Life and Times of Alex Esguerra — Joseph Biden

A Beginner's Guide to America's Culture Belief's on Race, Immigration, Equality and Views Nowadays

Posted by noreply@blogger.com (Alex Esguerra) on

 

Bestselling author, Roya Hakakian upcoming book describes the book as A stirring, witty, and poignant glimpse into the bewildering American immigrant experience from someone who has lived it. Also, a mirror held up to America.

Myself being middle age living half of my life in the USA, I can totally agree with her. I till this day still ask questions on inclusion. A good example was on a Friday afternoon in a downtown San Francisco's retail location men's restroom which was open for the public. Right after using it passed  walking pass  the stalls,  a middle age heavy set Caucasian man assumed I was headed to the walk out the door and yelled to me "washed your hands". I politely showed in my hands my sanitizers and uttered I had it. Most public restrooms in San Francisco's downtown area are not open due to the homeless problem and vandalism and also the lavatories are really extremely dirty and infected with bacteria. At any rate here's an example why I simply raise the statement of inclusion having live half of my life in America. For all you know the guy had good intentions of reminding me simply to wash my hands but here is where the culture's perspectives open up. 

In the San Francisco area, home to the nation's largest and oldest Chinatown, there were at least 18 attacks against Asians in February alone, TODAY previously reported. An 84-year-old Thai American, Vicha Ratanapakdee, was pushed to the ground in January and died from his injuries a few days later, NBC News reported. In 2020, New York City police recorded 28 hate crimes against Asian Americans, up from three in 2019, quoted from https://www.today.com/news/anti-asian-violence-history-anti-asian-racism-us-t210645  Another issue that came up during this Covid-19 is when the term "China Virus" was downplayed by no other than the 45th President of the United States. This has enabled an anti-Asian hate and violence campaign. 

Meanwhile, there's an influx of undocumented children on the southern border trying to enter after Biden rolled back a number of Trump-era immigration policies, including the “Remain in Mexico” policy that advocates say gutted the nation’s asylum system and the "zero tolerance" policy of separating families at the border.  It is extremely hard for politicians based on my personal experiences having dealt with them of their desire for power and wealth to understand the true meaning of "Asylum". If you make from $170,000 to $300,00 and have net worth's of $2M to $10B or more and ambitions to even be the President of the USA you will never need to know the meaning of what it stands or what the word "Immigration" is about in a real democracy.

Hakakian grew up in a Jewish family living in a middle-class neighborhood in Tehran in the 70's in her book and I remember my father serving in the US Army at the same time at the base. She mentioned about her scarf as part of her dress code and when she arrived in New York's subway in 1985 after her asylum she tried to reach for her scarf realizing she had none physically.   Here also shows as immigrants bring memories with us when we settle in the US. 

Just like a few months ago when we had these marches on the boarded windows on the  downtown streets in Portland, Or and San Francisco, CA it reminded me back in the Philippines when  then Ferdinand Marcos was about to declare Martial Law, those were the same pictures, and then again during the EDSA revolution when he again tried to hang on to power before fleeing for asylum and to where, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA through the help of Republican President Ronald Reagan.

In the case of the Iran empire itself, the Shah of Iran eventually went into asylum also in the United Sates for health reasons. This is is how politicians interrelates with the two words mentioned.  Hence for decades is also why this country has not enacted a real Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill.

The topic is huge for discussion but where does one begin?

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A Review on Criminal Dissent vis a vis foregoing public speeches, opinions and the law on seditious conspiracy.

Posted by noreply@blogger.com (Alex Esguerra) on

 

Criminal Dissent - Wendell Bird (Author)  writes In the first complete account of prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts, dozens of previously unknown cases come to light, revealing the lengths to which the John Adams administration went in order to criminalize dissent.

The campaign to prosecute dissenting Americans under the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 ignited the first battle over the Bill of Rights. Fearing destructive criticism and “domestic treachery” by Republicans, the administration of John Adams led a determined effort to safeguard the young republic by suppressing the opposition.

The acts gave the president unlimited discretion to deport noncitizens and made it a crime to criticize the president, Congress, or the federal government. In this definitive account, Wendell Bird goes back to the original federal court records and the papers of Secretary of State Timothy Pickering and finds that the administration’s zeal was far greater than historians have recognized. Indeed, there were twice as many prosecutions and planned deportations as previously believed. The government went after local politicians, raisers of liberty poles, and even tavern drunks but most often targeted Republican newspaper editors, including Benjamin Franklin’s grandson. Those found guilty were sent to prison or fined and sometimes forced to sell their property to survive. The Federalists’ support of laws to prosecute political opponents and opposition newspapers ultimately contributed to the collapse of the party and left a large stain on their record.

The Alien and Sedition Acts launched a foundational debate on press freedom, freedom of speech, and the legitimacy of opposition politics. The result was widespread revulsion over the government’s attempt to deprive Americans of their hard-won liberties. Criminal Dissent is a potent reminder of just how fundamental those rights are to a stable democracy.

At this moment and time, the news media writes about the coup intents speculation caused by the the 45th President's failure to concede to the incoming 46th President elect and the worry that the Republican's and the 74 million Trump voters that will hinder the Biden presidency deeming it illegitimate.

At the same, while writing this blog on the eve of the deadline of the stimulus negotiations on Capitol Hill by Congress debates, the news media is also reporting on leak unverified oval office meetings about discussions on the intent of "Martial Law".  If your someone who have not seen Martial Law in a developing country then you wouldn't really understand the realities of this.  However, if you are then the first thing that will come to your mind will be for all these ages, why did America became the riches nation on earth, why did all the immigrants immigrated to America to make land of the free and make rich! As the only dictators that these ideas would even be an idea are the desperate autocrats who will do anything, I mean anything! in a third world country!

Hence is why The United States has a federal law against seditious conspiracy in Tile 18 of the US Code, 18 U.S.C. S. 2384. "The Sedition Act made it a crime, in effect, to criticize the president, Congress, the federal government as a whole, or its measures, whether by press or speech." As a result, Bird has properly called for a re-evaluation of the Act, dismissing previous historians' largely-successful attempts at whitewashing and rightly condemning the Act's powerful supporters, such as Alexander Hamilton, President George Washington, and President John Adams.


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