immigration nation

Yesterday, my friend Irene and I drove to Los Angeles in order that she might buy supplies for a Samba costume she is making for the Brazilian Carnival. The store was in an area called the Garment District, which reminded me of commerce on the streets of Mexico or the markets in the Middle East - complete with international citizens! As illegal immigration is a hot topic in the mainstream political rhetoric, I am curious if many of the US Presidential candidates have actually interacted with many of these illegal workers, or truly understand to what extent they rely on the plummeting US economy for their livelihoods.

We walked along the streets lined with vendors speaking many different languages - mainly Spanish but a variety of others - while entertained by this, our goal was to find the supplies that Irene needed. A shiny silver applique of a Hamsa (popular Israeli/Jewish symbol as protector for doorways) on a black t-shirt - beckoned us into one of the shops. I had just given Irene a keychain of the same symbol a few days before as a present, with an all-seeing eye in the center. After we got inside the shop I looked for the Hamsa symbols, and was greeted by one of the employees who exclaimed "its a Jewish symbol!" I told him I knew what it was because i lived in Israel, and I then noticed he was wearing a yamika, traditional Jewish prayer cap.

While Irene was looking around the store, I went over to the front counter, where there was a menu of a nearby restaurant. It appeared to be in Arabic, so I started reading it in Arabic, without looking at the English translations. I was frustrated because I could not understand all of the words, and got a little down on myself since I stopped studying Arabic so vehemently about a month ago and thought I was getting rusty. I began to read aloud to the man with the yamika. He asked me if I studied the languages while in Israel and if I knew Arabic. I said "yes but Im having a hard time with this menu". He admitted to me that the menu was actually in Farsii, the Iranian language though very similar to Arabic - then I realized why I was experiencing so much difficulty! While most of the letters are pronounced the same, the language is different (something like the difference between English and Spanish), and Farsii has 2 more letters than the Arabic alphabet, which he pointed out to me on the menu. It all made sense - the menu was for a Persian restaurant around the corner.

I asked the man where he was from, and he told me he was from Iran. I asked in surprise "so you are an Iranian Jew?" He said YES, with a rather serious insider look on his face. I was overwhelmed with respect and said with equal seriousness, "its a good thing you got out of there!" to which he agreed intensely. I told him that the US Government is hiring people who can speak Farsii and Arabic to aid in their missions overseas, and asked him if he was a US citizen in case he was interested. He told me he was not yet a legal citizen, and I asked how long it took to become a citizen - to which he replied "6 years!" The Garment District seems like a safe place for immigrants on the path to citizenship to work in the meantime - a truly international haven.

Later that night when we returned from LA, Irene received a call on her cell phone, from a Brazilian friend's phone but it was not him calling - an unknown Mexican man had stolen his phone while he was in Mexico. We encountered the friend later, only to discover that on his way back from the border after he lost his phone, he had been robbed of everything else, including his Green Card which he needed in order to live and work legally in the United States. We are unsure at this point if he will get deported back to Brazil since he now has no legal identification, as his path to citizenship has been foiled by yet another person attempting to assimilate into this the immigrant nation.

political assassins II

Today, many of the streets of Jerusalem are blocked off due to security measures being taken during President Bush's visit to the Holy Land. American flags line the streets of the capital city of Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, in honor of the first US President to visit the Jewish State in 9 years. With the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, security measures are increased and the world is on full alert - at least among those who value the ongoing Middle East peace negotiations. A few days before Bush embarked on his journey, an American member of Al-Qaeda named Adam Gadahn released a public message on the heels of Osama Bin Laden's last videotape (which warned Muslims against supporting Iraq's US-backed government and promises of the "liberation of Palestine"). Gadahn has called on Muslim fighters (mujahidin) in Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula to welcome George Bush "not with flowers and applause but with bombs and traps" during his visit to the Middle East.

Meanwhile in New Hampshire, a victory for Arizona Senator John McCain means a steadfastness of the US presence in the Middle East and throughout the world if he can ride this winning streak into election as the next US President. In contrast, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton is seen crying on tape, at a public address to potential US voters, apparently upset about the current state of affairs America is in under the Bush Administration. I'm not sure that the condition her husband left the country in before Bush took over was necessarily rid of all problems and controversy with his own style of governance. But try not to imagine the US in an even worse scenario as a self-professing Christian nation: Clinton's main opponent, Barack Hussein Obama was raised for many of his pre-teen years as a Muslim in Indonesia. This might indeed create cooperation in the establishment of a one-world government and religion, at least as far as the terrorist states are concerned.

While speculation swarms around Bush's meetings with top officials this week, he stands firm on his position against radical Islamic terror. This is clearly stated by his repeated stance on the dangers of Iran's nuclear program, as evidenced in his plans to steer clear of the top terrorist territories on this trip - Gaza and Axis-of-Evil leader Iran. A photo of one Gazan protester's poster featured George Bush in a kaffiya, as a new leader of "Hamastine" if talks of a Palestinian state were to actually materialize. Often overlooked by the media, critics, and even some intelligence reports, George Bush understands our enemies well, and sees them as a clear threat to Western freedoms. Anyone who does not realize that may want to take a trip of the same itinerary and wager if they might successfully avoid assassination. Ok, I admit I am a bit jealous he gets to go to so many wonderful destinations during the next few days - an amazing opportunity!

Coincidentally, on the eve of Bush's visit to the region, Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed US Navy warships in a hostile attempt to make them leave the waters of the Persian Gulf. Not surprising, Iranian media and officials are denying the event, claiming the US video of the episode to be "fabricated". If anyone would have been harmed (as threats of war continue) would that have made its way to the media in an equally fabricated manner, or denied completely? How do we know what is actually taking place other than brief mainstream media reports overshadowed by reports of drug abuse throughout our prized entertainment industry? While much of America continues to pay little attention to international occurrences such as these, Britain, France and other major world powers have indeed stood behind Bush's push against the Axis-of Evil. I am fearing America's assassination, perhaps not by Iran or radical Islamic freedom fighters, but by the ignorance that is bred by Liberalism in an attempt to Liberate the Land of the ALREADY Free.