University of Tokyo & Man City, Tell Thaksin to go home and face reality

To the University of Tokyo, what on earth are you thinking? Why are you allowing this man, ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to be a guest lecturer? Do you know that he is going to give lies and false information about Thailand to you? Your students will more likely to be falsely educated by Mr. Thaksin because he will be giving a presentation in which he will only talk about the good things (i.e. how he got Thailand out of IMF debt, and the 30 baht health care system) that he did while ignoring all the things that he did wrong.

To Manchester City, you are blind by the money to let Thaksin place his bid for your soccer team.

Since the coup in September 2006, billionaire and ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been traveling between China and England, making public appearances talking to college student how great he was and how he became the victim of the coup, playing golf and talking to members of his political party Thai-rak-Thai how get his power back in China, and making business deal with Manchester City. It seems to me that Mr. Thaksin does not want to go back to Thailand and face the reality that he is no longer a great/good prime minister. Thaksin is the man that divided the country apart because of his war on drugs policies which killed many innocent people in various parts of the country especially the Southern part of Thailand.  He is also the one who sets the law that removed a 25% limit on foreign ownership of Thai telecommunications companies. This allows him to sell his share to Singapore without a problem. The ousted prime minister abused his power as the leader of Thailand to do business deals with others in hopes to make a lot of money for himself while poor and middle class Thais are suffering.

There is one thing that I do not understand, why is Thaksin afraid of going back to Thailand? Why can’t he just face the charges accused by the junta government? Instead of acting like man, he is more like a woman. He created a blog telling people how much he misses Thailand and that he would like to come back. The junta government allows him to come back. Why does not he? If Mr. Thaksin did not break the Thai laws, then go back and clear them. Don’t stay in England and stop making media presence. The University of Tokyo and Manchester City are giving this man who ruined Thailand a chance to send a dirty message that no one can get him because he is rich and out of the country. Please do me and all the Thai people a favor, fire him, get him out and ship him back to Thailand for me.

Thank you.

Filed under: Blogging, International Politics, News, Politics, Sports, Thailand, Thoughts

The Democrats did not fail, they just do what’s right.

Last night, the Congress passed a bill that would continue to fund the war in Iraq. Many anti-war bloggers have been criticized all night as to how the Democratic party failed them. If they have the time to think about the bill for a second, maybe these critics change their mind.

This bill is an emergency bill that would provide about 100 billion dollars for funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30, the end of the 2007 fiscal year. Aside from this, it approved to increase the minimum wage from 5. 15 dollars to about 7.25 an hour and along with 20 billion dollars in domestic spending. Overall, the bill sets a some sort of a timeline  for the Bush administration to come up with the new strategy for the wars by September. Also, it sets a condition for the Iraqi government must meet, however, the bill does not specifically explain what the conditions are. While many anti-war voters feel disappointed with the Democrats, I would say that the party is doing what is right for the country, which is supporting our troops. Through the eyes of politicians, would you like it if the American troops are fighting in Iraq with proper funds and equipment? This bill put the Democrats in a tough position; to support the troops or listen to their voters.

As much as I against the War in Iraq and want the troops to get out there so badly, this bill gives 4 months for President Bush to come up with the new strategy on how to deal with the war in Iraq. He knows that the Americans are frustrated. It is his last chance to prove to Americans and the rest of the world that he is competent leader (which I don’t think he is in the first place). I believe the Democrats are still pushing for a time line of troop withdrawal agenda. Trust me, expect to hear from the Democrats soon after this.

This time, they lost because the Republicans supports it. Believe me, they will make a great come back from this.   

Filed under: American Politics, Blogging, Iraq, Politics, Terorrism

The United Illegal Immigrant States of America…The New USA

Would you like to have a new name for the United States of America? This is the new name of this country would be if the Congress pass this bipartisan immigration bill next week.

As I mentioned in my last blog, the bill would ultimately give an immediate work authorization for illegal immigrants that come into the United States before Janurary 1 2007. Not only that, they have to pay 5,000 dollars fee and geta permanent guarantee to come back to the United States after the heads of households return of their native country.

As much as I want the illegal immigrants to be free, however, this is not the way. The bill sends a strong message to legal immigrants who come into the United States before January 1 2007 to be illegal immigrants. Let me tell you, some visas do not let legal immigrants work. H-4 visa, for example, is a dependent visa of H1-B, worker visa. A person who carries H-4 visa can not work and obtain social security numbers.  The illegal immigrants can work under this so-called Z visa. No Congress, you don’t to do that. If you grant the illegal immigrants to work in the United States work legally under this visa, you must do the same thing to all dependent legal immigrants.

Also, the bill has many loopholes. No Z visa holders can be put onto the path towards permanent residency until the 3,000 mile or so border is secure, the White House factsheet stated. How can you make sure the border is secure? Lou Dobbs of CNN told Anderson Cooper last night on 360 2 miles out of 700 miles of  border fence have been built. I wondered when it’s going to finish it, hopefully not by the time I have kids.

If this bill passed, it will encourage many more illegal immigrants to come into the United States and ultimately, there will be no legal immigrants left in this country. Why? It’s because illegal immigrants that come into the U.S after January 1 2007 will protest and demand the U.S to grant them the Z visa as well. Legal immigrants in the U.S that come in before 2007 will not plan to maintain their legal status as well because they can get the Z visa from the government and plus an immediate path towards citizenship.

If you don’t want this country to fill with more illegal immigrants, don’t pass this bill. Pass the Dream Act which gives equal opportunity for both illegal and legal immigrants a fair chance towards citizenship.

Filed under: American Politics, Immigration, News, Politics, Thoughts

The Congress is stupid on immigration

Just admit politicians, if you don’t know how to deal with illegal immigrants and you are doing it just to attract more Hispanic voters!  

It supposed to be a day of joy for the Democrats and Republicans that they have finally agreed on a bill that would legalize illegal immigrants. Today is a day that many illegal immigrants have been waiting for, a bill that would make them free. At the same time, today is the day for many legal immigrants to ask the Congress ”What’s a point of being legal immigrants then?”

As I was trying to study for my finals (sorry, Queens College has late final schedule compare to other colleges), I heard a report by Wolf Blitzer on the Situation Room about the comprehensive immigration reform bill which bipartisan senators struck an agreement with the White House today. This bill gives a quick legal status to illegal immigrants. They have to pay 1,000 dollars fee and receive a card to apply for work visa or a Z visa. Eight years later or so, they are eligible to apply for a green card, but only after the additional payment $4,000 fine. They have to demonstrate accelerated English requirements; return to their home country to file their green card application; and demonstrate merit under the merit-based system.  However, they can not begin apply for permanent residency until border security improved and the high-tech worker identification program functioned efficiently. The bill would end the Green Card lottery system, and chain migration. Family members of U.S citizens who have applied legally and have lawfully waited their turn in line will receive their green card within eight years. When the report was over, I wanted to slap the Congress.

Do you see anything wrong here? I do.

Asking illegal immigrants to pay in total of five thousand dollars fee in order for them to be legal , that’s very cheap.  Some legal immigrant families have to pay more than five thousand dollars to maintain their legal status. The bill also mentioned that illegal immigrants who came to the U.S before January 1st 2007 are able to get Z visa. Seriously, how are these people going to prove that they were here before January 1st? Anybody can cross the border today and say that he/she moved here prior to the year 2007.  Also, the path to citizenship or permanent residence for illegal immigrants would not begin until the border security is improve. My question to the Congress is, when will that be? U.S borders are not one hundred miles. It’s more than 3 thousand miles on each end. Simply, the bill will not get the illegal immigrants anywhere. 

What about legal immigrants who have no family in the U.S but work in this country legally for years? Will the illegal immigrants get the status before them? How long will these legal immigrants have to wait? 8 years? 10 years?

My point is this, the Congress is paying a lot of its attention to illegal immigrants. Legal immigrants are forgotten. Both parities in the Congress want to pass a bill that would attract more voters especially Hispanic. The Congress does not know what to do with this issue. This bill is stupid. It is not going to work. Illegal immigrants will take at least 20 years to become legal. They have to wait until the border is secure. The border will never secure, not at least for the next 10 years. Also, I feel that if the Congress were to provide easy path illegal immigrants to obtain green card or citizenship, it should also do the same to legal immigrants. If this bill passed, it will send a message to legal immigrants that there is no point of staying in the United States legally. I would prefer the Congress to pass the Dream Act because it would provide fair path for both legal and illegal to become U.S citizens.

Filed under: American Politics, Immigration, News, Politics, Thoughts

Pentagon, U.S Soldiers have lives too, you know

The Pentagon (U.S Department of Defense) announced its decision to block twelve recreational websites from the military computer systems. Two of them are YouTube and MySpace. The other sites are Pandora, Photobucket, Live365, Hi5, Metacafe, Mtv, Ifilm, BlackPlanet, StupidVideos and Filecabi. Based on a news report byAFP, the Pentagon, the decision was made due to the fear of security breach and the drain on bandwidth. However, Soldiers can access to these websites with their own computers and Internet connections. They’re also still be able to blog, chat online and check their emails under the Pentagon’s Computer system.

The Pentagon’s decision to ban these sites is ridiculous. Aside from emails, MySpace and YouTube are popular websites for soldiers to interact with their friends and loved ones. It’s good that they can still blog. However, it is much better for these soldiers to be able to post up videos on the Internet for their relatives and friends to see what it is like to be on the battle zone. The Pentagon’s decision clearly shows that it only wants its troops to focus on their responsibilities by limiting communication with their family members. Also, The Pentagon doesn’t want its employees to expose how brutal the war is to the public because it may give a stronger argument for the Democrats to end the war. Wow right?

Not only the Pentagon bans these two sites, they also ban MTV and StupidVideos! Basically, the military just don’t want these soldiers to have lives and relax at all. The ones that deployed in the Middle East in Iraq are only able to access the Internet via U.S Department of Defense/Pentagon networks. So in reality,  they can’t access to these twelve sites at all. U.S troops are not robots. They have lives, too you know.

Thanks Pentagon for doing something that U.S Soldiers don’t want it.

But don’t worry troop vloggers, you can still go to livevideo.com and post up your video. Join me.

Filed under: American Politics, News, Politics, Thoughts

So you think Imus is gone? Think again…

Instead of trying to keep a low profile, Don Imus has decided to file a lawsuit against CBS to collect the rest of his 40 million dollars contract in which he signed three months before the infamous incident and another 80 million dollars for damages.

Why are you so greedy? Aren’t you rich already? As far as I know, satellite radios may offer him a show or something like that. However, it’s still in the air. Maybe he’s not coming back at all. We have to wait and see. Back to the point, this lawsuit is pathetic. Imus is the one who ruins his reputation and his career. MSNBC and especially CBS have nothing to do with the downfall of his career. What he said on the radio was totally inappropriate which was why people were saying “enough is enough.” 

80 million dollars for damages? For what? The CBS has not done anything except fired him. The company did not burn his house or something that would make him to seek such amount of money.

Don Imus, please be reasonable. Your career is already ruined. So why don’t you just keep a low profile like Tim Hardaway is doing right now? File a lawsuit is not going to do you anything good anyways.

Filed under: News, Random, Thoughts

Bush supporters, what are you thinking?

For the past few days, I have been reading conservatives’ and Bush supporters’ blogs about their views on Iraq. I have to say that it was an interesting experience to me. Start reading from the first line to the end, I wondered if these Bush supporters are into Bush’s propaganda.

Based on my experience, I think they are. Nowhere in their blogs mentioned about Bush’s misleading American on going into the War in Iraq because of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). Instead, they blamed on the intelligence reports. Some of them even praised Bush for taking down Saddam out of power. For months before we signed onto the war, Bush kept saying Saddam had powerful WMDs. Now, he doesn’t even want to talk about why he went into war in the first place. Why is that? My guess is that he’s ashamed for letting the country and his supporters down. However, he is so stubborn.

How can Bush have the nerve to link Iraq to Al-Qaeda? Before the war started, many intelligence reports I heard during my high school years said they these two have no connections. Plus Saddam and Osama Bin Laden aren’t the best of friends. Four years later, the war in Iraq still continues. Bush pretty much brings terrorists and violence into Iraq. Thanks Bush, now, this country is in the midst of civil war. It has been four years, we’re still unable to capture the number one world’s wanted man. Democrats and others are seeing the lights that the Iraq war is going nowhere. Yet, war supporters are telling me and other anti-war supporters to go get some education. Maybe, they are the ones that should go get some lessons on how to get out of Bush’s war propaganda.We go to the war on terrorism to catch Osama not invading Iraq, right?

It is clear. Bush doesn’t know what he is doing. He’s being cornered by the Democrats and the American people. I don’t know why you, Bush supporters are still on his side.

So my question to Bush supporters: What on earth are you thinking? Why are you still supporting this man?

Filed under: American Politics, Iraq, News, Politics, Rant, Thoughts