As a US green-card holder from the Netherlands I'm often asked to explain the (very) liberal Dutch policies on various topics like euthanasia, abortion, prostitution and the use of marijuana. Today I found a good article on USAToday.com explaining the latter...
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-06-27-amsterdam-marijuana_N.htm?csp=34
Peace... ;-)
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Immigration reform for the USA
I know this post might spark some controversy among citizens and permanent residents, but being a permanent resident myself (Niels),I still feel that in order to tackle the illegal immigration we need to look at two key issues:
• What is causing the illegal immigration
• What can we do to prevent this
The first one is actually a two-fold answer in my mind. First, the reason why there is such a massive influx in people is the difference in socio-economic levels between either side of the fence. There is not much you can do about that that will have a short or mid-term impact on the (illegal) immigration. The other reason is the MASSIVE wait-list for visas for immigrants from Mexico. It can take up to 15 years before your (approved!!!) petition is eligible for an actual visa. Since there is a cap on the amount of visas issued and the demand FAR outreaches the supply you see this extreme waiting times. That is the root-cause of the whole issue. Whatever happened to the phrase on the Statue of Liberty:
So how do we prevent illegal immigration, what can we do to prevent it? Here is my idea for a major step forward. I'm not saying it solves it completely, but you'll most likely reduce the problem significantly. If you would have a system where an immigrant can petition for a visa and either be granted (read: issued) or denied within a reasonable amount of time (I'd say about 12 months) at a cost far less than the current human traffickers charge you'll see a dramatic reduction in the illegal crossing of this nations borders.
Why would you consider such a program? There is so much work available for them (yes, even in this state of the economy) that the current cap is unrealistic. Consider that if all illegal immigrants would simply stop working it would have a major paralyzing effect on the already fragile US economy. That is pretty much a fact. Just imagine that if the US census bureau estimates there are about 12 million illegal immigrants in the USA, so even if only 10% of them would work you'd have 1.2 million people on strike… Not even the UAW can match that… Therefore any politician that wants to rid the USA of illegal immigration is talking pure politics since they all know that it's entirely unfeasible and even undesirable to do so.
Then there is the additional issue that for the legal immigrants there is a large demand for seasonal workers that cannot be filled due to the way that the system works. You can only apply for seasonable visas a maximum of 90 days in advance. The 'season' runs from October to September, but in reality within 1 to 2 DAYS the (capped) amount of visas available for those seasonal workers is depleted. So any industry that needs workers from February on (and I'm not talking about the IT industry here…) can never use those seasonal workers - and since the existing workforce finds those jobs like crab fishing, fruit harvesting, etc… undesirable - the only solution is to use the 'undocumented' workforce.
However, if - for political reasons only - you create those artificial barriers around immigration that have no regards for the existing situation and the economical and demographical supply and demand you'll never create a feasible solution and all you'll get is political populism and history gives us a very clear answer on the outcome of that: it doesn't work (and that is the 'softest' description available…)
• What is causing the illegal immigration
• What can we do to prevent this
The first one is actually a two-fold answer in my mind. First, the reason why there is such a massive influx in people is the difference in socio-economic levels between either side of the fence. There is not much you can do about that that will have a short or mid-term impact on the (illegal) immigration. The other reason is the MASSIVE wait-list for visas for immigrants from Mexico. It can take up to 15 years before your (approved!!!) petition is eligible for an actual visa. Since there is a cap on the amount of visas issued and the demand FAR outreaches the supply you see this extreme waiting times. That is the root-cause of the whole issue. Whatever happened to the phrase on the Statue of Liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.Any artificial barrier (whether it is a physical wall or a 15-year paperwork process) is not going to have the desired effect. That is trying to deal with the issues whereas this needs a fix on the root problem.
So how do we prevent illegal immigration, what can we do to prevent it? Here is my idea for a major step forward. I'm not saying it solves it completely, but you'll most likely reduce the problem significantly. If you would have a system where an immigrant can petition for a visa and either be granted (read: issued) or denied within a reasonable amount of time (I'd say about 12 months) at a cost far less than the current human traffickers charge you'll see a dramatic reduction in the illegal crossing of this nations borders.
Why would you consider such a program? There is so much work available for them (yes, even in this state of the economy) that the current cap is unrealistic. Consider that if all illegal immigrants would simply stop working it would have a major paralyzing effect on the already fragile US economy. That is pretty much a fact. Just imagine that if the US census bureau estimates there are about 12 million illegal immigrants in the USA, so even if only 10% of them would work you'd have 1.2 million people on strike… Not even the UAW can match that… Therefore any politician that wants to rid the USA of illegal immigration is talking pure politics since they all know that it's entirely unfeasible and even undesirable to do so.
Then there is the additional issue that for the legal immigrants there is a large demand for seasonal workers that cannot be filled due to the way that the system works. You can only apply for seasonable visas a maximum of 90 days in advance. The 'season' runs from October to September, but in reality within 1 to 2 DAYS the (capped) amount of visas available for those seasonal workers is depleted. So any industry that needs workers from February on (and I'm not talking about the IT industry here…) can never use those seasonal workers - and since the existing workforce finds those jobs like crab fishing, fruit harvesting, etc… undesirable - the only solution is to use the 'undocumented' workforce.
However, if - for political reasons only - you create those artificial barriers around immigration that have no regards for the existing situation and the economical and demographical supply and demand you'll never create a feasible solution and all you'll get is political populism and history gives us a very clear answer on the outcome of that: it doesn't work (and that is the 'softest' description available…)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy 1st Father's Day to Niels
In honor of his first Father's Day...
Happy Father's Day!
(He's gonna be such a good daddy!!)
Happy Father's Day!
(He's gonna be such a good daddy!!)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Cheeseheads
Here in the States the term 'Cheeseheads' applies to group of fanatic (American) Football fans that support the Green Bay Packers, from Green Bay, Wisconsin. The reason for the nickname is the massive amount of dairy farmers in that state.
As a tie-in with the previous post you can see that Green Bay fans aren't the only ones called cheeseheads. The same term applies to the Dutch. Ask any German what their nickname for the Dutch is and they will tell you 'Kasekopf' a.k.a. 'Cheesehead'. Since Holland is known for it's cheese it is not entirely surprising.
Funny story from my side is that the first time I got interested in (American) Football was after I bought a rain coat of the Packers back in Holland. I started looking for that team and lo and behold they actually won the Super Bowl that year. Being from Holland, my wife having lived in Green Bay (and actually worked for the Packers) and having a good friend living there I guess I'm one of the few that can claim to be a 'real' cheesehead!!!
Don't worry, American Mom, we still like the Vikes too....
As a tie-in with the previous post you can see that Green Bay fans aren't the only ones called cheeseheads. The same term applies to the Dutch. Ask any German what their nickname for the Dutch is and they will tell you 'Kasekopf' a.k.a. 'Cheesehead'. Since Holland is known for it's cheese it is not entirely surprising.
Funny story from my side is that the first time I got interested in (American) Football was after I bought a rain coat of the Packers back in Holland. I started looking for that team and lo and behold they actually won the Super Bowl that year. Being from Holland, my wife having lived in Green Bay (and actually worked for the Packers) and having a good friend living there I guess I'm one of the few that can claim to be a 'real' cheesehead!!!
Don't worry, American Mom, we still like the Vikes too....
Hup, Holland, Hup! / Go team Orange!
Yesterday the Dutch national soccer team scored their second win in as many games and have secured a spot in the Euro 2008 Quarter Finals. On Tuesday we beat the current World Champs Italy in a good game with 3-0 and yesterday we played the runner-up France and as the ESPN commentator put it '.. it's a Dutch oven and the French are toast!' : 4-1 Holland.On ESPN Soccernet the comments range from 'a Dutch of Class' to 'Dutch Destroyers'. I have to say that I like what I see. Yesterday after worked I watched the game vs. 'Les Blues' and watched the 2nd goal a couple times since we have that awesome contraption called an HD-DVR... So in full HD glory I saw an absolutly brilliant play by Ruud van Nistelrooy keeping the ball in-play AND pass it to Arjan Robben in a spectacular fashion to see Arjen go for the goal-line, deliver a perfect cross-pass and have Robin van Persie finish the job. But that wasn't the most important goal of the game. That one was all Arjan Robben...
In the 71th minute Thierry Henry from the French scored a beautiful goal to bring the French back to 2-1. Hope again for 'Les Blues'. Henry felt good... until only 35 seconds(!!) later Arjen Robben got the ball, dribbled towards the goal line and from an absolutely impossible angle restored the 2-goal cushion. From the TV-shots it looked like the wind got knocked out of Thierry Henry as he looked-on in complete disbelief.
Well, these kind of things are precisely the combination of skill and luck you need to do well in any international soccer tournament, and so far this year they seem to be coming together for 'Oranje'.
Oh, as part of Jen's on-going assimilation into Dutch-hood, she watched part of the game with me and learned a new word, through an awesome site called 'Dutch Word of the day': 'Oranjekoorts', meaning 'Orange-fever' after the color of our national team. The whole of Holland (ok: the Netherlands) have that now as everywhere you go in Holland you'll encounter things in the Orange color, from beer to hats to whatever you can think of and a few things you probably wouldn't... ;-)
On to the Quarters! Click here for an explanation on: Hup, Holland, Hup!!
Watching the game and then a concert in the PSV stadium in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Baby's first outfit!
Well, this week is week 14--officially trimester two!--so baby de Jong finally has something to wear.
Isn't it cute!?!
Now we just need to find some good NFL gear since he or she will arrive just in time for the playoffs!!!
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