Joshua Fattal (27) - American Jew hicker in Iran

Sara Shourd   (31) - American Jew hicker in Iran 

Shane Bauer (27)-American Jew  hicker in Iran

Yaghoghil Shaolian   (19) – Local Iranian Jew 

Accused of acting against national security – Espionage

It has been 120 days since three American hikers were detained in Iran.

The trio reportedly crossed over to Iran during a hiking trip near Kurdistan Iraq.

The Iranian government has accused them of espionage.

It has been 166 days since Yaghoghil Shaolian was detained in Iran, a member of Iran’s Jewish community, was not an activist, did not join the protests, but got caught up in the moment and threw some stones at a Tehran bank branch, in central Tehran on June 14, 2009, during unrests after June 12 presidential election in Iran.

Yaghoghil was arrested, accused of acting against national security – Espionage, resulting in his conviction and was sentenced to two and half years in prison.

An international effort is seeking more information about the FOUR defendants, and will raise concerns with the Iranian authorities, since those convicted and sentenced appear to have been denied a fair trial.

The Iranian government has accused them of espionage.

For more detailed information, photos, videos/audios, and links

click –> HEAR

and –> HEAR

Old people fascinate me. Especially friendly old people.

Jack and Hetty came from South Africa a couple of years ago, which makes them even more fascinating with that funny accent they have, and they haven’t unpacked yet. They have family here, but they feel lonely nevertheless because all their friends are back in Cape Town, and going out and making friends isn’t so easy.
They attend the local sinagogue, because that’s the easiest way for Jews to get to know your neighbours , even though they’re not expressly religious.
So when I came by to do a portrait of them for the paper, they couldn’t be happier to welcome me into their humble abode and share their life story. The only pictures they have hanging are Jack’s marathon runs and South African landscapes. Hetty says that although she doesn’t necessarily want to go back, whenever she looks at the paintings it fills her heart with longing for her home.

My work is hectic and time is usually too scarce to delve into details and really get to know people, we just kind of swoop into someone’s life, take a picture and disappear, not really remembering their name the minute we walk out of the door.
But then there are times where it’s different and you connect and make a friend. Even if it’s a friend you’ll never meet again, you know that you may have swooped in and out all the same, but you managed to grab a piece of them and take it with you.

This morning I listened to the Ray D’Arcy show on Today FM.  He read an email from a listener, who responded to a comment Ray had made yesterday that we should stop trying to lay blame for the current economic crisis and instead focus on working together, pulling together and getting through it.

I don’t think the text of the email is available online, so you’ll have to go by my memory here.  This lady’s father had run his own business for 45 years.  When the crisis struck, his was one of the operations that were hit badly and he had to let his eight staff go.  Weeks later, he was diagnosed with Lymphoma (I think it was that, it was a form of cancer, in any case) and he had no choice but to stop working altogether, and close his business down.  His insurance didn’t cover all his medical costs, and the whole family helped as much as they could to pay the bills.

A month after his diagnosis, he received a tax bill resulting from the closure of his business (WFT?  Someone’s business goes down and you then screw them for yet more tax?  But let me finish the story before I start ranting).  They sold their car, their son and daughter both sold their cars as well, and with that money settled part of the bill.  With the help of both an accountant and a solicitor, he made an arrangement to repay the balance monthly.

He’d paid a few months’ instalments, on time, the agreed monthly amount in full, when one night at 11pm, the sheriff arrived, waved a warrant under the wheelchair-bound man’s nose and started taking everything that was not cemented down from the house.

The writer’s father showed the sheriff the letters from revenue agreeing to the monthly payments, he asked for 24 hours grace so that he could contact Revenue and find out what the hell was going on, but he was, to use her word, “rebuffed”.

The mother phoned her daughter (the writer of the email) at work in tears, distraught.  She went immediately to try and help, but was flatly ignored.  Neighbours tried to intervene, and the Guards (police) were called.  They warned neighbours to back off or be arrested.

These arseholes took everything, except the fridge, though they wanted to and checked to see how much food was in it.  They took the wheelchair-bound man’s buggy which he used to get around outside.  They took the small gifts the grandparents had bought for their granddaughter’s eighth birthday, which was the next day.

As soon as their office opened, the shocked family phoned Revenue to ask what the hell was going on, and how it could be fixed.  They were informed that the matter was out of Revenue’s hands now, and in the hands of the Sheriff.

Her father just gave up after that.  He managed to raise two thousand Euro more from what he had left, paid it over, and fell into decline.  He is now dead, only a short while after this ordeal: not from his cancer, but from a stress-induced heart attack.

It doesn’t end there.  Revenue still sends letters demanding their money to this day.  The outstanding amount remaining?  One thousand Euro.

Way to go, Revenue.  That money was certainly worth someone’s life.

There are so many times when people can follow the rules, go by the book, and use that to inflict despicable, inhumane, cruel treatment on fellow human beings.  I’ve said in a previous post as well that there are times when someone can do things to another which can be made to sound as if it’s not such a big deal, but if you step back and just use your brain, embrace the fact that whether or not this world is a good place to live in is up to YOU, you will realise that such behaviour is unspeakably cruel.

There were many texts and emails sent in response to the story, most expressing shock and outrage.  What was more worrying was that there were numerous people confirming that this kind of treatment is not some freak accident, some exception to the rule, terstifying that they made arrangements to pay their bills in instalments and were still handed over to the collectors.  That the agreed amount was constantly and arbitrarily changed for no discernable reason.  That collectors used intimidating tactics more in line with some Mafia operation than a government institution.

The head of the Revenue Service, whose name I can’t remember now and can’t find quickly, gave a phone interview on the show to respond to this story.  It was just outrageous to hear him trying to avoid admitting that he is ultimately responsible for what these thugs did, and still do, to those who are in financial trouble.  Like a fucking eel.

But was it outrageous?

In the purest meaning of the word – causing outrage – I suppose it was.  But in the sense of this being something out of the ordinary?  No.  So a government man (would this guy be a politician?) is a slippery, slidey arsehole who is like a quadruple-covered teflon pan is to an oiled pancake when it comes to taking responsibility for something bad.

What else is new?

And this is the question that weighs me down right now: how will this ever change?  Democracy is somehow broken.  Governments are cumbersome, creaky, inefficient, unfriendly, bloated, sick institutions the world over.  We, the people, choose who governs us, but what choices are there for us?  In my frustration I think that only people attracted to power and privilege are attracted to politics, not those who want ot make the country run better and more efficiently.  Election time seems to give us the marvellous choice: do you want arsehole A or arsehole B to call the shots?

What I find even more exasperating is that people still admire those who have screwed them over with a giant cucumber.  Charles Haughey stole MILIONS from this little country when it could ill afford leaking money from every pore.  Bertie Ahern looks in many ways to have lined his pockets as best he could.  And they are loved and admired.

In Britain, politicians across the board made use of every possible opportunity to suck every penny they could from legitimate allowances, doing the wrong thing again because hey, it was sort of possible to read the rules that way.  What about common sense and decency, for heaven’s sake? What about not just grabbing everything you possibly can because in your heart, you know it’s not right?

Ireland and Britain, at the very least, seem infested with politicians who are parasites.  And Africa… oh, gods, let’s not even go there.

How do we change this?  For all our right to vote (well, except for us immigrants, hehe), we are powerless to fix the festering, distended monsters that are our governments.  Politicians promise whatever they have to, in order to gain the power they crave.  And then?  Then they set about enriching themselves as much as they can for as long as they can.

Okay, I’m cooling down a bit now.  I will be happy to concede that there probably are loads of people in politics who are in there not for the thrill of the power, for the adrenaline rush of getting away with murder.  I know there is at least one politician in Ireland who said no thank you to her luxury, top-of-the-range government car, reasoning that her Toyota Camry is perfectly capable of getting her from point A to point B.  I realise that possibly the view I expressed above is very much mistaken, that politicians in government might be doing a difficult job with the best of intentions.

That still doesn’t change the fact that things are not the way I’m sure most people would want them to be.  We still have several million Euro inquests into wrongdoing so sneaky and so tangled that it takes years to unravel.

And there is no prospect of alternatives that give me even the slightest hope that things might change.

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month (November) and the goal is one novel of 50,000 words in 30 days.

Thanks to NaNoWriMo — I just passed 50,000 words in 25 days! 50,672, so far.

Tevye and The Streets of Gold (the sequel to Fiddler On the Roof) is well on its way to a becoming a finished First Draft.  I’ll be assembling my submission kit package this weekend to set about finding an agent and a publisher.

A novel — and the sequel to Fiddler On the Roof

My novel’s been keeping warm on the back burner for some time now — 10 years, to be exact.  Combine three years of research, slowly stir in one year of story development mixed with the Dramatica Pro software treatment, knead together and let simmer with procrastination for six years and you have the recipe for — um, well… a 10-year outline!

But… mix in one month of NaNoWriMo and you have a Recipe for Success!!

It’s Day 25 and I just surpassed the 50,000 word milestone!

Judging by where I am in the story, I’m somewhere between 40% and 60% finished… my completed novel should weigh in at 75,000 to 125,000 words.   Which means I’ll still be writing three to four weeks from now (late December 2009).  But the good news is this: my First draft is pretty solid, so there should only be minimal editing/re-writing to get to a completed manuscript.

Some of you who have been following this process know I’ve been planning a three-pronged approach:

1. write the novel — Tevye and The Streets of Gold.

2. write and perform a solo stage presentation — Tevye! The One-Man Show.

3. write and produce the fully-staged musical — Fiddler in America.

I’m going to be in pre-production for the one-man show while I’m in the process of finding an agent and a publisher for the book.  I plan to begin performing this show this winter in smaller venues here in the Twin Cities and beyond.

Kevin Norberg as Tevye — the world's most famous Milkman!

But once I locate a publisher and begin negotiating a contract, the goal is to release a national tour of the one-man show to coincide with the publication of the novel.  We’ll map out thirty cities or so for the solo performance in larger venue theaters.  And I’ll be developing and producing a multi-media presentation to complement and accompany the one-man performance.  We’ll use multiple screens with stills, graphics and images including panoramas of streets scenes, city skylines and set backdrops to visually enhance the one-man performance and make it into an event!

Ideally,  the smaller venue performances will take place in the winter, spring and summer of 2010, while the larger venue production of Tevye The One-Man Show will roll out with the publishing of the novel in the Fall of 2010.

The third phase will then be to complete the script and compose/arrange the music for the fully-staged musical FIddler in America for Fall 2011 in a regional theater somewhere.

So there’s my battle plan for The Tevye Project.  You can read more about the entire project here:  http://www.TheTevyeProject.com

and on the novel and NaNoWriMo here: http://www.nanowrimo.org///eng/user/553371

Tevye! The One-Man Show poster

By the way, some interesting things happened along the way on my writers journey… my characters surprised me by some of their actions!

I had a pretty complete outline for the main plot points and sub-plots, the characters involved,  etc..  But once I turned the characters loose and they began to interact with one another on their own, they did some unexpected things.

One sequence involved Tevye’s youngest daughter, Bielke, who meets a rich, Uptown bachelor.  I had already sketched out where their meeting would take place.  But she and another character did something so unexpected that it completely changed the way her romantic interest meets her and reacts to her.  It was totally appropriate to her character and to the story.  But it wasn’t something I even remotely considered when plotting the story.  Now my novel is many times the richer because of what she did and how he reacts to it.

Three benefits resulted from this unexpected occurrence:

1. The reader is surprised by what happens, because the characters themselves are surprised by their own actions;

2. The characters become richer and deeper, more three-dimensional, as  a result; and

3. Because the characters acted unpredictably, the reader moves on with the story not knowing what to expect next!

Very cool!

I’ve gotten to the point in writing that I can’t wait for the next scene to unfold, because I, myself, can’t be sure what the characters in my novel are going to say, nor do I know everything they’re going to do until I put them together, turn them loose, and begin writing what happens!

This being my first novel, I didn’t know that would happen.  It’s made the process of writing so worthwhile and the journey thrilling!  I guess if the novel becomes a “page-turner” for the author, then maybe it has a better chance of being “unputdownable” for the reader, as well!

So, enough celebrating the 50k hurdle.  On with the next 50k!!…

—Kevin Norberg

author, Tevye and the Streets of Gold / Fiddler in America

My years attending college in the States were a lot of fun. I had a large group of friends. Some of these friends have found me on facebook which is a wonderful way of getting back in touch. Some of my best friends were Spanish, American, Israeli, Russian, Greek, Asian, German, Dutch, and Norwegian.

Why have I suddenly remembered my good friends from back in the day?

They were the sweetest people ever and we had so much fun together. Today I received a comment from one of my German readers that I would be biased against Germans because German press had hardly criticized Turks on a case. At first I was appalled with this comment for multiple reasons.
I allow all kinds of comments be posted on my blog including those that actually call me personally “stupid”. This should be a clear indication that I am not the kind of person that will be easily shaken by negative comments or inclined to respond negatively whether they are about me or my nation. Secondly all the fun that I had with my friends from college flashed right in front of my eyes. My best German girlfriend who was about 8 years elder than me was a lawyer attending the master law program in my college. We lived very close to each other and she used to come over for coffee all the time. She had to come over, for me to check her outfit before she goes on a date, as she liked my taste in clothes. We were typical girly, girls having a good time.

Every nation has their known aspects. One of the things that Turks are known for is hospitality. I was a typical Turk in that sense, everyone would stop by my apartment for a chat over dinner or some snacks. As a nation we have to push food down the guest’s throat or we do not feel at peace. Felix was another good German friend of mine who used to take me sailing in the Bay area. My American mommy comes of German descent and taught me how to bake cakes and cookies German style. All such nice and cozy memories.

The Germans that I personally knew so far were such, nice and open minded people. Yet here I am being accused of acting biased against Germans.
Then it hit me, we had one thing in common with the other students in my college, our parents had the vision and financial ability to support our education and life in the States. The Germans I know came from a more privileged back ground just like me. They do not necessarily represent the commoner. Still in 2007, I took a short business trip to Düsseldorf. It was only for a few days but people seemed really nice. I enjoyed the not so healthy but very tasty Bratwurst….yummy!!

Still the comment of one of my readers was right. German press can be harsh about Turks.
I can understand that German’s have an issue with Turks in their lives as there are about two million Turks who live in Germany. It must be difficult for them to realize that there is no such issue about Germans for Turks in Turkey, as we do not have to live with Germans. The German prototype in an average Turk’s mind is the working class tourist that will wear black socks with sandals and have pale legs, which create an interesting contrast with the black socks. That’s about it! No deep, hidden issues as there is no reason for concern.

The more I thought about it I recalled one of my Greek friends telling me how we get along in spite of the ways of our upbringing. I could not understand that comment either back in the day as there is really no anti Greek policy in Turkey. Greek Taverns to this day are filled with Turkish clients. Atlas Jet is a Turkish airline that has weekly flights to Mykonos and they are booked throughout the summer season as Turks enjoy going to the Greek Islands like any other tourist. Yet the Greek might have a certain prejudice against Turks.

Then it hit me again. Turks have ruled over Greece and have oppressed the nation. They have a good reason to resent us while we have no reason to be offended by them.

Getting back to the point of why the German press can be harsh against Turks in spite of all the Turks who live there was hard to understand. In today’s society, American press would never be harsh against their minorities, in the name of being politically correct. This is one of the many things that make America special I think. So why would Germans not care to be politically correct.

I guess they feel invaded by the Turks.

Historically Turks are known to invade and rule over anywhere they go. Only a hundred years ago they were the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. Italians still scare their kids with the ancient proverb “Turks are coming”
Turkey is referred to as a regional power in more articles lately, published in places such as the Financial Times.
“As a regional power, Turkey will want to act independently and avoid antagonising its neighbours.”*

Of course the Turks who live in Germany went there as immigrants but clearly did not so much care to obey or abide by the rules of the nation. From a much unbiased point of view, I can see how annoying that must be for the land’s actual owners. It must be impossible to understand why Turks do not try to fit in.

The answer is actually simple. Traditionally the Ottoman Empire used to spread its territory through invasion and Turks coming from a migrating lineage used to move around within the Empire. It was very common for them to move to a region, where the majority of habitants would be of a different nation. The Ottoman system was federal therefore the Empire did not force the regions to change their language or religion when they conquered an area which is why most of the places that the Ottoman Empire ruled over for hundreds of years, did not loose their identity. So to live with foreigners is something Turks are accustomed. The major difference is of course that Turks are used to be the rulers of the land.

I guess force of habit does not wash away so easy. Even when they are immigrants they are the descendants of rulers and part of their tradition is not being ruled.
I can see how absolutely annoying this must be for the rest.

Sarkozy or Ms. Merkel is opposing the idea of Turks becoming part of Europe. Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian prime minister chosen as president, said Turkey “is not a part of Europe and will never be”.

I can understand their opposition. The historical enemy is difficult to accept as part of the Union especially if there is a risk of the enemy gaining power as a leader within the Union. The irony is that the regional power Turkey is turning towards the east as the west recently went bankrupt and lost a major part of its appeal.

Still all politics aside I will not let some discussion over any case get to me and cloud my judgment on any nation. God did not create nations; it is humans who created those differences.

*Ottoman mission
FT. Com
By Delphine Strauss
Published: November 24 2009 02:00 | Last updated: November 24 2009 02:00

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/56bc021c-d898-11de-b63a-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

The internet, the cowardly faggots guise to act like a badass faggot.

A friend of mine commented on this loser guys video on Youtube; where this guys fat loser friends are doing MMA and backyard fighting and shit, litterally my friend wrote “ you guys blow, my sister could take you all down“.
Big deal? Pretty innocent really…
All of a sudden this guy, who btw is a big, fat ugly immigrante from mexico or something, goes all bananas and writes these long derogatory comments to my friend, with sexist slurs and mocking his martial arts, calling him a ballerina, among many things.

Haha, I think this was very funny so I just had to write my thoughts back to that fat loser guy; then he goes banans on me too and for the past hours we’ve been throwing back and forth several long swearing comments at eachother.
I find it all so hillarious because this guy is such a loser, his grammar and spelling is so awful but what is most fun is that I play the game taunting him racially and appearance wise.

-Im like ” no hablo español” and ” learn ingles, por favor“, haha.

To demonstrate what he wrote, here is an excerpt “ u lil bitch ho u aint nothing shit u think u tough cuz u on the internet but in real life u aint shit u come on over to my place i fuck u up the ass u like hat dont you fucking ballerina boy , lol ur mom happy u boy turned into a girl you be dancing with ur flips u aint nothing u fight u lose against my boys, pussy “
Now he is also spamming my videos writing “ I hope everybody knows youre a racist” just because I got into his ‘argument’ with my friend…urgh, I just write back “ immigrante!“.
I suppose by now most people know I am somewhat of a racist at times, but who isnt?
That comment was of little magnitude…
Yeah, sometimes it is okay to be an ass on the internet, if you GOTTA reply back an even bigger ass hole…
This guy…how can you take him seriously?       vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

But then again, maybe I shouldnt have replied at all?
I could have been the adult in this situaiton because apparently he is not

Then again, I dont usually use my ‘internet asshole’ powers to their full extent so this was just something to let some steam out…and it was goooood.
This blog doesnt count cuz this here be serious shit!

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security provided information regarding the three types of site visits that are currently being conducted. Each employer should receive only one such visit, but may receive different visits for different sites.  

The Risk Assessment Program fraud study is applicable to any type of benefit program, including family and employment-based and is part of a joint program between USCIS and ICE. Applications and petitions are chosen at random, usually on a post-approval basis, for visits to help in designing profiles of potential fraud.

Targeted site visits take place where fraud is suspected, and consist of a visit to ask questions. Advance notice, including notice to counsel, should be provided.

Administrative site visits relate to religious worker and H-1B petitions. They generally are conducted by contractors who have little knowledge of immigration law. Religious worker visits are performed under the regulations for that category. For H-1B site visits, the contractors have been equipped with a set of specific questions, and all employers/beneficiaries should be asked pretty much the same questions, primarily reaching the issues of whether there’s really an employer there, whether the employer knows it filed the petition, and whether the beneficiary is doing the work and receiving the wage indicated on the petition. H-1B visits are done on a post-adjudication basis, and are randomly selected.

As of late, my mind has been buzzing on why people group up together, and we may all see the easy and obvious reasons why we all do, at some point in our life, but I mainly wonder about the reason why we band together and at some point become agressive.

Well my own story may not be of much help, as I had a great adolscense, with mostly no negativity in it. I still stand by that statement, as my foot has been embedded in the spirit of positivity with a great tattoo. But as of late I have begun noticing group-voilence between people. Both Norwegian and immigrants have these tendenzies, but I mainly refer to immigrant youth societies. This is because we all tend to generalize these types of groups right from the start, which in most cases is overrated. As seen through my young eyes I feel that I can bring another view to the table, which older men and women can’t include themselves in. 

“We are strong together, we are one together” a friend said to me once, and I never really got that one, untill now. Alone we are nothing, only a mere chicken for the pickings, and when a young boy, white or black skin colour is of no importance, we all band toward eachother. We group up in fear towards the other man, who is different, in both colour and culture. things that are strange to us, like different views of religion especially a Religion which may include more gods than the one we are carrying, may feel strange, and even wrong. This is natural as when different viewpoints in Religion defines the culture. The Indian man may be more indifferent to things that we value and the other way around. We all claim to have the right lifestyle, and claim to best everyone in every aspects of life. This is problem number one.

Media also tend to blow up stories that include the minority in our Nation, even going as far as refering to gang-voilence or the persons skincolour. This creates this basic fear of the unknown, and suddenly we all spawn a terrorist out of the harmless Imam on the bus. You have all read that in an educational book somewhere, but I am not joking, this really affect all of us. This makes an ignorant and fearfull son-of-a-bitch out of us automaticly.

This makes us group up with like-minded persons, who share the same opinions. And when we are strong we tend to be braver that we would be when alone, and in some cases we become so brave that we neglect strange ways, even start to mutually hate it. We start to not tolerate it, rather pushing it away than facing it, fearing it even more. At this point there is no going back, and it all usually ends in voilence to some degrees.

This may be the cause that we all pit the other man against eachother so often, and even makes us “hate” the other man. The other man is not like us, invades our land, taking our work from us, and lives of what would be ours. This is bullshit, as we are all actually equals, in both heritage at some point, and righ to live the life we all want. But if we really are in a big family then why do we hate eachother so much? The older generation seem to be the blame in this. Ignorance and fear grips us all, but it is actually stronger in the older generation. Thank you mom for bringing me up to be this responsible, but I fear that you are overreacting! You have told me from the beginning to stay away from the scary world, in hope of shielding me from alle the “dangers” of this world, when in fact this world is my playground. I am glad that you brought me up not fearing the odd and new, but the “other man” was not the barberian that you would have me believe. There was no need to fear him, only embrace him, and his strange ways. For one day, his ways will not be that strange anymore, and rather familiar. I will not fear him, nor hate him. I will love the other man as my brother, and treat him with respect as I would my own kind.

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Written by:
Espen Dyrland

I find myself in front of a blank page, to put into words some reflections about my condition as an immigrant.

I am the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. My parents were forced to immigrate at the end of World War II after living through devastating events that marked their lives forever.

From the concentration camps it was impossible to go back to Poland; their families and properties didn’t exist any more. After a long process they arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, where they settled. In the last years of her life, my mother finally shared with me her feelings, as intense as the first day, about their arrival to a tropical country, without belongings, without language, family or friends. How brave they were; their accomplishments, incredible! In spite of all the difficulties they were able to build a family, a business and became successful.

The years went by, my brother and I grew up in Caracas, we studied, married and now we too have our own families.

And here comes the but……….

Maybe those of you who read this don’t know what is happening in Latin America………. In the year 2000, after my husband and I realized the political road our country was taking, we decided to become immigrants too. My parents had passed away, my children were studying abroad and we watched with pain the situation that was approaching.

Fortunately, we had family in the USA, we spoke English and from an economic point of view we could afford the luxury of immigrating legally to a new country. I don’t pretend to compare my parents’ and our conditions and motives. The differences are enormous: being an immigrant because there is no other option after losing everybody and everything, or being an immigrant by choice.

For me, my love for the USA made it all the more crucial. I am fascinated by this country, its people, its laws and values of liberty and democracy. Being an American citizen has been one of my dreams for many years.

Growing up within an immigrant family, made my road easier? I know that scientifically I cannot talk about genes in this case, but I ask myself: Are there “emotional genes”?

Three generations: my parents, us, my brother, my children. Who knows, maybe my ancestors also arrived in Poland from some other place.

Ours is not a unique case. Nowadays there must be millions of persons that change countries for political, economic and other reasons. To immigrate entails many processes, some of them common to everybody and some related to individual conditions.

Even though I know that for every member of my family the process has been different, for me it has been a joy, a privilege and an opportunity. Even more, I don’t feel like an immigrant, I know I finally am where I belong. I would love to find through this blog other people who feel  like I do.

 I have to confess to the huge love, gratitude and pride for my brave family. My parents never imagined that their children would also be immigrants and in what way they would make their way easier.

I like to be an Immigrant!

Rosa Szarf

Images: Google Images

Think for a moment about the greatness of a system where a salesperson who did not know you one hour ago is able to give you an item (like a car, a refrigerator, a washer/dryer) worth several thousand dollars, just with your ID and your credit history.

One of the points emphasized by acquaintances when discussions start about immigration and its difficulties, is the fact that you don’t have the “famous” credit history; how “if you don’t have a credit history it is difficult or quite impossible to obtain the benefits of a market-economy CREDIT, and that the system is going to devour you for that”.

This article is basically for people who immigrate to countries were market economies are in place, the so called Neo-Liberal economies.

 Please try to remember what used to happen in your country of origin when you wanted to buy a new car, an appliance, or a new house. In my case, when I wanted to buy a new car, I had to start by begging the dealer, or look for a friend who had a friend that knew a car dealer, to inscribe me in a waiting list for new car buyers. Once I was on that list, the delivery date was around 2 to 3 months. I was also asked to deposit part of the car’s value up front. On the meantime, I also had to sweeten the dealer’s appetite with presents. I had no say on anything except the make of the car. That car always came in a color I hated and with accessories I never used. But here, in this market society, with an established credit history, my biggest problem is which model I want, what color and what accessories I need, and at the end all I need is the amount of money I am willing to pay out of pocket. 2 or 3 hours after I arrive to the dealership I leave with the car I wanted.

 Obviously it took me some time to obtain this status, but it was not such a big deal. You need to think how the system functions, and start working to obtain the status. The beauty of it is that everybody can obtain it. At the end, it is a comfortable, practical system and you don’t own anybody any favors. You just owe it to yourself.

Obviously when you arrive you don’t know the system, so you have to accustom yourself to the idea and then work to be included in it. It depends entirely on you and in your ability to decide how far you want to go to establish your credit. Of course, as an immigrant, you are behind vis a vis the local people, who can start building their credit after they obtain their first check, and that can be right after High School.

Practical points:

-The moment you decide to immigrate start building that credit. Accept credit cards that are offered to you, even with small amounts of credit, like for example, the ones offered by gas stations.

-Do not get too many credit cards; this can be detrimental to your credit history.

-Debit cards do not build credit history, nor do credit cards assigned to your bank accounts.

-If you have a property, no matter how small, get a mortgage even if you don’t need it.

-Buy regularly, not impulsively; the amount of credit should grow, but not in “hiccups”.

-Pay on time you debts, if you do not have enough money, pay the minimum payments, but always pay.

-You have to avoid past due statements .If for some reason the payment arrived late, call the company and explain it. They are helpful, especially with clients who proactively confront their difficulties and look for solutions.

-Don’t overextend in your credit.

Images: Andres Rueda

The  Blog “Genius of Charlie Chaplin”  features how Immigrating influenced him on the making of his films. Very interesting film

Charlie  Chaplin

Images: Google

This week’s mission from Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings: 1) Who is your MRUA – your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name.

2) Have you looked at your research files for this unknown person recently? Why don’t you scan it again just to see if there’s something you have missed?

3) What online or offline resources might you search that might help identify your MRUA?

4) Tell us about him or her, and your answers to 2) and 3) above, in a blog post, in a comment to this post, or a comment on Facebook or some other social networking site.

I posted about my MRUA only a few weeks ago for Surname Saturday.

William B. Hill (~1841-?) is one of my paternal great-grandfathers, at #10 on my Ahnentafel list. I have no idea who his parents are, so my MRUA is #20, his father.

What I know from census records is that William was a grocer in Philadelphia and that he was originally from Ireland. I have not discovered when he arrived in the United States or from which part of Ireland. I have not been able to trace Hill back any further from his time in Philadelphia with his wife and children. I also have not found his exact death date yet.

If and when I do find his death certificate, I’m hoping that will provide some clues as to his origins, hopefully including the names of his parents. As I admitted in my Surname Saturday post though, I haven’t spent much time on this line because of how common the Hill name is. I do have some leads to follow up on, however. I just need to psych myself up for this particular hunt.

I kept a diary for over a decade when I was a young girl. As I went to university, the entries became less and less frequent until finally, a few years into my first job, they stopped altogether. But in those last few entries, you can see that my diary was dusted off and confided to only in times of great distress - a broken heart, a career disappointment, a tragedy whose importance is hard to understand when seen in the rear view mirror.

Today I’ve dug out the only blog entry I ever made and with no comments in 2 years, I can see it is as private as my diary used to be. The entry was made well over two years ago when I was new to London, feeling emotions that I never expected to feel. The words not said are as loud as the ones written down. The desperation beind the words are as clear to me now as they were when I wrote it – and yet it is like looking through a sheet of glass. I feel disconnected from the person I used to be and yet here I am again, resurrecting a mothballed blog in times of deepest distress.

The troubles are different this time. They are bigger now (but aren’t they always in close focus?) and I am even more helpless to deal with them. It all lies in the hands of nameless faceless HR departments and immigration authorities – will she stay or must she go? Will it be in time to keep her here? Will it be in time to leave settlement next year unaffected. And underneath the tension, the frustration at being put in this situation by the mistakes of my husband, the guilt at blaming him when it is not really his fault, the fear of running through our savings, the fear of never having stability – my mind whirls around on it’s little treadmill, always worrying, always thinking. The job doesn’t help – I so badly need a break I was looking forward to being made redundant until suddenly becoming the sole breadwinner makes it imperative I am not.

I want it to end. I so badly want it to end so I can go back to living my life.

Angelo and Domenica.  They arrived in the United States from Sicily in the early 1920’s, passing through Ellis Island.  He had a fourth grade education, at best, and drove a cart for a living.  She had been the daughter of a vineyard manager, bootlegging an education with the vineyard owners daughter, until she was fourteen.  It was unheard of for a peasant girl to have so much schooling.

Settling into the milltown of Methuen, Massachusetts based on obtuse familial connections, they both worked in the sweatshops.  Their only child, Alfio, was born in 1923.  It was that extra bit of schooling that drove Domenica hard.  She would not settle for less for her son.  “Formazione!” (Education).  He was going to school.  He would not face a lifetime in the mills.

She lived to see him graduate with a degree in Engineering from Northeastern University.  But just barely. Packing his possessions into a trunk, he headed off to Detroit at 22 years old.  Certainly, she must have been proud as he entered the elite corps of ‘junior management trainees’ for Ford Motor Company.

It was cancer that got her.  Breast cancer, which wasn’t particularly treatable in the late 1940’s.  Alfio, an only child, left his promising start in Corporate America, and returned home to care for her.  As she was dying?  His father was overwhelmed at the prospect of losing his wife.  He took his own, breathing his last breath in Alfio’s arms. 

My father, Alfio, buried both of his parents before he was 25 years old.  Alone.  He regrouped, re-entered the workforce, and found purpose for his life.  He understood the meaning of the word “onward”.

Domenica and Angelo

Alfio, First Communion

Title:  The Namesake

Author:  Jhumpa Lahiri

Paperback:  291 pages

ISBN:  9780618485222

For being a foreigner, Ashima is beginning to realize, is a sort of lifelong pregnancy - a perpetual wait, a constant burden, a continuous feeling out of sorts.  It is an ongoing responsibility, a parenthesis in what had once been ordinary life, only to discover that that previous life has vanished, replaced by something more complicated and demanding.  Like pregnancy, being a foreigner, Ashima believes, is something that elicits the same curiosity from strangers, the same combination of pity and respect.

-The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, pages 49-50

My first experience with the Ganguli family happened two years ago when I brought the DVD copy of the movie home from the library.  I thought then that it was a beautiful and rich story, and was excited to find out it was also a book.  After a few months of picking it up and putting it back, I finally bought a paperback of it from Waldenbooks about a year or so ago, but it sat on the shelf since then… calling to me whenever I looked in the general area of the bookshelf where it sat.  And after reading Confessions of a Shopaholic, I decided it was time for something a little more lasting and meaningful, so I finally began the journey and story of Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, and their children Gogol and Sonia.

When thinking about how to describe The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, the word that keeps coming to mind is “quiet”.  Lahiri slowly weaves a beautiful tapestry of the love and living and feelings of being an immigrant family.  The different customs and how the culture of the land in which you live can so overtake you and change you in ways you can’t even realize.  First and foremost, it is a love story:  The love of a man and wife, the love of parents for their children, the love for one’s family, and the love of one’s homeland.  It’s also a story of the journey we all must take of self-acceptance, and, after that, the acceptance of others.  Of course, the “Indian-ness” of it is also beautiful and intriguing.

One of the things I find fascinating from this book is the realization that all people everywhere share the burden of growing up, of culture, and of the hopes and expectations of their parents.  For the majority of us, we caring these burdens among our own people… fellow humans who share similar experiences in this and this helps us not feel so alone.  However, for those who have left their native lands, there can be a constant ache and isolation as they endure the struggles of life without the ability to lean on someone who can understand how they feel.  What’s more, the first generation born in another land are even more isolated, having one foot in the old and new country, they can neither relate to their parents who have no understanding of the way things are in their adopted homeland, nor can they fully relate to their peers who either don’t have any concept of their home life or they find it a curiosity.

Interestingly, after reading this book, it has made me take a second look and given me a deeper respect for Maggie’s dad, who left his own homeland of Vietnam more than ten years ago and has recently become a naturalized US citizen.  Not that I didn’t have respect for him before, but rather gained a bit more empathy for him.  It’s also given me another perspective with Maggie, who made a passing comment recently how she sometimes wishes she was either all Vietnamese or all white, as being both sometimes makes her feel outside of either culture.

For it’s quiet beauty and it’s lasting effect, I give The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri 4 and a 1/2 out of 5 stars.

The Department of State has released the December 2009 Visa Bulletin

The U.S. Department of State has released the November 2009 Visa Bulletin.

As you may have noticed already Lou Dobbs is appearing on a few morning shows this week.

If you had the chance what kind of questions would you ask him if he was on your show?

If you can come up with any questions we encourage you to respond!

Thanks and have a great morning!.

Immigration reform conference call draws thousands

NORTHGLENN, Colo. – Thousands across Colorado came together for 22 parties Wednesday night where the focus was on a single phone call.

Families, activists and politicians gathered to show support for comprehensive immigration reform.

It was part of a national effort to hear plans from congressional leaders about passing legislation affecting 12-million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., including about 265,000 in Colorado.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-immigration-reform-111809,0,5982172.story

Activists push for immigration reform

A nationwide conference call kicked off efforts to get a measure before Congress.

National immigration reform activists kicked off a campaign that they hope will result in a bill in the spring on Capital Hill. And Bucks County residents want to help.

Area Latinos and Filipinos tuned in to a nationwide conference call, organized by activist group Reform Immigration for America, that encouraged communities to pressure the White House and Congress for comprehensive immigration reform legislation in 2010.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/92/2009/november/19/activists-push-for-immigration-reform.html

Immigration reform supporters renewing their push for change

Advocates and immigrant families are joining this evening in a telephonic “Town Hall” conference that they hope will help them ignite the movement for legislative change in communities across the nation.

They will listen to representatives Luis Gutierrez, Nydia Velazquez and Raúl Grijalva, Hispanic members of Congress who are behind reform efforts that would offer legalization to millions of undocumented immigrants.

Advocates in the Orlando-area will gather for “house parties” in Winter Park, Kissimmee and Orlando tonight, joining others in Tampa, Miami and cities throughout the nation who will join the conference.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_hispanicaffairs/2009/11/immigration-reform-supporters-seeking-renewed-push-for-change.html

Leaders want Hispanic community to take part in 2010 Census

Updated: Nov 18, 2009 05:27 PM

By MIKE PACHE

JOPLIN, MO. – Census reports do not begin until April but the city of Joplin wants to get the word out early, especially to the Hispanic community – a group that historically has been difficult to count.

The Joplin Census Count Committee will meet with several Hispanic community leaders on Thursday to talk about the importance of filling out Census sheets in 2010.

http://www.koamtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11532269

Census officials look to hire 15K temporary, full-time workers for national head count

This month, thousands of applications will land on William Mercado’s desk at the U.S. Census Bureau as he lines up workers in New Jersey for next year’s national head count.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/nj_census_officials_looking_to.html

Latinos Poised to Shake Up 2010 Census, Politicians Beware

I’m not convinced Washington has awakened to the reality yet — but the 2010 Census is going to shake things up politically in this country, and politicians …

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-sharry/latinos-poised-to-shake-u_b_362652.html

Hispanic Man Leads Controversial Anti-Census Charge

A New Jersey pastor is using the US Census in a unique way. He’’s using it to protest. He is urging fellow Hispanics to boycott the census.. as a way of standing up for immigration reform. But will it work, or is it merely a lightning rod for controversy? WFMZ’s Jackie Shutack reports.

>> A spokesperson for the U.S. Census Bureau tells us this boycott is actually counter productive and illegal. New Jersey-based Reverend Miguel Rivera is spearheading this effort because he says in order for everyone to count, Hispanics should speak out by saying no to the census.

http://wfmz.com/view/?id=1300830