Racial Profiling, a Thing of the Past?

I agree that stopping people just because they looked like they are not citizens is not the answer to solving illegal immigration issues. This subject matter is and will continue to be a difficult one to resolve in the future. I’m not one to cry racial profiling every time something does not go my way. I was stopped once for speeding and I strongly believe that I was racially profiled (this is the only time that I felt this way). I also knew that I was not going to get a ticket. There were cars all around me going much faster than I. I was going one-mile over the speed limit (cruise control was set 56 in a 55 zone).
All of us may be guilty of racial profiling to a certain degree. We are often taught to think certain thoughts of different ethnic groups. If we cannot identify a person’s ethnicity by looking at them we can often tell by their name.
About two years ago at a little after ten o’clock in the evening, I knocked on the door of a neighbor of mine, a Hispanic female with two pre-teen kids. She looked out the window and saw me and shook her head no to opening the door to me. Even though we had seen each other countless times we have never spoken to each other. I softly said to her through the window, “Your keys are in the door” and I walked away. Was I offended? Not even in the slightest bit. I was perfectly okay with her behavior because of the time of day and her not knowing me. I know that I am not out to do anybody any physical or bodily harm. This young lady did come by my place the next day and thank me.
One more story that I feel is worth mentioning. This story comes from a very good friend of mine who is now in his mid seventies. He is from India and when his father was here visiting the United States in the early 50’s he had boarded a city bus. Someone approached him and told him that he had to go to the back of the bus to sit. The moment they learned that he was from India, he was more than welcome to keep his set.
Arizona might be forced to review and change their new law. There is strength in numbers and illegal or not the Hispanic population has the numbers and perhaps the resources to change things for the better.

Terrorist Play Ground

Congratulations to the fact that the authorities took seriously the information about the smoking car in Time Square. They were able to make an arrest before the suspect was able to fly out of the country. How can a city so large protect itself from potential terrorist attacks? Are we going to become so paranoid that we will not be able to function effectively without always looking over our shoulder? After 9/11 many people were suspicious of people who looked like they maybe terrorist.
Officials said that Mr. Faisal Shahzad booked a ticket on his way to Kennedy Airport and paid with cash when he got there. I just priced a round trip ticket to Dubai leaving on Tuesday for one week and the cost is $940. In December 2007 I had purchased a round trip ticket from Dallas to San Francisco. I later wanted to fly back to Austin instead of Dallas. The difference in the cost was $1.34. I had lost my credit card during the trip so I was going to pay the difference with cash. I was told that I could not pay with cash the $1.34 had to be charged on a card. Because of that, I had to fly back to Dallas. I believe that most people that are flying internationally do not just decide on their way to the airport to book their flight to their destination.

Involuntary Manslaughter? Or More?

Enough is enough. When will we get serious about the safety of the coal miners lives? How many more people will have to die before we actually enforce the policies and get the violations properly taken care of before allowing the miners to work? I agree that Don Blankenship should be charged with 25 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Perhaps this will force other mining owners to do the right thing. Coal miner owners should also have a million dollar company paid life insurance policy payable to the surviving families in case of an accident causing the life of the employee while working. No, money will not bring the loves one back but it can relieve much of the financial burden off the families. The owners should ask themselves two questions before sending people down to the mines. Would I work in this mine? Would I allow my family members to work in this mine?

HealthCare Reform Phase II

What if every person working in America paid taxes that would help offset the cost of a national health care program that would in turn provide health insurance to each and every one of us here? A portion of the taxes would help to pay the doctor’s fees.
Every first year doctor would earn the same amount of money. Specialist would be paid more per year depending on their field of expertise. At the end of that year a review board consisting of well qualified retired doctors would review each doctor’s work for that year and would reward him/her with a bonus check for their year of work. This bonus check would be likened to a commission check for doctors. There would also be a built in raise for each year of service rendered by each doctor.
There would be a system set in place to weed out the ‘would be’ abusers of the system and the Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) cases. Various styles of counseling and therapies would be available to assist those in need of these services.
Identification cards would have the medical history of the card holder embedded in the bar code which would be available nation wide at any clinic, hospital, Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) study, and/or doctor’s office.
There would be nursing homes, senior centers with activities to help keep the senior mentally and physically challenged. All these services would be included in the nation wide healthcare package.
There would be a clause built in for those citizens who are not putting forth the effort to maintain a healthier life style, after been given an adequate amount of time adapt, they would be fined to pay higher taxes.
National healthcare should be available without any co-pay and offering only the best service for each American citizen. Since we are the best country in the world, we should take care of our own so we can better make impression on the rest of the world.

Let Him Go Already

Even after being offered $7,000 more a year plus $11,000 in deferred compensation, Police Chief Acevedo is continuing his quest to move on. This pay increase would have made Acevedo the second highest paid Police Chief in Texas. In her commentary titled Police chief Acevedo ready to move on; Austin should be, too; Alberta Phillips of the Austin-American Statesman hints that she is a bit perturbed at Acevedo’s “big picture” intentions of some day returning to the Los Angeles’s area.
Acevedo has engaged in conflict with some of our council members, one of which tried to reduce his budget. It seems like the public appreciates Acevedo more than the council members do. Under former Police Chief Stan Knee the Austin Police Association called the shots on many occasions. Acevedo would have none of this. He would fire or demote bad cops when necessary while upgrading police equipment.
Phillips has met Chief Acevedo on several occasions and now she is ready to let him go and ready for Austin to move on. Much of the minority population in Austin may not approve of the job that Acevedo has done since he has been in Austin but they do like him as an individual. He has made himself available to the public. Phillips is trying to speak out to the community that has seen (even before Acevedo arrived) what has been viewed as senseless killings by the police in the African American community. Why try to hold back a man on a mission. Let Chief Acevedo go ahead and chase his goals and let Austin continue to reach for its goals. Our goals for Austin should be realistic. The Austin mission statement in part states that “we want Austin to be the healthiest city in the nation.” I agree with Phillips that we should Acevedo him go. I would not want someone to be doing a job like this if they don’t want to be here.

If Not Now, When?

This article is a well written one and directed mainly toward our Republican lawmakers in the hope of ending this discrimination and injustice of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Many of us are fearful of what we don’t understand or of what we might learn if we open up our hearts and minds. No soldier in his right mind would be offended if a homosexual in the military would save his life from the enemy. I’m sure that when the plane crashed into the IRS building on February 18 that those trapped inside the building would turn down help from an openly gay man and say to him, “no thanks, we will wait for a heterosexual to come recue us.”
The leader of the House Republicans, Representative John Boehner indicated that now is not the right time to change the policy with two wars under way. So the question for you Representative John Boehner is when is the time right to change the “don’t ask , don’t tell” policy? Since 1993 thousands of men and women have been discharged from the United States armed forces under this law.
Many law makers may refuse to open themselves up to see this law as discriminating. The military could take the lead and open the door for the United States to legalize same sex marriages in the future. According to the Equality in the Military, the polls show that Americans broadly support repealing the law. Perhaps we should write to our congressional representative to let him/her know how we feel about the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law.
President Obama is keeping his word on trying to get Congress to repeal this “don’t ask, don’t tell” law. Why are we fighting two wars abroad and many wars domestically?

Asleep on the Phone

If you have a cell phone, then it will benefit you to read this article to see how and what your government is trying to do with your cell phone information.
Did you know that your every move can be monitored in real time while you are using your cell phone? Now the government wants free access to this information from the carries while civil liberty groups say that this information should only be handed over through a search warrant. Cell phone Privacy
Turning your cell phone off may not be enough. In the movie Eagle Eye the statement is made that “the only way that you cannot be tracked by your cell phone is to take the battery out of it.”
Even now there are some phone services where you can track members of your own families who are on you phone plan. Many crimes have been solved because of the tracking ability of phones by the use of cell towers but only after the proper authorities obtained a search warrant.
Giving the government free access to our phone information will only bring us closer to Big Brother by taking away our right to privacy.