Representative Honda gives some solid points, demonstrating that in all of the talk about immigration reform, its been focused has been primarily on just one immigrant group. but often in the same conversations, people talk about how diversity is one thing that makes America great.
one of the commenters called for a stop to H1B-Visas and other similar temporary worker programs until the American unemployment rate decreases, and ‘Americans actually have jobs again’. while he makes a valid point that the unemployment rate in this country has reached a terrifying high and more work needs to be done to create new jobs and put Americans into jobs, this type of rhetoric about stopping the ‘foreign intellectuals’ from coming over to take ‘our jobs’ can quickly slip into ‘anti-foreigner’ xenophobia. as Representative Honda points out, the H1B immigrants coming from China or India are starting new companies here. The new income created is going into the American economy, their companies like all other American companies need to be offered incentives to stay in the country, and to provide employment to people here. According to a UCLA report, by tying a comprehensive immigration reform system to attract these newly formed immigrant companies to stay in the US, that can add 1.5 trillion to the GDP over the next 10 years. considering the deficit we have now, any way we can start to shrink that exorbitant number, the better.
another misconception that Representative Honda corrected was which countries are receiving the largest amount of remittances. With the focus of the immigration reform battle on Latinos and the money being sent back to Latin America, he writes that we are overlooking it is actually Asian countries receiving the most in remittances. this point may be directly refute my previous paragraph that Asian immigrants are starting new companies here and keeping the money in the American economy. But it actually adds another layer to the debate. The American government needs to create incentives for companies to keep their money rolling in this country, but that overlooks how interconnected all the economies in the world are to each other. also, immigrants send back remittances to their families because their situation in the home country is much more dire. that’s why the immigrants chose to come to America, they believe opportunities are here for a better life. a reform of the immigration system must address the backlog in visas, these applications are often of families who have someone already living in the states. The Reuniting Families Act is one piece of legislation that can help address how much in remittances is being sent abroad, more of that money can stay within America to create more jobs and opportunities.
Representative Honda is right that we can’t ignore any immigrant group in the push towards a better immigration system, each has specific distinctions that have deeper class, education, and economic implications. For any sort of immigration reform to be comprehensive, it must also be inclusive.
solid mugs in solid colors. it’d be difficult to choose, but i think i’m turquoise 3272 C. popdeluxe sells them cheaper here, design warehouse just has a better layout of what the mugs actually look like.
i’ve been stuck inside my apt during the snowpocalypse of 2010. there must be about 2 feet of snow outside, very little sign of life on the roads right now. with that, instead of working on graduate school applications, i’m going to read, eat junk food, watch movies about the caribbean, and try to stave off cabin fever. i should be looking at pictures taken in warm climates right now, but this series is so stunning, i’ve got to post it up.
This new series, Icebergs begins to explore what are currently the most geopolitical and geographically sensitive shorelines on earth.
Formally different than my previous work, but motivated by similar principals, these images attempt to encapsulate both the otherworldliness and the vital reality of the northern seas and oceans. I was drawn to the fragility and grace of the frozen landscape. For me, the work is both a celebration of nature’s survival and an elegy.
The majority of the images were made using a gyro stabilized medium format and a panoramic 6×17 handheld camera from the side of small open boats and large ice strengthened ship. Several were made from shore with a tripodmounted camera. Originally conceived of as a black and white monochrome project with the images shot in Greenland 2007, the unique and surreal color palate of these extreme latitudes compelled the addition of colour. It is a hint of what Norwegian Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen was alluding to when he wrote:
“Nothing is more wonderfully beautiful can exist than the arctic night. It is a dreamland, painted in the imagination’s most delicate tints: its colour etherealized. One shade melts into the other, so that you cannot tell where one ends and the other meets, and yet they are all there.”
David Burdeny is doing amazing work. I admire his dedication, and his reasoning for capturing the images he does. his Sacred and Secular, along with Europe series posted on his website are gorgeous.
this is some surprising and alarming news coming out of california. i was surprised to read about the loose record-keeping california has been doing of women experiencingcomplications, and dying from childbirth. it seems a bit sensationalist to write “mortality numbers in california are higher than those in kuwait or bosnia”, but it does bring to attention that this shouldn’t be the case at all. while the california healthcare system is overworked and underfunded, it should also be better simply because of where and what it is.
the biggest issue of this report is what the prevalence of c-sections is having on the health of delivering moms. Perhaps its a sign that we can try to schedule everything, hair appointments or… when to have a baby, but at a certain point, nature will fight back. i was surprised that they were keeping track of how many women were being affected by childbirth complications, but not why. This report deserves more attention, and hopefully will make other states look into their own statistics. When doctors start figuring out “the why” behind these mortality numbers, that can be a significant contribution to the need for America to overhaul our healthcare system. Because women are dying giving birth, in a ”first-world’, developed, industrial country’. We will be able to claim to be at the forefront of healthcare when we have the numbers of healthy people to back it up.
this song isn’t new, but i’ve rediscovered the Ting Tings and I love them. i want to be Emily White’s friend, and also have full access to her wardrobe. how much fun does this paint party look? there are so many unused warehouse spaces, this should happen more.
i’m still in a bit of shock at how the campaign for healthcare reform has turned out. I knew there was going to be a fight, but I thought eventually it would get passed and then… I would feel a lot safer riding around on my bike.
Back in November, I saw Secretary Napolitano speak at the Center for American Progress, and she told a very full crowd of press and policywonks that the White House is beginning to lay the groundwork for immigration reform in 2010.
senator mccain will be a pivotal figure in the reform process. as the healthcare fight has demonstrated, the dems need several allies in the republican party for any sort of progress or discussion to occur. its frustrating that these issues of immigration and healthcare just become a platform for fighting over party politics. they affect the daily lives of so many people living in America, their ability to access healthcare, their ability to work and receive educations, but when the leading government takes over it in attempts to make it run better, these issues become tangled in politics and compromise. temporary guest worker programs are going to have to be brought up. organized labor has already come to say these programs are going to just further complicate the case of visas and citizenship.
its certainly going to become more difficult to bring up as the year goes on. it’s unfortunate that no matter how much more important and bigger of issues healthcare and immigration are than politics, getting new reform passed ultimately comes back down to fighting over politics. the push to reform healthcare should have been smoother because so many Americans do not have coverage, and it is an issue that surpasses race, class, and geography. immigration is openly about class, race, jobs, education, and the economy. the more i write and think about the need for immigration reform, the more i realize i need to be doing more than just writing and thinking about it. back to the job search as soon as i post this.
my new favorite thing this fall/winter has been the cable-knot oversized, wraparound cowl scarf. i love the silhouette it gives, and the texture and the warmth it provides. mostly i love that you pull it over your head, keep it as a hood or let it drop, and however it falls will be soft, warm and beautiful. maruna & tagua of the hemp house, and yokoo have etsy pages replete with gorgeous wraps. and look, while i was procrastinating on this post, i went over to the NYTimes page to find a story about etsy sellers turning their business into their fulltime jobs, the 1st seller is Yokoo (!). but back to the scarves. definitely check out maruna & tagua and yokoo, their products are beautiful, and it may not be too late to order something for the holiday gift-giving. and its never too late to just get something to keep warm post-holidays -> it looks to be a loong, and blustery cold winter.
Meg from Decor-it-yourself has a great Holiday Gift Guide, that also includes how to make your own Holiday Stockings. All the items are totes cute, but these wooden bottle openers caught my eye. I particularly covet the Elephant and Owl, they’re gorgeous, and classy. their immediate purpose isn’t too obvious, and they’ll look good on any bar.
as an aspiring bartender, I realize i need to know as much as I can about alcohol andspirits, but also about how to deal with the side effects these wonderful, tasty liquids can also produce. we often get requests for coffee around ‘Last Call” at the bar. but we only serve a french press coffee, and the grinder is in the kitchen that has usually already been cleaned and stored away for the night… but i get the loose connection that caffeine will wake you up and not feel as drunk, however that’s quite a dangerous way of thinking, especially if you’re about to get into a car to drive home to arlington or silver spring. even with all the campaigning and sobering statistics, I’m still amazed that so many people drive intoxicated.
The last line of the BBC article may be the best summary: ”The bottom line is that, despite the appeal of being able to stay up all night and drink, all evidence points to serious risks associated with caffeine-alcohol combinations.” but as with many of these studies that contradict each other, MSNBC reports that drinking coffee may help reduce the risk of getting cirrhosis, a scarring of the liver due to excessive drinking. if we combined the findings of these 2 studies, the conclusion would be – yes, you should drink coffee, but not when you are drunk to sober you up. but if you do become drunk a lot, a good way to stave off the bad alcohol effects is to drink coffee. you shouldn’t combine them, but it is advised to use them in conjunction… i have no idea where espresso martinis fit into this.
i love these rings from molla space, I particularly covet 7 Days and Twist #4 - the smooth industrial design and how by adding a corner, or smoothing out a side, it gives the ring a completely different look and feel. it’s cool to read how the designers thought about how the corners interact with the light and how the person’s experience wearing the ring would perhaps play out. if something that strong, with some presumable weight and sharp corners, was on your finger, there’d be no doubt you’d be well aware of it. but in a good way, it’s modern concrete architecture you can wear on your finger.
reached a terrifying high and more work needs to be done to create new jobs and put Americans into jobs, this type of rhetoric about stopping the ‘foreign intellectuals’ from coming over to take ‘our jobs’ can quickly slip into ‘anti-foreigner’ xenophobia. as Representative Honda points out, the H1B immigrants coming from China or India are starting new companies here. The new income created is going into the American economy, their companies like all other American companies need to be offered incentives to stay in the country, and to provide employment to people here. According to a UCLA report, by tying a comprehensive immigration reform system to attract these newly formed immigrant companies to stay in the US, that can add 1.5 trillion to the GDP over the next 10 years. considering the deficit we have now, any way we can start to shrink that exorbitant number, the better.
