Irregular Return

Hey everyone,

I guess my post almost a month ago wasn't the "regular return" that I hoped it would be. Very sorry to anyone who has been anxiously awaiting an update.

First of all, as promised...homemade pizza. Christina and I have made pizza a couple times in the past month and each time the results were tasty! Pictured below is the first pizza we made. Toppings included: sausage, muchrooms, red onions and cheese.



Anyway, the latest adventure in married life for Christina and I was a trip to Fontana, Wisconsin. Its a very pretty place, just over the IL-WI border on the shores of Lake Geneva. Or as every sign we saw read, Geneva Lake.

Anyway, this was my view for most of Sunday afternoon..



When I wasn't sitting on the shore reading my book, I was at Chuck's. A basic sports bar/beach/boaters dive, consisting of a grill, a pool table, 3 pinball tables and some tables. Very friendly people, although they were all White Sox fans and they were showing the Sox/Cubs game. All in all, not a bad place to grab a bite and hang out for a bit.



Getting back to politics, here are a few of my thoughts on President Bush's immigration reform speech given recently on national TV. For those who missed the speech, he outlined 5 points on immigration. I wanted to touch on each one individually..

1) The United States Must Secure Its Borders.
Sure we have to have secure borders. This point sounded good to me. Even his method to implement the plan sounds OK, as long as the National Guard doesn't get stretched too thin. The one point I'm shaky on is the building of a larger fence/wall. How will it be built, maintained, and monitored?

2) To Secure Our Border We Must Create A Guest Worker Program.
This idea to me, sounds like an extended 'catch and release' program. How would the US Government force legal guest workers home after several years when they can't seem to send illegal workers home now?

3) We Need To Hold Employers Accountable For The Workers They Hire.
This is important, but employers could be victims instead of criminals. For example, they hire someone who has forged documents. Who should go to jail? Who should pay the financial penalties?

4) We Must Deal With The Millions of Illegal Immigrants Already Here.
This point is a given. It would be physically possible, yet fiscally unreasonable to deport 11 million plus people. First you have to find them, then prove they are here illegally, then actually spend the money to deport them and hope their country takes them back! Its easier (read cheaper) to make them pay penalties and work towards citizenship. Christina also noted that long term illegal immigrants, might have children, since they were born here might have a claim to citizenship.

5) We Must Honor The Great American Tradition of The Melting Pot.
This part of Bush's speech called for English to be the national language of the USA. Does anybody think this is a good idea? I'm not sure this is a good idea. Is the US willing to pay to teach immigrants English? Will immigrants have to pass an English exam to enter the country? Will people who cannot speak English be arrested? Or will they simply be left behind in American culture?

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts on immigration. Comments are always welcome.

-Paul