last night was such a beautiful night to walk home. so quiet and peaceful out. no cars. no people. nothing at all, but the freshly fallen snow. just a quiet, pristine world around me. although it took a while to regain my snow-legs.... but once i did, it was worth it taking the long walk home. cold air didnt matter. nor the wind. not on a night like that. a night where all the mistakes of mothernature are covered over in a new fresh blanket of purity. the green grass stuck out in places, and sure not all the trees have lost their leaves yet. but it was all concealed if not for the first time this season. the first snowfall is really remarkable. it changes alot of things. it changes our clothing, our eating habbits, how we walk, when we go to things, it dictates what we can and cant do for plans. but i still couldnt help but think about that little curiousity. where fresh white snow, is pulled across the earth like a veil over what lies before us, all is hidden and replaced with this image. no matter what the truth may be, how green that grass is, how soggy the soil, or warm the pavement, the fresh white snow hides all from our eyes. its a clean start. its demanding of something more than words, yet the more i think about it, the fewer words i can come up with to describe those non-verbal thoughts. hidden away underneath is the coating she wants us to see. fresh, new.
tomorrow is interesting. its Lsat day. im kind of worried. im worried about worrying for the things i cant change. that test is designed to show me, no matter what type or amount of preparation, what type of true skills i have, that are valuable in deciding, for me, a career in law. and i cant change that. nor the test. and probably not how i even respond to the questions. i worry about that a great deal. everyone i know is wishing me luck on it; but luck wont matter much... not nearly as much as whats inside of me.
and for those keeping score at home, i did manage to get the phone number from that hot volleyball player. oh yeah!
Friday, December 05, 2003
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Current Musical Selection: Hanoi Rocks - Delerious
after another long class period of listening to people's sad tales of woeful mistreatment of the nations' immigrants, i feel as though there is nothing i can do to clearly state my boredom with it all. for once, it would be nice for people to accept the bare presentation of fact that exists in the business world, and in the social world around us. lets kill a couple of happy cloud dreams shall we? i pick one such group; but you can make very similar arguments for any unseccessfully included immigrant group in this nation.
mexican-americans, are earning signifficantly less money than caucasian americans, even less than other immigrants from other countries [besides central america]
mmmhmm. this has quite a bit to do with 4 main areas; language, social mobility and social connection, legal immigration status, job market competition. the biggest reason so many of these people earn statistically less is because so many are jobless, or can only except extremely low paying jobs. why? look above again. legal immigration status is the largest reason. in the post 9-11 days, we will find it continually less likely to slide past or around any sorts of immigration laws or identification procedures. in fact, even my company is asking for 2 forms of identification to process my check, and they know who i am. being able to prove legitimate emmigration [notice, not immigration] status is important, and it always has been. without proving status, its next to impossible to find employment past season labor, or something that will require high turnover [and likely low pay to match], or a field of work given exception by the federal government [some states as well; but mainly their few and far between now... used to be popular in California, Arizona, Texas, and across to the midwest for the growing seasons]. so if you cant prove you can legitimately work here, you wont be allowed to. lets also put the statistic out there that Mexican-Americans are sighted as having the largest rate of illegal immigration status in this country. thats a problem. second, they arent speaking the language of higher wage employment. should they be able to find a job, its going to be in a connected field of work or similar comfort zone where they wont be risking their [un]nationalized status. ie- working for a lawn care service or meat packing house that employs large amounts of known illegals. it could also include family ties... working at a local shop a family member owns, which would likely not report the income and wages to the IRS, and instead pay in cash. this is true for many other ethnicities as well. asian-americans have been doing this for generations; with stereotypical restaraunts and the like employing the entire family off one or few legalized citizens. the problem mexican-americans are facing that other groups are not, are their reluctance to ever file for citizenship. its then this social mobility and connection that prevents upward mobility, capping high wage earners to small, small numbers. the immigrants are forced to stay with in these lower wage, but more secure [legally wise] and comfortable circles for employment; which as a whole are not high wage areas. example. one child from a family starts a market in a spanish neighborhood. several family members follow him later on [illegally], and take up residence and work for them. maybe they also help work at other places in the neighborhood--- but scarcely outside of that. as succuessful as these small enterprised might be; they pale in comparision to the wages that could be earned from a large company... thats not going to be in their neighbor hood. secondly these circles hold them back in mobility as they make no networking connections to higher wage earning communities. example. working at an office supply store will bring you into contact with business owners and company reps, from my company alone 4 individuals in 2 years have left to work for a company by meeting through contacts from our store. you arent going to find the HR director of GE-Westinghouse shopping, randomly, through small town, mexican speaking sections, and exclusive mom and pop stores in ultra urban california. since the interaction is limited with the community, they rarely seek anything beyond minimal contact with necessary areas [walmart, health clinics, police/fire response] so they have cut themselves off from their best asset--- shopping around in the outside market. language is also a barrier. unlike many different emmigrant groups, who do make the attempt to learn english, the mexican-american subculture is largely making no movement for this. infact there is in fact, great resistance to learning english as a whole. why learn it? the isolated innterconnected communites dont use english, and with that limited contact to the outside world, there isnt much need for it. so they refuse to. its also all bundled up in a wicked mix of national identity and race relations, which the liberal movementarians have categorized as a positive image in our society, so we find the country quickly fractionalizing in to small groups, and strongly solidifying into those groups. because its sooo important to be diverse, we have wildly interjected groups of people together with nothing in common, no will to coexist, and no means to come together. the most worsening factor has been gorwing resentment and anxiety between groups forced together. this type of reaction is commonly seen to amount in one of a few ways; and its finding its own way to become solidy. scared of being interjected into a society that doesnt accept them [no english language skills, no legal citizen status, and refusal to move beyond familial relations], they turn inward. they are only strengthening the factors that this diverse worldview is pushing them against. try it on your own. pick a grammar school, 2nd grade students, at a lunch table. separate boys and girls for a week at lunch. then the next week put a 10% mix of girls into the boys group, and vice versa. watch what happens. name calling, isolation, chastisement, abandonment, anger. all of these are common human reactions to the introduction to a new and unfamiliar setting, its no wonder its happening on a much larger scale. then put all of those factors together, and place one person from this group against any other american; and find me an employer is willing to take that immigrant 1 out of 10 times. what business is going to hire an indiviudal that doesnt speak your language, has low levels of education [due to] no legal citizenship, no well connected references, and a growing fear/hostility to the world outside their own? isnt this then easy to see why the wages arent high on average, why the job market outlook is dismal at best? i guess not. these kids are waisting their time trying to prove that pink clouds of happiness really are in a black sky line. use your mind. not the garbage this university feeds you about diverse settings, cultural sensitivity, or positive minds make positive realities. look for the green dollar. who holds it? learn why they have it. youll learn many more truths about the world around you that way, than by ever listening to these people with degrees preaching the get-along- speeches of 30 years ago.
after another long class period of listening to people's sad tales of woeful mistreatment of the nations' immigrants, i feel as though there is nothing i can do to clearly state my boredom with it all. for once, it would be nice for people to accept the bare presentation of fact that exists in the business world, and in the social world around us. lets kill a couple of happy cloud dreams shall we? i pick one such group; but you can make very similar arguments for any unseccessfully included immigrant group in this nation.
mexican-americans, are earning signifficantly less money than caucasian americans, even less than other immigrants from other countries [besides central america]
mmmhmm. this has quite a bit to do with 4 main areas; language, social mobility and social connection, legal immigration status, job market competition. the biggest reason so many of these people earn statistically less is because so many are jobless, or can only except extremely low paying jobs. why? look above again. legal immigration status is the largest reason. in the post 9-11 days, we will find it continually less likely to slide past or around any sorts of immigration laws or identification procedures. in fact, even my company is asking for 2 forms of identification to process my check, and they know who i am. being able to prove legitimate emmigration [notice, not immigration] status is important, and it always has been. without proving status, its next to impossible to find employment past season labor, or something that will require high turnover [and likely low pay to match], or a field of work given exception by the federal government [some states as well; but mainly their few and far between now... used to be popular in California, Arizona, Texas, and across to the midwest for the growing seasons]. so if you cant prove you can legitimately work here, you wont be allowed to. lets also put the statistic out there that Mexican-Americans are sighted as having the largest rate of illegal immigration status in this country. thats a problem. second, they arent speaking the language of higher wage employment. should they be able to find a job, its going to be in a connected field of work or similar comfort zone where they wont be risking their [un]nationalized status. ie- working for a lawn care service or meat packing house that employs large amounts of known illegals. it could also include family ties... working at a local shop a family member owns, which would likely not report the income and wages to the IRS, and instead pay in cash. this is true for many other ethnicities as well. asian-americans have been doing this for generations; with stereotypical restaraunts and the like employing the entire family off one or few legalized citizens. the problem mexican-americans are facing that other groups are not, are their reluctance to ever file for citizenship. its then this social mobility and connection that prevents upward mobility, capping high wage earners to small, small numbers. the immigrants are forced to stay with in these lower wage, but more secure [legally wise] and comfortable circles for employment; which as a whole are not high wage areas. example. one child from a family starts a market in a spanish neighborhood. several family members follow him later on [illegally], and take up residence and work for them. maybe they also help work at other places in the neighborhood--- but scarcely outside of that. as succuessful as these small enterprised might be; they pale in comparision to the wages that could be earned from a large company... thats not going to be in their neighbor hood. secondly these circles hold them back in mobility as they make no networking connections to higher wage earning communities. example. working at an office supply store will bring you into contact with business owners and company reps, from my company alone 4 individuals in 2 years have left to work for a company by meeting through contacts from our store. you arent going to find the HR director of GE-Westinghouse shopping, randomly, through small town, mexican speaking sections, and exclusive mom and pop stores in ultra urban california. since the interaction is limited with the community, they rarely seek anything beyond minimal contact with necessary areas [walmart, health clinics, police/fire response] so they have cut themselves off from their best asset--- shopping around in the outside market. language is also a barrier. unlike many different emmigrant groups, who do make the attempt to learn english, the mexican-american subculture is largely making no movement for this. infact there is in fact, great resistance to learning english as a whole. why learn it? the isolated innterconnected communites dont use english, and with that limited contact to the outside world, there isnt much need for it. so they refuse to. its also all bundled up in a wicked mix of national identity and race relations, which the liberal movementarians have categorized as a positive image in our society, so we find the country quickly fractionalizing in to small groups, and strongly solidifying into those groups. because its sooo important to be diverse, we have wildly interjected groups of people together with nothing in common, no will to coexist, and no means to come together. the most worsening factor has been gorwing resentment and anxiety between groups forced together. this type of reaction is commonly seen to amount in one of a few ways; and its finding its own way to become solidy. scared of being interjected into a society that doesnt accept them [no english language skills, no legal citizen status, and refusal to move beyond familial relations], they turn inward. they are only strengthening the factors that this diverse worldview is pushing them against. try it on your own. pick a grammar school, 2nd grade students, at a lunch table. separate boys and girls for a week at lunch. then the next week put a 10% mix of girls into the boys group, and vice versa. watch what happens. name calling, isolation, chastisement, abandonment, anger. all of these are common human reactions to the introduction to a new and unfamiliar setting, its no wonder its happening on a much larger scale. then put all of those factors together, and place one person from this group against any other american; and find me an employer is willing to take that immigrant 1 out of 10 times. what business is going to hire an indiviudal that doesnt speak your language, has low levels of education [due to] no legal citizenship, no well connected references, and a growing fear/hostility to the world outside their own? isnt this then easy to see why the wages arent high on average, why the job market outlook is dismal at best? i guess not. these kids are waisting their time trying to prove that pink clouds of happiness really are in a black sky line. use your mind. not the garbage this university feeds you about diverse settings, cultural sensitivity, or positive minds make positive realities. look for the green dollar. who holds it? learn why they have it. youll learn many more truths about the world around you that way, than by ever listening to these people with degrees preaching the get-along- speeches of 30 years ago.
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