It isn’t racism, it’s learning from the mistakes of others

[howeird]

Why is it that when I suggest that maybe we don’t want potential sleeper cells coming into the country disguised as refugees, I’m branded a racist? Seems to me France and Belgium just made that mistake, and paid dearly for it.

And where is the outstretched welcoming hand from the wealthy Arab countries? Oh right, they have a tradition to maintain – Gaza.

---

Slept well, woke up a little early, got to work a little early, ran a test case, but am being blocked from finishing because of the musical chairs nature of the lab machines which have the licensed analyzer software which is needed to run the tests. I need to be able to run them for an hour, but too many other people need to use the same program for me to do that.

Lunchtime I went to the TechCU to deposit  a pair of checks from my Key;point account, but the machine couldn’t read them. Had to wait for a banker.

Not hungry, so I drove to a park and enjoyed the clear skies and read from the Kindle.

Looked into Puerto Vallarta in January. Not sure I really want to go.

Looked into Phoenix/Grand Canyon for Jesus Day, but figured stuff would be closed.

I *am* booked for NYE in Reno, though.

Looked up plumbers, found two possibles. Small job – get the water pressure up in the master bathroom sink. The tub & shower have a strong feed, but the sink is a trickle. Annoying. Maybe I’ll phone one tomorrow.

Home, disappointed that Tivo didn’t record PTI. Watched South Park and Dr. Who instead. Way too much monologue shouting. But the last line killed.

Speaking of lines, I’m addicted for the time being to pieces of a song from Sunset Blvd:

With one look I can break your heart

With one look I play every part

…

With one smile I'm the girl next door

Or the love that you've hungered for

When I speak it's with my soul

I can play any role

…

Yes, with one look I put words to shame

Just one look sets the screen aflame

…

I don’t like the mix and match form of the song, or the bridge music. But I love the message – silent film stars had to be real actors. To Norma Desmond, words are a crutch.

---

Finally got the munchies, steamed up a trip of pork buns, and sliced a little black forest cake for dessert.

Pulled the German chocolate cake out of the fridge, cut it into wedges, took one wedge out and put it in the fridge, the rest went into the trunk of the car to be a birthday gift from me to my cow-orkers.

Baby sister emailed that no, I had not sent her the story, so a pdf of Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Lady Astronaut of Mars is in the ether to her. She’s a retired Navy engineer, I think it will speak to her.

Plans for tomorrow:

• Work/cake
• Home, veg

Comments

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

Perhaps all the fearmongering is a whole lot of xenophobic hype that plays into the hands of the terrorists.

http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/11/17/3722952/refugee-resettlement/

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

Or perhaps because some of the same folks spouting anti-muslim rhetoric really are racists, and some really are terrorists. Like these guys: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/3-men-charged-in-plot-to-bomb-black-churches-566200387857

[howeird]

Perhaps I am just a little unforgiving of the Syrians who killed friends and relatives of mine by shooting rockets from in and around the Golan Heights into the kibbutz farms they were trying to make a life in.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

OK. I get that. But our military has been responsible for over 120,000 civilian deaths in Iraq. Do we all deserve blame for that? Should we all have our homes destroyed, and have to choose between being beheaded by crazy people or becoming unwanted refugees in foreign lands?

[howeird]

Do we all deserve blame for that?
Of course we do. You and I both voted for the people who did that, and we didn't protest enough to make it stop. Or give up our citizenship. Or become ex-pats. Which, by the way, is why I joined the Peace Corps - it was because I could not condone Nixon's shenanigans.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

Howard, time for a compliment: you are one of the few people I've met I can disagree with and continue to respect.

Now . . . for me the question comes down to what kind of refugees we'll be admitting, how extensively they'll be interrogated and checked, and finally, at this point, given the huge wave of public display of opposition, whether they can be safe here. I'm beginning to think those refugees will be in more danger than US citizens.

[howeird]

Thanks for the compliment.
I don't trust our government to handle an influx of refugees from Syria. I cite Guantanamo.

There's also the underground railroad. I have worked so far with three Arabs who went from Syria/Lebanon to much more lenient Canada, gained Canadian citizenship, and then were on the first plane to America, and are now US citizens. I expect Mexico would be even easier.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

Your argument about Syrian refugee "sleeper cells" in France and Belgium being responsible for the Paris bombings isn't borne out by the evidence. The bombers that have been identified haven't just been French and Belgian residents, they were actually French and Belgian citizens.

[howeird]

That makes me even more paranoid. Makes me wonder how many US citizens are in ISIS sleeper cells, waiting for their moment.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

That's really no different than the last decade and a half of "is someone else a sleeper al-Queada terrorist?" And the practicality is that, like France, we weren't talking about new immigrants, we were talking long-time residents and US citizens who were radicalized.

The thing is, welcoming refugees strikes at the center of Daesh. Their whole premise is Muslims can't live with infidels. Welcoming and integrating Muslims into society demonstrates they're wrong.

Now that said, I've watched other discussions, and there are security things that should be done. The tourist visa waiver program should be tweaked, to deny entry without a visa to people who have recently (say, the last 5 years) traveled to countries where terrorist training grounds are known to exist. But of course, that would require kicking the State Department (who doesn't want to do any of the work to process visas) and Homeland Security (who doesn't want to let anybody in the country) and making them work together to find a secure middle ground.