Immigration

                America was once built on immigration but now it experiences a growing and adapting issue of which the solution changes with each administration.

Illegal aliens include Mexicans and Central Americans who both cross the US border, individuals that cross the Canadian border and individuals from all over the world that came here with visas and remained illegally after they expired. There are many problems associated with these workers, such a s but not limited to taking jobs, increasing already increased population, stressing current infrastructure,

These workers are tempting to any greedy employer with little regard for labor laws. They will accept low pay and poor working condition in exchange for money. The problem with this is although both the worker and the employee are breaking the law if the illegal citizens didn’t exist those companies would be forced to hire American workers who’s income is subject to tax.

Some argue that Americans wouldn’t do those ‘dirty’ jobs that somehow the average American is so obnoxious that they would refuse to ever work as a maid or landscaper when really they were the ones doing it before the massive influx of illegal aliens. Some also argue that illegal aliens do pay taxes…when they purchase thing however the significant portion of taxes which one normally gets deducted from a paycheck are not applicable to those individuals.

For obvious reasons of lack of reporting the number of illegal aliens in the country can only be roughly estimated and is currently estimated at around 12 million with about 8 million of those in the workforce.

Legally, temporary protected status is a legal status that was originally designed give illegal aliens temporary legal status. This was only granted if they had fleed from their home country and would experience unusual hardship upon returning home due to civil strife or natural disaster. However since it’s induction in 1990 it’s been tossed back and forth with each presidency.

The Obama administration made four moves that further weakened the immigration enforcement issue. One being the suspending worksite investigations to search for illegal aliens, limiting the scope of state and local authorities in regards to apprehending illegal aliens, limiting most search and seizure of illegal aliens to only those deemed a danger to society and consideration of applying massive case by case amnesty.

The approximate cost of incarcerating illegal aliens is about 1.6 billion dollars per year. Cost to the justice system of about 8 billion and cost to state and local government of about 9 billion. In addition percentages vary by state but California see the highest number of illegal criminals constituting 12% of their jail population.

In addition the increase in population has an impact on the environment with the associated increase in consumerism along with the stress on infrastructure in general (ie: crowded street and traffic.)

In my opinion new measure must be taken to increase border security along with strengthening immigration enforcement in addition to removing any implementations that weaken immigration enforcement.

 

http://www.fairus.org/issue/illegal-aliens-taking-u-s-jobs

http://www.fairus.org/issue/temporary-protected-status

http://www.fairus.org/issue/department-of-homeland-securitys-non-enforcement-policy

http://www.fairus.org/issue/criminal-aliens

Mumps outbreak and publisher Embargo

This article was written November 5, 2012 by National Public Radio its regarding publisher embargoes and a mumps outbreak. This articles’ a little confusing, I think without a journalism background or any knowledge of these ‘embargo’s you would have to read it twice to really understand what it’s saying. 

In 2009 there was a Mumps outbreak in many orthodox Jewish communities in and around New York City. In order to combat its spreading doctors tried something unusual and that was giving a third booster MMR vaccine to uninfected children which would normally not be necessary.  The results were successful the mumps outbreak reduced by one quarter. Some argue that it may have just been coincidently the end of the outbreak anyway and this would have to be repeated in another outbreak to determine its success.  

The CDC wrote about the outbreak and its experimental vaccine trial but it took 3 years for the articles to emerge. The reason for this is an ‘embargo’ whenever a scientist brings information to a publisher that is still unconfirmed in some way the publisher must agree to not publish or speak of it. So why not just go ahead and publish it? Supposedly the time gap is to give journalists more time to research complex information.  Some argue that it is unnecessary and a silly power game that touts journalists as gatekeepers to information. Policies regarding embargoes vary among publishers but generally releasing content within an embargo category is grounds for punishment by that scientist (or provider of information.) They punish publishers by withholding future information. The exception where breaking an embargo is not frowned upon is if the information is a public health concern. I found this article interesting because I wasn’t aware of such a strange ritual within the publishing world.

                On October 19, 2012 National Public Radio published an article titled “Freezing eggs to make babies later moves toward Mainstream” This article discusses the controversial practice of freezing eggs and the movement to remove its’ “experimental” title. Some women choose to freeze their eggs while they wait to finish school, meet the right man, or focus on their careers knowing that while their young their eggs are most viable. It cites many sources back and forth with conflicting data. Those tying to remove the experimental title cite data that it’s’ been proven safe. Those in disagreement say that there’s not enough data to draw any conclusions that it is safe. The article doesn’t discuss why this change would be beneficial or significant. As the reader I just assumed the benefit would be not scaring away people away due to the negative connotation of the word experimental. I don’t think the author has one specific intended audience, the author’s credibility is not applicable to the article he’s just the journalist that wrote it.

I don’t have some personal vendetta against freezing eggs but it’s not something I would ever do. Human have been evolving for almost 3 million years now, there’s a reason our bodies work the way they do. It’s only natural that mankind wants to take full advantage of technology however I feel too often the scientific community disrupts natural lifecycles and processes for the sake of convenience. For example when a person runs a low grade fever it’s the body’s way of raising the metabolic rate to kill bacteria and disrupt viruses because the pathogen that invaded the body producing illness can most likely only survive best in a small margin of temperature (body temperature.) It’s an evolutionary mechanism that helps us naturally kill pathogens. Although a high grade fever should be treated aggressively low grade fevers should be left alone. Research has proven this yet parent still force Tylenol on every child with a temp over 98.6 which is one reason efforts are being toward education in the public health sector related to this. This is just one of many examples where medicine interferes with natural human processes.

Freezing eggs would be another example; aging is associated with negative health consequences no matter how healthy you are. Every day you’re exposed to more carcinogens then the day before, the telomeres on your DNA shorten a tiny bit more with every duplication; your arteries harden a tiny bit and are exposed to more glucose and triglycerides. I could go on and on basically we eventually die because all these things just eventually accumulate to the point where they body losses looses ability to compensate. So mother nature knowing this, created an optimal window of fertility where compensatory mechanisms are high and there is an optimal environment for a fetus. This clever feature of the body ensures that there is a direct relationship between fertility and health ie: good DNA, healthy body = fertility; advanced age, bad DNA, bad fetus environment = infertile. By freezing one’s eggs you’re potentially inserting a viable egg into a less then optimal environment. More research needs to be done but personally I don’t think it’s a good idea.

On October 1 2012, Fox News published an article titles “Why ObamaCare has doctors depressed and Discouraged” This article was written by Doctor Marc Siegel an associate professor of medicine and medical director of Doctor Radio at NYU Langone Medical Center. He is also a member of the Fox News Medical A team and author of “The Inner Pulse.” In the article he discusses his personal dissatisfaction with Obama care and states that the majority of doctors are also opposed to it. Evidence supporting his declaration is based on many surveys such as Deloitte, Sermo, Doctor-Patient Medical Association and Investor Business Daily and his own informal surveys. Reasons for his dissatisfaction were generalized he says doctors are already “overburdened, underpaid, ill equipped…..” and that the problems which will be generated from Obama care will result in many doctors cutting back on accepting new patients especially Medicare patients. Siegel points to the growing doctor shortage in this country and says that Obamacare will only exacerbate the shortage. Many of the surveys cited mention that the same doctors and pessimistic about the future of medicine and would not recommend their children to enter healthcare as an occupation. I think the authors attended audience is really anyone that will be affected by Obamacare.  I personally agree that Obamacare is riddled with problems and will exacerbate problems already present in the healthcare system plus create new ones even more detrimental then the ones that would result if the current system remained unchanged. Although I think the current system is in need of reform in my opinion Obamacare is not the answer.

On September 18, 2012 The Associated Press published an article titled “Feds: NC sheriff and deputies targeted Lations.” This article is in regard to alleged racial profiling by Terry S. Johnson, a North Carolina Sheriff Department official and his employees. Following years of rumors from the general public, the U.S Department of Justice conducted an investigation into allegations of racial profiling.  They issued an 11 page report in support of the accusations. It states that Sheriff Johnson instructed his deputies to routinely target Hispanics whenever possible. He allegedly instructed deputies to arrest Hispanics for minor traffic violations and place roadblocks in their neighborhoods.                                                            

It is believed these efforts are an attempt on his part to reduce the illegal Hispanic population. Johnson has made supporting statements implying that Hispanics have poor morals and values. He added that as a result of his actions, there has been a reduction in the illegal alien population. The Department of Justice fired back recommending changes within the department and posing the threat of legal action if no changes are made.                       

This article is worth reading because it highlights a specific struggle which has become more prevalent with the growing Hispanic population. This new population highlights the conflict between constitutional rights guaranteed to U.S citizens and human rights guaranteed to all.