Border Insecurity and The Donald

Kunju,

Well, this one is tricky. Now, don’t just move to the conclusion that I’m a Trump fan.

It happened like this. when the media first reported that Trump may run for the 2016 election, I was like, ‘here we go again’. Remember, he had made the same attempt four years ago. Then when he actually announced, I went, ‘you’re kidding, right’?

At the juncture where, what he said to Megyn Kelly and about her, and especially what Megyn said what he had said to some apprentice contestant, all came out, is when I found it all beyond offensive, and rolled up the welcome mat from under him. He somehow didn’t slip.

If he had said those tired, old lines to anyone in my company, he’s the one who’d be ‘fired’.

Then it was like, wait a minute … to, well, now.

His first pronouncement about illegals and the way the media got on his case, I remember thinking, ‘he didn’t mean all immigrants, come on guys, he was talking about illegals’. To me, the terms ‘undocumented immigrants’ (a term coined by the NY Times) and ‘illegal immigrants’ are the same. It only means that they crossed the border illegally to come here.

Now, someone is going to yell at me and say, we’re all immigrants, America is made up of immigrants, the first pilgrims were illegals, blah, blah, blah. It creates a good sound bite, but we all know that that’s not what we’re talking about here.

Just take the case of Mexico.

Now, no one from Washington has called and asked me to be part of a ‘think tank’ to find solutions to our border insecurity, but I’ll offer my valuable (or laughable?) ideas on how to stem the flow of illegals.

First, why don’t we export the American governing systems of free enterprise, law and order, and democracy, to Mexico, so that this country with enormous amounts of natural resources (human and earth), can become the envy of the Western Hemisphere? I’m well aware of the studied notion that, people similar to animals in the wild, go where the food supply is. In which case, why don’t we help them find food where they are? Like, teaching to fish, instead of giving fish, so to speak?

Second, dismantle ‘the Department of Customs and Border Protection’, and let people come and go as they please, kind of like, when I go to Connecticut and back. On my return, I’m greeted with a ‘Welcome to Massachusetts’ sign every time. 🙂

What’s the point of paying the feds top salaries to man the operation, and then claiming it to be inhumane, when they actually do their jobs? It’d be a blessing if we don’t have to stand in line after a 24-hour flight from kochi, anyway. kudos to the feds, once I got fined $25.00 for bringing in $2.00 worth of curry leaves. 😦 All the more reason to get rid of it. 🙂

Third,  don’t laugh, we can make Mexico our fifty-first state.

That way, no one will have to jump the ‘Trump Wall’. I know it sounds preposterous, but it is no more so, than providing for ‘anchor babies’ for life. The last two states were annexed in my lifetime. I remember when it went from 48 to 50. What’s one more? 🙂

Now, somebody has decided ‘anchor babies’ is a bad word. Oh, brother! This is how Trump gets traction.

Anyway, back to our friend, Mister Trump.

What’s so abominable about saying we should first hire ‘American’ citizens for American jobs, before we invite foreign nationals? Isn’t it the job of the president to take care of his citizens before he does the same for the rest of the world? He’s our president, not our pastor.

It costs an arm, and a leg, and then a house, and then some, (and no kidding!) to college-educate children in this country, in any discipline.

When all is done, and the kids and their sorry parents are out of exorbitant amounts of cash, they’re competing in the marketplace with young adults who did university for 1000 rupees, and who can then afford to take jobs at a lesser pay. See the vicious cycle? We’re talking about our kids here.

What about Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, and the parents of Vivek Murthy? you say. Oh, May be, we can make a special visa category for South Indian Brahmins, there is some sort of a pattern here, don’t you think? 🙂

Also, perhaps we can consider temporarily employing the folks on California’s unemployment payrolls, to pick grapes, so that the grapes don’t rot in the sun as somebody lamented?

Really, Trump is echoing commonly-felt concerns. People are tired of the P-C-ness, which is a just nicer word for disingenuousness, bordering on fakery. Vilifying Capitalism on the one hand, and allowing other nationals to seek jobs here on the other, is an extreme form of this. Claiming our democracy is not well-functioning, and then wanting to offer asylum to war-zone refugees is another.

It’s a novelty when a politician speaks the truth. Trump tells it like it is, in his world view. Folks are flocking to him for this reason and nothing else. In the end, they may not even vote for him.

Citizens are silenced into keeping mum for fear of being called heartless, homophobic, xenophobic, racist, nationalistic, un-Christian, and what not, by the dominant media, and the land that gave us the precious ‘right to freedom of expression’ is gradually chipping away at our ‘freedom to express’. The free press is stifling free speech. Not a good plan.

I don’t think Jesus would approve of all this name-calling.

As Christians, I realize we’re mandated to see that the least fortunate among us are taken care of, but somehow, I don’t think that includes rich Chinese women who give birth here to anchor their babies to the soil.

I would have said that ‘the Donald’ has the chance of a snowball in hell, to even get the party’s nomination, let alone win the national election, but, If he does, I’ll be concerned about how it appears to the world, to have a bellicose leader in the pattern of Hugo Chaves, as the leader of the free world. Even in death, Hugo is remembered for having said, ‘death to America’, and not for the free heating oil he provided to the needy of Dorchester, Massachusetts. When he died, president Obama eulogized him, by saying he’s glad Hugo has gone on to meet his Maker, and it couldn’t have happened any sooner, or something to that effect. Oh brother!

Nate silver is predicting that Donald won’t make it to the finish line. we’ll see. win or lose, he’ll have started ‘the Conversation’.

Regards to Susy and Happy Monday evening.

‘Time to buy’… and don’t sell…:)

mercy

Castle Island – Boston Harbour

This brings me to my ongoing quest to be a ‘blogger’ with a worldwide audience(!), and the effort to be your ‘trip adviser’ for one day.

For the past three weeks, we had the awesome pleasure of six little persons visiting us from three different states, in the forms of Sophia, Lily, Liam, Mia, Laila, and Nora.

They accompanied us to a few local spots, one of them ‘castle island’, right in the Boston harbour. most notable to me, because in the more than 4 decades of our existence in Boston, we’ve never been to this place. At first pass, it’s a just very nice beach with a distinctive New England flavor.

However, although it’s called an island, it’s not ferried, which makes it for a quicker reach. It also means, I can leave home without my Dramamine. It’s connected to the (in)famous Southie by a causeway. I wonder if Sri Raman, his ‘annan kunju’, and Hanuman provided the prototype for its architecture!

The island beach is formed into many alcoves, offers long walk paths along the edge of the water, a shaded area with park benches, a well-furbished kiddie playground, a shack called Sullivan’s that serves classic American fare, including that must-have summer treat – lobster rolls. And listen to this, lots of free parking. Do we know of any Massachusetts beach that doesn’t charge a parking fee?

On a good day, it’s a half hour drive from our house. Just veg-out there in a beach chair, with a good book (i recommend reza aslan’s ‘Life And Times Of Jesus Of Nazareth’), and watch and listen to the jets roaring right overhead one per minute. you can almost touch the landing gear on them.

although one of our former governors bragged that the water in the Boston harbor is good enough for drinking, i’d advise against it.

so, take a trek out there. we still have a whole month left. and if you do make it, i’d love to hear about it, and while there, please say hello to Matt Damon and Ben affleck for me.

Happy sunday afternoon..

Cecil – The King Of The Jungle

“And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31

OK, everyone, let’s take a Sunday break – from Cecil, the king (of the jungle), and the coverage of his untimely demise. The story can be found to run parallel to the narrative of the Garden of Eden. Man had everything going for him: A paradise, dominion over all vegetation and animals, A mate God personally chose for him, and for whom he gave up a rib, And crowning it all, the constant companionship of God Himself. And he had to go after the one thing he couldn’t have. The forbidden fruit. I think a tear was spotted in the corner of the Creator’s eye at this majestic cat’s fatality at the hands of His most purposeful creation.