FreeLists / lit-ideas / [lit-ideas] Re: Mexican protesting

[Eternitytime1@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 5/1/2006 11:59:56 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
wells001@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

Allow me  to rephrase my Question? on a no emotional  appeal-------->

A:)  Will this protestation change  the minds pf the US Congress and 
Senate ?

B.) Will this  protestation open the Door to make something  
Illegal---Legal?




em·pir·i·cal adj. 
    
    1.      1.  Relying on or derived from observation or experiment:  
empirical results that supported the hypothesis.  
    2.  Verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment:  
empirical laws. 
    2.  Guided by practical experience and not theory, especially in 
medicine.  
Hi,
Hm...so maybe I'll post what I had started to write...<g>:
 
I'm guessing you are wanting to know if any of us were affected by the  
protests in any sort of way?  (Not our feelings about it <G> as we  are leaving 
the 
issue of 'feelings' and 'emotions' to Others on Our  List...)
 
Here in my area, there were supposed to be protests, but I did not hear of  
any...but I live in an odd world, sometimes I think...(though hm maybe I will  
turn on the news...there's a thought!)  I did hear that the Tyson factories  
(there is one in Southern Missouri but most are in neighboring states, I think) 
 were affected quite a bit (there have been some major problems in those 
spots in  regards to this as the NAFTA trail as they say comes up through I-35 
and 
 such...)  (Actually--was at another one of those planning sessions for  
another 'Multicultural Festival'...This one was the Southland Multicultural  
Festival.  These are all so similar to what KC has been doing for ages and  
ages in 
Swope Park...  But, two weeks ago, was involved with the  Northland Ethnic 
Festival and then have had some planning sessions for what will  be the 
Independence Heritage Festival (liked the mission of this one better than  the 
others, 
actually--one of my library board members who used to be a  journalist for 
the Budapest Journal is on it and pulled me in...and was okay  with defining 
for 
me their 'mission'--have been so puzzled as to why we are  doing so very many 
of these festival things instead of just focusing on one big  one...We 
decided it was all a part of the trend called 'cocooning'--and figuring  out 
who is 
in our cocoons with us...) 
 
Here there is a growing population of so many different cultures that it is  
sometimes hard to just focus on the Hispanic one. There are lots of culture  
groups who have been trying for years (or who tried for years) to get someone 
in  legally from another country and many of them did...and so they are 
perplexed,  somewhat, as to what direction to put their energy. They seem to 
have 
great  sympathy for those here illegally...but also the fairness piece seems to 
be  playing a part in their responses.
 
That is seeming not to be true in other places--and I wonder if that is  
going to create a real problem one of these days...wars between the minorities  
(one of the main reasons for the Northland Ethnic Festival, actually--which has 
 
a huge population of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants...and has had for a 
 long time...along with many others...
 
St. Louis seems to be a completely different situation than we are--very  
strong Hispanic world and very strong African-American presence.  They also  do 
not get along very well--we're dealing with that end of things as my favorite  
not-for-profit Family Literacy Center has decided that we'll partner with one 
of  the two other Even Starts in the State as we've heard that Missouri will 
only  get one Even Start grant funded this next round...The Hispanic crowd has 
one in  St. Louis and so does the African-American crowd. They are arguing 
over who will  be the 'lead' partner--FLC does not care (we have so many 
different ethnic  groups to deal with that I'll have to double-check on the 
stats as 
to which is  higher...)  I do realize that whoever is the 'lead' agency (esp in 
St.  Louis area) will be helping their particular culture/ethnic group the 
most--and  the other will get leftovers. (FLC will get a portion of the $$ as 
we 
are going  to be taking care of the Western half of the state...)  Our exec 
director  has gone to different meetings of the three groups and it looks like 
the grant  will not be written with three partnering agencies as each of them 
is going to  write their own--and so we have to decide who we will partner 
with. I suspect we  will go with the Hispanics as they do have a stronger lobby 
than the  African-Americans. (one of the African-Americans on the Heritage 
Festival  committee and I have talked about how much she wishes that the 
African-American  world would have stayed as organized as the Hispanics are 
right 
now...she's both  African-American and Native American--that culture group is 
pretty strong in my  area, too...)
 
Anyway...back to a more empirical analysis...or at least, an attempt to and  
for one...
 
Will it help in terms of another amnesty?
 
 (didn't we have one when Reagan was in office?)--maybe. Congress has  a lot 
to do with Corporate America and what Corporate America wants, they  seem to 
get. (Empirically speaking, of course <g>)
 
Will it open the door to making something that is illegal--legal?   
Hm...well, there's a thought!  I'd like a "Get Out of Jail Free" (mostly  for 
speeding, 
mind you...though that is not so much an issue any longer! But,  might be 
important if I DO end up bicycling on the Interstate to get to  work...that's 
illegal, here.)  Actually--I can think of lots of things that  would be okay 
with 
me to be made legal...and others which kind of scare me if  they were.  I 
know that the big beer company in St. Louis has had quite the  affect on the 
numbers of officers who can watch over the concept of underage  drinking ... to 
the point that there are all sorts of citizen groups who are  (maybe even as I 
write this) going on their own to hotels and convenience stores  to try to rent 
a room for prom/graduation or buy beer...(we've had significant  deaths 
because of this issue in this area--lots of kids that other kids have  
known...the 
kids spearheaded the movement to make those responsible for parties,  for 
example, legally held for a death, etc.)  
 
Oh, but you were wondering (I think) about changing the status of an  illegal 
immigrant, probably not about a BROAD general sweep of things that are  
currently illegal becoming legal?
 
I don't see why not.  It's about the money...and if enough  corporations with 
enough clout can chat with their lobbying worlds who then do  their job ... 
who cares whether we do it again in another 10 years or if Mexico  won't open 
their southern borders or if we join nations with Canada AND  Mexico.  It seems 
to be about the money--I just keep wondering if my  neighbor's brother will 
pay benefits and living wages if his workers become  legal--or if they will try 
to get other jobs...Be interesting to see...
 
I wish if we do that, though, that we allow ALL to come in who have been  
waiting for years to do so...and that ALL of them get paid at least minimum 
wage  
and get benefits. I've talked to SO many who have been jumping through hoops 
to  get their families here from places like islands off of Greece and Romania 
and  so forth...
 
(Of course, I wish those who work for my library system would not qualify  
for Headstart, free and reduced lunches, etc--but that is not going to happen  
any time soon, either, I don't think...but who knows. Well, okay. It's not  
likely but never say never, right?)
 
Best,
Marlena in Missouri