Immigrants in the U.S.A.

By JUSTIN HORNER

During this past year I’ve had three instances of car trouble: a blowout on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out-of-gas situation. They all happened while I was driving other people’s cars, which for some reason makes it worse on an emotional level. And on a practical level as well, what with the fact that I carry things like a jack and extra fuses in my own car, and know enough not to park on a steep incline with less than a gallon of fuel.

Each time, when these things happened, I was disgusted with the way people didn’t bother to help. I was stuck on the side of the freeway hoping my friend’s roadside service would show, just watching tow trucks cruise past me. The people at the gas stations where I asked for a gas can told me that they couldn’t lend them out “for safety reasons,” but that I could buy a really crappy one-gallon can, with no cap, for $15. It was enough to make me say stuff like “this country is going to hell in a handbasket,” which I actually said.

But you know who came to my rescue all three times? Immigrants. Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke any English.

One of those guys stopped to help me with the blowout even though he had his whole family of four in tow. I was on the side of the road for close to three hours with my friend’s big Jeep. I put signs in the windows, big signs that said, “NEED A JACK,” and offered money. Nothing. Right as I was about to give up and start hitching, a van pulled over, and the guy bounded out.

He sized up the situation and called for his daughter, who spoke English. He conveyed through her that he had a jack but that it was too small for the Jeep, so we would need to brace it. Then he got a saw from the van and cut a section out of a big log on the side of the road. We rolled it over, put his jack on top and we were in business.

I started taking the wheel off, and then, if you can believe it, I broke his tire iron. It was one of those collapsible ones, and I wasn’t careful, and I snapped the head clean off. Damn.

No worries: he ran to the van and handed it to his wife, and she was gone in a flash down the road to buy a new tire iron. She was back in 15 minutes. We finished the job with a little sweat and cussing (the log started to give), and I was a very happy man.

The two of us were filthy and sweaty. His wife produced a large water jug for us to wash our hands in. I tried to put a 20 in the man’s hand, but he wouldn’t take it, so instead I went up to the van and gave it to his wife as quietly as I could. I thanked them up one side and down the other. I asked the little girl where they lived, thinking maybe I’d send them a gift for being so awesome. She said they lived in Mexico. They were in Oregon so Mommy and Daddy could pick cherries for the next few weeks. Then they were going to pick peaches, then go back home.

After I said my goodbyes and started walking back to the Jeep, the girl called out and asked if I’d had lunch. When I told her no, she ran up and handed me a tamale.

This family, undoubtedly poorer than just about everyone else on that stretch of highway, working on a seasonal basis where time is money, took a couple of hours out of their day to help a strange guy on the side of the road while people in tow trucks were just passing him by.

But we weren’t done yet. I thanked them again and walked back to my car and opened the foil on the tamale (I was starving by this point), and what did I find inside? My $20 bill! I whirled around and ran to the van and the guy rolled down his window. He saw the $20 in my hand and just started shaking his head no. All I could think to say was, “Por favor, por favor, por favor,” with my hands out. The guy just smiled and, with what looked like great concentration, said in English: “Today you, tomorrow me.”

Then he rolled up his window and drove away, with his daughter waving to me from the back. I sat in my car eating the best tamale I’ve ever had, and I just started to cry. It had been a rough year; nothing seemed to break my way. This was so out of left field I just couldn’t handle it.

In the several months since then I’ve changed a couple of tires, given a few rides to gas stations and once drove 50 miles out of my way to get a girl to an airport. I won’t accept money. But every time I’m able to help, I feel as if I’m putting something in the bank.

BREAKING NEWS: Senate passes final bill repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell 65 YES – 31 NO. Obama said, he will sign it.

The militaries of the world have a variety of responses to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

Most Western military forces have now removed policies excluding non-heterosexual individuals (with strict policies on sexual harassment). Of the 26 countries that participate militarily in NATO, more than 22 permit gay people to serve; of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia permit gay people to serve openly.

Governments that permit homosexuals to serve openly in their military service include Taiwan, Australia, Israel, Argentina, Canada and all countries of the European Union and every original NATO signatory except Turkey.

A study of gays and lesbians in the Canadian military has found that after Canada’s 1992 decision to allow homosexuals to serve openly in its armed forces, military performance did not decline.

DREAM Act: 55 YES. 41 NO. It doesn’t move forward.

The bill “Don’t ask, don’t tell” moves forward. 63 YES, 33 NO!

The 63-33 vote sets the stage for a direct vote on ending the policy.

The Senate will take one more vote at 3 p.m. ET today to officially pass the repeal; only a majority vote is needed for the bill’s official passage.

If they vote yes, the bill will to President Obama to be signed into law.

Six Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the repeal: Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and George Voinovich (Ohio).

The democrat Manchin voted against it. “While I believe the DADT policy will be repealed, and probably should be repealed in the near future, I cannot support a repeal of the policy at this time,” he said.

Mr. Obama today released a statement saying that he is confident the military can responsibly transition to the new policy while ensuring its strength and readiness. He said that the policy undermines national security while violating American ideals.

“By ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ no longer will our nation be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans forced to leave the military, despite years of exemplary performance, because they happen to be gay. And no longer will many thousands more be asked to live a lie in order to serve the country they love,” Mr. Obama said. “It is time to close this chapter in our history. It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed.”

Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee, dismissed Republican complaints that Democrats were trying to race through the repeal to satisfy their political supporters.

“I’m not here for partisan reasons,” Mr. Levin said. “I’m here because men and women wearing the uniform of the United States who are gay and lesbian have died for this country, because gay and lesbian men and women wearing the uniform of this country have their lives on the line right now.”

The repeal would not take effect for at least 60 days while some other procedural steps are taken. In addition the bill requires the defense secretary to determine that policies are in place to carry out the repeal consistent with military standards for readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention.

You can watch the debate here: www.c-span.org

DREAM Act: 55 YES. 41 NO. It doesn’t move forward.

Drew Angerer/The New York Time

The bill “Don’t ask, don’t tell” moves forward. 63 YES, 33 NO!

Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jon Tester of Montana, Max Baucus of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska voted against bringing the bill to the floor; Republican Sens. Richard Lugar, Lisa Murkowski, and Robert Bennett voted for it.

Senate Democrats came up five votes short of the 60 needed to advance the House-passed bill, which would provide a path to citizenship for up to undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children if they attend college or join the military for two years.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin pleaded with his colleagues from the floor to vote for the DREAM Act — or as he described it, an act of “political courage.”

You can watch the debate here: www.c-span.org

DREAM Act: 55 YES. 41 NO. It doesn’t move forward.

Things will kick off at 9 a.m. Saturday, when the Senate comes into session. Senators from both parties will have some time for debate, which is likely to center on the DREAM Act — the immigration measure — and “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Later in the morning, shortly after 10:30 a.m., the Senate is slated to vote on whether to proceed on each measure.

Good luck!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – El líder de mayoría del Senado de Estados Unidos, Harry Reid, seguro de que ganará, fijó el jueves una votación sobre un nuevo intento por poner fin a la prohibición que impide que los homosexuales sirvan abiertamente en las Fuerzas Armadas de su país.

Reid presentó una moción para sostener una votación el sábado en un intento por superar un obstáculo republicano contra el proyecto de ley para poner fin a la política conocida como “No preguntes, no digas”.

Se necesitarían 60 votos en el Senado de 100 miembros para poner fin al obstáculo y avanzar hacia la aprobación de la medida, un alta prioridad del presidente Barack Obama.

“Estamos seguros de que tenemos al menos 60″, dijo un colaborador demócrata. Un colaborador republicano de alto rango reconoció que los demócratas podrían llegar a esa cifra.

El Senado votará sobre el proyecto que aprobó el miércoles la Cámara de Representantes, aún controlada por los demócratas, por 250 votos a favor y 175 en contra.

Al menos 13.000 hombres y mujeres han sido expulsados desde las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos bajo la política “No preguntes, no digas”, que permite a los homosexuales servir en las fuerzas armadas mientras mantengan su orientación sexual en secreto. La política fue implementada en 1993.

Si el Congreso no revoca la política, el tema podría ser decidido por los tribunales, donde se ha apelado contra la prohibición.

Obama, junto al secretario de Defensa, Robert Gates, quiere eliminar la política, pero está a favor de una solución legislativa en lugar de una impuesta por las cortes.

Tal medida, ha dijo el portavoz del Pentágono Geoff Morrell, permitiría al Departamento de Defensa el “manejar cuidadosamente y con responsabilidad un cambio en esta política en lugar de arriesgarse a un cambio abrupto que resulte de una decisión de los tribunales”.

Si bien Reid está seguro de que tiene los 60 votos para revocar la política, colaboradores del Senado han dicho que le falta apoyo para avanzar en otra de las prioridades de Obama, como una reforma a la inmigración.

Sin embargo, Reid fijó la votación el sábado para intentar superar el obstáculo republicano contra el proyecto de ley que habría brindado un camino hacia la ciudadanía estadounidense a inmigrantes indocumentados que llegaron al país como niños.

(Reporte de Thomas Ferraro; Editado en Español por Ricardo Figueroa)

Members of the U.S. House of Representative voted on a stand-alone bill to repeal the discriminatory law.

Mexicanos Unidos support repealing this law. It discriminates against the LGBT community.

Los republicanos/Tea party no quieren a los gays/lesbianas en el ejercito de USA. Que pasaria si todos los gays/lesbianas que estan ahora mismo en el ARMY renunciaran?

All men and women are created equal!

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Watch LIVE here: www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN.aspx

12/15/2010. 5:25PM. U.S House repealed DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL policy.

Mexicanos Unidos support repealing this law. It discriminates against the LGBT community.

Los republicanos/Tea party no quieren a los gays/lesbianas en el ejercito de USA. Que pasaria si todos los gays/lesbianas que estan ahora mismo en el ARMY renunciaran?

All men and women are created equal!

The Senate will be voting today 12/9/2010.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the DREAM Act at 11AM. That gives you some hours to make calls into key Senate votes. Use this line & we’ll make sure you talk with a Senator whose vote could make the difference: 866-587-6101

You can watch the debate here: www.c-span.org

Take one minute to contact your Senators to ask them to vote YES on the DREAM Act today.

Target list:

Senate Democrats:
Conrad (ND)
Dorgan (ND)
McCaskill (MO)
Webb (VA)
Warner (VA)
Landrieu (LA)
Pryor (AR)
Tester (MT)
Hagan (NC)

Senate Republicans:
Hutchison (TX)
Brownback (KS)
Murkowski (AK)
Kirk (IL)
Bennett (UT)
Voinovich (OH)
Snowe (ME)
Collins (ME)
Lemieux (FL)
Lugar (IN)
Bunning (KY)