marathon bombers identities were discovered due to surveillance tape, and many other criminals have been apprehended due to their acts or appearances being caught on video camera.  Many large cities have used traffic light cameras and license plate readers, which are becoming more commonplace.  Businesses have long used “in store” video cams to record thefts, and for security in their parking lots.  “Cameras paired with software that compares plate numbers with lists of wanted suspects, missing persons, and stolen vehicles” is a big step forward in helping police track criminals. Video footage has long been used in court cases to prove all manner of offenses, so there are obviously many people who do not think about the possibility of their acts being recorded.  I don’t think the majority of people have a sense of “no privacy” at this time, but Big Brother is watching, or can watch you, so don’t screw up.  I do see a need, however, to come up with rules that set a proper “balance between the legitimate needs of law enforcement and civil liberties”.  And I think uniform cams would be a good next step in law enforcement for officers and citizens.