Controversy in the Desert: Immigration Law Sends a Dust Storm Blowing Across All Frontiers of Our Country

If there's one issue right now that divides our country more than any other it is the politics of immigration.  In a time where we need to unite more than ever, the issue continues to forge deep trenches among Americans, and threatens the collective well-being of our society.  Don't get me wrong, I believe great diversity in opinions and stances is perhaps one of the most important aspects of our society; crucial to our survival as the greatest nation in the world.

As much as I believe differing viewpoints represents what makes us great, I believe multiculturalism fosters this a great deal of the intellectual contrast that exists in our country.  Our country was founded on values, values that were born from the mixture of many groups and ethnicities from all regions of the world.  Although some groups may have contributed a greater amount to our identity it is fair to say that in our "Melting Pot" society we have all left a footprint.

While xenophobia still conquers so many of us and is inevitably always going to exist in America, it is my opinion that Arizona Immigration law SB1070 is an upsetting attempt of a great state of our nation to embrace xenophobia.  The law, which has created uprising and discontent among Arizona citizens has created a dust storm clouding the air that Arizona breathes.  As the dirty air fills the lungs of Arizonans it also blows through every state in the union, taking the air out of our lungs and settling on top of the great progress we have made.  It may only legally take root in Arizona, it poisons all Americans.

In brief summary the law makes it legal for law enforcement to detain people they may suspect of being illegal immigrants, and also makes it a misdemeanor to not carry proof of citizenship.  It doesn't take a 4.0 to realize that it targets Hispanics.  Although it finds its legitimacy in assumption that it is targeting illegal immigrants, it makes those who are legal Spanish Americans, even those who may have a family tree with generations of legal American citizens, unfair targets.  President Obama thinks that the law "Undermines the basic notions of fairness we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial in keeping us safe."  Obama is absolutely right, and he's right because he is familiar with the plight of his own people, he represents the progress that can be made by anyone in America, no matter what race.  In a country based on the freedom to be who you are the law threatens this freedom.  Even at the most minimal level it is racial profiling.

SB1070 supporters claim that it is part of a solution to illegal immigration from Mexico, a solution that has been nonexistent and its lack of presence has threatened all aspects of our society.  Don't get me wrong, illegal immigration is serious concern to the well-being of our country and national security.  I am in no way condoning illegal immigration and I do recognize the harm it has caused so many people.  It needs to be recognized, however, that this law represents the wrong approach, an approach which will collect illegal immigrants and punish them, but at the greater cost of freedom and identity of so many others.

The broadest and strictest immigration law perhaps ever implemented in our country has an even greater impact because it will become the broadest and strictest failure in immigration policy; mark my words. This law is a violation of freedom of law abiding Americans and is an embarrassment.  I have no fair words for SB1070, if there are a couple positive things that may come from this law they are 1) State governments show they are willing to step up and brainstorm a solution to the immigration problem and 2) A law such as this reminds us that when we lose our way as a country, the voice of what is right will speak out.  The white house announced today it will file suit against the bill and the government of Arizona, and if you truly do value freedom, the one value all of us can agree on, you know Arizona has made a grave mistake.  

Enforce the borders, build fences, or increase international cooperation between the United States and Mexico.  What should not happen is robbery of freedom and equality from Americans, and that is what SB1070 does.  Although its goal may be noble, it hurts the American public it seeks to protect.  It is not the solution to our immigration perils and it will hurt many more Americans than it will protect.  A recent poll shows that the majority of Americans support the law.  We are all entitled to our opinions, but we are also entitled to equality and to live a life free of discrimination, at least discrimination by the government.  As long as this dust storm known as SB1070 continues to cloud the air we breathe, the air that our freedom floats upon, it will poison us and our freedom will only seek to exist under layers of dust which will continue to burry it.  I can only hope that we can sweep off this dust, but more likely we will all choke on the dust before we realize how we have damned ourselves.

Melancholy and the... not so infinite sadness, hopefully :/

Okay so lets talk emotions for a second... We all experience them, after all they are what make life, well, life right?  They affect everything we do day in and day out, emotions define a person, their friends, their success, and their quality of life.

All of us have had that moment when your rollin' down the highway, windows rolled down and music loud just feeling great - maybe your on your way back from work on a Friday excited for the weekend and happy you finally have some free time. Then your changing lanes all the sudden and miss someone in your blind spot, they honk, you get startled and proceed to turn the music down, roll the windows up, and slow down.  Now your embarrassed - but only for a brief second - and the embarrassment is gone and its all good.

We've all also had that more-than-a-moment emotion of being in the slums, and although we wish it would behave the same way as the highway-embarrassment-moment it doesn't.  Maybe it lasts for days, weeks or even months, and as much as you want it to disappear like that moment of embarrassment it just wont go away.  Psychologists have made a living out of studying this feeling, studying the brain and seratonin levels, and coming to the conclusion that clinical depression is the cause.  There is that scary word again, "depression" the word that carries with it one of the most common stereotypes in our society and the word that scares the shit out of all of us.  After all nobody wants to be "depressed," the same way that nobody wants to be poor; nobody wants to be that minority, I mean especially when it seems like its something thats self inflicted.  Your parents didn't bear a depressed child from their womb, so it must be your fault that your feeling this way; you must be accountable, its on your shoulders and you made the decision to feel this way.

But when you look at depression and the statistics the fact is that its hardly a minority, at least when it comes evidence.  More people in the US suffer from depression than cancer, heart disease and AIDS combined!  Myself and many others embrace this stereotype as bull shit, a clinical diagnosis that warrants Prozac and other SSRIs - making the doctor, and pharmaceutical companies money.  After all depression defined by the dictionary is "A state of being depressed."  Isn't everyone sad at some point?  Isn't sadness an emotion that everyone experiences at some point in their lives?  Sadness is one of the only emotions an infant can feel and recognize coming out of the womb, but still as hard as you may try nobody can shake completely throughout their life.

Knowing this I propose melancholy is what we actually feel.  The word "Melancholy" carries with it an even more confusing and less known meaning.  A child doesn't feel melancholy.  Whenever I think of this word, I always think of "Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness" the last album by the Smashing Pumpkins before they broke up that produced many of their most recognizable songs.  Notice though that Melancholy exists as a separate entity from the "Infinite Sadness"  If they were the same thing wouldn't the album just have been called "Infinite Sadness" or "Melancholy."  Who knows, but when I think of Melancholy and how it makes us and everyone else feel there is no psychological explanation.  Why did God give us this emotion, what does to help us do... Why does this feeling exist?  Frustrated thinking as one seeks to answer this question only yields the conclusion that we don't know and will never know.  But after all, maybe its better that way - because without "Melancholy" and "The Infinite Sadness" we wouldn't know what happiness feels like, and without happiness where we would any of us be?

          

Bring on the Winter! Snowmen, Sledding, and... Depression?

What the hell are these words doing in the same sentence?  Lets be honest, don't we all love seeing a big frosty in our neighbors yard, and who doesn't love bruising your ass a few times on the old toboggan?  But depression, thats a scary word now... And what would it be doing in the same sentence as these others?

That's exactly what I was wondering when I stumbled upon this article about another hypochondriac-coined term called SAD.  Sounds a little too close to SARS (The Swine Flu "Epidemic" that had people even in America wearing those queer-looking cloth respirators) to catch my interest.  None the less avoiding homework doesn't have to intrigue me much to consume some of my time.

As I'm wasting my time reading this article about SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) I started to think that this thing actually might be legit.  When the snow starts to fall it takes about 3 days for me to go from "Snow! I'm going to nail Wildman with a snowball."  To "Man this shit sucks, every damn time I get in my car there's a 1/2 inch of ice on it and 6 more inches on the ground."

Then I realized maybe we all have a little SAD.  The dudes are bitching because the only part of the girls you can see is their face, the girls are bitching about whatever they bitch about, and we are all bitching about getting out of bed and going to class.  On a more serious note I don't think I speak for myself in saying we all seem to start wanting more sleep, more food, and more energy.  Like we don't all want these already but the conditions of winter seem to make these necessities even more valuable.

When I use the word "Depression" I don't mean to use it to try and freak people out... Because we all know that discussing the fact that one of us has been "Feeling depressed" is the easiest way to geek all your friends out and start shit talking about you amongst them.  When I say depression I just mean the feeling of "What happened to summer?"

Its a little ironic that the acronym is SAD, exactly the the symptom that best defines it.  But what can we do to get rid of our SAD until winter break comes and we can  hit the bars every night, sleep in, overeat, and bitch about being bored?  If I was a doctor I might tell you, but until then you'll have to settle for some advise from Dr. Internet (Check out the link at the bottom.)

On a final note, nobodies alone on this.  I mean we are all northerners and CRUDE ASS WINTERS are a gift from god we have learned to push through, try to ignore, and.... wait no, we definitely don't appreciate them!  As we are consumed by our mother nature's dumb slutty side "Winter" just remember, there will always be someone at the bar willing bitch about it over a few whiskey cokes or Natty Lights.

How to Put a Brown Paper Bag over SAD's face and... Well you know what to do... (Tips on Flipping SAD the Bird)