ICE Round Up
Recently, In Mississippi, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE) rounded up 700 apparent unauthorized aliens at several food processing plants. My first reaction, what would happen to the children if their parents were found to be in the U.S. illegally? Second question, how many of these individuals who were rounded up are actually legally able to work in the U.S.? Third question pertains to their employers.
On to the employers...According to CNN, it is a federal crime to hire or continually employ "unauthorized aliens" as a practice. Fines could include $3,000 per worker and possible imprisonment. First, I have not heard President Trump speak to this matter and think a significant deterrence to this issue would be using a "top down" approach when employing unauthorized aliens. I also reviewed several news articles regarding the ICE round up and didn't see any mention of what action would be done to employers who engage in this activity.
Will fines and/or imprisonment be forthcoming to these processing plants' employers? If not, why punish the employees and not the employers? If no news is forthcoming regarding the food processing employers, is it cynical to say this is merely political pandering by ICE and the President?
NRA Influence
After the devastating El Paso and Dayton mass shooting, there was a heightened focus from the press and concerned citizens on sensible gun regulation. In the wake of the shooting and according to CBS news, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne La Pierre called President Trump in early August. Based on the NRA's past lobbying efforts, one might imagine the NRA's CEO emphasizing to the President the sanctity of the 2nd amendment which is the Right to Bear arms.
I find it poignant and Interesting that La Pierre has a direct number to the President. My first question, if the head of the National Teacher's Union or a director from Greenpeace tried to call DJT, first, would they have the President's number? If so, would our current president accept the call?
Dump Truck Drive Cited in Libertyville
A dump truck driver from Elgin, Illinois was cited for a crash that occurred in Libertyville in early August. The truck driver hit a school bus from behind which caused a chain reaction to two other buses in front of the initial third bus causing injury to 17 people. Do we know what will happen to the truck driver besides a citation? Will his company's insurance have to pay for physical damages and hospital bills for those who were injured?
What's the overall cost here? In terms of liability, should the company's insurer also have to pay a fine for the inconvenience done to other motorists who were inconvenienced as a result of this crash? It's useful to know the driver was cited but additional details and background would be helpful to understand the full cost of the accident.
One other question, will the local online and print medium follow up with this story once he has his court date in early September? Stay tuned.
Broken Bicycles in Packerland
So JJ Watt of the Houston Texans broke a child's bicycle while attempting to cycle to the practice facility to scrimmage against the Green Bay Packers. Look, it's really quaint that Packer players and other teams visiting are allowed to use kids' bikes to get to the training area but has this gone on too far? First, you have a 275 pound beast of a man who tries to use a bicycle designed for a 40 or 50 pound kid. Also, the bike is so small that JJ is unable to actually pedal. The bike that broke should never have been an option for any player to use, let alone a 275 pound player. It's gotten out of hand. I think the Packers should screen bikes for design and capability to ensure bikes are not abused and broken during this exercise. Bikes used here should be designed for a minimum of a 200 pound person or above. JJ embarrassed himself by getting on this small bike (although ESPN promoted this story continuously) and the Packers organization should be a little embarrassed by allowing this to happen.
Can You Pass This 7th Grade Vocabulary Test?
https://offbeat.topix.com/
OK, I'll admit it, I fell for the click bait wondering the level of difficulty with the 7th Grade Vocabulary Test. As I began to answer questions, I was thinking the test was about 15 questions but at the 25 question mark I was then thinking it might be 50. At 50 questions, I had no idea how long this would take but I persisted.
Eventually, it took 80 questions to determine my vocabulary level. I had one wrong answer so I got 79 out of 80 correct. Now that I just wasted 20 minutes, what do I win?
Could I ask Offbeat to be more forthright? Look, the quiz is cute and I didn't mind playing for 5 minutes answering 15 questions to gauge my success or lack thereof but 80 questions? To determine someone's vocabulary level for a 7th grader has to include 80 questions? I'd like Offbeat to be more transparent and tell the reader how many questions are involved from the start. If we're willing to take the quiz and be bombarded with additional ads, tell me the amount of questions and the average amount of time this quiz might take. Otherwise, I'll consider you click bate without much scruples.
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