Official Languages

Our furniture and other items of personalty have arrived from America.  The past few days have been spent unpacking and reorganizing; nothing particularly remarkable as far as this type of thing goes.  Last night my wife actually cooked a meal in our kitchen and served it on our dining room table, a welcome improvement from snarfing food on the run, or even eating at restaurants all the time.

The following administrative law decision from the Illinois Department of Revenue has come to my attention, especially its curious footnote: 

" 5 ILCS 460/20 states that the “official language” of the State of Illinois is English. 35 ILCS 120/7 requires that all books and records required to be kept by the Retailers Occupation Tax Act “shall be kept in the English language.” 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.801(e) requires that books and records necessary for a determination of correct tax liability “must be kept in the English language.” In light of these provisions, it would be absurd for me to conclude that the department must issue its own documents and forms in a language other than English."

This is interesting and ironic to me because I now find myself in a jurisdiction whose official language is other than English, and my mastery of the Hebrew language leaves much to be desired.  While many of the official forms in Israel do have their English versions, official or (usually) otherwise, there still are many transactions where I must seek assistance beyond Google Translate in order to sufficiently comprehend the documents at hand.  I have had occasion (most notably but not solely the lease to our apartment) to engage a young American man, the son of a former client, whose linguistic skills and amenability to use them to supplement his income have worked to our mutual advantage.

Additionally, the Illinois provision is most out of character with what is thought of by most (including the liberals themselves) as the liberal stance -- One would think that it would be most politically incorrect in Illinois, the home state of Barack Hussein Obama (Hawaii and Kenya notwithstanding).

Keeping the Illegals Out

I shall not go into the typical "We had a great time in Israel, we didn't get enough done in the short time we were there, and we can't wait to go back again" routine, other than to perfunctorily but unequivocally state that we had a great time in Israel, we didn't get enough done in the short time we were there, and we can't wait to go back again.

The afternoon before we departed, I received a telephone call from the airport limousine services purveyor with whom we had arranged our transportation.  Seems that another couple, about three-quarters of a mile away from us, wanted to catch the same flight to and the same return flight from.  Would we mind sharing the ride with them (and saving $10 in the process)?

I told the limo guy that as long as there was sufficient room in the vehicle, then I didn't have a problem with it.  He assured me that the van he would send would have ample room for four adults plus lots of luggage.  It did.

This particular couple is not quite 30 years our junior, married 2 years, no children yet (but they indicated that the situation was subject to change within the foreseeable future).  We have a number of mutual acquaintances.  To be sure, they were pleasant traveling companions, but they are where we were 25 years ago and still have quite a ways to go in order to bring their marriage up to the level of functionality my wife and I have achieved.  There obviously are no guarantees on such matters, but, having done it, I would give them a reasonable chance of hitting their quarter-century mark.

In any event, they were seated in a different section of the plane, so after the luggage was retrieved in Israel we each went our separate ways, and did not have occasion to contact or rendezvous with one another until we found ourselves waiting at the gate to board the return flight.

After landing at Newark Liberty, we of course had to clear the Customs & Border Protection people.  And that is where the other couple experienced a slight complication.

This year, the pomegranate crop in Israel yielded lots of specimens which are larger and sweeter than usual.  It was quite fortuitous that the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for the Trees, occurred during our visit to Israel.  It is, of course, a custom to eat fruits on that day, especially the fruits for which the Land of Israel is historically known:  Olives, dates, figs, grapes, and pomegranates (The Jaffa oranges and the Sabra cactus pears would come onto the scene much later; immigrants, as it were, who succeeded and made good for themselves and their new country).  We, of course, feasted on those fruits and others.

Our limo companions were no less impressed with the pomegranates than we were.  They packed a dozen into one of their suitcases.  And when they were asked by the CBP people if they were bringing any fruits into the country, they truthfully answered in the affirmative.  They were sent to the CBP's agriculture specialist, who confiscated the pomegranates.

I am pleased to no end that the CBP people are protecting America from diseased fruits and plants.  Now, how about keeping out the illegal aliens who commit acts of fraud and violence upon the American people!

Politically Correct Documentation (or Lack Thereof)

            I am a 3rd generation American.  I believe that we need to have an intelligent, practical and properly enforced immigration policy.  I believe that those who wish to latch onto the American Dream need to follow the rules, just as my grandparents did.  And I believe that we need to send away, and keep away, those who have come here but who have not played by the rules.

            It is my policy to not make inquiry of my students regarding such personal matters as religion, ethnicity, gender preference, or immigration status, effectively a very effective "Don't Ask - Don't Tell policy.  Nevertheless, I do become cognizant of such particulars quite often.  This, of course, gives rise to an inherent conflict when it comes to having a student whose presence in these United States was not accomplished according to the rules.  The way I resolve that conflict is to embrace the fiction that the law enforcement personnel are doing their jobs, thereby allowing me to ignore the immigration status matters and conduct an unimpeded professor-student relationship.   My students need to be able to approach me freely if they are to truly learn the subjects I teach.  Unless a student whom I know to be here illegally commits some sort of violence or larceny or other infraction of the safety and security of real Americans, I do not get involved in the immigration issues.

            Yesterday, I was giving a presentation to a group of my fellow faculty members.  None of my students (nor anyone else's students) were present.  During the presentation, I had occasion to mention that the exemptions from the insurance requirements of this Barack Hussein ObamaCare naufragio include "jailbirds and illegal aliens." 

            Three in the room, myself included, espoused what is commonly called the right-wing sentiment.  The remaining two dozen or so were approximately equally divided between the leftists and the überleftists.  One of the more vocal (and more über) of the überleftists took great umbrage at my use of the term "illegal alien."  She indignantly interrupted my presentation:  "They are NOT "illegal aliens!  They are undocumented immigrants!"

            I don't know how I was able to muster up the presence of mind for my immediate response:  "Janetta, if they were legal then there would be documentation!"

            Some of the leftists gave me a look of grudging approval.  Political leanings notwithstanding, Janetta had been grating on them, and they were happy to see her get a comeuppance.

            After the meeting, one of the more rational of the leftists, who works with preparing female prison inmates for release and  reintegration into society, came up to me and said, "I wish that you wouldn't refer to prison inmates as 'jailbirds.'"

            Seems that the Political Correctness Police are on patrol!

Devaluing Our Citizenship:

As a 3rd Generation American, I do not (and am very ill-postured to) oppose immigration.  I encourage those who would wish to become a contributing member of America's diverse society to immigrate here and become citizens, just as all four of my grandparents did.

But citizenship should have privileges.  Like voting.

But now, some members of the New York City Council are trying -- with a real chance of success -- to devaluate the privileges of citizenship by allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections.

There are many, many obvious problems with this, not the least of which is the potential for voting fraud.  If the same voting machines are used at the same time for City Council and Gubernatorial and Congressional elections, how will they ensure that the aliens only vote for the local offices and not the state or national ones?

And will the suburban municipalities on Long Island, where I live, do a "Monkey See, Monkey Do" and pass similar ordinances?

I can go on and on, but it is past my bedtime, we have busy day tomorrow, and I need my sleep.  I'm sure, dear reader, that you can continue this rant in my absence.  Exodus of wealth from New York.  Corruption.  Disrespect for those, such as my grandparents 100 years ago, and some of my students now, who qualified for and earned their citizenship.  The problems, as I said, are quite obvious.

An Observation

 

Seems that this government shutdown is freezing the action on immigration proceedings (unless, of course, there is imminent danger of deportation or continued incarceration).

But the Federal Register still is kept updated on a daily basis.

Maybe if more aliens, legal and otherwise, knew what the Federal Register is, they wouldn't be so accepting of the Obama Administration's kabuki theater script which plays them as pawns.