NPR actions

        It's interesting to see how this country needs a reason to find an escape goat in certain groups (wrong color, religion, sex etc) we speak of tolerance and democracy but damn if you go against me! In the past the "White" or so called Anglo-Saxon had slavery and considered themselves none Bigots, political correction came in and changed the name referring to salves from using the N word to African-American (1920 when they got their rights to vote). We also have the Anti-Japanese sentiment; this movement treated the Japanese similar to Slavery or Hitler for that manner (minus the gas chambers) by having "War Relocation Camps".

        Reading the Testimony of John L. DeWitt, April 13, 1943, House Naval Affairs Subcommittee to Investigate Congested Areas: "I don't want any of them [persons of Japanese ancestry] here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty... It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty... But we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map." OH my how we have changed from those days, now we drive Japanse cars and play on Playstation.

         So to me it seems a natural reaction in this country if a small member of a group does something bad then it must be by default the entire group that is bad and we HAVE to hate them no questions asked. Pearl Harbor happened and by default we can't trust those "Japs", 9/11 happened and we can't trust ANY Muslim. This is a normal reaction to something we do not know or understand. With Black we used Skin color as differentiation with Muslims it's Religion!

        Let us assume the role was reversed and NPR had an Arab-American who said this:" When I fly and see Hasidic Jew I get scared".

Do you think Fox news would say this is his free speech right or would Fox have went on the attack? Would they have offered him $2 Million contract to give Fox a different point of view? Do I agree with NPR firing John Williams for speaking his personal views? No I do not. If Juan did say this is NPR views then NPR has right to fire him (if he was speaking outside NPR views). Just like any of us bad mouthing the company you work for in public, they can terminate your employment if they deem you not following their Vision. Yes what NPR did is wrong in taking this drastic action, but as a Muslim I want to thank them for taking a stand to support the minority group that is under constant attack.

I leave you with Mr. Jesse Ventura statement:" The First Amendment was not written to protect the popular speech but the unpopular one"

Stock picking

I was told Yahoo is good because of possibility it might be acquired. I tend to disagree even though I'm yahoo user and have been for long time.

Here is what I like and own:

Citibank – C

General Electric – GE, got to love this with nice yield also

Verizon ( I own) or ATT – VZ or T, talk about 6% yield, can't find that any saving     accounts

Want to diversify more how about some Phrama Stocks, Merck (MER), Eli Lilly (LLY) or Pfizer (PFE) all paying 4% + in yield.

 

Love to hear other inputs? Don't be shy

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Brad Ellsworth

I sent this letter to our U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Brad Ellsworth, regarding immigration issues. I liked the reply I got back from him. Talk about an automated reply, but at least I have to give him this he did reply while our President didn't (sent President Obama two letters). Please see letter below and reply I received. PS. Mr. President I'm still waiting for my reply.
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U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Brad Ellsworth

101 NW Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Room 124
Evansville, IN 47708

Ref: Immigration to the USA
To Mr. Brad Ellsworth,
    I'm puzzled and irate on how US current immigration system works, it seems to me that anyone trying to immigrate to the US in a legal way following the law, gets passed over by the illegal immigrants and their rights!
    Perfect example, when I became a US citizen over 10 years ago (that's another story), I applied for my father and he received his Green card. After that he applied for my siblings under his name. My sister gained her PhD from xxxx University in Chicago in Medical Physics (via Fulbright scholarship) and my brother is IT manager at biggest bank in UAE. After few years my father decided he has no need for the Green Card and gave up his right to it. His thinking was, I do not plan to migrate to US and use the resource that is meant for others.
    On the other hand my siblings continued the paper work and finally received this year a letter indicating need to pay $70 for AOS (Affidavit Of Support) that was paid, then another email came in to pay $400 For visa processing fee. My brother paid that fee and now we are told we need to fill form I-864 (Affidavit of Support) I was going to fill this form (since I'm the one residing in the US) but to my surprised only the person that applied for them (i.e. our father) has to fill it. Since he gave up his right for the Green Card he couldn't fill that form, therefore we inquired with an attorney about the next step? To my surprise again, I was told NOTHING we can do except start the processes AGAIN and Jordanian citizens have a wait of 9 years! In other words the time they waited and reached this approval process will not be counted! Interesting.
    How about when my brother came to visit in June got harassed by TSA (this was not his first entry) or my sister when she came to a conference and she was a presenter got also harassed by a TSA agent asking her if she is called a doctor in her country! What a sham, they come here for pleasure and spend $$ get harassed come here for a conference they get harassed!
    I travel a lot for work and as a matter of fact, at one of my trips we sat next to each other on our way to Detroit. I'm sure you can tell TSA screening needs to be overhauled; you have been to Israel and saw how it's done.
    What do you suggest? Ask them to cross the border illegally, carry with them drugs and sue the government or the state for trying to stop them at gun point? What do you think about using emotional distress from the ordeal for the case? (Similar to what an Arizona rancher faced when he got sued for $7.2 Million by illegal immigrants crossing his ranch!) Why is this country rewarding bad behavior while punishing people that follow the law?
    Do special interest groups carry better weight than the people in this country? We wonder why we have brain drain in this country, and jobs moving overseas, we do not make it feasible to hire the best. Soon India and China will surpass us and wonder why.

Sincerely yours,
Shadi Wadi-Ramahi
cc. President of the United States of America