Ahh The Spin

  The article I am posting this week is by Fox News and has some of the most far leaning right wing news i have seen on the topic so far. The House has passed a more or less symbolic bill on the floor and it will in essences do nothing more than serve to make the republicans like they actually have some sway. The article uses quotations around tons of words to draw negative attention to them. if you are trying to write a persuasive paper, give this a read and use some of the spin moves. Cheers, John Here is the article: Fox Spin

Obama makes good

So this is happening right now, President Obama has eased the minds of some five million immigrants who are in this country illegally but  know no other place as their home. He has given a sort of amnesty to those who are here already as the parents of children who are American citizens through birth. I personally think this is the best thing he could have done and hopefully this will force the hand of the house and now the senate to get off of their over paid duffs and do what the people of this country sent them to Washington to do I the first place; run this country. The lack of education amongst the main body of politicians of the hill is appalling and the president should have done this long long ago. I for one think this action was long over due and am very grateful the country is moving in the right direction agin. America was and still is built on the backs of immigrants and immigration and were it not for the decades of it ,we would never have become the greatest nation on the planet. Obama

Politicians Are Missing The Boat; Again!

    This week I am posting an article that clearly states that the actual immigration numbers, both illegal and legal, don't match the current policies that are being discussed by the politicians in DC and the state levels. Not surprising as they are so dysfunctional its amazing they even know what year it is any more. Much of the policy that is being discussed now focuses on immigrants from Mexico but data suggests that most new immigrants aren't even coming from there in large numbers. The current data shows immigration for just Mexico has leveled off and now immigrants from Asia, India, and Central America have the lions share. As usual the politicians are creating votes for themselves through fear mongering and state sanctioned racism, all the while the federal government wont even give them the time of day in court. You can access the article here and decide for yourself: Politics??

Florida Split Into Two States?

   As I mentioned in class. their are some people in Florida who want the state cut in two, with the new Northern boundary set at the northern boundary of my old county, Brevard.  The reasons for the split aren't the obvious ones. It is actually much less complicated than the differences between demographics. In spite of what I was assuming the real reason that the two congress men who pushed the bill it is quite different indeed. The two people seem to think that the current state of Florida is not doing enough about climate change and they are of the belief that the entirety of south Florida will be underwater, sooner rather than later, and the current state is not doing enough to prepare. They say the state has no plan now or for the foreseeable future and that is why they want the split. They have the most to lose after all.  Huh, super interesting  but I don't see it happening. People in California have been trying to tear the state apart almost as long as it has been one; and you see how that has worked out for them. You can access the article here: Florida

The Tea Parties Problem

The article I am sharing this week is about the Tea Party and Cuban immigration. The Tea Party stands for the most part as far left on the immigration debate as one could be, except that is for their two most recent and rising stars. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who just so happen to be Cuban-Americans who have both benefited from immigration to this country. The article talks about the status of Cuban immigration and the conundrum between these two men and their parties preverbal line drawn in the sand. The article also mentions amnesty for those here illegally already, which Cruz staunchly opposes, but the majority of Americans seem to be okay with some. The Tea Party has played games with American politics, causing to many problems for far to long and its time Americans recognized them for what they are, Isolationist war hawks. You can access the article here: Cuba

Castro's Impact on Florida

The article I am posting this week is about Florida, Cuban immigrants, and the impact they have made on every aspect of life in the state. I lived in Florid from 1986 until 2003 and during those years went to Miami on several occasions. The article states that South Florida is bilingual, I would say this is really false, Spanish is almost exclusively spoken everywhere, except the major malls , but even there Spanish dominates. It is almost like going to Havana I would imagine. But Miami also has some very distinct ethnic enclaves. The Cubans and all other cultures in south Florida have made an incredibly unique and amazing experience. read here: Cuban Refuges

Working on the Border

This weeks chapter reminds me of  my time in the Army. For a three month period I was deployed to the US-Mexico border to help build a road and  bridge over the Rio Grande. We lived in the desert in and around Eagle pass Texas and El Indio Mexico. The border there was just as they say in the article; almost nonexistent, or completely figurative really, and very lightly guarded. The article I am attaching sites ridicules figures that the United States government is throwing at the border "problem". This is in my opinion a waste of resources. This country was and still is made and carried on the backs of immigrants and really all of our families were  at one point immigrants. The administration needs to get off its ass and make immigration reform a real priority and stop wasting my money. You can access the article here and make your own dicision: Aljazeera

Japanese Internees Warn of History Repeating Itself

              The Aljazeera article I am posting this week is about a recent day of remembrance organized by Japanese Americans. The day was held to pay respect to Japanese who were incarcerated in camps during World War Two. The article draws the connection between the mania that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and a similar hysteria directed toward Muslims following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The article highlights the constant struggle that minorities and really we all as Americans and Global citizens face for civil liberties and our own basic human dignity. I think Mark Twain said it best when he was referencing patriotism, Twain asserts, "patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it". Sometimes the people who end up running the country and make our national policy do so while their thoughts are clouded by fear and the unfortunately end up acting reactionary, causing more problems than would have ever been possible before. You can access the article here: Aljazeera

Illegal Immigration Is Nothing New

      The website I have lined up here sheds some light on the idea that most immigrants that came in the nineteenth century would have a very hard time meeting the requirements to immigrate today. Immigration is still a very hot topic and makes the headlines every other day it seems. This website suggests that immigration is a fluid concept in the United Staes and has and still is open for debate. It is my belief that all people, from everywhere should be able to come to America and get their citizenship. This is not a country where you are judged by who your father was but you are judged by your actions. Your life is not predetermined here. Immigration Policy Center

"Creating Something Entirely New"

       The article I found was pulled from the Tenement Museum's website which we checked out briefly in class. It grabbed my attention as it is about Germans and their contribution to the beer culture and industry in early America. Brewing beer was an iconic trade that they brought with  them when the moved to the United States. The article mentions a few different types of beer and in particular lagers and pilsners which the Germans are famous for making. When they brought these styles of beers to the United States no one was drinking them;they revolutionized beer drinking and brewing in America. Budweiser, Coors, and  Miller are all examples of lagers and are some of the most prolific beers on grocery store shelves all of which were brewed originally by German Americans. I moved to Santa Clara about three years ago from Portland Oregon, which some would consider the craft beer capitol of the world and I must admit that I am a lover of craft beer so that is really what drew my attention to this piece.  I  also found it very interesting how Nick Capodice and Kira Garcia, writing for the Tenement Museum, reminded me of the chapter from this week. They state, "However, they’d (the two people who owned the bar in the tenements) both lived in New York City since their early teens, so they weren’t trying to recreate ‘home’. I think they were trying to create something entirely new. Sure, they were all speaking German, but the clientele was a hodgepodge of folks from all over the place. They’d be talking about home, sure, but they’d be talking about American politics, rent, love, and all the things we talk about when we talk at bars." This perfectly sums up the way in which the German Americans must have felt; glad to be in America but stoically hanging on to the culture that made them so. You can access the article here: Tenement Museum

"No Irish Need Apply"

 

                Having a heritage of both German and Scotch-Irish decent I found this weeks readings and lectures very interesting.  The struggles that my ancestors must have faced I have a hard time even imagining. Life for them was a day to day fight for survival. I was aware or some of the hardships faced by the early Irish immigrants to the United States but what really surprised me was that they were even discriminated against by there our Irish predecessors. Hence that is where we get the term Scotch Irish. As the old pioneer Scotch-Irish didn't want to be lumped together with this new round of destitute, rough, Irish they created the term to segregate themselves form each other. It is unfortunate that people can be so shortsighted about what and where they came from, so much so that they would cast off their countrymen. The Irish that came over after the potato famine were not welcomed and the old Irish and the new cast of Americans immigrants made that very clear.


  http://www.newsleader.com/story/news/history/2014/08/15/tolerance-intolerance-mark-area-immigrant-story/14149553/

        Hello, I am excited to start this class and this semester. I have always had an interest in American history and have since a young age been investigating my family lineage and heritage.  It seems like this class will give me that opportunity again and hopefully in a more in-depth and extensive way. I agree completely that the United States was and still is being built and enriched by the immigrants that come and have come throughout the ages. My main area of interest in history is the study of military history and the history of warfare. With warfare being one of the main motivators for immigration, be it a push as in the cases of refugees or pull as is the case with some of the modern IDF solders that have left the US and enlisted to help fight with Israel, I will certainly have the chance to study through the lens of "ethnic history" and this class. Below is a link to an article about people from the US going to fight with the IDF.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/25/this-is-why-americans-go-fight-in-the-israeli-army/