When it comes to forming an opinion, we rely on pretty much two forms of information. Anecdotal, such as stories or personal experiences, and statistical, such as crime numbers and other data. A report came out recently that have a lot of people up in arms about the crime rate along the Arizona boarder (good article here about it). Numbers have gone up since 2000, but some are pointing out that 2000 was a strangely low crime year. I like numbers but these seem to be some pretty complicated ones. An NPR piece from a few days ago covers the issue in much more detail if interested.
Well, after hearing the report, I found myself in a conversation with a friend at work. He is biligual and worked for a time in out collections department (I work for a credit union). Being the only spanish speaker in the department, he had to deal with the Latino side of the situation and left with a bad taste in his mouth for immigrants. Rightfully so if you ask me, when all you see is the bad side of a population it would be hard not to come away with a negative outlook.
I on the other hand, who see a lot of good in our immigrant population, formed my opinions in a different yet very similar manner. I got to spend two years in California teaching and serving them the best I could. I saw their hard ships, their desires and heard their stories. I got to see their good side which, just like my friend, changed how I saw them. I developed a love for their people and plight that still brings my emotions to the surface quite easily. I even wrote a song about it with my band (The Sweater Friends) called Us and Them based on a friend I made who left her job as a nurse in Mexico City to give her children the live she felt the deserved.
Is there a right answer to the situation? Can there be one? I don't know. The drug wars that are slaughtering boarder towns on the Mexico side must be terrifying to live with and that is surely something we do not want to be spread north. The flow of weapons from our country though is how they are arming themselves and out demand for drugs reminds us that it IS all about the Benjamins. With or without the violence though, we would still have the economic issues that though may be effected by the drug war, have existed for much longer. In essence, the dream of a better life.
I once heard Ken Burns say, "a million deaths is a statistic, one death is a tragedy". It is hard however when different views can both be quite grounded.
Jake
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_on_en_tv/us_immigration_take_our_jobs
This is pretty interesting. I wonder if anyone will do it.
Jake
Naked women steals 2 cars (one a police cruiser) and spawns a high speed chase thru the suburbs of Salt Lake City. No this isn't a plot to the next Lady Gaga video, it really happened today.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37860690
Video from the Salt Lake CBS affiliate here:
http://connect2utah.com/news-story?nxd_id=95655&watch=1
and I had to be stuck at work all day!
Jake
So I have been doing a final paper about Torture in Central America for a Spanish class this summer. My teacher pointed me towards the School of the Americas. Basically, it was (and is but under a different name) a military school ran by the US that has been accused of teaching methods leading to human rights violations. According to Wikipedia page, there are some pretty high profile people that can be called products of the school. I found a great site at http://www.soaw.org/ which publicizes a lot of the allegations surrounding the school. Pretty interesting stuff.
Jake
The oil spill as seen by NASA http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=44375.
Sad and disgusting.
This oil spill has solidified in my mind that I am buying an alternative fuel car after I graduate. It's just smart, anyway you look at it. To save the world or save our capitalist republic, the less we depend on oil, the better. It just makes sense.
Jake
