Tag: Featured

#MeToo Is Having Some Trouble Reaching Italy

Image: Buzzfeed

In the United States, ever since the “Weinstein scandal” in October, women have felt empowerment to share their own stories of sexual harassment and assault. The rise of the #MeToo movement has led to countless other public figures—including actors, musicians, journalists, executives, and politicians from both sides—being forced to resign in the utmost disgrace. The movement has been so incredibly influential, it has led TIME Magazine to name “The Women of the #MeToo Movement” as the TIME’s People of the Year.

Laura Boldrini, the president of Italy’s lower House of Parliament, talked about the way that the Weinstein scandal had begun a revelation of sexual harassment and misconduct all around the world—except Italy.

More than 600 women were listening to her as she said, “In Italy, it certainly hasn’t had the same effect. In our country, there are no harassers.” Her sarcasm elicited chuckles from others in the room.

Boldrini let it be known that harassment was no stranger to their nation, but the only difference between them and the rest of the world was that their women were too afraid to speak up due to the fierce prejudice that they face.

Their fear is justified. In Florence, two young women who accused parliamentary police officers of rape were asked if they were wearing underwear by the defense attorneys. No, that’s not a joke. In Sicily, a court even found a man innocent of sexual harassment charges because his groping of his colleagues was motivated by “sophomoric humor” instead of “sexual intent.” No, that’s not a joke either.

Even worse, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is legitimately attempting a comeback after he was forced out of power six years ago in the thick of mass protests and trials on his role in “Bunga Bunga” bacchanals with prostitutes and minors.

After being cleared of charges of soliciting underage prostitutes but continuing to fight related charges that he had bribed a witness, Berlusconi said:

For us, defending women is a priority and it always has been.

Do not think that the eighty-one-year-old man with the thirty-two-year-old girlfriend has changed his ways in any way. Just two months ago, he bragged in front of his supporters that he had introduced the bidet to the late Libyan leader, Muammar el-Qaddafi and that he “taught these lusty Africans that there’s also foreplay” by doing so. The crowd cheered.

Lorella Zanardo, a filmmaker, and a women’s rights advocate said that Berlusconi was at fault for much of the country’s perception of women as simply decorative objects.

It is not as if the United States is that respectful to women who speak out. Asia Argento, a proclaimed actress and the daughter of Italy’s most successful horror movie director, has described her life as a living nightmare ever since she came out against Harvey Weinstein. She says that she fears leaving her home and plans to leave the United States following the villainous slander from the media.

Vladimir Luxuria, a former Italian member of Parliament, transgender actress, and a self-described feminist, made a tweet that blames Argento for not “saying no to Weinstein as other actresses did.” She went as far as to say that Argentobasically should have expected it to happen after she agreed to give him a massage.

According to Lorella Zanardo, the best way forward is to begin teaching to treat women equally to children. Whatever the best course of action is so that women can be treated with respect, dignity, and equality, it is important that the people of Italy implement it as soon as possible.

Will Michael Flynn be Prosecuted by the Logan Act?

Image: Toronto Star

On November 30th, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. This raised questions about the Trump administration and the “Logan act.” The Logan Act forbids Americans from unauthorized negotiations with foreign governments, especially those that seek to “defeat the measures of the United States” aimed at those same countries. In short, it protects the ability of the U.S. government to conduct foreign policy without interference from private citizens.”

The Logan Act accusations started in the summer of 2016 when Donald Trump told Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails. In February, the White House said that they were confident Michael Flynn didn’t say anything that violated the Logan Act. Should the Trump administration be worried? No, no one has ever been prosecuted through the Logan Act. It’s mainly just used as a political scare tactic. Newsweek wrote about how Michael Flynn probably won’t be convicted:

What the Act criminalizes is an unusually harmful subset of communications with foreign governments: ones intended to “defeat” concrete “measures” of the United States, or to undercut the authority of a sitting President by altering how foreign governments will resolve pending “disputes or controversies. In other words, the Logan Act’s limited domain ensures that transitional figures won’t be jailed for swapping pleasantries with foreign leaders or even engaging in substantive foreign-policy discussions with the United States.”

I don’t think Michael Flynn intended to do any of this especially since he’s a decorated general and was on the transition team.

Early Tuesday morning, a U.S District Court judge ordered Robert Muller to turn over any information on Michael Flynn tbe used for sentencing. A sentencing date has not been yet announced, but people have been speculating sometime in February. The majority of political sites are saying that it is going to be hard to prosecute Michael Flynn.

If they would try to prosecute Michael Flynn they would also have to prosecute Nancy Pelosi For violating the law when she went to Syria against the State Department’s wishes. Last year Robert F. Turner chimed in:

Ms. Pelosi’s trip was not authorized, and Syria is one of the world’s leading sponsors of international terrorism. It has almost certainly been involved in numerous attacks that have claimed the lives of American military personnel from Beirut to Baghdad.

Jimmy Carter also violated the Logan act. The OPU blog stated when he visited Hamas in 2008. He said that no one from the State Department told him not to, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had said:

The State Department had explicitly informed Mr. Carter that it opposed his plans to meet with leaders of Hamas.

Will these two ever be tried under the Logan Act?

The Fight for Net Neutrality

Image: CNBC

Do you have an idea that you want to develop? Do you fancy yourself an entrepreneur? Good for you! Your future is bright! Here in the Land of the Free, we are fortunate to be able to access information with ease. Just think of the treasure trove of help you can find with your budding business on the internet! But wait! Maybe not! Have you heard of Net Neutrality? Sounds boring? Well, stop snoring and take notice! The business you save may be your own!

The Facts

Net Neutrality is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs)—think of companies like Verizon, Spectrum, AT&T, and more—will provide the same access to an open internet, no matter the status of an individual. So when you question the almighty Google from your phone, you get the same results as some big shot company executive from her corner office. That sounds like a good idea for a variety of reasons. For example, if you really are trying to start your own business, the internet is a great place to advertise and sell your products or services. If you are a social activist, the internet gives you a platform to organize and communicate. These notions are dependent on a vital and open internet.

We currently have strong net neutrality protections here in the United States. In 2015, thanks to the strong support of millions of net neutrality activists, the Obama administration was able to draft net neutrality regulations, getting the ISPs classified as “common carriers” under Title II of the Communications Act. This allowed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the authority to draft strong regulations protecting access to the internet. Now, however, these regulations are under attack, led by the current administrations FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. A vote by the FCC to rescind these regulations are currently scheduled for December 14. The Democrats have asked for a delay in the vote, but the FCC has denied that request.

What would happen if these protections are rescinded? Your internet access may begin to look more and more like your cable TV access. That means you may have different packages from which to choose, with each package providing you a different level of access to the internet. Additionally, an ISP may determine the speed at which the content is delivered. For example, the more you pay, the faster you play.

It is also critical to remember that in many areas of the US, ISP providers may not even exist. According to Dr. Brian Whitacre of Oklahoma State University, just over ½ (55%) of people living in rural areas of the United States can access internet speeds considered to be broadband! This percentage suggests there aren’t a heck of a lot of ISPs out there in rural America. If net neutrality goes out the window, and ISPs can dictate access, who is the competition in rural America? These folks will have to simply take what they are offered.

Proponents of rescinding the net neutrality regulations, AT&T being one of the most notable, indicate the current regulations hinders ISPs investments in innovation. Yet the evidence we see around us each day is that technology is improving. This argument seems to be lame when compared to the stifling effect rescinding can have on budding entrepreneurs, start-up businesses, activists, and others in dorm rooms and garages, dreaming big dreams and making great strides, thanks to our open internet.

What You Can Do

There is a wide variety of options for people like you—people who want to save net neutrality and save our internet—the first being signing this petition: Save the Internet. Save the Internet is an online petition with one simple goal: protecting our rights and providing every person that browses the internet equal access to every site that they browse. You can also even donate to their cause here.

You can call your senator by using this simple tool: Call My Congress. It will help you find all of the contact information of all of your elected officials. You must use it to urge your representatives and senators to vote net neutrality.

The truth is, we have almost no time left. The vote in the FCC is today, so we must act now. Now is our time to be heard before it’s too late.

A Dictator Damned

Image: CNN

Since 1987, Robert Gabriel Mugabe has been the President of Zimbabwe, a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. At the old age of 93, Mugabe was the oldest active head of state and government in the world, but that all changed after a military takeover resulted in his resignation on 21 November 2017.

On 14 November 2017, armored personnel carriers were seen on the outskirts of the African nation’s capital, Harare. That night the military took over the nation’s state-run broadcaster, ZBC. The next day, while Mugabe was under house arrest, the military announced via a spokesperson on ZBC that Mugabe is safe and that they are only arresting criminals around him. Their statement did not settle any rumors of the coup and just added fuel to the fire. Over the next few days, anti-Mugabe demonstrators gathered in Harare to protest the dictator, a move that would have cost them their life just days before the coup.

Mugabe’s government has been known to silence any critic of the President and was even accused of abducting a protester back in 2015, but ever since the coup took place, millions of Zimbabweans have taken to the streets to show solidarity with the nation’s military. This coup, however, has nothing to do with free speech, something guaranteed in the nation’s constitution. Instead, it’s politically driven—a grudge against the elites of the country. Just days before the coup, Mugabe fired his Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, the favorite to replace Mugabe. His reason for removing Mnangagwa was disloyalty, but the nation’s ruling party ZANU-PF believed it was to make room for Mugabe’s wife to succeed him.

Grace Mugabe, also known as “Gucci Grace” by the people of Zimbabwe for taking lavish shopping trips to South Africa, married Mugabe on 17 August 1996. This came after Mugabe had a secret affair with Grace, who worked as his secretary at the time. The couple married after Mugabe’s first wife, Sally Hayfron, passed away from kidney failure. Ever since then, Grace Mugabe has moved up in the ranks of the ZANU-PF party despite criticism from other party leaders. Many leaders of ZANU-PF despise her for being a foreigner, her inexperience, and that she’s only there because of her relation to Mugabe, but these critiqued failed to silence the woman they call “Gucci Grace.”

Grace Mugabe has very little support in the ZANU-PF party, where many of the party leaders call her “Mad Women” and mock her openly. However, she does have support from the party’s youth league and the G40 Faction, but this support isn’t enough for the First Lady of Zimbabwe, just days before the coup began she attended a ZANU-PF rally on 4 November 2017 where her own party booed her. Instead of leaving the stage or remaining silent, Grace Mugabe began to shout back at the protesters.

The only person ruling this country is the President!

Grace Mugabe wasn’t in Zimbabwe the night of the coup, however. She reportedly fled to Namibia and hadn’t returned since or made any public comment on the situation. President Mugabe, unlike Grace, did speak to the public. While under house arrest he made a public appearance at a graduation ceremony and made a statement on ZBC. He managed to cause chaos with his ZBC appearance. Thousands of people around the country waited in anticipation for Mugabe’s arrival, where he would reportedly resign as President, but that moment never came. Instead, the President asserted his power and stated that he would stay in office. This triggered the nation’s elites to give Mugabe 48 hours to resign, or they would move to impeach him.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for over 37 years and stopped anyone who came in his way. Over his tenure, he fired two vice-presidents who he considered disloyal and muzzled the independent press. To many Zimbabweans his resignation seemed unlikely, that is until 21 November 2017. On this day something unexpected came, Robert Mugabe announced his resignation.

My decision to resign is voluntary on my part and arises from my concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and my desire for a smooth, non-violent transfer of power.

All over Zimbabwe, millions began to celebrate, the day they’ve been waiting for finally came. Over his reign, Mugabe crushed the countries economy, silenced the press, and jailed opponents of his. But the incoming President, Mnangagwa aka “The Crocodile,” is just as bad as Mugabe. While many Zimbabweans believe that they have found new freedom in their country, they might have just pushed themselves into a corner.

Filipino President Meets Trump for the First Time

Image: Newsweek

On June 30, 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was inaugurated as the Philippines 16th President. His campaign was one that had promised to end corruption, drug abuse, and deterioration of law and order. The following day, not too long after his inauguration, four people were shot dead for being suspected drug dealers. This was when Duterte’s mass-slaughtering of suspected drug dealers and users began, and when his popularity began to rise.

Rodrigo Duterte was born on March 28, 1945, in Maasin, Southern Leyte, Philippines. His father was a local mayor and governor, and his mother was a teacher and activist. As a child, Duterte misbehaved and was expelled twice. After learning to control his behavior he attended Lyceum of the Philippines University. It was at the Philippines University that he became influenced by Communist Party of the Philippines founder José María Sison. He studied law at San Beda College where it was reported that he shot a classmate of his. In 1988, he was elected mayor of Davao City where he used a vigilante group known as the “Davao Death Squad” to crack down on crime and drug abuse. It was estimated that his team killed more than 1,000 suspected drug dealers during a 20-year span. In 2015, Duterte announced that we would be running for President of the Philippines.

Duterte was an unlikely candidate for President, he was a seven-term mayor who was tough on crime and ran a weekly television show. During his presidential campaign, he had often promised to massacre criminals and even joked about raping an Australian missionary. Because of his unpredictability, thousands of Filipino’s showed support for his campaign and embraced the change he offered.  After a year in office, it was reported that 80 percent of Filipinos have “much trust” in their President despite numerous reports of human rights abuse. His unfiltered speeches often drew comparisons to United States President Donald Trump, who didn’t seem to be bothered by the comparison. In fact, President Trump offered an open invitation to Duterte to visit the White House back in April of 2017. This surprised many voters and drew outrage from human rights groups. Duterte, however, turned down the invitation, but the two had a chance to meet at the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Summit.While in the Philippines for the ASEAN Summit President Trump had a chance to meet Duterte for the first time. While there was very little detail on the meeting, the topic of human rights was expected to be brought up. It’s still unclear if it ever was discussed. Before the meeting between the two Presidents, there was an open session for reporters. One conversation between the two leaders stood out the most to reporters. Duterte said:

We will be discussing matters that are of interest to both the Philippines and … with you around, guys, you are the spies.

To that, Trump laughed, and Duterte responded with “You are.” It’s unclear if Trump was trying to be respectful to his host who has a long history of hatred towards journalists. In 2016 after the deaths of two Filipino journalists Duterte stated:
“Just because you’re a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination if you’re a son of a bitch. Freedom of expression cannot help you if you have done something wrong.”
This wasn’t the end of Trumps odd night with Duterte, later that night while attending a dinner Duterte performed a famous Filipino love song “on the orders of Donald Trump”. So far no statement has been released on whether or not Trump had actually requested the song. What we do know is that it was unorthodox, strange, weird, unheard-of, and just absurd.

Suspected Military Coup in Zimbabwe

Image: Toronto Star

On Wednesday, soldiers in Zimbabwe took over the headquarters of ZBC, the nations state-run broadcaster. They then blocked access to government officers. As of today, there is no statement acknowledging it as a “coup” and the military insists that President Robert Mugabe is safe with his family. The first sign of a takeover was a fleet of tanks proceeding towards the nation’s capital, a video was posted on Twitter of the procession.

It appears that the commander Constantine Chiwenga has called for an end of the 93 year-old president’s, Robert Mugabe’s, reign of the nation.

As of today, new information has been released that President Mugabe and his wife are under house arrest but insist that they are safe. Several sources believe that the President’s latest move to fire Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had large support to take over for the ailing Mugabe, was what provoked the suspected coup.

More info will be posted as it comes in.

Have Your Dentures Been Missing for the Last Week? Did You Vote in Portland, Maine? We May Have Found Your Teeth.

Image: Fixodent

First reported seven days ago by the Portland Press Herald, a local paper, and eventually reported 4,000 miles and an ocean away in Malta, if you haven’t heard about your own teeth by now, all of us here at WTP Magazine are sure hoping this works.

So you didn’t realize by breakfast time that you can’t chew? It’s fine. We all skip breakfast some days. We just want to make sure you get your dentures back safe and sound.

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Image: Portland Press Herald

The teeth were found by an election clerk at Merill Auditorium. They have been placed in a plastic bag and can be found at the City Clerk’s office in City Hall.

Reportedly, somebody had called the City Clerk’s office yesterday concerning the dentures, but the City Clerk, Katherine Jones, told The Rachel Maddow Show:

[T]he questions he asked did not match the dentures we have.

This statement obviously prompts one interesting question in particular: Did more than one person remove and misplace their dentures while voting in the same place in Portland, Maine?

We don’t know.

What we do know is that if you happen to have misplaced your teeth at Merill Auditorium while voting, then you should call the City Clerk’s office at (207) 874-8610 or (207) 874-8300.

If calling is somewhat of a problem because—well—you don’t have any teeth, emailing is also an option. You can email the City Clerk at klj@portlandmaine.com.

Whether it was something that was just so jaw-dropping on the ballot or whether the decision was just so hard that you had to pull out your teeth to think clearly, we sure hope that you find your teeth just fine.

Riding the Blue Wave: The Big Win for Democrats in the 2017 Election

Image: Ap News

Democrats all over America, on both local and state level, have a reason to celebrate for the first time since the 2016 General Election. This is because Democrats won gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey as well as countless victories on the local level. While many Republicans are downplaying the Democrats win as “Blue winning Blue,” party leaders such as Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says that he can “smell a wave coming.” That wave, of course, is referring to the 2018 Midterm Election where Democrats are projected to flip both the House and Senate. As the chair of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez said about the election:

We’re taking our country back from Donald Trump one election at a time. This is not just one night. It is a trend.

This recent off-year election was expected to set the tone for the midterms in 2018, and this clearly sent a message to Republicans.

Ralph Northam, the Obama-backed, Democrat in the race to be Virginia’s next governor, beat the Republican, Ed Gillespie, who was backed by President Trump. This sent a shock to many Republicans who expected to win the swing state—the only southern state Trump didn’t take in 2016. Later, Trump tweeted, “Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for.” Although Gillespie used many of Trump’s campaign policies and sent out a robo-call recorded by the President, he had refused to make any public appearances with him. It seemed like Gillespie was trying to distance himself from Trump, but his efforts came to no avail; a recent poll by The Washington Post showed that about 30% of Northam supporters voted for Northam to send a message against Trump. This win wasn’t the only big win for Democrats that evening; they picked up many local offices and elected several historic candidates.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/928074747316928513?lang=en

In New Jersey, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Phil Murphy (D-NJ), beat Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R-NJ), this election and has successfully ended the “Chris Christie Era” and took out another trump backed candidate. Virginia elected one of the nation’s first openly transgender State Representatives Danica Roem who ousted the ultra-conservative incumbent, Del. Robert G. Marshall. Another historic victory took place in Erie, Pennsylvania where the citizens elected Tyler Titus to serve on the Erie School Board, making him Pennsylvania’s first ever openly transgender candidate to be elected to office. Democrats also picked up multiple seats in the Virginia House of Delegates and won many local elections. While there are many reasons for Democrats to celebrate, they must not lose sight of the big picture.

The Democrats won many unexpected elections in states all over America, however some races couldn’t have been closer. In Erie, Pennsylvania, the race for County Executive was decided by approximately .3% with incumbent Kathy Dahlkemper at 50.15% of the vote and Republican challenger Art Oligeri at 49.64% of the vote. This difference shows that although the Democrats won they weren’t able to sit in comfort and won’t be able to until margins like this don’t exist.

The Democrats’ big win garnered some great publicity for the party and showed the Republicans that the Democrats are healing and ready to win, however, they shouldn’t stop working hard or take this for granted. With many close results in blue territories, Democrats need to revisit their strategy and focus more on grassroots campaigning. If all goes well, a much bigger “Blue Wave” could flood the midterms with a sea of blue and might just flip both the House and Senate.

 

Illegal Immigration- 11.1 Million Lives in Limbo

Image: The New Yorker

There were 11.1 million undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2014 according to the Pew Research Center. They made up 3.5% of the U.S. population and one-fourth of the US immigrant population. Since 2009, the population of undocumented immigrants has stabilized, meaning that the percentage of the US population that are undocumented immigrants has stayed the same (or very close to it). Therefore, the most important question in immigration policy today is what should the United States do with the undocumented immigrants already here.

Undocumented immigrants are problematic for various reasons. They often have to commit crimes like using a counterfeit driver’s license because they have no social security number. They also haven’t gone through the screenings that legal immigrants in our country have. Another problem is that employers could potentially take advantage of their vulnerability—they may be put in unsafe conditions and paid less than minimum wage, but they can’t report their employer to the authorities because they risk deportation. This is obviously a problem for the immigrants, but it also means documented immigrants and American citizens can’t compete for these jobs. Undocumented immigrants live in fear they will be deported which means they are less likely to work with the police and other authorities.

There are two solutions to this issue: deport all of these undocumented immigrants or give them a path to citizenship. Recently, the Trump administration has endorsed the idea of mass deportation. Marielena Hincapie, an immigration advocate, told NPR:

In my many years of practicing immigration law, I have not seen a mass deportation blueprint like this one. Trump is saying that everyone is now a priority. He is governing by fear, not by what’s best for the American people or for aspiring Americans.

As she points out, Trump’s new plan targets basically all undocumented immigrants, not just criminals. He has already looked at adding 15,000 officers to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and blocking federal funding from sanctuary cities.

Sixty percent of undocumented immigrants have been in the US for more than ten years, which gives reason to assume that they have become integrated into their community. In fact, one-third of illegal immigrants over age 15 live with a child who is a US citizen. CNN reported the story of Garcia de Rayos, an illegal immigrant with two American children, who was deported February 8, 2017. Her deportation sparked protests as her children spoke against it. She was checking in with ICE when she got deported. A few years before, she had been caught using a fake Social Security number and lost her case. Since she was not a priority to be deported, instead of deporting her, ICE just did check-ins. She went to seven meetings with ICE and followed all the instructions they gave her. There did not seem to be any reason to deport her but, as the lawyer of another woman in the same situation stated, “When you have a blanket deportation policy you don’t need to have specific reasons, you just say no.” Garcia De Rayos’s situation is a common one, and now that Trump is in charge, all of these people who weren’t in danger of being deported because they were not a priority are now in danger of being deported. Critics say this policy does more to rip families apart than to keep America safe. The government is supposed to work to make American’s lives better, but deporting parents of US citizens is working against that goal. These children, who are US citizens, may be put in the care of an older sibling, sent to an unsafe or impoverished country, or landed in foster care.

Some children were not born in the United States, but were brought here at a young age as undocumented immigrants by their parents. Obviously, they had not been the ones to decide that their family would move to the US, but they have grown up knowing the United States as their only home. DACA stands for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It is an executive order signed by President Obama to grant undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children (dubbed “dreamers”) amnesty and work permits. Roughly 750,000 undocumented immigrants are protected under the program. These are people who were taken to the US before they turned 16. Some don’t even remember their native country. Even Trump has sympathy for their case; he has promised to keep DACA in place and says “it’s a very, very tough subject” because “you have some absolutely, incredible kids.” However, his word can’t be trusted. While he may be hesitant to undo the order due to fear of political backlash, he could just stop issuing work permits or deport people based on misdemeanors or find another way around the order. Kamal Essaheb from the National Immigration Law Center told CNN:

We cannot at this time offer a confident assessment of whether anyone—including those with DACA—are protected from enforcement.

Sadly, Trump definitely holds the power to deport the “dreamers” if he really desired to do so. This just seems cruel, especially since DACA only applies to law-abiding undocumented immigrants brought to America as children.

Logistically, a mass deportation just doesn’t make sense. The American Action Forum found removing all the undocumented immigrants in America would cost between $100 billion and $300 billion dollars, take 20 years, and shrink the GDP by $1.6 trillion. According to National Farm Workers Ministry, six out of ten farm workers are undocumented immigrants. If all those workers are deported, food prices in America might skyrocket as employers struggle to fill those positions and have to pay workers more. A shrinking GDP and higher food prices create difficulties for all Americans, and, remember, this is all to deport people who aren’t dangerous or causing problems.

Deportation is not as easy [or cheap] as it may sound. Some people are hard to deport. Only about half of the undocumented immigrants in America are from Mexico. 268,000 are from China, one of the twenty-three countries that do not cooperate with deportations, which means there is literally nowhere to deport these people. Deporting people from other countries like India, Korea or even El Salvador can be costly because they would have to be flown back to their countries of origin.

Now let’s consider the other solution, giving undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. This plan would allow undocumented immigrants to apply for citizenship and would probably include temporary amnesty as they go through the process. It would mean safety for the families currently in danger of being ripped apart and the “dreamers” and every other undocumented immigrant who now has their life here and hasn’t broken any major laws. A change in administration would no longer decide whether parents can stay with their children or whether someone is shipped off to a country they haven’t seen since they were five, and if there are fewer people too afraid of deportation to report their bosses, employers in America would have to comply with American safety and minimum wage laws. Money would still have to be spent on border control and removing dangerous criminals, but less would be spent on deporting people. Some people claim giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship would encourage more people to come to America illegally. There is no data to back up this claim and logically the possibility, after living in America illegally for years, that you might get amnesty and begin the process to become a citizen is a weak pull factor when compared to the other push and pull factors involved with illegal immigration. These people are leaving their countries to escape extreme poverty, violence and in some cases oppressive governments. They come to America to get a steady income to support their families and a safe place to live. Simply giving these people a path to citizenship seems to be the best option regarding most of the undocumented immigrant population in America. For now 11.1 million people’s lives hang in the balance while the Trump administration tries to decide what to do with them.

Who Shot Rep. Scalise?

Image: ABC 13

Just a few days ago, a gunman opened fire on a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. The gunman was soon identified by the FBI as James T. Hodgkinson, a sixty-six year-old from Illinois.

James T. Hodgkinson was a resident of Belleville, Illinois, and a very staunch Democrat. His Facebook page contained several critical posts of President Donald J. Trump. In one, Donald Trump was described as a “traitor” who “has destroyed our democracy.” The Facebook account’s banner had an image of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a notable candidate in the Democratic primaries of the 2016 presidential election. His profile picture had the American flag and said, “Democratic Socialism explained in 3 words: We the People.”

Michael Hodgkinson, the shooter’s brother, said in a phone interview to the New York Times, “I know he wasn’t happy with the way things were going, the election results and stuff.”

A man by the name of Charles Orear told The Washington Post that he met Hodgkinson when they worked together in Iowa on Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign. He had described Hodgkinson as “very mellow, very reserved” and a “quiet guy.”

He was this union tradesman, pretty stocky, and we stayed up talking politics.

Former Mayor of Alexandria Bill Euille told the Washington Post he spoke to Hodgkinson almost every morning at the local YMCA which is so close to the baseball field where the shooting occurred that one of the bullets landed in the indoor pool.

He was a very nice person. [H]e sat in the Y’s lobby for hours and hours. Outside of myself, I don’t think he knew anyone else in town.

Hodgkinson owned a home inspection business in Belleville, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Hodgkinson was a licensed home inspector from 1994 to 1997, and also held a liscense from 2003 to 2016, but it was never renewed.

According to The Belleville News-Democrat:

Hodgkinson has a varied arrest record in St. Clair County, for offenses such as failing to obtain electrical permits, damaging a motor vehicle, resisting a peace officer, eluding police, criminal damage to property, driving under the influence and assorted traffic offenses.

According to The Daily Beast:

In 2006, he was arrested for domestic battery and discharge of a firearm after he punched a man’s girlfriend “in the face with a closed fist,” according to a police report reviewed by The Daily Beast. When the man walked outside of the residence, Hodgkinson aimed a shotgun at him and later fired one round.

Hodgkinson was also “observed throwing” an unidentified minor “around the bedroom,” the police report said. Police identified the girl as his daughter. After the girl broke free, Hodgkinson followed and “started hitting her arms, pulling her hair, and started grabbing her off the bed.”

When Hodgkinson’s girlfriend tried to leave in a vehicle, he reached inside and “turned off the ignition,” the report said. “James then pulled out a possible pocket knife and cut [her] seatbelt.”

The charges were dismissed, according to court records.

James T. Hodgkinson was a prolific writer who often submitted letters to his local newspaper for more than a decade.

After learning that Hodgkinson had volunteered on the Sanders campaign, Sen. Bernie Sanders publicly detested his actions and any acts of violance.

Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. Real change can only come about through nonviolent action, and anything else runs against our most deeply held American values.