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Penny_From_Eugene's comments:
on Immigration Law
Nor is expecting them to be functional in English, for the many occasions when they need to interact with their potential employers, the police, the staff at any social services office they may seek services from, or the hospital...or, for that matter, when they try to talk to someone who never expected that they would have to learn to be bilingual in a country where English is the dominant, (though never designated as official), language.
Mind, I'm not asking that they abandon their native language or other cultural traits (such as their cuisine or religion); indeed many of our immigrant ancestors came here not speaking English (Italians, Germans, for examples) but they learned out of necessity.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Immigration Law
(5) -- Laws change. Laws are not always right. We don't need to toughen enforcement of dumb laws. -- rain2fall — Tue June 22nd 9:18a.m.
And yet, there are still some outdated laws on the books:
* Seattle residents may not carry concealed weapons longer than six feet. (Still on the books!)
*Virginia: There is a state law prohibiting corrupt practices of bribery by any person other than candidates.
*Wisconsin: It is illegal to cut a woman's hair.
* In New Orleans, fire trucks are required by law to stop at all red lights.
*California: It is a misdemeanor to shoot any kind of game from a moving vehicle, unless the target is a whale.
*It is illegal to cry on the witness stand in Los Angeles courts.
*In Quitman, Georgia, it is illegal for a chicken to cross a road.
(And yes, these ALL STILL ON THE BOOKS!)
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Immigration Law
Why would fast food restaurants hire illegal immigrants, when they could hire you? -- scottmil — Fri June 18th 11:19a.m.
For the same reason that farmers and landscaping companies hire people whose immigration status is debatable: they won't stand up for themselves if they are being treated unfairly, for fear of being deported (a call to the Bureau of Labor could be enough to trigger it, they believe).
(I knew it was just a matter of time before my comment drew a flame from scott -- I'm just surprised it was over three hours.)
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Immigration Law
I understand the motivation for the law in Arizona (AZ-SB 1070) but I do not agree with the implementation. I foresee a long docket of court complaints for wrongful stops and wrongful detention based on "driving while brown," "walking while brown," and a host of other incidents based on a law enforcement officer's "suspicion" that because someone is "brown" they must be an immigrant.
That said, I can't help but wonder how many jobs would be opened up for legal citizens if they weren't occupied by those of questionable immigration. (Even if those jobs are in fast food places...I would take a fast food job in the interim while I am unable to find another position.) Next time you're in a fast food outlet, look in the back and see how many brown faces you see.
Don't take my remarks as being "racist" as they are not, I just think that Citizens should be at the front of the line for getting jobs, not the people who are breaking the law just by being here.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Cleaning up the Gulf
I think you're right, Tom...
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Cleaning up the Gulf
Really? The Model T ran on peanut oil? Where did you come up with that? According to Wikipedia, the Model T was designed to run on gasoline, kerosene, or ethanol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_T
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Cleaning up the Gulf
And what would happen if you declined to pay that idiotic fine? (I agree with you, and think you should not pay the fine if possible.)
That is about as stupid as the incident I heard about in Sacramento not long ago. A homeowner allowed their lawn to go brown during a drought when there were restrictions on water use, and found themselves looking down the business end of a fine from the city for not watering! (They would have been fined for wasting water if they had watered the lawn, ironically.)
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Cleaning up the Gulf
"why dont we ban imported coffee first and save all that oil in transportation costs?" -- frankj — Wed June 16th 9:23a.m.
So you would be willing to give up your morning cuppa coffee, and close down whole businesses, throwing tens of thousands of people out of work? That would be the result of banning imported (all) coffee, since no usable coffee crop is grown in the Continental United States. Hawai'i, yes...but again, we would have to import it.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Cleaning up the Gulf
Just wondering...has anyone else noticed that the lion's share of Federal Emergency response funds go the lower-right quarter of the country? (Not that I think there shouldn't be emergency assistance.) But Hurricanes are an annual thing, Deepwater Horizon is at least the SECOND oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the tornadoes and floods down there.
By contrast, I don't remember (and I lived here at the time) there being much, if any, response by FEMA after Mt. St. Helens blew itself up in 1980. I also don't remember there being much response by FEMA to the Loma Prieta Quake (1989) or the Northridge Quake (1994), but they're Johnny-on-the-spot whenever anything happens in the Gulf or the Southeast.
THAT SAID: I think that BP should have had a real plan on file with the government (one that didn't address how they were going to save the Gulf Walrus). Also, I think they should have looked at the Ixtoc I spill of 1979 to see what DIDN'T Work.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Cutting Across the Board
Actually, it also included one older lady who is a client of one of the social programs under threat of reduction, but your point is otherwise spot-on and EXCELLENT!
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Cutting Across the Board
(Yes, I know that as far as the Beltline issue is concerned, some people would argue that that ship has sunk. There is, however, a petition being prepared to place it on the Ballot for a popular vote.)
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Searching for Kyron Horman
It seems to me, that if school officials saw Kyron Horman at the Science Fair at his school, but marked him absent when class began, they should have notified his mother IMMEDIATELY. The sooner they had begun the search, the more likely they would find him. I really do hope, especially for the Family's sake, that they find him alive and well, and that there is never any thought of this becoming a recovery mission.
"The Portland Public School district has announced changes to its protocol for notifying parents when a student is absent." Just in time for summer break! Great timing! Sorry, Portland Public Schools, but this sounds a bit like fixing the corral gate after all the cattle have been stolen and driven across state lines.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Cutting Across the Board
If the State budget is being subjected to a 9% cut -- supposedly across the board -- will that affect the salary of our lame-brain (oops...lame duck) governor and the other elected officials, or will it just apply to career people working for the state...police, fire, teachers, etc.?
It seems to me that if he is going to impose across the board cuts, he should feel the pain of the rest of the state workers and take a cut, too.
(And how will this 9% cut affect his pet projects, such as the back-room deal that slapped Randy Pape's name on Beltline, despite the fact that NOBODY in Lane county -- save for his family -- wanted the name change!)
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Retraining
How nice! They have a special program for those who are displaced from working for Monaco! WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US WHO HAVE NEVER WORKED IN TIMBER, OR CONSTRUCTION, OR IN RV ASSEMBLY?!?!?!
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Retraining
Re-training programs are nice if you are lucky enough to be able to guess what the hot job is going to be in 2/4/6 years AND it isn't glutted with an over-abundance of people chasing the job. Even then, those of us who are experienced (older, 35 and up) workers are at a disadvantage when competing with the 22-27 crowd. And it doesn't matter if it is for an internship position, a professional position, or an entry-level position at almost any employer in town.
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Further, moving to follow the elusive jobs is easier said than done when one has no money to move, no car to use to move, and no cushion to fall back on if one's partner give's up her job to move with one. (Moving to follow the jobs was mentioned in the discussion either yesterday or Wednesday.)
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Entrepreneurs
Is this publication free (which would be a great help to would-be business people) or is it YET ANOTHER fee-generating item for the state?
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Entrepreneurs
NO JOKE! My folks had a little cafe a few years ago, and had to pay taxes to Lane County (and/or Oregon) for a stand mixer that my partner and I had loaned them for small mixing jobs (buttercream frosting, garlic butter, brownie batter) that would have been way too small for their 20-qt. mixer, and a real pain to do by hand.
(The cafe closed, by the way...lack of community support combined with the taxes.)
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Jobs and Identity
I'm sorry that you (OPB) seem to think that immigration is somehow "off-topic," but I gotta tell you that when one is denied a job because of it being taken by some Latina or Latino of dubious immigration status, it really does matter...and thus it is NOT 'off-topic.'
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Jobs and Identity
It sounds like you feel white people have a special claim to this part of the continent and the jobs here. Quite astounding. -- roadrunner — Tue June 8th 9:28a.m.
Not quite what I was suggesting, roadrunner; I was suggesting that those of us who are CITIZENS should be given priority for jobs over those whose immigration status is questionable.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Entrepreneurs
Have you started your own business?
Easier said than done...one has to have sufficient funding to even attempt to start one's own business.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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