HAL 9000

I think I would be more worried about bringing in immigrants to do high tech jobs than the crappy ones we dont want to do anyway. Why not tax the ####### out of outsourced labor to other countries and pay for more Americans education with the tax money. Force Americans to get a better education.

B/C most of those companies would just switch all operations to profitability where not taxed as such. Under the current tax code, that is. Instead of outsourcing labor they'd outsource themselves.

I have flown and will fly again with American Airlines.. I don’t have a lot of choices in the matter…They are the only way to reach my wife and her family in Bolivia. The only other options I’ve found with other airlines have connections in 2 or more other countries. Not my idea of the easy route.

Cost is reasonable, considering they are the only daily round trips between US and Bolivia.

I’ve flown with AA a lot, but have no horror stories to tell… (cross my fingers) and hope not to ever.

Take only one bag and carry it with me when possible. Always try to use only one airlines for all connecting flights,… especially if checking any bags. Less chance of loss.

Very wise advice.

I usually just fly with my backpack and smaller side bag. Last time in Bolivia I bought a few extra pieces of clothes locally and left them for donation with friends in Santa Cruz.

AA has actually done very well in giving me OP-UPs on several occasions. I guess most of the time its about having the right personality at the counter.

A little matter all of you missed.

The H1-b cap dates only from 1989--the year after the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (morphed badly into NAFTA) was signed.

Plus, the factoid that there is NO cap on TN-1's (the equivalent for Mexican professionals, TN-2, is subject to a different cap)--it seems that Durbin missed the obvious loophole.

Are there that many TNs?

I'll have to check with the family migra officials on that one.

No, the # of TNs is nowhere near comparison to the H1s in per capita terms when compared to nations.

***

Diana... welcome to capitalism 101

Bla bla with the illegals. Its a petty way of misdiagnosing the reversal of the brain flow in this nation. It used to be that we (and still are) a destination for intellectual capital- but other markets are opening up in Asia that are consuming more of that and with interest.

The flow is starting to move outwards of this nation and the financial services industry is replacing the productivity sectors of the economy. This is what happened with strong superpowers like the Dutch and Brits back in the day and it will most likely occur here.

It would be mature to assume that we could correct many of these problems by attending to depolarizing the political arguments that divide a nation's economic drive into conservative and liberal tendencies, insularize the appropriate economic policies that strengthen domestic markets while creating international dynamics that do not create mass flow of low-skilled labor our way, and diversify our standard of living as a society not above the rest of the world but rather a very integral part of the rest of humanity.

Sadly, we still continue to think we are somehow ** sapiens plus and entitled to all the icing on the cake, plus the cake.

i have flown american..and not a fan of any USA airlines...

We used to be their hub. We used to get great service. Now, not so much!

I think they are all pretty much the same. Good days and bad days.

i miss TWA

So do I... and those student vouchers they sold... $600 for about 3-4 round trips to the Caribbean back in the day. Luckily those TWA Aviators miles turned into AAdvantage miles and I got a really good start into AA Elite status when TWA came to an end.

A little matter all of you missed.

The H1-b cap dates only from 1989--the year after the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (morphed badly into NAFTA) was signed.

Plus, the factoid that there is NO cap on TN-1's (the equivalent for Mexican professionals, TN-2, is subject to a different cap)--it seems that Durbin missed the obvious loophole.

Are there that many TNs?

I'll have to check with the family migra officials on that one.

Funny. I had a tourist visa to the US since I was 8 years old. Just kep renewing, never one problem. Same goes for all my family members.

Once you get it there weren't that many problems renewing, right? Seems to be the case with most Colombians I've met with one, including the wife's family members.

Finally, indeed! haha.... In what has to be record time for UCIS, we received NOAs for everything YESTERDAY! (I believe I mailed the whole package off around March 14). Lorena and the boys have biometric apointments for April 24 for the I-485s and also for the boys I-765s (so they can get jobs, I guess....just kidding).

Mavi.... Is this when they also do the interview, or is that a separate event? Will I need to bring along our 'proofs' of joint accounts, etc.? I can't imagine it will all happen this fast. But hope springs eternal.

Charles

Oh that is a bunch of wishful thinking Charles... Mària's biometrics was (on a postponement) months ago and we received notice that MSC (National Benefits Center) forwarded the I-485 to CSC... so given by the tendency we hope that it would mean NO interview since that would just represent more papers to collect and most likely a day off from work. Not that I don't have an understanding boss or anything, its just that I'd prefer to use my free days for other things.

To answer your question, no... that's not the interview date, IF you guys have to interview...

There was some "RFE trick" some folks were doing here to "inadvertently" bring their application up to the top of the pile and have a faster approval/interview date... but right now I am at OT reading some ludicrous posts... so my search abilities are diminished... maybe someone can fill in?

Anyway, that will be awesome... you can put the boys to work!!! I always tell Mària that our marriage was actually an investment for me... she (I am praying for this) is in the process of getting her psychologist credentials transfered over and that will mean much higher job prospects. Given by some lunatic thoughts people share with the OT thread group, I don't doubt for a second she'll have a lack of people to counsel. J/K on the investment part...

The proper thing to incentivize the solution to the problem would be to eliminate the NEED to emigrate illegally, or legally in some cases. Cheaper and overall, more progressive than say, being punitive from a symptomatic point of attack.

This is stupid. No wonder there are so many illegal aliens in the U.S. today. As I've stated numerous times throughout this board, if the U.S. would ease up a little on legal immigration, perhaps illegal immigration would decrease. It'd never go away, but it might take a nosedive. After all, I'm sure a good portion of people coming to this country illegally are doing so because they have no other recourse. Sure, they could stay in their home country (and many do), but if they've formed a relationship with an American or are looking for a way to improve their lifestyle, what are they to do?

America has the entire immigration scene backwards -- it's making the legal methods more difficult while virtually welcoming illegals with open arms, granting them whatever they wish. It makes me wonder why anyone even tries to do the process legally anymore. In 20 years (give or take), I think we'll be hard pressed to find anyone immigrating legally to this country. It won't be worth it, considering the time and expense; not when it can all be done much quicker and cheaper through illegal means and the U.S. does nothing to stop it.

I think your rationale is on a good track. A rational and realistic approach to reducing the current trend is far more efficient and reachable than being a hysterical anti-immigrant.

the only decent remnants of chicano culture is their literature.. exceptional writers like Sandra Cisneros .. Caramelo or the house on Mango street are good examples

Cesar Chavez Day was interestingly big here in Chicago... must be all that MeChA influence in Mayor Daley's evil government machine that subscribes to Obama's Kool Aid Campaign.

the thing about MECHA is that.. the time where chicanos only lived in the ghetto, and had low class working positions is way gone.. latinos own half of miami, there are politicians and influential people too.. so, the 'struggle' situation as a general issue doesn't exist anymore.. true, the illegal population is struggling the same way.. but, they're not chicanos..

What we all really need to do is start sticking together.I'm so tired of people saying things like "Well I don't get along with Dominicans.Mexicans,Puerto Ricans,etc." And these are Latinos saing this about other Latinos, mind you.And then they come up to me and ask something stupid like."What are you?"

U can just say you're human...

Went on "vacation", ended up moving down there for a bit after realizing she was the one for me.

Got a kick out of this one, for all the Obama haters that can't seem to understand what people see in the politician.

For Obama, unexpected support

Antiabortion lawmakers' backing may help in Pennsylvania and Indiana

By Shailagh Murray

updated 3:04 a.m. CT, Mon., April. 14, 2008

As strong and consistent abortion foes, Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. and former congressman Timothy J. Roemer are anomalies in a Democratic Party that has overwhelmingly advocated abortion rights. Yet both are backing Sen. Barack Obama, whom one conservative blogger dubbed "the most pro-abortion candidate ever."

As firmly as Casey (Pa.) and Roemer (Ind.) have adhered to their opposition, Obama has never supported a single measure that would curtail access to abortion -- even under controversial circumstances. But Casey and Roemer have chosen to ignore Obama's legislative record, and are promoting the Democratic presidential candidate to their antiabortion allies as someone who could achieve a new consensus on the issue. "He has the unique skills to try to lower the temperature and foster a sense of common ground, and try to figure out ways that people can agree," Casey said, although the freshman senator added, "On this issue, it's particularly hard."

The endorsements send a powerful signal in two critical battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, which will hold its primary on April 22, and Indiana, which will vote on May 6. Both states have sizable segments of socially conservative Democrats who reject the party's orthodoxy on an issue they have long viewed as troubling and complex.

Casey's endorsement is particularly important because Obama's ability to reach these voters is even more in question in light of the controversy provoked by his description of small-town Pennsylvania voters as driven by bitterness over their economic situation and looking for ways "to explain their frustrations."

'I think he's going to win'

Campaigning in both upcoming primary states this weekend, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) seized on the comments to paint Obama as an elitist, out of touch with average Americans. But yesterday Casey said that the better his constituents get to know Obama, "the more they're going to understand his heart and his values, and I think he's going to win."

Obama did not mention abortion in his controversial remarks, made last week at a fundraiser in California, though he noted other divisive social issues. But last week in Indiana, he said that both sides of the abortion debate are guilty of hyperbole.

"The mistake pro-choice forces have sometimes made in the past, and this is a generalization . . . has been to not acknowledge the wrenching moral issues involved," he said. "And so the debate got so polarized that both sides tended to exaggerate the other side's positions. Most Americans, I think, recognize that what we want to do is avoid, or help people avoid, making this difficult choice. That nobody is pro-abortion -- abortions are never a good thing."

Asked last night at a nationally televised forum on religious and moral values if there can be "common ground" on abortion, Obama said that "people of good will can exist on both sides." With Casey watching from the audience at Messiah College outside Harrisburg, Pa., he added that while there will always be irreconcilable differences between opponents and supporters of abortion rights, "we can take some of the edge off the debate."

Obama is trying hard to make inroads into Clinton's support among women, and in at least one primary -- in New Hampshire -- her campaign successfully made an issue of his commitment to abortion.

A flier mailed out just before the primary targeted "present" votes Obama had cast in the Illinois legislature. Although he was acting at the behest of local abortion rights advocates, his advisers think that female voters backed off their candidate as a result, probably contributing to his narrow and surprising loss.

But Clinton has also sought to break from party policy, as she, too, made clear last night. She said that "I will continue to do what I can to reduce the number" of abortions, so whoever wins the nomination, Democrats are likely to try to defuse the issue in the general election. Clinton co-wrote, with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), a significant abortion-prevention bill in January 2005; Obama signed on early as a co-sponsor.

Any attempt to play down the issue represents a marked change in a party for which abortion rights has been a defining issue. At the 1992 Democratic National Convention, Casey's late father, former Pennsylvania governor Robert P. Casey Sr., was denied a speaking slot after he refused to endorse Bill Clinton because of Clinton's support of abortion rights. His son shares the same convictions, and ran afoul of women's groups in his 2006 Senate race.

Roemer's antiabortion views have also shadowed his political career. Liberal bloggers and some party officials aggressively opposed his bid for chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee in early 2005, causing him to say: "I like a good fight. But don't put my arms behind me. Give me a chance to talk about my values. And don't litmus-test me."

Despite his opposition to abortion, Roemer said he has come to believe that the all-or-nothing approach that both parties have advocated over the years has created gridlock across the policy spectrum, from health care to international policy. He called the old style "tin cans on the back of a car." With Obama, Roemer said, "the first words out of his mouth aren't 'People should be free to do whatever they want.' He leaves open the possibility that there are other ways to address some of these issues."

LINK...

More Operation Chaos, but from Camp McCain? can't be!

Its popular in the same way some fraternities hold ghetto parties if anyone knows what I'm talking about. Cool factor. No more.

while they have a good base.. i don't buy the MECHA movement.. it's too darn outdated..

Is Texas "the Heartland"? not that I know exactly where/what the heartland is, jsut asking!

my cousin lives in lufkin, don't think it was him

Shhhh...

I filled the I-765 papers for my husband, I noticed I used the wrong code 6 weeks after we filled and requested an Info pass, we went to the appointment in L.A with the idea they'll be able to make an amendment in the system, I got surprise when the officer told us that the Chicago office will fix it for us, he even told us not to worry about it and to wait the 90 days the work permit requires to be approved, for my surprise, the same day in the afternoon I checked the USCIS on-line case status and his card was ordered. !! His EAD got approved!!

Did the Info pass have something to do? Who knows, his file were never touch until the same day of the appointment.

Ana

Hola Ana

Actually, a code mistake is an easy one to fix given that the visa status (entry) is what specificies the EAD justifying reason code. ©(9), right?

Nevertheless, congratulations! Now its getting a job that will be the trick!

Okay.... I have most everything ready to resubmit for Lorena's AOS. Anyone of you folks here who are in the process or have done it WITH CHILDREN involved, please double-check my information:

Forms to complete -

I-485: one for Lorena and each boy (full fee for Lorena, lower fee for each boy under 14)

I-130: one for each boy (I failed to do this the first time around, separate fee required)

I-131: one for Lorena and each boy (fee included with 485 fee)

I-765: one for each boy (fee included with 485 fee) (I submitted this for Lorena last year and she received a few weeks ago) (yes, work permission is needed for children even though they are not eligible to work - they need it to get a Social Security Number)

I-864: only one for Lorena (the boys are covered by her application)

G-325A: only one for Lorena (the boys are covered by her application - I think) HOWEVER!!! This is the one I'm not completely sure about. Anyone know for sure????

We've got the other personal documents and "proofs" ready to go, but I sure don't want to overlook anything after the @* we've gone through for the past year. Any guidance or reassurance will be more than welcome. I've looked for up-to-date comprehensive information on all this and I'm not finding anything outside the USCIS website (generally not helpful when children are involved) that is more recent than January 2007 (before the fee increase), and even some of the pinned information on VisaJourney is out of date.

Charles

Well, we sent off what we had and apparently I at least got the dollar amount right as they cashed my check. Here's hoping that the documents and information are what they want. Now we wait for an RFE or an NOA.

FINALLY!!

Tanta gente pasada de buena por este lado... caray que sentimiento más bonito. ¿Cuántos nos hemos conocido en pareja por acá?

A black and red BMX bicycle was stolen from the front porch of a residence Thursday in the 800 block of Clark, a police report stated.

and

Prescription medicine was stolen sometime Wednesday from a woman's home in the 1700 block of Lee, a police report stated.

Signs of the times perhaps... No money for gas and no health coverage...

[from the news ticker]

dev and metta will need to come up with alibis.

Nahh, looks to me like some new ritual of the Obama cult taking shape...

Yes it could be called handing the Kool-Aid makers a box of straws. Make it easier for them, ya know

Iran is dangerous... for the world...

defiance, weapons programs, stated anniliation of MULTIPLE nations, support of global terrorist organizations.

Whoever thinks this is only a Middle East problem only is living in an archaic world.

Good point. I think those that think they can get away with antagonizing lunatics for the sake of profit should also be scrutinized without regard to origin.

The whole world doesn't drink. I happen to be one of the types that doesn't wear skirt that show my knees soI may be a bit different that some. I also believe in the death penalty and the 3 strikes law.The basic point is they are breaking the law knowingly. They don't deserve to get priority for breaking the law. They should use the DV visa lottery. There are legal ways to immigrate. Some poeple have lives that aren't as wonderfull as others. That doesn't give you an excuse to do illegal acts. People caught doing these things should be placed at the very very end of the line to get visas. When all the family based and relatives of premanent residents and DV visas and people that just want a visa. After every one of these visas are granted. Then the ones that entered illegally or stayed after their visa expired. Which is basically saying they should never get in .

Spoken like a true American.

No kiddin...

I still don't think some folks get it when they compare apples to oranges... but then that's pretty lame already.

The OP is one of the biggest hypocrites going.

I should also point out that I've had PMs from avowed conservatives on this board saying that they are actually very embarrassed by some of the more "out there" members - even to be associated with them ideologically.

Being a Jackass doesn't amount to a political ideology!

Et tu sex?

On that note I just find it amazing how such a horde of hypocrisy can have such an effect on the electorate of this nation.

Become part of a marginal community and ye shall behold what thy fails to see.

marginal community = what? hispanics?

Attitudes are not born overnight, brother Charles.

But yes you are also very correct. Hispanics in general will not be marginal that much longer will they?

given the number of hispanics in politics at the state and national level throughout the usa, and at one point even attorney general, i'd hardly characterize that as marginalized. wake me up when the native americans achieve this record. until then, we both know who's really marginalized.

Tell us... who's marginalized. I'd also like to know "who is Baby's father" since I no longer watch Maury.

But yeah... like I said, attitudes are not born overnight.

i'll be right with you as soon as i find some hispanics living on reservations in abject poverty.

The barrio is as good a place as any... unless of course, there are no quantifiable numbers on hispanics living in abject poverty (that are not illegals). No need to cross-react with other marginalized groups... unless of course you're point is that they don't exist... to which a simple field trip around the country could fix quite easily.

Anyway, Jet time. Food. Good.