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